TL;DR at the bottom.
Since the dawn of Monks, Knuckles have been pretty much a joke weapon in RO when compared to Maces even though it's the weapon Monks are supposed to be specialized in. Heck, renewal did nothing to change that. All these years, knuckles are nothing more than a noob trap or used only in the Glorious Fist gimmick. Since LeikaRO have been addressing multiple of the long running issues in RO, I propose only one simple change that will open up weapon choices for Monks(and Champions and Suras) while not making it the end-all-be-all weapon type choice for them. Before that, let me list down the differences between the two weapon types:
Maces
Size modifier of 75%(S) 100%(M) 100%(L)
ASPD penalty: -5
Innately indestructible
Knuckles
Size modifier of 100%(S) 75%(M) 50%(L)
ASPD penalty: -1
Up to +30 mastery ATK from Iron Fist
As you can see, aside from punching small critters and having 4 higher ASPD, maces are pretty much better than knuckles mainly due to the crippling size modifiers given to Knuckles. On top of that, the effects of 4 ASPD on Monks and their upper classes are small when you consider their main damage sources later on are restricted in spamability either through cooldown, after cast delay, spirit sphere consumption or through other special requirements (G. Fist). Where it does help though is by letting you Snap slightly faster and through Skyblow spamming (no point after 175 ASPD unless under strings) or Knuckle Arrow spamming (no point after 150 ASPD outside of strings). As for Iron Fist, most builds are pretty tight on skill points and put 5 points in on the way to getting Snap, which gives a measly +15 mastery ATK. Even at the full +30, maces generally have better weapon attacks compared to knuckles. Lets look at current attainable choices for both weapon types:
Eden Mace III, 172 wATK, non-refineable, Eden upgrades (+3% ATK, double racial), obtained through Eden Quests
Infinity Gada [1], 175 wATK, weapon level 4, enchant (STR, Fighting Spirit, Expert Archer), obtained from Infinite Tower Instance
Carga Mace [2], 175 wATK, weapon level 3, dropped by Anolian
Iron Driver [0], 155 wATK, weapon level 3, weapon range +1, dropped by Lord of Death and Turtle General, socket enchant to [3]
Erde [2], 130 wATK, weapon level 3, MaxSP +50 and healing power +10%, dropped by Orc Lord and Flamel Emul
Eden Knuckle I, 120 wATK, non-refineable, eden upgrades (+3% ATK, double racial), obtained through Eden Quests
Sura's Rampage [1], 157 wATK, weapon level 3, +[20+4*(refine-5)]% damage to Skyblow and Earthshaker and +[5-2*(refine-5)]% SP consumption of all skills, Malangdo enchant, dropped by Angra Mantis
Hatii Claw [1], 172 wATK, weapon level 4, MaxHP -2%, chance to bleed enemies on physical attacks, Malangdo enchant, dropped by Garm
Iron Nails [1], 100 wATK, weapon level 3, +[refine/2-5]% ASPD, indestructable, ignore 50% DEF, up to +100 eATK depending on combo skill levels, dropped by Fire Golem
Flash Claw [2], 160 wATK, weapon level 4, +1 ASPD, +(refine)% ASPD and physical damage, dropped by Excavation Robot
I left aside basic elemental weapons (because of converters), Glorious weapons (which Maces wins out through sheer ATK difference) and unattainable Vellum weapons. There are 3 things where maces generally wins out compared to knuckles: wATK, card slots and attainability. All other knuckles have too little wATK values to even consider. Aside Sura's Rampage, the ease of farming up Infinity Gada and Carga Mace allow them to be over-refined much easier. However, thanks to the custom buffs to old level 3 and 4 weapons and the availability of Iron Nails [1] and Flash Claw [2], knuckle users are able to obtain comparable strength by working on Garm's Claw [1] and Flash Claw [2], or obtain higher ATK potential at the cost of big skill points investment through Iron Nails [1]. Still, all this is rather moot considering knuckles loses 25% damage output on medium sized targets and a whooping 50% to anything large. Now let's look at smacking things bare-handed.
Bare Handed
Size modifier of 100% for all 3 sizes
ASPD penalty: 0
Riiiiiiight. How is it that punching stuff barehanded have no size penalty whatsoever but placing studded or jagged objects on your fist and punching with those make such a difference against medium and large targets? I propose changing the size modifier for knuckles to be the same as bare handed, as the size modifier is the main culprit in crippling knuckle viability. It doesn't help that a large chunk of what you'd want to kill later on are medium and large, players and MVP included. Thoughts?
TL;DR I propose a custom change for Knuckle size modifier to be similar to Bare Handed, 100% across the board to open up more weapon choices for Monks, Champions and Suras.
Edited by Blank, 22 July 2016 - 08:03 PM.