Great Hammer Solo PvP Build

Overview

Weapon: Hammer

Focus: Melee DPS

Mode: Open World, Corrupt Dungeon and Mist (Solo)

Strengths

• Great Mobility
• High Damage

Weaknesses

• Low Sustain
• High Skill Ceiling

This build is up to date for the November 6, 2024 Horizons Patch #1.

Overview

The Great Hammer offers surprising mobility coupled with the easy to play combo makes for a good PVP Build for solo mists, open world or even corrupted dungeons. The playstyle is quite similar to how one would play the Elder's Double Bladed Staff and remains equally oppressive but easier to get into for someone that focused on faming up Hammers instead of the Quarterstaff.

Equipment

Main Hand Weapon

Elder's Great Hammer

Head

Elder's Cultist Cowl

Alternatives ⇅

Cape

Elder's Avalonian Cape

Armor

Elder's Stalker Jacket

Shoes

Elder's Scholar Sandals

Potion

Major Healing Potion

Alternatives ⇅

Food

Deadwater Eel Stew

Keep in mind: Gear shown in this build is meant as a reference. Choosing the correct tier of gear is very tricky as there are many variables. Some of them being your budget, your spec and minimum Item Power requirements of your guild if used for ZvZ.

You should always check prices based on IP of the items. For example, a masterpiece quality 4.3 Elder's Cryptcandle could be cheaper while providing roughly the same IP as an 8.0.

Usage

Elder's Great Hammer

Threatening Strike — With a low cooldown, this is your main damaging skill when you keep yourself on top of enemies and acts almost like an auto-attack.

Slowing Charge — You want to use this to keep enemies slowed or to simply move away, due to it's long range and part of the reason why this build is so mobile. You can use this to slow enemies down before using Tackle.

Tackle — This ability is what will set up most of your kills but just like your Slowing Charge, it can also be used for mobility, to get away from fights or catch up to enemies. The stun is the most valuable part of the skill though!

Energetic — Due to possible mana issues this build can run into, this passive is a good choice as it helps quite a bit with mana sustain.

Elder's Stalker Jacket

Electric Field — This is a big part of your build and the main ability you use to burn down your enemies that you slowed down with Slowing Charge or stunned with Tackle. The AoE surrounds you and you stay on top of the enemy while they are under the effect of Inner Corruption as they cannot return damage or they will risk taking even more damage.

Balanced Mind — You want to use this for the extra damage increase!

Elder's Cultist Cowl

Inner Corruption — This is one of the most powerful abilities for 1v1 PVP fights by forcing them to take damage when casting spells. Couple this with the constant slows and stuns from Slowing Charge and Tackle. This is most efficient against builds using a fire staff or other builds that cast many spells in quick succession.

Balanced Mind — This passive not only boosts your damage but also gives you a small defense increase which is nice to have.

Elder's Scholar Sandals

Energetic Sprint — This run ability allows you to regain mana and keep your mana cost under control while also offering a great amount of movement speed that helps you catch up with enemies. With Elder's Scholar Sandals being rather cheap even at higher tier due to how common they are. You can use other sandals or even use Elder's Soldier Boots if you prefer but the mana regen you get from sandals is normally better to have.

Aggression — Aggression provides flat extra damage which works great for the build.

Elder's Avalonian Cape

Force Pulse — This works a lot like the Elder's Thetford Cape but with a much longer cooldown and with more. It activates automatically when you use an auto-attack and detonates after a very brief charge-up, releasing AOE damage all around you. You can use this after you've used Slowing Charge on an enemy as they will have a tough time actually defending against it when they can barely move.

Rotations

Combo ↴

• Start off by using your Energetic Sprint if your target tries to kite and couple that with Slowing Charge to further increase your movement speed and help you catch up while slowing down the enemy. Follow up with an auto-attack that will trigger Force Pulse before you use Threatening Strike for some extra damage. Follow up with Tackle to stun the enemy and activate Electric Field to start burning down their HP. Once they are out of the stun, use Inner Corruption so they are forced to take damage if they aren't careful and use abilities while under the effect of this debuff.

Consumables

Major Healing Potion — The Major Healing Potion allows you to sustain yourself while trading damage with your enemies, its the perfect potion to use as the build has no other way to heal and this will allow you to take more fights than normally. You can also use a Major Gigantify Potion against certain builds that have high burst damage.

Deadwater Eel Stew — This food provides a balanced mix of increased damage and cooldown reduction, enabling you to use your abilities more frequently in combat.