That's annoying. But why would melee damage have a stronger impact that magic damage? It's both damage isn't it? And I would think having some magic based damage for an unarmed character would be good to have in case you fight against enemies with good melee resistance. Plus the magic damage increase applies to magic attacks/spells also doesn't it? A benefit you don't get with extra melee damage.
Also if you can get a decent amount of magic damage on unarmed then I would think way of the battlemage would end up being even more handy.
What is the highest + stat to damage you can get on jewelry anyway? I'm reloading on beating that killer bunny as it drops by far the best items I've come across so far in the game. The best I've seen so far is a +8 magic/melee damage on jewelry.
Yes, it is all the same damage. You don't fight enemies that have noticeable resistance, except the undead to poison and maybe burning enemies to fire.
I would not try to make an Unarmed battlemage. There are no unarmed-type weapons, and thus no weapon enchantments for Unarmed characters. Unarmed is completely Strength-based, magic damage is Intelligence-based (plus weapon damage plus weapon enchantments). There are a healthy number of weapons that do magic damage, and it's easy to make an efficient battlemage using one of them, focusing on Intelligence and using magic-damage dealing weapons.
There are enough stat points in the game that you can probably split your focus, but you'd have to think about it more carefully. The three best armor suits in the game gives a +20 to one of Intelligence/Strength/Dexterity.
You can't really get a decent amount of +magic damage on an unarmed character because their only source is a few jewellery items. Other characters can get it from weapons.
I think the highest +damage possible is +12, but that's only possible really late and if you're really lucky.