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When it comes to selecting your preferred weapon, you want something that really clicks with you; a weapon that becomes almost second nature to wield. For me, that was Monster Hunter World’s Hammer, which returned alongside the rest of the weapon lineup inMonster Hunter Wildswith some fantastic additions.
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Join me as we showcase some example builds for Wilds' Hammer while teaching you what goes into an effective monster pounding machine. Sometimes you need a grand strategy or state-of-the-art gear, and sometimes you just need arock on a stick.
Monster Hunter Wilds' Low Rank makes up most of the campaign and is very generous for new players. For the most part, following theHope Hammer Itree for your armor and weapons of choice is wholly viable, but since this guide is meant to give you an idea of what makes good Hammer build fundamentals, we can start nice and early.
Of the early sets available, theBone Mailset is a nice upgrade once you’ve committed to learning how Hammer is best played. You quickly learn that stamina is both highly important and easy to waste while charging, meaning that the Bone Set’s full points towardMarathon Runnergive you plenty of time to line up the perfect swing.
Marathon Runner lowers any form of consistent drain on your stamina, which includes both sprinting and the drain while charging your hammer.
Similarly, the Hope Hammer tree is a great choice of weapon, trading anything flashy for simple ease of use. It does lack an ailment, however. With the Hammer’s new focus on multi-hits, it’d be a shame to not start abusing them early.
TheJail Hammer Itree fits this niche beautifully, providing paralysis, one of the game’s strongest ailments, very early. Its innate skill, Stamina Thief, allows your hits to deal extra exhaust damage to monsters, giving you openings during longer fights where the monster will need to catch its breath.
High Rank is where you’ll be spending most of your time in Wilds, and it’s also where things get exciting! Like we discussed previously, Hammer makes fantastic use of ailments. If youread our previous build guidesfor Wilds you’ll remember that it’s difficult to get better on-demand ailments than the Artian Selection.
Artian weapons give you plenty of options when it comes to exactly how you want your weapon to operate, making them amazing end-game choices. Building off of our earlier time with Jail Hammer, aiming for paralysis can earn your party multiple wide openings throughout the fight.
Paralysis is far from the only worthwhile option, of course. A blast ailment can lead to plenty of extra damage, and a sleep focus can help you keep the monster down as much as possible. Don’t have a Greatsword in the group? Hammer still provides its classic heavy swings to give any beastie arude awakening.
Arguably the greatest boon provided by the Artian weapons are their triple size-three decoration slots, giving you even more flexibility in what you want to aim for. In the earlier example, I focused on skills to maximize charge damage and minimize the time spent charging, which is great for fights where you’re still trying to master the monster’s moveset.
Most of our skills will come from our armor selection, so let’s check on that before discussing optimal decos.
For our example build, we’ll be shooting for a mix of affinity steroids, stamina boosts, and skills to make it as easy as possible to stick to a monster’s head and knock’em out of the park.
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For our armor specifically, we’ll be looking to maximize some late-game set bonuses to cheat out as much damage and stamina as possible. We can start with the Beta Guardian Anjanath helm and Alpha Guardian Anjanath gauntlets, earning us the Fulgur Anjanath’s Will bonus.
The helm will offer a point inAgitatoras well as another size three decoration slot, while the gauntlets giveMaximum Mightand another point intoAgitator.Alongside these individual skills, the set bonus grants a second, smaller stamina bar at the end of your maximum.
For skills like Maximum Might that require you to maintain a maxed stamina bar, the bonus bar provided by the Anjanath set doesn’t count, giving you a pool of stamina to work with while keeping Maximum Might’s boost active.
Next we’ll take the boots and leggings from the Gore Magala set, granting us the useful skillsConstitution,Flinch Free, andAntivirus. With these, we’ll get the set bonus Black Eclipse, instantly infecting us with the Frenzy virus when combat with a large monster starts.
Cleansing the Frenzy virus always gives a damage boost, but by gaining this point in Antivirus (and building further into it with decorations), you’re able to also net massive affinity bonuses. Constitution and Flinch Free will both offer some extra comfort, further lowering stamina costs for actions like rolling and making you resistant to monster impacts, respectively.
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Finishing our armor with the beta Zoh Shia chest piece will provide great defense as well as two more points into Agitator. Enraging the monster is an inevitability, but points into Agitator will let you pivot those dangerous moments into major DPS opportunities.
Let’s lay out the important skills we’re shooting for, for reminder’s sake:
These are just the skills our build covers on its own, and there are still plenty that seriously benefit Hammer. Let’s take a look at a few of those!
Finishing Touches
When it comes to filling out your armor’s decoration slots, it’s largely up to preference. There are multiple routes you could pivot the build. SlappingCritical EyeandCritical Ailmenton your hammer will allow you to maximize the secondary effect of your hammer, whatever it may be.
If you went for a raw focused hammer instead, like the Arkveld or Zoh Shia options, it’d still be a smart idea to focus on maximizing affinity. Replacing Critical Ailment forCritical Eyewill allow you to make the most out of your hits, while tossingHandicraftin will help you with sharpness upkeep amidst the storm of smashes the Hammer provides.
Including the ones discussed here, skills that slot well into Hammer consist of:
Wilds' version of the hammer provides the best bonk for your buck possible. With the fundamentals discussed in the guide, you’ll be ready to suit up and start cracking skulls!
