Curse

prodigy ming · Jun 25, 2005, 04:37 AM // 04:37

Everywhere I see, people are either using sword or axe... is hammer really that bad compare to the other two?
Just curious since I never played warrior before and about to start one. thanks.

m4chrometoyourdome · Jun 25, 2005, 04:38 AM // 04:38

I love my hammer warrior. You deal alot more damage then sword or axe it seems. I have tried all 3 and hammer worked out best for me.

Tellani Artini · Jun 25, 2005, 04:41 AM // 04:41

Hammer is great. It has a higher base damage rate than sword and axe, for one thing. The drawback is that it takes longer to charge adrenal skills due to the slower attack speed; this is pretty easily compensated by other warrior skills. Of all the melee weapon types, I think hammer is the most dependant on energy (to engage adrenaline builders), while sword and axe can get by with adrenaline only.

Don't be fooled by what other warriors use. Many of them probably think sword is the best weapon for damage, after all :P

prodigy ming · Jun 25, 2005, 04:45 AM // 04:45

if i want to make a hammer warrior, whats a good secondary for it?
I tried the abonimable (sp) snowman template and it was pretty fun.... just wondering if there is any other viable options out there.

Jimbodan · Jun 25, 2005, 04:49 AM // 04:49

W/E with aftershock makes for a good hammer warrior

Red Locust · Jun 25, 2005, 04:52 AM // 04:52

Hammer is mainly for "knock-lock" builds. Namely, keeping a target knocked down. Tons of skills that can keep a monk on his ass for the short duration of his life. Certainly a very nice warrior to have, but most warriors feel they need to do direct damage.

shinseikaze · Jun 25, 2005, 05:06 AM // 05:06

hammers are really kool for PvsP......dont think hammer is that bad personally

goldfinger · Jun 25, 2005, 05:11 AM // 05:11

I liked the hammer warrior, mainly because I am a fan of the wall and could chant "HAMMER...HAMMER...HAMMER" after my victories :P...

I was a warrior necro and focused mainly on gaining an edge of whatever charecter I was going against, especially other warriors. I would usually insid parasite, faintheart, and parasitic bond them while they trucked up to me, and while they swung away I would lay the plague touch whenever it was necessary (especially helpful dealing with swordsman and their bleeding and ESPECIALLY good for poisoning swordsman). and once the hammer built up the adrenaline I would weaken/knock them down (devastating blow) hit em with the mighty blow and use heavy blow while they were still weakened. I would keep irresistable blow in case some tough guy swordsman was doing the parry thing.

Xellos · Jun 25, 2005, 10:15 AM // 10:15

You rarely see swords and axes in tombs actually. At least ones that hold halls that is.

Lord Malzra · Jun 25, 2005, 10:18 AM // 10:18

The best warriors are hammer warriors. For me they are the only good warriors...

Weezer_Blue · Jun 25, 2005, 11:32 AM // 11:32

While I like the way swords look better, I think I like the way the Hammer warrior plays the best. Not only do you do spikes of damage, which are annoying, but you also get knockdowns which double up as interupts and short snares in one. That and they are more intimidating when they are bashing your head in.

Xellos · Jun 25, 2005, 12:01 PM // 12:01

As a sustainable damage character, what matters is not only your damage output, but rather your versatility. Stuff like fear me, knockdown, their all things in this game at this point which have very specific counters which would be useless against any build. You look at sword/axe/hammer style of immobilizing, two use slow, one uses "stun". The slow is a condition, and can be taken off with a skill that has more then one purpose and isn't solely for the sake of this condition, whereas knockdown counters have no other use in general and have drawbacks too big for them to be considered to take in stuff like Tombs.

This game has elements of DOTA and Warcraft 3 in it's PVP evolution stage. DOTA relies on quick strikes and stuns, which employs the hammer, because stunning is godly and has no counter once applied, which is the same as knockdown. And Warcraft 3 requires you to almost always keep your squads tightly in a group and there will almost never be a "flank" in solo play, just like how you will never see "sandwiche flanks" done by a single team, but rather, two teams.

Wait the wc3 reference was getting off topic, but the dota one makes sense. Knockdown is currently the best "condition", and that makes hammer warriors have a huge advantage.

Da Cebuano · Jun 25, 2005, 01:15 PM // 13:15

Hammer warriors IMHO are best PVP(due to KD and weakness) followed by a tie sword(w/ correct build could do more dmg than hammer then axe w/ its flexible/best overall skills).

Personally at lower levels(PVE), hammers = the pwn due to monsters having relatively low armor so you deal insane dmg although taking a bit more. At higher levels(like lv 24-29 monsters) things begin to decline, as you'll be doing similar dmg to a sword/axe user but at slower rate, although your KD and weakness skills will be greatly underestimated, especially if you're running solo), although dont expect to take on too many Enemies as hammer warriors really aren't great tankers unless you put skills into earth magic w/ ward of melee and elements + kenetic armor + dolyak + stances that increase block(although you wont be able to use shield stance), hammer benefit the most out of Battle rage IMHO, as most skills are adrenaline based.

ALthough to be honest, hammer dmg needs a little increment to 25-50dmg OR a slightly faster atk rate from 1.75 to 1.45sec.

Balrad Baptiste · Jun 25, 2005, 02:57 PM // 14:57

In my experience, the extra defensive benefit of the shield becomes pretty much redundant in the endgame. I tried both setups (sword and hammer) as a warrior monk, and if I am tanking 3 hydras, or tanking in the underworld, the only thing that lets me survive is my use of protective spirit. This skill will allow you to take 10 hits by any monster, regardless of your choice of weaponry. Sword + shield without this skill wont keep me alive anyway.

Sledge · Jun 25, 2005, 03:06 PM // 15:06

HAMMER! HAMMER! HAMMER!

Can't touch this! do-DO-dododo (or hower that tune goes)

I like hammers myself

Jun 25, 2005, 04:30 PM // 16:30

Axes and Swords still have better versatility. The problem with hammers is they are limited in how you can actually build them and the way their skills are priced. I think they are horrible if you try to build them similar to sword or axe warriors(and axe Warriors will race hammers in terms of damage easily). But built in a fashion designed for them, they are ok.

Creed · Jun 25, 2005, 08:16 PM // 20:16

Hammers are fine, when used properly. As already stated if you try make them in a an attempt to appear anything like a sword or axe build you will fail. And end up like many others claiming they are a terrible weapon.

A hammer has the highest base damage of the three weapons, but based on skills it drops to the bottom of the damage output pile. The reason for this is simple. Disruption: A hammer users greatest friend. How much damage does that sword user do when he's on his back? Or that Axe user when he's flat on his ass? Hell even that mesmer, or a monk trying to heal etc.

A Sword or axe warrior might beat a hammer warrior in base damage on paper with skills, but these calculations are'nt taking in the fact a hammer user can knock a person down as they try to use that skill, acting as if he had no skill attall.

A hammer user does get less than half the benifit of tactics, than a sheild using axe user. And a sword user gains even more than the axe user. Making the tactics skill set a mistake for most hammer users. (More sheild using wariors... sword/axe warriors need to use tactics, but that's simply an opinion.) Hammers are a class fit perfectly for the dare i say it 'War/Monk', combo. War/Ele pre-build template is a joke. Warriors no matter how damage orientated need a self heal. Then again a ranger secoundry can help there too.

Darc.Syde · Jun 25, 2005, 09:38 PM // 21:38

hammer warriors provide disruption, snare, and damage. which is why they're good. Axe is also good, for speed and disruption, the criticals aint bad either.

kuramaroze · Jun 26, 2005, 06:52 AM // 06:52

Hammers are probably the worst between axes, swords, and hammers for pve and the best for pvp. It depends on your secondary though, and your party members. A lot of hammer skills have a pretty big cooldown, or a high adrenaline cost making them unattractive for pve, but they can still be devastating. For instance, if you run W/E, and have an earth ele in your party, you can do some serious damage together in pve. In PVP, sword and axe warriors are basically useless for anything but dealing conditions or the occasional spell interrupt, but a hammer warrior/elementalist can fel a caster or monk in seconds using its combination of high damage, weakness, knockdown, aftershock, deep wound, blind, etc. It can do the same for other warriors, but you shouldn't bother with them unless they're seriously annoying your monks. The beauty of it is that two coordinated W/E's can kill a distracted monk that doesn't have protective spirit (is that the skill that makes them unable to be hit over 100?) on him with a knockdown, aftershock, and sometimes the occasional "cleanup hit". Its very fun to do

Ensign · Jun 27, 2005, 05:24 AM // 05:24

Swords and axes are much more reliable, buff-friendly damage sources, with deep skill lists. The only reason to play a hammer warrior is the knockdowns. Granted, that is a very good reason to pick up a hammer for PvP, and it's why you see so many hammers these days.

Of course, the fact that a good hammer chain is incredibly effective for how easy it is to play doesn't hurt either. =)

I've liked hammers as a weapon type ever since they got buff stacking under control. My main complaint is how inflexible and shallow hammer skills are. When making a hammer build it often feels like I'm trying to find skills that could work in the build, as opposed to having a dozen skills I want to run, but can't find room. Your hammer warrior is a specialized tool, but a rather good one nonetheless.

Peace,
-CxE