Those seeking a one-handed weapon that packs the most punch for its size in Assassin's Creed Valhalla should pick up a Hammer, for these small yet severe armaments deal the most stamina damage per hit while also being surprisingly fast to swing. The damage to enemy health that they inflict is not great, though the ability to stun enemies quicker than many alternative weapons is a big enough boon to compensate for the lackluster health decimation.
Due to the short reach of Hammers, players will have to get up in their foes' faces to make the best use of these portable bludgeons. Furthermore, it is very much worth learning the moveset of the Hammer weapon type, as there are some nuanced traits that swinging wildly and wantonly won't reveal. Rest assured, Hammers are equally great at demolishing adversaries as they are building ships, though those of refined technique often make better use of their tools, whether for work or war.
In The Main Hand
While equipped in the main hand, a Hammer can pulverize Eivor's enemies very well in most situations. Since the attack speed is very high, being only second to Daggers, players can utilize hit-and-run tactics to great effect. Though, keep in mind that the best combat strategy for using Hammers is to deplete the stamina of foes and finish them with a stun attack as opposed to trying to whittle down their health.
The main hand light attack combo will allow one to do so with satisfying efficiency. As a max chain of 4 fast blows, this combo will be Eivor's most reliable Hammer attack. Mixing up these linked strikes with dashes here and there will allow the player to keep their stamina gauge full while draining that of adversaries like a ricochetting mass of metal.
Trying to make use of the heavy attacks will be a bit trickier, as their slower animations leave one more vulnerable and don't recover stamina as the light attacks do. However, if one is facing an impaired foe with few threats around, one can use the 3-hit heavy attack combo to obliterate an adversary's remaining stamina in fewer hits than with the light attack combo.
With A Secondary Hand Weapon
To offset the Hammer's short reach, players might want to consider equipping a two-handed weapon in the secondary hand (the perk to dual-wield two-handed weapons is in the Way of the Bear skill tree). This grants bonus range and damage to both kinds of combos, which is better in most situations than defensively using a shield.
An excellent secondary hand weapon choice to compliment a Hammer would be a Great Sword, as these big blades have the most range out of any melee weapon except Spears, though outclass these polearms in damage output. The light attack combo will gain attack animations for the Great Sword in the 3rd and 4th hits in the combo, which will allow players to strike foes out of normal melee range and do considerably more stamina and health damage if one hits the target with both Hammer and Great Sword.
The heavy attack combo similarly benefits, though the Great Sword only comes into play for the 3rd hit, though this final blow will be a monstrous one that can knock foes onto their backs, which can be taken advantage of in a plethora of ways.
In addition, the running stab special attack of the Great Sword will let players close the distance to farther targets swiftly while also piercing their guard with a fierce lunge that will likely knock them to the ground.
In The Secondary Hand
Hammers also have an immensely worthwhile special attack when wielded in the secondary hand that causes Eivor to leap forward and rain down hammer-blows as long as the attack input is held down. These strikes come fast and hard, granting the potential to pummel most targets into dust.
Since this maneuver does not have an attack exit (like the backward slashing-evade of Daggers or the spinning attack of Flails), players should use an attack from the main hand weapon to interrupt a Hammer's special attack if they need to change targets. Furthermore, dashing out of a Hammer's special attack is also a viable way to avoid the vulnerability of this assault's natural ending, though will cost stamina, which, following this stamina-thirsty attack, can leave Eivor drained.
Dual-Wielding Hammers
As with dual-wielding 2 of the same weapon type for all kinds of armaments, placing a Hammer in each of Eivor's strong hands will offer bonus attack speed while diminishing damage output. For these marvelous mallets, such a trade-off is totally worth it because the attack speed allows one to land many more stamina-depleting blows for easy access to devastating stun attacks.
The light attack and heavy attack combos remain the same as when wielding any other weapon in the secondary hand alongside a Hammer, though with the generous attack speed boost that increases the battle potential of each.
However, players should be sure to use the special attack if this tactic is being implemented, as the leap followed by a rain of Hammer blows will include the secondary hand Hammer for essentially twice the number of strikes with no change to the stamina consumption of this move. This is the best reason to dual-wield Hammers as it can annihilate a foe's stamina gauge faster than any other maneuver with this weapon type.