Best Soulslikes If You Want To Fight With Hammers

Combat in soulslike games can get seriously brutal. Some players prefer a weapon that will match that brutality, and there are few weapon types more imposing than hammers. These hefty weapons tend to swing much slower than a sword but hit for a lot more damage when they connect.

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Many players prefer this high-risk, high-reward strategy and prioritize weapons based on how much damage they can dish out in a single blow. Some soulslikes are better than others at catering to this destructive urge. For those curious, here are some of the best soulslikes for players who want to hit things with hammers.

10 Bloodborne

Convert A Sword Into A Hammer By Inserting It Into A Block

The legendary Bloodborne features some of the most unique weapons out there. This iconic soulslike furnishes the hunter with a broad arsenal of trick weapons, which have unique transformations that players can use to shake up their combat strategy in the middle of a fight.

Many of these trick weapons feature blades or spears to tear at the flesh of the unsightly beasts prowling Yharnam's streets, but there are some very brutal exceptions. One of these is the kirkhammer, a simple straight sword that can be inserted into a heavy block of stone in order to transform into a mighty hammer. Bloodborne players can also find the Tonitrus, a strange mystical mace that crackles with electricity.

9 Lies of P

Encourages The Use Of Bladed Weapons But Features Various Hammers, Too

The fast-paced Lies of P seems like an odd choice for a slower, heavier build, but the myriad weapon customization options available in the streets of Krat still allow for plenty of build options. Lies of P lets fans freely mix and match weapons and handles, building their ideal weapon regardless of playstyle.

While the arsenal in Lies of P is more skewed toward bladed weaponry, there are still plenty of options for hammer fans. Players can use items like the Big Pipe Wrench Head, a Krat police baton, or even an exploding pickaxe to deliver brute force pain to the renegade robots of Krat. Special hammers like the Golden Lie and Noblesse Oblige can't be disassembled like more common weaponry, but they still pack a serious punch in combat.

8 Demon's Souls

Offers A Small Yet Reliable Selection Of Hammers

It would be hard to argue that Demon's Souls was as much of a revelation for the industry as its successor, but at the same time, Dark Souls wouldn't exist without it. This venerable RPG set the stage for many of the features Dark Souls and its sequels would later improve, and the weapon categories on offer are just one feature that would go on to become iconic.

Demon's Souls doesn't have quite as many hammers to choose from as the later Dark Souls games provide. There are five hammers and three Great Hammers on offer. These slow heavy hitters are especially effective against armored foes, making them a valuable part of a player's arsenal.

7 Dark Souls

Features An Impressive Selection Of Slow And Fast Hammers

The legendary Dark Souls has had an impact on the gaming industry that cannot be denied. Its extensive library of weapons set the stage for the rest of the soulslike genre. The game's ample selection of hammers and maces helped carve out a respectable niche for that specific type of weapon as well.

Dark Souls features nine hammers and six great hammers. Normal hammers can actually strike fairly quickly, with a lot of momentum behind their swings, but they have a lot of recovery time to take into consideration. Great hammers, as expected, are much slower but hit a lot harder. Smough, one half of what is arguably the most iconic boss fight in Dark Souls, uses a particularly infamous great hammer that players can unlock for themselves if they obtain his soul.

6 Nioh 2

Provides Fourteen Different Types Of Powerful Hammers

The ancient Japanese setting of Nioh 2 is often associated with a particular kind of weapon that's quite antithetical to the hammer. The katana is a nimble cutting weapon, and it's certainly a more commonly represented weapon type than the hammer.

That said, however, Nioh 2 features an extremely large arsenal of weapons, and this includes fourteen varieties of hammers. Hammers in Nioh 2 share many properties with axes, including skills, but they scale with different stats and offer different damage types. Like in other games, these weapons are considerably slower than other offerings, but they make up for it in raw damage.

5 Ashen

Half Of The Available Weapons Are Hammers

The minimalistic graphics and open world design of Ashen set it apart from its soulslike brethren. This unique game has a heavy emphasis on co-op and exploration, as players share a vast open world and can freely and randomly run into each other on their quest. It also has a much looser weapon categorization system than other soulslikes, which can be a boon for hammer fans.

Ashen splits weapons into four categories. There are one-handed bladed weapons, two-handed bladed weapons, one-handed blunt weapons, and two-handed blunt weapons. This means that roughly half the weapons in the game are hammers, opening up a lot of options for fans who prefer a slower playstyle.

4 Dark Souls 2

A Great Collection Of Hammers That Can Be Dual Wielded

The infamous Dark Souls 2 is a mixed bag for many FromSoft fans, but it's definitely a good game for hammer users. The game offers a whopping 12 hammers and 17 great hammers to help players beat down on their foes.

Another way Dark Souls 2 benefited weapons of all types was through its dual wielding system. By equipping two weapons of the same damage type and combat style, Dark Souls 2 fans can enter a power stance, letting them strike with both weapons simultaneously for considerably more damage. This is especially nice for hammer users, letting them mitigate the low attack speed that's such a major drawback for these weapons.

3 Lords Of The Fallen

Features Various Hammers That Are Especially Effective When Used Against Defensive Foes

Lords of the Fallen is a soulslike among soulslikes and a very clear homage to Dark Souls. To that end, it also features a pretty sizable catalog of weapons, including hammers. The game boasts fourteen hammers and twelve grand hammers, which are equivalent to the great hammers from Dark Souls.

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Like in other games, these hammers are much slower to swing than other weapons, but they hit much harder as well. They're particularly good at breaking through enemy defenses, which makes them an ideal choice against foes with shields. Lords of the Fallen also offers flails as its own distinct category; these weapons provide a unique and versatile blend of speed and power.

2 Dark Souls 3

Features Several Iconic Dark Souls Hammers

Dark Souls 3 provided an end to the legendary trilogy that folded in a lot of content from the first two games, and to that end, it's a good title for hammer fans. The game features 8 hammers and 14 great hammers, meaning that fans who want to go all in on the heaviest weaponry possible will find a lot to love here.

The game also features a lot of iconic weaponry from previous entries in the game, letting fans wield Smough's Great Hammer and even Havel's mighty Dragon Tooth once more. While Dark Souls 3 doesn't include the power stance system Dark Souls 2 introduced for dual wielding, it does have paired weapon sets like the Drang Hammers that players can use to double their damage just the same.

1 Elden Ring

Offers A Vast Assortment Of Powerful Hammers

The massive world of Elden Ring is bristling with new types of weapons to discover and wield. The game's weapon catalog is larger and more varied than any of the Dark Souls games that came before it, and there are plenty of options for fans who want to swing a hammer around. Including the new weapons in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, there are 16 hammers, 6 flails, and 16 great hammers for players to use in Elden Ring.

The game also features a new category of Colossal Weapons, which are armaments that are simply too large to fit in another category. There are 20 colossal weapons available in Elden Ring, and while some of them are explicitly axes or staves, others, like the Anvil Hammer and the Giant Crusher, are truly massive maces that will let players crush their foes like never before.