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Unarmed-battle-ffxii

Vaan and Balthier fighting unarmed in Final Fantasy XII.

Unarmed (すで, Sude?), also known as Fists, Hands, Bare Hands, Empty, or Unequipped, is a recurring weapon, or lack thereof, in the Final Fantasy series. While not being physical equipment, it is the attacking force of characters that have no weapons equipped. It is oftentimes the weapon used by Monk characters in games where knuckles are not present. Depending on the mechanics, equipment or character damage done unarmed can be either high or low.

Due to the nature of the equipping system of some entries to the series, many games will not allow a character to have no weapons equipped. E.g. in Final Fantasy VIII the player cannot unequip the character's weapon, only change it in a junk shop, and thus even the "weaponless" Edea has a weapon programmed to her simply called "None".

Appearances[]

Final Fantasy[]

Hands is the weapon that is equipped in the weapon slot when a character is not equipped with a weapon. In battle, the character will attack the enemy with his bare hands and will still deal combo hits.

Final Fantasy II[]

Barehanded is equipped in the right and/or left hand slots when a character is not equipped with a weapon and/or shield. Characters who are not equipped with a weapon and have either one shield or no shields equipped will fight unarmed; the formula for the Attack stat with a main-handed (e.g. Firion Right-Handed) 'Hands' and an off-hand shield is 1/4 Strength + (4x Unarmed level), and off-hand 'Hands' is 1/8 Strength + (2x Unarmed level). The formula for Unarmed with no shields in either hand is 1/2 Strength + (8x Unarmed level). Unarmed attacks have their own skill level, which in addition to increasing the number of attacks also increases the damage done by each hit. Therefore, when levelled up sufficiently, unarmed attacks is potentially the best and cheapest way to allow all party members to hit hard extremely early on until more powerful weapons can be obtained though it can still hold on its own all the way to the end game. Josef fights barehanded by default.

Final Fantasy III[]

This weapon remains unnamed and if no weapons are equipped in the weapon slot, the character will attack the enemy with his/her fists and will still deal combo hits.

Final Fantasy IV series[]

In Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy IV -Interlude- and Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, Empty (unnamed in Final Fantasy IV 2D versions) has an attack power of 1. This is the default weapon when the character's hands are empty. For bow and arrows, if one or the other is empty, the character will attack with his/her fists regardless of having a bow or arrows equipped.

Final Fantasy V[]

Unarmed has an attack power of 3. When characters are not equipped with weapons, they fight with their fists. Characters with both hands empty will attack once with each fist. Monks specialize in unarmed combat, and wearing the Kaiser Knuckles accessory boosts damage when fighting unarmed.

Final Fantasy VI[]

A character's Right and Left Hand slots are marked as Unarmed when a character is not equipped with a weapon. It is counted as a weapon with an attack power of 10, which is why weapons do not raise attack power as much as the information seems to indicate they should. This is the default weapon for all characters when not equipped with a weapon, except for Umaro and guests. Unarmed is not compatible with the Genji Glove relic. A character can be forced to fight Unarmed if the Organyx breaks after attacking, but the player can simply equip a new weapon after it breaks.

Final Fantasy X-2: Last Mission[]

In Iutycyr Tower, each dressphere has an HP designation; if it runs out of HP, it 'breaks' and the girls have to wear the next dressphere in line. If they run out of dresspheres, they will be reduced to wearing their sleepwear. At this point, the girls are at their highest levels, but have no abilities to use, and can do nothing but punch and kick for beating fiends.

Final Fantasy XI[]

The Hand-to-Hand skill is the only form of physical combat innately available to every job. Any time a player chooses not to equip a weapon in their Main Hand, combat defaults to attacking a target with the player's fists. A milieu of Hand-To-Hand weapons (claws, hard knuckles, cesti, baghknakhs, etc) are available and utilize this same Hand-to-Hand skill to calculate damage. By design, Hand-to-Hand is the weapon of choice for both Monks and Puppetmasters.

Monks have an A+ rank in the weapon class while Puppetmasters have B+ rank; Dancers, Warriors, Ninjas, and Thieves also have innate Hand-to-Hand skill of respective lower rank, and thus can also useboth fists during Hand-to-Hand combat. Any player on a different job that simply chooses to attack a target without an equipped weapon are subject to throwing punches with just one hand. Monks gain special access to the job trait Kick Attacks, which allows them occasional use of their feet. A Monk gains access to Kick Attacks III at level 96.

Hand-to-Hand skill and subsequent damage output are calculated differently from other weapon classes. A player's innate Hand-to-Hand damage is calculated by multiplying their Hand-to-Hand skill by 0.11, then adding 3. Weapon Rank is offset as well: the true value is a weapon's displayed base Damage plus 3, with no contribution from Hand-to-Hand skill. Likewise, the innate Hand-to-Hand Delay for every job is 480, and any additional Delay value present on Hand-to-Hand weaponry is added to 480; however, Monks and Puppetmasters have access to the job trait Martial Arts which act to reduce their natural Delay in Hand-to-Hand: when a Monk obtains Martial Arts VII at level 82, it is possible to reduce innate Delay to 280 with additional support from Merit Points.

Final Fantasy XII[]

When the player has no weapon equipped, the character will fight unarmed with kicks and punches. Unarmed combat has a 5% chance of dealing combo hits. Unarmed fighting is quite fast when compared to most weapons, such as swords, axes and poles, but it is not as fast as daggers, ninja swords and spears.

After learning the license Brawler, or equipping the accessory Amber Armlet, the Attack Power changes to the average of Level and Strength.

The player must fight unarmed once, in the Nalbina Dungeons against the seeq dungeon masters.

After a victorious boss battle the characters perform different victory poses depending on what weapon they have equipped. The characters may randomly do their unarmed victory pose even if they had a weapon for the battle.

Final Fantasy XIV[]

Due to the way the armory system works, a character must have a weapon or tool equipped at all times. Monks have unique access to the Emperor's New Fists, invisible knuckles that when equipped or glamoured onto another pugilist's arm make it appear as though the character is fighting unarmed.

Final Fantasy XV[]

Iris's weapon is "None", which has no stats. She does not strike enemies other than during link-strikes or Techniques, however.

Final Fantasy Tactics[]

Characters that do not have any weapons equipped will fight unarmed for minimal damage, and damage can be boosted by having a greater Bravery.

The damage formula is:

[1]

If they have the Brawler support ability, innate to the Monk job and also learned for 200 JP, damage is boosted, and the formula becomes:

A unit can be force to fight Unarmed if they are struck by the Knight and Nightblade's Rend Weapon ability. And by the Sword Saint, Divine Knight, and Delita's Ark Knight's Crush Weapon ability. A character with the Reequip ability can equip the unit with a new weapon and not be forced to fight Unarmed after having the weapon broken, that is if the player has the ability setup or forgets to equip a new weapon after being broken.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance[]

Impresario-ffvi-iosThis section in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift[]

Units are unarmed if they are not wielding any weapons. This usually results in the unit dealing very little physical attack damage. Master Monks, however, deal far more damage when they are unarmed (with the exception of the weapon Whale Whisker, which will raise Attack by 17).

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest[]

Bare Hands can only be used by Benjamin, Tristam, and Phoebe. When one of them attempts to use a weapon that has no ammo remaining, they will attack the enemy with their Bare Hands. When attacking with Bare Hands, the character's Attack Power is halved.

Final Fantasy Legend III[]

During battle, the battle text claims that the character smashed the enemy. Otherwise, the weapon remains unnamed. When a character is not equipped with a weapon, they will attack the enemy unarmed or if they run out of ammo.

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light[]

If a character does not equip any weapon, they will fight unarmed. Fighter class has boosted damage when fighting unarmed; when a Fighter fights unarmed their attack power is equal to their Strength stat.

Final Fantasy Dimensions[]

FFTA Buster SwordThis section about equipment in Final Fantasy Dimensions is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.

Gallery[]

Relm-ffvi-snes-battleThis gallery is incomplete and requires Final Fantasy II (NES), Final Fantasy V (iOS), Final Fantasy VI (iOS), Final Fantasy X-2: Last Mission and Final Fantasy XI added. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by uploading images.

References[]

  1. Astrologist Olan 19 (n.d.) . Final Fantasy Tactics – Brave/Faith FAQ. GameFAQs. Archived from the original on 2nd September 2020.
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