Monster Hunter World (MHW)

Best Hammer Builds for Iceborne 2023-2024

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Want to learn about the best Hammer Builds for Monster Hunter World (MHW) Iceborne? Look no further than our best endgame builds for Hammers! This build is made on Iceborne's last patch and is a build that is centered around Iceborne's Meta Endgame builds.

Hammer Endgame Meta Build

Endgame Fatalis Armor Build

Weapon Decorations
Fatalis Demolisher Handicraft Jewel+ 4 x1
Challenger Jewel+ 4 x1
Augment:Recovery Affinity
Armor Decorations
Head Dragonhead Beta + Attack Jewel+ 4 x3
Armor Dragonhide Beta + Charger/Maintenance Jewel 4 x3
Vambraces Dragonclaws Beta + KO/Maintenance Jewel 4 x1
KO/Evasion Jewel 4 x1
Expert Jewel+ 4 x1
Waist Dragonbarbs Alpha + Flawless/Maintenance Jewel 4 x1
Flawless Jewel 2 x2
Legs Frostfang Greaves Alpha + Expert Jewel 1 x2
Charm Challenger Charm V None

Fatalis Build Skill List

Skills
Attack Boost 7 Critical Eye 7
Agitator 7 Slugger 5
Tool Specialist 5 Weakness Exploit 3
Critical Boost 3 Stun Resist 3
Peak Performance 3 Handicraft 2
Evade Window 2 Frostfang Absolute Art
Fatalis Legend 4 -
hunter guide A full Fatalis armor set built together with Frost Fang Bariot's legging for the Punishing Draw secret. This build features maximum slugger skill to fully utilize the hammer's specialty (WHACKING THE MONSTER'S HEAD)

Hammer Meta Builds

Raging Brachy Hammer Build

Raging Brachy Hammer Build Awakened Slugger Hammer Build
Awakened Blast Hammer Build Guiding Lands Sleep Hammer Build
Weapon Decorations
Lightbreak Hammer Expert Jewel+ 4 x1
Charger Jewel 2 x1
Armor Decorations
Head Kaiser Crown Beta + Expert Jewel+ 4 x1
Armor Brachydium Mail Beta + Attack Jewel+ 4 x1
Attack Jewel 1 x1
Attack Jewel 1 x1
Vambraces Kaiser Vambraces Beta + Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 x1
Brace Jewel 3 x1
Waist Kaiser Coil Beta + Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 x1
Attack Jewel 1 x1
Expert Jewel 1 x1
Legs Brachydium Greaves Beta + Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 x1
Attack Jewel 1 x2
Charm Challenger Charm V None

Raging Brachy Hammer Build Skill List

Skills
Attack Boost 7 Critical Eye 7
Agitator 7 Health Boost 3
Critical Boost 3 Weakness Exploit 3
Blast Attack 2 Heat Guard 1
Latent Power 1 Flinch Free 1
Focus 1 Teostra Technique
Brachydios Will
hunter guide A full offensive hammer build featuring the Raging Brachy set and the Teostra Set. The amount of affinity gained makes sharpness not an issue due to master's touch so hammer away!

Awakened Slugger Hammer Build

Raging Brachy Hammer Build Awakened Slugger Hammer Build
Awakened Blast Hammer Build Guiding Lands Sleep Hammer Build
Weapon Decorations
Safi's Shattercrusher Brace/Vitality Jewel 4 x1
---
Armor Decorations
Head Frostfang Helm Beta + Challenger Jewel+ 4 x1
Tenderizer Jewel 2 x1
Maintenance Jewel 1 x1
Armor Brachydium Mail Beta + Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 x1
Tenderizer Jewel 2 x1
Attack Jewel 1 x1
Vambraces Frostfang Braces Alpha + Tenderizer Jewel 2 x1
Critical Jewel 2 x1
Waist Brachydium Faulds Beta + Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 x1
Expert Jewel 1 x1
Legs Frostfang Greaves Alpha + Expert Jewel 1 x2
Charm Attack Charm V None
Awakened Ability
Attack Increase VI Attack Increase V x4

Awakened Slugger Hammer Build Skill List

Skills
Attack Boost 7 Critical Eye 7
Agitator 7 Slugger 5
Critical Boost 3 Weakness Exploit 3
Health Boost 3 Flinch Free 1
Brachydios Will 2 Frostfang Absolute Art 3
hunter guide A Stunner armor set featuring the Frostfang Barioth set and Raging Brachydios set. It makes stunning monsters faster and is ideal for coop play. Make sure to hit those draw attacks to maximize the punishing draw bonus stun rate!

Awakened Blast Hammer Build

Raging Brachy Hammer Build Awakened Slugger Hammer Build
Awakened Blast Hammer Build Guiding Lands Sleep Hammer Build
Weapon Decorations
Safi's Shattercrusher Expert Jewel+ 4 x1
---
Armor Decorations
Head Kaiser Crown Beta + Expert Jewel+ 4 x1
Armor Brachydium Mail Beta + Attack Jewel+ 4 x1
Attack Jewel 1 x1
Attack Jewel 1 x1
Vambraces Kaiser Vambraces Beta + Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 x1
Brace Jewel 3 x1
Waist Kaiser Coil Beta + Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 x1
Attack Jewel 1 x1
Expert Jewel 1 x1
Legs Brachydium Greaves Beta + Critical/Vitality Jewel 4 x1
Attack Jewel 1 x2
Charm Challenger Charm V None

Awakened Blast Hammer Build Skill List

Skills
Attack Boost 7 Critical Eye 7
Agitator 7 Health Boost 3
Critical Boost 3 Weakness Exploit 3
Blast Attack 2 Heat Guard 1
Latent Power 1 Flinch Free 1
Teostra Technique 3 Brachydios Will 2
hunter guide Highly similar to the Lightbreak Raging Brachydios/Teostra set above but with the weapon getting changed into the Safi blast hammer. This build offers higher damage due to the awakening bonus so if you have the safi hammer, make sure to augment it ASAP!

Guiding Lands Sleep Hammer Build

Raging Brachy Hammer Build Awakened Slugger Hammer Build
Awakened Blast Hammer Build Guiding Lands Sleep Hammer Build
Weapon Decorations
Safi's Dreamcrusher Handicraft Jewel+ 4 x1
---
Armor Decorations
Head Golden Lunehelm Beta + Earplugs Jewel+ 4 x1
Tenderizer Jewel 2 x1
Armor Damascus Mail Beta + Earplugs Jewel+ 4 x1
Critical Jewel 2 x1
Expert Jewel 1 x1
Vambraces Golden Lunebraces Beta + Brace/Vitality Jewel 4 x1
Charger Jewel 2 x1
Waist Stygian Coil Beta + Expert Jewel+ 4 x1
Expert Jewel 1 x2
Legs Golden Lunegreaves Beta + Expert Jewel+ 4 x1
Charm Tranq Charm IV None
Awakened Ability
Gold Rathian Essence Status Effect Up VI Status Effect Up V x3

Guiding Lands Sleep Hammer Build Skill List

Skills
Critical Eye 7 Earplugs 5
Sleep Attack 4 Focus 3
Health Boost 3 Critical Boost 1
Weakness Exploit 3 Latent Power 3
Handicraft 2 Flinch Free 1
Resentment 2 Gold Rathian Essence
hunter guide A Sleep build using the Gold Rathian set for increased ailment bonus. Stuns and sleeps for double damage makes this a great coop hammer build. Just remember that coop has a higher ailment threshhold so be prepared to hammer more when playing multiplayer!

Hammer Progression Build

Early Iceborne Progression Build Mid-Late Iceborne Build MHW Related Links

Starter Iceborne Build

Weapon Decorations
Defender Warhammer V ---
---
Armor Decorations
Head Guild Cross Circlet Beta Steadfast Jewel 1 x3
Armor Diablos Mail Beta Evasion Jewel 2 x1
Vambraces Kaiser Vambraces Alpha Protection Jewel 1 x1
Waist Bazel Coil Beta KO Jewel 2 x1
Legs Empress Greaves Beta Tenderizer Jewel 2 x1
Vitality Jewel 1 x1
Charm Earplugs Charm III None

Starter Iceborne Skill List

Skills
Health Boost 3 Divine Blessing 3
Stun Resist 3 Slugger 3
Weakness Exploit 3 Earplugs 5
Evade Window
hunter guide A standard hammer build set with a heavy emphasis on Slugger for more KO against monsters when hitting their heads.

Early Iceborne Progression Build

Weapon Decorations
Anja Fiercemaul I ---
---
Armor Decorations
Head Jagras Helm Alpha + Tenderizer Jewel 2 x1
Armor Bone Mail Alpha + Tenderizer Jewel 2 x1
Vambraces Pukei Vambraces Alpha + Expert Jewel 1 x1
Waist Beo Coil Alpha + Tenderizer Jewel 2 x1
Legs Rathalos Greaves Alpha + Flawless Jewel 2 x1
Expert Jewel 1 x1
Charm Earplugs Charm III none

Early Iceborne Skill List

Skills
Speed Eating 2 Attack Boost 4
Health Boost 3 Earplugs 5
Handicraft 1 Weakness Exploit 3
Critical Eye 2 Peak Performance 3
hunter guide A more damage focused hammer build to carry you into midgame. The attack boost and critical eye can offset the negative affinity of the Anjanath hammer and striking its wounded part can even put your affinity into positive (and even further when wounding it).

Mid-Late Iceborne Progression Build

Weapon Decorations
Chaos Shatterer KO Jewel 2 x2
Augment:Recovery
Armor Decorations
Head Tigrex Helm Alpha + Grinder Jewel 1 x1
Armor Kushala Cista Beta + Tenderizer Jewel 2 x2
Vambraces Damascus Vambraces Alpha + Tenderizer Jewel 2 x1
Maintenance Jewel 1 x1
Waist Odogaron Coil Alpha + Sharp Jewel 2 x1
Legs Death Garon Greaves Beta + Attack Jewel 1 x2
Elementless Jewel 2 x1
Charm Earplugs Charm III none

Mid-Late Iceborne Progression Build Skill List

Skills
Handicraft 4 Critical Eye 3
Earplugs 5 Attack Boost 4
Speed Sharpening 3 Tool Specialist 3
Protectice Polish 1 Weakness Exploit 3
Slugger 2 Non-Elemental Boost 1
hunter guide A more offense oriented hammer build. While we highly focused on improving affinity rate and damage to offset the Chaos Shetter's negative affinity. We also slotted in more handicraft to increase the hammer's tiny purple sharpness to make the bonus damage it provides last longer. Additionally, more KO Jewels were slotted to increase the hammer's effectiveness and a single non-elementless jewel to further increase its damage.

Best Hammer Weapons and Skills

Best Weapons for Hammer

Weapon Explanation
Fatalis Demolisher
[Atk] 1404 | [Affinity] -20%
・Weapon with the highest attack damage
・Has a high sharpness
Lightbreak Hammer
[Atk] 1560 | [Affinity] 0%
・High attack power with excellent sharpness
・Highly versatile weapon

Best Skills for Hammer

Skill Explanation
Health Boost
( ★★★ )
Increases maximum health to increase your survival rate
A must have for beginners
Weakness Exploit
( ★★★ )
Significantly increases your attack by targeting weakpoints
Critical Boost
( ★★★ )
Increases the damage of critical hits. Best used when paired with Weakness Exploit
Critical Eye
( ★★★ )
Increases your Affinity
Flinch Free
( ★★★ )
Prevents knockbacks and tripping. Useful when playing multiplayer
Earplugs
( ★★ )
Nullifies most monster roars, allowing you to execute your attacks without flinching
Focus
( ★★ )
Increases gauge fill rate and reduces charge times
Slugger
( ★★ )
Makes it easier to stun monsters with attacks
Handicraft
(★★)
Increases sharpness gauge
Teostra Technique
(★★)
Prevents sharpness loss with critical hits

Best Skills for Hammers

MHW Related Links

Best Builds

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Best Endgame Builds and Weapon Progression Builds

Best Builds Per Weapons

Melee Weapons
Long Sword Icon.jpegLong Swords Great Sword Icon.jpegGreat Swords Sword & Shield Icon.jpegSword and Shield Dual Blades Icon.jpegDual Blades
Hammer Icon.jpegHammer Hunting Horn Icon.jpegHunting Horn Lance Icon.jpegLance Gunlance Icon.jpegGunlance
Switch Axe Icon.jpegSwitch Axe Charge Blade Icon.jpegCharge Blade Insect Glaive Icon.jpegInsect Glaive
Ranged Weapons
Bow Icon.jpegBow light bowgun icon.pngLight Bowgun
Heavy bowgun icon.pngHeavy Bowgun

Best Counter Builds

Monster Counterbuilds
fatalis icon.pngFatalis alatreon icon.pngAlatreon

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