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Weapons ►

►Damage potential: Glanzfaust > Spharai > Verethragna > Tinhaspa > Oatixur

Spharai

From the word meaning "spheres", this consisted of leather strips or rings wrapped around the hands, with cutting blades or spikes protruding from between them, in order to cause bloody cuts from even a glancing blow.



►Pros of Spharai:

★Highest base damage of any H2H weapons.
★14 Counter, making your Counter rate decent even without Counterstance.
★40 attack makes it even easier to cap attack even without outside buffs.
★Doesn't rely on Aftermath for damage
★Similarly, 13% rate of triple damage on the first main-hand swing

►Cons of Spharai:

▪High delay.
▪Triple damage can't activate on multi-attacks.

►So when should I be using this?

There are many things to consider when selecting Spharai over other options. Are you actually benefiting from the attack? If you aren't, you're already failing to take advantage of one factor that will help push Spharai ahead of Verethragna. Another thing to consider is whether or not you will be benefiting from the fSTR on Verethragna if you were to use that instead. One of Spharai's weaknesses is its high delay; if you're able to bring a Bard along, this gap lessens slightly.

That said, these are most important things to consider:

★If you're unable to effectively take advantage of aftermath from Verethragna - either because of moving around a lot, or consistent amnesia, terror, stun, TP reset, and the like, you will most likely want to use Spharai. But if you can start with 300 TP, and the fight is short, do not use Spharai.
★Are you tanking something? Spharai has a really nice boost to your Counter rate that can be helpful, especially considering Monk is almost always used as a tank.



Verethragna

Manifestation of the Persian god of victory and the personification of aggressive triumph. God of Vrahran Fire, the most sacred of all fires. It is a combination of 16 fires, most of which belong to those in the metal-working trades. He punishes the evil done by man and demon.



►Pros of Verethragna:

★Very low delay.
★20STR.
★Significantly improved by Aftermath .

►Cons of Verethragna:

▪No defensive benefits.
▪Low base damage
▪Damage drops significantly in situations where aftermath is impractical to full-time.
▪Unlike other Empyreans, ODD can't activate on multi-attacks.

►So when should I be using this?

Abyssea is the obvious first answer, though many rarely partake in that content anymore (well, it has been 3 years!). Most Voidwatch fights, excepting Morta and Bismarck (and a few other higher tier fights if aren't receiving accuracy buffs) will favor Verethragna.

Aside from that, Verethragna thrives in lower content where you probably aren't receiving many outside haste buffs, or making pertinent use of Spharai's extra attack potential. If you're able to constantly maintain aftermath, Verethragna gains a pretty noticeable advantage.

These are most important things to consider:

★If you are able to effectively take advantage of aftermath and only care about damage potential (but don't have Glanzfaust), you'll probably want to use Verethragna.



Glanzfaust

Glanzfaust roughly translates from German to "Shining Fist".



►Pros of Glanzfaust:

★Highest DPS potential.
★Best looking weapon.
★AM3 is fantastic.
★Huge bonus to Focus (30 Accuracy and 3% Critical Hit Rate)
★Similarly, highest accuracy potential of any Hand-to-Hand weapon
★Nice bonus to Dodge as well (30 Evasion and 5% Guard)
★Ascetics Fury is a decent Weaponskill

►Cons of Glanzfaust:

▪Monk has no decent way to maintain aftermath.
▪High delay.

►So when should I be using this?

If you own it, you probably have no desire to switch to the slightly better options in the situations that they exist, but if you're moving around more than you're fighting, or don't have Marches, Glanzfaust is less practical than Spharai or Verethragna (or the others).



Tinhaspa



Able to consistently beat Oatixur and Relic with the following augments
Rank 15 Path A : Attack +15, STR +12, DMG +5
Rank 15 Path B : Accuracy +15, DEX +12, DMG +5

Oatixur



It's doing at least 70% better than your pre-Adoulin options in the worst of situations. Still a respectable option even with the RME upgrades, and look at that PDT!