Heroes of the Storm Sgt. Hammer

[Damien 1,514]

This thread is for comments about our Sgt. Hammer build guide for Heroes of the Storm.

[Guest Commander Hammer]

https://www.icy-veins.com/heroes/sgt-hammer-talents

7. Level 16 Talents

The guide skipped the detailed on Graduating Range, a talents which I'm fairly curious about. It was X'ed so it's in the not recommended but I'd love to hear commentary on why.

Please & thank you

[Oxygen 446]

https://www.icy-veins.com/heroes/sgt-hammer-talents

7. Level 16 Talents

The guide skipped the detailed on Graduating Range, a talents which I'm fairly curious about. It was X'ed so it's in the not recommended but I'd love to hear commentary on why.

Please & thank you

Good catch; I'm updating it right now.

[Guest F Scheltens]

This needs to be updated, in the recent patch cooldonw for sgt hammer was reduced to two seconds.

(sorry if double post) 

[Fransoa 25]

i think the cloak talent at level 1 is better than the +10% damage to distant enemies because the cloak talent gives u a double damage auto instantly whereas u have to attack 10 times with the +10% to equal in damage.

[Oxygen 446]

i think the cloak talent at level 1 is better than the +10% damage to distant enemies because the cloak talent gives u a double damage auto instantly whereas u have to attack 10 times with the +10% to equal in damage.

 

Hi,

 

personally, I almost never use siege mode, and when I do, it is because I know I can stay in it for a while. Before level 16 (Hoversiege), Ambush is pretty difficult to pull off safely as well, whereas after 16, you may want to remain in siege mode for extended periods. The talent isn't bad at all, but I find it clunky in general. I still like to surprise my lane opponents with it and Focused Attack.

[Guest Guest]

I have noticed no comments about Towers of Doom at all, which I have found to be a map designed for Hammer.  Running a split offence of Hammer in one lane using Vampiric Embrace and Graduated in one lane while the whole team counters in the other 2 lanes, we can keep them effectively unbalanced while Hammer is soloing towers.

[Guest Sebo964]

the worse map is defo Cursed Hallow, it is not listed. I play hammer all the time and this is my worse map. its too large for Hammer limited mobility. I take the stealth to start with then thrusters lower cooldown to improve mobility and make more escapes. Vampiric assault helps me stay in the game longer. i barely need to hearth. low in health just get in a lane and hit something. this also improves the time hammer can stay in a team fight. if not focused this greatly add to effectiveness. i would usually be the last to disengage since i would have almost full life. i siege all the time to take benefit of stealth attack bonus and the cool down is now only 2sec. the napalm not only helps with clearing lanes but great in team fights. not only are you doing splash damage in siege but also AOE damage with napalm, great way to force ennemis to scram or scatter. best map is certainly no dragon shire, so many other players can zone her out. best map is eternal shrine, splash damage does not apply anymore for the objactive but napalm helps a lot. my advice on this map arrive always late to the party, the other players wont expect you and you can inflict a great deal of damage. Spider web is not bad as well depending on which enemy is in the lane. Hover siege is useless, better take graduating range. Ennemy players will constantly have to watch your reach, if they forget you punish hard. Great for pushing a last fort or the core, you can siege way behind and wait for the core to become in your range or siege near the core and trap the other players in their spawn point. Hover siege kinds of cancels my stealth, but also, the other players move way faster than hammer does in hover mode so they will always escape, no point. also in enternal shrine and battlefield of eternity hammer can solo camp once level 10 and napalm. other maps hammer can solo the 2 giants but not the 4 mercenaries. 

[Guest sebo964]

I have noticed no comments about Towers of Doom at all, which I have found to be a map designed for Hammer.  Running a split offence of Hammer in one lane using Vampiric Embrace and Graduated in one lane while the whole team counters in the other 2 lanes, we can keep them effectively unbalanced while Hammer is soloing towers.

 

didnot get the map often but indeed great for hammer, the towers are so squishy and once you destroy the main tower everything else is destroyed. Hammer can just camp near the captured tower. Unless 2 or 3 full life ennemies come at you at once you can defend easy. with backup nothing will move you. 

[Guest FSSZilla]

I feel like there's a potential build in there meant to beef up single shots, giving Hammer a very annoying, bursty poke.  Ambush, Focused Attack, First Aid, Napalm, First Strike, Executioner (if your team can lay on slows, either Graduating Range or Hover if not), and Nexus Frenzy, all to lead to one massive basic attack from cloak, then either repositioning, chasing, or escaping, as the situation merits.

+100% Ambush
+75% Focused Attack
+25% First Strike
+40% Executioner (if slowed)
+20% Nexus Frenzy

That's +220% on one shot if the target does not proc Executioner, %260 if it does.

I think the designers were intending some kind of synergy here.  Is it viable?  I know raw DPS takes a hit, but maybe against a very mobile team that denies uptime, it could be useful?

[Oxygen 446]

I feel like there's a potential build in there meant to beef up single shots, giving Hammer a very annoying, bursty poke.  Ambush, Focused Attack, First Aid, Napalm, First Strike, Executioner (if your team can lay on slows, either Graduating Range or Hover if not), and Nexus Frenzy, all to lead to one massive basic attack from cloak, then either repositioning, chasing, or escaping, as the situation merits.

+100% Ambush

+75% Focused Attack

+25% First Strike

+40% Executioner (if slowed)

+20% Nexus Frenzy

That's +220% on one shot if the target does not proc Executioner, %260 if it does.

I think the designers were intending some kind of synergy here.  Is it viable?  I know raw DPS takes a hit, but maybe against a very mobile team that denies uptime, it could be useful?

 

Hi,

 

The only time I'd run such a build is when your opponents would have absolutely no way of diving/engaging/pressuring you, which, in this current meta, is essentially never seen. The current top tier hero picks are very good against Sgt. Hammer.

[Guest Wrexsoul]

I'd like to bring up the tier 1 talent "Resistant". You write it off as useless since "you're not supposed to be caught with CC while in siege mode", but I have found that it's often very useful to have for the extended uptime you get in the late game (16+), rather than to escape stuff during early- and midgame. There's generally a whole lot of CC happening in end-game team fights, and Hammer's output is so high I often get targeted by it. Additionally, I'm usually in siege mode thanks to being able to move and to use the extra range/splash damage. Having 75% reduction on all CC is a godsend in those situations, letting me continue pushing out kills through the many ultimates and ranged stuns you will otherwise get severely hindered by. It's also nice against stunlocks, as you can get a Z escape in after the first stun before the rest hit (e.g. Diablo). 

 

Finally, as a bonus it's nice to have in Eternal Battlefield since you can dps the Immortal from a very safe distance in siege mode and just shrug off the targeted stuns. 

[Guest Delryn]

The BFG shouldn't be written off so easily. At level 20 it becomes a guaranteed permanent split push. On some maps, it is a must have.

[Oxygen 446]

On 7/19/2016 at 6:20 AM, Guest Delryn said:

The BFG shouldn't be written off so easily. At level 20 it becomes a guaranteed permanent split push. On some maps, it is a must have.

Hammer's unpopularity makes it pretty difficult to fairly judge, though I very well may go through the guide again. But, as I see it, Napalm Strike offers a better early to mid-game. The majority of games end before level 20, and as such, I must prefer to focus on securing a solid lead than to build on an admittedly good but not always doable late-game strategy.

[Guest LEEROY JANKINS]

I just want to say that the Chromie Counter is not mentioned when Cromie can burst down 2k damage on hammer with a 2 hit kill. Just sayig you should add her as a counter. Hammer takes a second to go to tank from siege mode and thats enough time for chromie to dragon and sand blast you.

[Valks 2,375]

On 11/12/2016 at 5:46 PM, Guest LEEROY JANKINS said:

I just want to say that the Chromie Counter is not mentioned when Cromie can burst down 2k damage on hammer with a 2 hit kill. Just sayig you should add her as a counter. Hammer takes a second to go to tank from siege mode and thats enough time for chromie to dragon and sand blast you.

There's a set of updates due to release to a number of guides of HoTS. This will likely be included in her synergies/counters update, but thanks for letting us know anyway!

[Niteshadow 20]

Just a little niche talent thing but I thought I'd throw it out there - Graduating Range can be huge on Battlefield of Eternity. You can siege up right in the middle, have your team block you off, and use Napalm Strike to gain vision and attack enemy heroes. If no one is contesting, or if your team has zoned them out (by giving you vision) you can quite literally control the whole battlefield, and with First Aid and a good team protecting you from ganks, you can wear down the enemy immortal and zone enemies from your immortal without ever moving. If you want to try this, I would recommend making sure that you have some decent crowd control to really punish enemies trying to get to you or trying to contest your immortal. Anyone with reveals also really benefits you, as you need to see someone to AA them. Just throwing this out there; I tried it once and it worked beautifully. I'm sure there are some great ways to counter this as well (stealth, any blinds whatsoever, etc.), but it's just is a fun little thing to do!

[Guest Phaexos]

On 11/14/2016 at 7:30 AM, Blainie said:

There's a set of updates due to release to a number of guides of HoTS. This will likely be included in her synergies/counters update, but thanks for letting us know anyway!

Still waiting on this update.  Not only should Chromie be added but, in my opinion, Li-Ming is another obvious counter that can easily burn down any sieging Hammer in a matter of seconds.  Tracer also offers an incredible amount of frustrating pressure for Hammer but isn't listed as a counter, either.  Those three should probably replace Tyrael (who requires a lot of team coordination to successfully counter Hammer), Nova (who is only a real threat if the player uses Anti-Armor shells and almost nobody does) and Illidan (who can be a pain but can be dealt with unless the player chooses his The Hunt ult...also there is no mention of using Thrusters and Concussive Blast as methods of keeping him at bay).  And no mention of either Morales or Malfurion (Entangling Roots + Napalm, anyone?) as synergies?  Both of them are far, far better support options for Hammer than Uther. 

Also, I think it should be mentioned that Ambush is a much better option for Hammer against heroes and during team fights - Advanced Artillery is really only relevant against minions/mercs/buildings and only while Hammer is properly set up in siege mode.  Heroes have absolutely no problem getting close enough to Hammer for the talent's bonus to be negated.  And while I'd say Hammer should almost always build for damage as opposed to self-sustain, Regeneration Master's 500 bonus health reward can be the difference between life and death when the other team has poke/burst damage from heroes like Chromie, Li-Ming, or even Nova.  Not that such a talent should be in the recommended options, I just think saying burst damage is what is most dangerous to Hammer (which is true) and then saying that talent does nothing to help against that (which is obviously false) deserves to be corrected and replaced with a better explanation.

[Niteshadow 20]

On December 2, 2016 at 1:28 AM, Guest Phaexos said:

Not only should Chromie be added but, in my opinion, Li-Ming is another obvious counter that can easily burn down any sieging Hammer in a matter of seconds. Tracer also offers an incredible amount of frustrating pressure for Hammer but isn't listed as a counter, either.

The thing about Li-Ming is that she has massively damaging single target skillshots (you can argue Arcane Orb does AoE damage, but only on impact), so killing Sgt. Hammer requires her to overextend or take time away from melting other targets to find a safe "Sniping" area to burst her down from in a teamfight situation. As for Tracer, and this is from experience as the Tracer player, if she can auto attack you, you don't have a very good chance, especially in team fights. If you dive in, deal some damage, and recall, she'll be at 66% health and you'll be at around 35%, forcing you to either hearth back or make your healer focus on you and not a teammate who's being focus fired. Even a well executed combo is dangerous; her Spider Mines, Concussive Blast, and huge auto attack range will keep you from being in Melee range and also cause your Pulse Bomb to miss if timed incorrectly. Not only that, but the extra time spent trying to get to her will keep you from recalling out of her auto attack range, making you take even more sustained damage. Add this on to any enemy crowd control, and it's very hard to dive her, get the kill, and escape yourself. I do agree, these heroes trade very efficiently with Hammer, but in teamfights start to lose their value against her very quickly.

[Valks 2,375]

On 12/2/2016 at 7:28 AM, Guest Phaexos said:

Still waiting on this update.  

Just wanted to say that the updates are coming, they are just taking time for some heroes since they are being completely rewritten to fit the "new" guide format. It's a more simple, to the point way of discussing the possibilities for different heroes, basically.

I can only apologise and say that our team is working hard to get it done! Sorry! 

[ranafuineluva 0]

The level 1 talent Ambush though can drop dps a little for me it has enabled me to stay alive 5 times more. You can hit the thrusters and run away from attackers and hit siege mode again to be invisible.

[positiv2 952]

4 hours ago, ranafuineluva said:

The level 1 talent Ambush though can drop dps a little for me it has enabled me to stay alive 5 times more. You can hit the thrusters and run away from attackers and hit siege mode again to be invisible.

Ambush's effect starts to lose power once you are able to split attention between the game and minimap, and are able to predict opponents' movement, simply because you will know when to run, which means you won't need to use the stealth as often.

[Guest Kalasnokov]

Been playing Hammer since forever now, and most talents here are correct, but there are some very good (and more often than not essential) ones written off.

T.1: Ambush is IMO a really good choice here, it provides important first-hit damage (works as both deterrent and as an engager) and gives you stealth, which is often fun to mess around with and sometimes useful for escaping people, if you are lucky. Even without stealth this would be a good pick.

T.10: Napalm for DMP, blunt for push (must take orbital at T.20). Very situational, but overall napalm is usually the best choice.

T.13: first strike adds on to your ambush's damage increase, making your first shot much more deadly, as well as making base push and defense easier. Giant killer seems pathetically weak for hammer, since you fire too slowly to take advantage of the % damage.

T.16: Graduating range is a good contender to hover, if you know how to use it (also choosing hover without ambush feels rather pointless). Graduating is perfect for long engagements, area denial, capturing and holding objectives, base push and base defense, and standing still in not a problem unless you have thrusters on cooldown. Keep an eye on your location, position carefully and make sure you know what your teams is doing and you will annihilate anything that dare stray within your now obscene range. Hover can be good depending on team composition, but you want range, lots of it, and hover means you have to be closer to the enemy, and would still have to use thrusters to avoid taking damage since you are too slow to avoid anything. Meanwhile a grad. hammer can stay clear of enemy fire safe behind their teammates and avoid most skillshots since the aggressor would need to stray dangerously far into your range. Also, it's hilarious being a grad. hammer when facing a hover hammer, they can't touch you.

T.20 Orbital if you choose blunt at T.10, otherwise go for frenzy, synergies well with graduating range. No opinion on advanced lava strike, never seen a reason to take it instead of a flat out 20% DPM and range-increase.

These are my thoughts, keep in mind they are aimed towards a player teamed up with some party-members and preferably voice-comms with his or her teammates.

[positiv2 952]

4 hours ago, Guest Kalasnokov said:

T.1: Ambush is IMO a really good choice here, it provides important first-hit damage (works as both deterrent and as an engager) and gives you stealth, which is often fun to mess around with and sometimes useful for escaping people, if you are lucky. Even without stealth this would be a good pick.

Even though it does provide a "shock" bonus for psychological warfare, more experienced players are, from experience, rarely cowed and ranged heroes will often start attacking you right after your attack, and since you are immobile, you will be at a disadvantage. Additionally, you get more damage overall if you go for Advanced Artillery instead.

[Guest Kalasnokov]

On 2017-03-20 at 11:01 PM, positiv2 said:

Even though it does provide a "shock" bonus for psychological warfare, more experienced players are, from experience, rarely cowed and ranged heroes will often start attacking you right after your attack, and since you are immobile, you will be at a disadvantage. Additionally, you get more damage overall if you go for Advanced Artillery instead.

Advanced rely on that you can stay in siegemode for prolonged times, about ten shots at minimum as average shots-per-siege before you reach the same effectiveness as ambush, whilst also having to relying on the idea that the enemy will stay at range from you. If the enemy is keen enough to attack you it's better to get that first double off at the start, instead of hoping that the enemy will allow you to fire your ten or more shots. Ambush also gives an advantage when re-engaging the enemy, pairing it with graduating works almost just as well as with hover, since if you are forced from siegemode you will get ambush active again and can deal out the double all over again. 

First hit damage-capability is key, having ambush, first strike and empower can give you the edge you need over anyone wanting to out-dpm you or burst you down, not to mention the tactics you can utilize by knowing all your first shots deal tremendous amounts of damage.