Just wanted to add my experiences with the Fierce here for anyone who might be thinking about buying one.
I own a Fury 2 and have really enjoyed using it for the past 9 months. Before getting my Fierce, I'd previously owned a G Pen Pro (a lesson learned), a Davinci IQ and a Fury 2. But it wasn't until I got my Fury 2 that I made a complete break with combustion. So, mark me down as a big Fury 2 fan.
I wasn't looking to buy a Fierce, but long story short, I ended up with one in a package deal that included a Fury 2 and a Fierce, both very lightly used. My real interest in the deal was helping a friend get a Fury 2 at a good price. Based on the initial issues and the points made by various reviewers, I didn't have big expectations for the Fierce. Still, I was looking forward to trying it, but I fully expected that I'd shortly be selling it in order to reduce my overall out-of-pocket cost.
But I ended up really liking the Fierce.
OK, it's not a perfect vape and it's not without some quirks. The biggest negative probably is that its temperature management seems erratic. Battery life also has been a bit of a puzzle for me. More about those in a bit.
Apart from the demerits, I've thoroughly enjoyed using the Fierce, even though I usually partake alone and it's really a vape that is going to work best for at least two (and can comfortably handle four, assuming moderate tolerances). I've found several techniques to make it a very good solo experience, the simplest being to only fill the chamber about halfway. But using the straight glass mouthpiece or the water piece adapter is even better.
My favorite approach is to mostly fill a dosing capsule, pop that into the chamber and then attach the straight glass mouthpiece. The glass won't slide down into the chamber since the capsule blocks its entry, but the bottom of the glass rests on the top of the capsule just fine. As a bonus, this configuration exposes more of the glass up top, which seems more comfortable. That additional length also provides a bit more cooling.
In fact, the mouthpiece adapter and the glass mouthpieces are, in my opinion, essential add-ons. There's nothing wrong with the stock mouthpiece, and I'll happily use it when I'm mobile, but the experience is markedly better with either the straight glass or the WPA glass, which I usually use with Sneaky Pete's Little Bandit.
FWIW, I also have the bent glass mouthpiece, but I've stowed it away because it looks much more breakable than the others. Note that that's more a reflection of my clumsiness than anything to do with the Fierce or its design.
While the Fierce is not the best-tasting vape I've experienced. I do think the taste is a big strength. The first couple hits on a fresh load at 380F are tasty, but not mind-blowing. Where the taste of the Fierce stands apart from most other vapes I've used is that the taste doesn't really deteriorate much at all, even to the end of the load. As a result, it's not absolutely necessary to finish a bowl in one session. About 25 percent of the time, I'll take five or six nice, big hits, power down, and then go get another five or six from the same load an hour or two later. This approach seems to work best using a dosing capsule in the chamber and one of the glass mouthpieces.
The fact is, I have better on-demand vape options -- a Dynavap M 2019 and a HydraVong XL -- but it's nice that the Fierce can be used that way, too.
The other thing I really like about the Fierce is its physical design. While the Fury 2 is brilliantly small and stealth, it feels like a stubby prehistoric mobile pager. The Fierce is completely the opposite. The design is clean and sleek, particularly when using the adapter for the glass mouthpieces. In the right light and at the right angle, the Fierce looks like something that was designed by the Bang & Olufsen crew in Denmark, circa 1990. And I also really like the way it feels in my hands, which are probably a bit larger than the average dude's hands. It just feels perfectly natural how my palm and thumb wrap around the body.
So, back to the negatives. The Fierce, or at least the one I have, seems deceptive about the current temperature. If I power on and set it to 380, it will heat up for about 40 seconds and then I get the haptic vibe, signaling that it's ready. Yes, the display shows 380, but if I check the actual temperature (by clicking up or down on the target temp buttons), the Fierce reveals the actual temp, which is usually around 365.
What appears to be happening is that the Fierce ratchets up the heater until it gets to the 40-second mark and it just gives up but indicates that it's reached the target. Obviously this is less than ideal, but I've found a fairly simple workaround is to aim for a higher start-up temp (for a higher temp it heats up longer before notification) and then back it down to where I want to be before taking my first hit. But it's really important to not forget to drop down, or the load will vape fast and furious.
I've also experienced the Fierce's temperature taking a big nosedive (20 degrees F) after large hits, but since I'm usually soloing it's not a big problem for me. And even when I want to hit it quickly again, it will usually get back to the target temp within 10 seconds.
Clearly the Fierce's temperature management could be much better, but I've learned to live with it. The other positives balance out the overall experience.
On the battery, I find that when I'm recharging it takes a LONG time for the Fierce to fill up all the battery level bars on the display. Eventually, it will show all the bars but the top one. But if I disconnect the USB cable and press the power button once, it shows all the battery bars, indicating a full charge.
Now, I suspect that this behavior may be related to the fact my Fierce was previously owned. When I received the Fierce, the battery had no charge at all. From what I've read, allowing this type of battery to drain all the way down causes permanent damage, and I think the difficulty in regaining a full charge is a consequence of that issue. Rather than worry too much about this, I'll just nab a spare battery at some point.
All in all, I'm very happy with my Fierce. It's not my daily driver, largely because it works best for groups. I also own a Davinci IQ, which also isn't ideal for solo sessions. Because I mostly vape on my own, it really doesn't make much sense for me to have two "group" vapes. So, I'm likely going to sell one of them, and as it stands at the moment, it's the IQ that will be departing.
![:\](/i/s/hmm.gif "Hmm :\")
