Skills guide for fist/claw bm?

I like Drake's Ray. It's the only range skill Fist BMs get. I use it to lure mobs and to kill mobs that tend to run away. Fists have the least range of any weapon and you'll be getting hit a lot if you have to chase a mob down.

I think Draw Blood is decent. It's damage over time, but the duration is only 15 seconds. Pretty short and it's a useful skill early on. I think it's fairly decent later on as well. It's much more MP efficient than Streaming Strike, After level 3, Draw Blood does more damage than Streaming Strike and costs less MP. Plus, you'll be building Chi to use on better skills rather than wasting it, Also, Streaming Strike pulls aggro which makes it useless in dungeons and boss fights. You do not want to pull aggro away from the tank,

Though I'm a spear BM, I did use claws for a while earlier on. As for draw blood, it's a great skill for claw users because it fits in perfectly with their method of damage. Claws don't go for a single devastating hit like axes do, they're set up to hit MANY times in a short window. That said, draw blood lets you take advantage of your naturally fast attack speed while still getting in extra damage via skills.
Plus, it's really really fun to watch a torrent of red numbers rise from your targets' heads...

This is what I do....I see a mob, I whip out my bow('cuz you know.....dex^_^) as soon as it gets a lil' near I switch to my fist/claw and use Drake's Ray the when we're close up and personal I use Draw Blood and then I just wack at it 'till its dead^_^........Oh yeah if too many mobs attack you at once, you could run...>.>......or AoE them^_^ we might not be as effective as an Axe BM but we're still pretty decent in that department 'cuz we got 4 AoE's(counting the stun 1)^__^b:pleased

I use LA and im dual path sword/fist i use the 2 str 2 dex 1 vit a lvl and i seem to do good and this is on my high lvl noth this character

Its all a matter of what you want to do. In PvE both weapons are good, but if against single targets only, then fist is superior IMO. The spear though has the advantage in AoEs. If nothing else, at 70+ you can specialize in two weapon paths and at 90+ you can easily do all four if you want.

For your build though, don't go LA at any point, you can shard for mag def if you really think you need it, or we also have a skill called alter marrow magical which will reduce your phys def to add mag def for 20 seconds. There are two ways to build a heavy armor fist BM.

1) No points in vit, use the minimum dex req for your fists, and pump the rest into str. This build will limit your crits some, but you will do more damage per hit. I use this build and it works well for me (I also spliced into the axe skill tree at 70)

2) No points in vit, use the minimum str req for heavy armor, and rest into dex. This build will limit your damage, but will give you greater crit rate accuracy and evasion.

3) Minimum str for heavy armor, minimum dex for weapon, rest into vit. This build offers more survivability than the others, but I really don't reccomend this as it will limit your damage more than the others and BMs aren't supposed to tank unless neccesary.

With all these builds I suggest you shard for HP at all times, shards in your weapons depend on personal preference really. Refining your armor to add mroe HP is nice as well, but I don't suggest going too high unless you use dragon orbs. Refining your weapon is a must at 60+ imo. A good Annhilator of Souls legendary weapon at +4 will do you lots of good, and if you can get it higher all the better.

As for skills, if you go fist you have two attack skills that are important. At 39 you get Shadowless Kick, I always start with it. At 49 you get Cyclone Heel (I think they may have renamed it), it increases your attack speed, use it all the time. Non-combat skills that you should always level are Aura of the Golden Bell, Fist Mastery, and Diamond Sutra. Other than that for fist BMs nothing else is really good. I suggest though you get at least level one of Roar of the Pride for the AoE stun, Draw Blood is good in the early levels for some extra DPS, but is optional, and you may or may not want/need to level Drake Sweep and Fan of Flames, they good if you need AoE damage, but unless you are doing an FB or something you won't AoE as a fist BM much if at all.