Melee balance

[BeefBacon 1185]

At the minute it seems as though there are only three melee weapons. The fireaxe, the hatchet and every other melee weapon.

 

I'd expect the machete to do more damage than the baseball bat. Like, a lot more. But it doesn't. I circle around zombies for a full minute slashing at their heads with a pristine machete waiting for them to die. 

 

It seems as though you reach your melee endgame when you find a fireaxe, but if you don't have a hatchet or a fireaxe you may as well be using your fists for all the good that crowbar will do you.

 

So I propose that melee weapons be reworked a little bit. Two-handed weapons should be slow, and one handed should be fast. The machete should be able to kill a zombie in 3- 4 hits, not 20. There should also be advantages for different weapons not only based on damage. For example, baseball bats and shovels should be very likely to knock zombies and players down. I've noticed that if you can hit a zombie in the back with a baseball bat it'll go down, but if you smack it in the face while it's sprinting at you then it'll just shrug it off.

 

So I'd like to see further balancing to the melee weapons, giving some weapons advantages over others that aren't based entirely on the damage that they do.

 

Also wouldn't mind a shove mechanic so that melee fights with zombies don't devolve into running in a small circle with them trying to catch up with you.

 

Also also, perhaps a system whereby melee weapons can break entirely, or at least one where the condition actually matters as thus far I've not seen a difference between a badly damaged fireaxe and a pristine one. Feel free to correct me on that.

 

 

Thoughts?

[Aamunkajo 110]

Thought about this also, take these beans :)

[So Sexy 259]

You forgot about the fire extinguisher, its good too.

[amiasfree 262]

I just don't get zed health sometimes. I one shotted one once with a baseball bat, hit it right in the head while it was leaping at me and killed it. Then some chick one with a pink blazer and skirt comes out of the trees and it takes 10+ hits just to knock it down. 

[irishroy 1347]

Machete.

Well.

According to this

(if u can't wait: 1:50)

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReDuH_L0aSk

a machete with enough speed and momentum could crash a skull,

and easily decapitate a zed (rotten flesh and weak bones).

So aimed at the head it should take a maximum of 1-3 hits per Zed.

 

 

Just for shits and giggles I show you these slingshots:

and finally:

 

 

Also, melee weapons like the hammer, wrench or fire ex. should deal less "kill dmg", but have higher chance of knocking out (blunt dmg).

Edited March 24, 2014 by irishroy

[srgntpepper 85]

Machete.

Well.

According to this

 

a machete with enough speed and momentum could crash a skull,

and easily decapitate a zed (rotten flesh and weak bones).

So aimed at the head it should take a maximum of 1-3 hits per Zed.

 

It would be rad if machetes could do something like that in game.

 

I think they still plan on modifying melee.  I am almost certain they are going to put in different damage types at some point (blunt/piercing/ballistic), the damage that the machete does right now is definitely not anywhere close to being finished.  With pre-alpha games, they just need to continuously add in the content they want in game, and modify it once everything they want is added in, so it will probably be a little while before they work on the machete.

[Dchil 829]

The hoe isn't that bad. Maybe hatchet damage or better. Though my favorite new spawn melee is the hacksaw, it's got respectable damage and it can shorten that shotgun you so desire.