Unarmed combat
Unarmed combat occurs when a player or creature has no weapon equipped in their primary hand or in additional limbs capable of attacking.
Unarmed combat is a form of melee combat, but it uses natural body equipment, such as the player's \natural fist. In many cases, unarmed attacks have no effective strength cap to penetration, meaning that creatures with very high strength can gain very high penetration and do significantly more damage than they could with most melee weapons. The 
Fist of the Ape God is one of the only non-unarmed weapons with similarly uncapped penetration potential.
In many cases, unarmed combat uses the Cudgel skill. However, there are exceptions to this rule, such as for creatures whose "natural equipment" uses a different skill (like the 
knollworm's 
crab-crushing beak), or for the player when they have a mutation like 
Burrowing Claws or 
Horns - both of which use the Short Blade skills.
Unarmed combat can be enhanced through a variety of means:
- Learning the relevant power and skills associated with the unarmed weapon, such as the Cudgel power and its subskills.
- Starting with or obtaining the
carbide hand bones cybernetic. This increases unarmed damage to 
2d32-6 (Avg: 4). - Obtaining
fullerite hand bones. This increases unarmed damage to 2d4+13-9 (Avg: 6). - Obtaining
crysteel hand bones. This increases unarmed damage to 3d43-12 (Avg: 7.5). - Gaining a fungal infection on the hands.
waxflab is the best for this purpose, as it provides 2d32-6 (Avg: 4) unarmed damage. - Wearing any spiked gauntlets. This adds additional bleeding damage to unarmed attacks made by a hand.
Common Unarmed Options by Damage
| Unarmed Implement | Damage | Associated Power |
|---|---|---|
| \natural fist | 1d2-10-1 (Avg: 0.5) |
Cudgel |
 fickle gill on the hands |
1d41-4 (Avg: 2.5) |
Cudgel |
 glowcrust on the hands |
1d41-4 (Avg: 2.5) |
Cudgel |
 mumble mouth on the hands |
1d41-4 (Avg: 2.5) |
Cudgel |
| waxflab on the hands |
2d32-6 (Avg: 4) |
Cudgel |
 helping hands' metal fist |
1d3+12-4 (Avg: 3) |
Cudgel |
| carbide hand bones implant |
2d32-6 (Avg: 4) |
Cudgel |
| fullerite hand bones implant |
2d4+13-9 (Avg: 6) |
Cudgel |
| crysteel hand bones implant |
3d43-12 (Avg: 7.5) |
Cudgel |
| Burrowing Claws mutation |
1d21-2 (Avg: 1.5) - 1d121-12 (Avg: 6.5) |
Short Blade |
| Horns mutation |
2d32-6 (Avg: 4) (level 1) - 2d132-26 (Avg: 14) (level 20) no theoretical damage limit |
Short Blade |
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