Skyrim offered players plenty of opportunities to customize their character's playstyle, but they missed the chance to expand one potentially interesting fighting style. Although Skyrim undoubtedly offers a lot of options, that makes the one choice that got neglected stand out far more. Looking at the game as a whole, unarmed combat in Skyrim seems very overlooked compared to other features.
In Skyrim, there are four main methods of fighting that the player can specialize in. One-handed weapons, which are dual wielded, or paired with a shield; two-handed weapons that exchange versatility and speed for higher base power; archery, letting players operate as a stealthy medieval sniper; and magic, primarily Destruction magic where combat is concerned. Although Skyrim's magic spells were lackluster, particularly compared to earlier games, the game's magic still got a far better deal than its unarmed mechanics.
Skyrim's Unarmed Combat Recieved Barely Any Attention
While many games have unarmed combat as an option in case of emergencies, or during the very early game, Skyrim only features a few specific boons involving unarmed combat. Many of these are the type that would definitely come in after the very early game, so they can make a player think that it might be a valuable option, however, these are very few and far between to the point that they do little to help.
Argonians get a small bonus to unarmed combat, while Khajit get a significant one that actually makes unarmed fighting a decent option for them in the early game. In addition, a hostile character in the Riften Ratway has an enchanted pair of gloves that improve unarmed damage, although the player would need to level up Skyrim's enchanting skill significantly to get much use out of said enchantment.
There is also a perk in the Heavy Armor tree that increases unarmed damage when wearing gauntlets, and one from the Vampire Lord tree that further enhances damage when transformed. That's four ways to improve unarmed damage in the entire game, all of which are quite spread apart. Since there are no weapons or other skills that can be used for unarmed characters, this means that any unarmed-focused character will essentially need the exact same build.
Even if a player seeks out each of these advantages, unarmed fighting is still held back by its slow and awkward swings, as well as no real options. The developers added specific unarmed finishing moves that look fairly good, so they clearly took some care when including it in the game. As it stands, an unarmed build would only be good for a difficult challenge build in Skyrim at best.
Skyrim Had Potential For Unarmed Weapons And Skills
The Fallout games, also produced by Bethesda, had unarmed combat as a fully realized skill, complete with its own perks and weapons to use. While there are plenty of differences between Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls in terms of design and setting, unarmed combat is something that Skyrim could have accomplished just as well as Fallout. In fact, it could do so by following a similar blueprint.
Although Skyrim certainly couldn't include anything like New Vegas' shotgun-powered ballistic fist as a weapon, it could have easily featured valid unarmed weapons. For example, claws or bagh nakhs would make for valid options, as could spiked gauntlets. In addition to the universal damage-increasing perk, it could also have included bonus abilities for fighting with unarmed weapons that could match up to Skyrim's powerful stealth archer builds. For example, New Vegas featured a perk that gave unarmed weapons armor-piercing properties, and Skyrim could have easily done so as well.
Unarmed combat in Skyrim could have been made much deeper with a selection of weapons and perks to choose from, but for whatever reason, it didn't recieve any of this care in the game. While there was a healthy variety of options for all of the game's other methods of combat, unarmed fighting received none of that same love. Skyrim offered perk trees for a wide variety of skills in the game, but unarmed combat ended up being the odd one out.
Unarmed Builds In Skyrim Could Have Opened A Lot Of Character Opportunities
A player's chosen build in Skyrim is inspired by the type of character that they want to create, and even though Skyrim's Dragonborn isn't like Dungeons & Dragons' Dragonborns, the player still has plenty of freedom. For example, a Dragonborn as a noble knight can be outfitted in heavy armor with a sword and shield. Likewise, those who desire their Dragonborn to be a stealthy thief could dress them in dark leather armor and have them skulk about with a bow. There are a lot of potential fantasy-themes character ideas that could have been accomplished for an unarmed character as well.
With all the armor options already available in Skyrim, a player could have potentially designed a gladiator-type character, decked out in armor and battling every foe they face with their fists. Another option would be to make a brawler specifically designed around the brawls one can take part in, a rough customer who can take a punch and give one right back to make an effective tank build in Skyrim. An unarmed player could have also created a monk-like build, one of the few fantasy archetypes Skyrim lacks.
One of the biggest strengths of Skyrim is how the player's Dragonborn can be heavily customized down to their design, weapon, and playstyle. By leaving out a reasonable way to play an unarmed-focused character, the game essentially blocks off a selection of potential character concepts. While traditional warriors, mages, and thieves are still available, players looking to make the Dragonborn a fistfighter would have to change their plans.
Skyrim is arguably the greatest game in The Elder Scrolls series, but it could have been even better with more options for unarmed combat. As it stands now, the game's unarmed mechanic feels like an unfinished afterthought, forgotten with only a few pieces in place. If Skyrim had more realized unarmed options, then it could have offered even more to players.
Source: Bethesda Softworks/YouTube