Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion Remastered unarmed combat and hand-to-hand changes

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Unarmed fighting explained
All Hand-to-hand skills
Is unarmed worth it?

Unarmed and hand-to-hand combat in Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion Remastered has been altered in some ways since the original game, changing the effects of fatigue and the ability to knock people out. It means that the way you play monk and brawler characters in Oblivion Remastered is pretty different, as now you can no longer leave enemies sprawled on the ground with a well-placed punch to the nose – or at least, the only way they go down is if they're staying down.

If you want to know what's changed in unarmed combat and hand-to-hand fighting in the Remaster of Elder Scrolls 4, as well as if punching is actually good, we'll lay all the changes out below and explain how this kind of battle works.

How does unarmed in Oblivion Remastered work?

Unarmed combat in Oblivion Remastered has been changed in a few ways since the original. To help for both those who are and aren't familiar, here are the basics of how it works as I understand it, having knocked out more than a few bandits and monsters in the Elder Scrolls 4 Remaster.

Hand-to-hand combat scales to both Strength and the Hand-to-Hand skill. To increase the damage of your punches, improve both of these.
Unarmed punches do far less damage than melee weapons and spells as a rule, but are thrown much faster, trading individual damage for speed.
Unarmed attacks deal additional fatigue damage equal to 50% of the damage you do to enemy health. So if you hit somebody and do 10 damage to their HP, you also do 5 fatigue damage on top of that.
Fatigue damage causes enemies to stagger when reduced to 0, though unlike in the original game, they cannot be knocked out altogether. Fortunately, that also applies to you.
As you fight enemies unarmed, your Hand-to-Hand skill increases. Levelling it up grants new talents, as shown below.

Obviously certain builds lend themselves to fighting unarmed, and the best class in Oblivion Remastered for hand-to-hand fighting is probably the Monk, whose skillset definitely supports this. Likewise, the best race in Oblivion Remastered for fighting unarmed is the Khajit, who naturally get a +10 to hand-to-hand.

All Hand-to-hand skills and abilities

As you beat up opponents and increase your hand-to-hand skills in Oblivion Remastered, or find people or equipment that can elevate that stat, you'll earn new abilities. Here they all are:

Novice (level 10): Your attacks additionally deal Fatigue damage. You do not recoil armed opponents when blocking their attacks.
Apprentice (level 25): Your Power Attacks deal more damage and you recoil armed opponents when blocking.
Journeyman (level 50): Your Power Attacks have a chance to disarm your opponents. Your attacks can hit creatures immune to physical damage.
Expert (level 75): Your attacks deal more Fatigue damage.
Master (level 100): Your attacks deal even more Fatigue damage.

Is unarmed and hand-to-hand in Oblivion Remastered worth it?

If you're wondering about how viable unarmed combat is in Oblivion Remastered and if it's actually worth it then I'd have to say yes, but it takes a little time to get there, as you'll have to level up your hand-to-hand for a while before you reach the point where enemies aren't taking minor chip damage from your strikes.

However, if you're willing to put in the practice, you should find it getting stronger to the point where it's not an effort around level 50+, halfway through the skill tree. The emphasized speed means it's much easier to navigate around enemies and you can effectively win through the "death by a thousand cuts" approach.

If you're thinking about combat matters and wondering what's changed in the remake, we've got a guide to answer the question: can you dual wield in Oblivion Remastered? Or if you're building new characters on this basis, check out my thoughts on what's the best Birthsign in Oblivion Remastered?