Guides

Monster Hunter World: Complete Hammer Build Guide

Published

11 months ago

January 6, 2024

Andrés

Hammer is one of the most fun weapons to use in Monster Hunter: World and it’s fairly easy to build for too.

If you love carrying around a gigantic slab of metal and bonking monsters in the head with it, the Hammer is the weapon for you!

In this guide, we’ll give you recommended Hammer builds for every stage in the game as well as tips to help you reach the endgame of the Iceborne DLC.

Complete Hammer Build Guide

Best Skills for Hammer

The Hammer isn’t particularly unique when it comes to its best skills, truth be told.

Generally speaking, you just want the standard attack-boosting skills such as Attack Boost, Critical Eye, Weakness Exploit, and Agitator.

The one notable skill you should go for with Hammers in the early game, though, is Slugger. This handy skill will greatly boost your Stun Power.

Hammers are, by far, the best weapon for Stuns in the entire game. So, definitely consider making a place for Slugger so you can make the most of your trusty hammer’s biggest strength!

Additionally, it’s a good idea to try to find space for Evade Window to make your dodges more reliable. It’s your only real defensive option, after all.

Other than that, though, you should focus on trying to slot in some quality-of-life skills such as Earplugs to negate monsters’ roars.

Non-Iceborne Base Game Build Overview

Monster Hunter World: Complete Hammer Build Guide - Base Game

If you are playing Monster Hunter: World without the Iceborne DLC, your options are somewhat limited when it comes to your build. Hammers are no exception to this!

You will mostly want to focus on the Defender line of hammers, as Defender Warhammer V is by far the strongest hammer in the base game.

As for armor, you will want to focus on Armor and Decorations that boost the skills we discussed in the previous section.

The Rathalos set is a great choice for most of the game, with the Ingot and Odogaron armor sets being solid choices as well. You can mix and match parts from these three sets and do well until endgame!

For the endgame, though, you will want to switch over to the Drachen Alpha Armor set. It’s made from Behemoth parts, so you can’t get it until pretty far into the game!

You will want to get at least 4 pieces of the Drachen Alpha set so you can have its Master’s Touch skill. It will prevent your hammer from losing affinity when landing Critical Hits.

When it comes to Charms, you will mostly use either the Attack Charm II or the Exploiter Charm II, depending on what you have available.

An optimal endgame build for the base game should look like this:

Weapon – Defender Warhammer V.
Head – Drachen Armet Alpha with Challenge Jewel 2 and Expert Jewel 1.
Chest – Drachen Mail Alpha with Critical Jewel 2.
Arms – Drachen Vambraces Alpha with two Challenger Jewels 2.
Waist – Drachen Coil Alpha with Tenderizer Jewel 1.
Legs – Nergigante Greaves Gamma with two Challenger Jewels 2.
Charm – Exploiter Charm II (Weakness Exploit +2)

Iceborne Story and Early Master Rank Build Overview

Monster Hunter World: Complete Hammer Build Guide - Iceborne Story

Now, if you have the Iceborne DLC, you will want to venture into its campaign after completing the main game. Your build at the start will obviously just be a carryover from the base game.

Your best Hammers during the Iceborne story will be the Makthlab al-Nasr II and The Grinding Mallet hammers, which you will get in that order.

For armor, your progression depends on whether you got the Drachen Alpha armor set in the base game or not.

If you did, you can probably keep your armor until you have access to the Kirin Beta and Kaiser Beta sets.

Otherwise, you will want to swap into the Rathalos Beta, Kulu Beta, Odogaron Beta, and Clockwork Beta sets.

Mix and match parts from these 4 armor sets as possible and you should get all the skills you need without having to invest in getting the full sets. Don’t want to grind too much at this point, after all!

By the time you clear the Iceborne story, you should graduate into the Kirin Beta and Kaiser Beta armor sets discussed previously.

Equip 3 pieces from the Kaiser Beta armor set to get Master’s Touch again, and then fill out your other gear with Kirin Beta pieces.

Use Decorations and Charms to finish getting important skills based on what we explained in the skills section of this guide and you should be good to go!

You can start replacing Kirin Beta armor pieces with Brachydium Beta Armor pieces once you’re able to craft those, as well.

Now, you should be ready to take on the Iceborne endgame.

Iceborne Endgame

Your final goal for your Hammer build here is the Fatalis Demolisher, which you can craft using materials from Fatalis.

Until you reach that point, though, you will want to switch over to the Lightbreak hammer. It’s crafted with Raging Brachydios parts.

Your armor set at this point doesn’t need to change much either until you’re able to take down Fatalis. Nonetheless, an ideal setup at this stage would be as follows:

Weapon – Lightbreak Hammer with Attack Jewel 1.
Head – Kaiser Crown Beta+ with Flawless/Vitality Jewel 4.
Chest – Brachydium Mail Beta+ with Flawless/Vitality Jewel 4, Critical Jewel 2, and Attack Jewel 1.
Arms – Kaiser Vambraces Beta+ with Flawless/Vitality Jewel 4 and Critical Jewel 2.
Waist – Kaiser Coil Beta+ with Satiated/Attack Jewel 4, Critical Jewel 2, and Exper Jewel 1.
Legs – Brachydrium Greaves Beta+ with Fortitude/Attack Jewel 4, and two Expert Jewels 1.
Charm – Challenge Charm V.

This should work for you until you’re able to take down Fatalis. The armor sets from Fatalis are by far the best for pretty much every build!

Gearing up for the Iceborne endgame? Click here for our Best Endgame Build Guide.

Full Fatalis armor set with Fatalis Demolisher

At this point, your ideal endgame build to work towards is the following:

Weapon – Fatalis Demolisher with two Attack Jewels+ 4.
Head – Dragonhead Beta+ with three Phoenix/Protection Jewels 4.
Chest – Dragonhide Alpha+ with Handicraft Jewel 3, and two Critical/Protection Jewels 4.
Arms – Dragonclaws Beta+ with two Expert Jewels+ 4 and Dragon Jewel+ 4.
Waist – Dragonbarbs Alpha+ with Challenger Jewel+ 4 and Critical Jewel 2.
Legs – Rimeguard Greaves Gamma+ with Attack Jewel+ 4 and Attack Jewel 1.
Charm – Challenge Charm V.