User blog comment:Arbytor7/Hammer help/@comment-3195217-20130225190717

Hey! Hammer is my favorite weapon as well. When I first used Hammer(MH3), I was like "Whats with this cr*p?" And then I couldn't kill Rathian, and then with a Hammer, I magically could. Hammer is my main weapon since then. MH3, MHFU, MHP3 (And MH2 and MHF1, but in MHF1 SnS is better, given the fact that the monsters are so random at times and Hammer does no KO damage, still awesome though).

So hammers are, as AzureRathian said below, a weapon that takes advantage of exploits. Now, the main issue is whith a Hammer, that you can not guard, so your only options for 'defense' are: Evasion, Earplugs, Infinite Stamina items, your teammates and belive it or not, the sheer force of your hammer. I can't really add much more to the basics, that AzureRathian explained. Maybe thing like: For starters, mastering the Superpound is primary, Triple pound is secondary and everything else comes afterwards. You charge your hammer and after the 3rd charge you release a hit, that can be devastating, and relatively fast, compared to the other combos, a Hammer can do. So, after you know your monster (which you probably do, so I'd say Rathian and Barroth as well, for practice), you know when are the opportunities, you can hit the head (or other weakness, depending on the monster you hunt and the hunting style you choose, but in most cases, you hit the head) and you charge up beforehand, and when it is right time to do so, you land the superpound. Now if you knocked out your monster, you do the Triple pound, almost always.Why? Because that does the most damage. (excluding some stuff like Uragaan, because its head is too hard, so you either SP on it or TP on the legs) Now in case you're wondering, why not do the TP instead of the SP, when it does more damage? You can do thad, but monsters will more than likely hit you if you don't do it in the exact right times you need to. I'd say try that if you got better.

How not to get hit?

Evade. Roll, roll, do a barrel roll! After each and every SP, you have to roll, because the recovery animaton takes 2× as much time as the attack itself. If you have no Earplugs, which I greatly suggest to have, you should learn to roll through enemy roars. Easier ones are Uragaan, Tigrex, Nargacuga, Deviljho. Impossibly hard ones are: Rathalos, Rathian, Diablos. And use Mega (Dash) Juice or Marathon Runner if you can't manage your stamina well (well I kinda never use them, but then again, I learned how to play whilye not using infinite stamina, and the downside is that I always want to hit something. And that hit usually goes for my teammates as well. Or goes off too early/without thinking. Because I hurry, you should not.)

Good Hammers in MH3U:

Well.. In MH3U there are LOTS and I mean lots of really awesome end game Hammers. Best one is when using the skills: Awaken and Sharpness+1 is the Uragaan Hammer, because it scores an incredible 400 points of the OP Slime status and it has base 1508 (divided:290) Raw and Purple sharpness(With S+1). Without those skills, Duramboros(raw) or Nargacuga(sharpness) are the best raw hammers out there. As for elemental (without Awaken and S+1): in the order: Fire, Water, Thunder, Ice, Dragon. Silver Rathalos, Jhen Mohran, Lagiacrus Rare, Jade Barroth, Alatreon. As for Status (without Awaken): in the order: Poison, Paralyze, Sleep, Slime. R.Ludroth Subspecies, Gobul mix CrimsonPeco, Lobster, Brachydios.

For low rank, I would recommend starting with a Raw hammer. the best is the Iron path, because it's easy to upgrade and is relatively strong and remains sharp for a longer time than the bone. And while you're farming for Duramboros and/or Narga Heavenly Scales the end form of the Iron Hammer will fare well against anything until you get the better one. Or you could take advantage of the common weakness of the 2 monsters. Farm for Rathalos weapons with the Iron Hammer(because he is very weak against hammers on his head, so you need pretty much no elemental to kill him, though it makes your job easier), and after you got it, you can do the Narga and/or Duram farming.

I hope I was some sort of a help. Have a good time using this awesome weapon! :)