Battlehammer

''"The BATTLEHAMMER is powered by a miniature nuclear reactor. This HEAVY-DUTY repeater is recommended only for those familiar with high-caliber weaponry." -Metroid Prime: Hunters Logbook Entry''

The Battlehammer is an additional weapon system for the standard arm cannon, commonly used by Space Pirates. Powered by a small nuclear reactor, it's a heavy mortar-type weapon that fires green globules of energy along an arching path. It features a high rate of fire but no charge attack (though Gorea was able to charge it). Though it can, presumably, be used in any arm cannon, the blaster used by the cyborg Space Pirate Weavel is configured with the Battlehammer in mind. Battlehammer rounds explode upon contact and have a small blast radius. It is also Weavel's affinity weapon: when used by Weavel, rounds fire more slowly but create a larger splash-damaging explosion over the normal one. Despite the reduction in fire rate, the potential damage and general handiness still increases enough to, in most circumstances, more than make up for it, and it should be noted that this bonus also means there is more potential damage per round, which generally saves ammo while being more effective than normal. The Battlehammer is strong against Kanden and others with high-voltage weaponry.

Multiplayer Role
Like the Magmaul, the Battlehammer is a mortar like weapon whose rounds follow a parabolic trajectory. However, unlike the Magmaul, Battlehammer shots go off on contact (as apposed to a three second timer), do not bounce, and can be fired continuously. These traits make it well suited for both long and close range combat, as you don't need to compensate as much for the arcing trajectory. Also like the Magmaul, it seems to be effective against Alt-Forms. When Weavel enters Alt-Form, his lower half fires Battlehammer rounds at anyone within range, even if the hunter doesn't have the Battlehammer. The rounds fired from Weavel's alt form, the Halfturret, are identical to those fired by non-Weavel characters using the Battlehammer, so they lack the characteristics of Weavel's bonuses with it in normal form.

The major advantages of the Battlehammer can be broken down into that not only is it a splash damaging weapon, but it is automatic and features a high fire rate, can retain and usually gain an advantage in close range fighting without putting the user too much at risk of frequently doing collateral splash damage to themselves, can be effective even around obstacles due to its altered trajectory and explosion, and, if used skillfully and effectively, deal damage at a greater potential rate than most other weapons in the game.

The Battlehammer's disadvantages are in that it lacks a charge attack, it requires some trajectory compensation, and, due to this, despite its long potential range, it still is limited. Compensation can become difficult at longer ranges, as the user must adjust their view to a large degree to fire.

Trivia

 * Certain objects will show the words "HEAVY-DUTY" in the description when scanned. The words "HEAVY-DUTY" always refer to the Battlehammer.


 * The Battlehammer is one of only two weapons that has shown lobbing effects in a Metroid game.