Unarmed

[TheSpacePope]

I stgarted playing a monk, but my unarmed attacks, even though my skill is 40, are doing 0 damage. How do I fix this?

[Moon-and-Star]

Unarmed attacks only damage fatigue/stamina. When they deplete all that and the opponent is knocked down, it also does damage to health

[TheSpacePope]

Ah. Ok. Thanks.

[terror923]

Your fists first drain them of their fatigue after they lose fatigue they start getting knocked down. After the point of knockdown they are at negative fatigue in which your fist attacks switch to health, however they can also get up which you need to knock them down again which is usually fairly easy.

Fists overall are really good against 1v1 fights once you get into large fights fists become really weak. However if you goto Bloodmoon expansion and become a werewolf fist fighting becomes really overpowered (granted no one will ever talk to you instead they will run or attack you).

I believe the Hircine Ring given at the end of bloodmoon lets you change into a werewolf for 6 hours.

[Rithm Fluffderg]

Once your fists get stronger, you'll be able to take on entire groups of enemies, a pile of unconscious bodies around you as you're slowly beating them to a pulp.

I would recommend using the Morrowind Code Patch option that adds Strength to the damage formula as well - something that should've been in the game in the first place. If you're using this, I would recommend starting as a race that has high strength, like a Nord or an Orc, for your pugilistic play. It's much faster to increase Hand to Hand than it is to increase Strength.

[The Flying Rodent]

Something else of important note for Hand to Hand: Generally enemies in Morrowind have 'heaps' more Fatigue than they do health. Even things like Mudcrabs and Rats have 200+ Fatigue, compared to 15-20 Health. Which means low-level wildlife make great training punch bags for Hand to Hand skill, as they take a long time to bring down!

Sadly outside of the Code Patch, there isn't really any way to increase Unarmed Damage. That said, it has the greatest potential out of just about any weapon in the game to stagger an opponent, and a skilled Monk can 1v1 stun lock pretty much anybody in the game that isn't Gedna Revel [damn her Constant Effect Restore Fatigue Enchantment...].

[Rithm Fluffderg]

Fortify Hand to Hand does a decent job of increasing unarmed damage once you hit the cap.

[NBmadYT]

it's the art of stun-block

[randingo]

Keep in mind that hand-to-hand damage is NOT modified by strength in Morrowind. The damage is based off of how much fatigue damage you do, which only relies on your hand-to-hand skill. Even at hand-to-hand buffed to say, 120, you'll likely be doing 1 damage per held punch on a knocked down enemy with decent armor.