Best melee weapon?

[Computer Dweller]

I have not found anything that beats the farming knife.
High damage
High speed

The high speed makes it easier to kick enemies in between swings unlike the slow mace. And no reason to use any of the weapons with lower damage and speed.
Is there some difference between the weapons that the game does not tell? Like range or attack radius?

[Living Death]

I never found anything with better stats than the farming knife, either, but I really quickly realised melee combat was horrible and only used melee weapons to throw at enemy heads.

[bobbie046]

The farming knife is the best weapon to use against ferals and the thralls in medical, its fast enough that they are kept staggered and cannot hit back. Using a rifle or shottie even if you are lucky to kill it before it reaches you, the inevetable 2nd and possibly 3rd will be in your face and you'll likely die. It goes without saying you should always be just outside a doorway so only 1 can get at you at a time

[HEld]

i like the electro club, espcially against bees and stuff

[archonsod]

Originally posted by Computer Dweller:

Is there some difference between the weapons that the game does not tell? Like range or attack radius?

Blunt weapons tend to have better knockdown / knockback (which tends to mitigate the slower speed; enemies can't do anything while they're busy trying to stand back up).
It generally comes down to how/why you're using it though. Farmers knife is a good mix of damage and speed, but bleed is one of the least useful status afflictions in the game (unless you do a lot of hit and run, though even there I think it only works on regular humans). As the fallback weapon for a primarily ranged character it's hard to beat; I wouldn't want to take on a robot with it though.

[NamelessDead]

Broken Sword That You Can Pull From A Rock In The Woods Near A Angry Plant In The River. High Speed/High Damage. Or A Mace That The Druids Carry They Are Low Speed/Excellent Damage

[GTG3000]

Personally, my favourites are
- knife : the animation is faster and makes it easier to stunlock one enemy by stabbing their head
- sickle : slightly slower and takes a pause after four swings, but does wider swings that can damage and even stagger multiple enemies at once. Deceptively long reach.
- stun prod : the electric effect ragdolls human enemies and has a bit of AoE against swarms

If found the animation on the farming knife to be just a bit too slow for my liking, currently rocking the sickle against thralls/ferals. Would like the stun prod more if those enemies actually cared about being zapped.