Unarmed = Overpowered?

http://home.eyesonff.com/showthread....=1#post3462883

When I last played FF2 Origins Version I noticed it was a lot easier than FF2 Dawn of Souls Version. Yet I have heard Origins retains the difficulty of both 1 and 2 while DOS makes both games far easier.

I can only assume the easier time I had was due to my attempt to make Gus a Monk. He did way more damage than Firion and his stupid sword ever did. Gus killed bosses so fast it made me abandon my run because it wasn't fun anymore.

So, yes, is Unarmed actually the best "weapon" in this game?

At the beginning it is, which is as far as I got. I unequipped my entire party, didn't put Maria in the back row so she could grow stronger faster and the group became beasts. Enemies were actually running away from me. It was awesome!

Gus being an unarmed fighter makes the entire game easier, but neither version is as hard as the original famicon version.

Short Answer: Only early on.

Long Answer: For a while, it helps a lot. Monks in this game have very little trouble plowing through defensive enemies that weapons can't even touch. The Adamantoise boss fight is the best example, where Josef naturally does more damage than the party provided they use conventional weapons. But it's not a great long-run strategy to make the entire party monks. A lot of enemies have elemental weaknesses (including that Adamantoise), and even those that don't can fall to a one-hit KO spell of a high enough level (Teleport, Toad, Break, etc) since only two bosses in the entire game (both final boss versions of Mateus and Zombie Borghen....story reasons for both) have any coding defending against it (and in the NES version, they don't even protect against Toad). Trust me when I say it's funny to use a high level Teleport on the Emperor and watching him die without a fight. Besides, a lot of weapons can inflict Curse, Sleep, Blind, Poison, etc, and while their hit rate can be annoying, it can still help a lot.

Also, a lot of later bosses have tons of HP, and some generic enemies heal on their attacks (mostly undead creatures). Even with a piercing punch, this can still leave a full monk team in for a long haul on each boss fight. Then there's the final boss, where the Blood Sword literally shaves 20 minutes off that fight if used. Sure, Leon could use it, and he can even use it better than Firion at times, but that's depending on if you haven't grinded or run out of Phoenix Downs/Life spells/patience for him. I've heard plenty of people just let him stay dead and drag him around the final dungeons like that.

So I would say Guy (not calling him Gus...) would be a great Monk, but keep Firion a swordsman and Maria a mage. Hell, Maria can even be a Monk/Mage combo! It's just better to have one mage and a character who can use weapons for their effects. That way, you're literally set and have a challenge for each character.

I had gus/guy/gee as a monk in my last playthrough for most of the game, but towards the end it got tougher. I ended up having him quickly level up swords/axes/spears & he regained his status as powerhouse.