Quote from UnclePine;1285134:
1. I started with Fomor Bear Knuckle and switched to Champion Knuckle as soon as I felt like it/could afford it/found a cheap one on sell.
To clarify, not only Fomor Bears are extremely cheap (1k Ducats), they have good damage along with massive critical and balance, and will last you for a very long time. When it comes to later game and you've finished most of Fighter, you have three options:
- Bracer: Upgrades have high critical and moderate max damage increase. However, since Will and Luck make up most of your crit due to their abundance, the extra crit from weapon is negligible.
- Champion: Sacrifices a small amount of critical for higher damage.
- Demonic Solitude: Greatly surpasses Champion in all areas, but this also includes more repair fees.
And no, do not get Shyllien Mana. Not only does it fall behind the above three in stats and barely boosts magic, Fighter and Magic is an extremely terrible combination: mixing 1:1 and large area of effects that draw aggro with neither being able to defend themselves (Shockwave is poor because of the weapon's tiny magic attack bonuses) is obviously very bad, and Respite punishes you for using magic (even though Respite itself is crap).
Languhiris Chaser and Stigmata also pale in stats and I don't think the former's special effect is useful?
2. Equip a pair of knuckles (= obtain Knuckle Mastery rank Novice) to get the first Fighter sidequest, ""Horrifying" Herbert".
IIRC the quest takes a few Erinn days to arrive, so be patient.