Best RPGs With Viable Unarmed Builds

While most RPGs tend to motivate their players by providing a large table of luscious loot or dangerously powerful magic spells, there's an undeniable draw to the lone martial artist taking down combatant after combatant with nothing but finely-tuned reflexes, determination, and a mastery over their own body.

RELATED: The Best Fighting Games You Can Play On Steam

There is no shortage of great beat 'em ups or fighting games out there, but there's something undeniably special about being given the choice to relinquish weapons and combat technology to take on a world of monsters with punches and kicks alone and walking the way of the empty palm.

1 Final Fantasy 14

The Pugilist & Monk Jobs

Unarmed fighters have been around in Final Fantasy for quite some time. In Final Fantasy 14, pugilists master the art of stances, switching between them to efficiently convey close-range damage to their target. Their class upgrade, the monk, excels on the battlefield by opening chakras, helping them to manipulate their body's internal aether flow and unlocking devastating moves.

Monks tend to go light to give them an edge in speed, and while they don't use traditional weapons, they rely on fist weapons to bolster their moves. While the monk has a reputation for being a flexible melee choice in FF14 and will appeal to players who enjoy more active and movement-oriented player styles, it does suffer from RNG reliance for damage and still comes saddled with a few redundant skills. That being said, when the rotation lines up right, Monk really kicks.

2 Fallout 4

Enter The Iron Fist

Yes, there are guns, lasers, and flaming chainsaw swords to choose from to rip apart enemies. But little else is as satisfying as turning an enemy into exploding blood sausages with a single, well-placed fist mallet to the heart. While it is possible to go full "muscle scientist" and strap on a power suit while throwing punches, Fallout 4 offers several useful perks in the pursuit of pugilist perfection while wandering the wastes.

RELATED: Fallout 4: The Most Underrated Character Builds

The post-apocalypse setting and martial arts have gone hand in hand since ancient times, and the Fallout series has always been happy to continue the tradition. For example, the Iron Fist perk is essential to any unarmed build, and the Strength perk "Rooted" (level 9) is also incredibly useful, as hand-to-hand combat plants the player in place momentarily while their fisticuffs' animation plays out. Of course, there are also a variety of unarmed gloves and gauntlets to enhance punching.

3 Path Of Exile

Followers Of The Hollow Palm

To become proficient hand-to-hand fighters in Path of Exile, players must have as much discipline and willpower in real life as their characters have in-game. Building a viable unarmed build before getting the "Hollow Palm Technique" passive skill (obtained with the "One With Nothing" cluster jewel or Replica Perfect Form zodiac leather) is near impossible, although there are a few gloves that enhance unarmed attacks (such as "the Facebreaker").

Once gaining the Hollow Palm Technique, being unencumbered (meaning no weapons or gloves equipped) grants around double attack speed and extra damage based on the character's Dexterity stat. Additionally, the base damage of unarmed attacks is different between classes, the optimal class being the Marauder.

4 Diablo 3

The Monks Of Ivgorod

The brainstorming sessions at Blizzard while they were coming up with ways to implement their unarmed fighter in their third entry in the primarily loot-driven action RPG series must have been something. Since monks famously abstain from hand-held weapons of any kind, what would replace the incremental gear stat increase grind drive common to the other melee classes in Diablo 3, such as the demon hunter and barbarian?

RELATED: Every Diablo Game, Ranked

Monk players will still have an incentive to look for higher-quality loot. However, rather than use it, the monk will strap the weapon to their thigh, "channel" their new weapon's stat increases, and continue their usual pummeling of enemies with their bare knuckles, with the exception of this being staves and knuckle dusters, of course.

5 The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

The Monk, Warrior, Archer, Crusader, Barbarian, And Knight

Both The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind and Oblivion provide the opportunity for players to create their Tamriel-renowned martial arts master. Unarmed attacks damage both health and stamina (unlike Morrowind, which takes down Stamina first and then deals HP damage). Hand-to-hand attacks have an advantage over traditional martial weapons in that they connect with ghosts, unlike the standard iron or steel weapons (silver, Daedric, or enchanted weapons can still puncture the pesky poltergeists).

Unfortunately, Skyrim did away with the hand-to-hand skill, relegating the whole skill to a single, gauntlet-related perk in the heavy armor tree despite there being many opportunities for a bare-fisted, usually-ale-induced tavern brawl. Although it shouldn't be on their heads every time a classic mechanic is omitted, it's nothing that the Skyrim modding community can't fix.

6 Pillars Of Eternity & Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire

The Wound-Reflecting Monk

In both Pillars of Eternity and the sequel, Deadfire, the monk is an incredibly versatile option for any type of player looking to scratch their melee itch. As well as being able to specialize in high damage, high defense, or a balance of both, monks are great at crowd control and quickly taking down high-priority targets (such as a backline enemy caster).

The monk's main ability is channeling the damage they take and pouring it back onto their attacker. The more "Wounds" the monk collects from combat, the more dangerous they become. Additionally, successive hits build up their resource resonance, opening up devastating attacks that completely bypass damage deduction.

7 Baldur's Gate 3

The Classic D&D Ki-Wielding Monk

Given that the Baldur's Gate series is based on the iconic tabletop role-playing game, BG3 wouldn't feel complete without adding this D&D staple. Monks spend ki points to activate special abilities, just like in the tabletop game. Their key stats are dexterity, wisdom, and constitution.

Although they fit the role of a weaponless fighter, certain gloves give monks an advantage in combat. Monks can go on to specialize their ki-channeling abilities by following the "Way of the Empty Palm" (doubling down on physical perfection), the "Way of the Four Elements" (the monk's take on the elemental mage), and the "Way of the Shadow" (the ninja monk).

MORE: The Best Dungeons & Dragons Video Games, Ranked