PC Is Melee Dead? I think so...

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SnakeWildlife

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I prefer to main a Melee build in 7D2D, and in A16 and before, i could achieve this. To me and in my own experiences...melee in A17+ is COMPLETELY dead, and i mostly blame the stamina system.

Everything works against you with the stamina system in ways that do not even make sense, so lets compare a melee build, to a ranged build:

MELEE

You attack > you lose stamina

You get hit > you lose stamina

You get stunned > you lose more stamina

or

You run to avoid a Z from striking you > you lose stamina

You jump > you lose a lot of stamina

You are overburdened > you're slower, and you lose stamina.

Speaking as a person who is very unfit and overweight, i could swing a bat ALL DAY LONG, yet my character acts like he's just run an Olympic marathon from doing almost nothing.

RANGED

You run to avoid Z's from hitting you whilst taking Stamina-Free shots with any ranged weapon, early perks mean you can easily manage an infinite supply of stamina and kite the Z's as well as stunning them with your shots. (Achievable Level 10 or less)

-

Now dont get me wrong im happy with having to be super accurate to the point when i swing my melee weapon at the Z's, but this stamina system, is one of MANY of the reasons iv quit 7D2D for now.

Everything i enjoyed is being stripped away. Not fun.

 
Have you tried... I don't know... actually getting decent weapon and melee perks? Coffee and beer or grain alkohol also makes it extremely easy as you just OHK everything.

 
A17.1 reduced the overall stamina cost of swinging melee weapons.

That said, I am 90% melee and have had no issues really. Are you using heavy attack? If so that is your problem. You have to carefully manage heavy attack use because it not only burns a huge amount of stamina, but it disables all stamina regen for a few seconds as well. It is therefore risky to use it, and probably not worth it in general.

Finally, what weapon are you using? Up until A17 I was a 100% Sledgehammer user, but it's rubbish now in A17....clubs are FAR superior in every way. Try that.

 
Melee is king in my opinion. STamina loss can be bad, but you gotta learn to play within its constraints. If you play 16.4 style running all day long you are in trouble. 17 is a new game.

 
k only use power as an opening attack if i know im not gonna be doing alot of swinging or vs single targets or as a finisher. Try modding more and perking it does make a big difference, just making a new club with extra mod slots to fill makes a noticeable difference imo. Glad to hear stam getting a buff in 17.1 i do think it needs it a little

 
Melee is awesome and is the best way to spare ammo. But yes, it needs some training and you have to build a melee character.

 
As others have said Perks make a large difference, and I haven't used the R-click Power Attack -once- after testing the added in, no-regen for x bit. But I also haven't raised Stamina pool from the base 100. The negative impact of the no-regen is just to much, imo.

I've been able to primarily melee during both the day 28 and 35 bloodmoon hordes in a no-fall, face-to-face, with only doubled reinforced concrete poles base between me & z's. Day 28 only traps were double row of barbwire. Day 35 added electric fences; the fences damage and stun allowed me to melee ~75% of the time, more than during day 28 bm. And day 35 horde included ~25% rads.

Sorry to pile on, I do get how you feel; I had similar initial impression when I first played A17exp. I'd respectfully suggest setting up a testing range and spawing in a test subject to work over while you watch the stamina bar.

 
[...]Are you using heavy attack? If so that is your problem. You have to carefully manage heavy attack use because it not only burns a huge amount of stamina, but it disables all stamina regen for a few seconds as well. It is therefore risky to use it, and probably not worth it in general.[...]
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I'm pretty sure that's the main issue here. I mostly melee myself as I like it up close and personal and yet I truly don't understand what is the purpose of power attacks. The disadvantages outweigh the extra damage by a ton. It is also very easy to miss with - a slight FPS spike can do it.

Pretty much the only time I use power attack is against vultures, as they have a very funny death animation.

 
Melee is awesome and is the best way to spare ammo. But yes, it needs some training and you have to build a melee character.
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At level 65 I've only invested in damage to head and I use mostly mele. Well, the reduced stamina cost perk too ofc

 
Melee has become much more challenging but I wouldn't call it completely dead. But you have to adapt to the stamina management.

Here are some things I've learned in the course of several deaths.

* Food and drink should always be 100% before you go into a house.

* Never loot anything until you have completely cleared the house and never go into a house encumbered. It is best to put a chest in front of the house to store things.

* Never fight in confined spaces. Go back the way you came and let the zombies follow you until you reach a more open area.

* If you're dealing with a feral or a radioactive zombie then pull him out into the open area and fight him there.

* For critical situations you must always have a firearm with you.

* Always have an exit nearby to escape outside in an emergency. It is best to break all windows before entering the building.

 
Melee is fne even on non melee build, seeing how far away you can bat vultures is great fun. That sledge is awesome later on too! Stamina is only really an issue if you get mobbed in a corner of a poi, who me? never! Otherwise it just needs managing for a few levels.

 
OP criticizes melee for the stamina usage

OP then praises ranged for lack of stamina usage while saying "obviously i get the early reduced stamina usage perks to run while using ranged"

*glance back at melee complaints - no mention of buying agility, cardio, or SexTrex*

yeah ok.

 
Speaking as a person who is very unfit and overweight, i could swing a bat ALL DAY LONG, yet my character acts like he's just run an Olympic marathon from doing almost nothing.
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Don't belive you. For how long have you actually tried to swing a bat continously?

 
When you reach max sexual tyrann, you get 50 stamina back for each killing blow and it makes a big difference. I still chug tea and coffee, but as long as I keep killing, stamina regenerates at a reasonable rate. With a proper spec, mods, and gear, melee is even viable for bloodmoon. I don't like grinding ammo so melee was the obvious choice for me.

Here's day 56 melee bloodmoon at level 141: https://youtu.be/cOJIhyXb-N8 and day 63 at level 149 https://youtu.be/L8GwVsAPPcg. Day 63 is def more of a struggle with more irradiated zombies.

At higher gamestage, more irradiated zombies = slower killing and stamina management is more of a thing, but it's still the way to go imo. Alternating your kills between regular zombies and specials helps a ton. Practice makes pefect. Night 42 was my first melee BM horde and I was super scared, then I warmed up and was kicking ass and having fun! I still have that initial warm up period each horde night until i get into the groove.

 
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As others have said here... Melee is by far my preferred choice in A17. In fact, I've never used melee attacks more than I do in this alpha. Even without perks, it is pretty easy to manage. To use a standard wandering horde as an example... I will typically melee until my stamina is very low, then just back up for a few seconds to recharge. I may even swap to using my ranged weapon for a moment while it recharges.

Of course, you have to be tactical in your decision making... If you currently have very low max stamina then of course melee becomes less viable. But there is really very little reason to be running around with low max stamina anyway, it's easily managed.

 
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