Best Hammer Build MH Wilds

If you need the best Hammer build in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, the Moteurvankel is where you should turn for the best raw damage and Blast procs. This build is tailored for 100% Affinity to ensure all attacks hit as a critical, amplifying your overall damage. The combination of Affinity Fusion strengthening, Critical Boost, and balanced armor synergies makes this build promise destructive hammer attacks while consistently keeping stamina efficiency and survivability in check. Whether you’re hunting solo or taking on tougher multiplayer challenges, this guide will walk you through the optimal weapon, armor, skills, and decorations to make the most of this high-damage, high-Blast Hammer setup.

Best Weapon: Moteurvankel

How to use Moteurvankel

In order to always land critical hits, your primary objective must be achieving 100% Affinity with the Moteurvankel. The most effective method of doing so is by mounting three Affinity Fusion buffs, which will provide you with a bonus 20% Affinity – exactly what you need to hit the ceiling when paired with the firearm’s natural stats. This configuration guarantees all the shots you fire are critical, and you are maximizing your damage as much as possible.

Combined with a maxed-out Critical Boost skill, you will greatly augment your critical hit damage, turning your hammer hits even more destructive. If, however, you prefer to play up Blast status more regularly, you can instead substitute in a Crit Status Jewel. This will enable you to detonate bombs more often, resulting in more evenly balanced damage strategy.

When reinforcing your weapon, prioritize Attack as much as possible while also adding at least one Sharpness boost. This will help maintain damage consistency throughout the hunt. For Hybrid Decorations, Handicraft isn’t essential for this build, so you can opt for Charge Up, which increases your stun potential – letting you land one or two more KOs during a fight, keeping the monster vulnerable for longer.

For decorations, stick to the same approach as the Artian setup, prioritizing Critical Boost 5 to enhance your crit damage. The final decoration slot can be a flexible choice, depending on your preference, you can use either an Expert Jewel to increase your Affinity or a Critical Status Jewel to improve Blast procs. This allows you to fine-tune the build to your preferred playstyle, whether you want raw damage consistency or more explosive potential.

Moteurvankel Alternative

If you haven’t obtained an Artian weapon yet, the Graviton Hammer is a solid alternative. It follows the same philosophy as its predecessor, offering high Raw and Blast damage at the cost of negative Affinity. While this might seem like a drawback, the overall build still ensures that you’ll land critical hits around 60% of the time, making it a viable substitute until you get the best-in-slot option.

Best Hammer Build Armor Loadout

To fully optimize your 100% Critical Blast Hammer build, this armor set focuses on maximizing Affinity, Blast, and overall DPS while ensuring solid survivability and stamina efficiency. Here’s the complete breakdown:

Armor & Decorations

• Gore Helm β
  
  • Slots: Challenger Jewel (3), Sprinter Jewel (1)
  • Skills: Evade Window Lv. 1, Coalescence Lv. 1
• Arkvulcan Mail β
  
  • Slots: Challenger Jewel (3), Mighty Jewel (2)
  • Skills: Weakness Exploit Lv. 1
• G. Fulgur Vambraces α
  
  • Slots: Growth Jewel (1)
  • Skills: Maximum Might Lv. 1, Agitator Lv. 1
• G. Fulgur Coil β
  
  • Slots: Mighty Jewel (2), Counter Jewel (2)
  • Skills: Stamina Surge Lv. 1
• Gore Greaves β
  
  • Slots: Tenderizer Jewel (3), Sane Jewel (1), Sane Jewel (1)
  • Skills: Flinch Free Lv. 1, Antivirus Lv. 1
• Charm: Challenger Charm II
  

Decoration Loadout

• Challenger Jewel (3) ×2
• Mighty Jewel (2) ×2
• Tenderizer Jewel (3) ×1
• Sane Jewel (1) ×2
• Growth Jewel (1) ×1
• Physique Jewel (1) ×1

Skills

Critical Boost Lv. 5 – Maximizes critical hit damage
Agitator Lv. 5 – Boosts Affinity and Attack when a monster is enraged
Maximum Might Lv. 3 – Extra Affinity boost when stamina is full
Weakness Exploit Lv. 2 – Higher Affinity when striking weak points
Antivirus Lv. 3 – Resistance to abnormal status effects
Charge Up Lv. 1 – Boosts hammer charging efficiency
Handicraft Lv. 1 – Increases weapon sharpness
Evade Window Lv. 1 – Extended invincibility frames while dodging
Counterstrike Lv. 1 – Attack boost after being knocked down
Stamina Surge Lv. 1 – Faster stamina recovery
Coalescence Lv. 1 – Boosts attack and elemental properties after recovering from a status effect
Flinch Free Lv. 1 – Prevents minor knockbacks
Black Eclipse Lv. 1 – Unique armor set bonus
Second Wind Lv. 1 – Reduces stamina depletion when dodging

This loadout provides consistent 100% critical hits, high Blast buildup, and solid utility for sustained fights. 

Best Hammer Build Explained

This endgame High Rank build is an upgrade from the previous one, optimizing Affinity to the max to achieve Critical Boost and amplify damage output exponentially. On top of that, it adds Blast for a further layer of explosive damage, guaranteeing each hit lands with maximum impact. Through 100% critical hit consistency, this build is built to deliver massive, continuous damage during the hunt.

This is one of the most significant advancements in this build, and the Frenzy synergy is delivered by Black Eclipse, Coalescence, and Antivirus. When you resume from Frenzy, there is a 25% bonus to Affinity from Antivirus, and while Coalescence accumulates Blast, your attack becomes even deadlier. With this synergy, you ensure not only raw damage but also successfully stacking status.

Since Maximum Might requires a full stamina bar to activate, the Fulgur Anjanath set bonus, Second Wind, plays a crucial role. It provides an extra stamina bar that doesn’t deplete your main stamina pool, allowing Maximum Might to consistently grant a 30% Affinity boost. This means you’ll always be dealing criticals, even during long engagements where stamina management is key.

With this perfect synergy, you can consistently maintain 100% Affinity when the monster is enraged (+15%) and you’re hitting weak spots (+10%). The build also includes Constitution to reduce stamina consumption for Charging Sway and dodges, ensuring that you don’t exhaust Second Wind too quickly. This makes the build not only incredibly powerful but also smooth and comfortable to play, keeping you agile and relentless in battle.

Best mantle for Hammer Build

The Evasion Mantle is the best recommendation for this build because it buffs your evasive techniques and gives a temporary attack power boost when you dodge an attack at the very last moment. With the added Evade Window from your armor setup, you can create more opportunities to counterattack while safely repositioning. Pairing the Evasion Mantle with Charging Sway allows you to dodge with precision and immediately punish the monster, making your gameplay both safer and more aggressive.

For secondary weapons, the Rathling Phoenix (Light Bowgun) is a great choice as it synergizes perfectly with the build’s high Affinity and Critical Boost III, while also offering strong Pierce ammo and Fire elemental coverage. If you prefer a melee option, the Rathalos Firesword (Great Sword) is ideal, as it maintains high critical synergy and provides the added utility of cutting tails – especially useful when farming for specific monster parts.