If you’re a fan of heavier weapons to pound enemies with, Monster Hunter’s Hammer fits the bill nicely. The Hammer class is back in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and Capcom have shared an introduction to it on their site. Read it below:
So let’s say you weren’t a big fan of the Sword and Shield – it just wasn’t powerful enough for your taste, or seemed too fast for you to control – and now you want to try something that excels in the strength department, or feels more grounded… with more overall impact. Well, look no further than your own item/equipment box (in your house) and pick up that Hammer. You’ll actually find one weapon of each type waiting to be tried out, but let’s focus on the Hammer right now.
The first thing you’ll find about the Hammer is that it’s completely different from the Sword and Shield; its moves are slower, it doesn’t have a means to block incoming attacks, and it causes impact damage on all its hits. The only similarities are the short reach and speed at which the hunter runs while holding the Hammer – they hold it in such way that allows them to run relatively fast when compared to other heavy weapons such as the Great Sword or the Heavy Bowgun.
One of the main features of the Hammer is the aforementioned impact hit type. This means you won’t be able to use this weapon to cut tails. But the huge advantage here is that after successive hits to a monster’s head, it will be knocked dizzy for a short period of time, making an opening for more attacks, health recovery, setting up traps, or for you to get really creative with your strategies. Pro tip: knocking a monster out is a key skill for any good Hammer user, so if there’s a Hammer user in your hunting party, leave the monster’s head to him/her. (The same applies for the Hunting Horn, which we will cover at a later time).
Another key feature here is the ability to charge one of the Hammer’s attacks, leading to different and more damaging outcomes. One, for example, has your hunter spinning with the Hammer, hitting the target multiple times in a row, and can lead into a powerful golf swing motion. Another outcome to this charged move is a devastating ground pound that results in a farther-reaching damage area. (Just be careful not to hit your teammates and send them rolling away). All that said, this charged attack relies heavily on your Stamina, so keep those Dash Juices ready so you can charge away without any Stamina loss.
You can read the previous weapon profile, on the Sword and Shield, here.
