Best Hammer Builds in Monster Hunter Rise

If you just started Monster Hunter Rise or just trying out a different kind of weapon, the Hammer is a good start, offering high damage, mobility, and stunning capabilities, this is a weapon you shouldn’t miss out on.

In this guide, we’ll show you different kinds of Hammer Builds to help you determine which one is the best suited to your playstyle.

Low-Rank Build

This is the first rank you’ll encounter when you just start the game, but this is also a good point to go back to even after reaching High-Rank and you lack the materials to make your equipment. You can use this build guide to see what monsters you need to hunt to gather materials.

Low-Rank Build: ★1 to ★4 Quests Sets

Kulu Bludgeon Hammer I - This hammer has a generous sharpness bar up to Green. This also has a 10% affinity which is the highest level of affinity you can get at this level, including an ATK power of 100—this is the best starting Hammer to make. Choose this if you want to have as much affinity as you can get in your build.

Five-Pronged Hammer - Bishaten’s Hammer can be a great substitute for this build, offering raw ATK damage up to 120 with 0% affinity and no elemental status. You can also use your Silkbind Boost ramp-up skill to amplify your Hammer’s silkbind attacks. This weapon can also carry you from early to mid-game making it a great investment for future hunts.

 Skills

• Critical Eye Lv. 5
• Recovery Speed Lv. 1
• Attack Boost Lv. 1

This armor build compliments the Hammer playstyle as it allows you to dish out huge amounts of damage to the monsters that you hunt as this armor set focuses all in on damage.

Low-Rank Build: Village Quest ★4 to ★6

Stagger Build

Champion Hammer - With 0% affinity and 150 ATK, this hammer focuses on dealing damage while sacrificing affinity, but with an armor set that focuses on the incredibly useful skill Slugger at Lv.3. This allows you to keep on stunning monsters, giving you the opportunity to further punish monsters while they’re staggered. We recommend partnering it with the rampage skill Attack Boost I.

Skills

• Attack Boost Lv. 3 | Slugger Lv. 3
• Focus Lv. 2 | Flinch Free Lv. 1
• Constitution Lv. 1 | Recovery Up Lv. 2

Sinister Hammer I - A great substitute for the Champion Hammer is Sinister Hammer I; this hammer made with materials from the Monster Hunter Rise flagship monster Magnamalo, is a solid contender with its ATK of 130. Even at 0% affinity, this has Blast as an Element/Status, making it an excellent choice for most hunts and monsters that are vulnerable to Blast.

Alternative Build

Hidden Breaker I - This hammer boasts plenty of green sharpness and a tremendous 40% affinity rating. You can even enhance this further with its Affinity Boost I Rampage skill. This is the perfect balance between damage and affinity, and with Slugger Lv. 3, you also increase your stun power by 40%. This hammer is worthy to be used even till mid-game.

Skills

• Critical Eye Lv. 3
• Slugger Lv. 3
• Focus Lv. 2
• Attack Boost Lv. 1

This set might sacrifice a bit of damage, but the trade-off is worth it considering you are able to deal huge stun damage to monsters.

High-Rank Build

Now that you have passed the proving grounds, you are now at a point where the game becomes challenging. In High-Rank, you’ll face more dangerous types of monsters so you have to be better equipped this time. From farming and forging equipment that you used to deal with low-rank monsters, this is where you start your journey to the endgame.

High-Rank: HR 4 To 6

War Basher - First up is the starter Hammer, the War Basher. This hammer sports an ATK power of 180 without any element/status and 0% affinity, making this weapon a pure physical damage dealer, but with the armor set we paired for it, it can have great potential to end hunts faster with added high affinity and raw damage.

Skills

• Critical Eye Lv. 7
• Attack Boost Lv. 2
• Weakness Exploit Lv. 2
• Recovery Speed Lv. 1
• Heroics Lv. 1

High-Rank: HR 7+

Night Eternal - This hammer, made out mostly of Nargacuga parts, has a base ATK of 180 and a very high 45% affinity, but it has no element/status effect. This set-up aims for maximum affinity with the Night Eternal Hammer and with maxing out Weakness Exploit for a total of 95% affinity when hitting monster heads. Affinity can go over 100% with Latent Power which ensures you get the most damage out of monster weak points. And lastly with Slugger, you can further improve on the Hammer’s knockout potential, making this hammer abide by its name of putting monsters to eternal slumber.

Skills

• Weakness Exploit Lv. 3
• Slugger Lv. 3
• Attack Boost Lv. 2
• Critical Boost Lv. 2
• Latent Power Lv. 2
• Focus Lv. 1

Recommended Talisman Skills

• Critical Eye
• Slugger
• Evade Extender
• Razor Sharp

High-Rank (Update 2.0): HR 8 to 40

For this build, we are still utilizing the Night Eternal Hammer; we will only change a few armor parts of the set to tweak it and change some of its skills that will be fitting for this tier of monsters. This version of the Eternal Night maximizes DPS with Attack and Critical Boost. Stamina Thief and Slugger are also maxed out to improve exhaustion, allowing you to max out your damage with the monster’s head and still be able to trigger knockouts fairly effectively.

Decorations

Attack Jewel 2 x3

KO Jewel 2 x1

Grinder Jewel 1 x3

Critical Jewel 2 x1

Drain Jewel 1 x3

Skills

Attack Boost Lv. 7 | Weakness Exploit Lv. 3

Critical Boost Lv. 3 | Stamina Thief Lv. 3

Speed Sharpening Lv. 3 | Slugger Lv. 3

Latent Power Lv. 2 | Flinch Free Lv. 1

This build is highly efficient that you can use it until HR 99 since you can easily control the pace of your hunts with exhaustion and knockouts. The only challenge will be landing your attacks at the right time, and if you can do that, your hunts will certainly be a breeze.

Endgame Build: HR 100+

Tigrex Hammer - This is the endgame hammer and one of the most versatile weapons to build around, with a high ATK of 220, sacrificing affinity to a low -20% and no elemental/status effects, this hammer is focused on raw damage. With the armor set, decorations, and talisman, we can mitigate the -20% affinity while at the same time take full advantage of its massive 220 base damage. If you hit the monster’s weak points, the attack will hit with 70% affinity, thanks to the Weakness Exploit Lv. 3 and Critical Eye Lv. 7. This is all you need to constantly deal massive damage to monster heads when you use your Switch Skill Impact Crater.

Decorations

Attack Jewel 2 x1 | Critical Jewel 2 x2

Expert Jewel 2 x2 | Drain Jewel 1 x3

Grinder Jewel 1 x3

Skills

Critical Eye Lv.7 | Attack Boost Lv. 5

Weakness Exploit Lv.3 | Critical Boost Lv. 3

Stamina Thief Lv. 3 | Speed Sharpening Lv. 3

Dragon Heart Lv. 1

Conclusion

Equipped with all this information, you can now enjoy using the hammer and its play style from the early game to the endgame where you face off against monsters that grow considerably stronger. That is, of course, until you unlock Sunbreak and reach Master Rank, where you'll be facing a different set of monsters. For now, enjoy the benefits of LR to HR Hammers, armors, and other trinkets as you prepare for the true endgame, the Master Rank.