Buff Hammer skill 1 for warrior

[China.5268]

Since hammer skill 1 only do dmg nothing else, would be a good idea u guys buff this skill? like add vulnerability, etc?...

[oscuro.9720]

Well one way we can look at this is by comparing it to other hammers. Let’s start with damage using coefficient/cast. If warrior hammer damage is comparable to other hammers, then we should start asking what kind of utility should be added, and how much using the others as a model. If Warrior hammer auto is stronger, then it is a question of whether that damage overcomes the separation in utility. 

 

Warrior Hammer Auto Chain:

2.0 coeff / 2.75s = .7273

Utility: None

 

Guardian Hammer Auto Chain:

1.732 coeff / 3.45s = .502

Utility; Symbol of Protection (1.2 coefficient, 3s protection, light field)

 

Scrapper Hammer Auto Chain:

2.132 coeff / 2.75s = .775

Utility; 4 might, 4 vuln

 

Ranger Hammer Auto Chain: 

1.999 coeff / 2.75s = .7269 (no cast time is provided, but since the cast of each strike is the same, we will assume the same cast as warrior and scrapper hammer) 

Utility: None

 

Going off of those numbers, it seems warrior hammer is actually balanced with the others fairly well. Scrapper hammer auto seems to be the outlier, providing decent utility and the highest damage of any hammer auto. So either the hammers should be buffed up to be comparable, or scrapper hammer should be brought down.
 

I would argue that hammers should be brought up to Scrapper Hammer level, given hammers, as a whole, aren’t exactly the best weapon group at the moment. 
 

For warrior hammer, you would look at one of three routes; just more damage, added utility, or a combination of the two. 
 

To give rough numbers, a pure damage based balance would ideally look something like; 

Hammer Auto 1: .6 coeff

Hammer Auto 2: .7 coeff (+.1)

Hammer Auto 3: 1 coeff (+.2) 

Total Coefficient: 2.3

Cast Time: 2.75s

Coeff/Cast: .836

 

This would give it .6 more coeff/cast than scrapper hammer, which is similar to the gap the Scrapper hammer has over warrior hammer presently. Ranger hammer would be pulled up roughly the same (since it is basically identical to warrior hammer it appears). 

 

Alternatively, you could reduce the cast time of the chain with the same coefficients, since warrior is supposed to be strong and a master of weapons and all. It would look something like; 

Total Coefficient: 2.0

Cast time: 2.25s (-.5s)

Coeff/Cast: .888

 

I actually think I prefer the reduced cast route for warrior, and the higher coefficient route for the ranger hammer (with an extra .1 over the above example to make the damage-only chains similar in output). It would give more diversity to their gameplay and the Hammer weapon group as a whole. Cutting the first two strikes down from 1/2s to 1/4s would quicken up the whole chain and result in a decent damage increase to the Hammer kit as a whole.  It would also be fitting with warriors hypothetically being the “master of weapons” and relying on physical strength in combat. 
 

 

[prototypedragon.1406]

Honestly I think aoe confusion would be a nice addition to the hammer 1 skill chain.

[Mungrul.9358]

Or, and more in keeping with other hammer skills, have the third hit dish out AoE Weakness.

That would add synergy with Backbreaker, and more Weakness on enemies acts as effective defence, lowering the damage enemies are doing to the warrior.

Plus, having more than one way to deploy Weakness on hammer makes it less trivial to cleanse.

In this scenario, if you took Body Blow, almost every hammer hit would dish out Weakness.

 

It would also be neat if there was a trait that synergised with this, where if you hit with one of these skills while suffering from Weakness yourself, you remove said Weakness.

Weakness is incredibly effective against hammer warrior thanks to the weapon's inherently slow attack speed, same as with Blind, so having a built-in way to get rid of it would be cool.

And it seems a bit odd that one of the weapons most able to dish out Weakness in the game is also drastically affected by it.

[Fueki.4753]

In addition to Weakness, it could also apply Vulnerability.

for example: The first swing applies two Weakness, the second swing applies two Vulnerability and the third swing applies two of both.

Given that Arenanet currently is deeply in love with Condition (and Boon) spam, this would be in line with their current profession design philosophy.

Edited September 12, 2022 by Fueki.4753

[China.5268]

I was always fan of warrior with hammer, more than GS xD, theres even a specialization for hammer skills but the only thing lacking is a buff/utility for skill 1. I think adding vulnerability, weakness, cripple, slow or maybe a buff like might or fury would work great.

 

Personally i think adding weakness or cripple would be great since it has a nice synergy combo with the other skills and specialization(defence cull the weak).

 

For buff(boon) i think 3 that would work great are stability, protection and might.

[prototypedragon.1406]

Honestly at this point I'd Rather anet give us a screaming skritt on a stick for a Hammer skin to give Hammer a miniscule fraction of the enjoyment it once had in the cornerstone game mode World versus World. Honestly I feel they may just kitten things up again. It's quite odd though that the new and improved rifle mechanist isn't deemed the easiest class in the game right now and warrior still is but Warriors have become as Rare as Rangers were in the first couple years of gameplay. At least then unicorns were more common along ranger. I Wonder why ( I'm warrior me don't know how a Hammer works no more 2 much self bonking)Warrior has become like the dodo bird of tyria since devs have hunted them to extinction with their balance traps.