Help picking straight forward build

Greetings yall -

I played the game in launch and was having a great time. In the main games, I am undoubtably a hammer main. However, I remember getting frustrated by the sheer vulnerability of the hammer and switch to bow/light blow gun. I continued to play the game free to play until "Your box is full." This immediately deterred me and I stepped away from the game.

However, with the upcoming release of Wilds and my friends starting to play World in anticipation, I thought I would come check this game out again about 2 weeks ago and have been lurking here in the subreddit. Seeing so many different builds, seeing all of the weapons they have added, and the number of monsters in the game...I'm a bit overwhelmed. I tried out hammer again and I think I need to try something else due to the number of first aid potions you get in a day.

Edit: Context - I have a few grade 5 hammers, bows, and lbg. One grade 6 Anja hammer! HR 85ish, R6 monsters unlocked (one purple star)

My question: can you give me a recommendation of a weapon (I've tried out most of the weapons and the only one I don't like is Greatsword because its just as vulnerable as hammer at times) with armor that also comes from very accessible monsters? I recognize that event spawns like Black Diablos can be very powerful, but I want something that is always around and I can work towards to help me get into higher rank monsters.

Bonus question: is it griefing for me to join a hunt-athon that extends [well] beyond my weapon level? LOL

Happy hunting!