Fine Items

[Acolyte]

Do Fine items get a (maybe smaller) bonus to skills like the  Masterworks do?

   - Shane

[phoenixshenanigans]

From the wiki:

"Weapons have a quality modifier as follows:

crude: -1 impact, -10% skill
rough: -1 impact
decent (no change - standard 'nonamed type')
fine: +1 impact
masterwork: +1 impact, +10% skill"

So yes, it will have +1 impact

[Acolyte]

Ah.. I saw that on the wiki, but it basically means that I don't bother buying a broad knife until I find a masterwork, unless I'm without one at the moment. 

Thanks!
   - Shane

[PALU]

Hm, if that applies to tools as well, then the answer is actually no, as that would mean a Fine broad knife is no better than a Decent one for skinning. You get a fighting impact bonus, but no fighting skill bonus.

It can also be noted that the quality/type of tools can prevent you from producing items of high quality. If I remember correctly (which might not be the case), a broad knife worse than Decent is incapable of producing Superior skin, while a Decent knife of any other kind isn't sufficient to reach the Superior level (I think Fine is OK, but it might require Masterwork).

Acolyte posted while I typed...
See above. You should definitely get your hands on a Broad Knife because it's the right tool for skinning. Upgrading a Decent one to a Fine one may or may not achieve anything, however (you can also chase Njerps, as they frequently carry broad knives).

[Bedlam]

In my experience the better quality knives do work better as tools, not just in combat! They reduce the time it takes to do the related jobs and I'm pretty certain during building I saw messages like "your masterwork wood axe is AMAZING for this job because it's masterwork".

Now with the quests system it's worth having some Fine and such items, because many quests start out with "hey can we have that Fine quality knife you have?".  And they can have that, because you wisely left your masterwork one at home to save them from having to ask (answer is NO, dear Tellervo the Kaumo adventurer)