I read in a guide that it is apparently detrimental and therefore not worth investing points into. Is this still the case? On an unrelated sidenote, what is best for someone with no funding, spears or polearms?
Still the case. FA = no bueno. Hybrid is ideal (both spear/pole arm mastery/booster). As for which is more affordable, pole arm are cheaper to buy/scroll, but at low levels it's pretty insignificant since you'll be using Maple weapons which are relatively inexpensive in both departments (you can likely afford both).
If you've already wasted points into FA just keep going, don't bother really wasting NX. Once you hit third job you'll get spear/pole crushers which cannot proc FA.
