Wiki / Weapons
Punches (bare hands)
No weapon: the quickest string, the shortest reach, a weave for a guard and a counter punch for a perfect one.
Status: Built, not yet played by people · Last checked: 14 Nov 2026
A hero with nothing in the hands fights with fists. It has the quickest string in the game and the shortest reach. Instead of a block it has a weave: a sway that lets hits slide off for a moment, and a well-timed one throws a counter punch by itself. It runs on stamina. Built on 14 Nov 2026; not yet played by people.
What makes it different
| Punches | Hand and shield | |
|---|---|---|
| Standing string | Four punches: Jab, Cross, Hook, Uppercut | Three cuts |
| Rhythm | The quickest there is (the same as two daggers) | Slower |
| Reach | The shortest | Longer |
| First hit | As quick as a sword's | |
| Heavies | Step into the blow: the sword's reach and damage | |
| Push | A little more than usual | |
| Guard | Weave, with a counter: see below | Block |
| Guard + attack | Slip punch | Shield bash |
| Ultimate | Rising sun | Sunfall |
The moves
| Move | How | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Jab, Cross, Hook, Uppercut | Attack, four taps | The standing string |
| Straight / Rising elbow / Low kick | Standing: side, up, down + attack | |
| Haymaker / Dash punch / Sky upper / Hammer fist | Hold attack: none, side, up, down | |
| Air spin / Flying knee / Air upper / Stomp kick, Meteor fist | In the air | |
| Running hook, Body rush | Running: attack, attack | |
| Flying tackle, Leaping elbow | Sprinting: attack, attack | |
| Slip punch | Guard + attack | Out of the weave, a low step in and a fist into the body: a small hit, a short stagger, hardly any push so the enemy stays close |
| Counter jab | By itself, after a perfect weave | See below |
| Rising sun | The ultimate | A long wind-up, one step, and an uppercut from the floor that sends the enemy straight up. The same strength as Sunfall |
The weave (its guard)
Press Guard: the upper body sways from side to side.
| For a moment after the press | A hit from the front slides off: no damage, no flinch. The attacker is not thrown back. Arrows and shots slide off too |
| Cost | A little stamina for each hit that slides off. Not possible with the bar empty |
| Then | It ends by itself, even with Guard held, and needs a new press (not one made right after letting go: mashing gives nothing) |
| What still lands | Low hits (a sweep, the ledge attack, a staff's wave along the ground), and anything from behind |
| Perfect weave | Press just before the hit: it slides off for free, the bar fills a good amount, and the Counter jab starts by itself |
Counter jab: almost instant, a small hit and a stagger, and it cannot be guarded (it breaks a guard).
When to use it
- Get in close and stay there: the Slip punch keeps the enemy near.
- Time the string on the glow: it gains the most from a perfect chain.
- Weave at the last moment, not early: the weave is short.
What beats it
- Reach: it has the shortest reach in the game, so almost every weapon hits first.
- Low hits and hits from behind go through the weave.
- Waiting: the weave ends by itself, and a hit after it lands.
How it stands
A boxer's stance: a little low, both fists up in front of the chin, the lead fist further out. The hands are always empty: no weapon and no shield is drawn, even when the hero's look carries them. With no weapon to light up, the glow of the chain sits on the lead fist.
Nerd section: the exact numbers
Built on 14 Nov 2026, checked by 13 automatic tests (tests/fists.test.ts); not yet played by people. Adding ?weapon=punches to the address tries it with any hero.
Numbers changed on 14 Nov 2026 by the balance pass. The table of changes is on How the weapons compare; the values below are the new ones.
In numbers
| Punches | Hand and shield | |
|---|---|---|
| Standing string | 4% mashed, 1 + 2 + 2 + 4 = 9% on the glow | 4% / 9% |
| Rhythm | The next punch can be pressed 9, 9 and 10 frames into each | 11 and 14 frames |
| Reach of the first hit | 25 px | 30 px |
| First hit strikes on | frame 6 | frame 6 |
| Other lights | The sword move with the same job: 6 px less reach, 3 frames less recovery, 1% less when they do more than one | |
| Heavies | The sword's reach and damage (Haymaker 8%) | Overhead cleave 8% |
| Push | 110% of the usual | |
| Slip punch | A step in of about 15 px; 2%, a stagger of at least 0.23 s (14 frames), 8 stamina | |
| Rising sun | Strikes on frame 24; 14% |
Why the first punch is not faster than a sword: one frame sooner won two fights in three for the fists in testing. With the jab one frame faster it dealt twice the sword's damage, so it was left on the sword's frame. And why the rhythm is not quicker still: any quicker, and plain mashing lands on the glow by accident.
The weave in numbers
| Lasts | 14 frames (0.23 s) after the press |
| Cost | 8 stamina for each hit that slides off |
| Perfect weave | The press within 10 frames (0.17 s) before the hit: free, the bar fills by 20, and the Counter jab starts by itself |
| Counter jab | Strikes on its second frame, 3%, a stagger of at least 0.27 s (16 frames), cannot be guarded |
Poses
The four punches, the weave, the Slip punch, the Counter jab and Rising sun have their own poses; in every other move both fists work (the lead fist follows the rear one). The glow on the lead fist: faint on the first beat, full while a press would be a perfect chain, a flash on a perfect chain. Fixed 14 Nov 2026 (pose pass): with punches both hands are always drawn empty, whatever the hero's look carries.
Fairness, measured
Ten seconds on a still target: 28% mashed, 69% with perfect timing (hand and shield 28% and 62%).
Forty fights of the old test opponent per pairing (it mashes at arm's length, and uses neither the weave's counter nor the quick recovery):
| Against | Wins / losses / out of time | Damage dealt / taken |
|---|---|---|
| Hand and shield | 6 / 14 / 20 | 5859 / 6641 |
| Dual wield, mixed pair | 8 / 11 / 21 | 6640 / 6908 |
| Two daggers | 8 / 13 / 19 | 6402 / 6454 |
| Two hands | 17 / 13 / 10 | 6685 / 6563 |
Damage is about even; it wins fewer fights because its reach is the shortest and its knock-out blows are the lightest.
Not built
No extra movement of its own (a quicker walk, a dash): its speed is in the rhythm and the recovery.