Elden Ring - Great Hammers

Short of Colossal Weapons, no class breaks stance like the great hammer, which pairs two-handed Strike damage and 154 to 218 stance damage (up to 239 on Heavy) with a weight of 8.5 to 12.5 instead of 15 to 26.5.

Combat

Pros

• Stance damage is the highest of any axe, hammer or flail class by a wide margin, at 154 to 218 at maximum standard upgrade, with the Brick Hammer reaching 239 and the Black Steel Greathammer 237 on Heavy. The colossal Giant-Crusher reaches 224 and 246, so a great hammer delivers roughly 90% of colossal stance damage at half the weight.
• The whole class deals Strike damage except the Pickaxe, which is Pierce, and great hammers are effective against heavily armored enemies and at destroying shields.
• Raw Strength scaling is the best of any axe, hammer or flail class. The Brick Hammer is B at +0, and the Battle Hammer, Brick Hammer and Great Mace all reach S Strength at maximum Heavy upgrade.
• Guard boost is also the best of those classes, from 38 (Large Club) to 48 (Brick Hammer, Cranial Vessel Candlestand), against 20 to 24 for Flails and 27 to 43 for Axes.

Cons

• Strength requirements start at 18 (Celebrant's Skull) and reach 31 (Brick Hammer), so there is no cheap way into this class.
• Heavy affinity is a trap on raw damage. Maximum Heavy attack rating is lower than maximum standard on every great hammer, dramatically so on the Brick Hammer (259 against 298), which has no Dexterity scaling to waste in the first place.
• The best Dexterity scaling at +0 is only D, so there is no Dexterity path, and the Beastclaw Greathammer and Devourer's Scepter reach C Dexterity only at maximum standard upgrade.
• Reach varies wildly, with the Devourer's Scepter almost twice as long as the Battle Hammer, so movesets are not interchangeable.

Builds

The sweet spot is 22 to 24 Strength with 10 to 12 Dexterity, which opens the Curved Great Club (145 base, 355 at maximum standard upgrade), Pickaxe, Great Stars and Greathorn Hammer, among the class's best.

• Pushing to 26 Strength adds the Battle Hammer and Black Steel Greathammer, and 28 Strength with no Dexterity adds the Great Mace, an S-scaling Heavy weapon with no Dexterity tax.
• Reaching 31 Strength for the Brick Hammer buys the highest stance damage in the class but costs 23 base physical damage against the Curved Great Club, so it only makes sense when stance-breaking is the whole plan.
• Faith hybrids have real options here that the other blunt classes lack, with 18 Faith for the Beastclaw Greathammer or Envoy's Long Horn, 17 Faith for the Black Steel Greathammer and 22 Faith for the Cranial Vessel Candlestand.
• Heavy affinity should never be a reflex, since it costs attack rating everywhere and only pays back in stance damage (Brick Hammer 218 to 239, Great Mace 200 to 220, Black Steel Greathammer 216 to 237).

Best Weapons

Weapon	Image	Attack	Weight	Str	Dex	Int	Fai	Arc
Curved Great Club		145	10	24	10	-	-	-
Pickaxe		144	10	22	10	-	-	-
Black Steel Greathammer		140 + 42 holy	12	25	11	-	17	-
Great Stars		135	10	22	12	-	-	-
Brick Hammer		122	12.5	31	-	-	-	-

Notes

• The class also goes by the name Warhammer.
• Stance damage at maximum standard upgrade is 154 on the Devourer's Scepter, Envoy's Long Horn and Large Club, 172 on the Greathorn Hammer, 182 on the Beastclaw Greathammer, Celebrant's Skull and Great Stars, 190 on the Pickaxe and Cranial Vessel Candlestand, 194 on the Battle Hammer, Curved Great Club and Rotten Battle Hammer, 200 on the Smithscript Greathammer and Great Mace, 216 on the Black Steel Greathammer and 218 on the Brick Hammer.
• The Pickaxe's Pierce damage lets it trigger thrusting counterattacks, which no other great hammer can.
• The Black Steel Greathammer and Smithscript Greathammer belong to the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. The Smithscript Greathammer is the lightest weapon in the class with 140 or more physical damage, at 9.0 weight with 200 stance damage.

All Great Hammers

Name	Image	Physical	Magic	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit. Boost	Weight	Str.	Dex.	Int.	Fai.	Arc.	Sell Price	Skill
Battle Hammer		131 68	0 36	0 36	0 36	0 36	100 44	10	C 26	E 8	0	0	0	200	Braggart's Roar
Beastclaw Greathammer		116 62	0 33	0 33	0 33	75 45	100 42	9	D 20	D 10	0	D 18	0	500	Regal Beastclaw
Black Steel Greathammer		140 72	0 38	0 38	0 38	42 45	100 47	12.0	C 25	E 11	0	D 17	0	100	Endure
Brick Hammer		122 74	0 40	0 40	0 40	0 40	100 48	12.5	B 31	0	0	0	0	100	Barbaric Roar
Celebrant's Skull		138 63	0 34	0 34	0 34	0 34	100 40	8.5	D 18	D 12	0	0	0	100	Barbaric Roar
Cranial Vessel Candlestand		98 71	0 37	98 51	0 37	0 37	100 48	12.5	D 26	E 8	0	D 22	0	200	Surge of Faith
Curved Great Club		145 68	0 36	0 36	0 36	0 36	100 44	10	D 24	D 10	0	0	0	100	Barbaric Roar
Devourer's Scepter		112 62	0 33	69 45	0 33	0 33	100 42	11.5	D 24	D 20	0	D 25	0	1000	Devourer of Worlds
Envoy's Long Horn		120 58.0	0 31.0	0 31.0	0 31.0	78 42.0	100 39	9.5	D 23	D 11	0	C 18	0	100	Bubble Shower
Great Mace		134 71	0 38	0 38	0 38	0 38	100 46	11.5	C 28	0	0	0	0	100	Endure
Great Stars		135 68	0 36	0 36	0 36	0 36	100 44	10	D 22	D 12	0	0	0	100	Endure
Greathorn Hammer		134 65	0 35	0 35	0 35	0 35	100 42	10	D 22	D 10	0	0	0	100	Barbaric Roar
Large Club		131 60	0 32	0 32	0 32	0 32	100 38	8.5	C 22	0	0	0	0	100	Barbaric Roar
Pickaxe		144 68	0 36	0 36	0 36	0 36	100 44	10	D 22	D 10	0	0	0	100	Endure
Rotten Battle Hammer		126 68	0 36	0 36	0 36	0 36	100 44	10	C 26	E 8	0	0	0	200	Braggart's Roar
Smithscript Greathammer		141 65	0 35	0 35	0 35	0 35	100 42	9.0	D 20	E 10	E 11	E 11	0	100	Endure