Usopp ain't got shit to do with your initial argument
neither did luffy being physically competent... but y'all really ran off with that one.
It's almost like the opponents he's fighting are getting stronger or something and Luffy and his crew are lagging slightly behind. It took years for some of the strongest characters to reach the point where Luffy is. The fact that he (and his crew) have grown to the point they are currently at is a miracle in itself. He's been fighting end-game level opponents since he left Dressrosa. He's not at the level to solo anyone like that just yet.
Just say i was right and keep it pushing.
Point is, Luffy's fruit doesn't weaken him in any way, shape, or form.
what do you consider the gear drawbacks then?
nor does he need to focus solely on haki, especially when he's on the path to becoming one of the foremost users.
"He doesn't need to focus on haki, he's going to be great at haki."
Don't confuse him having rare haki with being good at it.
But I'll play along for now.
as long as you don't get in your feelings i'm cool with that.
1. Easy. If he wasn't hard enough he would bend or be compressed when he punched. Should i continue?
Go for it. Being proven wrong isn't going to hurt me.
2. Regular luffy wouldn't have the same reach, the same speed nor the same power. You are the one making mental gymnastics. You just thought of something and are trying to prove it no matter what, even though you have no evidence, manga or reality, for your claims.
That reach comes with having to first placing his arms in huge blind spots and then having them be huge targets while retracting.
What speed? he has to charge up then retract to stretch properly. him just jabbing would be faster/safer
I already agreed to the power increase just that the hoops he has to jump through aren't worth the effort.
if you can't conceptualize luffy's abilities into scenarios outside the scope of the manga. i don't know how you could even begin to have a discussion about his powers. at that point your just citing the manga (...which fights are highly situational and usually don't even come down to skill).
3. I didn't make it up to prove anything. I was just giving examples to make it easier for you to understand.
You made up some reasoning then counter it as if it was my own to prove your point.
perhaps you weren't aware of this, while doing so, but that is what happened.
You were the one to give the immobile dummy example and alleged Luffy's powers doesn't translate well to an actual battle. So, show us where exactly it didn't translate well. Because I'm pretty sure it wasn't against Enel, Katakuri or anyone that i remember.
the katakuri fight-
saw him be utterly out gunned, by a superior fruit that did everything his did, but better. the fact that luffy refused to change s*** up and stuck with the same old routine- goes into how his fruit stunted his growth. had he only had haki, he'd been forced to actually think, and come up with something better than throwing inferior version of katakuri's attacks back at him.
The enel fight-
wouldn't have gotten his arm stuck in that golden ball if he wasn't for him stretching his arms blindly at his opponent. a habit formed due to his df.
the whole thing was made worse by him not being able to control the length of his arm (from it being rubber) to gain better control of the ball.
then there's the whole, having a fighting style that is predictable af, against some one who can see the future.
the whole fight ended with enel making himself into a huge a** target and throwing attacks at luffy that was already proven to be ineffective.
there's also the obvious things, gear drawbacks, but do i really need to go over them?