Melee Trainer inquiry
 

Ok, I am considering a new playthrough of TRoT with the intent of playing as a warrior/soldier this time. However, during my playthrough as a Battlemage I don't recall finding a trainer to teach forgrimm hammer strike until after completing the pirate/hammerberg quest-line. As a warrior/soldier do I have access to the Hammer strike ability earlier than that?

No.

It's very powerful, so it comes only much, much later - or otherwise you wouldn't have any chance of any challenge throughout the first parts of the game and be very, very, very frustrated, then.

That's what I assume.

That is a shame… Definitely overpowered, but then again so was the fireball spell for mages.

IMO, a tweak to it's endurance cost say 40-50 ED vs 30 ED and you could only use the ability once maybe twice per fight(and only once you have obtained that level/amount of ED).

I don't remember because I didn't use it very often.
And regarding the fireball: Overpowered, yes, but needs a long time for casting …

Yes and no… Yes if you're already fighting and the enemy is in your face, also the enemy you target seems to have the uncanny ability to sense that he is being targeted and make a b-line for the caster. However, in the moments before actual combat and/or when the creatures are charging/closing the distance you can fire off a couple/three in a matter of seconds.

Nonetheless, thanks for the quick response.

That was the only time when I used it, if I remember correctly. ;)

I can only echo with Alrik says - the hammer strike ability is very potent indeed and so it makes sense logically to not have access to it until that point in the game. Just have your points available to spend and be ready to get it as early as possible if you're after it.

In my first playthrough, I only gave it to Ardo and used it infrequently to help Forgrimm who used mighty blow mostly through the whole game.

Further to that, I only gained access to Ignisphaero fairly late in the game as well but didn't use it as much as the Thunderbolt and Culminatio spells. Mostly this was due to the casting time, which I assumed was to offset the spell's power.

I only had Jaakon use Ignisphaero though for bunches of camped missile users or other distant groups, usually from a position where he could not be attacked/interrupted or the party affected.

You gain access to the fireball(Ignisphaero) spell after completing the quest to heal Ardo… If they gave access to the hammer strike around that time then I wouldn't mind(as it is now you get it right before the end game). Whats more, you can gain access to the spell to summon a Djinn capable of Hammer strike before the point in the game where you can learn it as a warrior. It just seems warriors have much less going for them than casters, and I like the attack animation for hammer strike too! :P

Hehe, yes indeed. It is a very brutal animation. Ardo looked very nasty and ill-intentioned with a two handed sword going all out with the hammer strike. :)
I actually liked feint too and used that almost as often as mighty blow.

I might have had the choice to access Ignisphaero at an earlier point as you mention, but lacked the adventuring points for it. But in any case it seemed fair enough for the point from where I did obtain it.