Fallout 2 Unarmed - Punch/Kick damage difference

weemies

First time out of the vault
I may have missed something completely obvious but I can't find the information on this. What is the damage difference between your basic punch and kick? The inventory screen shows the same damage range on both unarmed slots but is this really true? Is there a difference between critical chance or something else? Again, talking about only the basic punches and kicks, not the higher level ones like haymaker.
 
I'd be interested in this answer too. I have played many unarmed builds, and to be perfectly honest, I haven't really noticed much difference myself. I can't say there ISN'T one definitively, as I'm not familiar enough with the inner workings of the game--but as a player, if there IS a difference, it hasn't been noticeable to me. Perhaps if there is a difference, it is as you suggested, possibly in the critical chance? Or maybe knockback? It *seems* that when I kick someone in the face they go flying more often and farther, but at this point, it is just speculation.
 
Doesn't look like there's any difference on the basic level (well, except the AP cost):
http://fallout.gamepedia.com/Unarmed#Unarmed_skill_attacks

There's a whole list in there of what they do;

[TABLE="class: va-table va-table-center va-table-full, width: 960"]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Punch[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]None[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Base damage[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Strong Punch[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Unarmed 55%, Agility 6[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+3[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Hammer Punch[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Unarmed 75%, Agility 6, Strength 5, level 6[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+5[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+5%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Haymaker[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Unarmed 100%, Agility 7, Strength 5, level 9[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+7[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]3[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+15%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #C9D0AC, colspan: 5"]Secondary punch attacks[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Jab[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Unarmed 75%, Agility 7, Strength 5, level 5[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+5 (+3 in 1.02d)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6 (3 in 1.02d)[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+5% (+10% in 1.02d)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Palm Strike[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Unarmed 115%, Agility 7, Strength 5, level 12[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+7, armor piercing[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]6[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+15%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Piercing Strike[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Unarmed 130%, Agility 7, Strength 5, Level 16[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+10, armor piercing[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]8[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+40%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #C9D0AC, colspan: 5"]Primary kick attacks[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Kick[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]None[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Base damage[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Strong Kick[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Unarmed 40%, Agility 6[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+5[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Snap Kick[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Unarmed 60%, Agility 6, Level 6[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+7[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Power Kick[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Unarmed 80%, Agility 6, Strength 6, Level 9[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+9[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]4[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+5%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #C9D0AC, colspan: 5"]Secondary kick attacks[/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Hip Kick[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Unarmed 60%, Agility 7, Strength 6, Level 6[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+7[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]7[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]-[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Hook Kick[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Unarmed 100%, Agility 7, Strength 6, Level 12[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+9, armor piercing[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]7[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+10%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Piercing Kick[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Unarmed 125%, Agility 8, Strength 6, Level 15[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+12, armor piercing[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]9[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]+50%[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

The major problem is that anyone in their right mind that does an unarmed build will almost certainly pick up a Power Fist, and later the Mk II, which is a punch only weapon and does significantly more damage than any of the other attacks. Then you couple that with the efficiency of punch over kick when it comes to AP (especially when you have Bonus HtH Attacks). The only benefit I can see with some of those is the armor piercing, but I'm guessing Spiked Knuckles solves that problem, and they're relatively easy to get. Also, I personally find it pretty annoying when someone gets knocked back, and yes that is a benefit of kick.
 
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Doesn't look like there's any difference on the basic level (well, except the AP cost):
http://fallout.gamepedia.com/Unarmed#Unarmed_skill_attacks
There's a whole list in there of what they do;
I know, that was what I was referring to. The difference between the base level (i.e. between the two attacks called Punch and Kick that the OP asked for) seems to only be the AP cost.
Of course, there's no mention of knockdown/back in that table.

Also, I personally find it pretty annoying when someone gets knocked back, and yes that is a benefit of kick.
Do you have data on that? Or any other source? Could you edit it into the wiki?
 
Also, I personally find it pretty annoying when someone gets knocked back, and yes that is a benefit of kick.
Do you have data on that? Or any other source? Could you edit it into the wiki?

I have zero evidence, and I might be incorrect from what I've just seen in the game... though that could be because of killap's restoration project; tested punch and kick for a good long while and noticed that they always, and only, did 1-3 damage, and never with knockback. I did it with 6str/5agi and unarmed bumped to 300 (takes 6agi to get any of the upgraded attacks - 6str is the maximum for 1 base damage). I also noticed that both punch and kick were 3 AP, so changes were definitely made.

The Fallout 2 manual might be what I'm thinking of, but I lost mine a few years ago in a flood (I used to read it all the time in school when I was bored). The higher level kicks certainly provide a high chance for knockback, but the lower level one might not provide any. I would test in a base Fallout 2, but I'm not really that interested to go reinstall it, and I'm probably wrong with my first assessment anyway, so... how embarrassing. ;)

This is kind of a half-apology for talking out of my ass. I'm almost 99.9% sure that kick has a chance of knockback (also would explain the difference in AP), basically going off the dozens of games I've played since it's incarnation... but yeah, I can't prove it. I also don't think punch normally does knockbacks - some of the upgraded attacks might, but I think that was the difference between punch and kick.

I also distinctly remember kicking Cameron to the ground in base Fallout 2 numerous times over the years.
 
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I seem to recall things much the same, though aging memories aren't the most reliable corroboration. I always assumed the AP difference had something to do with knockdown or with the intensity of the criticals inflicted, but I never really had any basis for the assumption aside from "it sorta seems like it."
 
Might be the differences to the base damage.
If there's some knockback / down calculated via unarmed damage specifically and not exclusively from the critical hit tables, then it would make perfect sense that kicks do it more often, since the kicks do more damage overall (except the base) and the better "standard" versions are available earlier.
My general impression is that it happens more often with kicks as well.
 
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