It takes a special kind of person to appreciate the hammer as a weapon. In nearly all great works of fiction, the trusty hammer finds itself thrown to the wayside in the wake of its more popular cousins – the axe and sword. Even weapons like the spear or halberd are used in lieu of the hammer more often than not, being portrayed as the preferred utilitarian weapons of history. Thankfully, FFXII The Zodiac Age shows some love to the Thor fans and armor denters among us, by giving Foebreaker characters the opportunity to unleash havoc with the most versatile blunt weapon there is. From worst to best, we’ll look at (and celebrate) the best hammers of The Zodiac Age!
6. Iron Hammer
We have here a classic starter weapon: Plain, cheap, and easily replaced. The greatest strength of the Iron Hammer is its combo rate, which is slightly higher than most other weapons at this stage of the game. How to Get: Find in a chest at Barheim Passage – The Zeviah Subterrane, or buy from Burrough beforehand.
5. War Hammer
The War Hammer is a significant upgrade from the Iron Hammer in damage alone. Although that’s about all the War Hammer has going for it. Still worth getting if you can. How to Get: Search for it in the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea – East Junction, or buy it from any of the shops around the time you get there.
4. Sledgehammer
The Sledgehammer has the interesting ability to cause the status effect Disable on hit 20% of the time This makes it a great weapon to pick up for your Foebreaker, since they’ll be able to sustain even more punishment with one enemy nearly constantly out of the battle. How to Get: You can farm this from a chest at the Paramina Rift – Silverflow’s End or buy it at the weapon vendor at Mt. Bur-Omisace.
3. Morning Star
At a whopping 100 attack power, the Morning Star is the strongest hammer that’s available for purchase. Which is fitting for one of the most iconic blunt weapons (do we count the spikes?) in history. It’s worth noting that no other one-handed weapon hits the triple digits at this point in the game. So the damage potential is very high under the right circumstances. How to Get: Buy at Balfonheim Port or find it at the Feywood – The Edge of Reason.
2. Scorpion Tail
The Scorpion Tail boasts huge damage numbers on its own. And this is absolutely a worthwhile upgrade if you can stomach the Cerobi Steppe grind. How to Get: Get your Diamond Armlet on and grind the spawning chest at the Cerobi Steppe – Crossfield.
1. Vrscika
The Vrscika loses a few points (and I have this gripe with nearly every ultimate weapon in this game) because it shares the same 3D model with the previous hammer. However, that matters little when you look at the crazy high combo rate upgrade this gets over the Scorpion Tail. Combined with the high attack power, the Vrscika has everything you need to fulfill your final hammer fantasy. How to Get: look to the bazaar to craft this. You’ll need 3 Charged Gizzards from Thunderbugs, 3 Wyrm Bones from Skulwyrms, and 4 Scorpio Gems that come from various enemies.
