Which Hammer weapon tree(s) should I go for early on?

[MrGameNuke]

Should I just focus on total damage? If so, is there a point to getting any other tree aside from aesthetics? This is my first MonHun game, so any help would be appreciated

[Lapinoire]

Raw damage early on, then elemental mid~endgame.

At one point, a certain affinity/critical rate hammer becomes the best you get for a while, but at super endgame, better raw damage ones pop up.

[DaBa]

I don't think it's ever worth it to invest into element with the hammer, you should not even look at the elemental value at all, it's just an insignificant bonus.

It doesn't matter which tree you use early in the game, just use whatever you can make and consistently upgrade. Good raw and good sharpness. I usually stick with Iron and bone because they are the easiest to upgrade and have guaranteed consistent upgrade paths through all ranks. Then I switch to one of the better choices in high rank.

[Lapinoire]

Publicado originalmente por DaBa:

I don't think it's ever worth it to invest into element with the hammer, you should not even look at the elemental value at all, it's just an insignificant bonus.

Were the Elemental motion values really that bad? I don't remember.

Most of the game with hammer is just packing raw or using narg hammer lol.

[DaBa]

But, I would still encourage you to focus on aesthetics. It will always be more fun to use a hammer that looks awesome to you, than one that does slightly more damage but looks like crap. As long as you keep things reasonably upgraded, you're golden. Optimizing gear in MH games is not required, if you like to do it by all means. But if you want to go all fashion hunter, more power to you!

Also, it doesn't take much effort to keep a few weapon trees and upgrade them as you play. Rise does not require you to grind a lot for the materials.

[DaBa]

Publicado originalmente por Lapinoire:

Publicado originalmente por DaBa:

I don't think it's ever worth it to invest into element with the hammer, you should not even look at the elemental value at all, it's just an insignificant bonus.

Were the Elemental motion values really that bad? I don't remember.

Most of the game with hammer is just packing raw or using narg hammer lol.

It's not as much about the ele values being bad, it's about how you play the weapon. Hammer is a slow hitting weapon, elemental value does not scale with how strong the attack is, it does the same damage with every single hit (except for some exceptions done for balancing sake). So, as a rule of thumb, the faster the weapon is the better elemental damage becomes. In reality, only Dual Blades and maybe the SnS can take good advantage of elemental damage. There's bow too but I don't play it so I can't tell how good it actually is in Rise in terms of that. Other weapons either benefit from it very little, or it's basically unnoticable.

[Greb]

Grug.

Big attack value, without losing too much in sharpness or affinity, I guess. Elementless preferable, unless Rise switches stuff up.

IMPACT CRATER IMPACT CRATER IMPACT CRATER! UNGA BUNGA!

[Winger]

I had the exact same question back when I was starting Monster Hunter World and did a bit of research. To give a brief summary:

Big PP, heavy hitting weapons (Hammer and Greatsword) go for just raw damage all the way.
Lighter weapons (Bow, Sword & Shield, Dual Blades) "usually" favor elemental damage; fire, water, thunder, ice and dragon.

This has to do with how elemental damage formula works [insert bunch of numbers and multipliers here]: it just doesn't really work all that well for heavy, slow hitting weapons.

So you'd want as high raw damage and affinity as possible.

[ColonelBaker]

For hammer the best early weapon tree is the Ore tree. You can get to the Frost Islands early in the Hub to get all the mining materials you need. Just go on an Expedition in that region and mine the nodes.

[DaBa]

Publicado originalmente por Greb:

IMPACT CRATER IMPACT CRATER IMPACT CRATER! UNGA BUNGA! :hammering:

Big Bang combo? What's that, a MCDonalds meal?

[Greb]

Publicado originalmente por DaBa:

Big Bang combo? What's that, a MCDonalds meal?

Bangers and mash

In reality, a sausage and mashed root vegetable combo. In this game? You just mash the same button until the bangers happen!

Hitting the monster is optional but encouraged.

[MrGameNuke]

Thanks everyone for your help, I was thinking about going Ore or Bone, so I'm glad my gut was on the right track. I'm assuming HH typically wants to go for raw damage too right?

[DaBa]

Publicado originalmente por Greb:

Publicado originalmente por DaBa:

Big Bang combo? What's that, a MCDonalds meal?

Bangers and mash :stronk:

In reality, a sausage and mashed root vegetable combo. In this game? You just mash the same button until the bangers happen!

Hitting the monster is optional but encouraged.

I am amazed I actually understand this. I think.

Anyway, I'm off to spam some more Impact Crater.

[Greb]

Publicado originalmente por MrGameNuke:

Thanks everyone for your help, I was thinking about going Ore or Bone, so I'm glad my gut was on the right track. I'm assuming HH typically wants to go for raw damage too right?

It's a little different with Hunting Horns because you've also got the song notes to consider as well. You'll probably want a variety of those so you can counter different monsters when necessary I.E (assuming the same that applied for World applies to Rise) it's often a great boon to have a Wind Pressure Negated melody for taking on Kushala Daora, etc.

But yeah big damage big hits, Hunting Horn is blunt and stun + exhaust, has some really chunky damage moves so maximising your attack is always a safe bet if you're not sure.

Publicado originalmente por DaBa:

I am amazed I actually understand this. I think.

Long time ago sausages fill with bad. Bad made sausage go BANG when cooked. So sosij becomes nicknamed banger. Bang bang bang!

Monster head like bad sausage and Hammer like oven. Hit bad monster sausage with heavy cast iron or bone oven until sausage go bang and monster become mash. Like the root vegetable!

Only other Grugs can understand. NO LONGSWORDS ALLOWED IN SECRET CLUB Longsword user can only have other club. Punty punty club. Grug!

[DaBa]

Publicado originalmente por MrGameNuke:

Thanks everyone for your help, I was thinking about going Ore or Bone, so I'm glad my gut was on the right track. I'm assuming HH typically wants to go for raw damage too right?

Yep. However, with Hunting Horn you should also take a look at the songs available. Sometimes a HH might have good stats on paper, but if you take into the account the bonuses from the songs it might be a different story.

But, again, stick with the gut feeling. Especially early on, it really doesn't matter what you choose this early! Don't worry too much about it.

[Greb]

Here's another question: what does the Sonic Boom Shield (or whatever) melody do?