Hitting HR 200 as a hammer main

Two weeks since the release of Wilds hits tomorrow and I hit HR 200. I have played hammer in every MH game I've played and I have some thoughts on hammer and the discussion around it in Wilds.

Hammer isn't necessarily a bad weapon. It is just ok and getting this weapon to perform on the same level of the others is a bit of an arduous task. The moves that are integral to hammer in Wilds, that being Mighty Charge and the Offset, are substantially harder to pull off than most other weapons. You can get more out of other weapons for less work.

The offset being at the end of combos really hinders its use while something like Switch Axe just has a singular input for it. Being able to delay the offset does help, but only so much. I still get hit often while trying to offset.

Mighty Charge, while providing even more damage, restricts the players movement and gives the weapon even more downtime. I feel as though Mighty Charge heavily outshines the Big Bang combo as I've had experiences with both to where I'll break heads with Mighty Charge in 1-2 minutes where as I have failed to break them at all with Big Bang.

Spinning bludgeon is another issue. The move is hard to control, low damage and is very unsafe. It's only use is to feed into Offset which again is unreliable. Why use this when charging the hammer and going back into Mighty Charge is much safer with more DPS?

Hammer, while conceptually easy, has a moveset that is unwelcoming to newer players, which is probably why I see other hammer players the least. Regardless, it has been fun. I still love playing hammer and I love showing off my skill with it.

It's been fun and I'll keep hunting!