Hyper Hammer (ブーストハンマー, Būsuto Hanmā, lit. "Boost Hammer") is a Formchange in Kingdom Hearts III. It allows the user to transform the Keyblade into a hammer and bombard enemies with strong attacks.

Design

Hyper Hammer transforms the Keyblade into a giant hammer. The hammer's head appears technological in design, boasting a rocket booster to deliver powerful attacks.

Mechanics

In Kingdom Hearts III, Hyper Hammer is the first Formchange of the Favorite Deputy Keyblade, associated with Strike Form. It has a base duration of 30 seconds and a maximum combo length of 5. Its ground combo has Sora leap forward and slam the hammer into the ground in front of himself, spin it around himself, slam it in front of and behind himself, slide it forward before swinging it upwards, and finishing by enlarging the hammer and slamming it on the ground. The air combo is identical to the ground combo, though the slams are replaced by Sora spinning the hammer vertically. Filling the situation gauge while in Hyper Hammer allows Sora to Formchange into Drill Punch.

While the Formchange is active in combat, Sora will always use Air Slide on the ground, and Aerial Dodge in the air, as long as at least one of these two mobility abilities is equipped (and no matter which one is equipped).

Hyper Hammer uses Proximity-style Magic.

Abilities

Alongside the abilities from Strike Form, Hyper Hammer also has access to Guardbreaker.

Form Actions
Attack		Attribute	Power Multiplier	Form Value	Reaction Value	Revenge Value	Guard?	Repel LV	Status Effect
Keyblade Transformation Attack (キーブレード変形演出中の攻撃, Kīburēdo Henkei Enshutsu-chū no Kōgeki)	(shockwave)	Neutral	0.5	0	1	0	O	—	—
	(hammer)	Physical	1.0	0	1	0	O	—	—
Jump Downswing (跳びこみ振り下ろし, Tobikomi Furioroshi)		Physical	1.0+1.0	8+8	1+1	0.5+0.5	O	—	—
		First ground combo. Will be replaced by the "Ground Dash Upswing" attack if the target is at mid-long range.
Ground Left Triple Spin Swing (地上左3回転振り, Chijō Hidari 3-kaiten Furi)		Physical	0.5(x3)	4(x3)	1(x3)	0.4(x3)	O	—	—
		Second ground combo.
Ground Back and Forth Downswing (地上前後振り下ろし, Chijō Zengo Furioroshi)		Physical	1.0(x2)	8(x2)	1(x2)	0.5(x2)	O	—	—
		Third ground combo.
Ground Dash Upswing (地上ダッシュ振り上げ, Chijō Dasshu Furiage)		Physical	1.5	8	1	0.5	O	—	—
		Fourth ground combo.
Ground Wallop		Physical	2.0	8	5	0.25	O	—	—
		Slam a giant hammer into the ground. (Ground combo finisher)
Aerial Vertical Triple Spin Swing (空中縦3回転振り, Kūchū Tate 3-kaiten Furi)		Physical	0.5(x3)	4(x3)	1(x3)	0.4(x3)	O	—	—
		First aerial combo.
Aerial Left Triple Spin Swing (空中左3回転振り, Kūchū Hidari 3-kaiten Furi)		Physical	0.5(x3)	4(x3)	1(x3)	0.4(x3)	O	—	—
		Second aerial combo.
Aerial Dash Upswing (空中ダッシュ振り上げ, Kūchū Dasshu Furiage)		Physical	1.5	8	1	0.5	O	—	—
		Third aerial combo.
Aerial Wallop		Physical	2.0	8	5	0.25	O	—	—
		Smack downward with a giant hammer. (Aerial combo finisher)
Flying Clobber	(hammer)	Physical	1.0	8	1	0.5	O	—	—
	(fissure)	Physical	1.2	8	5	0.5	O	—	—)
		Swoops down and swings hammer, forming small fissures and launching enemies. Used during a Superjump near the enemy or when above the target.

Strategy

Hyper Hammer is a powerful Formchange best suited for crowd control, with its combos consisting of sweeping strikes that cover a wide range and its focus on Proximity Style magic. While battling hordes, a common strategy is to use Flying Clobber to crash down on enemies, launching all enemies within range, then follow up with Ground Wallop via Strike Form's Omega Finale. Boom Hammer should be considered instead if the Combo Master and Omega Finale abilities granted by Strike Form aren't needed, as Classic Tone comes with better innate abilities and stats once leveled up compared to Favorite Deputy, and its Shotlock options fill the same roles as Favorite Deputy's while having an higher target count and less Focus Gauge cost.

As a Strike Form, it can follow up Grand Magic with Omega Finale attacks, in particular being more consistent on the ground as Ground Wallop has better range than Aerial Wallop. Each use of Omega Finale counts as a combo reset, and so while Ground Wallop and Grand Magic can chain nicely, doing so multiple times in a row is situational unless abilities like Combo Boost aren't a factor, and so in such cases it's recommended to keep Omega Finale after every cast of Grand Magic over using it after each one. Even though Hyper Hammer has relatively high Revenge Value on its attacks, its high damage output and access to Guardbreaker makes it optimal to quickly overwhelm the Armor Mode of certain bosses, in addition to damaging opponents like Large Body and Helmed Body Heartless regardless of positioning.

The low mobility while using Hyper Hammer's attacks should be compensated with Air Slide, especially as it can be used multiple times consecutively while using Hyper Hammer when grounded, but as Sora can slightly raise in height because of this, a bit of time should be awaited per use as to not have the aerial cooldown of the move preventing yet another use in a row after a certain point.

In duels, Hyper Hammer's slow combos can be a liability, but benefit heavily from item cancel, that alongside the reliance on Omega Finale also means that abilities like Combo Boost and Air Combo Boost don't particularly benefit this Formchange, thus letting it stand out in the earlier portions of the game. While it shines better in the air than on the ground, Aerial Wallop sending struck enemies to the ground makes it harder to follow up with more combos. Airstepping to enemies to launch them with Sonic Slash can help as a launcher, as can Flying Clobber to follow up with air combos. Proximity Style magic can also tack on quick damage to compensate for the slow combos.

Learning Hyper Hammer

Kingdom Hearts III

• Favorite Deputy has Hyper Hammer as its first Formchange.

See also

• Drill Punch
• Boom Hammer

• Formchanges