Guild Wars 2

Since the buffs, I’ve found myself really enjoying hammer. I use a vanilla Warrior build so I don’t get to have fun with the buffed burst skill but the #2 and 3 damage increases are pretty significant and fun.

Speaking in terms of WvW roaming, would anyone mind giving me some pointers on how to properly use the hammer in 1v1’s? I’m familiar with Warrior but hammer isn’t a weapon I’ve used a whole lot prior. I know the sheathing technique to bait dodges and such but it’s just such a slow and predictable weapon that I’m sometimes having trouble hitting people who are actually skilled players.

I understand there probably isn’t a lot anyone can say but I’m still curious what kind of advice I can get from anyone who knows how to use this weapon. Nuances, niches, etc.

For a 1vs1, the way I play hammer, I kite them around making it seem like they have the attack on me, then I just let them run into my cc and land a couple of hits. It’s easier to let them run into the slow hits than to try to agggresively attack them so that they can dodge the very slow telegraphic attacks

It’s been a couple of years since I used hammer with any regularity, and it was before HoT.

But one thing I used to do in 1v1s was dodge beside (close enough to proc Reckless Dodge), then Staggering Blow (which people often didn’t watch for when I wasn’t facing them), then either Backbreaker or the burst. Staggering Blow would either cover the cast time of the next skill pretty well or force them to use a stun break (giving me enough time to cancel the longer cd skill). If you caught then in a stun lock, it used to be all she wrote for the fight.

Post-HoT, I’m not sure if the above would work as well, but I assume that’s true of the hammer generally. Berserkers have a huge advantage over a hammer-wielding vanilla warriors with all the stun breaks, even mediocre daredevils have plenty of tools to handle a slow hammer, DHs have their blocks, blinds, traps, range (and burns, if they go that route), etc.

So I imagine you’ve got the underdog build in just about all of your matchups. That means every win should be that much sweeter.

Choppy.4183:

So I imagine you’ve got the underdog build in just about all of your matchups. That means every win should be that much sweeter.

That’s a big part of why I prefer vanilla builds on all of my characters. I prefer to work for my wins over feeling like they’re given to me.

Some good tips though, thanks. I’ve been getting a bit better with it but as I and yourself have both said, there are some match ups that feel pretty one sided. What I’m enjoying about it though is that landing a couple skills at the proper times is highly rewarding. I’ve two shot a couple squishies since I started using it and oh I cannot tell you how big the grin on my face was each time it happened. With Merciless Hammer and Sigil Of Impact, Fierce Blow does upwards of 10k on people while they’re CC’d and Backbreaker hits pretty darn hard, too.

Practice makes perfect so all in time I’m sure.

skill 2 spam. it’s a one hit wonder. use it when enemy HP is half for one hit

A long time ago, it was the age of the infamous Ham/Bow in PvP (Anastarsis and others). I think it started there, the moment when people seriously thought about using the Hammer properly. Before that people were running around with CC Warrior for fun…

Around the same time Ham/GS is popular in WvW roaming (someone called Arajal/Shinryuku and others). Built nearly full Zerker, its survivability depended on how hard you controlled (i.e. knocked around) your opponent in a fight.

I am assuming you run a Core build with Discipline/Defense/Strength, setup for Healing Signet, Cleansing Ire, Stances and maybe a Physical skill. Elite is usually Signet of Rage for serious fights (Rampage can also be serious, yes). Hammer controls the fight and does decent damage, while GS allows you to cleave a ress like no tomorrow, give you high mobility and an emergency evade.

A full combo after your target has no stunbreaks/protection/aegis and you are not blinded/weakened: F1 > 5 > 2 > 4 > 3
If you have good ping you can put in 1~2 swings after the knockdowns.

Bait all the stunbreaks and dodges with your F1 or Bull’s Charge (into 100 Blades if GS), or your other weapon set. F1 can be used fairly often and you can land a 2 (Weaken) to let off some pressure on you. Your aim is to land the whole set of Hammer skills after a 3-bar Earthshaker and buy time for your Healing Signet and Adrenal Health. You don’t have huge burst, but the full combo string and the Warrior’s naturally high damage on all weapons can still be fairly nasty.

I’m not active now, but tanky DPS like a GS/Hammer roamer was having trouble with tanky Celestial setups, last I know. To create sufficient pressure, it would be good to at the very least have an Ascended Hammer to use and gear for Zerker.

Put a Sigil of Draining on your hammer if you haven’t done so already. Increases your DPS and sustain. I like Sigil of Draining coupled with Sigil of Hydromancy for the chill.

Spartacus.3192:

Put a Sigil of Draining on your hammer if you haven’t done so already. Increases your DPS and sustain. I like Sigil of Draining coupled with Sigil of Hydromancy for the chill.

Sigil of paralyzation works wonders as well. I use that and hydromancy

Bigpapasmurf.5623:

Sigil of paralyzation works wonders as well. I use that and hydromancy

The problem with Paralyzation is that it doesn’t affect any hammer skills except for Earthshaker, which will only give you an extra 0.66 sec on a fully charged burst.

You’d probably get more mileage out of a different sigil (including Impact) because the 2s Earthshaker already gives is enough to channel the next skill to keep them locked. Or they’ll use a stun break and the sigil doesn’t help you anyway.