Pugilist

Warriors trained in martial arts. Their precise strikes can seal enemy limbs.

—Class description, Etrian Odyssey V

The Pugilist (Japanese name Cestus) is a close-combat class originating in Etrian Odyssey V. Unlike most physical fighters, a Pugilist's weapon of choice is their own body parts: fists, legs, etc. In theme, this is just Monks from Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City, but instead of an empty equipment slot Pugilists equip a type of weapon called a Cestus. Whether they pinpoint pressure points, grapple into submission, or just smash really hard, Pugilists immobilize and paralyze enemy body parts, somewhat like whip Dark Hunters, and also throw their own fortitude behind their attacks like Highlanders.

• EO5
• EON

Legendary Names

Barrage Brawler

The Barrage Brawler specializes in launching multiple strikes chained together, relying on the binding of single targets as another trigger to deliver more blows. They receive better bonuses to Luck and Agility to quickly disable their targets so they no longer pose a threat.

• Strengths: Best source of a wide variety of binds for shutting down single enemies. Incredible damage output to a fully bound enemy.
• Weaknesses: Poor crowd control capability. Focus on the entire binding skill tree is skill point intensive.

Main article: Barrage Brawler/Stats

Level	HP	TP	STR	INT	VIT	WIS	AGI	LUC
20	+7	+5	+4	+0	+0	+0	+2	+6
40	+10	+7	+6	+0	+0	+0	+3	+9
70	+17	+12	+10	+0	+0	+0	+5	+15
99	+28	+20	+16	+0	+0	+0	+8	+24

Impact Brawler

The Impact Brawler specializes in funneling power into single strikes, relying on the Pugilist's gains and losses of HP as a trigger to deliver more potency. Although sturdier due to superior HP, Vitality, and Wisdom growth, their gains from pains make them high-risk high-reward fighters.

• Strengths: Phenomenal damage output that, with proper setup, can destroy even the toughest enemies in one shot.
• Weaknesses: Intentionally lowering HP presents a very high risk of dying, despite bonuses to HP and defenses.

Main article: Impact Brawler/Stats

Level	HP	TP	STR	INT	VIT	WIS	AGI	LUC
20	+11	+2	+6	+0	+3	+3	+0	+0
40	+15	+3	+9	+0	+4	+4	+0	+0
70	+25	+5	+15	+0	+7	+7	+0	+0
99	+40	+8	+24	+0	+12	+12	+0	+0

Skills

Skill	Description	Type	Requires	Extra
BASIC
Brawl Mastery	Raises physical ATK dealt with cesti.	Mastery	None
Phys ATK Up	Raises physical ATK.	Stat Up	None
Concussion	Melee bash attack to an enemy, may bind head.	Cestus	None	Lv5 and 10 increase bind rate.
Arm Crusher	Melee bash attack to an enemy, may bind arms.
Low Blow	Melee bash attack to an enemy, may bind legs.
One-Two Punch	Melee bash to 1 enemy. May follow up with bind skill, targeting unbound areas.	Cestus	Concussion Lv3 Arm Crusher Lv3 Low Blow Lv3
Blood Wrath	Whenlosing HP, may retaliate at a random enemy with equipped weapon.	Passive	None	Max 5 attacks per turn. Cannot crit.
Overexertion	For 3 turns, target ally consumes HP when acting to get a boost to physical ATK.	Support	Blood Wrath Lv1	Lv5 and 10 also greatly increase HP cost.
Thunder Fist	Bash/Volt attack to 1 enemy. If target is not killed, user is damaged by recoil.	Cesti	None	Lv5 and 10 also increase recoil damage.
Devil's Fist	Consumes HP for to peform a melee bash attack to 1 enemy with splash damage.	Cesti	Thunder Fist Lv3	Lv5 and 10 reduce HP cost.
BARRAGE BRAWLER
Double Punch	When a single-hit skill fails to inflict a bind/ailment, it may activate again.	Passive	None
Status ATK Up	Increases ailment/bind rate.	Stat Up	None
Corkscrew	Melee bash attack to an enemy, may paralyze.	Cestus	None	Lv5 and 10 increase paralysis rate.
Leading Blow	Melee bash to 1 enemy. If target has a bind/ailment, follows up with related skill.	Caestus	One-Two Punch Lv5 Corkscrew Lv2
Speed Up	Raises turn speed, hit rate, and evasion.	Stat Up	None
Lash Out	Melee bash attacks to 1 enemy. Number of hits equals that of user's last turn.	Cestus	Speed Up Lv5
Cross Counter	When the user's line is hit with a melee attack, counters with bash. May bind accordingly.	Cestus	Overexertion Lv5	Triggers once per turn.
Breather	Removes all of user's ailments/binds and raises ATK for next turn.	Charge	None	Usable only if the user has an ailment or bind.
Fault Blocker	Raises bind/ailment resistance of user's line for 3 turns.	Support	None	Lv5 and 10 increase duration.
Clinch	May bind head/arms/legs on both the user and 1 enemy.	Support	Breather Lv3 Fault Blocker Lv3
IMPACT BRAWLER
Fortitude	Increases ATK while HP is low.	Passive	None
HP Up	Increases max HP.	Stat Up	None
Vajra Stance	For 3 turns, increases physical defense of all allies in the same row.	Support	None	Lv5 and 10 increase duration.
Soul Crusher	A melee bash attack against all enemies. Damage dealt restores the user's HP.	Cestus	None	Lv5 and 10 increase healing strength.
Abyssal Killer	User can endure a fatal blow with 1 HP this turn. If they do, increases damage next turn.	Support	Vajra Stance Lv5 Soul Crusher Lv5
Titan Killer	Melee bash attack to an enemy, with greatly increased damage to enemies with greater HP % than the user.	Cestus	None
Death's Edge	A melee bash attack. The less HP the party has, the greater the damage dealt.	Cestus	Overexertion Lv5
Heavenly Aid	Next turn, increases damage depending on how much the user is healed this turn.	Support	Titan Killer Lv3 Death's Edge Lv3
Satan's Fist	Consumes HP for a melee bash attack to an enemy row.	Cestus	Devil's Fist Lv3	Lv5 and 10 decrease HP cost.
Status DEF Up	Increases ailment/bind resistance.	Stat Up	None

External Links

• Skill Simulator

Profile

The Pugilist skill set in Nexus is heavily skewed towards their Barrage Brawler specialization, so much that the influence of Impact Brawler is actually diminished. Two of those skills overlap with Highlander, so they are replaced by HP Up and Fighting Spirit. Meanwhile Barrage Brawler is expanded with several brand new skills and a Force Boost and Break. They take over from race and unison skills to make binding easier and more beneficial, and allow attack chains to get even longer at the expense of less damage per hit than before. Pugilists rely on synergy between their skills to be effective, for example leveling up the 3 basic bind attacks makes One-Two Punch and Leading Blow more powerful.

• Strengths: Capable of fully binding an enemy in a single move, opening them up to a multi-hit pummeling. Highest HP among all classes.
• Weaknesses: Relatively fragile despite high HP. Poor AoE capability, and maximizing bind damage is skill point intensive.
• Force Boost - Bind Rush: For 3 turns, bind rate is increased. Attacks made on bound enemies are also followed up with a normal attack.
• Force Break - Final Blow: Powerful bash attack to 1 enemy with a chance of binding each of its limbs.

Stat Progression

Main article: Pugilist/Stats#EON

Level	HP	TP	STR	INT	VIT	WIS	AGI	LUC
1	65	33	16	7	11	8	16	18
30	129	66	34	16	25	18	35	39
70	263	136	73	34	53	39	75	83
99	393	203	110	52	81	59	113	126
130	570	294	160	76	119	87	165	184

Skills

Skill	Description	Type	Requires	Extra
Bind Rush	For 3 turns, raises bind rate and follows up on bound/ailing/stunned enemies.	Force Boost	--
Final Blow	Powerful bash attack to 1 enemy. May bind head/arms/legs.	Force Break
NOVICE
Concussion	Melee bash attack to 1 enemy. May bind the enemy's head.	Fist	None	Lv4 and 8 increase bind rate.
Arm Breaker	Melee bash attack to 1 enemy. May bind the enemy's arms.
Low Blow	Melee bash attack to 1 enemy. May bind the enemy's legs.
One-Two Punch	Melee bash attack to 1 enemy. May follow up with bind attacks.	Fist	Concussion Lv2 Arm Breaker Lv2 Low Blow Lv2
Corkscrew	Melee bash attack to 1 enemy. May paralyze.	Fist	None	Lv4 and 8 increase paralysis rate.
Adrenaline	When a bind/ailment/stun is inflicted by user's attack, restores TP.	Passive	None	Triggers once per skill.
Double Punch	When a single-hit Fist skill fails to inflict a bind/ailment, it may activate again.	Passive	None
HP Up	Increases maximum HP.	Stat Up	None
Chop	Increases material yield from chopping in the labyrinth.	Gather	None
VETERAN
Devil's Fist	Consumes 10% HP to bash the enemy. Deals splash damage to adjacent targets.	Fist	None	Lv4 and 8 increase HP cost.
Fighting Spirit	If user lost HP the previous turn, all ATK increases.	Passive	Devil's Fist Lv3
Following Strike	When user's action binds the enemy, may follow up with Corkscrew.	Passive	One-Two Punch Lv2 Corkscrew Lv2
Leading Blow	Melee bash attack to 1 enemy. If target has a bind/ailment, follows up with related skill.	Fist	Following Strike Lv2	Corkscrew used if target has any ailment.
Breather	Removes binds/ailments from the user to raise ATK for the next turn.	Heal	None	Lv4 removes 3 binds.
Fault Blocker	For 3 turns, increases resistance against binds and status ailments for user's line.	Buff	None
Clinch	May bind head, arms, and legs on both the user and 1 enemy.	Support	Breather Lv1 Fault Blocker Lv1
Status ATK Up	Increases bind/ailment success rate.	Stat Up	None
Cross Counter	If an ally in user's line is hit by a physical attack, counters with a binding bash.	Fist	None	One counter per turn; must be in range.
MASTER
Thunder Fist	Bash/volt attack to 1 enemy. If target is not KO'd, user is damage by recoil.	Fist	Fighting Spirit Lv2	Lv4 and 8 increase recoil.
Lash Out	Bash attacks to 1 enemy equal to the number of hits user landed last turn.	Fist	Leading Blow Lv3	Counts itself as a single hit.
Meditation	Increases user's bind/ailment success rate until end of next turn.	Charge	Clinch Lv3
Raging Billows	The more binds/ailments a target has, the greater the damage dealt.	Passive	Meditation Lv2
Million Rush	If two weapons are equipped, a normal attack may hit 2-4 times. Enables use of subweapon.	Passive	None
Resonance Blow	Bash to 1 enemy, with multi-hit based on how many turns pass before using.	Fist	Million Rush Lv3	Counter resets on use.

Subclassing

In Etrian Odyssey Nexus, Pugilists can gain the ability to subclass like the rest of the adventurers.

Subclasses for Pugilist

The main aspects of Barrage Brawler Pugilist, multiple hits and bindings on the front line, can be expanded further by subclasses.

• War Magus is chosen for passives. Head/Arm/Legcut aren't really worth getting since Pugilist's binding skills synergize together by name. Pugilist's healing is atrocious since they have the worst Wisdom growth, but Vampire simply adds its little bit to what they already do, and leads to the much better Rouse and Mind Drain. Epidemic has synergy with Million Rush, and there's another HP Up.
• Highlander returns its version of Blood Wrath, Overexertion, Titan Killer, and Soul Crusher to revive a bit of Impact Brawler. Some other spear skills help alongside Bloody Veil, and extra HP Up goes best on the class with the highest base HP. For Barrage Brawler Blood Fortune helps the party help the Pugilist with those sweet bindings, and Delayed Charge adds another hit to a combo.
• Gunner grants a relatively high chance for extra attacks when Penetrator can hit the enemy's back line. All the hits of Double Punch, One-Two Punch, Following Strike, and Leading Blow can penetrate, which can end up binding the back line monster and lead into a Corkscrew. A lucky Multi-Shot can easily reach Lash Out's 9-hit limit. The Pugilist can dual-wield a Gun in the main slot and Fist in the off-hand to gain the option to back off and Snipe or autoattack to trigger an occasional Million Rush.
• Farmer improves the binding game. A Pugilist mainly focuses their efforts onto binding the enemy, and once an enemy is bound, Harvest Festival is used to move in for the kill. Strange Seeds lets a Pugilist spread binds to multiple targets, which can trigger Following Strike. Pick up some exploration skills that will be useful as well.
• Shogun grants a major boost to combo chains through Peerless Demon. At level 5, the 5th and further hits get an impressive +35%, which is truly impressive when used on Lash Out or Resonance Blow. The Second Sword branch gives consistent benefits to dual-wielding, and more multi-hit options against bind-resistant targets. Great Warrior also improves the draw rate to the front line, giving more opportunities to proc Cross Counter.
• Nightseeker is taken for even more damage to ailing enemies with Proficiency and Foul Mastery. Also sometimes Follow Trace, which can lead to extra chances for One-Two Punch to bind a target or a 10-hit combo with Leading Blow on a fully bound and ailing enemy. Blade Flurry synergizes with Million Rush to deliver up to 8 hits with a single normal attack from a dual-wielding Pugilist, which can easily inflict weapon ailment effects and/or build up a very good Lash Out next turn.
• Arcanist gives better binding success, binding in an area, and TP Return stacks with Adrenaline.

Pugilist as Subclass

The main draw is bind and ailment infliction bonuses for disable-reliant classes. Upon success, Adrenaline also supplies some TP restoration. The Fist skills rely on interconnected synergy to work out well and are exclusive to Pugilist, so they are unattractive. The faint vestiges of Impact Brawler can help out frontliners.

• Highlander mainly goes after Fighting Spirit which works well with a majority of their HP-loss skills and effects. The boost is not immediate, but can deliver great results with careful manipulation.
• Gunners that focus on Snipes want Status ATK Up and Meditation to improve their bind success rates, and Adrenaline for TP. Raging Billows can be an amazing damage passive, giving up to 50% bonus damage at half level against a fully disabled enemy.
• Farmer doesn't fuss about what weapon they hold, so cesti are fully viable and help speed along Harvest Festival combos.
• Nightseekers take the Pugilist subclass not just for Meditation, but also for Raging Billows. With sufficient bind support on top of the Nightseeker's own ailments, they can inflict a colossal amount of damage on a fully disabled target. Million Rush dovetails well into their own Blade Flurry to deliver up to 8 hits with a single normal attack, which is great for triggering Links.

External Links

• Skill Simulator

Trailer

Let the Pugilist’s Fists Do the Talking in Etrian Odyssey V Beyond the Myth

Gallery

Male Portrait 1

Female Portrait 1

Male Portrait 2

Female Portrait 2

Trivia

• A skill from the Impact Brawler line, "Titan Killer", works and is named similarly to the class skill of Arbalist, "Giant Killer" from Etrian Odyssey III.