Summary
Fighting with your bare hands is perfectly viable inDungeons & Dragons, hence why there is a whole class dedicated to it: the monk. However, you don’t have to be a monk to partake in hand-to-hand action, and even if you are, there are ways to improve your performance.
From unconventional magical items to close-quarter strategies, fighting without weapons can be just as involved as fighting with them. Here we go over the best items, builds, and techniques to keep in mind when you want to keep up close and personal with your enemies.
7Use The Unarmed Fighting Style
You Don’t Have To Be A Monk
If you want to fulfill your martial artist fantasy, then few classes match that aesthetic as well as monks. However, if you want to have other options at your disposal, know that any class with access tothe Fighting Style featscan deal plenty of damage with their bare hands.
Fighters, paladins and rangers can use said feat and deal a D8 in damage with unarmed strikes, as long as both hands are free. Granted, monks can beat that damage die easily, but they lack the options those classes have, like access to spells, armor and their particular features.
6Grapple Enemies Often
It’s The Way You Are Meant To Fight
When you read the features of monks, the details of the Unarmed Fighting Style, and even certain feats we will later cover, you’ll notice that there is plenty of focus on grappling enemies. This is by design, since fighting with your hands free means that you can easily grab whoever you are fighting.
You can’t grapple someone bigger in size than you unless you have a feature that allows it.
Players might be hesitant to grapple an enemy, preferring to use their actions and bonus actions to hit opponents repeatedly, but it can be a boon in certain complicated fights. A speedy target that keeps going after your healer or caster can easily be nullified by stopping them in their tracks, and you even gain advantage on hitting them while grappled.
5Improve Your Mobility Whenever Possible
Unarmed Means Lack Of Range
While you should always have a ranged option available just in case, your focus in unarmed combat means that you will be all about fighting up close and personal. As such, you shouldn’t only focus on how much damage your character is doing, but also on how your character will get to the target they want to punch.
The Cloak of Arachnida, for example, isan excellent magic itemfor this type of build, letting you reach your enemies nearly anywhere and keep your hands free to grapple or punch them. It even gives you the option to use the Web spell, stopping enemies in their tracks as you swiftly approach to finish them off.
4Choose Feats That Aid Your Style
Tavern Brawler Is A Must
Feats can solidify any build players are aiming for, and when looking through the different Origin Feats from the 2024 Player’s Handbook, Tavern Brawler is a clear winner. It lets you reroll any damage die that lands on a one, as long as that die is from an unarmed attack.
Other General Feats can also aid you greatly, depending on how you like to play your character. Charger can add a little bit of damage each turn, while Crusher makes your bludgeoning critical hits make attacks against the target be done with advantage.
3Use The Potion Of Pugilism
It’s An Uncommon Potion
When using a melee-styled character, a lot of builds will recommend using the Potion of Speed, since it gives the drinker the effects of the Haste spell and, as of 2024, doesn’t require concentration nor does it make you lose a turn due to lethargy. However, that potion is classified as Very Rare, and as such, it can be either expensive or hard to come by at lower levels of play.
The Potion of Pugilism is, for starters, far more available, since it is classified as Uncommon. It adds a D6 to your unarmed strike damage, and for classes with multiple hits like monks and fighters, that D6 can add up to nearly a fireball of damage for only 200 gold pieces.
2Use Spells To Give You An Edge
Either Your Own Or From A Companion
Using spells to buff yourself is something that any character can use, not just ones lacking weapons. Yet it is still something worth remembering, since martial-focused players tend to forget that they are in the middle of a magical world filled with options.
Paladins, for example, not only have access to several Smites, but also to spells like Bless and Shield of Faith. The Magic Initiate feat can also be a source of plenty of spells, and from the spell libraries of druids and wizards as well, letting you have area options like Thunderwave or defensive ones like Shield.
1Use The Wraps Of Unarmed Power
You Deserve Your Own Magic Item
The Wraps of Unarmed Power can be found in the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide, letting you add their modifier to your attack and damage rolls. This modifier depends on the rarity, with Uncommon being plus one, Rare plus two, and Very Rare plus three.
This might seem like a very basic item, but monks and other weaponless characters often lacked something to spice up their build whenever they were looking for loot. As with any magic item, if this is something you want to have appear in your campaign, you should ask your Dungeon Master, althoughhaving a Bastionmight allow you to gain a set on your own.
