Tips For Unarmed Fighters in Pathfinder (Who Aren't Monks or Brawlers)

Those who fight with their fists, feet, and foreheads are a staple of fantastical tales. Most of us who want to embody someone who treats their body like a weapon will go to either the monk, or the brawler. However, there are times you don't really feel either concept truly embodies what you're going for... but building an effective unarmed fighter outside of those two classes can seem overwhelming.

The following tips don't encompass everything in the rules. They are, however, some useful places to start if you're looking for good ways to start stacking the numbers in your favor.

And they come in a lot of shapes and forms.

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First, What Are Unarmed Strikes?

First things first, it's important to note that all characters are capable of making unarmed strikes. They deal 1d3 damage, if you're a medium creature, and the damage is nonlethal unless you either take a penalty to that attack, or you have a feature that allows you to make your unarmed strikes lethal (such as the Improved Unarmed Strike feat). Unarmed strikes provoke attacks of opportunity from armed opponents without a feature that negates this. Unarmed strikes are light weapons, and the damage they deal is considered weapon damage for any features or abilities that increase weapon damage. That may be important for later, so tuck that away.

Also, consider these.

It is important to remember, as well, that attacks with gauntlets are still considered unarmed attacks. The only advantage they offer is that they allow you to deal lethal damage with your strikes, and later on they provide a convenient place to put a weapon enchantment (or to get metals like mithril or adamantine) to increase the damage your unarmed strikes are dealing.

Consider that a bonus tip! Now, let's get started.

Class Features

The bread and butter of any unarmed fighting build is going to be in the class features you choose to utilize. However, there are a lot of different options on the table that should be considered, depending on the approach you want to take.

Boot to the head, you say?

One of the first options that presents itself is the fighter. Because while the fighter may not gain bigger and bigger damage dice like a monk or a brawler, they do gain bonuses to hit and damage with their favored weapons (which can be unarmed strikes, gauntlets, and other weapons from the close group). So while the 1d3 damage die wouldn't change, that might not matter so much if you're stacking favored weapon damage onto it, along with your Strength modifier, and other bonuses from feats, magic items, spells, etc. If this were an option one wanted to pursue, I'd recommend the brawler fighter archetype (as opposed to the brawler hybrid class), as it gives you bonus attack and damage with your unarmed strikes, but it also allows you to penalize opponents in your threatened area, without making you trade in the defensibility of heavier armor.

Those who want to embrace dirty fighting in its truest form can use the sneak attack or sudden strike class features. The most common classes who get this are the rogue and the ninja (for those who are willing to deal with less-than-full BAB progression), and the slayer (for those who want a full-BAB precision fighter). While sneak attack won't apply to every strike, good positioning, proper use of abilities (like feinting against your foes), and other strategies can let you rock an enemy with a single kick. After all, your unarmed strike damage die is still 1d3, but when you're throwing 4-8d6 along with it, that doesn't matter quite as much.

The vigilante offers several devastating abilities one can use to increase the damage done when fighting unarmed (some of which we see in The Silver Raven Chronicles). Fist of The Avenger adds half an avenger vigilante's class level in damage to unarmed strikes (up to a +5 at level 10), or those made with a gauntlet. Lethal Grace is particularly useful for those who wish to fight with Weapon Finesse, but which still need extra damage dealt by their blows. Stalker vigilantes, of course, receive their own version of precision damage, which can make every blow devastating to their targets.

Keep in mind that spellcasters can incorporate unarmed strikes into their spells. As I mentioned way back in Playing By The Book: Some Rules Pathfinder Players Keep Forgetting, any spell that allows a touch attack may be delivered via an unarmed strike instead. However, it's no longer a touch attack at that point. That's a dangerous place for a wizard or a sorcerer to be, but it might be a solid place for a magus. It may be even better for a warpriest (whose damage die goes up as long as they have Weapon Focus for their unarmed strike), or even a paladin (with their smite damage and full BAB), as they can also add additional enchantments and bonuses to their blows (or to a gauntlet, should that be required).

Lastly, consider the swashbuckler. Their abilities are focused on using light or one-handed piercing weapons, and an unarmed strike normally deals bludgeoning damage. You could add a cestus or spiked gauntlet to overcome this issue, but both of these are weapons in their own right. However, there are feats like Snake Style (level 3) or Boar Ferocity (level 6) that you can take in order to deal piercing damage with your unarmed strikes. While not an ideal build option, this would allow you to get the benefit of your Swashbuckler's Finesse, Precise Strike, and other class features.

Feats

Feats are another important component of most combat builds, and an unarmed fighter is no different. While only dealing 1d3 as your base damage die might seem pathetic, keep in mind that it's really about how many other bonuses you can stack on top of it.

Trust me, you'll hit like a ton of bricks!

- Power Attack or Piranha Strike: Each of these feats lets you take a penalty to attacks for bonus damage on hits. Use the first for Strength, the second if you're going full Dexterity in combat.

- Weapon Specialization, Improved, and Greater: For those who have the ability to take these feats, they can stack a lot of damage onto your strikes. Especially if you're also adding precision damage from Precise Strike, or from Weapon Training as a fighter.

- Accomplished Sneak Attacker: If one multiclasses, or simply doesn't have the full benefits of sneak attack, this feat can add an extra 1d6 of damage to every time you deal this precision damage.

- Heavy Hitter: Technically a trait and not a feat, it still adds +1 damage on unarmed strikes.

- Boar Style: This style allows you to add 2d6 bonus damage whenever you hit an enemy with two unarmed strikes in one round.

- Two Weapon Rend: Deal a bonus 1d10 + 1.5 times your Strength modifier when you hit an enemy with your primary and off-hand weapon once per round. Best used with a two weapon fighting build, as this feat has several prerequisites, including a BAB of 11.

These are just a handful of options for dealing additional damage with unarmed strikes, but they can stack a lot of damage onto your blows... especially when combined with your class features!

Final Thoughts

There's enough variety in abilities and strategies that not everything is going to overlap. Some spells, like magic fang might be useful for you, and you might choose to seek out an amulet of mighty fists to ensure you have a way to enhance all your strikes. You might choose to grab an enchanted gauntlet with the glamered enchantment so it looks like you just have simple gloves on before you slam an iron fisted uppercut into someone's jaw. Belts that improve your physical stats, hand wraps that boost your damage output... there's all sorts of spells and enchanted items that may come into play. Sometimes they work on unarmed strikes, sometimes they expressly don't, and getting a full list of those will probably be its own, separate post.

However, the ability to hit harder, and to deal elemental damage, holy damage, etc., is where even a hard strike is going to turn into a serious weapon. Choose your magic items wisely, but remember that even without them you should still be able to pack a pretty solid punch. Or kick. Or headbutt.

And just in case you need even more...

Lastly, if you're looking for some extra wooge to add your unarmed fighters, consider some of the options I presented in Sellswords of Sundara recently! While there is a monk option for batting aside everything from swords to spells, there's 9 other martial archetypes ranging from the Widowmakers and their ungentlemanly forms of warfare, to the Gray Blades who've seen everything war has to offer, and done most of it at least twice. Check it out, and delve in for yourself!

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