Hammer Guide
Hammer chases the next clean hit on the head. Accurate blunt hits turn into knockouts and longer punish windows, but only when the commitment fits the time available. Charge while moving, release a quick attack when the head will not stay put, and commit to a longer sequence only when the opening will last.
Blunt attacks build stun when they hit the head. Hits elsewhere still deal blunt damage, but they do not advance the stun threshold. Hammer has no shield, so its defensive choices are movement, an ordinary roll, Water Strike, and Keeping Sway. Keep Impact Burst active when your plan revolves around charged attacks; its shockwaves reward the same accurate hits that drive the weapon.
This guide reflects Sunbreak's final balance. Buttons are in the official manual. Combat Mechanics explains why the same swing can deal different amounts of damage. Every move is listed in Motion Values.
If this weapon is new to you, try it in the Training Area first. Use the in-game Hunter's Notes to practice its basic attacks; this guide explains how to connect them into a hunt.
Strength and Courage
Strength charge concentrates damage into individual level 3 releases. Hold the charge while walking, follow the head, and release when the attack's travel and recovery fit the opening. A stationary release, a moving release, and a slope spin produce different attacks, so your movement at the moment of release is part of the decision. shortens Strength's charge time and creates more chances to reach level 3 before the head moves.
Courage charge is a three-stage chain. Each charged release prepares the next stage, producing more hits than Strength and making elemental investment more effective. Match the weapon's element to the target, then use to raise the element and status buildup of the charged hits. is optional rather than wasted on Courage: level 2 can secure the additional hit on the second charged attack, while Courage remains playable without it.
Both modes are viable. Choose Strength when you enjoy waiting for one large release, and Courage when the monster gives you enough contact time to continue the chain. Selecting a different style changes the charge sequence; it is not a free damage buff. Within either style, Charge Switch also toggles the active charge state. Disengaging that state raises the charge to maximum, which can turn an empty charge into an immediate level 3 release. The switch animation still consumes part of the opening, so plan it before a knockdown rather than inserting it automatically.
Big Bang and Water Strike
Big Bang is a long, stationary punish for a downed monster. Each hit must connect to unlock the next one, and most of its payoff is in Big Bang Finisher. Start the sequence only when the head will remain in reach for the full combo. When the opening is shorter or the head is moving, use a charged release instead of risking a miss that ends the chain.
Water Strike is a countering attack, not a guard stance or a roll. Begin it just before the monster's hit reaches you. A successful counter negates that hit and permits the Upswing follow-up; a failed counter leaves you committed to the attack. Use it for a timing you recognize, then begin charging again after the follow-up. Roll or move away when you do not know the timing.
Impact Burst and Keeping Sway
Impact Burst costs one Wirebug and wraps the hammer in Ironsilk for roughly a minute. During that effect, every charged attack that connects creates a shockwave. The shockwave adds another damage instance, but its elemental modifier is lower than the hammer hit's and it applies no status buildup. Refresh the effect when the blue flare disappears if you expect to keep landing charged attacks.
Keeping Sway is a one-Wirebug, high-speed evade that preserves the charge you have built. Use it when its travel keeps you near the head or carries you through an incoming attack. An ordinary roll costs no Wirebug, while Keeping Sway competes with Wirefall for the same resource. Preserve a Wirebug for recovery when the risk of being knocked down is greater than the value of holding the charge.
Silkbind Spinning Bludgeon also costs one Wirebug. Charging before launch preserves that charge level, and you can continue charging after launch; its rising arc can reach a high or airborne target. Impact Crater costs two Wirebugs, leaps upward, and strikes while descending. Its power and number of hits depend on the charge level at activation, so use it with charge and only when the target will remain under the descent. It is an optional finisher, not a requirement for Sunbreak Hammer.
Switch Skills
Sunbreak gives Hammer five Switch Skill slots on each scroll. This loadout keeps the counter, chooses one charge style, preserves charge through movement, and supports charged attacks with Impact Burst.
| Slot | Recommended choice | Alternatives and tradeoff |
|---|---|---|
| Side attack | Water Strike | Side Smash starts the Big Bang combo but gives up the counter. |
| Charge style | Strength or Courage | Strength favors single level 3 releases; Courage favors a multi-hit elemental chain. |
| Spinning attack | Match it to the charge style | Spinning Bludgeon's repeated hits suit elemental Courage. Spinning Bludgeon: Charge stores power through Charge Switch and suits Strength plans built around repeated level 3 releases. |
| Movement Silkbind | Keeping Sway | Silkbind Spinning Bludgeon reaches high targets; Dash Breaker advances with knockback protection. |
| Finisher or buff | Impact Burst | Impact Crater spends two Wirebugs on a charged aerial finisher. |
Switch Skill Swap lets you place Impact Burst and Impact Crater on different scrolls. Swap for Impact Crater only when the opening is long enough for the swap, launch, and descent; otherwise keep attacking under Impact Burst.
Fight loop
Activate Impact Burst, begin charging, and move so the release will meet the head rather than its previous position. With Strength, fit Strength charge to the opening: a smaller hit that connects is better than a level 3 release after the head has moved. With Courage, continue the chain while its later hits can still reach the same target. Begin charging again as soon as the recovery permits.
Use Water Strike for an attack whose arrival you can time. Use Keeping Sway when preserving charge and changing position solve the same problem. Walk or roll when either move would spend more commitment or Wirebug than the opening justifies.
On a knockdown, first judge how long the head will remain reachable. Big Bang earns its Big Bang Finisher only if the preceding hits connect. A charged release or Courage chain is the safer choice for a shorter window. Impact Crater is available when you have charge, two Wirebugs, and enough time for the descent, but spending both Wirebugs removes them from Keeping Sway and Wirefall.
For a concrete training target, Great Izuchi has a blunt hitzone value of 80 on both the head and tail tip. Both parts take the same listed blunt damage, but only the head turns those hits into stun buildup. That is Hammer's recurring choice: use the available weak point for immediate damage, or stay patient for the head and work toward a knockout.
Skills
Build skills around the attacks you can actually land. Affinity, critical damage, and sharpness support both charge styles. Strength gains more usable level 3 windows from Focus, while Courage converts elemental investment through its multi-hit chain.
| Priority | Why |
|---|---|
| Lv 3 | Adds 50% affinity when the physical hitzone is 45 or higher. It rewards accurate head attacks only when that head meets the threshold. |
| Affinity toward 100%, then Lv 3 | increases critical-hit damage, so it becomes more valuable as your actual affinity rises. Affinity above 100% has no further effect. |
| Maintain your highest practical sharpness color | A drop in sharpness lowers the damage multiplier on every physical hit. Use one of the sharpness options below if the weapon cannot hold its best color through an area. |
| Strength uses faster charge times to fit level 3 releases into more openings. Courage may use level 2 for the additional hit on its second charged attack. | |
| Element Attack, , and for Courage | Courage's extra hits make matched element a larger part of its damage; increases element and status buildup on charged attacks. |
| Lv 4+ | Adds Attack after affinity, critical damage, and required sharpness support. Level 4 is the first level that adds a percentage multiplier. |
raises stun buildup but does not raise the damage dealt to the monster's health. Add it when earlier knockouts create punish windows you can use; do not let it replace the accuracy needed to hit the head. improves Wirebug recovery for repeated Keeping Sway, Impact Burst, or Wirefall, but the weapon functions without heavy Wirebug investment.
In a group, prevents allied attacks from causing damage reactions. It has no benefit when you hunt without allies or followers.
Keep a color
Choose the sharpness skill that solves the weapon's actual gauge problem.
| Skill | What it does |
|---|---|
| Extends a gauge that has not already reached its maximum. | |
| Gives critical hits a chance not to consume sharpness, so it improves as affinity rises. | |
| Prevents sharpness loss for a fixed time after sharpening. | |
| Gives each hit a chance not to consume sharpness. | |
| Grants a timed sharpness-property boost after enough color levels are lost and then restored by sharpening. | |
| Shortens whetstone use when the hunt gives you only a small opening. |
Defense and comfort
Eat before the hunt, upgrade armor with Armor Sphere, and collect Spiribirds until the equipped Petalace provides the health you need. Hammer's counter and charged releases punish failed timing, so surviving the mistake is more useful than a damage skill you cannot keep active.
| Skill | Why |
|---|---|
| Can reduce damage when a counter or charged release fails. | |
| Lv 3 | Prevents stun from turning one mistake into a second uncontested hit. |
| 20 resistance to the matching element | Prevents the corresponding elemental blight. Use the matching elemental-resistance skill when armor and food do not reach the threshold. |
| After its gauge fills through attacks, it reduces one hit and prevents that hit's damage reaction. | |
| Extends rolls; test the distance because it can also carry you beyond the head. | |
| or | Improves the healing received or shortens item use after you sheathe. |
| Adds protection while a large monster is enraged, including resistance to roars, wind pressure, and tremors at the relevant levels. |
Situational skills
Choose these for a monster or plan that actually supplies their condition.
| Skill | When it changes the hunt |
|---|---|
| Prevents a known tremor from interrupting a charge or Big Bang sequence. | |
| Prevents known wind pressure from interrupting the same commitments. | |
| Preserves movement through monster muck or deep snow. | |
| Accelerates a required part break; it does not increase damage to the monster's health. | |
| Raises exhaust buildup on eligible attacks. Exhaust and stun use separate thresholds. | |
| Rewards a timed Switch Skill Swap with damage reduction; at level 2 it also performs a recovery and restores Wirebug gauge. | |
| Adds Attack and affinity only while the target is affected by poison, paralysis, or an elemental blight. | |
| Adds Attack and Defense after a faint. It helps recover a troubled hunt rather than justifying a planned faint. |
Skills that look better than they are
- cannot build stun when your attacks miss the head.
- does not give Hammer a shield.
- responds to lost sharpness levels followed by sharpening; ordinary combo hits do not restore sharpness.
- Do not spend the last Wirebug on Impact Crater without considering whether you may need Wirefall.
- Impact Burst supports charged hits; activating it does not replace the need to land those hits.
- improves Wyvern Riding, not Hammer's ordinary aerial attacks.
Settings
Set automatic sheathe to Manual so an unintended sheathe does not interrupt charge positioning.
While walking a charge toward the head, keep the camera high enough that the stun zone stays visible. A camera clipped into the chest makes it easy to release into the neck after the head turns.