I am starting my third playthrough.

I have decided to do an unarmed character, and have never done it before.

Any suggestions?

Level up both melee and unarmed because perks require both.
Finish Ranger Andy's quest to get Ranger Takedown move.
STR 9. (+dmg)
END 9.(you're going to take a lot of damage)
AGI 7+ (perks)

Super Slam is an excellent perk for Unarmed. It does require a Melee of 45 but as gabriel77dan there are a lot of good unarmed perks with Melee requirements.

Dunno about unarmed...
Does 'Love And Hate' count (spiked knuckles)?
One could easily get through using melee only.
But the unarmed - I'm usually a bit confused which weapons are melee and which are unarmed. :unsure:
Like what about the Straight Razor?
I enjoy my Love And Hate (but I like my Fire Axe too).
Regards

Having a good sneak skill is nice to have with melee/unarmed - ninja perk, silent running etc. Been trying out a unarmed/sneak/explosives type character, a ranged skill is a good backup to have also.

Unarmed uses the knuckles, boxing tape, boxing gloves, and all gauntlet weapons. All the other close range weapons are melee.

I just finished a game using a melee/unarmed build and it was GODLY. The ballistic fist is ridiculously powerful, and I found plenty of weapons that got the job done before that. I usually go for guns, but that was so much fun I think I'll be seriously considering melee and unarmed builds in future games.

I am doing the same thing but with explosives to get the hardcoe, unarmed, melee and explosives achievements. It is tough becuase every encounter I'm taking limb damage. I think I should have tagged sneak and done the explosives after getting the other 2 out of the way. I may just have to give up on hardcoe and get it with a gun oriented toon.

Heavy Armor is the solution to your problem. Save up some caps by ripping off the Caravan players and buy that set of reinforced metal armor from the Gun Runners kiosk.

Get Pushy/Paladin Toaster early, and Jury Rigging.

Yeah, this is good advice. Perks you will want: Super Slam, Stonewall, Piercing Strike, Paralyzing Palm, Slayer. Also, you need as much DR/DT as you can get, so medium/heavy armour building up to Power Armour is the way to go. Oh, and keep some explosives on you to level the playing field when outnumbered, and don't be afraid to use chems. My unarmed chars have always wound up massive chem fiends, Med-X, Psycho and Slasher are your friends.

Get used to the fact you won't be good at much beyond smashing heads, though; an unarmed/melee build is unlikely to have high INT and you need to do up two combat skills simultaneously, with what few skill points you have left over being best spent in Survival, Medicine or Sneak. It's pretty difficult to have a melee/unarmed specialist who's a jack of all trades, or so I've found.

Ahyeah, and if on hardcoe then it's a really big plus if you put skill points in Medicine since it will help the "heal over time".

i use unarmed, melee, and medicine. medicine is my highest and it works out well. i use NCR combat armor and go with the legion. having beaten the game several times, i decided to treat myself to a low quality blade of the east early on for fun..

you'll want to get ST 9 and AG 9. I didn't have very high END, but it didn't matter, because on very hard your armor and speed matters more.. which is why I prefer medium. I also had very high LK and 10 IN. I dumped PE and CHA completely, and started with 4 or 5 END. It worked out amazing, actually. SO many skillpoints. I'm fairly frail, I guess, but everyone is on very hard. I would use power armor but I think its kind of tacky. Prewar gear ftw

I am currently doing an unarmed build and I love it!

Strength is the key, as it serves as the damage multiplier for both unarmed and melee...

Also, when you get to Primm buying the Bladed Gauntlet is a MUST as it is a very reliable weapon for early game play as well as one of the best. You can get it repaired at the Mojave Outpost as well for a nominal fee.

Really? accounting to my research Unarmed damage seems to be unchange from FO3.....

Im going for a charismatic Barter/Speech character for my 2nd playthrough. (But not a pacifist)
Ive been considering unarmed for the combat skill.
Is it a good idea?
And how should i make the S.P.E.C.I.A.L.?

Unarmed and charismatic barter/speech character?
Erm.
S 9
P 1
E 9
C 8
I 8
A 4
L 1
And get implants later on as well.

I ignored Unarmed/Melee completely for the first year or so of owning FO3. After trying it I knew I'd always do it again. Can't wait to start on it actually so it's hard not to rush my Energy Weapons/Science char I just made.

Well, i guess i did enough gambling in my first playthrough



Yeah, i did that mistake too

If you hold the weapon it's "Melee" and if you wear the weapon it's "Unarmed"

I see my idea has been done... just started a build today ..

S 6
P 1
E 7
C 8
I 6
A 5
L 7

the high luck let me get some easy early money in the casino.. used it to boost my luck up to 8 then went and got that clothing that boosts it to 9 and went played the slots, got 3 oranges and finished upgrading with injections every stat plus the one that increases DR. Got myself ED-E, upgraded his armor because his weapon aim svcks anyways (used veronica to get me into brotherhood) and then got boone.. now with boone and ED-E I have the ferocious loyalty perk and plan to go melee/unarmed with high charisma and let my companions do a lot of tanking. Got enough speech and lockpick to tackle all the easy early on stuff without having to come back for it later, and later I'll get more powerful as my unarmed stuff gets developed and specialized. May take more intense training to get that strength up to 8 or whatever.