Arcana R5 Public Test Server Review - Fury Fighter (Knuckle/Martial Arts)

There were some bugs in the first week, such as certain combos not connecting properly. Since the quality usually improves in the second week, I decided to wait and do the review during the second weekend.

* Screenshots were taken on the Test Server; for the latest information, please check the linked skill pages.

Fury Fighter (Knuckle/Martial Arts)

Martial Arts + Close Combat Arcana

Considering the damage was drastically reduced simultaneously with the Week 1 bug fixes, the damage output needs careful evaluation.

The Furious Absolute effect, which bypasses Heavy Stander (Auto-Defense) below a certain level, seemed difficult to maintain as it only lasts for 7 seconds. However, it was surprisingly easy to manage when using Force Flare like a Stage 4 Combo skill.

Nevertheless, the combat difficulty could likely be lowered if Force Energy (around 5, 10, or 20) was granted for regular combos—not just Exceed—and if the maximum Force count was increased to 3 or 4.

Link Effects

- Combo Mastery: Combo damage bonus increased by 30% (Cap: 50%)

- Combo Mastery: Combo cooldown reduction increased by 20% (Cap: 30%)

- Heavy Armor: Removal of the damage penalty for Stage 3 Combo skills when equipped

These Link Effects, mentioned during the January 13th Mabinogi Connect, seem intended to bridge the gap between Elves and Giants.

Giant

- Damage: 40% + 30% = 70% -> 50% Applied

- Cooldown: 20% + 20% = 40% -> 30% Applied

Human

- Damage: 30% + 30% = 60% -> 50% Applied

- Cooldown: 10% + 20% = 30% -> 30% Applied

Elf

- Damage: 20% + 30% = 50% -> 50% Applied

- Cooldown: 10% + 20% = 30% -> 30% Applied

The cap was set based on Elves, and the Heavy Armor penalty was removed.

While Giants specialize in Close Combat and Knuckles used to be a Giant-only weapon, they have now become a balanced weapon for all. In fact, if you factor in the Breath of Ladeca skill, Humans might actually be the most advantageous race now.

Backstep

Backstep has been revamped. It now steps back from the character toward the mouse cursor, and if used again within 2 seconds, you teleport back in front of the target.

Since it doesn't break the combo, it seems useful for dodging dangerous skills during combat and then immediately counterattacking.

Limited Force

Using Fury Fighter skills requires a resource called "Force." This resource is recovered when using Exceed skills, whereas the passive Force Energy recovery per second during combat is quite minimal.

The "Exceed skills" mentioned here are the exclusive combo skills for Fury Fighter, typically assigned to the F3 slot.

On the Test Server, there are instances where you can't use Ultimate Strike immediately because you lack Force after using other consuming skills. Personally, I believe the difficulty would decrease if the Force cap was increased to 3 or 4 and if regular combos also recovered 5, 10, or 20 Force Energy.

Exceed: Chain Blow

It deals Base Damage 300% x 3 hits + Charging Strike 460% * 0.25 + 500% damage.

Without Reforges, it totals 1512.5%.

Charging Strike is 460% without reforges, and the Chain Blow finisher is 460*0.25+500, which is 615%.

Based purely on percentages, the Chain Blow finisher should be stronger.

I wonder if this is because Combo Mastery isn't being applied, or if it's intended.

Seeing this damage output even without Charging Strike reforges suggests that Combo Mastery is not being applied to "Exceed" skills.

(The test was conducted with no combo-related reforges whatsoever.)

The initial 300% hits deal 25,000 damage on a crit. If all hits crit, it's 25,000 + 82,000 = 157,000, while Charging Strike deals 154,000.

Considering Charging Strike reforges, it makes me wonder if this is truly an Arcana skill or just a tool for building Force. Since Charging Strike also benefits from cooldown reduction, it either feels like a filler skill or the lack of Combo Mastery application is a bug.

(If it's not a bug, shouldn't it function as a combo?)

If it is a bug, the developers might have intended "Combo" as any sequential skill, but Combo Mastery might only be increasing damage for skills that specifically have "Chain" (연속기) in their name. Or perhaps it's because the "Detailed Description" doesn't explicitly label it as a combo.

Exceed: Impact Dive

This is a Stage 2 Combo skill.

Somersault Kick 700% * 0.3 + 300% = 510%

The damage is lower than the existing Stage 3 combos: Focused Fist (690%) and Somersault Kick (700%).

It features an approach mechanic that closes the gap even from a distance.

Although the skill damage description doesn't mention multiple hits, you can see an initial 10k hit followed by a 50k hit.

According to the detailed description, it is a "Combo" skill that performs 3 consecutive kicks as shown below.

Upon testing, it does indeed land 3 hits, with critical hits calculated independently for each.

Comparing it to other skills:

Focused Fist (690%) deals 50k non-crit, 170k crit (without defense reduction / the Impact Dive above is also without defense reduction).

Impact Dive deals roughly 44k if no hits crit, and around 125k if all hits crit.

Unlike Chain Blow, it's unclear whether the 510% is divided among hits or if the total damage is applied differently.

Reasons for the confusion:

1. The final hit has the highest damage.

2. Outcomes vary wildly (no crits across 1, 2, 3; crit on the 20k hit only; crits on the 20k and 30k hits, etc.).

Exceed: Force Slam

This is a Stage 3 Combo skill.

Pummel 1000% * 0.35 + 500% = 850%

While it is stronger than Drop Kick's 800%, considering Drop Kick has reforges on Shoes and the Soul Liberator Knuckle provides a final damage boost to Drop Kick, Force Slam ends up weaker than existing Stage 3 combos. It's actually weaker than Focused Fist... I suspect there is an issue with how Combo Mastery is being applied.

It is disappointing that the percentages for Exceed skills (Arcana skills) are lower than existing combos, or even if they are higher, the final damage is low—possibly due to Combo Mastery not applying to Stage 1, or the lack of enhancements on the Soul Liberator weapon.

Fury of the Berserker

This is a self-buff skill. With the addition of Equipment Grade Bonus Damage, the efficiency of bonus damage has increased, making the maintenance of this buff a key factor in performance.

- Using Exceed Stage 1, 2, and 3 in succession grants 1.5 stacks, but since you need to use 2 stacks immediately at the start of combat, you can't reach Stage 2 right away.

- Since the max Force is 2, and opening the buff requires consuming both available Force points,

it requires careful management at the start of a fight. The Force Flare skill (introduced later) also consumes Force to grant Heavy Stander immunity. Since you need to spend 3 Force points immediately upon starting, an adjustment to Force acquisition seems necessary.

Force Flare

Drop Kick 800% * 0.35 + 600% = 880%

Considering it only receives 35% of the Drop Kick enhancement, it's weaker than Drop Kick itself.

With the test knuckle, Force Flare dealt 138k while Drop Kick dealt 242k.

I haven't calculated it precisely, but it seems the added 600% is not treated as part of Combo Mastery, resulting in a lower damage increase.

This skill must be used constantly due to "Melee Ping" (Heavy Stander) and has a 7-second duration.

This is shorter than Urgent Shot's 10 seconds. While it seems difficult to use since it consumes Force, assigning it to Hotbar F3 and using it in the sequence:

"Exceed: Chain Blow" -> "Exceed: Impact Dive" -> "Exceed: Force Slam" -> "Force Flare"

allows you to maintain "Furious Absolute" without interruption during every Exceed cycle. (You can use regular combos while Exceed skills are on cooldown.)

However, using it this way has side effects:

- Frequency of other Arcana skill usage decreases (since it has no cooldown, double-tapping it by mistake consumes all Force).

- Ultimate Strike cannot be used due to lack of Force.

Due to these issues, I hope for an increase in max Force and the addition of minor Force acquisition to regular combos.

Gale Pierce

Charging Strike 400% * 0.45 + 1100% = 1280%

Without Charging Strike, Combo Mastery, or Focused Fist reforges, the damage ranking is: "Charging Strike" < "Gale Pierce" < "Focused Fist."

Again, the damage is lower than the displayed percentage suggests, indicating that Combo Mastery is likely not being applied.

Ultimate Strike

This skill is calculated as Focused Fist (690% * 0.4 + 700%) * 2 + (690% * 0.4 + 1500%) = 3728%.

However, the damage only comes out in the 200k range...

As expected... it doesn't seem to benefit from Combo Mastery. The final hit damage is 1176%, yet it deals less damage than Drop Kick, which is labeled as 800%. Even with the Soul Knuckle's 1.4x Drop Kick boost (totaling 1120%), the significant gap points clearly toward a difference in Combo Mastery application.

Overall Impressions...

- As an Arcana skill, it feels far too weak.

- Force only increases through Exceed skills, leading to constant shortages and making it difficult to time Ultimate Strike correctly.

- It's uncertain if all Exceed skills or just Stages 1 and 3 are affected, but they are definitely not receiving the Combo Mastery bonus. (Is it a bug?)

- Even Force skills are weaker than Drop Kick in terms of single-hit damage.

- The idea that "Martial Arts is strong even without Auto-Defense bypass" was based on early Elemental Knight standards; current Arcanas have grown much more powerful since then.

- Arcana skills should inherently be stronger than base skills.

- The "rapid-fire" attack feel is fun, but since the damage is weak, it feels like the main purpose of Exceed is just to maintain "Force Flare" and "Fury of the Berserker."

- Ultimate Strike cannot be used with Time Shift. Even if it could, consuming 2 Force points makes consecutive use difficult. On the other hand, skills that consume Force have no cooldown. Does this mean Time Shift is intended only for existing combos?

- Fury Fighters can also benefit from Rage Impact, so does this mean I should receive it from a Sacred Guard or swap equipment if there's no other alternative?

While the playstyle is stylish, the damage output is quite disappointing.