Tips for a melee focused run?

[Neonetik]

I recall watching a video from Tehsnakerer where he described that trying to go melee was basically a death sentence, and that melee was a totally non-viable way to play or whatever (or something like that, it's been a while).

I'm not sure if any updates were ever released that addressed this, or buffed the player characters melee range/damage and stuff to actually be able to avoid taking damage from OTHER melee enemies (I recall the main issue was that enemies would insta-hit you as soon as you were in range, which you HAD to be in to be able to hit them, meaning that you couldn't actually avoid any damage at all or whatever as a melee focused character), but I was wondering if anyone here had any luck with their attempts.

Generally, if I have the choice, I prefer not worrying about things like ammo/durability, and try to get my character in a position where I need to worry about as few things as possible, including ammo management and stuff, hence why melee runs are quite appealing to me.

Anyone got any advice for this?

Cheers.

[Educated Man]

Brian's chosen way for melee is to throw ♥♥♥♥ at melee enemies, and to sprint up and whack ranged ones. It sounds ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ stupid (and it kinda is), but it's the most successful way to play a melee build lol. I beat the game on badass with a melee build with fairly few complications, so I wouldn't say melee is a death sentence, just really annoying if you just try to whack everything in sight.

[Neonetik]

Well that's... unique? Seems pretty bizarre to allow you to have a melee focused character who sucks against other melee enemies if, you know, fighting in melee.

Are there at least any perks that benefit both melee and throwing stuff at the same time or whatever to incentivize this, or is it a case where you can quite easily screw yourself by investing all of your stat points into melee and then being unable to fight most enemies without getting absolutely butchered? Are there projectile weapon that are directly impacted by melee focused skills/stats to give melee players an encouraged option here?

Do i just like, need to carry around a bunch of melee weapons then to stand a chance against other melee targets? From what I know of this game, it's not like they're alone. We're talking groups of enemies coming at once, aren't we? How do you defend yourself if you have a melee build if the only effective move is to throw your weapon at them? What then? Run around and try to get it back?

Weird choice, man. Like, I don't know how it all really works right now, but man, that's confusing.

[Educated Man]

Originally posted by Neonetik:

Well that's... unique? Seems pretty bizarre to allow you to have a melee focused character who sucks against other melee enemies if, you know, fighting in melee.

Are there at least any perks that benefit both melee and throwing stuff at the same time or whatever to incentivize this, or is it a case where you can quite easily screw yourself by investing all of your stat points into melee and then being unable to fight most enemies without getting absolutely butchered? Are there projectile weapon that are directly impacted by melee focused skills/stats to give melee players an encouraged option here?

Do i just like, need to carry around a bunch of melee weapons then to stand a chance against other melee targets? From what I know of this game, it's not like they're alone. We're talking groups of enemies coming at once, aren't we? How do you defend yourself if you have a melee build if the only effective move is to throw your weapon at them? What then? Run around and try to get it back?

Weird choice, man. Like, I don't know how it all really works right now, but man, that's confusing.

Strength affects your melee damage, thrown object range, and thrown object damage. Yes, I did have to awkwardly retrieve my thrown weapons mid-fight sometimes lol. My best advice is to just put 50 into agility when you start the game, since there aren't any 50 agility trainers in the game. The speed will help you in dancing around melee enemies while you throw ♥♥♥♥ at them, as well as help you close the gap between you and ranged ones.

[Neonetik]

Neat! Well, if strength affects thrown damage, that's something, though I gotta admit, the whole "throwing away your weapon and then running to retrieve it" is unconventional to say the least.

Cheers for the info, and for the advice.

[Educated Man]

Originally posted by Neonetik:

Neat! Well, if strength affects thrown damage, that's something, though I gotta admit, the whole "throwing away your weapon and then running to retrieve it" is unconventional to say the least.

Cheers for the info, and for the advice.

Oh it should be worth mentioning that there are throwables like dinner plates, and then there are normal melee weapons. To throw a melee weapon, you need the throw weapon skill. It's only 3 points, but remember to pick it up before you leave town lol.

[Taberone]

Is Stealth skill any good for melee builds? Brigand does have a "Stealth" skill but I put zero points into it because I pumped them all into Agility. I just like running at the speed of crack.

[Educated Man]

Originally posted by Taberone velk.ca:

Is Stealth skill any good for melee builds? Brigand does have a "Stealth" skill but I put zero points into it because I pumped them all into Agility. I just like running at the speed of crack.

It can be effective but I've never used it extensively, only on companions that had high stealth. It's more for getting the drop on enemies than it is stealth killing everything from the shadows.

[Quadrajet]

It's definitely viable now with the dedicated throwing weapons such as the throwing knives/glaives (added after snakerers review), since your movement speed doesn't effect throwing accuracy like it does firearms you should pump up your agility to where melee enemies cant catch you and you can just run backwards until they die.

Make use of your party members when you need to snipe other firearm enemies, and otherwise set them to hold and use them as mobile turret platforms, give them cheap spray guns like thumpers and position them around corners, get the enemies attention and lure them back to your party members and they will go down easily.

Also save up and get that security armor early on, that %20 bullet and melee resistance makes a big difference early game.

[Taberone]

Originally posted by Quadrajet:

It's definitely viable now with the dedicated throwing weapons such as the throwing knives/glaives (added after snakerers review), since your movement speed doesn't effect throwing accuracy like it does firearms you should pump up your agility to where melee enemies cant catch you and you can just run backwards until they die.

Make use of your party members when you need to snipe other firearm enemies, and otherwise set them to hold and use them as mobile turret platforms, give them cheap spray guns like thumpers and position them around corners, get the enemies attention and lure them back to your party members and they will go down easily.

Also save up and get that security armor early on, that %20 bullet and melee resistance makes a big difference early game.

Meta takes forever to recharge though and I don't see any early-game throwing knives, unless I want to steal from UBNS

[Quadrajet]

I created a mod that lets you throw (throwable) weapons automatically without needing to use the skill menu, let me know if it makes combat a bit easier

https://www.nexusmods.com/brigandoaxaca/mods/6

[brianlancaster45]

NICE dude. I finally figured out how to login to Nexus and this is a sweet idea. Everything works.