I can see, how monk-like combat may be a thing... but its supposed to be weak against armored targets that wield sharp weapons. As cool and effective as it will be against unskilled targets, its just not that effective versus skilled armored enemies with longer range and mortal weapons.

Besides one or two players with magic talents, a monk with same skill will lose against a fighter with equipment.

well, also we need to take into account the environment. Unarmed combat may beat out clunky, slow armed combatants that can't swing their weapons in a tunnel.

Hrothi pugilism would be cool.

Posted By Lodestone at 03:26 AM - Fri Aug 03 2018

well, also we need to take into account the environment. Unarmed combat may beat out clunky, slow armed combatants that can't swing their weapons in a tunnel.

Hrothi pugilism would be cool.

You'd turn into a Trapdoor Dwarf Monk Spider? Luring people into your tunnel so you can pummel them to death then take their belongings?

It’s suppose to be kind of a «realistic» skill based combat. So if you take 2 equally skilled players. And one has a weapon and an armor and the other don’t. Then you’d think the one armed has a huge advantage.

Then I don’t know if the devs want to go for a magical/manga kind of game where you’d see people fly around with kicks and punch you to death while you wear plate armor. But it’s definelty not what the games looked like to me. And I certainly hope to never play that game in COE. But you never know...

I think a really big + to unarmed combat is how reliable it is when it comes to unexpected combat. We know always wearing armor isn't practical in CoE just the same way always carrying a weapon wont be practical, although you may get away with short swords, daggers and weapons of that nature.

There will also most likely be places were weapons aren't allowed, may that be in a city or inn etc, and I doubt a farmer will carry around a sword and shield when they're trying to tend to their crops, and I imagine this will be the case for many people in general not just farmers.

With all this in mind I think unarmed combat is seriously underestimated. Although I wouldn't argue unarmed is a good way to fight someone in full armor with a sword and shield, I would 100% argue unarmed can be effective versus someone dressed in cloth or even leather wielding a dagger, which I'd imagine the typical bandit or robber lurking about would use.

I don't think unarmed combat will ever reign supreme when it comes to a anticipated fight or battle, but when it comes to living out your life day to day and dealing with the unexpected it may be the best secondary combat skill to know ... because you'll always have your hands.

I think a monastery and monk RP with deity interwoven into it would be super legit. But, i do not think unarmed combat would be super efficient. That being said, SBS could definitely surprise us.

People have given a lot of good reasons why unarmed combat isn't ideal and even some good examples of when it would be useful.

I myself intend to become proficient in unarmed combat as a Countess. I'd like to be able to defend myself at all times, even in the comfort of my own court.

I think a key technique of unarmed combat would be the ability to disarm an opponent and then use their own weapon against them.

But what if you can move faster without heavy armor and weapons? I don't see a problem with unarmed combat.

Posted By Ilyria at 4:09 PM - Thu Aug 02 2018

But what if you can move faster without heavy armor and weapons? I don't see a problem with unarmed combat.

That makes sense, but without some way to do effective damage to armored combatants, the damage might prove less than satisfactory? Maybe a grapple system though would prove to be pretty over powered in such fights though....hmmmm... EJJ (Elyria Jiu-jitsu) :)

Posted By Corbinism at 4:49 PM - Thu Aug 02 2018

I dont know how much a monk would even fight, i dont think there that, i guess aggressive, but maybe if you are planning to be an unarmed assassin monk, it could work. like maybe you plan to assassinate a king or something, and having a weapon ins't practical or allowed for citizen so close to the kings quarters, if you were unarmed, you wouldn't be seemed to pose much of a threat. But maybe if you had poison on you that would kill the king, then maybe..., but i dont know how you would go about killing him, maybe poison his food, idk if you can do that but yeah. Also maybe the poison effects wont happen right away, so you could have time to escape. But as for normal combat, idk

I bet unarmed could have bonuses to assassinations or stealth strikes so this could be a good application. I think you are onto something.

There's no reason why an unarmed monk or fighter has to be completely unarmoured as well.

The samurai had comparably light weight armour compared to other races and used Jujutsu, that is the original Japense Jujutsu against other armed samurai when they found themselves without a weapon.

I wouldn't say unarmed means you are weak against weapons or blades, though if you are unarmoured as well, there is a definite risk of death, but a light weight armour may be all that is need to protect you against the slashes and stabs, because the unarmed combat found in jujutsu specifically dealt with those kind of threats and how to evade and avoid being stabbed and slashed.

Oh and don't use the modern Gendai examples of Jujutsu as your reference because most of them are watered down and even fake styles that have been "reverse engineered" by someone with a little knowledge in Judo, Aikido and/or karate.

Very few traditional Koryu Style Japanese Jujutsu styles exist today, but they would be the real deal.

I loved playing a monk back in my EQ1 days. It was fun and different than most of the classes available.

With as much as people cite realism it is also a fantasy game too. Most of the weapons appear to be hyper functional high technology oriented.

So whats to say someone who wants to run around unarmored and unarmed couldnt compete with someone in full armor wielding two handers or dual wielding or a shield or another weapon.

What is to say that a monk couldnt learn to punch as hard as stone and dent armor or know people out while out dodging and having nearly limitless stamina with low to no weight?

What's to say they cant just dodge an attack with ease and break your neck instead without needing to fight?

There is already items in the game which make a monk architype possible. The Kypiq shield for instance is a bracer extendable shield which would still allow a monk to block weapons and still use their fists once they bridge the gap.

Similar items or tech weapons could easily be adapted by monks along with brass knuckles or katars or other fist weaponry or claws.