Fist

From DoomWiki.org

"Punch" redirects here. For the Strife weapon, see Punch dagger.
The fist being used on MAP02: Underhalls
An imp makes the acquaintance of the berserk fist on E2M2: Containment Area
This article is about the weapon in the classic Doom series. For other versions of this weapon, see:

The fist is the player's stock melee attack. It is always available unless the player has picked up a chainsaw. Punching is only about as effective as a pistol shot, however, unless the player has collected a berserk powerup, which increases the power of the fists tenfold. A berserk punch is somewhat more effective than the chainsaw and (unlike the normal fist) can be used instead of it. It does, however, have the disadvantage of not doing continuous damage, which leaves the player open to counterattacks. While the chainsaw drags the player erratically toward the enemy, the fist does not change the player's position, and only re-adjusts his angle at the moment of a successful hit. This means that the fist requires more careful aim than the chainsaw, but may be preferred while in precarious situations such as near damaging floors, crushers, corners used for cover, or narrow bridges. Likewise, it is safer to trigger a barrel explosion with the fist, as the finishing punch propels the beaten monster or barrel away while not pulling the player toward the object.

The damaging hitscan effect of the punch is inflicted two frames into its animation. The fist is not completely extended at this point, and consideration of this lag can help in timing punches effectively. The range of the attack is 32 units.

"Fist can be used to deliver a punch to the enemies. It will always be with you."

Notes[edit]

The fist from Doom 64, now wearing a brown glove.
  • The protagonist punches with his left hand; he also shoots the pistol with his left hand, but operates the chainsaw and shotgun with his right hand.
  • In the PlayStation and Sega Saturn ports of Doom, the player can still access the fist attack even if they pick up a chainsaw and regardless on if they also picked up a berserk pack. This feature is also available in Doom 64.
  • When wielding weapons, the protagonist's hands are shown to be wearing brown gloves (black in Doom's title screen). When punching, the protagonist's right hand is unadorned, while his left hand carries a spiked knuckleduster.
  • Since monsters are technically activated by any nearby attacks from players and not specifically by the sound effects of these, a punch in the air will alert them as if it were a loud gunshot. Players who want to provoke enemies without wasting ammo can do so with the fist attack.
  • The fist from Doom 64 went through some graphical changes. The protagonist now wears his brown gloves and lacks the knuckleduster.
  • The sprite for the punch dagger in Strife was based on the Doom fist.

Data[edit]

Damage done by a punch (non-berserk)
Blows needed to kill1
(non-berserk)
Mean Standard
deviation
Min Max
Barrel 2.34 0.74 1 4
Zombieman 2.34 0.74 1 4
Shotgun guy 3.25 0.87 2 6
Wolfenstein SS 5.14 1.09 3 8
Imp 6.10 1.10 4 9
Heavy weapon dude 6.99 1.24 4 11
Lost soul 9.80 1.43 7 14
Commander Keen 9.80 1.43 7 14
Demon 14.45 1.91 11 21
Spectre 14.45 1.91 11 21
Romero's head2 23.68 2.45 19 29
Revenant 28.46 2.98 23 34
Cacodemon 37.90 3.78 34 48
Pain elemental 37.90 3.78 34 48
Hell knight 47.14 4.59 41 57
Arachnotron 47.14 4.59 41 57
Mancubus 56.53 5.61 49 67
Arch-vile 65.78 6.48 58 80
Baron of Hell 93.80 9.16 83 113
Spiderdemon 280.65 27.18 254 329
Cyberdemon 374.07 36.27 339 439
Damage done by a berserk punch
Blows needed to kill1
(berserk)
Mean Standard
deviation
Min Max
Barrel 1.00 0.00 1 1
Zombieman 1.00 0.00 1 1
Shotgun guy 1.11 0.31 1 2
Wolfenstein SS 1.21 0.43 1 3
Imp 1.21 0.43 1 3
Heavy weapon dude 1.34 0.51 1 3
Lost soul 1.45 0.57 1 3
Commander Keen 1.45 0.57 1 3
Demon 1.94 0.71 1 4
Spectre 1.94 0.71 1 4
Romero's head2 2.95 0.84 2 5
Revenant 3.25 0.87 2 6
Cacodemon 4.24 0.97 2 7
Pain elemental 4.24 0.97 2 7
Hell knight 5.14 1.09 3 8
Arachnotron 5.14 1.09 3 8
Mancubus 6.10 1.10 4 9
Arch-vile 6.99 1.24 4 11
Baron of Hell 9.80 1.43 7 14
Spiderdemon 28.46 2.98 23 34
Cyberdemon 37.90 3.78 34 48

  1. This table assumes that all calls to P_Random for damage, pain chance, and blood splats are consecutive. In real play, this is never the case: counterattacks and AI pathfinding must be handled, and of course the map may contain additional moving monsters and other randomized phenomena (such as flickering lights). Any resulting errors are probably toward the single-shot average, as they introduce noise into the correlation between the indices of "consecutive" calls.
  2. Assumes that direct hits are possible, which does not occur in any stock map.

See also[edit]