Monster Hunter Wilds Hammer Guide: Builds & Combos

These hard-hitting Hammer builds make the most of one of the most powerful weapons in Monster Hunter Wilds!

Image credit:Capcom

UPDATE: We have added suggestions for a post-game Hammer build to this guide.

A long-time Monster Hunter favourite, the hammer might look like a dumb hunk of metal, but in Monster Hunter Wilds it’s a deceptively tricky weapon that’s capable of dishing out both big hits and whirling flurries of blows.

Mixed with a handy roster of different ailments and elements, as well as a unique stun ability, the hammer is a lot less clunky and a lot more versatile than it first seems. Particularly with teammates as part of a multiplayer party, you can line up some unbelievable combos with the Hammer which never fail to bring a grin to your face.

However, to help you get the most out of this massive weapon , we’ve put together a quick list of our best strategies and builds which ease you into the early game, particularly if you’re a new player, before taking more of an interest in how Skills can give your character big buffs. As a post-credits meta begins to emerge, we’ll add more High Rank builds too.

Monster Hunter Wilds Hammer Guide

Hammer Combos

The Hammer is one of the most uncomplicated weapons out there, but the nuance of making the best use of your charge attack can be tricky.

As you get more used to using the Hammer, you’ll get better at holding R2 and running around a monster to avoid damage while preparing an attack of your own.

The flow of combat ends up looking like this:

• Close distance by holding R2 to Charge, then when your character flashes for a second time, release for a big swing
• Follow-up with a Big Bang Combo by pressing Circle five times
• You can then use the Basic Combo by pressing Triangle three times, if you get chance, you can hold the third press to charge for extra damage
• When a monster is knocked down or stunned, wind up the Mighty Charge by pressing R2 + Triangle + Circle at the same time and following up with another Triangle attack
• For repeated hits, press Triangle once, then Triangle and Circle at the same time to start a spinning attack, then while you’re spinning hold Triangle to perform a charged finisher at the end

Monster Hunter Wilds Hammer Builds

While thinking about your build only really becomes a necessity in the post-game grind, there are some early and mid-game builds which make a big difference to your character and show you just how strong some of the Skills can be.

Skills can be confusing, even for returning fans of the Monster Hunter series, so here are some to look out for as you play with the Hammer.

Early Game

In the early game of Monster Hunter Wilds, you need to find a strong hammer with good elemental damage or a useful effect. Paralysis from the Lala Barina is quite good, but very similar to the hammer’s innate ability to stun monsters. That’s why I like the Balahara variant too.

That’s useful to know, since you will also want to farm Balahara a little bit for their useful armour pieces, which give Quick Sheathe and Evade Extender to buff your dodge roll. The 2 pieces of the Alloy set, which you can get almost immediately, also give Quick Sheathe, which will make using items and sprinting easier as you get to grips with your weapon’s moveset at the beginning of the story.

• Weapon : Lala Barina Jail Hammer/Balahara Hammer
• Helm : Alloy
• Cuirass : Quematrice/Balahara
• Gauntlets : Quematrice/Balahara
• Waist : Quematrice/Balahara
• Greaves : Alloy
• Talisman : Defence Charm

Mid-game

As you reach the end of the main story which basically serves as the game’s extended tutorial, you’ll start to gain access to more exciting weapons, like the Guardian Rathalos tree, as well as gear with more advanced Skills.

Once such Skill is Latent Power, which comes as part of the Rey Dau set and buffs your critical damage and dodge roll for a set time after taking a certain amount of damage on a hunt. By wearing 4 pieces of the Rey Dau set you massively extend the timeframe that this buff remains active, giving you a big advantage in difficult fights.

• Weapon : Guardian Rathalos Albirath Bludgeon
• Helm : Rey Dau
• Cuirass : Rey Dau
• Gauntlets : Rey Dau
• Waist : Hirabami
• Greaves : Rey Dau
• Talisman : Defence/element of monster being hunted

Post-game

The best Hammer build in Monster Hunter Wilds is incredibly forgiving, allowing you to play aggressively and constantly bonk the heads of bosses safely. This particular post-game build, which is great for newcomers to the series, has also been put together with ideas from YouTubers, PhaseShifter and LordViettner , as well as our own playtime.

First and foremost, this build opts for the Graviton Hammer but you can, of course, opt for Artian weapons if you’ve the materials for them (we’ve more details on this below if you’re planning on using an Artian weapon). That said, the Graviton Hammer actually out-damages these weapons, and does the most damage of any hammer in the game at the time of writing. That’s because it lacks Affinity (also known as Critical Rate), but fortunately, this doesn’t matter to us so much as this build will focus on purely attack damage.

By pairing this with three pieces from the Guardian Ebony Odogaron set of armor, listed below, we’ll gain the Burst Skill (Level 3), and the Divine Blessing Skill (Level 3). The Burst Skill is particularly good for us given the Burst damage that our weapon does, while Divine Blessing allows us to reduce damage taken. Having at least two pieces from this set equipped also provides us with Level 1 of the Ebony Odogaron’s Power Bonus Skill – Burst Boost 1 – which buffs the duration of the Burst Skill and grants additional attack while the skill is active. Nice!

We’re then also adding two pieces of Blangonga armor – Blango Mail B and Blango Coil B – to benefit from the set’s Bonus Skill, Blangonga’s Spirit, which provides War Cry Level 1. This allows us to increase the attack of yourself and your allies whenever we use the To Victory! gesture, which is great for your fellow Support Hunters.

Last, but not least, to buff our Burst stacks a little further and get them to Level 5, we’re equipping the Chain Charm II which provides Burst Level 2.

Alternatively, if you’re using an Artian weapon such as the Moteurvankel, you can continue to focus on stacking the Burst skill, but you can look into improving your affinity as well (instead of opting for raw attack power with the Graviton Hammer).

Do this by swapping the Blangonga armor listed below for Arkvulcan Mail B and Arkvulcan Coil B. This means no War Cry Bonus Skill, but instead, you’ll benefit from Weakness Exploit Level 3 (increases affinity of attacks targeting monster wounds and weak points). On top of that, you’ll gain the first level of the Arkveld’s Hunger Bonus Skill, Hasten Recovery, which regenerates health as you consecutively attack.

This particular build can then be paired with either the aforementioned Chain Charm II (provides Burst Level 2) or Exploiter Charm 2 (provides Weakness Exploit Level 2). Equipping either will either boost Burst or Weakness Exploit to Level 5 respectively. Whichever one remains at Level 3, you should try to find some Decorations that boost this further!

• Weapon: Graviton Hammer (or an Artian Hammer)
• Helm: Guardian Ebony Helm B
• Chest: Blango Mail B (or Arkvulcan Mail B)
• Gauntlets: Guardian Ebony Braces B
• Waist: Blango Coil B (Arkvulcan Coil B)
• Greaves: Guardian Ebony Greaves A
• Talisman: Chain Charm II (or Exploiter Charm II)

For more on Monster Hunter Wilds, take a look at our Bow build guide , our Dual Blades build guide , and our Gunlance build guide .

Monster Hunter Wilds

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