Quick Summary: Holy Hammers la skill moi trong 3.28 Mirage, slam ground de spawn cascading hammers. Core mechanic la hammer overlap -- voi AoE scaling cao, co the dat 1,584%+ weapon damage per hit tu 4+ overlaps. Can Power Charge de spawn extra side hammers.

Overview

• Skill Name: Holy Hammers
• Skill Type: Active Attack
• Gem Color: Red (Strength/Intelligence hybrid)
• Gem Tags: Attack, AoE, Melee, Physical
• Weapon Restriction: Mace hoac Staff
• Base Radius: 1.8m
• Base Damage: 220% weapon damage
• Release: 3.28 Mirage (skill moi)

How It Works

Core Mechanic

Holy Hammers la mot trong cac "holy skills" moi trong 3.28 Mirage. Skill nay duoc thiet ke tu dau voi tu duy overlap multiple hits len single target:

1. Initial Slam: Bam dat, goi 1 hammer roi tu tren xuong
2. Power Charge: Tieu thu Power Charge de spawn them 2 hammers o 2 ben (total 3 hammers)
3. Cascades: Moi hammer cascade 2 lan khi hit enemy -- max 9 hammer areas voi Power Charge
4. First Hit Bonus: 3 hammers ban dau (initial + 2 side) deal 100% more damage

Damage Breakdown

Voi Power Charge (Level 20, 20% Quality):

Hammer Overlap Mechanics

Holy Hammers duoc thiet ke de shotgun -- nhieu hammer areas overlap tren cung mot target. Tuy nhien, de overlap can AoE scaling:

Base radius: 1.8m → can AoE scaling de overlap reliable
Reveal footage character: ~3.1m radius (da co AoE investment)

AoE Scaling Breakpoints

Research tu Dreamcore cho thay cac AoE breakpoints quan trong:

Base (1.8m radius) -- Khong co overlap

• Initial hammer va first cascade cach nhau qua xa
• Khong overlap tu nhien

Moderate Investment (3.1m radius)

• Character trong reveal footage co ~3.1m
• Can de achieve: 50% more AoE (Seismic Cry) + 100% increased AoE
• Overlap: 2 first hits overlap trong small area
• Damage: 1,056% weapon damage (2 × 528%)

High Investment (4.6m radius)

• Overlap: 4 hits overlap trong red area
• Damage: 1,584% weapon damage
• Investment required:
  • Fist of War Support (59% increased)
  • Pulverize Support (44% increased)
  • Juggernaut Unyielding + nodes (90% increased)
  • Brinksmanship wheel (40% increased)
  • Seismic Cry (50% more)
  • Blood and Sand Sand Stance (15% more)
  • Tree nodes (60% increased)

Extreme Investment (6.2m radius)

• Overlap: 4+ hits, trong do 3 la first hammers
• Damage: 1,848% weapon damage
• Investment: Tat ca o tren + them ~296% increased AoE
• How: Strength stacking voi Elder mace mod (3% AoE per 50 STR)

AoE Scaling Formula

New Radius = Base Radius × (1 + Increased AoE%) × More AoE Multipliers

Example (4.6m):
1.8 × (1 + 293% increased) × 1.5 (Seismic) × 1.15 (B&S) ≈ 4.6m

Sources of AoE

"More" AoE (Multiplicative -- Most Valuable)

"Increased" AoE (Additive)

Build Archetypes

AoE Overlap Holy Hammers (High Investment)

• Ascendancy: Juggernaut (best native AoE scaling)
• Core setup: Holy Hammers + Fist of War + Pulverize
• AoE sources: Seismic Cry + Blood and Sand + Unyielding
• Goal: Reach 4.6m+ radius cho reliable overlaps

Strength Stacking Extreme (Meme/Late League)

• Ascendancy: Juggernaut
• Weapon: Elder mace voi 3% AoE per 50 STR
• Goal: 5,000+ STR cho 300%+ increased AoE
• Damage: Extreme radius, full screen coverage

League Start Budget

• Ascendancy: Juggernaut hoac Champion
• Core setup: Holy Hammers + Fist of War
• AoE sources: Seismic Cry only
• Reality: Low overlap, rely on base damage + cascades cho clear
• Note: Damage van OK do base 220% + 100% more multiplier

Gem Links & Synergies

Core Setup (6-Link)

1. Holy Hammers -- main skill
2. Fist of War Support -- AoE + damage + exert
3. Pulverize Support -- AoE + damage multiplier
4. Melee Physical Damage Support -- core damage
5. Brutality Support -- physical scaling (if not converting)
6. Impale Support -- impale stacking cho physical

Warcry Setup

1. Seismic Cry -- 50% more AoE exert
2. Ancestral Cry -- defensive option
3. Intimidating Cry -- damage option

Utility

• Power Charge on Critical -- maintain Power Charges
• Blood and Sand -- 15-21% more AoE trong Sand Stance

Best Use Cases

Strengths:

• Base damage cao (220%) + 100% more multiplier cho first hits
• Designed cho overlap -- damage ceiling cao voi AoE investment
• Cascading hammers cung cap excellent clear speed
• Power charge mechanic them depth vao rotation
• New skill -- se duoc discover va optimize them trong league

Weaknesses:

• Can SIGNIFICANT AoE investment de overlap reliable
• Base 1.8m radius qua nho cho natural overlap
• Extreme overlap (6.2m+) can strength stacking -- late league build
• Pre-league theorycraft -- overlap consistency chua test in-game
• Power charge generation can setup (PCoC, Assassin's Mark, tree)

Limitations

• Pre-league theorycraft: Tat ca overlap calculations dua tren reveal footage analysis. Actual in-game behavior co the khac.
• AoE investment required: League start se khong co reliable overlap -- build chi shine voi gear investment.
• Unknown breakpoints: Chua co exact numbers cho can bao nhieu AoE de overlap on various boss hitboxes.
• Power charge sustain: Can tree investment hoac items de maintain charges trong sustained combat.

Sources

• Dreamcore YouTube (2026-03-03): "AoE Scaling Theorycraft for Holy Hammers Overlaps | Path of Exile: Mirage"
• CaptainLance9 YouTube (2026-02-22): "Big Strong Big Slam Big Smile" -- Extreme AoE scaling strategies
• GGG Patch Notes 3.28.0 Mirage -- Skill description va base stats

Changelog