What is the best Monster Hunter Wilds Hammer build? The Hammer is a heavy weapon with striking mobility and a moveset packed with combo attacks. It also has a high chance to stun any monster unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of its trademark golf swing, leaving wounds and weak spots wide open.
The Hammer can be considered a blunt alternative to the Monster Hunter Wilds, but its inability to guard demands careful timing. Here's how to master the Hammer and land those powerful swings when it counts with the best build.
Best Monster Hunter Wilds Hammer build
The best build for the Hammer is:
- Primary Weapon: Shrouded Aghaturi
- Secondary Weapon: Shrouded Katalo (Sword and Shield)
- Armor: Dahaad Shardhelm A (Head), G. Doshaguma Mail A (Chest), Dahaad Shardbraces A (Arms), Dahaad Shardcoil A (Waist), Dahaad Shardgraves A (Legs)
- Decorations: Attack Jewel (Primary & Secondary), KO Jewel (Primary), Expert Jewel (Primary), Shield Jewel (Secondary), Ironwall Jewel (Secondary), Defense Jewel (Armor), Protection Jewel (Armor)
- Talisman: Earplugs Charm (Lv. 1 – 3)
- Mantle: Rocksteady Mantle
- Equipment Skills: Stamina Thief (Lv. 3), Charge Up (Lv. 1), Guard (Lv. 3), Guard Up (Lv. 1), Agitator (Lv. 5), Adaptability (Lv. 1), Tremor Resistance (Lv. 1), Constitution (Lv. 2), Iron Skin (Lv. 1)
This build uses the Chatacabra's line of Hammers, concluding with the Shrouded Agaturi, aiming to deal as much damage as possible with big, well-timed hits rather than build statuses. As it comes paired with the Stamina Thief and Charge Up abilities, it's the perfect Hammer to tire out monsters and deal massive Big Bang combos into Mighty Charge Slams. As Hammers don't have a way to carve off monster tails and limbs, and have very little in the way of defense, the Shrouded Katalo makes a great secondary weapon. For monsters like Xu Wu that strike quickly, swapping to this MH Wilds Sword and Shield can save you a lot of trouble.
The armor for this build uses four pieces of the Dahaad set; while difficult to assemble because Jin Dahaad does not frequently spawn, it comes with the Agitator skill, which increases your damage and affinity exponentially if a monster is enraged. With the Hammer, you're only looking to get a few hits in, so if timed well you can turn the enraged state against the monster. However, we do swap out the Dahaad chest piece for the G. Doshaguma Mail A as the former doesn't have any applicable skills, and the latter helps your stamina and defenses with Constitution and Iron Skin.
Finally, you want decorations for your Hammer that increase your attack, like the Attack Jewel and the Expert Jewel. The KO Jewel is the best choice as it provides the Slugger skill, allowing you to stun monsters quickly. This pairs well with the Hammer as a stunned monster is free to cycle through the Big Bang into a Mighty Charge Slam combo.
We want a maxed-out Earplugs Charm to be able to position and charge up slams while a monster roars and then the Rocksteady Mantle provides resistance to all kinds of mobility-impairing effects, making it the perfect choice.
How to use the Monster Hunter Wilds Hammer
The Hammer has a ton of combo flexibility, which means there's almost always an attack to chain into regardless of which move you use to begin your assault. That said, button-mashing will only get you so far. The Overhead Smash sequence is a reliable chain of big swings culminating in an Upswing. This is an offset attack, so time it carefully to knock a monster off-balance. From here, reset this attack rotation or segue into Spinning Bludgeon or a Mighty Charge.
Like the Great Sword, the Hammer's Charge ability is vital to access more powerful variants in its moveset. This includes a Charged Upswing, Follow-Up, and Charged Big-Bang, all of which you can pepper into your attack rotation for bonus damage. Charge also gives you access to Mighty Charge, the most iconic attack in the Hammer's moveset. This continuous vertical spin attack lets you dish out some serious damage in a relentless forward assault culminating in a downward slam attack. You want to hold this spin for as long as possible, but doing so leaves you wide open, so be careful not to overextend.
The Hammer's lack of ranged attacks, demands you to pay close attention to monster hitboxes, especially if you want to land a Big Bang finisher with consistency. We recommend saving that combo until after you stun a monster, which gives you time to land those successive hits without getting interrupted.
Monster Hunter Wilds Hammer moveset
Here are all the moves and combos for the Hammer:
- Overhead Smash: A standard attack you can chain up to three times. This combo sequence comprises Overhead Smash I, Overhead Smash II, and Upswing.
- Big Bang: A smash attack that you can chain up to four times after each successful hit, plus an optional finisher.
- Charge: Spend energy up to three charge levels for more powerful attack variations. This includes Charged Big Bang, Charged Step, and Mighty Charge.
- Mighty Charge: A continuous forward vertical spin attack that ends with a Mighty Charge Slam finisher.
- Charged Step: An evasive move that lets you dodge incoming attacks without losing charge.
- Spinning Bludgeon: A spinning follow-up attack that can be extended to build damage over time.
- Midair Spinning Bludgeon: Charge and release while on a slope to spin through the air.
- Focus Blow – Earthquake: A powerful smash attack effective against wounds or weak points that lets you transition into a Spinning Bludgeon for continuous damage.
As you might expect, it's impossible to pierce monsters with the Hammer – you'll have to pick up a Monster Hunter Wilds focus mode is a boon for the Hammer, so take full advantage of it to land those powerful swings. Above all else, the Hammer is all about chaining combos on the fly; to master it, just keep swinging.
Now that you're ready to bonk the toughest monsters on the head with your Monster Hunter Wilds Hammer, check out the Monster Hunter Wilds monsters will keep you alive as you explore the Forbidden Lands.