Talk:Devastating Hammer

It can also be captured from the Jade Armor Warrior Boss (my warrior char captured it from him 2 months ago) in the Iron Mines of Moladune mission. I'll do it tonight so perhaps I'll meet him. :) --Karlos 08:25, 3 Aug 2005 (EST)
 * Perfected Armor is listed on Xennon's page as a boss with devastating hammer. --Fyren 08:36, 3 Aug 2005 (EST)
 * Well, if I confirm it tonight, then we can put the info and honestly claim it as ours. When I cap'ed it from him I did not use any info from Xennon's site. I seem to recall he was Cairn the Annoying or something. :) --Karlos 08:44, 3 Aug 2005 (EST)

You're doing Iron Mines tonight? Maybe I can tag along, I have some armor I need to get infused. :) --Midk 08:28, 3 Aug 2005 (EST) My question is: does the knockdown have to happen for the weakness condition to be generated on the target? For instance, if the mob is immune to knockdown, does he still get weakness? --Queen of Spades 08:55, 21 November 2006 (CST)
 * As far as I've seen, I'm pretty sure the Weakness is separate from the knockdown. Ayumbhara 16:59, 22 December 2006 (CST)

Factions Boss
The Factions boss that carries this is nicknamed "The Jade Maul"? I like that! Clever reference. --Valentein 20:39, 19 November 2006 (CST)

Uncondtional
Exactly HOW unconditional is it? ie. does it need to hit to knockdown? namnatulco 11:33, 11 February 2007 (CST)
 * Unconditional in the sense that it does not require a target that's affected by weakness, or a hex, or something in order to knock down. Still gotta hit em.--Fourth Horseman 12:23, 11 February 2007 (CST)
 * Ah, I thought so. I'd prefer Hammer Bash over this, then. namnatulco 09:49, 12 February 2007 (CST)
 * Hammer bash makes you lose adrenaline. This will still make you use for example "on your knees!".

It's basically Hammer Bash + Staggering Blow, without losing all your Adrenaline. Adrenal costs 4 + 6 = 10, but this costs 7 so it's more economical. Devastating Hammer is one of the hammer techniques I'd call "godly powerful". Consider the following bar.

Crazy damage right there, two knockdowns, Deep Wound, IAS, speed buff. Yow. There is also Forceful Blow which is nice, however it doesn't KD unconditionally and knocks you down if it's blocked, which is annoying. However it deals a lot more damage. Nevertheless, Devastating Hammer was the first (Prophecies) and it's still pretty darn good. Entropy 09:06, 13 February 2007 (CST)
 * Looks good. Adrenaline always confuses me... I always think gaining it takes long. I think its one hit gives 25 "points" to all skills, rather than 1 skill, am I right? namnatulco 09:57, 13 February 2007 (CST)
 * Right, though there's only a loose correlation between adrenaline points and strikes (the cost shown). There's info at adrenaline, though I don't know if the values for post-Prophecies skills were verified.  --Fyren 10:11, 13 February 2007 (CST)

To Namnatulco's comment, Devastating Hammer is one of, if not the only, skills in the game that basically reads "Knock down target foe," with no negative effects to that (it only has a positive effect, that being it also causes Weakness). Pretty much every other skill that knocks down either causes Exhaustion, the loss of all adrenaline, or some other weird effect. As far as the "conditions" of requiring adrenaline, a hammer, and hitting, the first two are an ignored given, and the last is something any warrior needs to accomplish, and can also be ignored (for the sake of whether it is conditional or not, otherwise, blocking is a very important matter to a Warrior). Devastating Hammer's knock-down and weakness opens up many powerful attack chains, making it one of the most effective hammer attack skills in the game.

To Entropy's posted build, I don't want to knock it, but it has a few flaws. First of all, Crushing Blow can just as easily follow Heavy Blow, as it doesn't cost adrenaline, and will give you a little head-start of adrenaline after losing it all from Heavy (you can also hit a foe with Crushing after using Enraging Charge; you can't with Heavy, or it'll be wasted, you'll have to waste time with an extra, normal attack). You've got FGJ! and Flail, so adrenaline probably wouldn't be an issue, but it seems a tad much. From a great deal of testing, I've found the most economical usage of Devast, Fierce, Crushing, and Heavy is to chain it together as such: Devast->Fierce->Heavy->Crushing. This way, you not only get that headstart of adrenaline, but you also knockdown your foe right as they get up thanks to Heavy Blow. However, IAS will disrupt this, and you'll have to waste an extra attack after Fierce (resulting in more time for them to stand up and use a skill), or you'll hit them with Heavy right as they're getting up (resulting in no knockdown). Enraging Charge is always a good option, and out of personal preference, it never leaves any adrenaline heavy bar. The advantages of EC is somewhat spike-related: FGJ! requires several swings beforehand to charge up, and Rush drains some of your adrenaline. EC replaces both FGJ! and Rush in one, effective, spiking packet. The rest of your skills, even Flail, are just icing on the cake. I personally believe that a Hammer warrior is the strongest and most PvP-effective warrior type in the game. And that's my rant about Hammers. xD DancingZombies 19:52, 5 April 2007 (CDT)


 * I posted that ages ago, what you say (Heavy, Enraging, etc) are what I would have posted now if I had just answered the question, hehe. I tend to forget about skillbars and suggestions I post and so they get outdated...Feel free to change the bar if you want. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 19:57, 5 April 2007 (CDT)

But wouldn't Crushing Blow be more useful earlier in the chain, since it causes Deep Wound? Axl Geist 13:04, 15 April 2007 (CDT)

It's been my experience with deep wound that if you wait until your enemy is already low on health, you can surprise them and spike the last bit of their health away before they can heal. Of course, you have to take in the consideration of the reduced healing from deep wound, but overall, it is my opinion that waiting until the enemy is at 1/4 hp is best.--Ryudo 23:55, 18 April 2007 (CDT)


 * Ohhh. Thanks for the tip :P. Axl Geist 15:17, 19 April 2007 (CDT)
 * Plus, if I haven't said it already, using Devastating->Crushing->Fierce->Heavy gives them the opportunity to get up and retaliate. Moving Crushing to the end of the chain makes Heavy hit them right as they stand up, giving them a very small window to do something. If you have an IAS, however, Heavy will activate too fast, so I'd suggest using Crushing right after Devastating. DancingZombies [[Image:Aura_of_the_Lich.jpg|24px]] 12:59, 15 May 2007 (CDT)


 * Just remember that Deep Wound on it's own can NOT kill something, it must be followed by some sort of health loss, either by them being hit for damage or have degen on them. Because of this, Crushing should not be the last skill since you will have to hit them with a normal attack afterwards --Gimmethegepgun 13:03, 15 May 2007 (CDT)

unconditionial
so how is this one of "few" unconditional knockdowns? how are Backbreaker, Earth Shaker, Spike Trap, Signet of Judgement or Lightning Surge to name but a few not unconditional? and even Hammer Bash or other so called "conditional" skills are not actually conditional, but have a downside. Which is quite different.  ~ Soqed Hozi ~  13:40, 15 May 2007 (CDT)
 * Spike Trap requires that they walk over it, Lightning Surge requires that the hex isn't removed FYI. --Kale Ironfist 19:25, 15 May 2007 (CDT)