When Connor first started out on his adventure he had no weapons. As he only possessed his two fists to fight. He was good fighter even barehanded as he was able to defend him self from an attacking goblin near Sarah's House. But it wasn't long until he got his first weapon his Dagger from his own house.
After the combat with Basilisk (in Barren Region) Connor lost his pike, and had to use his fists again, until he found a new weapon.
Behind the scenes[]
Using the first to defeat the Spriggan by jumping off the Mausoleum will result in a special animation of Connor snapping the enemies neck. This is one of the alternate 'non-combat' (i.e. avoiding normal combat) puzzle solutions for obtaining the Crossbow.
Third person regular attack are random left and right punches.
The third person special attack with this weapon is a jump kick (shift + attack).
In first person, Shift + Attack causes a left hook. Regular attack is a right punch.