What level should you start using Fists?

_Belgarion_ - Dreamweaver wrote: »

As per the topic - I started an archer the other day and was wondering. I've had a set of fists to use for when the mob gets into melee range but now I have knockback arrow I'm wondering if it is really necessary to have a decent set. When is it worth investing in a decent set of fists/claws?

An archer without fists is pretty useless.

Go get to 100 with full interval gear and g15 cast of Frenzied Rage.

Your post had several ambiguities which might be worth discussing:

First, the level you start investing in fists does not have to be the level you start using fists. That distinction depends on how soon you want a return on your investment, your available resources, how fast you level, and that sort of thing.

Second, some of the best and cheapest reduced interval gear becomes available late in the game. For properly selected pieces of TT99 gear can give you -0.2 attacks per second, for example.

But, also, fists are mostly useful for certain specialized roles (bosses, mostly).

For other opponents, some other issues start coming into play:

Some opponents are easy. Quite possibly, you can kill two of them before someone equipped with fists can hit them. And if you are worrying about someone KSing you you only have to do half damage before KS becomes impractical.

But, also, the big advantage of fists is that you can perma spark. If you compare the unsparked damage of fists and bows, fists are not very impressive. And if your opponent does not last very long you will not be able to build much chi off of it.

(Though some variations can still give fists some usefulness -- you can single or double spark effectively if you can properly estimate how long your opponent will live, and you can use your fists to build chi even when you are not being an effective damage dealer.)

(On the other hand, if you whine about debuffers making battles last differing amounts of time you are doing your party a disservice. A good debuffer can cut a battle's time in half, so that's one person providing the damage equivalent of five other people -- your fists are not worth giving that up. But debuffs have cooldowns of their own and properly pacing a battle for the rhythm to work takes practice and requires intimate familiarity with how the members of the squad fight. Lack of familiarity in any party member, or any of a variety of other issues can slow things down.)

Meanwhile, fists are going to set you back a fair bit of coin. And boss farming for merchanting for coin has been getting marginalized in a lot of ways. And most "fist oriented gear" is useless for "full rank 9" and some people are saving up for that (and/or whatever "the next big thing" will be.) And without knowing where this is going, its hard to know about the economic side of gearing for fists.

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll82/verticoli/2011-05-1413-30-42.jpg


I would say start fisting xD at level 60 when you can get int- top and 0.10 int wrists if u wanna pay 20m which i would HIGHLY recommended to use until 99.
Also when you 60 you can use the extra fast chi gain for the new sparks and 59 skill

Enjoy