Early Game Top
Sgt Hammer is VERY VULNERABLE in the early game on nearly any map. Always have an escape plane and a Concussive Blast AND/OR Thruster charge handy. Don't bother attacking enemy forts as you won't do enough damage and will most likely get picked off by any number of characters.
To get some early kills, team up with an assassin/warrior and use your ambush ability. Hide close to the enemy fort, wait for the assassin/warrior to soften the targets up, when they go to retreat to the healing fountain, you go for the kill.
Sgt Hammer is also useful for racking up early game EXP for your team. She can stay close to base and easily clear herds of minions.
After you add the Vamp attack, feel free to start attacking the enemy forts. Vamp attack will leech health from the buildings you are pummeling. Throw some Spider Mines at your rear in case of a sneak Zeretul strike.
Lane Preference Top
Always choose the shortest lane. Hammer is slow, especially in early game.
Escape Strategy Top
Hyper-Cooling Engines for Thrusters. I can't speak highly enough about this upgrade. When the sh!t hits the fan, get out. Sgt. Hammer is moderately good at 1 on 1, but not until later in the game.
Reduced thruster cooldown will also help you get back into the fight when you use your hearthstone. After you get your initial burst coming out of the hero zone, use your thruster ability. By the time you get to the next location and need to use it again, the cool down will have reset.
The next greatest thing is concussive blast. Once you get the Barricade upgrade, you will be nearly untouchable. When you are attacked and are being pursued by a melee, get a far enough distance away so that they can't attack you. When they speed up or try to slow you down, initiate the concussive wall blast and thrusters. Later sucker.
You can also initiate your napalm strike and spider mines will in motion.
Team Attack vs. Heroes Top
Stay back or wait in Ambush. Let your team do dirty work. When the other team gets below 25% health and start to retreat, you pick the off. Your long range is KEY.
1v1 Hero Top
YES, you can take heroes 1v1 with Sgt. Hammer. I would wait until you have the barricade upgrade though. The best strategy is to pre-plant some mines, go into siege. Hit them hard. When they are in front of you fire off a napalm. If they are below 25% health, fire off your concussive blast with barricade. THEY ALWAYS FORGET THAT YOU HAVE THAT ABILITY. Still in siege hit them while they are behind the wall. Now they are down to 10% or less.
If they charge, don't panic, just keep firing, you have superior firepower. Just pray they don't get a friend to come and help.
If they retreat, you won as you can easily pick them off with your superior range. Also remember that napalm has a relatively low cooldown and can be used while using your basic attack without interrupting.
Later Mid to End Game Top
You are the team's anchor. If you have a strong enough team, let them deal with map objectives and concentrate on annihilating forts. By the time you get increased range and nexus fury, you can very quickly clear forts and buildings. The reason I opted for graduated range over hover build is that during late game hero team fights near a core, you can stay back and rack up kills, disabling the enemy team for 45 seconds or more per hero, more than enough time to clean out their base or defend yours. Because the range is gradually increasing, the enemy team usually fails to calculate that when they time their retreats.
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