PC How to build for Melee in Alpha 18 Survivalist?

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knighthonor

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As title say, How to build for Melee in Alpha 18 Survivalist?

I am a console player, been playing the PC version for a little bit here and there. Putting more focus into it.

But I notice Survivalist mode as way harder than on PS4 version of Survivalist.

But one other thing I notice about playing A18 is that the skill trees are kind of more complicated and all over the place. Hard to level up skills now since everything requires skill points instead of the old craft and use skill development. Clubs seem too weak to be effective. I been using Spear and Sludgehammer combo. But How to I best improve that style of gameplay? I just started my new map and we day 5. So I have time, but I need to find some way to get more skill points and what the best way to spend them to get what I need. Any advice?

 
All combat weapons are viable if you perk into them and clubs certainly are not weak.

One thing to remember is that quality now effects damage so that Q1 wooden club you make in the start is utterly worthless but that Q5 bat simply owns zeds.

Another thing to note is that each weapon has a governing attribute so if you want to be better at combat you are going to need to go deeper in that attribute and perk the specific skill for that weapon. This means that if you want to be more effective at combat simply sink the skill points you get into that particular combat skill. You will be FAR more effective if you pick one - go sledgehammers with strength OR spears with perception. Splitting them up will give you more options but make you weaker over all. Even going hand to hand with fortitude is effective now once perked out.

 
Strength with Sledge, ST-rex, and the mining skills is probably the easiest melee build to go for. If your aim is bad then going clubs is probably a better bet since you risk less stamina per swing. But the AoE knockdown of Sledge is pretty hard to beat.

 
All combat weapons are viable if you perk into them and clubs certainly are not weak.
One thing to remember is that quality now effects damage so that Q1 wooden club you make in the start is utterly worthless but that Q5 bat simply owns zeds.

Another thing to note is that each weapon has a governing attribute so if you want to be better at combat you are going to need to go deeper in that attribute and perk the specific skill for that weapon. This means that if you want to be more effective at combat simply sink the skill points you get into that particular combat skill. You will be FAR more effective if you pick one - go sledgehammers with strength OR spears with perception. Splitting them up will give you more options but make you weaker over all. Even going hand to hand with fortitude is effective now once perked out.
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Unless I am misunderstanding you I think your are at least partially mistaken. Yes a Q5 club will be better than a Q1 one for sure, but a Q1 club can be better than a Q3 one due to random stats.

 
Unless I am misunderstanding you I think your are at least partially mistaken. Yes a Q5 club will be better than a Q1 one for sure, but a Q1 club can be better than a Q3 one due to random stats.
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It is possible, yes. Does not change the statement I made - quality effects damage.

 
He also was comparing a wooden club to a baseball bat of much higher quality. There is no way the Q5 bat will be outclassed by a Q1 Wooden Club.

 
What I want to know is how viable is it to spec melee as a single player. Points are so scarce that I'm having trouble NOT turning into an engineer-harvester with a major dump in Intelligence just for the core technology to keep up with the horde nights.

Melee spec is very MAD (Multiple Attribute Dependancy) when in single player. You need strength for stamina management, you need Fortitude out the wazoo if you stand a chance of staying alive in clutch situations, and a massive dump in Intelligence is needed. YOu can't make armor out of steel with the armor skills if you can't make steel, or workbenches. If you want a motorbike, be ready to sink more points. This starts to immediately limit you to blunt weapons, machine guns, and shotguns (i'm not going to take 'brawler' seriously for a melee spec). You can almost immediately rule out spears and slashing weapons, as now that's a fourth attribute. If you want to water it all down, Perception isn't a bad way to go with scavenger and lucky looter.

 
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I minimize Int point spending to a point in grease monkey, 1 in daring adventurer, and 1 in advanced engineering if I can't find/buy a working forge or schematic. Eventually I'll put in a few more points to get to Yeah Science 2 for cheaper gunpowder and glue. That's usually it until getting to end game. The only point I've put in Fortitude in this alpha has been a single point in living off the land. Perception is usually my favorite tree with Strength getting leveled up 2nd. If you want to be a great melee character than I think Strength is the best option so go with it first.

 
The majority if my recent A18 game i have not invested into INT much (1 in Daring Adv. and 1 in Barter), just recently pushing points into both of the mentioned to have better rewards from quests and better hidden stash at trader.

As always, i mostly focus on knives, so i started with Bone Shiv, then Hunting Knife and now i'm running around with a Machete. Considering i do have some armor on me (it's a MUST if you want to go melee) and some points put into Cardio for running, 1 into Pack Mule (the rest of the inventory is cleared through pocket modes) and Sex.Tyr. to use less stamina for attacking, i find it a pretty good loadout.

Sure you could invest into any weapon here, i just prefer knives for the fast attacks and the bleeding they dish out (althought it is a little weak), although the range is a bit low. If you were using a spear or a sledge things could turn out even better, but i'm simply a knife guy ;) Currently pretty deep into the game and i am also using Comp.Bow for sneak attacks in POIs (using the Machete also from time to time). I can stand up to a large group of Zs (even with some rads), although i can't yet take on a full blown horde (especially with a Demo on the loose).

Still, i'd say Melee is plausible, at least to mid-game and you have many options for that.

 
What I want to know is how viable is it to spec melee as a single player. Points are so scarce that I'm having trouble NOT turning into an engineer-harvester with a major dump in Intelligence just for the core technology to keep up with the horde nights.
Melee spec is very MAD (Multiple Attribute Dependancy) when in single player. You need strength for stamina management, you need Fortitude out the wazoo if you stand a chance of staying alive in clutch situations, and a massive dump in Intelligence is needed. YOu can't make armor out of steel with the armor skills if you can't make steel, or workbenches. If you want a motorbike, be ready to sink more points. This starts to immediately limit you to blunt weapons, machine guns, and shotguns (i'm not going to take 'brawler' seriously for a melee spec). You can almost immediately rule out spears and slashing weapons, as now that's a fourth attribute. If you want to water it all down, Perception isn't a bad way to go with scavenger and lucky looter.
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Your problem is you want it all. If you want it all you are going to be very weak.

The game meta has changed from crafting everything to looting it - you don't need int to craft. You don't need fortitude at all - I very rarely spend a single point in fort and have no issues with melee combat. Stamina management does not require even a single point in str - there are other ways of managing stamina. If you do not invest in any of the mining perks you can harvest all the crete and cobblestone you need for a competent tower from resource stacks in POIs.

I mentioned what you need to do to spec a competent melee build - focus. IF you want to be a strong melee character then focus your points there. If you want to be more effective at gathering, building and mining then you are going to have to fight more strategically (aka - build a barrier and use that rather than getting in the mix).

Figure out what you really want - do you really want the crafting from the int tree? Then turret and stun baton WILL work very nicely - particularly considering turrets syndrome is broken with how strong it is. Want those mining perks? Go for the sledge or bat - both are very effective. If you want fortitude for damage reduction, strength for mining, int for crafting, perception for looting and some agility for stealth then you are going to die very weak.

The fact that you are having a tough time focusing your points means that TFP have done a decent job with the perks - no matter what you do there WILL be sacrifices making the actual choice an impactful one.

 
The majority if my recent A18 game i have not invested into INT much (1 in Daring Adv. and 1 in Barter), just recently pushing points into both of the mentioned to have better rewards from quests and better hidden stash at trader.
As always, i mostly focus on knives, so i started with Bone Shiv, then Hunting Knife and now i'm running around with a Machete. Considering i do have some armor on me (it's a MUST if you want to go melee) and some points put into Cardio for running, 1 into Pack Mule (the rest of the inventory is cleared through pocket modes) and Sex.Tyr. to use less stamina for attacking, i find it a pretty good loadout.

Sure you could invest into any weapon here, i just prefer knives for the fast attacks and the bleeding they dish out (althought it is a little weak), although the range is a bit low. If you were using a spear or a sledge things could turn out even better, but i'm simply a knife guy ;) Currently pretty deep into the game and i am also using Comp.Bow for sneak attacks in POIs (using the Machete also from time to time). I can stand up to a large group of Zs (even with some rads), although i can't yet take on a full blown horde (especially with a Demo on the loose).

Still, i'd say Melee is plausible, at least to mid-game and you have many options for that.
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Always end up with int in the end for BB. Those turrets though - man those are nice to have.

It drives me nuts that you need bb if you want solar power. Gas is plentiful though...

 
I made a tutorial on how to box in this game. Basically took the Fight Night play style which revolves around foot work and stamina management, and adapted it for 7DTD. Its a steep learning curve, but I break it down nice and easy. Once you master it, you become unstoppable...

Im at the point where I can do Horde everynight, and fight on the street. Heres how

 
That was actually pretty badass, edy. I learned a couple things and it's nice to see somebody advocating getting better at the game, rather than tweaking/bending/modding the game to suit their playstyle (not that there's anything wrong with that - it's just really nice to see somebody get good at something most people just dismiss or ignore - in this case, boxing!) I'm gonna go box some vultures now.

 
Melee is viable until the time you get pretty much nothing but radiated zombies, they just have to much health, 1 on 1 they won't pose a problem with any melee weapon, but there is many cases when its not going to be that way. I've tried going mostly melee and I always end up switching to mostly guns past a certain point as melee just doesn't work anymore.

 
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