First things first, please do not flame me, instead leave constructive criticism that I can use to improve this guide.
Stop reading this guide right now if...
You want vit. At most a fist bm will have 1 vit every 2 levels, if u want vit, roll a barb or don't use fists.
So, why choose a fist bm?
Pros
- Incredibly, rediculously, insanely high DPS (damage per second). Some would even argue the HIGHEST dps in the game
- Fastest chi gain in the game
- Second highest crit% in the game
- Second highest accuracy in the game
- Second highest evasion in the game
Cons
- Lowest survivability of all the melee classes.
- Closest range of all classes
So if you're still interested, keep reading.
Sections:
I. Stats
II. Skills
III. Gear
IV. PvP
Section I. Stats
First of all to wear fists your level you will need 1.5 str and 2 dex per level, leaving 1.5 stat points left over. A common mistake is to wear LA and dump everything into dex, DO NOT DO THIS. Here's why-
More str = more dps. It doesn't matter how high your critical% is at when you are doing crap damage. Don't forget that crapX2 is still crap. Now don't take my word for it, go to
ecatomb.net and play around with the nifty character simulator they have, you'll see that more str = more dps for yourself.
LA is fail for pvp. You might think that more magic defense will help with casters but they will still hit like a mack truck and you won't have the refining bonus that HA gives to take it. Plus that's why BMs have alter marrow magical. You might think that physical classes will miss a lot and you'd be right. They will miss, a LOT, and you will laugh at them. But eventually they won't miss, and since you will have lower phys defense it will hurt, a LOT, and they will laugh at you. And if that hit happens to crit it's basically GG fail LA bm. Oh yeah and Misty forest rings are INCREDIBLY cheap nowadays, and everyone and their grandma has one, so your evasion counts for a lot less. Once again GG. However if u still want to roll a LA fist bm STFU and do it, then come back when you're 70+ and epic fail and continue reading.
Now that we've (hopefully) established that a fist bm needs to wear HA that means you will need 2.5 str and 2 dex per level, or 5 str 4 dex 1 left over point every 2 levels. Where you put this last point is really up to you and I will go over all possibilities.
6 str 4 dex
This is the build I recommend for fist bms. It has a higher dps than any other build, and allows you to use all bm weapons at your level. That's all that really needs to be said.
5 str 5 dex
This is the build I use. You sacrifice dps in order to gain more evasion, more accuracy, and more crit, and plus you can use really high level bows. But the difference between 4 dex and 5 dex every 2 levels is really quite small, so unless you have this really weird subconscious desire to pwn archers, I don't recommend it.
5 str 4 dex 1 vit.
This is the most balanced build and the one MOST people recommend. As I mentioned earlier in pros and cons, fist bms have low survivability, so this build helps out with that. But I personally think 7.5 hp per level is almost worthless and that the extra stat point is better used elsewhere. However if you know for a fact that you won't be able to afford good gear, high refines, and good citrines, then this is probably the build for you. That is until you have TT80 gold or TT90, then I would restat.
5 str 4 dex 1 mag
no.
Section II. Skills
Tiger Maw - Fists are all about dishing out dps using the speed of their regular attacks, skills just slow you down. So unless you eventually plan to use this skill to chain combos together, leave it level 1 as a prereq.
Draw Blood - In the early levels this DoT skill can be used as an opening attack and significantly increases your dps, but past level 60 it's completely worthless. Level it up as much as you feel like, doesn't matter.
Stream Strike - This skill SUPPOSEDLY holds aggro, but I've never gotten it to work. Plus you will have NO problem holding aggro at later levels . Finally, the damage given compared to the chi lost makes this skill completely worthless. Level 1 as a prereq and never ever touch it again.
Aeolian Blade - A pretty decent damage skill with a 50% chance to stun at level 10, but as I said about Tiger Maw, skills slow you down. You'll want to max this EVENTUALLY, but it's not a high priority.
Drakes Ray - This will be your one and only ranged skill for a long time, and is VERY useful as a finisher on the mobs that run away when they are almost dead. Max it.
Golden Bell - Your physical defense party buff, it increases your survivability, it rocks, just MAX IT.
Roar of the Pride - This is your aoe stun, and is VERY useful. If you're grinding and take on too many mobs, roar of the pride, run away. If you're fighting someone and they keep kiting like a beotch, roar of the pride, pwn them in the face. MAX IT
Cloud Sprint - Makes you run fast for 15 seconds, helps to close in on casters or make a quick get away, or just travel fast when you don't have a mount or aerogear. Plus level 10 opens up Will of the Bodhisatva, a VERY useful skill. MAX IT
Tiger Leap/Leap Back - Cool little skills that in my opinion are completely unnecessary. Level them when/if you feel like it.
Ocean's Edge - Low damage skill that has a CHANCE to slow people. Stuns are better, leave it level 1 as a prereq.
Fan of Flames/Drake Sweep - aoes. max them.
Alter Marrow Physical - Cut magic defense by X% to increase physical defense by X%. I think any level is good enough on this skill. You won't really use it often in PvE if you're lazy, and it's completely useless in PvP cuz then your opponent will 1 shot you with Thunderstorm or Bramble Rage. One cool neat trick though is to use Alter Marrow Physical to raise your physical damage to an epic number, then use the genie skill Balance to absorb magic damage.
Alter Marrow Magic - Cut physical defense by X% to increase magical defense by X%. LEAVE IT AT LEVEL 3! Why? Of course you don't want to level it too high because of plume shot on clerics and blade tempest on wizards, BUT, you can use it on archers too! I use alter marrow magic on archers all the time to cut the lightning damage significantly, and still have enough phys defense to take regular attacks. One of the greatest bm pvp tips of all time imo.
Diamond Sutra - Consume 1 spark to heal yourself. MAX IT
Will of the Bodhisatva - Consume 1 spark to increase movement speed by 100% and make yourself immune to slow/freeze/and stun. Get it ASAP, and ALWAYS open with it in pvp.
Now... on to fist skills.
Vacuous Palm - Consume 1 spark to slow your opponent. Worthless skill, level 1 as prereq and NEVER TOUCH IT AGAIN!
Shadowless Kick - This is an amazing skill that cancels casting, and later on you'll want to use it as an opening skill when grinding. However the damage gained from leveling it is worthless so keep it level 1.
Cyclone Heel - The bread and butter of a fist bm. It's an aoe that after casting increases your attack speed by X% for X seconds. You won't notice a difference in attack speed when it's level 1-3, but at level 4+ you will. A common opening combo when grinding is Shadowless kick, Cyclone Heel, and regular attacks 'till dead. MAX IT
Drakes Breath Bash - Very nice spike damage for fists, but there are better uses for 2 sparks. You might think adding fire damage would be good against HAs, but the fire is based on weapon damage NOT base damage, so it's worthless. KEEP IT LEVEL 0.
Fist mastery - Increases fist damage. max it. duh.
So if you noticed, I only said to max 2 skills in the fist tree, Cyclone heel and fist mastery. Eventually, you will have excess spirit, and will be wondering what to do with it all. Make genies? NO. It's time to multiclass. But what to multiclass in? Well the cool thing is you can multiclass with anything you want! BUT, if you want to use swords or polearm you have to go axes FIRST. Here's why - At level 70+ you can do a little thing called Rebirth Gamma, which is a special instance where you can gain LOTS of xp and spirit. However NO ONE will take you unless you have axes. So what you do is RB Gamma until you're 85, and then if you still want to max polearm/sword skills you can dump excess XP into a genie and max all you want. Axes are the best complement to a fist bm anyway with aoes and a 6 second stun, and the ability to HF every 30 seconds makes you a VERY useful party member.
79 Skills
Smack - Ranged skill that seals. No matter how poor you are in coin and spirit, GET THIS SKILL! That seal does WONDERS in pvp, and having an 18m ranged skill is SO sweet to finish off runners. Just be warned that seal on regular mobs makes them run away.
Bolt of Tyreseus - This is a cool aoe with a MASSIVE range, and does decent damage too. It also freezes everyone, including yourself, and then slows run speed/slows channeling/slows attack speed on everyone who gets hit by it for a few seconds. GREAT for TWs, but otherwise.. meh.
Dragon Bane - Increase crit rate by 25% and decrease damage by 50% for 30 seconds. Looks aweful at first, but a cleric/purify pot/demon or sage spark will purify the half damage part. Since fists build chi so fast you can use this skill often so it's pretty cool, but not necessary.
100 skills
Finally you'll be wondering, Demon or Sage? Before you ever make a decision go on ecatomb.net and look at the skills for yourself, I personally think both could be good in the right hands. However 99% of fist BMs go demon because demon spark gives you a 25% increase to attack speed, which is needless to say, epic.
Section III. Gear
There is one stat that a fist bm must ALWAYS be aiming for. That stat is minus interval between hits. The more equipment you have with this stat the faster you attack, and faster attack means higher DPS, which is the one and only purpose of a fist bm. Here's how it works. You take your attack speed, 1.43, and divide that from 1. So 1/1.43 = .7 Say you have one peice of equipment with - .1 interval between hits (IBH from now on) then that's .7 - .1 = .6 Then you just multiply by 1.43 and divide THAT number from 1.43 so .6 X 1.43 = .858 1.43/.858 = 1.67 attacks per second. I know that's probably confusing as hell but hopefully you'll get the hang of it.
The most IBH you can get in the game is -.4 here's how:
Lunar glade claws Deicide or frostcover gold Gorenox Vanity -.1
Love, up and down tome -.05 (as far as I know impossible to get without anniversary packs )
Lunar Glade cape -.05 (also impossible without anniverary packs, I think)
TT99 gold HA/LA OR TT90 gold HA/LA OR DQ60 Bracers -.1
2 peices of TT99 gold HA -.05
2 peices of TT99 gold LA -.05
Secondly, a fist bm should always be on the lookout for +hp +vit (think of vit as +15 hp) and + mag resist items to boost survivability. And thirdly, + crit% items.
I'm won't go into too much detail because I'm getting tired but the kind of (realistic) stuff you should be aiming for is
Vit tome/christmas tome
Cape of tauren chieftan
TT90 gold magic amulet/sky demons pearl
TT90 gold magic belt/demon slaughter belt
TT90 rings/Misty Forest Rings/crit rings
TT90 green/TT80 gold/high level mold armor
TT90 gold berserk fists.
A few things to keep in mind at lower levels is that at level 60 you can get the -.1 IBH bracers of blood moon, for only 25 silver and 25 copper dragon orders. Get them ASAP. Before level 60 you can sometimes find -.05 IBH LA bracers in the auction house. GET THEM
Physical defense ornaments get better hp bonuses than magic ones, I would look for those at the auction house until you can get the higher level molds such as sky demons pearl and demon slaughter belt.
If you're multiclassing with axes you might be better off using supply stash axes before level 60. TT60 & TT70 fists have a higher dps, AoS and DarkFlash have higher survivability. TT80 has a 10% chance to increase your phys defense and your phys attack by 20% for 10 seconds. This is better DPS imo than TT80 gold which only increases crit by 2%.
Finally for those thinking about endgame equipment I would go with -
Lunar glade Deicide (I would use berserk fists until you have at LEAST -.15 IBH though)
Love, up and down tome
-.05 IBH Lunar cape
lunar rings
lunar magic ornament
TT99 gold EVASION belt (combine this with TT99 gold LA bracers for -.05 IBH)
TT99 gold LA bracers (see above)
TT99 gold HA chest/leggings/boots
Section IV. PvP
First off note that I'm a level 89 unexperienced bm on a PvE server, so take everything I say here with a grain of salt.
EASY
Arcane clerics/venos/wizards LA venos, LA bms (lol) and Archers - Will of Bodhistiva if you have the chi, then alter marrow magical level 3, then hit them to about 2/3 hp, then roar of the pride, then relentless courage if u have it. Otherwise Cyclone heal before roar, and use EP and/or tangling mire. This is usually enough to finish most people off, or get them to almost dead. At that point use a high spike damage skill to finish them off. I recommend drake bash just in case.
MEDIUM
LA clerics
fortuneately you won't find many of these, but if you do, heals + high phys defense is pretty hard to beat. Your best bet is to keep them stunlocked, and maybe throw in a heavens flame at one point. Just be sure to keep alter magic marrow on at all times in case they put you to sleep, or you are definitely screwed instead of maybe screwed. Of course there are plenty of genie skills for that too, so w/e.
HARD
BMs and LA wizards.
PKing a BM is difficult but it has been done. The most common strategy is to HF thunderstorm/bramble rage and take out a good 4k chunk of hp, then wail on them and hope they die before they retick. I've also seen people double spark/demon spark and wail on them, while casting EP and tangling mire but unless they are stupid and sit there and let you hit them they will run away, so you need to throw stuns in too. Like I said, it's HARD
LA wizards are a nightmare, they have epic phys defense and still do CRAPLOADS of magic damage, and most will distance shrink every 10 seconds and make you chase after them with your puny fists. Same strategy as above but you'll DEFINITELY need to stunlock them.
ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE
HA Venos and Barbs
Same strategy as above and oh yeah, GOOD LUCK
Final tip
If someone sparks in pvp they have likely used a skill/apothecary item to make them immune to stun. In that case seal them with smack and run, come back when spark wears off and you have the advantage.
