Beyond Nen Nen Types: The Five Affinities Explained

The five affinities

Beyond Nen follows the Hunter x Hunter vocabulary, and the categories are not cosmetic labels: they determine the ability pool you draw from and the masteries that gate deeper skill tree entries.

Fifteen abilities have been named across these categories, from Mythical Jajanken and Godspeed down to Common Earth Sludge. The full list with rarities is on the all Nen abilities page.

How you end up in one

1. Reach the Nen questline — level 10 and the Librarian, or the Hunter License route. Details on how to get Nen.
2. Complete the meditation step with a Meditation Mat and T.
3. Return to Rohan. He gives you a random ability.
4. That ability’s category becomes your development pool. The technique wheel opens on E.

Because the roll is random, the useful question is not “which type is best” but “what do I do with the type I got”. Each category has at least one ability that works in both PvE and PvP, and none is unplayable.

Mastery and the skill tree

Ability categories gate deeper skill tree entries: Transmutation Mastery and Emission Mastery are two named examples. That means your random roll is effectively a commitment to one tree, and mastery grinding is how you get the rest of it.

Practical consequences:

• Do not skip mastery because the first ability felt weak. The tree is where the ability becomes a build.
• Do not hoard spins for a reroll you cannot control. Spins roll races and lineages — see spins and rerolls — not Nen abilities.
• Watch pass interactions. Godspeed is reported to give the Killua yoyos lightning attributes, which is the clearest sign that some abilities change weapon behaviour, not just damage numbers.

Which categories are easiest to start with

No published ranking survives scrutiny — one outlet has a full list, the rest are unreviewed, and damage numbers and cooldowns are not public. What can be said from the ability descriptions:

• Enhancement is the most forgiving first roll: close-range damage and durability scale with the content you are already doing.
• Emission suits players who like keeping distance, which matters in the arena and on Zevil Island.
• Conjuration and Manipulation are build-around categories — they look weak until the tool or the control loop comes online.
• Transmutation is the highest-variance category: Godspeed is a Mythical, Earth Sludge a Common, and they do not play alike.

Where to read next

• All Nen abilities — the fifteen named abilities by category.
• Nen ability tier list — how published rankings compare, with the caveats.
• Hunter Exam — the PvP stages where range and tempo matter most.
• Beginner guide — getting to the questline in the first place.