summary
The Anvil Hammer is a powerful Elden Ring DLC PvP weapon that excels with a Strength/Faith build. Its high damage, hyper armor, and fast crouching attack make it excellent for roll catches and burst damage. Players looking to optimize their build can also buy Elden Ring Runes to support stat progression and gear preparation. With proper buffs, talismans, poise, and smart positioning, it can overwhelm opponents despite its slower recovery.
Why Use the Anvil Hammer?
The Anvil Hammer stands out because of its exceptionally high attack rating and mixed physical-fire damage. Compared with other Strength-oriented colossal weapons, it can achieve remarkably high AR when properly optimized.
Its main strengths include:
· Extremely high base damage.
· Physical and fire damage that benefits from buffs.
· Excellent hyper armor for trading attacks.
· A fast crouching attack with useful range.
· Strong roll-catching potential.
· Excellent performance in invasions and PvP.
The crouching attack is particularly important. It comes out quickly for a colossal weapon and can punish opponents who repeatedly roll away. After staggering an enemy, you can often use another crouching attack to catch their recovery and maintain pressure.
Build Around Strength and Faith
For maximum damage, use a Strength/Faith build rather than investing exclusively in Strength. If you plan to two-hand the Anvil Hammer, around 54 Strength is an important breakpoint. Beyond that point, additional Strength provides diminishing returns compared with Faith investment.
Faith continues providing valuable attack-rating gains at higher investment levels, making it an efficient way to increase the weapon's overall damage.
A practical setup should therefore prioritize:
· Strength: Around 54 for two-handed use.
· Faith: Continue investing heavily after reaching the Strength breakpoint.
· Vigor: Maintain enough health to survive trades.
· Endurance: Important because the Anvil Hammer is extremely heavy.
· Mind: Only invest as much as your buff and skill usage require.
Two-hand the weapon whenever possible. This improves Strength scaling while also allowing you to take advantage of the Two-Handed Sword Talisman.
Stack Buffs Before Fighting
The Anvil Hammer becomes considerably more dangerous when its physical damage is amplified with temporary buffs.
Use Flame, Grant Me Strength before engaging whenever you have enough time and safety to activate it. Pairing it with the appropriate Flask of Wondrous Physick setup can push your effective damage dramatically higher.
You can further increase your physical damage with an Uplifting Aromatic when the situation allows. The objective is simple: stack your buffs before committing to a decisive crouching attack.
However, do not waste time buffing repeatedly in the middle of an aggressive fight. In invasions, positioning matters more than achieving maximum theoretical AR.
Optimize the Crouching Attack
The crouching attack should be the centerpiece of this build because it combines speed, range, and damage.
Use the following talismans to maximize it:
· Retaliatory Cross Tree: Increases crouching attack damage.
· Two-Handed Sword Talisman: Provides additional damage while two-handing the weapon.
· Great-Jar's Arsenal: Helps manage the Anvil Hammer's substantial equip-load requirement.
· Bull-Goat's Talisman: Increases poise, making hyper-armor trades more reliable.
If you want even more crouching-attack damage, consider armor that specifically enhances crouching attacks. Alternatively, choose heavier defensive armor if your priority is surviving trades.
PvP Tactics
Do not simply spam the crouching attack. Experienced opponents can learn its timing and reaction-roll away from it.
Instead, mix your options:
1. Approach cautiously and observe the opponent's roll timing.
2. Use the crouching attack when they commit to an attack or predictable roll.
3. Follow up after a stagger to maintain pressure.
4. Use charged heavy attacks when you have enough space for a slower but much stronger punish.
5. Stay close during healing attempts so you can immediately punish a Flask.
6. Carry a faster secondary weapon for opponents who repeatedly reaction-roll your colossal attacks.
This last point is particularly useful. The Anvil Hammer can dominate opponents who panic, but players with strong reactions may avoid predictable attacks. A quick backup weapon can prevent them from endlessly escaping your pressure.
Handling Difficult Matchups
Shield users, ranged casters, and highly mobile opponents require more patience. Against shield builds, look for opportunities to break their guard rather than repeatedly attacking into it.
Against spellcasters, maintain pressure while respecting their strongest projectiles. Against players who constantly run away, avoid wasting stamina on attacks that cannot connect. Force them toward walls, environmental hazards, or limited spaces where their movement options become predictable.
Latency also affects this build. Backstabs and precise punish windows become less reliable with poor connections, so favor straightforward rolling attacks and spacing tools instead.
Final Build Strategy
The Anvil Hammer works best when you treat it as a high-damage pressure weapon, not simply a button-mashing colossal hammer. Strength establishes the foundation, Faith maximizes scaling, buffs increase burst damage, and specialized talismans turn the crouching attack into your primary offensive tool. If you need additional resources to fine-tune your stats and progression, cheap Elden Ring Runes can help you prepare the build more efficiently.
With strong poise, intelligent spacing, and careful roll catching, this setup can overwhelm both solo hosts and invasion groups. Its biggest weakness is slow recovery, so successful players should prioritize prediction, positioning, and stamina management over reckless aggression.
