Feedback: Melee.

[funky_mish 75]

Certain aspects of melee in DayZ are great already, but others need a lot of work. I think the availability of melee weapons is at a really good level, though perhaps being a bit rarer would be ok. When you just spawn, it's nice to quickly have something other than fists to fight the zombies with. Second point: the strength of the melee weapons feels really good. Not overpowered, not useless. Still pretty ineffective against a gun, even if you manage to get in close, unless your opponent can't aim. Good thing.

 

The bad: different melee weapons swing in different ways, right? Some of the weapons are just fine to use. Others (like the crowbar) feel very clumsy and frustrating to me. I was being slapped repeatedly by a zombie while I awkwardly tried to land decent blows.

 

I think this needs some attention, and perhaps while it's worked on melee weapons should all share the same kind of swing (like the fire axe, please! :D)

 

Already having some good fun with the game, so thanks :)

[Bakercompany86 347]

Yeah Melee needs a lot of love.  Especially hit detection.  But I'm sure they know this, and I'm sure they're working on it as it's a massive part of the game.  Especially when they fix zombie AI and increase their numbers.

[reapers239 57]

there is some improvement to be made for the short reach weapons, talking about smaller axe and the wrench i just got killed by a zombie after i wacked some at it, but most of what i hit wasnt really hiting. I know that you need to hit the head and all, plus the fps drop here and there made the melee combat kind of frustrating. Also is it me FPS drops became worst?

[IcyBlade 48]

From what I have heard from dev vids, it looks like the reticule (cursor dot) is not used in combat and instead the actual weapon models hit detection determines where the hit is. So if the animation for the weapons swing is a little clunky or inaccurate then the combat will be. It's a pretty cool system but it just needs refining to make it more fluid and enjoyable.

 

This system is why when swinging a weapon indoors you might struggle as your weapon may be hitting walls or the ceiling preventing the weapon from reaching the intended target.

Edited December 27, 2013 by IcyBlade

[funky_mish 75]

Thanks IcyBlade, I didn't realise that. I'll have a little play around and see if I have more success ignoring the crosshair.

[codave 121]

They all act differently. Once I got the hang of using the axes they don't feel as bad anymore.

[Roshi (DayZ) 396]

I was attacked by a guy using his fists. I had a knife and got him a good 2-3 times before he landed a single shot on my jaw and KO'd (then killed me). I reckon some balancing certainly needs to be done between weapons and also between weapons and unarmed. Also, doesnt seem that you can knock zeds down with blunt weapons like you can with your fists if you land a head shot - would make sense if you could (and with more effect!).

Addition of a block or kick/shove back would be sweet although I know setting controls is an issue.

[AP_Norris 1017]

Sometimes I find the hits a bit slow.

But they usually hit where I saw the model hit.

Zombie knockouts could last a bit longer.

But all and all, It's still alpha and I'm sure these are things onboard the tweak train.

[ryan__mc__@hotmail.co.uk 131]

Certain aspects of melee in DayZ are great already, but others need a lot of work. I think the availability of melee weapons is at a really good level, though perhaps being a bit rarer would be ok. When you just spawn, it's nice to quickly have something other than fists to fight the zombies with. Second point: the strength of the melee weapons feels really good. Not overpowered, not useless. Still pretty ineffective against a gun, even if you manage to get in close, unless your opponent can't aim. Good thing.

 

The bad: different melee weapons swing in different ways, right? Some of the weapons are just fine to use. Others (like the crowbar) feel very clumsy and frustrating to me. I was being slapped repeatedly by a zombie while I awkwardly tried to land decent blows.

 

I think this needs some attention, and perhaps while it's worked on melee weapons should all share the same kind of swing (like the fire axe, please! :D)

 

Already having some good fun with the game, so thanks :)

 

Melee is horrible atm ...easy but horrible. Only good part is fighting with fists.

 

Still i dont see it getting sorted any time soon ...they have more serious stuff to sort before fixing melee.

[kozzy420 39]

The red axe is the only melee weapon that feels good so far for the melee. Good start so far but definatly some room for improvement!

[Atomizer 53]

Melee is fairly straight forward and works pretty smoothly in my opinion, definitely needs work, but overall its very usable, better then any other game that doesn't focus on melee combat(don't suggest things like chivalry, DayZ will probably never have a melee system that good, and it doesn't really need it, though it would be cool), and a hell of a lot better then the mod.

 

You can easily take down a zombie with your fists, one hit in the head knocks them out, then beat them while they are on the ground until they get up, then back off and repeat, just put your crosshair on their head and swing, if you aren't the best aim, practice strafing(moving left or right while keeping the zombie in front of you).

 

I was able to take out a group of 10 or more zombies by simply strafing and swinging a wrench at their heads, and if I knocked one out I would take a few extra shots at it on the ground before continuing to strafe(yes, it was clearly on a recently restarted server, and as I was strafing around I drew more zombies to me).

 

If you have a fire axe, then unless a zombies gets the jump on you, zombies are no threat at all, they need to be more of a threat(but that's a topic for another thread...)

 

Different weapons should feel different, if every melee weapon behaved the same, and only differed by damage, we would essentially have what existed in the mod, or even WarZ.

Also, my understanding is the the way the fire axe is right now will change, the animation is "placeholder", no idea what they have planned, and I can only assume the other melee weapons would probably change a bit, but they should still handle differently, not just be the same melee weapon with different skin and damage.