3.5-5% Strength for 3.5s on Hit. Stacks 5 times.
Up to 5-20% Strength based on the charge time of your heavy attacks. Stacks 3 times.
14-20% Ranged Critical Chance after Melee Kill for 2.5 seconds.
10% Critical Chance for every 0.3-0.45 second while aiming. Stacks 10 times. Discharges all stacks upon firing.
This build aims to deal massive damage to Monsters and Elites while still being able to frontline and help with specials as needed. The Thunder Hammer's weapon special when paired with Thrust and the guaranteed crit after you ult deals massive damage. Just activate your weapon special, charge to the boss with your career skill, and fully charge a heavy attack for Thrust stacks. Then do it again because you have 2 ability uses for twice the fun. It is not uncommon to 2 shot bosses with this build if you're able to hit the weakspots. It lacks in general horde clear, but makes up for that in massive monster and elite damage.
The Mk.II Hammer is the crux of this build. The maniac damage perk used to allow you to 1 hit weapon special + heavy attack kill mutants without needing any thrust stacks, but as of patch #14, this seems to not be needed anymore. You can also weapon special + light attack to kill flamers in 1 hit. Headtaker on the hammer could be swapped with Slaughterer for more damage, though the stacks are harder to get and you can't build them on single targets. You could also swap it for momentum if you would like some more survivability.
The ranged weapon is up to you. Revolver in patch #14 is unmatched in it's speed and ability to kill specials in hectic, high pressure situations. This version takes both crit blessings and drops Handcannon as your hammer deals with the heavy armor threats fine. You could also try Speed Reload to help mitigate the slow reload on the weapon, but this only triggers on close ranged weapon kills, so it will not proc often. The build does feel lackluster killing hordes, so a flamer is another option, though you lose out on special killing potential.
The control that Stunstorm grenade gives is invaluable in those O-shit moments. That being said, you can go immolation grenade to help with hoard control and those times you pull patrols. I would take Restoring Faith if going this path.
You can also go down the right side of the tree to take Shroudfield for more backstab damage, and safety invis options. This was nerfed in the most recent patch, and you lose the mobility that is given with Fury of the Faithful. You also lose a couple points on the tree traveling over there. This does allow you to take Thy Wrath be Swift removing stun from melee hits against you, which can help a ton with your heavy swings being interrupted.
You can also drop Martyrdom and its nodes and instead take Inexorible Judgement for more mobility and ability to respond to threats faster. It is also damage that is not situationally dependent on you being hurt to get.
Other nodes of interest on the tree include Duellist and Pious Cut-Throat for more damage and more career ability uses respectively.
