Combat short or long question?

[Yuna]

I like to be a pure fighting class but can't decide if using 1h or 2 is better and what is better out of blade and blunt for killing?

my play style is I normally wear a bag on my back for my personal items food, medicals etc and a bag in my hand for looting purposes. I am not sure though if I should use 2h weapons since I am fighter or if 1h weapons are still good at higher levels.

just wanted some ideas on what people do/think when it comes to weapons.

[[THT]ElPoutrador / DarkFougere]

I'm pretty new but this game seems to follow mechanics I'm used in most of games.
If I see it true, the answer is "It's all about your gameplay".


Blunt weapons seems to have higher chances to stun zombies, but the knives doesn't seems to apply bleed effect (I wouldn't say about a comparative of damages) but they seems to attack faster.
So, blunt/blades ? Do you want to attack fast or not ? Do you rely on stun or not ?

One handed weapons definitely attacks faster and seems to consume less stamina, but does less damage than two handed.
So, one handed/two handed ? I'm sure that (depending on your strengh and server settings) you'll get to one shot each hit with some skill grinding with two handed weapons, but probably will rely on RNG for one handed.
Will you rely on fast attack with less damage or slow attack and maybe one shot more often ?

I just have something like 30 hours on the game so I may be wrong. Let's see what veterans would have to say :)

[stevasaur]

IMO, Short Blades are the worst of the four weapon groups you listed: I've never had good luck using them for fighting standing zombies (maybe if you know how the one-hit stab works, but I don't), and if you're knocking a zombie over to attack while it's down, you might as well stomp on it and save the weapon durability.

Short Blunt is an incredibly versatile weapon group: most of your tools are going to be Short Blunt, so if you're caught with your tool out (hammers, mostly), having Short Blunt means you don't necessarily have to swap weapons. There are also lots of lootable Short Blunt weapons that don't have a tool use (Club Hammers/Wooden Mallets/Police Batons/Pipe Wrenches) that still have enough oomph to kill a standing zombie with a few swings at low skill/default strength and enough durability to last a fight with a small horde.

Long Blunts are more rare IME than Short Blunts, but are better for actual fighting (at least the Baseball Bat and the Crowbar: Planks are heavy, break at the drop of a hat and aren't that good damage-wise, last time I tried using them). I only pack a Long Blunt if I know I'm going to be fighting lots of zombies and aren't too concerned with having extra bag space.

The only Long Blade I've found in about 600 hours is the Machete, and that thing might as well be a lightsaber. Even at 0-2 Long Blade skill, it will happily one-shot zombies on a fairly regular basis, and has a lot of durability. Plus, it's semi-renewable, because you'll occasionally find one stuck inside a zombie that can be looted once the zombie is dead.

[Heavyeatsandvich]

Short blunt and long blunt have higher chances to knock an zombie down but aren't as lethal, they're still reliable as they are the most common type of weapon in PZ.

Short blade is best for stealth and requires lots of standards to get the best use, if you wish to avoid this, use the meat cleaver since it acts like an standard weapon.

Long Blade has only two weapons (machete and Katana) both are rare and cannot be relied with loot spawns. Train with the machete until you at least hit lvl 3, then switch to the katana.

Axe is a mix of both worlds.

Spears are cheap to make, break easily but have the highest Insta kill chance of any weapon compared to all other types (until you reach lvl 5-6 for axe/long blunt).

Crowbar last the longest in terms of condition, it takes forever for it to break. baseball bats are quite good, keep them until lvl 4-5 Long blunt and then make a spiked version they do more damage.

Short weapons in my opinion are ok but having more reach and the hitboxes are harder to miss with long weapons. (Metal pipe and bar are short handed).

Knifes/blades don't bleed zombies, they will never die from bleeding out/ also don't use fire, unless you wish to destroy all the loot in an town.

Short handed weapons are faster then two handed, but two handed weapons (long weapons) are safer in the long run, use only if it's your own weapon. Hammer/ frying pan is best from what I know.

Strength has only an small effect on weapons, only at the ends (lvl 1 and Lvl 9), which increases damage (or decreases damage below lvl 1).

[Heavyeatsandvich]

also, weapons in zombies increase the longer the world has been around, expect high tier weapons (machete/axe/katana) after 6 months in game.

[Yuna]

If you all use 2h weapons, how do you deal with looting do you use 1 bag on your back and that's it, or do you use 1 bag in your hand too but then how do you deal with it being heavy when you want to use a 2h weapon?

thank you for all the replies.

[Bussy]

Keep in mind if you are looking for clothes avoid blades. They damage the zombies clothes as you attack them while blunt does not.

[Scub]

Originally posted by Yuna:

If you all use 2h weapons, how do you deal with looting do you use 1 bag on your back and that's it, or do you use 1 bag in your hand too but then how do you deal with it being heavy when you want to use a 2h weapon?

thank you for all the replies.

Personally it's a sacrifice. I do not use a bag to loot. I'm forced to make more trips but with high strength and skill my spiked bat is amazing in combat. It's a trade off I've decided on based on my playstyle. If I'm lucky enough to have a vehicle I depend on the trunk space much more than a bag looter may.

[Pure Hostility]

Originally posted by Yuna:

If you all use 2h weapons, how do you deal with looting do you use 1 bag on your back and that's it, or do you use 1 bag in your hand too but then how do you deal with it being heavy when you want to use a 2h weapon?

thank you for all the replies.

Backpack on your back.
Optionally, a duffel bag or two set on floor and grabbed in hands (primary/secondary) when need to move them around. Drop them when forced to fight.
But thwt is reserved more for actual big haul looting.
You can do just fine with a single backpack and a vehicle for main hauling of a loot.

[Lokaror]

I prefer two handed blunt for the reasons of them being pretty efficent, not damaging clothes, and forcing me to be more economical since i've only got one backpack and my inventory. I find i do better if im forced to only take things that i currently need/stockpile a little bit rather than packrat stuff.

[Dallas108]

You got a bunch of spam, OP. Never give your credit card info. And those aren't real girls!!!!!!

[Heavyeatsandvich]

Originally posted by Yuna:

If you all use 2h weapons, how do you deal with looting do you use 1 bag on your back and that's it, or do you use 1 bag in your hand too but then how do you deal with it being heavy when you want to use a 2h weapon?

thank you for all the replies.

Run organized makes a big difference, Fanny packs were also buffed so you can use small items/lightweight items in two extra "mini packs". I play with Weak and Unfit so i start out with both 0 fitness/strength; getting the large backpacks or military backpacks gives you 35 slots of space for loot with an 85% weight reduction. in my backpack i carry this around:


1 Satchel that weighs 5 slots that contains alcohol whips/beer for medical, an hatchet for some tree chopping if needed, all the pens/pencils and a eraser for mapping my next moves; and 2 bottles of water. I also always name it "Survivalist Kit" so i don't lose it with other satchels.

1 First aid kit that i name Field aid kit that weighs 3 slots, filled with at least 5 needles, wipes, bandages, at least 1 bottle of every drug in the game.

in the main backpack itself normally contains:
1 backup weapon (usually an crowbar,axe depends on what i want to grind) OR M9 handgun with 2-3 mags with 2-3 boxes of ammo.
1-2 knifes (prefer kitchen knifes due to 0.3 weight) for making spears not for fighting.
2-3 lighters
20-60 cigarettes
4-5 bottles of water (usually most are empty, i rely on sinks to fill them). at least 1 bottle in main inventory.
2-4 branches (tree branches weigh 1.0, spears weigh 1.7, make these on the fly).
1-2 canned foods (prefer sardines and tuna, they are the lightest foods and have decent hunger reduction for cans).
1 can opener.
1 hammer
1 saw
about 50-80 nails
1 paperclip
1 bottles of beta blockers
1 beer bottle
1 pair of scissors
1 toys r mine walkie talkie
1 screwdriver
1 hand torch

the rest of the space is for loot, at lvl 4 strength on my 3 month survivor has 11 weight i have to manage, works well until i have about 70% of an load, that is when it goes over the 11 limit.
Main inventory only contains: Water bottle, one 2h weapon (crowbar atm), and a lighter.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2722436109

[bulbatrs]

I would strongly recommend 2h weapons, mostly due to reach. Even with an outliner now and than you will miss and missing with a 2 handler is not as bad. I had my share of misses when the outliner would claim it's a hit.
It's fine to have 1 bag on the back and 1 in each hand even, all you have to do is drop both equipped in hands whenever you think you need to fight. dropping bags is very fast action so there should be no problem there.

[Psycha]

Machete is king for your playstyle.

[Korhal]

Honorable mention: Spears.

Personally, I play with LongBlunt, as its quite convinent to have a Crowbar.
You can open barricared houses, you do not damage clothing, you have reach, its durability is pretty good and the damage is decent as well.

Yet lately I experimented with Spears more and more and they are pretty good weapons. Sole problem is their durability, but with a decent enough Carpentry lvl, which is easy to get even without books through the LaL shows, they are a strong contender.

[Sevrun]

I do most of my work with a simple baseball bat. If spears lasted longer I'd love them to death, since they kill quick and easy with beautiful range.

My current play through I've been walking around with a Bread Knife, of all things. Longer reach than most short blades, and I've done pretty well with it. Just keep the groups smaller than I would otherwise.

Short Blunt can be real nice, but you gotta get away from the frying pans. Hammers, or better yet, nightsticks offer surprising power in a 1H package.

Axes I tend to lean away from. Damage is great but I have trouble getting the range right for maximal effect. One of the best parts is that there are 1H and 2H axes, so you can go either way.

In closing, I think it becomes very clear: I use whatever I can lay my hands on. I burn through weapons fast enough that I can rarely afford to be picky.