Advice for first time Hammer users?

[Tresh]

I'm trying to broaden my horizon in weapon use and picked up the hammer, but I'm struggling a bit.

I'm curently using the Glavenus hammer and just experimenting around a bit with Monsters with a decent difficulty (Barrioth, Shrieking Legiana, the likes) and especially Legiana gives me a lot more trouble, being in the air a lot. (I used DB before and had less trouble on it)

Any advice on how to use the hammer more effectively against agile and especially flying monsters?

[useless puppy]

Flinch free 1, don't cry on the forums and try to always hit the head. Level 2 charge and LT/L2 combo is the most effective against more agile monsters.

[TVMAN]

ABC - Always Be Charging. Your charge 2 uppercut and charge 3 standing slam are going to be your leads into most combos. Make sure you're storing charges for extra damage.

Also, you have a clutch claw grab at the end of both of those moves, letting you hook onto monsters that are moving around alot or flying. Eventually you'll be able to use it to knock monsters out of the air. The hammer combos seamlessly into the clutch claw, so use it to wound the monster as frequently as you can.

[็ikun]

Me too, first time using Hammer after playing for 800 hr i think.
- I go for max DEEP DPS :D , kinda sad 0 Slugger.
Acidic hammer, this i have to repair my weapon quite often, animation only take 1 repair no 4
Att - 7
Crit - 7
WE - 3
Peak - 3
Agi - 3
Heal - 3
Recovery up -3
Health regen
Element less

My favorite move, full charge release combo then CC xD easy lmao ( maybe sound noob for a first time like me, but i love it ) I got so many WOund Part for them too with this combo too

[Greb]

I like to spam charge attacks on flying or fast monsters. Typically the level two charge dash attack where you do a quick dash forward followed by an uppercut, it lets you get hits in where you can. It's a very fun weapon to use with the clutch claw, doing a fully charged big bang (with or without power charge) lets you perform a clutch claw attack that latches onto a monster and follows them even if they dash a mile away. Will get some okay damage in, and you can follow up with a soften attack usually.

Works best with a health regen augment on your Hammer itself, and combined with a Rocksteady or Temporal mantle, assuming it's an annoyance like Shrieking Legiana. I hate that monster a lot with the Hammer, I usually just switch to a HBG or something.

If you can, SLIDE. Hammers love slides, especially if you gem in something absolutely wonderful like an Affinity Sliding + Expert Jewel. Even a bit of Airborne and Jump Master if you can "afford" it or want to go that route. There's a few areas of the game practically built for Hammer users, like the paddock in Coral Highlands or that giant slope in Ancient Forest etc, but you can usually find slopes almost everywhere.

Another attack to watch out for (not sure if it's new with Iceborne) is the follow up golf swing after a charged jump attack. Roll off a ledge, hold RT to power up your hammer, unleash hell on a monster and then press Y right after and you'll follow up with a golfswing, it's a really great combo for getting stuck in and it's fairly fast, so it catches fast moving stuff like Nargacuga if the opportunity presents itself, etc.

I used to use Maximum Might all the time on my Hammer but now thanks to the clutch claw being so fun to use in conjunction with charge attacks, plus the general nerf towards Maximum Might in general, I don't bother - I'm pretty much always doing charge attacks nonstop until a monster is immobilised, and then it's time for mashing with the Big Bang combo, etc.

Slugger is great if you're playing solo, especially Slugger 5, but I don't recommend it if you take it into duo or multiplayer situations. In fact Hammer is one of those nice weapons that isn't really stuck to a specific set bonus to buff it out, so you could roll whatever you fancied if you wanted, depends how you feel and what you like doing the most. I'm lazy and have been using Slugger 5 for a long time but I really want to ditch it soon for something else.

Focus effects the Hammer but it's very much a use it forever or never use it at all skill. You need to get used to the exact timings for your Hammer charging up, so I never use it for consistency, IF you decide to use Focus on your Hammer, you'll want to ensure you ALWAYS have it, so you can always know exactly when your Hammer combo is going to reach X required level. It's a bit of a personal skill, that one.

I'm not the best Hammer user, but I do use it more than anything else...so uh yeah.

[Tresh]

Originally posted by Greb:

I like to spam charge attacks on flying or fast monsters. Typically the level two charge dash attack where you do a quick dash forward followed by an uppercut, it lets you get hits in where you can. It's a very fun weapon to use with the clutch claw, doing a fully charged big bang (with or without power charge) lets you perform a clutch claw attack that latches onto a monster and follows them even if they dash a mile away. Will get some okay damage in, and you can follow up with a soften attack usually.

Works best with a health regen augment on your Hammer itself, and combined with a Rocksteady or Temporal mantle, assuming it's an annoyance like Shrieking Legiana. I hate that monster a lot with the Hammer, I usually just switch to a HBG or something.

If you can, SLIDE. Hammers love slides, especially if you gem in something absolutely wonderful like an Affinity Sliding + Expert Jewel. Even a bit of Airborne and Jump Master if you can "afford" it or want to go that route. There's a few areas of the game practically built for Hammer users, like the paddock in Coral Highlands or that giant slope in Ancient Forest etc, but you can usually find slopes almost everywhere.

Another attack to watch out for (not sure if it's new with Iceborne) is the follow up golf swing after a charged jump attack. Roll off a ledge, hold RT to power up your hammer, unleash hell on a monster and then press Y right after and you'll follow up with a golfswing, it's a really great combo for getting stuck in and it's fairly fast, so it catches fast moving stuff like Nargacuga if the opportunity presents itself, etc.

I used to use Maximum Might all the time on my Hammer but now thanks to the clutch claw being so fun to use in conjunction with charge attacks, plus the general nerf towards Maximum Might in general, I don't bother - I'm pretty much always doing charge attacks nonstop until a monster is immobilised, and then it's time for mashing with the Big Bang combo, etc.

Slugger is great if you're playing solo, especially Slugger 5, but I don't recommend it if you take it into duo or multiplayer situations. In fact Hammer is one of those nice weapons that isn't really stuck to a specific set bonus to buff it out, so you could roll whatever you fancied if you wanted, depends how you feel and what you like doing the most. I'm lazy and have been using Slugger 5 for a long time but I really want to ditch it soon for something else.

I'm not the best Hammer user, but I do use it more than anything else...so uh yeah.

Thanks a lot. I am aware that Hammer is probably not the best weapon against Shrieking Legiana, but that's why that was one of my challenges. I figure I'll learn faster against a Monster that isn't optimal for my weapon choice, because I'll have to use everything in my arsenal.
I did it first try, too, but 25 minutes is a bad time for me.

[Greb]

Earplugs is a good skill for the Hammer too. One day I'll have Earplugs IV charm and can work it into my sets without hassle and life will be good. The openings you get when a monster roars are fantastic for stunning or otherwise getting some good damage in. Especially if the monster is roaring into an anger phase and you're running something like Agitator, and there's a slope nearby.

It's every Hammer users destiny to become the spinning Catherine wheel of death!

I won't claim to be a pro Hammer user or even a very good one but I've been using them for a long time and they're probably my favourite weapon out of everything, lol. The only problem with Hammer users is we never get any tail

But who needs tail when you've got an 'uge 'amma?

[Waffles]

Originally posted by Greb:

Earplugs is a good skill for the Hammer too. One day I'll have Earplugs IV charm and can work it into my sets without hassle and life will be good. The openings you get when a monster roars are fantastic for stunning or otherwise getting some good damage in. Especially if the monster is roaring into an anger phase and you're running something like Agitator, and there's a slope nearby.

It's every Hammer users destiny to become the spinning Catherine wheel of death!

I won't claim to be a pro Hammer user or even a very good one but I've been using them for a long time and they're probably my favourite weapon out of everything, lol. The only problem with Hammer users is we never get any tail :mismile:

But who needs tail when you've got an 'uge 'amma?

While I agree with you, it isn't universally useful.

Some monster heads are simply out of reach during a roar.

[Greb]

True, such as Deviljho. Earplugs won't really help you for mashing his head during his big bad roar, but you might be able to work a soften attack into it if you're quick, or you could prepare a power charge big bang combo so right as he comes down from his roar, you're swinging straight into his ugly maw! Plus, since you lose your power charge when roared, it's nice for stopping that.

But yes, very true indeed. That's why I won't use it without the charm, it's too "costly" to gem in, or mix-match equipment to achieve, just for the little bit of extra (and extremely satisfying, mind you) utlity it can give. A charm though, like with Handicraft too, would be perfect for me. I can spare a single slot for an Earplugs / Handicraft jewel...but not several, etc.

Also Flinch Free. Not necessary in solo but damn do you miss it when you forget to slot it in when you go into multiplayer lol. Powercharge gives you some inherent protection from trips and such I guess, but I tend not to rely on that much myself, because I'm lazy.

[CeD]

Go for the Juicy Well-Done Hammer! This piece of meat is nuts. Best hammer! Highest damage.

You will say "It only has blue shapness duh!" or "It's not elementless duh!" .. BUT it has way more Raw damage than any other hammer and you neither need handicraft nor master's touch. You can go bonkers with 100%crit + crit boost 3 + agitator 5 + attack boost 7 + KO 3 !!! You'll hit like a truck.

[Tresh]

Originally posted by Greb:

Also Flinch Free. Not necessary in solo but damn do you miss it when you forget to slot it in when you go into multiplayer lol. Powercharge gives you some inherent protection from trips and such I guess, but I tend not to rely on that much myself, because I'm lazy.

Right now I'm soloing because I think I'd hold a team back in MP, not knowing my weapon too well yet. Also, I think there's no better way to get to know a weapon than to have a monster all to yourself (and your Palico)

I'm considering to switch my palico's equipment to shieldspire. Would that give me more and longer openings?

[Greb]

In my experience Shieldspire is less about giving yourself openings for attacking (unless you're going for the tail or the monster has "safe" opportunities for softening while it's attacking something else) and more about simply giving yourself some breathing room to heal.

The Stooge is useful though, it was the first Palico gadget I bothered levelling up in Iceborne and it definitely takes some heat off of you. It's still dangerous for a Hammer user because you'll be mashing their head, which means you'll be in the line of fire anyway most of the time.

That's another thing I noticed actually. High Rank gives you the luxury of mashing a monsters head while they're downed, with plenty of time to get out of the way when the monster gets back up, but in Master Rank if you try doing this they'll be up and attacking you before you know it, especially if it's something like a Rathalos and they stand up into a fireball attack. Gotta watch out for that and try using your big combo from the side rather than directly in front, most of the time anyway lol.

For a Hammer user I'd probably have to recommend Flashfly Cage for the free stun traps (you'll feel less like a scrub if you're not using your own + crafting more and spamming them, lol) or maybe Meowlotov Cocktail for the occasional knock down / trip that can do...plus since you'll be stunning the monster down to the floor a lot, you can set up the big volcano attack your Palico uses to get more use out of it, maybe?

Also, Meolotov Cocktail lets your Palico chuck their own little bombs down when you place your own bomb barrels, and since the Hammer is a fairly good weapon for doing sleep bombing with (place the barrels behind the monsters head, then use a Level 3 Big Bang etc) it might synergise well if you can maximise bombing potential? Up to you though.

Not gonna lie, if I was learning a weapon again I'd probably use Vigorwasp for the free revive since I'll probably be eating dirt a lot while I'm getting the hang of things.

[Whoa]

When you're doing your bread and butter you should always try to have the head to the right of you so that when you begin the upswing animation its lower to the ground and more likely to hit the monster.

Also really good for positioning in MP so people don't complain about sending them flying.

[Greb]

Hammer also has additional value with its level two charge dash upswing thing - it can bring people out of paralysis and sleep while they're on the ground, breaking them free instantly. It's also good for getting people out of the way of danger in some cases too - punt your low HP buddy who is stunned clear of the fight, so they can heal up. As expected, this is VERY valuable when fighting Kirin, since there's ALWAYS one who doesn't bring Para Res 3, lol.

It's definitely a lot more useful for rescuing people out of paralysis and sleep though. You'll be surprised how many love themed stickers you can farm just by doing that, since I've never seen anyone, even other Hammer and Greatsword users which have easy access to it (I believe Switchaxe and Charge Blade can do it too, but it's more complex for them?) do that to free me or others from paralysis or sleep, etc.

So, be the Hammerchad that everyone deserves! It's truly a great feeling when someone gets tagged by a Gajalaka and is on the ground having a breakdown for 10 seconds, and you free them from it instantly with your punt, and they spam a bunch of stickers in gratitude lol.