Ladies and Gentlemen,

My name is FourCourtJester, and I'm one of the site admins and developers here at HeroesFire. I've been in the Technical Alpha since launch, and I am a fanboy of Sergeant Hammer. I've max'd out her quests, unlocked all the skins, and now queueing with the Master Skin.

Primarily I play Sgt. Hammer as a Right-Click carry for most of my games, but there are a multitude of options available to you, depending on the enemy team composition and the map. You can also change up your play style based upon your team's composition to maximize effectiveness.

I hope this guide will help you determine how you like to play Sgt Hammer in your games, and help you reach the goals you set forth in learning this Hero.

**This guide is up to date as of the June 2, 2015 patch, aka the Johanna patch.**
**This guide is up to date as of the March 24, 2015 patch, aka the Sylvanas patch.**
**This guide is up to date as of the February 10, 2015 patch, aka The Lost Vikings patch.**
**This guide is up to date as of the January 13, 2015 patch, aka the Thrall patch.**
**This guide is up to date as of the December 2, 2014 patch, aka the Jaina Proudmoore patch.**
**This guide is up to date as of the October 7, 2014 patch, aka the Anub'arak/Azmodan patch.**

(Q) Spider Mines Deployable mines that proximity activate on the first enemy. Great to lay down as an early warning system in lane, or to ward off enemies chasing you down. Not target-able by towers, but also do not target buildings. Can also use to scout bushes.

(Trait) Artillery / (Z) Siege Thrusters The passive and special mount of Sgt. Hammer. Artillery increases your auto attack damage against units over 4.5 units away by 20%, which means you want to be always targeting opponents at ~3/4 of your max range or so since it'll hit harder. Artillery also works well with Siege Mode, since that also increases your range. Thrusters works as the mount of Sgt. Hammer, and is castable in combat to delivery a quick burst of movement. The downside is that Sgt. Hammer has absolutely no passive mount whatsoever, so you have to use your Thrusters wisely!

(W) Concussive Blast A short range nuke that Sgt. Hammer can use to displace and interrupt opponents that get too near. You can use as a temporary stun and deploy mines for an almost guaranteed lock on, but more importantly, the Concussive Blast will stop enemy channels. Things like Sonya's Whirlwind, Strafing Valla's and the like will all cancel when hit by Concussive Blast. This is also the only tool until Heroics that Sgt. Hammer has in order to pop opponents out of stealth.

(R1) Napalm Strike A very short cooldown nuke that serves as both a primary damage and damage over time ability. Has superior range, and is very useful for laying siege into enemy Forts, Keeps and Core. Napalm Strike is hands down the more preferred ultimate in my builds since it's spammable, racks up a ton of damage over time, can pop stealth and can really make a difference in team fights.

(E) Siege Mode The very hard to use Siege Mode anchors Sgt. Hammer into the ground in order to increase her range, basic attack damage against Minions and Structures and grants Splash damage. This is the make or break use of Sgt. Hammer, as you want to be a siege vehicle that pressures Structures. Teams will likely wait for you to siege up before engaging due to the fact you cannot move. But when left to it's own devices, Siege Mode can clear minion waves and mow down Gates and Forts like no other.

(R2) Blunt Force Gun A long cooldown big burst damage ability that shoots out a mega missile that damages everything in its path until it exits the map. Great for bursting down opponents in combo with AoE stuns.

By definition, Sgt. Hammer is a specialist, and just simply knowing anything about StarCraft, you would assume she's pretty good at sieging the enemy. This is both her greatest strength, and most crushing weakness. Good Sgt. Hammers know how to fend off aggression or pull aggression to themselves in order to bring pressure to other parts of the map. Bad Sgt. Hammers siege up and get crushed very quickly, or are unfamiliar with most opponent behaviour patterns.

Things you can do well as the Siege Tank:

• Attract pressure - Early game a smart opponent will put a very high survival opponent in your lane in order to help duel and keep the lane pushed towards you. Most solo queue teams will also roam and gank the Siege Tank knowing that the only escape available is to use Siege Thrusters. Use this to your advantage, and call it out when you have attention so that you can either capitalize on a counter gank or push another lane really hard!
  
  
• Use the Terrain - Spider Mines are your best friend when it comes to early gank alarms. Place them in bushes, small narrow entrances, or in your blind spot in order to protect yourself during sieges. Also sieging up in bushes can get a surprise attack round on an opponent when they walk into range.
  
  
• Split push - Sometimes its better to NOT go for the objective, if you can confidently push and pressure your lane in order to make up for the lack of your presence elsewhere. I've pushed down forts as early as 4 minutes before in Cursed Hollow due to opponents leaving lane and having my allies play keep away at the Tribute.

Things you probably want to avoid as the Siege Tank:

• Don't be on the front lines - You have the highest auto attack range in the game currently, but one of the weaker base health scalings. There's no need to be on the front lines. Get behind your Warrior types and use your range to pummel your opponents from afar.
  
  
• Don't siege by yourself - Siege Mode is tricky. Depending on enemy lineups, if you have no eyes on the opponents, DO NOT SIEGE in your lane. Mobility can keep you alive, and opponents with gap closers or hard stuns will capitalize on a lonely siege tank waaay too far forward and in Siege Mode.

Straight up, Sgt. Hammer is just not used widely in the current Johanna meta. The rise of the mages, the range upgrades they have available to them and the AoE wombo combo potentially really has pushed Sgt Hammer out of the spotlight, and into a very unfavorable meta. She has a lack of mobility, and the range she provides is just not queen anymore. I still highly recommend the Safe n Secure Solo Queue for newcomers, as it will help address survivability. Remember, a dead tank does no damage!

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Regeneration Master - In a blind, and often non-communicative, game Sergeant Hammer will typically be put in the role for early push, and that doesn't always mean having a teammate around. Sacrificing 10% damage is nothing compared to the extra base regeneration, not to mention the stacking regeneration every time you pick up a health orb. Dead damage dealers deal no damage, and living through some of the more brutal gank combinations that can occur will ensure you continue to dominate and soak your lane.

ALTERNATIVES Advanced Artillery - Definitely your second choice for a blind pick Sergeant Hammer, the extra 10% damage will rack up damage numbers over time, often putting you in first place for Hero and/or Siege damage. It does, however, leave you more vulnerable and team-dependant. Lethal Blast - As of the time of this writing, doubling the damage on a skill with a 12 second cooldown and no Battle Momentum mechanics is a waste of a talent slot. & Resistant / Ambush - These are more niche talents when it comes to solo queue. Resistant allows you reduced crowd control durations in Siege Mode, which some players like to sit in exclusively at the end game, especially with Hover Siege. Ambush only applies to the next auto attack you do, which will typically be from Siege Mode. Not really recommended solo queue talents, as their uses are limited.

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Maelstrom Shells - When it comes to usefulness, hands down a 20% range increase will be your choice. The range then makes dueling a lot easier, you can target camps over the wall easier and it makes Siege Mode safer. This does also increase your Siege Mode range as well as basic auto attack ranges.

ALTERNATIVES Focused Attack - Focused Attack does combo nicely with a lot of other auto attack modifiers, and for pure dueling, this talent will win much more than you might anticipate. In an overall comp, you're likely better off with increased range or the increased knockback distance, but with a team of crowd control, this talent can really shine as you no longer have to worry a lot about ganks and opponents gap closing into closer range. Vampiric Assault - This talent will go a long way in keeping you safe in your lane, however, with the increased viability of Regeneration Master, it is not needed anymore. You can still definitely spec into it if you want the double heals though. Excessive Force - The Sylvanas patch really showed the strength of this talent, especially now since Sgt. Hammer had her overall hit point scaling reduced pretty hard. If you're not inclined to take Maelstrom Rounds, then this is now the #2 choice, as doubling the knockback distance can be extremely useful. It will ensure that gap closer's cannot reach you, and it also has the added offensive capability for a gank and knocking opponents into your teammates/towers/forts.

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First Aid - When it comes to dueling, the person that lives typically has won. First Aid is on demand healing, it keeps you in the lane longer, can be great for farming out mercenaries or surviving intense team fights. It also combo's extremely well with the passive regeneration from Regeneration Master.

ALTERNATIVES Slowing Mines - I don't think I've ever seen anyone ever take this one, as you don't really use the Mines for slowing purposes. But if you need to fit more slow into your team, this would be your talent. Hyper-Cooling Engines - The second choice of the tier, hands down. If mobility is an issue, this talent will increase your usage of your special mount by a good bit, especially since every time you back you get a free usage of it in the fountain. It really does help out in team fights, as you can use it to get out of tighter spots more often, and results in less downtime from walking back to lane.

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Napalm Strike- The Heroic of choice, and for many a reason. The first and foremost, spammability. This Heroic has a very short cooldown; there's no reason to NOT use it multiple times in team fights. It helps push out lanes, clears minions, and damages Structures to a very high degree. You will land top Siege and Hero damage in game with this Heroic.

ALTERNATIVES Blunt Force Gun - The main reason you take a Siege Tank in your game is for the pushing power and constant artillery barrages. To take this Heroic, you need to really be lacking on burst damage, as it has a good punch but a high cooldown, or you want to also take the level 20 upgraded Orbital BFG in order to put a time limit on the game. I highly recommend the other Heroic unless you really know what you're doing.

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Giant Killer - Focusing on Sgt. Hammer's auto attack capabilities is paramount. Giant Killer goes a long way in team fights, and it brings great focus on enemy Hero's from afar. It's the all-around number one choice.

ALTERNATIVES First Strike - If you have a really trusted team that can keep the opponents at bay, this talent can actually start paying itself off in engagements if you are left alone. Extra 25% damage stacks with other modifiers, such as Artillery and Ambush. Also doesn't only work on living bodies, the damage will affect Structures as well. But you need to NOT be touched at all in order to have this buff applied. Bullhead Mines - The text on this talent is misleading, as only the CENTER mine on deploy comes equipped with the knockback. This used to be the go-to talent for Sergeant Hammer, but it is no longer worth the talent slot. Barricade - Creating a barricade in some of the more tight corridors on maps definitely can have its uses - you can zone out opponents or trap them in while your team slaughters them or accomplishes an objective. It has it's uses, but it is not recommended for blind solo queue unless you want to have some fun in narrow corridors.

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Hover Siege Mode - The extra mobility goes a long way go keeping Sergeant Hammer safe in team fights, and allows her to inch towards the opponents as the battlefield sways. It does reduce your movement speed, so if you sense a shift in the momentum towards you, immediately use Siege Thrusters to re-position if need be.

ALTERNATIVES Executioner - An extra 40% more damage against disabled targets is nothing to sneeze at, and if you have a team with a few disables available, this talent can really shine. I wouldn't recommend it in solo queue due to the nature of chaos and team fights, but definitely not a bad option at this tier. Mine Field - Once upon a time, when all Spider Mines knocked back, having two more sources was a godsend. It is now a very different time. Still useful if you WANT two extra mines on a deploy, but you really pay for it if you ignore the other talent options at this level. Graduating Range - There is a lot of talk about Graduating Range. Some players live and die by its code, and others won't touch it with a 10 foot pole. If you're playing from ahead, this talent can help end the game and dictate most fights, but on an even setting or from behind, this talent takes too long to setup and become useful. I only take this talent when I queue with a 5-man group, as you lose out the utility of Hover Siege Mode, and overall, Hover Siege is a stronger talent in a blind game. Stoneskin - If you're having a hard time with enemy burst, Stoneskin can be the difference in living or dying. Especially up against big burst Novas, Jainas or Thralls. You should only consider if you REALLY need the survivability.

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Nexus Frenzy - With the introduction of new Storm Tier talents, Nexus Frenzy has very quickly become the popular norm at level 20 for Sergeant Hammer players. This talent combo's so well with the kit described in this build, because now you are not only attacking from farther away, but 20% faster to boot. It absolutely shreds all opponents in end game.

ALTERNATIVES Orbital BFG - Usually the only reason you would ever go this Heroic is for this talent. It not only creates an infinite loop of missiles on whichever path you chose to shoot it down, it effectively adds a timer to the end of the game, as the gradual Siege damage will eventually overtake any building. You can also use the cooldown to create a one-time double missile scenario, which is always hilarious. Advanced Lava Strike - Still the number two choice at this talent tier, and the only Heroic choice if you talented into Napaml Strike, the extra range and damage boost this talent affords can control objectives, clear lanes from a far and siege opponent buildings from safety. Fury of the Storm - Even with the changed utility on this talent, it is still not worth taking on Sergeant Hammer, as the only wave clear you should need is a combination of Heroics and Siege Mode splash damage.

Special Mention: You Can't Touch Me

This is a build that is highly specialized for group play. You need a team that knows how to 'protect the tank'. This is the MOST damage you can squeeze out of your auto attacks, and with positioning and smart group play, you need to keep your distance to keep your bonus damage modifiers active, and your team needs to be good at peeling and keeping the opponents locked down so you can do your work.

You can swap out Hover Siege for Graduating Range if you so desire; or if you're not confident on Siege Mode at all, go into Executioner for the extra burst damage on locked down opponents. Recommended teammates is any Hero with lockdowns or slows to a large degree.

Combo Mention: The Tyrande Special

This is a combo I run with a duo queue partner: Sgt. Hammer and Tyrande. The basis of the idea is that Tyrande protects you as you siege up the towers in the lane. You can hide behind your creep wave to clear out and push very effectively, because anyone that wants to contest you has to get inside your range. This is especially hard on melee's, because Tyrande will Hunter's Mark them, increasing the damage they take from your blasts. If they turn tail and run, Tyrande will stun them using Lunar Flare and you should be able to nab the kill and go back to pushing the lane.

At level 13, Tyrande should spec into Purging Mark, and between Ambush, Focused Attack and First Strike, buildings do NOT live. It is absurd how quickly you can devastate a lane gate or fort with this combo.

Now, the counter play is to swarm the lane when possible in order to relieve the pressure by killing off the Sergeant Hammer. Lunar Flare will be particularly useful here, but so will your Siege Thrusters. Use Owls and Shadowstalk to keep control of information to see these coming.

It takes a little practice, but it is an extremely deadly lane, and the more attention you pull to your lane, your teammates should be able to capitalize and push harder or take objectives.

You can swap out Hover Siege Mode for Graduating Range. Both talents complement the build, I just prefer more mobility in late game team fights.

Now that Nexus Frenzy has settled into the game, I would recommend this for your level 20 talent choice.

I change up my purpose based upon two things: the team composition we have selected, and the map that is to be played. Sometimes the enemy group makeup will force me to make a change in order to increase survivability, but I always make sure to communicate with my team about it. If I'm going glass cannon, I need to make sure they're on board!

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Since this map is segregated in their lanes by a significant margin, I prefer to head into the bottom lane solo and I play a game - how many of the enemy team can I draw into the bottom lane to gank me? Because if you're doing heavy pressure bottom lane as a solo Siege Tank, your team should be able to capitalize on the top half of the map in terms of coins and pressure on the Towers and Gates. The coin turn ins are much more powerful when you have a tower or gate down!

In terms of builds, usually will go with my solo queue build. I mostly solo the bottom lane early, and the extra regeneration can help me trade more effectively against whomever I'm against. You can Siege Mode in the bottom fog out of range of the towers and out of sight from the creeps in order to get bottom tower damage done, and putting mines on the entrances to your lane is usually a good early warning system against incoming ganks.

Never push out without having your Siege Thrusters up. It's really easy to get chain locked while someone comes around from behind to gank. Also be aware of the timings of the chest spawns - usually an extra opponent will make his way down to the chest, which would put you at a 2v1 disadvantage!

Usually by now quite a few opponents have rotated down to help try to destroy me. You can either push the lane if you're being left alone, or encourage your team to start pushing hard elsewhere. You may need to ask for help, depending on the opponents lineup, but there's no shame in that! Overall, however, if you have 2-3 opponents in your lane, your team *should* be able to take an objective, a tower, a gate, in those top lanes.

Use Napalm Strike to start whittling away at towers, and start roaming after you get your Heroic. Napalm is great at assisting in clearing out lanes, landing damage on mercenaries, stopping turn ins or scouting in fog.

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Depending on which team you are, go into the lane that your Golem is going into. That way all your siege damage will be capitalized on when you guys capture the Mercenary and it pushes for you. This map is a really big map, which makes mobility an issue for Sergeant Hammer. When tributes are up and it's all the way on the other side of the map, you have to make a decision: tell your team that you're not there, or start hauling ***.

In the early game, especially if you have a laning Support, try to clear out the waves as fast as you can and get some siege damage in. Use your Spider Mines as early warning systems in bushes, and never push up when your Siege Thrusters are down. You need to be especially careful if the opponents have any stealth mechanics - your mines won't activate unless they reveal themselves!

You can use your Napalm Strike to deny objectives from afar and buy time for your team to either properly contest the Tribute or accomplish a goal elsewhere. There's no shame in using long range tactics to deny a Tribute while your team is pushing a lane or capturing a Grave Golem. You see these tactics quite often in some high meta teams currently.

Because the Tributes are in the jungle and there's some very windy and narrow corridors, it's easy to get pressured and ganked and ambushed as Sergeant Hammer here. Using Siege Mode is almost suicide in Tribute fights unless you've achieved a massive positional advantage, so use it wisely!

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Considered the strongest Sergeant Hammer map by far, the defend-the-point mentality on this map caters extremely well to Specialists in general. Normally teams will setup either a two or three man lane in the bottom lane, and this is where you will make your home. Remember to deploy Spider Mines in bushes, and focus on clearing out the minions as quickly as you can with Siege Mode.

This map is the smallest map currently in the pool, and that can lead to an increased frequency in ganks from opponents. Since you *should* be laning with a Support, it's easier to survive a particularly nasty gank, but enemy lock ups with chaining their crowd control can easily still lead into early game deaths. Make sure you don't push too hard without having your Siege Thrusters available.

In terms of shrine control, Sergeant Hammer can actually use Siege Mode outside the point, usually towards home, and still contribute to bombarding the point. Concussive Blast is particularly useful on the bottom Shrine, since you can knock opponents back into the shrine if they're escaping, or knock them off the point if you're advancing.

Napalm Strike is once again really useful here to stop opponents from freeing the Dragon Knight in the middle, and later in to the game with Hover Siege Mode and Nexus Frenzy, it can get extremely hard for opponents to safely capture that objective.

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Garden of Terror can be a very frustrating map for Sergeant Hammer due to the amount of walls, choke holds and bushes between lanes. It's really easy to gank her, use bushes to deny auto attacks and just overall be an annoying pain in her side.

The other problem is that the objective of this map is to go kill giant Golems and smaller camps that all grant seeds. Sgt. Hammer is NOT a good seed solo for Golems. Not one bit. Getting the smaller seeds with Spider Mines and Concussive Blast is a quick get-in-and-get-out maneuver, but it falls flat against the big guys. Go with your team and use your range to assist, or go side push a lane and start racking up that siege damage, but never try to solo the Golems.

Just like in Dragon Shire, do not actually pilot the Terror for your team, but go with it and use your range to help with the push. Sgt. Hammer can side split push or go with the Terror to terrific results, as long as you keep your distance and don't get caught in the AoE the opponents are likely to throw at you.

You may find more value in Graduating Range on this map due to the push and pull nature of the Terror spawns. Having a Terror marching down against your lane is a terrifying thing, but you can out-range the plant and setup nicely to quickly burn down the flower pots and still deter the Terror from advancing in a lane.

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Definitely a controversial map. Most comps will settle into a 3/2 or a 4/1 split, but Sergeant Hammer should *never* be left to solo one of the lanes. You need to play to her strengths, which is the minion clear and early siege damage. It's really easy to tell if someone is missing from the other lanes, and with proper Spider Mines and teammate support, you should be able to push fairly well early on.

Go with your team into the mines and use your range and skill set to try to cut off enemy escape routes with Spider Mines and Concussive Blast. If your front line starts melting, back off; you have no mount other than Siege Thrusters, so pop out to do some siege damage while waiting for your team to respawn.

When it comes to the Grave Golems, there's two majority schools of thought: defend or push. Sergeant Hammer can Siege Mode in the back to start hammering the enemy Golem very nicely - does a lot of damage overall. I prefer to go more aggressive and always push with my Grave Golem. The extra Siege Damage can really help advanced your earlier golems into a better late game position, and as long as your team is there to support and/or spot when you need to vamoose, it can easily equalize out the power of tilted Grave Golems.

Strangely enough, this is also a map I've had increased success with for Blunt Force Gun. The extra burst in team fights, and the Orbital BFG can greatly assist in team fights and keeping your lanes pushed up for the Grave Golem spawns.

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Another massive map type, the mobility factor of Sergeant Hammer comes into question on this map. Since the Temples spawn in a static order, Sergeant Hammer needs to reposition early in order to help assist her team at the Temple spawns. If you're nowhere near the spawn locations, split pushing can help equal out some of the damage that the enemy will do from the obelisk blasts.

You can vary up your build a bit and take Regeneration Master at level 1 and Hyper-Cooling Engines at level 7 if you feel you need the mobility. This will offset the loss of First Aid and help give you more passive regeneration.

You should almost never use Siege Mode on a Temple fight - the opponents will immediately jump you, and unless you have Graduating Range, you're easy pickings. Instead follow your team in and use your range to start focusing down a target. Never be on the front line, and it's inadvisable to try to solo a Temple unless you have at least one defensive option in your talent build. Even then, it's almost more worth to get Mercenaries or push a lane and let your teammates take the shrine.

Because the map is so big, you may also find uses for Blunt Force Gun for the burst on Temple fights. At level 20, the Orbital BFG can solo an entire lane, Fort, Keep and hit the Core as well. This will overall help Temple captures as there is less for them to focus on.

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Not a very favorable early game map for Sgt. Hammer whatsoever. The amount of vents around the map allow enemies to get close to a laning Sgt. Hammer rather easily, and Kerrigan/ Zeratul/ Muradin popularity for their engage potential can just ruin your day.

Deploying Spider Mines in bushes is a good warning system, and you can almost NEVER use Siege Mode unless you can spot all five opponents on the map. It's a really small map, and early game roam is key in this meta in order to gain control of the gem turn ins.

By the time you get around level 16, you may find more value in Graduating Range rather than Hover Siege and setting up from afar. The spacing between lanes is not that great, and a fully extended range on Sgt. Hammer could lead into some interesting domination on a gem turn in location. If you're playing from behind, consider Stoneskin for the extra survivability in a team fight.

It's hard to say which Heroic will gain you more value - Napalm Strike is still the best for team fights and poke, as you can use it to deny gems, zone off particular areas in the team fights and whittle away at towers and forts, but Orbital BFG at level 20 can be a game changer for alleviating or applying pressure in a single lane.

Sergeant Hammer, just like most of the other ranged Assassins and Specialists, can be deadly in the right hands, but on her own, she's extremely brittle and doesn't have many escape options. Play with your team! Communicate! Be aware when you're solo'ing at the dangers the opponents will put forth. Go forth, and dispense Indiscriminate Justice!