Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-2600:8802:1200:3460:B7:BA35:49D2:B090-20170727203838/@comment-6697950-20170727212259

Yes, regular attacks do deal damage. Just not as much as a Sword Skill would, so they're less effective against monsters. But, nonetheless, regular attacks are still used, since a Sword Skill leaves you paralysed for a few seconds after use + there's a cooldown time for the skill to be usable again. Regular attacks are especially useful when the monster only has a sliver of health left, making it a waste to active a Sword Skill.

Martial arts aren't so effective without the Martial Arts skill, so nobody who doesn't have that skill bothers with it.