Boom Hammer
Boom Hammer (ブーンハンマー Būn Hanmā) is a Formchange in Kingdom Hearts III. It allows the user to transform the Keyblade into a hammer and bombard enemies with strong attacks.
Mechanics[edit]
In Kingdom Hearts III, Boom Hammer is the first Formchange of the Classic Tone Keyblade, associated with Guardian Form. It has a base duration of 30 seconds and a maximum combo length of 5. Its attacks are nearly identical to those of Hyper Hammer, with the only difference being aesthetics and different stats for the third ground combo. 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 Boom Hammer allows Sora to Formchange into Clock Drill.
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 either of the two mobility abilities is equipped.
Boom Hammer uses Proximity-style Magic.
Abilities[edit]
Alongside the abilities from Guardian Form, Boom 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+1.0 | 8+8 | 1+1 | 0.5+0.5 | 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[edit]
Boom Hammer is a powerful Formchange best suited for crowd control and one on one battles alike, all thanks to its combos consisting of sweeping strikes that cover a wide range and its focus on Proximity Style magic. Flying Clobber is a powerful tool against hordes. While its abilities combined with Classic Tone's three MP Hastes, better fully leveled stats, and cheaper Shotlock options do give it an edge over Hyper Hammer, the latter can still be considered if one prefers Strike Form's Omega Finale.
In duels, Boom Hammer's slow combos can be a liability, but benefit heavily from item cancel. 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 with very low Revenge Value to compensate for the slow combos, even granting a good opportunity to follow up with a Shotlock. Although Boom Hammer has relatively high Revenge Value on its regular 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.
Boom Hammer is slightly less physical-oriented and more defense- and magic-oriented than Hyper Hammer. Boom Hammer lacks Omega Finale to get to combo finishers sooner but compensates by innately possessing Withstand Combo and Second Chance, alongside Barrier and Counter Blast as a Guardian Form Formchange, this with Classic Tone having the highest Magic stat of all of Sora's Keyblade options results on a more strategic yet stronger approach to balance between commiting to physical combos or spells, backed up with further longevity.
The low mobility while using Boom Hammer's attacks should be compensated with Air Slide, especially as it can be used multiple times consecutively while using Boom 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.
Learning Boom Hammer[edit]
Kingdom Hearts III[edit]
- Classic Tone has Boom Hammer as its first Formchange.
