Free Hero of the Week: Sgt. Hammer
Free Hero Rundown will focus on one hero from the weekly set of free heroes. During the week, except for daily quests, you’ll see me playing this hero, hopefully kicking butt and taking names.
Possible Talent Choices
Sgt. Hammer is an interesting hero. She is tagged in the game client as a ranged specialist, but her most common use is as a ranged assassin. The perfect scenario for a Sgt. Hammer player is to sit in the back lines and wail on her opponents with basic attacks from afar, just like any other ranged assassin. How she goes about that wailing is rather unique and difficult to master though, so that probably garnered her the “specialist” tag.
Her first unique ability comes from the fact that she is constantly riding in her tank. It wouldn’t make much sense for her tank to hop on a horse and mount up, so she does things a bit differently. Tapping Z activates Sgt. Hammer’s thrusters, giving her a miniature form of the Sprint talent. There is a medium cooldown for this boost, but it is still very useful for catching a fleeing enemy or running away when the situation calls for it. It can be used in combat unlike usual mounts as well.
Sgt. Hammer’s trait helps her deal ranged damage by giving 20% more basic attack damage to distant enemies. This ties in very well with her ranged assassin play style as you always want to be away from the fight for safety reasons. So this trait rewards you for proper positioning in team fights.
Basic Abilities
Spider Mines is Sgt. Hammer’s Q ability. She places 3 mines in a target location that damage and slow enemies when they walk over them. There is an arming time, so always try to lead your opponents when you launch these. In fact, one excellent use of Spider Mines is to shoot them slightly ahead of you if you are being chased. This gives the mines time to arm, but your pursuer little time to react, meaning they are almost sure to hit a mine and be slowed, making it easier to escape.
Her W ability, Concussive Blast, is a conical knockback ability. This is important because it will give you the extra space you need when being attacked by melee characters. It can also be used offensively with proper positioning to knock opponents back into a mine field or into your waiting team. So don’t be afraid to use this for more than just running away.
Sgt. Hammer’s E ability is Siege Mode, and this is what really sets her apart from other ranged assassins. She becomes immobile but gains 90% increased basic attack range (that’s almost twice normal range), an added 25% splash damage to those basic attacks, and 30% bonus damage to minions and structures. In fact, with Siege Mode she can actually hit towers with her basic attacks outside of their range, meaning she can easily push a fort without the help of minions.
Using Siege Mode properly is the key to success with Sgt. Hammer. It will take practice because it’s easy to plant yourself and focus on the ranged targets, then get jumped by a melee assassin. The other thing to remember is that you hit E to enter Siege Mode, but you also have to hit E a second time to start moving again. This activates the 5 second cooldown before you can plant yourself again. There is a talent that lets you move at 50% speed while in Siege Mode and I recommend it for people learning her.
Heroic Abilities
Sgt. Hammer’s innate heroic ability is Blunt Force Gun. This fires a large, unstoppable bullet in a target direction. The bullet then continues across the map in that direction dealing massive damage to any enemies it hits. The large damage and unlimited range make this great for finishing off low health enemy heroes, but you’ll need some skill with it, and a little luck.
Her unlockable heroic ability is Napalm Strike, which has a low cooldown and deals damage to a target area, then leaves a burning patch on the ground that continues to deal light damage. The range is about the same as her basic Siege Mode range, so they synergize well.
Talents
I focused on damage and survivability in this talent build. Her level 1 talent increases bonus damage to her trait, making her more deadly to far away targets. Then I took healing from basic attacks and First Aid to keep her fighting in lane longer. For her heroic ability, I chose Napalm Strike because of the lower cooldown and synergy with Siege Mode.
Giant Killer gives her more damage to enemy heroes, consequently increasing Siege Mode splash damage if you’re targeting a hero, but also because that’s really what this talent build is about, killing heroes from afar. I also picked up the talent that lets her move in Siege Mode. Once you get practiced at using Siege Mode, I think this talent might be less useful, but it’s very strong when learning her. Finally, I went with increased attack speed and range at level 20. Both bonuses make her even more effective at killing from range.
I still think it’s odd that Sgt. Hammer is labeled as a specialist when she is so good at dealing damage from range. I suppose her reduced damage to close targets is her biggest weakness, but she still has her Q and W to deal with those targets. In fact, utilizing her mines and knockback offensively is just as important as raining damage down in Siege Mode, so make sure not to pigeon-hole your play style just around her ranged attacks.
Sgt. Hammer will take some practice, but she is very powerful when she gets to do what she wants to do, sit there and fire off basic attacks. There are also several other heroes in this Free Hero Rotation that have been covered by Free Hero Rundown, so be sure to check them out them out by clicking on the “Heroes of the Storm Free Hero Rotation” tag below. If you have any comments or questions, hit me up here in the comments or on Twitter @AGRitterific.
