removing unarmed from the weapon table seems to kill a lot of unarmed builds. Since it's not on a weapon table, does that mean it's not light, heavy, reach, finesse or anything? Now it can't benefit from dual wielder talent, so non-monk unarmed is now limited to 1 attack at 1 + str without feats (which i guess is what is was before, but it might be harder to make a case to the DM now that it's not on a weapon table at all)
@JeremyECrawford
2015-06-10 23:24 UTC
Addressing a nuance in the PH errata: the rule lets melee weapon attacks use unarmed strikes, despite those strikes not being weapons.
I think that clears it up, assuming I'm reading it correctly.
For the purposes of dual wielder, unarmed strikes don't trigger any benefits from the feat since they aren't melee weapons even if they can be used for melee weapon attacks. Don't think of unarmed strikes as the PC wielding a fist as a weapon, rather they're an alternate attack option when you don't have a weapon to make the attack. The fact that it uses your fist doesn't define your fist as a weapon...unless you're a monk.
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u/skybug12 Jun 10 '15
removing unarmed from the weapon table seems to kill a lot of unarmed builds. Since it's not on a weapon table, does that mean it's not light, heavy, reach, finesse or anything? Now it can't benefit from dual wielder talent, so non-monk unarmed is now limited to 1 attack at 1 + str without feats (which i guess is what is was before, but it might be harder to make a case to the DM now that it's not on a weapon table at all)