Unarmed strikes are melee weapon attacks, but they’re not weapons. That said, it doesn’t break much for your DM to let you use those abilities without a weapon; that requirement is mainly there for story reasons (Paladins traditionally use melee weapons in combat.)
Do you add strength to unarmed strike?
An unarmed strike is neither a melee weapon attack nor a ranged weapon attack, and thus the ability modifier on the attack roll is zero, and thus the Strength modifier has to be explicitly included in the damage definition in order for stronger characters to deal more damage.
Can I use divine smite with an unarmed strike?
Unarmed strikes are melee weapon attacks. And they don’t work with Divine Smite, which requires a weapon.
Does divine strike work with unarmed strike?
an unarmed strike counts as a melee weapon attack, even though the attacker’s body isn’t considered a weapon. Thus, RAW, unarmed strikes also do not work with Divine Smite.
Can a unarmed strike be used in a melee attack?
Melee Attacks (p. 195). The rule on unarmed strikes should read as follows: “Instead of using a weapon to make a melee weapon attack, you can use an unarmed strike: a punch, kick, head-butt, or similar forceful blow (none of which count as weapons). On a hit, an unarmed strike deals bludgeoning damage equal to 1 + your Strength modifier.
How much damage does an unarmed strike do?
An unarmed strike is a simple melee weapon and deals 1 bludgeoning damage. Since it has no other entries. That means it’s one-handed, and anyone proficient with simple melee weapons is proficient with that strike.
Do you have to have something in your hand to do an unarmed strike?
The more literal interpretation is that “hands free” means you must literally not have anything in your hand when you attack. That said, this, too, will almost always result in you being able to also use a two handed or versatile weapon and do an unarmed attack, since you can simply let go with one hand after that attack.
Can you make an unarmed strike as a bonus action?
For example, if you take the Attack action and attack with a quarterstaff, you can also make an unarmed strike as a bonus action, assuming you haven’t already taken a bonus action this turn. Here we see that you can make an unarmed strike as a bonus action after taking an Attack action.
