Worthwhile melee units (+ a stats cap question)?

[FinalZe|2o]

I'm wondering if there's any melee units in the game that actually do considerably more damage than the top tier ranged units? I ask, because since ranged attacks aren't restricted by post-movement like in SRW games, it seems like ranged units are just better (preferences aside) and not so limited by attack range. For reference, I've unlocked Strike Freedom (w/ Meteor variant) and Wing Zero Custom EW, so it might just be the order in which I've unlocked units that shows this ranged vs melee disparity.

Also, a second question question if I may? If pilot stats cap at 999, does adding stat boosting skills let pilots go beyond that cap (not that they'd need to)? It seems like it's only slightly more expensive to simply boost the stats themselves than learning the related skills. I'm guessing it's more useful to teach your pilots utility skills (e.g., MP/EN regen, command range, etc.)?

[legojoe]

Definitely a case in regards to which story you started with. Wing and SEED doesn't really have units that are melee main. 00 Qan[T] and Harute's Sword Bits can go up to 9 range if not higher with enough Awakening. They're ranged 'melee' attacks. Not forgetting about Trans-AM attack.

IBO also have quite a lot of melee specialized units as well. Now the issue is that if you are ranged preferred, you'll find some of these suits lacking in the range department.

[FinalZe|2o]

Thanks for your reply! I actually like melee units more, but it's hard for me to field them when their attack damage, which is on par with ranged units atm, doesn't make up for their lack of range. I guess I'll keep an eye out.

[gamester512]

Just based on having played the Trial version on my PS4, at least early on, the Gundam Astaroth seems like a reliable option. It has two melee (Knife & Demolition Knife) and two ranged (Sturmfaust & Anti-Materiel Rifle) attacks while still benefiting from the Nanolaminate Armor as well as having the Shield Defend ability.

[Frenzy85]

Well... ranged units end up being more useful because you can ramp up damage much more easily than mobility and range.

But here are some notable melee units that I can remember:
1. Psycho Haro, has a 8600 power melee attack
2. Barbatos Limiter-off, very high attack/mobility, 6000 power attack, 8 mov

And that's about it... as you mentioned, melee units are pretty much outclassed by ranged units. And ranged units are completely outclassed by Awaken units once you have decent pilots.

And those are completely obsolete once you have a decent WS + Captain and can WS-Link enemies to oblivion like you're a pressure washer.

[darnath_snowstalker]

wing has no melee mains??? deathscythe and epyon?

[[ZJ] Phish-Jager]

Don't Sandrock and Shenlong have strong melee also?

[Error]

Reginlaze Julia's melee is so insanely powerful that it always does nearly 10K now (when I first got it it did like 8.5k), it straight up insta kills certain grunts.
Epyon is also a powerful melee unit, and so are the Katana wielding Astrays (Especially Powered Red since it has a 150 meter long Katana jesus christ)
Also Psycho Haro straight up insta kills most things with its drill, but it destroys his EN, so some EN recovery items or team synergy help out a lot

[Shimaaji]

I thought Qan T Full Saber was quite good as a melee unit. In a Raid Group it'll basically never run out of energy because of the combined regeneration of the raid group + the pimped-up GN Drive the Qan T has ... and they're fast as hell and the range and damage of their bit attack is based upon Awaken ... so when I put a few of those in a Rad Group they can basically go everywhere on the map and murder whatever comes across without running out of steam. It's also nice that they don't even need to level their Energy stat for that, so I can put everything in Attack causing them to be murder-machines even on mid-level. Defense is covered by the pilots having insane amounts of reaction so they don't get hit and the units survive without any points put into hp, def or mob at all. (ELS Qan T uses too much energy to do this. I'll have to level it far higher and put quite a few points into EN before this becomes viable with it.)

My main problem is that I can't find a ranged unit that even comes close to this. Raid Group regeneration alone isn't enough to keep Wing Zero EW or Strike Freedom going indefinitely without slowing to to regenerate energy sometime inbetween and the ranged units with GN drives I've tried seem to .... well not suck, but be vastly inferior to a pure Qan T Full Saber Squad. I wish I could bring a bit more variation into my troups without deliberately gimping myself. :/

[きょすけ]

In past games melee units were really powerful, even more so if you had the right skills to increase their damage output. In this installment I'm feeling them a bit lacking, but still viable. The main problem is that in the past a move range didn't matter that much, as you weren't limited to just 3 turn max per character, so you could just run through the map by killing enemies (to fill the gap of missing long range moves). This time around however, melee units feels a bit of a chore (maining either the deathscythe EW or sandrock EW is simply sad).

With that said, I found the red frame red dragon to be freaking awesome, along the gold frame amatsu mina. I also hope that there is the master phoenix from overworld, as it was a very powerful melee unit.

[Addice]

Zabanya Final Battle Type is a really good ranged unit until you can get the Quant ELS Gundams. It has 10% EN regen but you could use the ability Resupply rank 3 which gives 20% EN regen per turn.

Reborns Gundam might be good if you have a pilot with high Awaken since it has a 2-4 ranged attack that can become 2-7 with around 300 Awaken and 2-8 with around 600 Awaken. I assume it can go to 2-9 with 900 Awaken and 2-10 if you add the ranged ability that give +1 to range weapon distance.