Kirby's Return to Dream Land/Characters and Copy Abilities/Hammer

Hammer is one of the most rare abilities, and for good reason. It has reasonable mobility options, and it's one of the most powerful in the game for combat. Hammer Swings are faster than slide attacking, and goes through enemies, so use it as much as possible on ground. Aerial Hammer Twirls give upward boosts to jumps, so use that when extra height is needed.

For combat, reverse Hammer Flips and Hammer Twirls are your best friends. The first has more power, the second has almost nonstop invincibility and can be used in the air. Use them appropriately.

Hammer (Press 1)

• Tips
  • Avoid using Hammer, as it is generally better to use Hammer Swing or Giant Swing, thanks to its extra moability, coming out faster, and better spammability. The only use it has is if the player cannot jump for some reason; the extra 2 dmg is negligible, especially for generic enemies.
  • Hammer comes out when the player lets go of 1; this is due to the fact that the game also wants to give the option of holding 1 to charge for Triple Hammer. As a result, this move tends to be slow.

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • 28 dmg
  • Star - 12 dmg

Hammer Swing (Dash + 1)

• Tips
  • Use this in place of sliding, as it's a little faster and plows through enemies.
  • Use this off ledges if falling off, as speed carries over past ledges, but be wary of bouncing off walls unintentionally.
  • Doing Hammer Throw by pressing minus during this attack maintains full Hammer Swing speed, whereas pressing minus while dashing without using Hammer Swing considerably slows down Kirby at the end of the animation ^[1]
  • Use this against bosses/minibosses when you need to reposition yourself for Hammer Flip or Hammer Twirl spamming, as it damages anything in the way and has invincibility (should never be necessary against minibosses though).

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • 26 dmg per hit
  • Invincible for the duration of the move
  • Press '-' anytime to do Hammer Throw

• Distance ^[2]

• • Flat ground: 6.8 blocks for successive, well-timed Hammer Swings, holding forward for the duration of the swing.

• Speed ^[2]
  • Successive first-frame Hammer Swings are 51 frames apart. That's 51/6.8 = 7.5 frames/block on flat ground.
  • Slower timing, say 56 frames on average, gets somewhere between 7.5 frames/block and 56/6.8 = 8.2 frames/block on flat ground. Closer to 8.2 though, since 56-frame swings don't get much extra walking distance between swings.

• Hitlag: 3 frames for both enemies and breakable blocks. ^[2] This move knocks enemies far away, so it generally does not get multiple hits on a single enemy.

Hammer Flip (Up + 1)

• Tips
  • Reverse Hammer Flips are stronger than Forward ones, thanks to the flames
  • Never, ever use Triple Hammer, as Hammer Flip outclasses it in every way possible
  • The hitbox on the flames and the flip itself goes higher than it visually seems. It can hit every miniboss and boss in the game with only three situational exceptions:
    • Goriath when he jumps around.
    • Fatty Puffer when he clings to the ceiling.
    • Mini-Landias that are high up.
  • Sometimes it may be beneficial to use a forward hammer flip instead, as it deals more damage in one blow than reversed. This is a case-by-case basis, but situational examples include:
    1. Hitting a boss when it's vulnerable for only a split moment (Mr. Dooter phase 2, Galacta Knight, Magolor's Soul)
    2. Knocking a boss into phase 2 with as little health as possible (Whispy Woods, Metal General)
    3. When Kirby has idling time, so the charge-up of the forward hammer flip can be used during the idle time (minibosses spawning, Grand Doomer)

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • Hammer hit only - 80
  • Hammer hit after flame hits - 70 dmg
  • 1st Flame hit - 8 dmg
  • 2nd, 3rd, 4th Flame hit - 7 dmg per hit
  • Total max - 99 dmg
  • Fire property (melts ice and burns fuses)

Triple Hammer (Hold 1, release)

• Tips
  • Never, ever use this attaack, as it takes longer, is weaker, and has less range than Hammer Flip. In other words, this is 100% outclassed by Hammer Flip.
  • Kirby can jump-cancel the charge, in case you decide to not use Triple Hammer while charging, which is a good idea.

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • 1st & 2nd hit - 16 dmg per hit
  • 3rd hit - 40 dmg
  • Total max for hammer - 72 dmg

• • 1st & 2nd Star - 12 dmg per hit
  • 3rd Star - 28 dmg
  • Total max for stars - 52 dmg

Hammer Twirl (Down + 1)

• Tips
  • Can be used in the air, which is its best attack against anything high that Hammer Flip can't reach.
  • To reach high, press down + 1 immediately after jumping.
  • Used primarily for its huge amount of invincibility.
  • Hold the guard button during the move on the ground, and Kirby will instantly guard after finishing Hammer Twirl with zero defenseless frames in between.

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • 1st Hit - 16 dmg
  • 2nd, 3rd 4th hit - 14 dmg per hit
  • Total max - 58 dmg
  • Invincible for the duration of the move

Giant Swing (1 in air)

• Tips
  • Very useful to use while running, as it doesn't slow you down
  • Use this on generic enemies instead of Ultra Giant Swing, while its dashing counterpart causes more hitlag (1 hit vs 3 hits)
  • On the other hand, Ultra Giant Swing is better for bosses as it does 4 more damage

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • 26 dmg
  • Can be used on the ground if you execute the move just before landing.

Ultra Giant Swing (1 in air)

• Tips
  • On generic enemies, the extra 4 damage isn't useful, so the 3 hits this attack deals causes more hitlag than Giant Swing. Avoid using this on generics if possible.
  • On the other hand, this does more damage to bosses, so use this in place of Giant Swing.

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • 1st hit - 16 dmg
  • 2nd hit - 14 dmg
  • Max total - 30 dmg

Hammer Throw (Dash + (-) OR Hammer Swing + (-))

• Tips
  • Using it out of Hammer Swing maintains the momentum from Hammer Swing, so you don't lose speed
  • You lose your hammer ability after using this move. Only theoretically useful as a finisher if you don't want hammer after a fight for some reason.

• Attack properties ^[1]
  • Spin - 26 dmg
  • Thrown Hammer - 80 dmg
  • Total max - 106 dmg
  • Invincible during the spin and briefly during the throw

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8} An ability and damage guide at the Kirby's Rainbow Resort forums. It's mainly maintained by Plas Durock and contains contributions from several members of the Rainbow Resort forum and the GameFAQs KRtDL forum. http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/935607-kirbys-return-to-dream-land/62398037
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Frame tests by Yoshifan. This involved DVD-recording a test run, and then analyzing the recording frame-by-frame in 60 FPS using VirtualDub. For detailed info on the setup, see this SDA forum post. The block measurements and frames/block tests are particularly prone to inaccuracy, because the human eye is used to count "blocks" in the terrain and figure out exactly how many frames it takes for Kirby to travel a certain amount of blocks. It is estimated that test results may be up to 0.5 frames/block off from the actual values, possibly more if block-counting or math mistakes were made. If one could test on emulator, using a memory value to see what is Kirby's x and y position (or even x and y speed) according to the game, that could result in much more robust tests than these.