Nova Sword vs Corps' Hammer

[The Shadow of Death]

Is it just me, or is the Corps' hammer arguably better than the Nova Sword? They both have the same attack (+200), but the Sword attacks faster so you'd think it would be better. However, in my experience the Hammer seems to do more damage and kill enemies faster, especially in the Ingall's Mine. At the very least, it seems better at hitting multiple enemies at once, so good at dealing with swarming mobs there. Even against lone targets the Hammer seems better though, it sure seems to do higher damage per strike and crits seem to proc more often, and overall the targets just seem to die noticeably faster but that could just be a coincidence or my imagination.

For the first level boss (the drill) I seemed to do well using the hammer for the first part of the battle, and when its health starts getting low it started repeating a sequence of spinning, and switching to the sword and attacking a few times and retreating worked well during that part of the fight.

EDIT: Something I was wondering about is if there is some sort of damage type resistance in effect? Like, the worms (and maybe the drill) being resistant to slashing weapons, but not blunt (hammer) attacks?

[Ihateeverybody]

Does the Hammer have a Stun Componenent like the Lions Claw Gauntlets? Haven't gotten on this update play through yet. Stuns are worth alot, especially against bosses. Especially if you manage to chain them. Also with the New Dash/Charge attack combat flows (FOR THE MOST PART) more smoothly. Its just when you are trying to hit something else and the machine thinks you want to hit the other thing that the charge attack is annoying.

Once I get to the appropriate spot I will be sure to test it out (the Hammer).

[The Shadow of Death]

Originally posted by Ihateeverybody:

Does the Hammer have a Stun Componenent like the Lions Claw Gauntlets? Haven't gotten on this update play through yet. Stuns are worth alot, especially against bosses. Especially if you manage to chain them. Also with the New Dash/Charge attack combat flows (FOR THE MOST PART) more smoothly. Its just when you are trying to hit something else and the machine thinks you want to hit the other thing that the charge attack is annoying.

Once I get to the appropriate spot I will be sure to test it out (the Hammer).

I don't think it stuns more than the Nova Sword, it's mainly that the damage itself overall seems to be higher, with a somewhat greater chance to crit, in my experience.

The Sword is actually better for dash-attacking enemies, the Hammer's dash attack is a spinning move that seems to miss more often than not in my experience.

Regardless, the Hammer is definitely my weapon of choice when there is more than one enemy attacking me at once, as the first couple of attacks are spinning moves that hit all enemies around you, not just the ones in front.

EDIT: I just find it odd that the strikes from the sword are consistently lower than the hammer. One can say that the sword attacks faster, and that's true, but it doesn't seem to pan out in real combat situations. I seem to always kill enemies faster with the hammer, at least when they've decent health and defense and can tank a few hits.

[deanbarrett1]

Personally I much prefer the Nova Sword, the Corps Hammer's swing is way too slow and even though it may do slighty more damage you can get far more hits with the Nova causing more total damage over time.
I've also picked up an even bigger hammer than the corps in a chest drop (in HR called the Ancient War-Hammer and it's huge) which has a damge rating of 280 but again I still prefer the Nova.

[XBL Laberbacke]

I sold all weapons but the Nova Sword. They just didn't feel right.

[Phantom]

200 Nova sword vs 280 Hammer the clear winner is still the nova sword :P

More Hits = more damage
More Hits = more crits
More Crits = more stun
More Crits = more damage

[deanbarrett1]

Originally posted by Phantom:

200 Nova sword vs 280 Hammer the clear winner is still the nova sword :P

More Hits = more damage
More Hits = more crits
More Crits = more stun
More Crits = more damage

Yep all correct IMHO, I've tried both and even though you get the area swing with the hammers, if you position yourself correctly you can still hit 3-4 enimies with one swing of the sword. Taking the hammers against the boses is even worse I think cos you definately get far, far more hits in with the Nova.

[bubbajoe62]

The Corps hammer doesn't do much for me but I've been running Ingall's Mine lvl3 various ways since the last hot fix. I really like the War hammer against the variants because I can knock them out with 2 or 3 hits, meanwhile they are doing much less damage to my health. Seems like it was taking 4 or 5 hits with the Nova sword.

My last lvl3 boss battle I just ran, fired 3 shots from the venom gun, ran and repeat. It took quite awhile to knock him down but again with very little damage. Used maybe 60-80 darts, got him to around 10 or 15, then finished him off with the Nova. With the first aid kit drops I actually gained net health points.

[DYRT]

There is a better hammer: War Hammer (280attack)
Hammer's are very efficient now. Last update nerfed nova swords because changed how critical chance works but also did improved hammers.
I was able to hit up to 1500 damage with my nova sword (usually around 1k) but now it hits around 400to600.
Hammer's whirling charge: if you able to use it from proper distance, it hits 2 times. (You can always charge and rollback and charge again instead of using other inefficient hits.) So its more stamina efficient weapon. Since i picked defense posture stamina was depleating quickly and i was started to used some consumables middle of the boss fights but now its not a problem anymore.
I think it has same critical value (since my total crit %80 i didnt noticed any difference between nova sword and war hammer. While nova hits around 400to600, WarHammer hits around 600-1300 it was an obvious choice to me.
If you only hit with triggering hammer's charge its much better option. More than half of enemies dies instantly in mine level 3. because of something like: 900damage+1000damage

[Kieren]

Personally I prefer the sword and I even used iron sword instead of the corps hammer before I got the nova.

But that's mostly cause being quick feels nice, more fun to play

[Huillam]

Originally posted by deanbarrett1:

More Hits = more damage
(...)
More Crits = more damage

Those would be true if both weapons were dealing the exact same amount of damage per hit which isn't the case.
As for stuns it's the exact same issue: we don't know the exact formulae used to calculate both stun chances and duration.

[deanbarrett1]

Originally posted by Huillam:

Originally posted by deanbarrett1:

More Hits = more damage
(...)
More Crits = more damage

Those would be true if both weapons were dealing the exact same amount of damage per hit which isn't the case.
As for stuns it's the exact same issue: we don't know the exact formulae used to calculate both stun chances and duration.

Correction - I didn't actually post that, I just agreed with it.

As I've said in another thread discussing the pros and cons of these weapons it really comes down to your own particular playing style. I and many others from what I can tell still prefer the Nova over the new War Hammer.
I have done many runs through the HR levels now, have regually tried both weapons, and I still find the Nova is far more effective for the way I play.
In the Mob levels I draw out 3 - 4 enemies at once and hit them all with one swing with the Nova. That method completey negates the bonus of the "Area Swing" attack the hammer does.
My equipment and stats are set for more critical damage and I can personally get far more hits with the Nova in a short period of time than I can with the Hammer. In the time it takes to get 2 hits in with the hammer I can get 6 or 7 with the Nova, It means that even though the hammer does more damage with each hit I can despatch the Mobs much quicker using the Nova. It also saves me a lot of Stamina being able to despatch several mobs at once with a few swings of my sword.
Against the Bosses it comes down to just straight numbers, more hits equals more damage over time for me.

It really does come down to your own personal preference and tactics/playstyle.

[DYRT]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgByWkILTqI
I killed mine lvl 3 boss with both weapon, you can clearly see hammer has more advantage for now.

[Guh~hey~hey~♫]

Hammers charge attack, be it the corp or the war version, never ever hit the target when used on small mobs for me. You get the hit sound but no damage is applied at all.

Might be that this weapon is actually some sort an anti-boss weapon, gotta try the charge attack on boss monsters to see if the charge attack work in that case. But a very slow weapon against a boss monster sounds like something really counterproductive and risky to say the least....

[DYRT]

If you use charge like its a sword (from distance) its missing the target but if you come closer and do charge it will hit 2 times with one mouse click.

[deanbarrett1]

Still prefer the Nova, you do it your way, I'll do it mine.
It comes down to what you as a player individually prefers. There is no this is definately better than that...