Melee Builds

[Squirrel]

Hi.

Well, firstly, I want to clarify that yeah i guess that when a gamer buys a videogame that takes place in a distant futur AND in space, most are expecting to just pew pew with futuritic laser riffles etc, ofc.

But since this game included many (like 3 or 4) perks especialy about melee weapons, it seems logical that we can expect this kind of builds being a viable way to play the game.

And there is the issue that I think is really obvious :
-> the game gives "many" perks for that particular weapons (melee weapons), but then doesn't give a large enough pool of possibilities.

To be more precise, here is what triggers me the most :

- the game only offers a very few different melee weapons.
You can only find like a knife, a dagger, a katana, and a idontknowhowitiscalled melee weapon from the snake cult. (oh yeah and the axe...)
But first, those weapons aren't really "futuritic", and for exemple finding a katana in space is kinda weird (even if it is the melee weapon i use in my build tbh). Because of that, i feel that it is kinda difficult to include it into the character RolePlay you created.
And secondly, having only that few amount of melee weapons makes it, in fact, rare to find. I mean, if you want to play katana for exemple, i wish you good luck to find a yellow one, while you will probably find tons of yellow guns during your playthrough. From my experience, in 150h, i only found 2 white katanas and ONE purple (+ the white ones you can buy at shops ofc), I have never found a single yellow melee weapon actually.
So in the end you invested many perks points into melee build, but you can't really find a good weapon to actually use it.

- melee weapons aren't customizable :
Every weapons in the game can be ugraded at a workbench, giving you the possibility to create a very particular build and becoming more and more powerfull. Every weapons EXCEPT melee weapons D':

Conclusion is that :
- it is very hard to find a powerful melee weapon (purple or yellow)
- even if you got lucky to find one, you can't specialise/customize/upgrade it
- the skins of those weapons don't really fit the game universe and your RP


We could kinda say the same thing about weaponless builds (hands only), but there are only 1 or 2 perks designed for that kind of build, so it's kinda just a "fun feature" that almost nobody will even try i guess. While in the other hands melee weapons seem to be, at first sight, a true part of the game, since for exemple you will encounter a lot of ennemies using it, and have access to a "lot" of perks especially for those kind of weapons.

So, i don't know, maybe game should have a higher drop rate for high quality melee weapons ? And should include one or two more skins ?
What I'm convinced is that, at least, melee weapon should be upgradable at a workbench, for sure.

[wtiger27]

Melee in the game sucks. You can't craft mods to make melee weapons better, like you can range weapons. And stealth is much more challenging to pull off a sneak attack with a melee weapon.

I wouldn't waste any skill points in it.

[Six of Saturn]

Melee weapons seemed like a after thought, I see no reason other than that on why they cant be upgraded and why there are so few types. They are only good for ammo savers on weaker enemies.

[Krash Megiddo]

I'll use my Va'ruun blade on the heat leeches :\

[HeyYou]

So, theoretically, finding swords in space shouldn't really seem 'out of place'. After all, we are in SPACE, so, Vacuum..... do you REALLY want to be firing a high powered rifle with armor piercing bullets in such conditions??? :D

[chipartist]

I maxed all my Stealth and Melee skills, as well as Concealment, using a Legendary Wakizashi I came across at one time or another. I used it almost exclusively for about 15 levels, It has the Berserker trait, which gives better damage the less armor you wear. During that time I had some very strong Bounty Hunter armor to help, so there wasn't much buff for the sword, but now I'm in much lighter gear and the blade is a real slicer. One of my favorite pasttimes while surveying is engaging flying swarming predators -- boostpack skills also maxed. Melee/stealth can be great fun but does take time and patience to max out the skills.

PS: Red Trench is your friend.

[wtiger27]

Originally posted by Krash Megiddo:

I'll use my Va'ruun blade on the heat leeches :\

Yes, that is the best melee weapon in the game. I have one, a rare one, I am keeping in case they buff melee.

[kdodds]

1. I actually have a "yellow katana".
2. I have not invested a single point in any melee related skill (except strength, I guess, and stealth). And yes, melee and melee Stealth are still viable. I just did a mission where I used both (and air vents) exclusively.
3. Don't bring a knife to a gun fight. In a world where firearms exist, it's kid of weird to expect melee to be as (or more) powerful as firearms. As such, "smithing" isn't really a thing and would only serve as fan service to the minority who would play melee exclusive builds.
4. As a practicing mixed martial artist, you better believe I will eventually have a Bruce Lee/mrlee only character.

[chipartist]

Originally posted by wtiger27:

Originally posted by Krash Megiddo:

I'll use my Va'ruun blade on the heat leeches :\

Yes, that is the best melee weapon in the game. I have one, a rare one, I am keeping in case they buff melee.

I used a Painblade for a short time until I found a Titanium Wakizashi, Legendary, with Berserker trait, that makes the Painblade seem like a SAK knock-off and weighs about 10 times less. It has some stylish attack moves as well. If you find one, try it out, lotsa fun.

[Doombringer]

Va'ruun Painblade has a unlisted ability:
It gains +15% damage per hit up to +45% (in a similar manner to the Furious rare weapon ability)

Fun Fact: some enemies have melee damage reflection, because melee wasn't bad enough lol.
(melee sneak attack those crickets outside Gargarin Landing...)
Melee Damage Reflection was the worst thing about Oblivion, dunno why they brought it back here.

[chipartist]

Originally posted by Doombringer:

...
Fun Fact: some enemies have melee damage reflection, because melee wasn't bad enough lol...

My helmet is Mirrored, so would the damage bounce back and forth ad infinitum? ;) Gonna have to try that out.

[wtiger27]

Originally posted by chipartist:

Originally posted by wtiger27:

Yes, that is the best melee weapon in the game. I have one, a rare one, I am keeping in case they buff melee.

I used a Painblade for a short time until I found a Titanium Wakizashi, Legendary, with Berserker trait, that makes the Painblade seem like a SAK knock-off and weighs about 10 times less. It has some stylish attack moves as well. If you find one, try it out, lotsa fun.

Not found a legendary Va'Ruun Painblade or Wakizashi. 450 hrs in this char run. Plenty legendary of the others however. But thier damage compared to a say a Epic Va'Runn Inflictor? Not even close to what the rifle is capable of. Much, much easier to get a sneak attack with one also.

They supposedly have buffed stealth some in the Beta Patch. Maybe that will help. I will try it again after the patch goes live as a final release version.

[Krash Megiddo]

The loot boxes I get seem to be overloaded with Epic/Legendary Melee weapons, suits, helmets, packs. Its usually what I don't need or want. Once in my early game, I found a Legendary Magsniper, but its been slim pickings since.

[Silentios73]

Originally posted by wtiger27:

Melee in the game sucks. You can't craft mods to make melee weapons better, like you can range weapons. And stealth is much more challenging to pull off a sneak attack with a melee weapon.

I wouldn't waste any skill points in it.

I agree with you, I haven't spent a single point in those skills. They are useless and broken.

[Squirrel]

Originally posted by wtiger27:

Not found a legendary Va'Ruun Painblade or Wakizashi. 450 hrs in this char run.

Yeah, that's what i was trying to say : it's soooo rare.
2 or 3 people commenting here that they actually found a yellow melee weapons doesn't prove wrong that point. I mean, glad for you guys, but it doesn't change anything and tbh I don't really care :S



Other point, yeah Varun blade is the melee weapon that has the most base damages. But I personnaly don't use it only because of one other thing I explained : the skin. In fact, the skin itself isn't "bad", and it's kinda the only melee weapon in the game that has a "futuristic" skin. But the weapon is ... very small o.O
I absolutly would use it if this weapon had the size of like half the arm for exemple. But it's the size of the fist :(

I mean, this game is a RPG : you spend hundreds of hours on your story, with your character. So yeah diversity of weapon skins etc is actually important because you want to make the character you want to play with.
For exemple, other weapons got different "series" : you have futuristic ones, old-schooled etc, each having one small gun, one riffle, one shotgun etc ... So you can create a build that fit your character RP.
Melee has 2 knifes, the Varum, the Katana, and the fireaxe ... How are you supposed to build a RolePlay with that only few options ? :/
Plus not being able to customize via workbench makes most of those melee weapons just ridiculously weak, making you having only 2 "viable" options : Varum or Katana.

State is, unless you got a very lucky yellow drop, if you want to play melee build you will just spend most of the time with a white Varum ... What i actually did for 140h before finding a purple Katana (with bad bonuses sadly :'( ).
But the fact that it was the only not white melee weapon i found in 140 hours makes me feel insecure to start one more NG+ since I know it will delete my inventory and I then will have to play with a white melee weapon again ...

[wtiger27]

Originally posted by Squirrel:

Originally posted by wtiger27:

Not found a legendary Va'Ruun Painblade or Wakizashi. 450 hrs in this char run.

Yeah, that's what i was trying to say : it's soooo rare.
2 or 3 people commenting here that they actually found a yellow melee weapons doesn't prove wrong that point. I mean, glad for you guys, but it doesn't change anything and tbh I don't really care :S



Other point, yeah Varun blade is the melee weapon that has the most base damages. But I personnaly don't use it only because of one other thing I explained : the skin. In fact, the skin itself isn't "bad", and it's kinda the only melee weapon in the game that has a "futuristic" skin. But the weapon is ... very small o.O
I absolutly would use it if this weapon had the size of like half the arm for exemple. But it's the size of the fist :(

I mean, this game is a RPG : you spend hundreds of hours on your story, with your character. So yeah diversity of weapon skins etc is actually important because you want to make the character you want to play with.
For exemple, other weapons got different "series" : you have futuristic ones, old-schooled etc, each having one small gun, one riffle, one shotgun etc ... So you can create a build that fit your character RP.
Melee has 2 knifes, the Varum, the Katana, and the fireaxe ... How are you supposed to build a RolePlay with that only few options ? :/
Plus not being able to customize via workbench makes most of those melee weapons just ridiculously weak, making you having only 2 "viable" options : Varum or Katana.

State is, unless you got a very lucky yellow drop, if you want to play melee build you will just spend most of the time with a white Varum ... What i actually did for 140h before finding a purple Katana (with bad bonuses sadly :'( ).
But the fact that it was the only not white melee weapon i found in 140 hours makes me feel insecure to start one more NG+ since I know it will delete my inventory and I then will have to play with a white melee weapon again ...

Well, I had a purple ( epic ) Va'ruun Painblade in my first play run on this char before doing a NG+ run. They do exist. But I felt no lost for losing it. But did however, on losing a Epic Instigating Va'ruun Inflictor Rifle. :(