How far to advance unarmed combat?

[joellercoaster]

Specifically for Transmuters, but I guess it's a more general question.

I'm at a point in the game where I'm using Blade Hands most of the time, occasionally resorting to Statue Form just for awesomeness or Ice Form to fight snakes, wasps, etc.

Should I turn off Unarmed Combat at some point, or just let it run?

[szanth]

Unless you want to victory dance something specific like dodging or something, I'd generally just leave it on all the time. It's one of those few skills that are actually worth maxing out.

[GrimmSweeper]

As a Transmuter, you're going to be clobbering/slicing/touching most of the time in your dungeon dealings. It's your main form of dealing damage, as well as increasing the speed of your swing (-1 to a base attack speed of 10 / 5 levels of Unarmed), so maxing it out is recommended.

[danr]

Damage spoiler (source code) for base unarmed damage:

  Code:

int melee_attack::player_calc_base_unarmed_damage()
{
    int damage = 3;

    if (you.duration[DUR_CONFUSING_TOUCH])
    {
        // No base hand damage while using this spell.
        damage = 0;
    }

    if (you.attribute[ATTR_TRANSFORMATION] != TRAN_NONE)
    {
        switch (you.attribute[ATTR_TRANSFORMATION])
        {
        case TRAN_SPIDER:
            damage = 5;
            break;
        case TRAN_BAT:
            damage = (you.species == SP_VAMPIRE ? 2 : 1);
            break;
        case TRAN_ICE_BEAST:
            damage = 12;
            break;
        case TRAN_BLADE_HANDS:
            damage = 12 + (you.strength() / 4) + (you.dex() / 4);
            break;
        case TRAN_STATUE:
            damage = 12 + you.strength();
            break;
        case TRAN_DRAGON:
            damage = 20 + you.strength();
            break;
        case TRAN_LICH:
            damage = 5;
            break;
        }
    }
    else if (you.has_usable_claws(false))
    {
        // Claw damage only applies for bare hands.
        damage += player_mutation_level(MUT_CLAWS) * 2;
    }

    if (player_in_bat_form())
    {
        // Bats really don't do a lot of damage.
        damage += you.skills[SK_UNARMED_COMBAT] / 5;
    }
    else
        damage += you.skills[SK_UNARMED_COMBAT];

    return (damage);
}

The last line is key - every level in UC gives you +1 base damage.

Other things worth noting:
Spider or Lich - base damage = 5
Ice beast - base damage = 12
Blade hands - base damage = 12 + str/4 + dex/4
Statue form - base damage = 12 + str
Dragon form - base damage = 20 + str

I'm thinking I've gotta try me a transmuter!

[galehar]

The last line is key - every level in UC gives you +1 base damage.

Other things worth noting:
Spider or Lich - base damage = 5
Ice beast - base damage = 12
Blade hands - base damage = 12 + str/4 + dex/4
Statue form - base damage = 12 + str
Dragon form - base damage = 20 + str

I'm thinking I've gotta try me a transmuter!

Transmuters are awesome!
A transmuter with str 30 (Chei!) in dragon form and max UC has a base damage of 77
I'm playing one currently, but I haven't found any of the high level form spells yet. Blade hands with 29 str, 33 dex and 16 UC is already very powerful.

[joellercoaster]

Me too... having had a bit of a play with most things now I've settled on Transmuters to concentrate on for a bit (most fun!) and Chei just fits the playstyle really well.

I havent found anything for my boots slot (except for Boots of Running, gah!) so I haven't maxed out my stat bonuses yet despite rolling in all the piety I can eat. Regardless, I still apparently have a base damage of 49 in Statue Form and high 30s even with Blade Hands... crikey. Maybe I should go and bash some stuff.