Guild Wars 2

Hi. Does anyone else think that most 2 handed hammer skills are not used when playing by yourself? Or even when fighting dragons.

It seems I just keep #1 skill on auto attack and hit #2 whenever its up.

I tried opening up fights with the ranged #3 chain ability but its such weak damage that it is pointless. Maybe have this do more damage based on how far you are from the target, matching the potential damage of the leap ability.

The #4 knock back is great fun, but again, when you are by yourself you aren’t using it. It could be good for more damage prevention if the mob stayed down a little longer (pve only)

And finally, the #5 ward never gets clicked since I am beside the mob anyway. Maybe include a boon for all allies within the ward? Or conditions to all enemies within the ward? Or both?

These are just some random thoughts coming to you from a casual player.

Hammer #5 is very useful during certain DEs where you have to defend an outpost; you can simply place it in the the foes’ way and the will bump into it and fall down, and by the time it runs out most of the foes are already dead.

Pretty sure you only use 1 and 2 as a hammerdian 90%of the time, and only use 3 4 5 when situation calls.

Unlike gs, you don stand still hitting you cd constantly. You are constantly moving especially before your third chain.

Personally i dodge whenever i finish the second chain, hit the third chain, and mb to activate combo. The result is a very engaging and dynamic gameplay that you wont get from other weapons.

It will take simetime to get use to hammer tho especially if you mained a greatsword or sword before

like carson said, the hammer is VERY dynamic even if you mainly play with #1 and #2. to add on to the dodging and being on the move constantly.. it’s really important where you place your symbol, so the positioning of your character and targeting / target switching is crucial and you can do wonders.

many do say #3, 4 and 5 are situational, i’d liek to think that you can create situations to use them. i’ve seen crits of close to 1k with my #3. some have said they’ve seen above that. and it’s great against a GROUP of mobs. #3, then dodgeroll in or #2 to close the gap, #5 to trap them yet again, and then start your chain all over and they should all be dead by then.

i like using #4 inside #5 as well. or #4 against walls to keep mobs / enemies tumbling or even in WvW using #3 to catch a fleeing enemy, and then #4 them in the oppoite direction, back to where your allies are – easy kill.

used with judge’s intervention, since this skill doesn’t cancel out the charging or channeling of #4 or #5 you can be in your opponents face in an instant, set them on fire and knock them away —> #3 —> #2 in again or immediately trap them and then start smashing on them.

4 / 5 moves are all AoEs, you can combo with yourself with end of #1 or #5 with #2 (super short CD, especially if traited), good control, you’re always on the move. i am never still apart from #5 for the casting. and is so much fun picking and choosing your targets while jsut using the #1 chain combo with #2, crits fly all over the place, boons all over the place.

check out the crithammer thread and the AH + hammer thread for some ideas of how to make the hammer more fun. : ))) even in PvE. even while solo-ing. least definitely is for me : )))

Boring or not it’s the most effective which is what I prefer.

3,4,5 are mostly pvp skills

I usually go gs/hammer and do gs 4,2 then swithc to hammer. Things die fast.

You might want to try high crit gear when PvEing with the hammer, since you don’t need as much toughness with 100% protection uptime. You may even want to play around with symbol traits if you really feel like it.

“The hammer is boring in solo PvE.” It can be at times, but I have 3 extra moves on standby at all times for saving my butt.

The Mace is nearly impossible to use in PvP. But that doesn’t mean it needs a change. the hammer is great in PvP and the mace is great in PvE. >shrug<