Prize Fighter Unarmed Build

[blackjack50]

I am just curious about this. If one’s backstory is that of a prizefighter of some kind (thus having some 1v1 pit/cage/smoker fights) what would be the best build for that? Assuming it allows you to contribute to actual game combat as well. You have to be able to deal more damage than you get dealt basically. Would grappling be useful? I would think Monk would be the best class for unarmed striking, but I just don’t know all build types. A little help would be appreciated.

[CheddarChampion]

If the prizefighting involves brawls with no weapons or armor then a monk would be very good. A Barbarian with the unarmed fighting style would work well too.

Grappling doesn't really help in a 1v1 unless you shove your opponent prone as well. At that point you're giving up two attacks though - it is only worth if the fight just started and it's going to take a while.

[Zhorn]

Guess it depends on the expected playstyle and level range, but your choices are Monk, Barbarian or Fighter.

Without feats or special race restrictions, monk does start off as the go-to option; martial arts damage dice, reliable bonus action attack, flurry of blows, patient defense to lower the chance of getting hit.
Versus weaponed opponents, monk's falls behind a little as the levels increase; but only because its toolkit is more about harassing and maneuvering around opponents to control the battlefield.
Lean into the evasion and control aspects instead of being a brute and this'll give you a lot of mileage.

A raging barbarian will be your king of reducing damage, especially if our opponents are also unarmed fighters and restricted to dealing bludgeoning/piercing/slashing damage.
Lots of chatter about beast barbarians using claws instead of punches to lay it on thick with enough hits from a low level to rival the monks, and fun jump throws in the mid-tiers. Other subclasses will need some race or feat support to get you an unarmed damage dice, but even with a 1+mod punch can carry a decent blow while raging. If you want to be a champ at grappling, this is the way to go with some feats.
Unarmed Fighting Style via Fighting Initiate, Grappler, Tavern Brawler, Skilled Expert for Expertise in Athletics all add to making you a lord of the wrestling ring. Barbarians tend to like their ASIs on stats over feats most of the time, so it could be very roll dependant.

Fighter comes more online at higher levels compared to the other two, mostly because it really needs the feats and extra attacks, using the above feat loadout with the battlemaster subclass (be careful about maneuver selection with 'melee weapon attack' and 'weapon attack' requirements). Not as evasive as the monk or as tanky as the barbarian, it lands somewhat in the middle. Fighters tend to have a good all-rounder chassis that versatile for a lot of build types thanks to their extra feats and having fighting style support as a class feature. I can see an unarmed champion blind fighter being an interesting build from lv11 onwards assuming some way to fight opponents in darkness or blind THEM first.

[RogueJK]

Grappling doesn't really help in a 1v1 unless you shove your opponent prone as well. At that point you're giving up two attacks though

Unless you have the ability to Grapple as a Bonus Action, such as with the Tavern Brawler feat, or through a Monk's Martial Arts Bonus Action attack.


Provided "unarmed" includes natural weapons, I'm thinking a Monk 1/Beast Barbarian X with the Fighting Initiate (Unarmed) and Skill Expert (Athletics) feats.

Fighting Initiate (Unarmed) gets you a 1d6+STR unarmed strike, plus ~2.5 extra damage against a grappled enemy each round. Skill Expert gets you Expertise in Athletics. Barbarian gets you rage for bonus damage, as well as Resistance to your opponent's unarmed strike damage, plus Advantage on Grapple/Shove checks. Beast Barbarian 3+ gets you Claws while raging, for an additional attack each round. 1 level of Monk gets you a Bonus Action unarmed attack when you use your unarmed strike or your claws (which as simple melee weapons count as "monk weapons").

With the Standard Array, something like:
STR 14+2
DEX 13
CON 15+1
INT 8
WIS 12
CHA 10

Start Barbarian 1 with the Fighting Initiate feat. For that level, you're just a boxer with a temper, making 1 punch per round, or Grapple one round then Shove the next.
Next take your 1 level of Monk. This gets you Martial Arts for a Bonus Action attack. This lets you punch twice per round, or do something like Grapple+Shove in one round.
Starting at Barbarian 3, you get claws while raging, which gets you two attacks per Attack action, plus your Bonus Action martial arts unarmed strike, for Claw+Claw+BA Punch or Grapple+Shove+BA Punch.
From Barbarian 5 with Extra Attack, you'll be able to Claw+Claw+Claw+BA Punch, or something like Grapple+Shove+Claw+BA Punch.

And if you ever happened to find yourself in the ring against two enemies, you could grapple and shove both of them, and continue making non-Beast-Claw unarmed strikes against both of them, since unarmed strikes don't require just your hands.

The main downside is your AC won't be the greatest (14ish), as you'll be prioritizing STR and CON over DEX, and you won't be able to use a shield. But being able to halve the incoming unarmed strike damage from your opponent helps with that, and all attacks made by a Prone Grappled enemy would be made with Disadvantage, which helps as well. And if that really concerns you, you could go with a Tortle, which always have a 17 AC from their natural armor.

Also potentially workable as a Beast Barbarian 3/Monk X, if you want some of the higher level Monk abilities and Flurry in exchange for slightly more delayed progression in your primary class, plus being even more MAD since you'll need to factor in a decent WIS as well. (Barbarian 1/Monk X would help speed your Monk progression, but you'd still be MAD, and you'll be missing out on one attack each round.)

If you want to save a feat, you could go Lizardfolk and skip Fighting Initiate. Lizardfolk gets you an innate 1d6 unarmed strike (bite), plus a special Hungry Jaws Bonus Action attack per rest, in exchange for missing out on the extra d4 damage per round to a grappled enemy (which is actually pretty negligible). You could even spend this feat you save on something like Fey Touched, gaining 1/day Misty Step for emergency escape in the unlikely event you find yourself Prone Grappled and roll really poorly despite Expertise and Advantage on the roll, as well as 1/day Hex for extra damage that more than makes up for the lost d4 per round plus disadvantage on your opponent's STR checks to break free of your Grapple, although spending the ASI on a straight STR boost would likely be more optimal if you're fighting more than 1 bout per day.

[Paeleus]

That concept is really hard to nail down with published material, a flaw in 5e IMHO. A monk would be the closest thing with the Unarmored defense, Stunning Strikes, scaling Unarmed attacks, Flurry of Blows, etc. But monk is also not an optimal grappler build, and doesn't do well with tests of strength.

I convinced a previous DM to allow the Pugilist for just that type of character. It was everything I wanted, and I think it is for you as well.

[Unoriginal]

The three ways of getting more unarmed strikes damage are:


-Monk class: starts with 1d4+STR or +DEX, increases to 1d6, 1d8 and eventually 1d10, bonus action attack, damage count as magic to bypass resistance and immunity starting at lvl 6. Spending ki let you Flurry of Blow (two attacks for 1 bonus action) and Stunning Strike (CON save or get stunned, 1 ki point per Stunning Strike, can be used anytime an attack lands).

-Tavern Brawler feat: 1d4+STR for damage, bonus action grapple.

-Unarmed fighting style, also available through a feat: 1d6+STR damage or 1d8+STR if not using a shield or any weapon, deals 1d4 damage to 1 creature you are grappling at the start of your turn.

The Beast Barbarian and Moon Druid can also make good damage without a weapon, but they're not unarmed strikes, more "turn your body into animal parts".


The Grappler feat really doesn't help enough for the cost of an ASI, sadly.


I recommend the Athlete Background.

Provided "unarmed" includes natural weapons, I'm thinking a Monk 1/Beast Barbarian X with the Fighting Initiate (Unarmed) and Skill Expert (Athletics) feats.

That seems pretty redundant, given the Fighting Initiate (Unarmed) does not apply to the Beast Barbarian's attacks.

Monk with Fighting Initiate (Unarmed) has dynamite fists, though. And a different kind of Barbarian would greatly benefit from it too, on top of being incredibly durable.


What kind of Prize Fighter do you want your character to be, OP?

[RogueJK]

That seems pretty redundant, given the Fighting Initiate (Unarmed) does not apply to the Beast Barbarian's attacks.

The bump to d6/d8 unarmed damage doesn't apply to the Claw attacks, but it does apply to the Martial Arts bonus attack each round that has to be an Unarmed Strike, as well as any other Unarmed Strikes that you make otherwise (such as when both hands are occupied with grappling two enemies and you're having to headbutt or kick them for 3x unarmed attacks per round).

And it applies to all your attacks for the first 3 levels (from Barbarian 1 through Barbarian 2/Monk 1), which will all be Unarmed Strikes until the Claws finally come online at Barbarian 3/Monk 1.

Plus you can still make use of the bonus d4 damage each round you're grappling someone.


Besides, it's optional. As I pointed out further on, you can do similar with a Lizardfolk and save the feat, in exchange for doing minimally less damage per round (~3.5 points less).

The Fighting Style is more important at lower levels, when a few extra points of damage can make a difference, and especially before your Beast Claws come online at Character Level 4. From then on, it's more about getting the extra Attack from the Beast Claws to stack on your STR modifier and bonus Rage damage, which will be adding 2x as much to your damage total for each attack than the dice roll itself anyway, or to give you an extra attempt to Grapple/Shove if the first try doesn't stick. And since the Fighting Initiate feat specifically says you can swap it out for a different Fighting Style at each ASI, if you don't want it any more once the Beast Claws come online and you're out of those low levels, you can switch it at Barbarian 4 to Defense to boost your low AC or to Superior Technique for an extra dirty trick to use each bout. (That's what I'd do on a Monk that had taken the Unarmed Fighting Initiate feat as well... Swap it out at 8th or 12th for a different fighting style, once your class bumps up your unarmed strikes to comparable levels.)