How To Use The Hammer In Monster Hunter Wilds

As with most entries in the Monster Hunter series, there are quite a few weapons to choose from in your monster slaying escapades. In the case of Monster Hunter Wilds, the weapon count is up to 14, with every single weapon functioning extremely differently than the others, offering unique advantages and disadvantages to each.

One of those weapons is the Hammer, and it’s one of the harder-hitting options there is. While it might not be a particularly agile weapon, it does have one ability that allows you to perform a dodge. When timed well, the Hammer can make great use of opportunities; timed poorly, and you’re going to get clobbered.

You can see the specific Hammer controls for your platform by going into Settings > Info > Play Guide > Weapon Controls > Hammer.

Hammer Overview

The Hammer functions fairly simply; it bonks stuff very hard. Mechanically, there are a lot of things that branch off of this, but at face value, the Hammer is a fairly easy-to-wield weapon.

Hammer Charge

In terms of mechanics, the Hammer doesn’t have anything too complicated; you can charge the Hammer, allowing you to unleash some high-damage attacks without leading into them via a combo, and there’s a movement ability tied to that charge effect that we’ll detail below.

There are three different levels to your Hammer charge:

• Charge Level One will activate after you’ve held the charge for about half a second and is indicated by your Hunter flashing white.
• Charge Level Two, which is indicated by your Hunter flashing yellow.
• Charge Level Three, which is indicated by your Hunter flashing red. From here, your Hammer will deal a large amount of damage on your next attack, and you’ll have access to one specific attack only available at this charge.

You can still move at normal speed while charging your Hammer, with the exception of being able to sprint. When charging while moving down a moderately steep incline, your Hunter will slide down the incline while still charging the Hammer.

Charge Step

Charge Step is going to be one of your most used maneuvers. While holding your charge, you can press your Standard Attack button to dodge in whatever direction you’re moving.

This is better than a standard dodge because it maintains the charge you’ve built up on your Hammer. This means you can charge your Hammer, dodge an attack, and unleash a fully-charged attack without interruption.

For the Hammer, which is relatively slow-moving and immobile, this ability is a game-changer, and making use of it is going to increase your damage exponentially.

Hammer Strengths

The strengths of the Hammer include:

• High damage on most hits. The Hammer can methodically chunk an enemy’s health down, making great use of moments when the monster is recovering.
• The Hammer is blunt and can inflict quite a bit of stun on a monster. This is going to daze them, giving you moments where you can attack the monster without fear of the monster attacking back.
• While the Hammer is slow, the combos with it are mostly pretty piecemeal. You aren’t often locked into a very long animation or committed to staying in a certain spot. You can end most combos on any hit and move out of the way if need be, rather than taking a blow you didn’t have a chance to dodge.

Hammer Weaknesses

There aren’t too many weaknesses when it comes to the Hammer, but it is not going to be a weapon that everyone has a good time with.

• It is not a particularly mobile weapon and isn’t going to afford you many quick-moving options. You will be able to dodge attacks if you move in the right direction with Charge Step, but it isn’t going to create any distance between you and the monster.
• The Hammer does not have impressive range. For such a large weapon, its reach is quite low. You’re always going to have to be right up on a monster to keep in attack range; for some monsters, this can be a blessing, and for others, a curse.

Hammer Combos And Tips

There are quite a few Hammer combos, each with its own use cases.

Basic Combo

The Standard Attack with the Hammer unleashes an overhand smash on the enemy; this can be chained twice, with the third standard attack turning into an upswing instead.

This combo will deal significant damage in a short amount of time, but in terms of pure damage potential, it’s outshined by the next combo. This combo will be handy in specific situations where you need to place an upswing to disrupt a monster, but in many situations, it has a better alternative.

You’ll need to stand still for this weapon combo, otherwise the first attack is going to be a Side Smash, instead.

Big Bang

Big Bang is a higher pure-damage combo than the Basic Combo, though it does come with some stipulations.

To use the Big Bang combo, press your Standard Attack button. You can chain this five times, each time unleashing a more powerful downward smash. The final hit is going to be split into three different damage numbers, with the final one being the biggest yet.

This is a bread-and-butter attack for the Hammer.

When you’re right on top of a monster with little chance to miss, this combo is going to really shine. But missing even one of these attacks is going to stop the combo entirely.

The Hammer does not have great reach, so you’ll need to stay close to the monster for this combo to get optimal use.

Charge Attacks

When charging your Hammer, you’ll have a few different attack options (aside from the Charge Step):

• Charged Side Blow, which is dealt by releasing your charge at Level One. This will deal minimal damage, but is a fairly quick attack.
• Charged Upswing, unleashed by releasing your charge at Level Two. This is a slightly lower-damage version of the upswing finisher from the Basic Combo, but it doesn’t require the previous attacks before it.
• Charged Big Bang is a variation on the finisher in the Big Bang combo. This version hits twice instead of three times, but does almost as much damage, and doesn’t require the previous attacks to chain into it.
• Mighty Charge can only be activated from Charge Level Three. Once at Charge Level Three, press both attack buttons at the same time. Your Hunter will begin swinging their hammer. Once you release your Hammer charge, your Hunter will smash their Hammer, dealing damage three times, with the third attack dealing tremendous damage.
• Focused Blow: Earthquake is a variation of the Focused Blow when charging your Hammer. This is the only way you should ever use Focused Blow with the Hammer, as doing it from a Hammer charge not only unleashes the focus blow on a wound, but it also unleashes a Hammer charge attack immediately afterward.

In terms of pure damage, Mighty Charge is one of the best options for the Hammer. When you get a free shot at an enemy, this is a great option.

Spinning Bludgeon

Spinning Bludgeon is an attack that can only be performed as a follow-up to another attack, but you can perform it after any, including the quickest attack, Side Smash.

Spinning Bludgeon is the highest risk and reward attack available to the Hammer. At its best, it can unleash a consistent chunk of damage and stun-buildup on a Monster, with the follow-up attack that comes out of the spin as a high-damage finisher to the combo- a different finisher depending on how many spins you’ve spun.

The issue with the Spinning Bludgeon is that it locks you in an animation that is impossible to get out of quickly. When timed poorly, a monster is going to be able to hit you with whatever attack it happens to be unleashing, and you’ll have no option but to take it.

Spinning Bludgeon is particularly effective against groups of monsters, especially smaller monsters. This is going to keep every angle clear and deal lethal damage to multiple small monsters quickly.