How great is the Stone Sledgehammer compared to its Iron/Steel counterparts?

[Robert]

This is a matter of personal taste, but I always found the Sledgehammer too slow to wield for my liking. That's probably why I've been a fan of the Steel Knuckles for quite some time. But I wanted to change things up and start the game with a Stone Sledgehammer instead as a melee weapon. I got to say, I love the Stone Sledgehammer. Not because it's powerful (it is) but the combination of speed in regards to the effects it causes is actually pretty superb!
After a while I got the Iron Sledge but as I feared it's much slower. Sure it does more damage (haven't checked but I assume it's better off DPS wise) but due to the slower swing speed I just don't like it very much. So I'm wondering if I just need to spend more time to get used to it, or perhaps I'm better off sticking with the Stone Sledgehammer. After all, more damage isn't everything as faster / more swings per minute have a greater chance to proc effects like knockdown and dismemberment, which feels more important than doing that extra damage that Iron/Steel does.

As mentioned I lack proper experience with it so I'm wondering: what do the Sledgehammer veterans think?

[Niuq]

Stamina spent per damage for starter weapons the stone sledge is way ahead of other choices.

The Sledgehammer perks for knockdown make it the premier melee weapon.
If all the zombies are laying down they can not fight back.

The slow speed means less exposure to zombie melee.
The high base damage means more one shots, so again less time exposed to counter attack.
The massive stamina cost needs Trex to offset, and some levels to gain some base stamina.

Speed is a non factor to me, stamina determines the overall pacing for sledge.

So i recommend moving up to the iron sledge if you have repair kits, as the stone weapons just dont have enough damage to be worth using for long.

[Shurenai]

Originally posted by Niuq:

Stamina spent per damage for starter weapons the stone sledge is way ahead of other choices.

The Sledgehammer perks for knockdown make it the premier melee weapon.
If all the zombies are laying down they can not fight back.

The slow speed means less exposure to zombie melee.
The high base damage means more one shots, so again less time exposed to counter attack.
The massive stamina cost needs Trex to offset, and some levels to gain some base stamina.

Speed is a non factor to me, stamina determines the overall pacing for sledge.

So i recommend moving up to the iron sledge if you have repair kits, as the stone weapons just dont have enough damage to be worth using for long.

To add onto this, if you're liking the stone sledgehammer, but not really the iron one; Maybe consider going for Clubs instead? The top tier weapon for clubs is the Baseball Bat which is a pretty happy medium for damage, range and swing speed, as far as things go.

[Robert]

So both of you are basically saying: go with Iron/Steel when the opportunity arises. That's good to know, many thanks to you both :)... I suppose I'll just have to suck it up and get used to the slower swinging speed :).
Right now I am playing solo on Warrior difficulty at day 25 without any deaths (level 58) and for now I can make do with a level 5 modded Stone Sledgehammer just because of its knockdown effect. Sure zombies will take a couple of hits sometimes but as long as they and their friends get knocked down this isn't much of a problem. Missing my mark due to slow Iron/Steel swinging speed can be... but practice makes perfect.

The club suggestion is a good one that I might try at some point, but I am too much in love with the group knockdown effect of the Sledge right now :)
Also, at the start of the game I like the reach of the Sledge making it possible to kill zombies without too much risk. Last time I tried that with the shorter reach of the club I ended up getting hit and infected. Took me a long time to recover from that. Still fun anyway. And I know... I actually shouldn't attack zombies too much at the start of the game :).

[blazha]

Originally posted by Robert:

So both of you are basically saying: go with Iron/Steel when the opportunity arises. That's good to know, many thanks to you both :)... I suppose I'll just have to suck it up and get used to the slower swinging speed :).
Right now I am playing solo on Warrior difficulty at day 25 without any deaths (level 58) and for now I can make do with a level 5 modded Stone Sledgehammer just because of its knockdown effect. Sure zombies will take a couple of hits sometimes but as long as they and their friends get knocked down this isn't much of a problem. Missing my mark due to slow Iron/Steel swinging speed can be... but practice makes perfect.

The club suggestion is a good one that I might try at some point, but I am too much in love with the group knockdown effect of the Sledge right now :)
Also, at the start of the game I like the reach of the Sledge making it possible to kill zombies without too much risk. Last time I tried that with the shorter reach of the club I ended up getting hit and infected. Took me a long time to recover from that. Still fun anyway. And I know... I actually shouldn't attack zombies too much at the start of the game :).

You should move to iron sledge by day 2 (craft it), unless you find it on day 1 which is pretty common. By day 7 you should have 5/5 Sexual T-Rex and Skull crusher and just spam power attacks without ever getting out of stamina. Steel sledge has same speed, range and stamina usage as iron sledge so it is by any mean better because it has much better damage.