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Table of Contents
General Information
Welcome to our Sgt. Hammer guide for Heroes of the Storm. Here you will learn everything you need to know in order to play Sgt. Hammer in a competitive environment, whether you play on your own or with a team.
About the Author
Oxygen is a veteran of the MOBA genre, which he has been playing for nearly 15 years. He has coached some of Heroes of the Storm's most prominent North American players and teams alike, including Team Liquid. As a Master player, he enjoys playing all Heroes and roles.
1. Quick Reference for Sgt. Hammer
Siege Build (talent calculator link)
The Siege build seeks to promote what Sgt. Hammer does best: sieging.
Key Talents include 
Maelstrom Rounds, which greatly improve Sgt.
Hammer's burst damage potential, and Graduating Range, which allows you to
outrange and pressure most Heroes except Chromie.
Sgt. Hammer's other Talent tiers are very reactive;
although we have made some basic suggestions, refer to the Talents page to know
exactly when to pick which Talent.
Synergies and Counters
Protect the Hammer! Sgt. Hammer's binary design makes her depend on Heroes who have ways of keeping opponents away from her to thrive.
Since Sgt. Hammer needs to stand still to get the most out of her Abilities, she is naturally vulnerable to Heroes that use dangerous skillshots, particularly those that can displace her.
Maps
Sgt. Hammer's static nature makes her thrive on Maps with fixed Objectives that allows her to threaten Heroes from range. Conversely, she tends to be of limited usefulness where quick group rotations are required.
TL;DR Tips
- Be careful with
Siege Mode; although its damage increase may be tempting, it also leaves you very vulnerable to area of effect Abilities. - Use
Thrusters sparingly; they are your only reliable method of escaping opponents. - Sgt. Hammer's low Mana costs allow you to use
Spider Mines on-Cooldown to protect your flanks. Keep them away from Minions to preserve them. 
Concussive Blast deals very little damage; use it to push enemies away from you or teammates.
Neosteel Plating should be used to avoid Ability-based burst damage such as an impending 
Pyroblast hit.
Napalm Strike is useful for quickly checking Brushes, dismounting or Revealing opponents, and clearing Zagara's Creep Tumors.
2. Introduction
Sgt. Hammer is a ranged Specialist that excels at dealing large amounts of sustained damage from a very long range. Her unique playstyle, relative lack of mobility, and her fragility mean that her allies must adopt a patient playstyle in order to get the most out of her.
3. Strengths
- Very high single-target and area of effect sustained damage
- Good waveclear
- Good poke
- Outstanding PvE damage
4. Weaknesses
- Exceedingly dependent on proper positioning
- Vulnerable to Assassins
- Vulnerable to crowd control
- Very limited out-of-combat mobility due to not having a regular Mount
- Limited team fighting utility
- Peculiar playstyle around which your team must play
5. Role in the Current Meta
Although classified as a Specialist, Sgt. Hammer plays like an Assassin; her
primary goal is to inflict damage to whatever is in sight. The main difference
between her and regular Assassins, however, is that she does not possess a
regular Mount, greatly limiting her Map presence. The trade-off is that she has
Thrusters, which innately grant her a strong and very useful but Cooldown-gated
speed boost. She can also enter 
Siege Mode, which makes her unable to
move but nearly doubles her attack range. This makes her, as the Ability's name
implies, an excellent sieger.
Since Heroes of the Storm is a game that is defined by the rotations that its various map objectives call for, having such an immobile Hero as part of any team composition requires very specific adaptations from the part of any team that is willing to pick her. Sgt. Hammer players must also be very critical of their own ability to predict necessary rotations ahead of time, so that they are rarely out of position and unable to assist their teammates.
In general, Sgt. Hammer simply does well against team compositions that lack hard-engages, and as part of teams that can properly protect her, allowing her to freely decimate her foes and safely take down Structures.
6. Reading Further
To take things further, we have 2 more pages that you can read:
- Abilities and Strategy: an overview of your hero's abilities and how to use them;
- Talent Build: a detailed rundown of your talents and how to choose them.
7. ChangeLog
- 28 Jul. 2018 (talents page): Talents updated to reflect July 25 balance patch changes.
- 14 Jan. 2018 (talents page): Updated Siege build.
- 01 Dec. 2017 (talents page): Added talent discussions.
- 30 Nov. 2017 (this page): Guide fully updated to account for the Hero's rework and moved to the new format.
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