It looks like it...because that is what it looks like. Really Nat, it’s that simple...whether it is what it looks like is another question that we must wait on the answer to. I look forward to that.

This does raise the question, if they have a power gap similar to Canon, then why the hell is 'Smoker' so overpowered?

You don't stick a level 20 dude against a level 10 dude and expect the level 10 dude to win.

And if they are the same level, then just how many flaws does Smoker have?

He probably got access to a ton of equipment from his Marine status, most notably the seastone thing which negates devilfruit powers.

It’s cause Logia fruit are tier 1 devil fruit, paramecia like the rubber fruit are considered tier 3,( Zoan fruit are middling at tier 2,) in general they are “weaker” to start out with.

haki levels the playing field later on but at the base logia fruit tend to be much stronger. Xuan are middling since they generally give more readily battle boosts to the user than a paramecia fruit does, but not the op-ness of logia. A paramecia fruit usually requires getting used to the powers and getting creative with how you use them.

Personally I think you CAN get creative with Logias. It’s just that their users seldom NEED to until it’s to late.

For example think about how Eneru also created Electrical HEAT, that was a more unconventional use of his power. And that’s just what’s shown. I have all kind of crazy ideas on how I would use a fruit like that. For example the fact that in physics electricity creates an magnetic charge, or that taken further electromagnetism is responsible for most if the major forces in physics (outside of gravity, and two that only work on the subatomic scale) and you can do all sorts of broken things. For example friction is related to electromagnetism so yeah. That is potentially broken. Also when faced with Luffy rather than attack him directly I’d use the spark gap method. It’s something involved when electricity overcomes an insulated area by building up charges on opposite sides of the insulation. I could go on...

Oh you definitely can get creative with any of the types, but it’s like you said, logia users almost never need to until they’re alreay dying.
On the other hand you get paramecias like “rubber body” and “you are literally soap” and “you are what you eat” or “you can separate your body into as many pieces as you can control”. Some of those give boosts yeah, but it’s relatively mundane and you quickly hit a wall unless you’re creative and put in the time and effort to control them properly.
But for creative non paramecias I’d look no further than chopper, who studied his transformation and made it scientific to the point he could control it and expand on it. Most zoans view it as an animal themed boost to their fighting power, giving them different areas of expertise based on the animal. Creative tends to be limited to “how would this animal fight in this situation” or in making up sill thematic attacks.

I mean, why not? I know why a player who just wants to steamroll through a game catered to him would say so, but if you're running anything beyond a one-shot, you eventually have to have the level 10 hit the level 20 solo "Hero Killer Stain" wall.

Want to be king of the pirates? Prove it. You don't do it expecting the level 10 to win, you do it to see what the level 10 does. And I know what Luffy does in the face of death. Let's see how Luke plays it.

Could also just be a matter of luck. Smokey is rolling really well on his attack checks while Luffy is rolling super badly. No matter how even two characters are on paper, luck is ALWAYS a factor in the actual fight.

As far as 'why' they're fighting... maybe a strategy to lure out Buggy by causing a ruckus? A crowd has gathered already, so it wouldn't be too impossible to do that. Or just a matter of keeping up appearances (pirates and marines are enemies after all), or Smoker has some kind of flaw that makes him attack pirates when X amount of people are nearby.

Might also just be Phoebe and Luke are curious about who'd really crush the other at this point and so decide to go for it.

He might have some kind of morale bonus for being in a marine base. Or his crowd of soldiers could be using Aid Another.

Isn't he immune to bludgeoning damage? So all those punches are doing jack-all.

thankfully for him, i guess.

He's not immune just very resistant look at the fight.

*Lucci

Lucci is a haki user I'm pretty sure

I would say he isn't. The only reason Luffy survived a Shigan to the throat was because he was made of rubber. If Lucci had used Haki to nullify the rubber qualities, Luffy wouldn't have survived.

from what we know lucci was'nt a haki user (he is certainly one now, though). He just punched really really hard.

He also has martial arts techniques (and claws in Zoan form) that let him slash and pierce as unarmed attacks.