Kit Review: Jackhammer

[Ninja 10,468]

 

Hello and welcome Tankers to my second kit review! In this review we will be taking an in-depth look at Jackhammer's gameplay and its general OPness. I will also showcase some of the various battles I've had with the kit to give you an idea of what it can do. Read on!

 

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A short history lesson:

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Jackhammer has been through three different guises up until now, first it started off as a kit without a protection module -the paint provided protection-, then it went through the major re-balance which adjusted various statistics within the kit, it's latest iteration comes in the form of a nerf to Hammer which reduced the number of pellets from 21 to 9 without reducing damage, essentially this makes it harder to aim at longer distances as the pellets tend to spread out.
 

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My purchase:

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I had decided to buy Jackhammer many months ago and started saving just after the 2016 Christmas sales, the purchase was made on Valentines day 2017 on which there was a 20% sale on everything in the kit reducing it's price by about 100,000 to 329,868 , an absolute steal. I did have a total of 450,000 with which I MUed Hammer to 20 steps and Viking by 5 steps, so bear that in mind throughout this review.
 

 

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Jackhammer's contents:

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Available between: -
Hammer M3: 223,900
Viking M3: 204,200
Grizzly T-J M3 (Smoky Railgun Hammer): 250,000
Tiger: 500,000

Total: 1,178,100
Gift: 80 of each supply
Grand total (65% Discount): 412,335
 
Now, let's look at the individual components in greater detail.
 
Hammer M3:
 

 
Hammer has always been known for being overpowered in the game, in this kit it's no different. It has extremely high damage per shot (DPS), large impact force and quick reload between shots which all combine into a turret which is incredible at close range, 2-shotting all light M3 hulls. If purchased at the lowest rank possible it reaps even greater rewards thanks to the abundance of M2s which stand no chance against it. Hammer's range takes getting used to as the shots become almost invisible after a certain distance, the only way to know whether you've damaged someone is to turn on damage counters which give you a great idea of how effective this turret can be. 
 
Positives:

One of the highest DPS in short range turrets
Highest impact force of any short range turret
Quick reload in-between shots
Fast turning speed
 
Negatives:
 
Odd number of shots per magazine means last shot is often wasted
Pellets ricochet only once causing more nuisance and not having many practical uses
Very slow magazine reload
Only 9 pellets means great accuracy is required
Pellets spread as they travel meaning its almost impossible to deal full damage at longer range

 

 

Viking M3:
 

 
Viking is an incredibly versatile hull, it balances speed and armour perfectly to produce a hull which is usable on all maps from Dusseldorf to Hill and beyond. It is slightly let down by its low height which is detrimental to gold hunting though for its stability; it is a price worth paying. Viking also works fantastically for parkourists due to its flat design and ability to take four mines with ease.
 
Positives:

Great balance between armour and speed
The most stable medium hull
Low height makes it harder to hit in certain situations
Looks great with almost any turret
Great parkour platform
 
Negatives:

Slow acceleration
Low height is detrimental to gold hunters
 
 
Grizzly T-J M3:
 

 
I find myself changing out this module quite often due to it's obscure combination of long, short and medium range turrets, it just doesn't seem to fit in with Jackhammer's gameplay style in which I tend to meet more short range turrets like Firebird, Isida and Freeze, the only welcome protection here is Hammer as it can give you a slight edge over other Hammers in the battle field.
 
​Positives:

Provides protection (duh)
 
Negatives:

A bad combination of protections
M3 modules are extremely pricey
 
 
Tiger:
 

 
Apart from subjective beauty this paint doesn't really have much to offer. I say subjective as I've seen some people like "OMG that looks so cool!" while others were not quite so enthusiastic. Personally, I find it OK looking though there are definitely better garage paints out there especially considering its astronomical 500,000 price tag.
 
Positives:
Subjectively great looks
 
Negatives:
No practical use in terms of camouflage
Very expensive
 
 
Gift:
 
It's worth mentioning that you receive a gift consisting of 80 of each supply totalling to a value of 28,000 .
 

 

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Gameplay:

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DM
 
Jackhammer suits all the gamemodes incredibly well. Its biggest strong point are DMs where you can dominate the battlefield with or without supplies. Tightly packed maps with a lot of prop composition such as Polygon DM or Parma DM tend to work extremely well and getting a healthy K/D is a breeze. Speaking of K/D, mine went up by 0.03 in the first four days after I purchased this kit. In larger maps with more snipers such as Deathtrack or Monte Carlo Jackhammer doesn't work so well in DM, with the abundance of heavy hulls combined with Hammer's short range and Viking's medium speed leaves much to be wished for.
 
TDM
 
Truth be told, I haven't played much TDM with Jackhammer due to the mode's lack of popularity, from the ones I have played I can say the results are very similar to DMs, climbing to the top of the leaderboard is relatively quick if you use quite a few drugs and venture into the enemy base. Overall I'd say this kit isn't suited too well for TDMs except in very specific maps such as Hill and Polygon. Otherwise, a sniper/camper combo is often a better choice.
 
CTF
 
CTF with Jackhammer will give you varied results, it is suitable for all three main roles; attacker, defender and midfielder. Defending is it's biggest strong point with Hammer's high impact force can making it difficult for a light hulled attacker to escape quickly and it's high DPS will often finish off an attacker who was already partly damaged along the way. Midfielding is relatively straightforward though don't expect to be at the top of the leaderboard or anything. Attacking is where it becomes quite interesting, in lower ranked battles defense will often be a disorganised mess; in those Jackhammer will prevail capping many flags and rewarding it's team with a definite win. When it comes to higher rank battles where defence is relatively good Viking's medium speed will likely let you down in all but the most relaxed moments of an opposing team's defense.
 
CP
 
Jackhammer in Polygon CP at lower ranks is a comeback machine for an M2 team, as soon as you enter players often point out "Hammer M3", in those sort of battles, Jackhammer is hella AMAZING. Coming back to normal battles where you are playing with varied ranks above or below you CP becomes very kill-steal orientated like DMs, due to Hammer's 3-shot magazine and the prevalence of 4-shottable heavy hulls a Firebird or Freeze will often take all the kills. Therefore to get any decent K/D you need to start kill-stealing. For capturing actual points in a larger map a fast hull like wasp is far superior to Viking though in a medium map with a low number of points such as Polygon or Highland; Jackhammer excels.

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Hammer's alterations:

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At the time of writing, Hammer has two alterations; Slugger and High Capacity Drum, both of these aren't particularly suitable for Jackhammer as I'll explain in more detail.
 
Slugger:
 

 
Vertical spread range: -50%
Horizontal spread range: -50%
Turret Rotation: -65%
 
Slugger's reduced pellet spread is mainly an advantage for Jackhammer, the 65% reduction in turret turning speed however is a slight deal breaker as (combined with Viking's slower turning speed)  it makes it impossible to kill a Freeze who is circling around you, a feat which is usually achievable. Obviously this is a very specific situation though it is worth bearing in mind. Another reason why this might not be a particularly suitable alteration for Jackhammer is Viking. More specifically; Viking tends to work best in small to medium maps whereas Slugger is oriented toward larger maps where damage at range is key and where turret turning speed doesn't matter due to the less concentrated number of tanks.
 
High capacity drum:
 

 

 

Clip reload time: +35%
Ammo per clip: +2
Shot reload time: +10%

 
High capacity drum is another alteration which doesn't quite add-up for Jackhammer, put simply; it works amazingly on light hulls due to their ability to quickly retreat to cover where Viking would still be out in the open. Unless you have plenty of drugs to keep you alive long enough to use all five shots and retreat to cover this alteration really isn't worth 100K.

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Scoreboards:

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As promised, here are some scoreboards of notable battles I've had with Jackhammer. NOTE that I may have switched protections in some of the battles.
 

 
You may have noticed that all the most notable battles are DMs, because as I mentioned above, Jackhammers excels in DMs 

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Conclusion:

 

Jackhammer has been a firm favorite throughout the years and even with the latest iteration it remains a highly effective combo with it's only let down being the poor module choice, if you're considering this kit don't have any qualms about it, it will serve you well.
 

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And with that I conclude my Jackhammer review, hopefully you enjoyed it, blah blah blah, k, thx, bai.

 
 

That is all!

See YOU in battle!

 
 

Edited March 13, 2017 by Savage

[Crip 4,735]

Approved.

 

 

Edits:

 

- Corrected a few typos.

- Changed "it's" to "its" and vice versa where appropriate. Remember that "it's" is a contraction of "it is".

- Resized main text body to 14.

- Spaced a few sub-headers out.

- Rephrased 1 sentence.

- Cut a sentence into two several times.

- Added Alteration details about "High Capacity Drum".

- "hammer" to "Hammer" once or twice.

 

Nicely formatted, and fairly solid work overall. I'd like to see some more pictures maybe, and go into more detail over some of the kit's contents (For example, you didn't mention that Hammer's shots now ricochet therefore you can kill enemies behind a wall etc). Also, Viking drifts which can be viewed as a negative.

 

I feel like you were slightly contradictory in the "Gamemode Analysis" part, as you seemed to start by praising Jackhammer in all formats then writing that "This kit isn't well suited to TDM". Maybe that's just me.

[Tofu 6,773]

- "hammer" to "Hammer" once or twice.

@Savage

 

Nice article lux. :D

[BatmanX9 45]

Amazing piece. It even covered alterations. A nice comfortable read. :D

[Cpt.JackHammer 1,473]

Nice article

[I3.R.0 1,700]

Good One lux baby ;) 

[Crip 4,735]

That's an amazing review you gave to us, and is so true that Hammer is so over-powered in the game, i enjoy reading your article, keep it up ;)

Don't jinx it please. My Hammer M3.5 is awesome right now.

[Ninja 10,468]

@Savage

 

Nice article lux. :D

 

Amazing piece. It even covered alterations. A nice comfortable read. :D

 

That's an amazing review you gave to us, and is so true that Hammer is so over-powered in the game, i enjoy reading your article, keep it up ;)

 

Nice article

 

Good One lux baby ;)

[Ninja 10,468]

Don't jinx it please. My Hammer M3.5 is awesome right now.

Mine is 20/50 big boy, it bery gud.  -_-

[rocketmonkey2015 61]

Great work :) . I have been thinking a lot about my first M3 kits and I thought Jackhammer isn't worth it's money, because it costs 100k more than Bumblebee and with these crystals you can even buy Viking M3 on Sale. Do you think it is a good choice?

 

I know I should post this on "What to buy-Which is better?" topic, but I'm asking you because of your experience with this kit.

[Ninja 10,468]

Great work :) . I have been thinking a lot about my first M3 kits and I thought Jackhammer isn't worth it's money, because it costs 100k more than Bumblebee and with these crystals you can even buy Viking M3 on Sale. Do you think it is a good choice?

 

I know I should post this on "What to buy-Which is better?" topic, but I'm asking you because of your experience with this kit.

Both are great kits but IMO Hammer is more suited to Viking than Hornet, because its not one-shottable. I would say Jackhammer is worth the extra 100k and you can get it even cheaper on sale. There is still some time to go before you get to M3 ranks and if you start saving now you'll easily afford Jackhammer by then. You can find a full review on Bumblebee kit here: http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=348274

[Crip 4,735]

Great work :) . I have been thinking a lot about my first M3 kits and I thought Jackhammer isn't worth it's money, because it costs 100k more than Bumblebee and with these crystals you can even buy Viking M3 on Sale. Do you think it is a good choice?

 

I know I should post this on "What to buy-Which is better?" topic, but I'm asking you because of your experience with this kit.

Go for Bumblebee and Rockshaper/Paladin. If you can save hard and get decent crystals/experience (and also buy during a sale), then these two will effectively give you Jackhammer and Legend/Smoky + Hornet.

 

It's 200k cheaper than buying Jackhammer and Legend. It was what I planned to do before I bought my Hunter M3 :wub:

Edited March 14, 2017 by Savage
Edit: Oops, copy/paste

[TheRollingSlab 803]

The module is actually one of the best in the game once you get to Legend ranks, especially in drug wars. 1) Every team always has at least one Hammer M4, and almost always a Railgun or Smoky, or both. 2) It is a great module to MU, as it is ver versatile and protects against some of the most popular turrets.

[Ninja 10,468]

Don't make me jelaous, oh wait, i don't play this game oftenly, so no problem for me :P

^{_{pro hammer}}

Pro hammer. Pro grammar. #Oftenly

[HAPPSHOT 2,029]

Nice! You explained hammer and viking kinda awesome! But the only thing that you didn't write the negatives in sentences you just wrote them in points ( you told some extra thing about its positive in sentence ). It is showing that you want to give that impression that hammer is really pro ( it actually is ) but an review should be something which should be balanced and readers should have a hard time thinking if they have to buy it or not  :P . But anyway as I said KING ARTICLE BERY GUD! :ph34r:

[HAPPSHOT 2,029]

Pro hammer. Pro grammar. #Oftenly

Pro spammer

[Ninja 10,468]

Nice! You explained hammer and viking kinda awesome! But the only thing that you didn't write the negatives in sentences you just wrote them in points ( you told some extra thing about its positive in sentence ). It is showing that you want to give that impression that hammer is really pro ( it actually is ) but an review should be something which should be balanced and readers should have a hard time thinking if they have to buy it or not :P . But anyway as I said KING ARTICLE BERY GUD! :ph34r:

Thanks. :d True, I probably should have written more about the negatives though truth be told, they are so minor I don't see them effecting game play much if at all. Edited March 15, 2017 by Ninja

[HAPPSHOT 2,029]

Thanks. :D True, I probably should have written more about the negatives though truth be told, they are so minor I don't see them effecting game play much if at all.

Lol you have a positive point of view  :ph34r:

[Ninja 10,468]

Lol you have a positive point of view :ph34r:

I am biased. :ph34r:

[rocketmonkey2015 61]

Both are great kits but IMO Hammer is more suited to Viking than Hornet, because its not one-shottable. I would say Jackhammer is worth the extra 100k and you can get it even cheaper on sale. There is still some time to go before you get to M3 ranks and if you start saving now you'll easily afford Jackhammer by then. You can find a full review on Bumblebee kit here: http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=348274

 

 

 

Go for Bumblebee and Rockshaper/Paladin. If you can save hard and get decent crystals/experience (and also buy during a sale), then these two will effectively give you Jackhammer and Legend/Smoky + Hornet.

 

It's 200k cheaper than buying Jackhammer and Legend. It was what I planned to do before I bought my Hunter M3 :wub:

Thanks for the advice! Btw great Bumblebee kit review @Savage !

[Crip 4,735]

Btw great Bumblebee kit review @Savage !

:wub: Thanks!