Discover everything you need to know about the Unarmed Ghoul build in Fallout 76, including the best perk cards and weapons.

Ghouls in Fallout 76 are humans who have survived a nuclear holocaust, and they exhibit a zombie-like appearance. They are resistant to radiation damage and have enhanced regeneration. With the arrival of a recent update, Ghoul received 28 new Perk cards and 2 legendary Perk cards. The Unarmed Ghoul build in Fallout 76 is a setup that merges the advantages of the Ghoul race with the effectiveness of unarmed combat. The setup is designed to eliminate enemies in close-range combat with weapons like Power Fist or gauntlet. Focus on the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats to maximize the effectiveness of this Ghoul build. Choose the perk cards that increase the effectiveness of this build, as gameplay is mostly centered around them. In this guide, we’ll discuss the best Unarmed Ghoul build in Fallout 76, including some valuable tips and tricks and the best perks.
Everything About Unarmed Ghoul Build in Fallout 76
The Unarmed Ghoul build in Fallout 76 is a unique setup that provides raw damage output and the versatility of unarmed combat. This build excels in close-range combat, and with the right perks, mutations, and strategy, you can become a resilient powerhouse. Our build includes weapons like Power Fist and Gauntlet to deal damage to enemies in melee range combats. Secret Service Armor is the best choice to equip to protect your character from incoming attacks. While fighting enemies in close range, you need to increase your survivability as you will also be taking a lot of damage.
Iron Fist, Martial Artist, Gladiator, Incisor, Ghoulish, and Bloody Mess are the best skills to unlock for this Ghoul build in Fallout 76. Strength, Endurance, and Agility are the best attributes to focus on as they also increase your effectiveness in combat and exploration. However, this build is vulnerable in long-range combat as you don’t have any ranged weapon to deal with damage. So, you need to get close to the enemies with fast movement speed without taking much damage.
Unarmed Ghoul Build Pros | Unarmed Ghoul Build Cons |
---|---|
Effective in Close-Range Combat | Vulnerable in Long-Range Situations |
Fast Mobility | Requires You To Get Close To Enemies |
High Survivability with Radiation Healing |
Best Strategy For Unarmed Ghoul Build in Fallout 76
Focus on maximizing your ghoul glow and avoid feral transformation. Unlock the perks like Iron Fist, Martial Artist, Gladiator, Incisor, and Ghoulish to complement your playstyle and build as well. You need to invest your points in Strength and Endurance to deal massive damage with the equipped weapon. Strength increases your unarmed damage and is essential for maximizing your melee effectiveness. Endurance, on the other hand, enhances your health and damage resistance, making you harder to kill. Equip the armor that protects your character from the incoming damage in combat. Use the stealth perks if you want to get the drop on enemies and launch devastating attacks.
Unarmed combat excels with power attacks, so hold down the attack button to charge up a more powerful strike. Use the Gladiator perk if you’re using a weapon like a Power Fist to increase your damage output. Utilize movement speed boosts or stealth to close the distance on a battlefield. Use the power attacks to stagger the enemies, allowing you to dominate them without taking much damage. You can become vulnerable in long range combats, so use the movement speed to get closer to the enemies.
Best Weapons For Unarmed Ghoul Build in Fallout 76

Here are the best weapons for an Unarmed Ghoul build in Fallout 76.
Power Fist
- Damage: 74
- Level 50
- Speed: Medium
- AP Cost: 35
- Weight: 4.0
Power Fist is the best Unarmed weapon in Fallout 76. It offers high base damage and a fast attack speed. This is ideal for dishing out enemies in close-range combat with a good balance of speed and power. The Power Fist cannot be used in conjunction with power armor. It requires level 30 to first equip and is available in two more grades at levels 40 and 50. You can craft the Power Fist at a weapons workbench once the associated plan is learned. There will be a unique commentary from the hunter if you have Power Fist equipped during the Radstag Hunter random encounter. This weapon is designed for builds relying on damage. You can pair it with perk cards to make it more effective, enhancing the damage output in combat.
Gauntlet
- Damage: 50
- Level 50
- Speed: Medium
- AP Cost: 40
- Weight: 6.0
Gauntlet is another good weapon for the Unarmed Ghoul build in Fallout 76. Use this weapon to deal damage in melee range combat. It’s a large metal device painted with yellow and black stripes. Gauntlet has a powered saw blade extruding from the end. It has somehow resemblance to the Power Fist. Gantlets cannot be traded, dropped, or sold to vendors. This weapon type is crafted at the maximum level available to the player character. However, it doesn’t have raw power like the Power Fist, but it still deals decent damage. It’s a solid early-game choice before you acquire a more powerful weapon. Use this weapon to deal both physical damage and energy damage. Paring it with the perk cards can enhance the damage potential of this weapon, allowing you to dominate the enemies on a battlefield.
Best Armor For Unarmed Ghoul Build in Fallout 76

Here is the best armor for an Unarmed Ghoul build in Fallout 76.
Secret Service Armor
- Damage Resistance: 250
- Energy Resistance: 220
- Radiation Resistance: 220
Secret Service Armor is another good choice if you’re running an Unarmed Ghoul build. It provides high damage resistance, especially for ballistic and energy attacks. You can choose the Shielded Lining on the Under Armor and Buttressed. It helps you stay alive longer in combat with its capability to reduce the effect of incoming attacks. You can improve the armor’s effectiveness with mods that increase damage resistance. It also gives you the ability to equip a jetpack. Secret Service armor provides good base stats and can be well-modded. Use Vanguard for boss fights and general survivability or Thru-Hikers for a good mix of poison resistance, strength, and AP acceleration.
Botsmith Armor
- Damage Resistance:235
- Energy Resistance: 110
- Radiation Resistance: 110
Botsmith armor is also another decent armor to equip if you haven’t found Secret Service Armor in the game. This armor complements your Unarmed playstyle along with your build because it protects you from several threats in the area. Plans for Botsmith armor have a chance to be awarded from the Event Test Your Metal. This armor gives a robotic appearance, making it interesting in your build. It provides solid damage resistance, especially useful if you’re in close combat with high-level enemies. The helmet provides bonus Intelligence as well.
Best Perks Unarmed Ghoul Build in Fallout 76
Iron Fist is the best perk in the Unarmed Ghoul build in Fallout 76 because it allows your punches to deal additional damage in combat. You have the option to transform into ghouls with the recent The Ghoul Within update. This build allows you to deal massive damage with melee weapons that increase combat effectiveness. Here are the best perks for this Ghoul build in Fallout 76.
- Iron Fist- Your punching attacks now do +20% damage.
- Martial Artist- Your melee weapons weigh 60% less, and you can swing them 30% faster.
- Gladiator- Your one-handed melee weapons now do +20% damage.
- Incisor- Your melee and unarmed weapons ignore 75% of your target’s armor.
- Ghoulish- Radiation now regenerates more of your lost Health.
Best Perks Beginner Build in Fallout 76
Blocker is the best perk for the beginner build in Fallout 76 because it allows you to take less damage from the enemies in combat. At the early stages of the game, you need to increase your survivability to progress smoothly, so choose the perk that lets you live longer. Choosing the right perk for the beginner Unarmed Ghoul build in Fallout 76 allows you to increase your character’s abilities and survivability. Here are some of the best perks to consider for your beginner build.
- Bloody Mess- 15% bonus damage means enemies may explode into a gory red paste.
- Grim Reaper’s Sprint- It provides you a chance to regain Action Points (AP) on kills.
- Strong Back- Gain more carry weight based on your Strength.
- Life Giver- Gain more max HP per point in Endurance.
- Blocker- Take 45% less damage from your opponents’ melee attacks.
- Nerd Rage- While below 20% Health, gain 40 Damage Resist, 20% damage, and 15% AP regen.
Best Main Stats Perks for Unarmed Ghoul Build in Fallout 76

Bloody Mess is the best main stat perk for this Ghoul build in Fallout 76 because it allows you to deal more damage with your weapons. Focus on increasing your survivability, damage output, and utility. You can allocate a total of 56 SPECIAL points to increase your character’s stats. You start with 1 point in each of the 7 SPECIAL attributes for a total of 7 points. And you gain 1 SPECIAL point every time you level up. You’ll have a total of 56 SPECIAL points to spend at level 50. Here are some of the best main stats perks for the Ghoul build in Fallout 76.
- Radicool- The greater your Rads, the greater your Strength (max +5 STR)
- Ninja- increases your melee damage when sneaking.
- Serendipity- This perk allows you to reduce the chance of taking a critical hit from enemies, increasing your survivability.
- Bloody Mess- Increases all damage dealt, including unarmed and melee.
- Grim Reaper’s Sprint- Any kill in V.A.T.S. has a 35% chance to restore all Action Points.
- Lifegiver- Gain more max HP per point in Endurance.
Best Skill Perks for Unarmed Ghoul Build in Fallout 76
Slugger is the best skill perk for this Ghoul build in Fallout 76 because it increases your melee damage. Here are some of the best skill perks to consider for the Unarmed Ghoul build in Fallout 76.
- Rejuvenated- Benefits of being well-fed or Hydrated are further increased when you have less than 10% RADS.
- Born Survivor- Falling below 40% health will automatically use a Stimpak once every 20s.
- Four Leaf Clover- Misses in V.A.T.S. now contribute to the Critical Meter based on your Luck.
- Scrapper- Obtain more components when you scrap weapons and armor.
- Slugger- It increases your melee damage significantly.
- Ghoulish- It increases your healing over time, even when you’re low on health.
Best Combat Perks for Unarmed Ghoul Build in Fallout 76
Martial Artist is the best combat perk for this Ghoul build because it makes your weapon less heavy and allows you to swing it faster, dealing more damage. These perks must synergize with the unique abilities and mechanics of the Ghoul. Here are some of the best combat-focused perks for the Combat Ghoul build.
- Dodgy- This is useful in melee combat, where you’re often up close to enemies, as it lets you spend AP to reduce damage from incoming attacks.
- Gladiator- It boosts your damage with one-handed melee weapons.
- Blocker- Take less damage from your opponents’ melee attacks.
- Ninja- It boosts your damage while sneaking, which can be devastating in combat
- Grim Reaper’s Sprint- Every time you kill an enemy, you restore AP.
- Iron Fist- Your punching attacks now do +20% damage.
- Martial Artist- Your melee weapons weigh 60% less, and you can swing them 30% faster.
Best Potions For Unarmed Ghoul Build in Fallout 76

Here are the best potions for the Unarmed Ghoul build in Fallout 76.
- Toxic Goo- Deals a high amount of radiation damage (125 rads) to the player but also provides a significant health restoration effect.
- Firecracker berry juice- Use this to increase critical damage up to +25%.
- Cranberry moonshine- This potion allows you to gain +1 Charisma, +1 Strength, -1 Intelligence, and HP max +25.
- Nukashine- Grants a 100% melee damage increase.
- Toxic Water- Quench thirst at the cost of significant radiation damage and poses a high risk of disease.
Best Tips and Tricks for Unarmed Ghoul Build in Fallout 76
Here are the best tips and tricks for Unarmed Ghoul build in Fallout 76.
- Maximize your melee damage, radiation resistance, and ghoul glow.
- Prefer the perks that boost unarmed damage, radiation resistance, and critical hit damage.
- Use Toxic Water or Toxic Goo to keep your ghoul’s glow as full as possible, providing you additional damage.
- Focus on taking down enemies that are weak to melee damage.
- Use VATS for critical hits and to maximize damage output.
- Stealth can be useful for sneaking up on enemies and dealing critical damage while playing solo.
- Focus on dealing damage and taking one for the team while playing on a team.
- Close the gap between the enemies to avoid range combat.
- Combine Ghoulish with Radaway when you need to maximize your health regeneration and manage radiation at the same time.
- Use Speed Demon to increase your movement speed by 10%, allowing you to get close to the enemies.
FAQs about the Unarmed Ghoul build in Fallout 76
What is Ghoul in Fallout 76?
Ghouls in Fallout 76 are humans that are mutated by the radiation of the nuclear wasteland. Becoming a ghoul is a permanent change unless you manually revert.
What are the best perks for the Unarmed Ghoul build in Fallout 76?
Iron Fist, Martial Artist, Gladiator, Incisor, Ghoulish, and Bloody Mess are the best skills to unlock for the Unarmed Ghoul build in Fallout 76.
Which is the best weapon for an Unarmed Ghoul build in Fallout 76?
Power Fist and Gauntlet are the best weapons for an Unarmed Ghoul build because they allow you to deal high raw damage in close-range combat.
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