Hammers are a little harder to solo with due to slow attack speed, but it's not impossible, especially with the recent buffs.
Quote from Alexane;505765:
Along with noticing this I'm a bit disgruntled, i have a bit of trouble soloing hidden and other bosses i've come across lately as a hammer fiona, I've tried small and big shields, but my combos are too slow to try pulling off, when i try them i seem to always get smacked in the middle of them.
Okay, here's a very basic (maybe not-so-basic) rundown of how to solo Hidden:
1. Bring a small shield. The boss has a ton of counter openings.
2. He has five attacks: one swift normal with his right claw, one slow normal with his left, a double-hit smash, a sweeping smash, and a forward-jumping smash. You can detect his normals by the way he silently hugs the ground. Roars and/or prolonged periods of claw lifting are specific to his smashes. Knowing this will help you predict what he's going to do.
3. PG -> Butterfly at every opportunity you get. This speeds up the fight, contributes to knockdown, and is very safe because the delay at the end can be cancelled with Guard/HS.
4. If you see him preparing for his quick right hook (he will lean on his right claw instead of his left), immediately guard before you see anything else coming. If you try too hard to get a Perfect Guard, you might get hit instead. The timing is so lenient and the attack so quick that you'll probably get the PG anyway. Also, if he ends up doing a sweep, you can easily turn your guard into Heavy Stander.
5. His double-hit smash can be distinguished by how he raises his right claw high up in the air while roaring. Try to stay close to him and position yourself so that you end up using Heavy Stander on the first hit. This will make his second attack miss and result in you standing off to the side: a perfect opening for a Calla. In some cases, you may be standing closer to his left side than his right, which will make both parts of the smash miss but still push you off to the side for an opportunity to attack. I haven't been able to get that to happen very consistently, though. If this is too hard, just dodge or HS without attacking.
6. At your level, you have two options for SP usage: Shield Charge and Slashing High. Shield Charge is a good finisher for his last bar of health and can also work at any other time during the fight, provided you can time and aim it properly. Slashing High is a good option to consider, as well. It's a quick fix to low stamina and a boost to attack speed. You can use it in one of two ways: the first is as instant stamina restoration if you're low on stamina and the boss isn't letting you regain it naturally, and the second is as support for Butterfly when he's knocked down. Multiple Butterfly Swings can help end the fight very quickly; using Slashing High will help you get those swings in without having to worry about stamina when he gets back up, and may even help you get one or two more swings in when SH is at max rank.
If you can master Hidden, you should have a very good feel for timings and the properties of your own attacks.
Quote from Alexane;505765:
Should i invest in a decent sword after my shining will set and bring my sword fiona side up to par with what my hammer side is now?
Or just max my hammer fiona, get my armor, black hammer all other things i need cap my skills and then get my sword last.
Honestly, before the buff, I used to carry around a sword (reluctantly) just in case I needed to solo something. The learning curve was way higher back then and hammers definitely did not have the same attack openings that they do now. But with the attack speed and damage percentile increases, there's no longer a reason not to just keep practicing with your hammer. I don't know about you, but I learn best through trial and error. Sure, I died a lot for it, but now I know boss attack patterns much better and know what attacks are and aren't safe during which openings. It's also how I learned to fight with a small shield against many Boat 6 bosses despite other people trying to tell me I couldn't do it and was better off taking a large shield or dodging instead of countering.
Quote from Alexane;505765:
all criticism/help is wanted.
If I'm doing something horribly wrong as a hammer fiona let me know, my soloing troubles started around hidden and progressively a bit worse to where i have great difficulties soloing bosses and most of the time end up flat on my ass if they have really short stun time like the spider or most of hoarfrost depth.
I already gave Hidden advice above, but I can give you a few other tips:
1. Don't be discouraged if all you can fit in is a Calla. That's quite normal, and hammer damage percentiles are high to counteract the slow speed.
2. Many times, you can actually fit in an Orchid Strike. It doesn't take much extra time over Calla and actually has slightly more range due to the way Fiona moves while performing it. You can easily and safely do this against Taonu if you dodge his single-hit AoE ground slam and attack him from behind.
3. Use Stigma Hammer on moving targets and/or enemies that are focused on other party members. The charge ability allows you to delay the attack until the enemy is within range. There's quite a bit of range to it, as well, so you can whiff your normals from far away and land the smash at a relatively safe distance. This is also your most stamina-efficient option for high damage.
4. Dodge with a roll or a sprint smash if possible. Sometimes, using your shield actually gives you
less opportunity to attack. Again, I'm going to cite Taonu as an example. If you use your shield when he does his ground slam, you have a high risk of getting hit when you attack because he's facing you. If you roll behind him instead, you can safely pull off any of your smashes up to Butterfly, as he is forced to turn before he can attack again.
5. Be patient. Hammer Fiona is much more powerful now, but she is still a character who specializes in capitalizing on opportunity.
Quote from Alexane;505765:
Hammer fiona in groups.
In groups where the aggro is not 100% on me i can easily out damage most people my level for the boss % it's just my soloing that is lack luster.
Irukul excluded, he still kicks my ass and i rarely get over 5% damage .-. its always the sword fiona's or evies to get the most.
When Irukul is knocked down, do Slashing High + Butterfly. This is your ticket to outdamaging others in a lot of other fights, too. When he's actually up and running, try to predict where he's going to go and estimate how much of a cushion (with regard to both time and space) you'll need to safely get an attack in. I find Orchid and Stigma to be most reliable here. Shield Charge may also be a better use of your SP if your party can't use rocks or chain hooks reliably.
Quote from Alexane;505765:
Soloing for the sake of saying i can solo something.
I love being able to prove to myself that i'm good enough to solo things so as you can imagine this was like running face first into a brick wall.
Just keep practicing. That's how things like hammer Fiona Weeping Queen solos are made possible.