Is power berserker w/ hammer viable?

[Lynx.9058]

I really like this thematic idea of a Norn berserker with a hammer, especially with the axe skin for hammer they've got up on the black lion store.  Just wanting to know if it's a viable/worthwhile build, I have little experience with warrior or its elite specs (it's the one class I haven't played much of at all) before I invest too much into this kind of character.

[Dahkeus.8243]

What side of the game are you asking for? 

From a PvE standpoint, hammer unfortunately has tended to be pretty lackluster.  However, some recent buffs have allowed it to perform pretty well with a Spellbreaker build since the weapon now does decent damage and the CC allows for heavy stacking of the Attacker's Insight buff/trait on Spellbreaker.  Link to build here and a link to a video showing the DPS here.

 

Currently in PvE, Berserker mainly uses condi weapons (sword/torch and longbow) since power Berserker was hit hard after the June patch that affected a lot of power builds and changed banners, so a Berserker with a hammer would be rather weak. 

 

If you're asking for a WvW/PvP standpoint...then stay tuned.  The October 4th patch is bringing some really interesting changes to both Berserker and warrior hammer.  No one really knows how well they will ultimately stack up until the patch comes out, but there is definitely some potential there. 

 

Early notes on the expected changes are found here.

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

Hammer Berserker should be better this Tuesday though, so feel free to try it out then. The changes in particular are game wide, so  they will be interesting.

[Grand Marshal.4098]

Right now, no. It's not viable in zergs. It's slow, low cleave and needs a lot of setup. After the patch it will be twice as good if not thrice, given the fact that the primal is not clunky anymore and buffed, you can use core bursts without Zerk mode ensuring better uptime on mobility and damage and you might be able to drop Signet of Fury for other Rage skills for the adrenaine, giving you even more DPS (Wild Blow, Sundering Leap, Outrage for example).

[Geoff Fey.1035]

Very much looking forward to these changes. Having options for quickness (w/ + movement) and stability on disable and then having extra damage against disabled foes (+20% currently) plus more damage when you have stability (+?%) with Sigil of Impact (+7% vs. disabled, +3% baseline) seem like a tasty wombo combo for open world PvE

[Vancho.8750]

21 hours ago, Lan Deathrider.5910 said:

Hammer Berserker should be better this Tuesday though, so feel free to try it out then. The changes in particular are game wide, so  they will be interesting.

I bet they want to sell more 2 handed Red  "Axe" skins, really convenient fanservice considering they made functional synergy for hammer builds on warrior, like it is all planed and if that is the cost to get good gameplay builds I'll kittening buy it.

[eXruina.4956]

*cough cuddly cat weapon skins.. genius 🤕🙀💕

[Suyheuti.1732]

I dont know it is now better or not. It is viable with spellbreaker but 2 days later, I expect it will get much more better 

[Geoff Fey.1035]

Have you had a chance to test this out yet?

[Stagnation.3659]

I found decent success with hammer and dual axe in pvp. Relying on stun locking with bull, wild blow, and hammer to get all my damage from axe actually hit.

[Suyheuti.1732]

I havent checked benchmark because I dont have full gear but I've played with D-A/Hammer Spellbreaker after the patch, it is quite satisfying. Strength 3 3 1, Defense 3 3 3, SB 1 3 3. If there is someone who has full gear checks the benchmark, I will be appreciated

[Grand Marshal.4098]

So, after an initial look at the numbers with a build that makes use of the hammer to the maximum limit (defense is not very good for raw DPS zerker, strength still holds out a bit better), I deduce that it's usable in zergs.

In roaming it can be fun albeit less forgiving than SpB.

Seldom will people use this in GvG. Despite the immob and the burst potential, it needs a lot of combat movement to use it's skills.

It lacks the constant cleave something like Sword/Axe - GS Burstzerker pulls off.

Defense DPS Spellbreaker with Hamm/GS is the go to for hammer playstyle.

Berserker should be better played as cleave and not a stunbot, since SpB excels at that more. With the use of Core bursts, you have less dps downtime and Rage skills can be implemented for more DPS instead of stances.

All they got to do is fix the shared CD between Core and Primal bursts and give Berserk Mode a Burst skill tooltip to trigger effects like Burst Mastery for obvious reasons.