Elden Ring - Fists

The cheapest real weapon class in the game: Caestus asks 8 Strength, 8 Dexterity and 1.5 weight, and it turns into a serious status and Arcane platform, but its damage ceiling is roughly two-thirds of a colossal weapon's.

Combat

Pros

• Requirements and weight are trivial: 8 Str / 8 Dex on Caestus, weight from 0 (Cipher Pata) to 6 (Golem Fist). Fists are almost always a free swap rather than a stat commitment.
• Naturally Paired Weapons: two-handing spawns a duplicate in the off-hand, so you get dual-wield strings without spending a second weapon slot (Grafted Dragon excluded).
• Deepest status spread of these five classes: bleed on Spiked Caestus and Star Fist (45 each), poison 106 on Poisoned Hand, madness 55 on Madding Hand, Eternal Sleep 42 on Thiollier's Hidden Needle.
• Every damage type is represented at +0: Golem Fist 110 physical, Cipher Pata 85 holy, Madding Hand 63 fire, Veteran's Prosthesis 53 lightning, Thiollier's Hidden Needle 45 magic.

Cons

• Damage ceiling is low: the best is Golem Fist at 269 max standard, against Duelist Greataxe's 416 in Colossal Weapon.
• Range is the real cost: 's class page frames Fists as short-range weapons; every trade happens inside the enemy's hitbox.
• Guard boost is 18-26 across the class except Golem Fist's 36. Blocking is not a plan.
• The best pieces are Somber and locked out of both infusion and buffs: Cipher Pata, Poisoned Hand, Madding Hand, Thiollier's Hidden Needle, Grafted Dragon, and Golem Fist can be infused but not magic- or consumable-buffed.

Builds

Two shapes worth committing to.

• (1) Arcane status: 60 Arcane with Blood or Occult, then choose between Star Fist (more physical, 257 max standard, slightly less bleed) and Spiked Caestus (more bleed, 222 max standard), this trade explicitly on both pages.
• (2) Strength: Golem Fist at 24 Str, Heavy +25 for A Strength and 244 physical, plus a free ranged attack.
• Faith gets exactly one weapon, Cipher Pata at 30 Fai, A Faith and 208 holy at +10, weighing nothing.
• Dexterity leans on Clinging Bone (22 Dex, B at max, with lifesteal) or Thiollier's Hidden Needle (22 Dex, B Dex / C Int).
• Because requirements are so low, the honest answer for most builds is to carry a Fist as an off-hand utility item, Poisoned Hand for its buff, Thiollier's Hidden Needle or Grafted Dragon for off-hand skill priority, rather than to build around the class.

Best Weapons

Weapon	Image	Attack	Weight	Str	Dex	Int	Fai	Arc	Why Take It
Golem Fist		110	6	24	8	11	11	-	Highest physical in the class (110 at +0, 269 max standard, 244 with A Strength on Heavy +25) and highest guard boost (36 at +0). Its strong attacks throw the entire fist forward as a ranged projectile for zero FP, and two-handing throws both; Smithing Talisman boosts the R2s by 10%, Axe Talisman the charged R2s. Infusible with Smithing Stones, but cannot be magic- or consumable-buffed. DLC.
Star Fist		105	3	12	8	-	-	-	257 physical at max standard, second only to Golem Fist, with 45 innate bleed. at 60 Arcane under Blood or Occult it offers higher physical damage than Spiked Caestus at the cost of slightly lower bleed buildup, that sentence is the whole Arcane-fist decision. Infusible and buffable; shares its unique R2s with Iron Ball.
Spiked Caestus		91	2	8	10	-	-	-	The other half of the same decision: at 60 Arcane under Blood or Occult it offers higher bleed buildup than Star Fist at the cost of lower damage. Unique multi-hit R2 shared with the Caestus, 8 Str / 10 Dex, 2.0 weight, and buyable early from the Isolated Merchant in Greyoll's Dragonbarrow.
Poisoned Hand		76	1	8	8	-	-	28	106 poison buildup: the highest single status figure across all five classes, plus A Arcane at max standard. Its +7.5%/20s damage buff fires on any Poison or Scarlet Rot proc, applies to spells, stacks with Kindred of Rot's Exultation, and works from the off-hand even when you don't meet its 28 Arcane requirement. Somber, not infusible. DLC.
Cipher Pata		85 holy	0	-	-	-	30	-	Aside from Sacred Seals it is the only weapon in the game that weighs 0. Pure Holy, A Faith and 208 holy at +10. it a very viable alternative for Faith users to preserve FP, and notes it benefits greatly from the Sacred Scorpion Charm. Somber, not infusible, not buffable.

Notes

• Paired Weapons: two-handing equips a duplicate in the off-hand, giving dual-wield strings from one slot. Grafted Dragon is the exception and cannot be two-handed at all.
• Two moveset families: Strike and Pierce, with Caestus, Spiked Caestus and Golem Fist having their own; Cipher Pata sits outside both and deals no Slash or Pierce despite its description.
• Off-hand skill priority: Thiollier's Hidden Needle and Grafted Dragon override the main-hand weapon skill when held in the left hand, like Parry does.
• Golem Fist's ranged R2 projectile costs no FP; patch 1.13 added a damage hitbox to the hand portion of that attack.
• Critical multiplier is 110 only on Pata and Katar: those are the two fists worth using for ripostes.

All Fists

Name	Image	Physical	Magic	Fire	Light	Holy	Crit. Boost	Weight	Str.	Dex.	Int.	Fai.	Arc.	Sell Price	Skill
Caestus		90 35	0 20	0 20	0 20	0 20	100 20	1.5	D 8	D 8	0	0	0	100	Endure
Cipher Pata		0 9	0 14	0 14	0 14	85 61	100 19	0	0	0	0	C 30	0	500	Unblockable Blade
Clinging Bone		80 31	24 36	0 17	0 17	0 17	100 21	3	E 8	C 22	0	0	D 16	200	Lifesteal Fist
Golem Fist		110 58	0 24	0 24	0 24	0 24	100	6	C 24	E 8	E 11	E 11	0	500	Endure
Grafted Dragon		89 27	0 18	57 44	0 18	0 18	100 22	2.5	D 20	D 14	0	D 16	0	100	Bear Witness!
Iron Ball		101 38	0 22	0 22	0 22	0 22	100 22	2.5	D 11	E 8	0	0	0	100	Endure
Katar		97 36	0 21	0 21	0 21	0 21	110 21	2.5	D 8	D 10	0	0	0	100	Impaling Thrust
Madding Hand		53 20	0 15	63 42	0 15	0 15	100	1	D 8	E 8	E 13	E 20	0	200	Madding Spear-Hand Strike
Pata		104 45	0 26	0 26	0 26	0 26	110	4	D 11	D 15	0	0	0	100	Impaling Thrust
Poisoned Hand		76 33	0 19	0 19	0 19	0 19	100	1	E 8	8	0	0	C 28	200	Poison Spear-Hand Strike
Spiked Caestus		91 35	0 20	0 20	0 20	0 20	100 20	2	D 8	D 10	0	0	0	100	Endure
Star Fist		105 41	0 23	0 23	0 23	0 23	100 23	3	D 12	E 8	0	0	0	100	Endure
Thiollier's Hidden Needle		70 28	45 27	0 16	0 16	0 16	100	0.5	E 10	C 22	D 15	0	0	500	Sleep Evermore
Unarmed		20	0	0	0	0	100	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	Kick
Veteran's Prosthesis		83 30	0 20	0 20	53 48	0 20	100 24	4	D 15	D 12	0	0	0	500	Storm Kick