Steel spear is the best. It's dps is actually more than it states as it can penetrate, causes bleed and also you literally have infinite stamina with spear, best reach and can hit thru broken doors, walls etc etc
I’m just a spear guy through and through. I find it very convenient for those harder difficulty play throughs where you can’t afford to get hit. Forget constantly getting abrasions and infections just jump somewhere high and let the reach of the spear do the work. Moderate on the stamina use and moderate on the DPS, but the crippling and penetration effect is too good for me. Heavily underrated..
What I love about the spear is you can kill zombies without them being able to touch you, also you can use the attack through small broken holes in the doors and the spear master ability to refill your stamina is lifesaving
I like the reach of the Spear as well as the piercing effect the talent has for it. It is considered a bladed weapon so you can put the same mods on it as the machete and get the bleed effect. And since they got rid of the stupid throw mechanic, it is much better.
Other properties to consider: - Timing or lag robustness. Some people suck at timing or play with lag. In general, faster weapons are more forgiving. - Aim dependence. Spears and knifes need good aim when going for the head while clubs and sledges are sortof guaranteed hits. Fully maxed stun batons (that includes Physician) give 10% pity kills even to the worst of shots. - How well does the weapon play with static defenses or doors. It's easy to thread a spear though any hole. Swinging weapons like to collide with the environment. Also: Not considering books, mods, apparel, and consumables while almost everyone playing this game uses at least the first three makes absolutely no sense. The stun baton becomes an easy mode noob weapon with the repulsor mod. Other weapons aren't changed as much, but that stuff does matter a lot in actual gameplay.
I know you said you weren't including mods and the like but remember that the Sledge is the only weapon you can AOE slam everything, Also if you sprint you have higher damage... AND the sledge does insane block damage. So if you have the repair kits available, take a steel sledge and slam zombies, loot crates, hardened cases, safes, and literally anything else.
I personally love the stun baton. But one thing not taken into consideration in this video...spears can hit multiple targets, therefore multiplying the dps.
Definitely use what you like. Once you figure out a weapons quarks you can leverage them to your advantage. The book series are important because they balance the weapons that can otherwise be underwhelming with more damage, higher attacks speeds, additional bleed damage, knock down etc etc. Clubs have a book for rag doll that supremely satisfying and literally never gets old. Knuckles have a book to restore health on kills. My play style favors speed so I can recognize how good the sledge is I just prefer the knife or knuckles.
Good video and nice info. here is food for another video: each mele weapon has a scenario that they are the best. what are the best scenarios for each weapons? where do they each shine more then others? ex: a crowded close room is a great place to use a max out stun baton with repulser mod. If you are fighting a crowd through a close door as a choke point the best weapon is probably the spear since it is easier to aim in a small hole without damaging the door and the penetrator of the spear can kill multiple zombies at the same time.
Nice! Honestly, though, I much prefer playing in a sniper roll for FPS games. I am blind in one eye and my hand/eye coordination gets thrown off easily. It's always frustrated me. But being a sniper/distance shot, I can excel at that. My husband and I have quite a kick-a$$ base in 7 Days. We tried out the base model you had video of a bit back, with the ramp up to a second floor. Well, we took over the NFD Fire Station and have turned it into quite the compound. We've got the ramp (some of it reinforced with metal now), wire trap at the top, turrets on the roof, blade traps running under the ramp (zombies falling off the top have a very small chance of actual surviving for another run up the ramp). We call it the Blender. We have a trench dug out around the entire place, reinforced the walls, used the cubes with the hole in our entrance. It's been fun just sitting there on horde night and blowing zombies left and right off the ramp!
Love the Machete. Replaces needing a knife for Meat harvesting too. Years ago it was the quickest way to riches to mass produce them and sell them to the Trader.
So, Machetes and Spears are extremely good if we mix that with a stealth build + the assassin clothes and Bow and arrow as range you can easily clear zombies across the entire week with no use of guns, and save all bullets for the Horde Nights I still love using the baseball ball for melee, because I love the visual/RP of smashing zombie heads with a bat.
Once you get the timing down, and headshot aiming skill.. I found the sledgehammer to be a lot of fun. Using one now with shotgun as backup and I feel invincible.
for me i like spears for their range, that lil extra reach plus the slow means back peddling is the most effective way to fight in the open, but its piercing makes it good for gates, i use it for roof defence, as in my halls have bars as the roof so i can spear from above, zig zagging to lead the waves into spikes haha during hordes while they bow from the gate, then sit above them and stab down for easy head pops
I personally think spears the best. I can 1 to 3 tap any zombie crowd control knock back. Get mad head shots and they go flying. Ive been swarms by 50+ and the spear is where its at. I also dont use stam when i get head shots and get hella stam back. I legit watched my stam bar not go down after ooke 6 head shot hits.
My go option for melee is the stun baton, the aoe stun and knockdown is just something special, that and you combine it with the euthanasia perk from the medicine skill, and you have a chance to instakill enemies
very informative, thanks for the wonderful video. And I agree with your last comments. The best weapon is the weapon you like to use best :D Now to just be able to find them.
I think this contribution is really interesting, leaving aside the fact that, as you yourself said during the video, the best weapon is the one that everyone considers the most fun to use. That said, I think it was worth adding at the end, the list of the most useful mods to increase the synergies associated with each weapon. Not that for an expert player they are not already known, but it would certainly have served to make this video more encyclopedic. I look forward to seeing the next video on ranged weapons and continue in this way.
Could we get this for Guns? -Such as max damage for a single bullet. -DPS per mag and maybe even DPS for 5 mags taking in account for reloading speed. -And I assume as headshots as well.
im surprised reach wasn't taken into consideration on this video, reach is hugely important to staying safe in a lot of situations, like i would think the spear would make the best melee weapon for heard night cause it's solid damage, and has the reach to swing through a hole without taking damage back from wandering arms.
I do build swaps throughout the game, normally I stick to clubs or spears for the early game, sledges for mid, and the baton for late game. It's pricey getting that fergetin' elixir but it's what I do.
Would be cool to do this comparison with players who have maxed out all the perks and mods optimal for their weapon of choice. For example how does the club fair with maxed perks and all the battered up books. More interesting would be how the stun baton compares with 5 points into physician as well.
Once you have maxed out stats, mods, books, and armor every weapon is OP. At that point it's just a stamina efficiency game. That's why I left all that stuff out and did a bare-bones look at them. For example with the right setup and the repulsor mod stun baton is the ultimate CC weapon. Would destroy all others. Spears can basically kite for ever once you have a full build.
Maxed out club build is hilariously fun. Never run out of stamina and the ragdoll book sometimes just sends zombies into orbit. Might be somewhat of a bug because most just get knocked back 5-10 blocks but sometimes they just get absolutely launched. Fun times.
@@Firespark81 Then you should be testing end game gear. If your not accounting for everything else you'll have by the time you get those weapons. Also doing the dps stats, it's like those in ESO who sit on a target dummy perfecting their skill rotation to max out dps....that wont happen in combat when your fighting things. With the machete, you're not gonna be sitting the zombies laps refreshing the bleed the whole time. You're gonna be moving around trying not to get hit.
I like to change up my weapon load out for starting each new game. I usually have a primary melee and ranged weapon and a secondary for each as well. The stun baton is fun and a favorite but I mix it up and have fun results. The baseball bat has a satisfying feel because we've pretty much all have held a bat. Try something new and you may have a new favorite weapon. You gave me some new ideas for my next map. Great research -thanks
I walk through infested clears with stun baton/repulsor mod. With maxed electrocutions, calculated attack and physician, stun baton is ridiculous. To be fair, I also use spear, sledge and knuckles, and they all shine at times. Love spear for clearing buildings. Great for stabbing through door. Maybe I’ll give machete a try.
Good analysis! You're right, the best weapon is the one you like to use. You can spec into any weapon and play till day 100 and beyond with it. The only thing I'm left wondering now is what gloves would provide the most DPS. Assassin glove do increase attack speed, and you can take advantage of the full set bonus. Biker gloves improve melee speed too, (not sure if it is the same amount as assassin gloves), but the preacher gloves are such a huge flat damage boost. I use the preacher gloves, stam boots and a health chest piece rather than use assassin from mid game on. (Don't ask about the head gear I use, because I usually forget to change out of the barter hat and end up wearing it for weeks in game)
@@vohrtechs5974 I’ve found that interesting too as I’ve caught a couple of videos pertaining to armor as well can’t remember if they were fire sparks specifically though and it’s also interesting. I’ve become iffy to the mixed armor that’s supposedly the best and went more towards full sets for example I’ve really started to like the athletic set with parkour and the stamina and move speed bonus with its food/water use makes quick smash and grabs at multiple poi’s crazy
@@vohrtechs5974 yeah it’s a bit crazy I actually was thinking of setting up a second save, as I’m doing a perk book challenge on my main. But I found grover high and it’s pretty close to start and I’m wondering if I can smash and grab it with explosives. However I haven’t messed with the great heist, rogue gloves and max lockpicks yet
Thank you firespark 81 for this video. I have level 5 machete and I've never really used it that much for melee attacks cuz I was more of a club guy. I they'll give the machete a try and see if the way I play is better. It's hard to argue against your opinion considering you give all the stats.
You missed a number of important factors, such as weapon reach, and hitbox (ease of attacking through doors and bars). Not talking about the perk books is a big miss too, as they add a lot. For example, spears will have a knockdown, bleed, snare, pierce multiple enemies, and the longest reach. Best weapon to kill a group of enemies is a spear.
I think the reason those wasn't mentioned about the books is for video length. However hit box and reach I value the most. Tactically I love spears. It might take a longer time to kill with it and uses more stamina than necessary. However I correct that with spike traps.
@@TryHardCentral i should of explain better. It's early game I'm thinking of later on full perks and a few choice perks in other spots your a complete beast with spears. I've ran multiple horde nights with no base and melee only. Done it with knives, spears, punch weapons, sledgehammers, and stun batons. My favorites are spear and sledgehammer late game for multiple hits. Third is stun batons it does better crowd control because of the weapon mods for it. The only reason some key details in my comments are left out is because for me to explain everything I would need to do my own videos.
personally i think you should have included the books for the weapons because that puts clubs higher than it is. however i do agree machete dmg is insane specially with stealth maxed ( books+ armor + perks)
Thanks dude, nice to know a bit more of how melee weapons work, I liked how you did ignore books etc. as this helps determine what will work better early game. Before 1.0 I would have said hunting knife all the way, its knockdown chance was great with crowd control/stamina/speed and still is. However, machete with the dismemberment is great fun now, one mechanic worth noting is the accuracy required, machete has slash that can hit multiple enemies and dont have to be too accurate to at least cause stagger. Spear you have to be super accurate for example. This might help decide what best suits the player based on their skill/experience
Anyone who thinks the Sledgehammer is a poorer option compared to the Baton needs to watch some Glock 9 vids. Specifically the one where he clears the High School with just the Baton as a test. It's good but he's back on the Sledge. And he's a better player than 99.9% of those commenting here.
Can you do another test like this, but have the best possible mods, etc equipped on each weapon? That would be useful to see which weapon is the best at end game.
I’ve always been a club girl. I just love to watch them fly with power attacks. This play through I’m going for knives though, so I’m excited to try the machete. I’ve never been a fan of the sledgehammer. The swing is just so slow. At least that’s how I find them. Thanks for the video. I always appreciate your work you put into them.
when i start a new game my first weapon of choice is the prim sledgehammer, no matter what build i'm going for later. it has the best chance to knock down and deal with enemies.. i've always considered spears weak and it's not reliable if there's more than 1 target unless you have some sort of wall protecting you but at that point any weapon works the same. sledges are multipurpose tools as well so almost always worth carrying around early game
This is only on paper though, don't get me wrong it can be done but in my experience running a tier 6 infestation insane nightmare with only melee practically speaking the machete is very difficult the only knockdown that you get is when zombies reach the half health treshold, it's way easier to do with a sledgehammer, a club or the baton even withouth the repulsor mod cause of the amount of control that you get.
I kinda agree, paper dps is very different from practical dps. Using the machete on harder difficulties and higher tier poi's needs some support either with guns or stealth then again every weapon is OP with the new stealth armor.
Lack of stagger ruins the machete imo. Knives arw billed as close range, sneaky weapons that prioritize accuracy. I was surprised to find that after the hunting knife, which I loved, theblast upgrade was a machete. A machete like what's in the game is really a sword, which while cool, should be a different class. There should be a buck knife or even dagger that staggers on heashots. Imagine a long stiletto dagger that you thrust like a rapier. Perfect accuracy, a bit of reach for sneaking and safety, and potentially the ability to hit two heads.
My favorite weapon is the steel sledgehammer. Mostly Glock9 influenced me, but it has great stopping power. I just have to time my power attacks and level it up for stamina. But I like to have the Steel spear as a backup melee.
Heck m8 even the stone sledge goes hard. I'll run that thing as long as I can just because it's faster and uses less stamina. But sledgehammers are for sure the best jack of all trades weapon.
Once i switched to higher difficulties (and some crazy mods that increase number of zombies) i only used knives in EARLY GAME. bc you really want to deal as much damage as you can for your limited amount of stamina. they are simply the best melee weapons, hands down. the bleeding is basically cheating :) i always miss other weapons (and bullets !) ability to bleed. -- Late Game i dont know since im restarting over and over and over :) -- adding and adjusting constantly mods (POI, WEAPONS ZOMBIES, VEHICLES, etc etc) until im fully satisfied with the setup. :) ... but i think im soon ready to test long run :)
Stunt baton is just much better than the sledgehammer. Yes you need those books to get it going but once you do that its just so much better than the sledge hammer. It also has a faster attack speed which will be important against bigger crowds of zombies
It has a 10% chance to insta kill zombies if you max out Physician, and with high attack speed and some mods it can compete with Sledge hammer because no matter what difficulty you play on, you always have a 10% to insta kill any zombies which is broken
@@Firespark81you kind of failed to realize a lot of things. I dod something similar to you on a reddit post. And it made me realize how dumb it is making a video without including things that make the weapons good..
Having said the comment below this can also be argued that some weapons are better than others when used a certain way. Ie the crossbow, whilst in stealth can be a game changer and later the compound crossbow...being the only weapon i have seen able to one shot a demon zombie bear. It still requires 2-3 shots with a fully maxed out and modded steel sledge, or 3 shots of AP Ammo with a tier 6 sniper rifle and perks/mods attached.
I appreciate you taking the time to do this. Every time you post a video there's always someone posting "but what about X with Y?" and you often have covered that, but they didn't watch the whole video. I can't imagine what it's like being a content creator and knowing that very few people are actually paying attention or immediately going to the comments to write up a response before they finish the video. I saw this with some of your Valheim videos, specifically when the bug to do 0 dmg using the frost staff to the golems in the mountains existed. Like 90% of the comments were people saying "but you only do 0 dmg and they are resistant to frost dmg, this isn't a bug!" without realizing that this basically made it so anyone could powerlevel magic. I think the fist and stun baton folks won't like this video, but those of us that just want to know what is meta for a solo player at any given point in time will appreciate the video. I used club up until someone said sledge was better and I gotta say the AoE definitely fits my playstyle, and it does seem like I'm gibbing the body parts off of the zombies way more than club ever let me. Once you start getting into Tier 4 and higher the AoE and power of the sledge is just too good to justify sticking with the club, though the club is still one of the best early game single target melee weapons, IMHO, and even more so with the chain mod, too.
Interesting video. Then why do I feel like the club is so far the most OP one? Here is what I have in my mind. If zombies can get close to you, then they can hit u and then u need honey, vitamins, painkillers, bandages or whatever. Sladgehammer is too slow why u have many zombies on you, and costs a crazy amount of stamina, spear does not have a useable power attack. I have tried out machete and club in the same high tier POI. Machete works so well against low and mid tier zombies, but when high tier zombies comes, u just cant 1 shot them, and u also cannot wait for the bleed because they gonna kill u before. With club, u also cannot 1 shot hight tier zombies, but at least they fall to the ground where u can finish them with a 2nd shot, and it resets always your stamina, so as long as u keep killing zombies with club, u never run out of stamina and it was a problem with machete because after a few power attacks, I cant even run away without stamina. So the video says, use Machete because of the dps, or sledgehammer, but in my opinion the only S tier weapon is the club in the game. I just lose less health, I clear POI-s faster and just feels better and quicker. And again, when u r facing only a few zombies, it doesnt matter what weapon u have, but when there are a lot, and u have only 1 gun with u and u have no ammo, or the gun is broken, club can save your life against a ridiculous amount of zombies.
I am fairly new to the game, and have used and liked the stun baton as well with the spears. Currently, I am using clubs and having a lot of fun with them, but I decided that I am going to go sledgehammer because I never have really used that weapon. Curiosity is driving me to try all of the weapons, but this video was very helpful in helping choose the order that I will go through them. Thanks for your efforts with this very informative video!
Spears are amazing. When come across the burning shaft and serrated blade mods. You should try out stacking those on a spear, so much dot damage with the burning and bleeding.
I can go with Brawling alright, but since I am playing on Insane difficulty, and I have issues with dying all the time, I believe my stone sledgehammer with save me, as well as parkour, (And of course, the daring adventurer.) Thank you so much for all the help.
I struggle in 7D2D as a player. My go-to weapons are the spear and pistol until fairly late. I rarely get the machete and due to my medical issues sledgehammers consistently kill me.
thank you for the hard work! My Fav weapons is knuckles but without mags and buffs i know its not that good. But like you said "it doesnt matter as long as you have fun" much love
Is there still a bonus for sprinting at an enemy and timing a machete power slice to behead them? I heard that was a thing at some point but I don't know if it is true, it sure feels that way..
I know this would be pretty much impossible to test but I feel like The robotic sledge should be paired with the baton and taken into account when considering dps and cc capabilities. Unless something goes very wrong, I have the sledge at a choke point in every combat situation.
I tried out spears because it works well with explosives for the type of horde base I made. I think it works really well I like the stamina reset. I don't know how the others work. What build should I try next run?
Sledge. I started playing with it after doing a spear run and I was surprised at how well it can take a crowd of zombies out while running on an insane nightmare server. Stamina management is no issue if you're used to games like Conan Exiles and Valheim. I always avoided it before because of the attack speed, but once you get the timing down, well, I still giggle when I see a group of zombies all get flattened out, and I've been running sledges for several months now.
My preferred weapon is the steel sledgehammer, especially at higher level with perks. I also like the hunting knife but the rag doll effect from hitting zombies with the sledge are amazing and amusing. Stamina tends not to be a problem. If there are too many zombies to use the sledge I use the M60 machine gun.
When all else fails spray and pray. I have always hated the club and favored the sledge but I gotta be honest after learning how brutal the club is I kinda wanna do a run with it. Beating a zombie onto the ground watching it try to get up then fall back down over and over is kinda hilarious.
Yeah things like steel knuckles is super short range while spear has a lot of range. And knife weapons shortish range vs hammers longish range. Also you need to be practical for the difficulty you're on, some weapons are much worse at low level vs others. Like clubs early are better than hammers because you don't have the stamina stats to make hammers work. But you could also get a super early stun baton within the first 6 days and clean house with it and can spec out of it down the line.
I did not see any mention of range ..ie weapon range due to hit boxes, bats, sledge's, clubs have a better range to attack/hit a zombie compared to a knife or machete etc. this is not mentioned in any of the stats or perks but is evident when you play. You can effectively hit a zombie further away from you without getting hit at all when swinging one of the first weapons compared to the closer range of the machete or knife can. You especially see this in higher game levels where zombies become tankier and you are hitting them with closer ranged weapons and still getting hit by them compared to using the ranged melee weapons, regardless of their tiers. But as mention all these things change and are subject to change depending on your build, and now your armor type and any added buffs received from consumables like skull crusher candy, beers, etc Weapons are also dependent on the situation and location, ie trying to swing a weapon in an enclosed environment inside a POI and you hit, walls, furniture, light fixtures, roofs etc..where as a close combat weapon like a knife will slay if weapons are not an option.
No wonder, I've had such an easy time. I've always used blade weapons because they look cool, turns out, they're also the best. Granted, the agility tree has by far the weakest gun skills, so I guess it balances out. Maybe the sledgehammer is technically better because it goes in the same skill tree as shotguns?
If it invis them down so I can shoot into the downed enemies then I’m good with that. By the time I need the sledge again my stam should be regenerated.
Sneak + Machete is GOAT for POI clearing, but I've been trying to find something to use for horde nights. I'll probably take a shot at making a horde base that works well with sledges :)
im a simple guy... hunting knife + crossbow is what i do for questing/scavenging... imo bone knife is probably most broken weapon early... i keep ammo and heavy stuff for horde nights
The Hunting Knife power attack dps is due to the attack speed or how it's so high? That was quite interesting bit of information. Though I guess the Machete dismember chance alone could hide any dps differences :D
should also mention knives have base armor pen unless it was changed since i cant find anything on it, basically used to be bigger zeds have armor and knives bypassed most if not all of it dealing full dmg
I don't like the speed that you swing the sledge hammer. Machete stealth build is my preferred method. I'll look for the candy knife if they make it available in December.
I used to love blades and before that sledges but stun baton with repulse seems to be the best horde melee since the repulse seems to be aoe. but with the broken stealth I am rethinking blades.
This is the best approach, really. Try it all. Although if you are putting skill-points into all the melee weapons, you might be shooting yourself in the foot, unless you got too many skill points to spend. Better to focus on 1 melee weapon early on to keep skill points for more useful abilities.
@@LethalOwl Generally in games with skill systems like this, I love just focusing hard on a couple weapons for a single playthrough. Or in 7d2d's case I just pick one skillset (i.e. strength, agility, etc.) as my primary focus skills and use the weapons from that category. It helps keep replayability for games when I section myself to specific builds or weapons, and I'm a min maxer at heart so it allows me to experience the weapons to their fullest. I had the same mindset for elden ring, and its the main reason I was able to put 700+ hours in that game. Soooo many playstyles, and I haven't even touched some of the hybrid setups in that game yet.
I'm a club guy. Always was, likely always will be. I know it'll never be a chart topper for "best" this or that, but the ragdoll, stuns, reach, timing and stamina use all fall into areas I'm comfortable with. I've never been able to find the right rythm for sledge swinging. Stun batons are too random for my taste. Stealth, spears and bows were kind of useless for me personally when so many zombies auto trigger in POI's regardless of sneaking or not (this may have changed since those days, I'm yet to re-try agi builds) Knuckles and knives look fun but you have to be so close to connect you take so many hits using them I've never been ok with that. Plus my usual skill priorities have always favoured several points into strength early. Bit of a rant I know but play what you like and what you're comfortable with. I'll def be looking into new playthroughs with other builds now 1.0 is out and a bunch of stuff has changed.
Mods, books and skills will improve weapon utility greatly - which weapon is better then? The Stun baton is nuts, knuckles with bleed, Knockdown, armour penetration etc all different improvements...
All of them. I can make you a totally busted build with each of them maxed out. But then you need to ask the question how long will it take for you to be op? Or you could just get your hands on a sledge or machete and feel op instantly.
Unfortunately your math for the highest dps is still off, the sledge has the highest pure dps, because the slower a weapon is the more it gains from attack speed %. 30% AS* to a 1s swing would be .3% and a .7 swing. If let’s say the sledge is a 2 second swing the 30% would be .6% or a 1.4s swing. Increasing its dps at a greater rate. The highest pure dps even with the bleed is still the sledge
this is OK if stamina was not a factor! as with all 6 batter up books you refill full stamin with Heavy attack kills on clubs, this makes the clubs far superior
Spears have crowd control you just have to line them up which in this game 99% of hoard bases already have the zombies lined up
Especially when you have the penetrator perk.. :)
Burning shaft my beloved
* Horde bases….. although I do have a hoard base…..🤪🤪🤪
Steel spear is the best. It's dps is actually more than it states as it can penetrate, causes bleed and also you literally have infinite stamina with spear, best reach and can hit thru broken doors, walls etc etc
I’m just a spear guy through and through. I find it very convenient for those harder difficulty play throughs where you can’t afford to get hit. Forget constantly getting abrasions and infections just jump somewhere high and let the reach of the spear do the work. Moderate on the stamina use and moderate on the DPS, but the crippling and penetration effect is too good for me. Heavily underrated..
What I love about the spear is you can kill zombies without them being able to touch you, also you can use the attack through small broken holes in the doors and the spear master ability to refill your stamina is lifesaving
Yea it is #1 idk what this dude yapping about. Also penetration
I like the reach of the Spear as well as the piercing effect the talent has for it. It is considered a bladed weapon so you can put the same mods on it as the machete and get the bleed effect. And since they got rid of the stupid throw mechanic, it is much better.
flaming sledge is love, flaming sledge is life. Need torch? Sledge! Enemy? Sledge! Ungabunga
Locked door? Sledge! 😂
@@nathancrabb1594 annoying neighbour?sledge!!
@@johnyseimah229 your mom? smas... i mean SLEDGE (sorry)
Other properties to consider:
- Timing or lag robustness. Some people suck at timing or play with lag. In general, faster weapons are more forgiving.
- Aim dependence. Spears and knifes need good aim when going for the head while clubs and sledges are sortof guaranteed hits. Fully maxed stun batons (that includes Physician) give 10% pity kills even to the worst of shots.
- How well does the weapon play with static defenses or doors. It's easy to thread a spear though any hole. Swinging weapons like to collide with the environment.
Also: Not considering books, mods, apparel, and consumables while almost everyone playing this game uses at least the first three makes absolutely no sense.
The stun baton becomes an easy mode noob weapon with the repulsor mod. Other weapons aren't changed as much, but that stuff does matter a lot in actual gameplay.
I know you said you weren't including mods and the like but remember that the Sledge is the only weapon you can AOE slam everything, Also if you sprint you have higher damage... AND the sledge does insane block damage. So if you have the repair kits available, take a steel sledge and slam zombies, loot crates, hardened cases, safes, and literally anything else.
I personally love the stun baton. But one thing not taken into consideration in this video...spears can hit multiple targets, therefore multiplying the dps.
Definitely use what you like. Once you figure out a weapons quarks you can leverage them to your advantage.
The book series are important because they balance the weapons that can otherwise be underwhelming with more damage, higher attacks speeds, additional bleed damage, knock down etc etc. Clubs have a book for rag doll that supremely satisfying and literally never gets old. Knuckles have a book to restore health on kills.
My play style favors speed so I can recognize how good the sledge is I just prefer the knife or knuckles.
Good video and nice info.
here is food for another video: each mele weapon has a scenario that they are the best. what are the best scenarios for each weapons? where do they each shine more then others?
ex: a crowded close room is a great place to use a max out stun baton with repulser mod. If you are fighting a crowd through a close door as a choke point the best weapon is probably the spear since it is easier to aim in a small hole without damaging the door and the penetrator of the spear can kill multiple zombies at the same time.
Nice! Honestly, though, I much prefer playing in a sniper roll for FPS games. I am blind in one eye and my hand/eye coordination gets thrown off easily. It's always frustrated me. But being a sniper/distance shot, I can excel at that.
My husband and I have quite a kick-a$$ base in 7 Days. We tried out the base model you had video of a bit back, with the ramp up to a second floor. Well, we took over the NFD Fire Station and have turned it into quite the compound. We've got the ramp (some of it reinforced with metal now), wire trap at the top, turrets on the roof, blade traps running under the ramp (zombies falling off the top have a very small chance of actual surviving for another run up the ramp). We call it the Blender. We have a trench dug out around the entire place, reinforced the walls, used the cubes with the hole in our entrance. It's been fun just sitting there on horde night and blowing zombies left and right off the ramp!
Love the Machete. Replaces needing a knife for Meat harvesting too. Years ago it was the quickest way to riches to mass produce them and sell them to the Trader.
I like the spear because of distance from the zombies nice short distance attack it keeps the zombies from getting too close.
So, Machetes and Spears are extremely good
if we mix that with a stealth build + the assassin clothes and Bow and arrow as range
you can easily clear zombies across the entire week with no use of guns, and save all bullets for the Horde Nights
I still love using the baseball ball for melee, because I love the visual/RP of smashing zombie heads with a bat.
I like the baseball bat combo with the barbed wire mod for that classic Lucille look.
in Physician batons get a chance like 30% or something to straight up just kill. I think that needs considerations.
Once you get the timing down, and headshot aiming skill.. I found the sledgehammer to be a lot of fun. Using one now with shotgun as backup and I feel invincible.
X2
for me i like spears for their range, that lil extra reach plus the slow means back peddling is the most effective way to fight in the open, but its piercing makes it good for gates, i use it for roof defence, as in my halls have bars as the roof so i can spear from above, zig zagging to lead the waves into spikes haha during hordes while they bow from the gate, then sit above them and stab down for easy head pops
I personally think spears the best. I can 1 to 3 tap any zombie crowd control knock back. Get mad head shots and they go flying. Ive been swarms by 50+ and the spear is where its at. I also dont use stam when i get head shots and get hella stam back. I legit watched my stam bar not go down after ooke 6 head shot hits.
My go option for melee is the stun baton, the aoe stun and knockdown is just something special, that and you combine it with the euthanasia perk from the medicine skill, and you have a chance to instakill enemies
Yeah even though the damage isn't that good with them you can easily switch to a shotgun and 1 tap the zombies when they're stunned
Definitely a steel spear guy right here, distance, speed, low stamina, decent damage, and poking zombies through doors.
very informative, thanks for the wonderful video. And I agree with your last comments. The best weapon is the weapon you like to use best :D Now to just be able to find them.
Spear is superior because of the range. Increase your knowledge and attack speed and it’s not even close.
I think this contribution is really interesting, leaving aside the fact that, as you yourself said during the video, the best weapon is the one that everyone considers the most fun to use. That said, I think it was worth adding at the end, the list of the most useful mods to increase the synergies associated with each weapon. Not that for an expert player they are not already known, but it would certainly have served to make this video more encyclopedic. I look forward to seeing the next video on ranged weapons and continue in this way.
Could we get this for Guns?
-Such as max damage for a single bullet.
-DPS per mag and maybe even DPS for 5 mags taking in account for reloading speed.
-And I assume as headshots as well.
im surprised reach wasn't taken into consideration on this video, reach is hugely important to staying safe in a lot of situations, like i would think the spear would make the best melee weapon for heard night cause it's solid damage, and has the reach to swing through a hole without taking damage back from wandering arms.
Team stun baton
I do build swaps throughout the game, normally I stick to clubs or spears for the early game, sledges for mid, and the baton for late game. It's pricey getting that fergetin' elixir but it's what I do.
Definitely having fun and i appreciate all the research you do. Have a blessed day
Would be cool to do this comparison with players who have maxed out all the perks and mods optimal for their weapon of choice.
For example how does the club fair with maxed perks and all the battered up books.
More interesting would be how the stun baton compares with 5 points into physician as well.
Once you have maxed out stats, mods, books, and armor every weapon is OP. At that point it's just a stamina efficiency game. That's why I left all that stuff out and did a bare-bones look at them. For example with the right setup and the repulsor mod stun baton is the ultimate CC weapon. Would destroy all others. Spears can basically kite for ever once you have a full build.
Maxed out club build is hilariously fun. Never run out of stamina and the ragdoll book sometimes just sends zombies into orbit. Might be somewhat of a bug because most just get knocked back 5-10 blocks but sometimes they just get absolutely launched. Fun times.
@@Firespark81 Then you should be testing end game gear. If your not accounting for everything else you'll have by the time you get those weapons.
Also doing the dps stats, it's like those in ESO who sit on a target dummy perfecting their skill rotation to max out dps....that wont happen in combat when your fighting things. With the machete, you're not gonna be sitting the zombies laps refreshing the bleed the whole time. You're gonna be moving around trying not to get hit.
I like to change up my weapon load out for starting each new game.
I usually have a primary melee and ranged weapon and a secondary for each as well. The stun baton is fun and a favorite but I mix it up and have fun results.
The baseball bat has a satisfying feel because we've pretty much all have held a bat. Try something new and you may have a new favorite weapon.
You gave me some new ideas for my next map. Great research -thanks
I walk through infested clears with stun baton/repulsor mod. With maxed electrocutions, calculated attack and physician, stun baton is ridiculous. To be fair, I also use spear, sledge and knuckles, and they all shine at times. Love spear for clearing buildings. Great for stabbing through door. Maybe I’ll give machete a try.
i dont care what numbers say, i like club, i love machete, but that reach you have with spear is uffffff..
Good analysis! You're right, the best weapon is the one you like to use. You can spec into any weapon and play till day 100 and beyond with it. The only thing I'm left wondering now is what gloves would provide the most DPS. Assassin glove do increase attack speed, and you can take advantage of the full set bonus. Biker gloves improve melee speed too, (not sure if it is the same amount as assassin gloves), but the preacher gloves are such a huge flat damage boost. I use the preacher gloves, stam boots and a health chest piece rather than use assassin from mid game on.
(Don't ask about the head gear I use, because I usually forget to change out of the barter hat and end up wearing it for weeks in game)
@@vohrtechs5974 I’ve found that interesting too as I’ve caught a couple of videos pertaining to armor as well can’t remember if they were fire sparks specifically though and it’s also interesting. I’ve become iffy to the mixed armor that’s supposedly the best and went more towards full sets for example I’ve really started to like the athletic set with parkour and the stamina and move speed bonus with its food/water use makes quick smash and grabs at multiple poi’s crazy
Yep that 20% move speed on the shoes is really good! I will have to try that on my next light armor playthru!
@@vohrtechs5974 yeah it’s a bit crazy I actually was thinking of setting up a second save, as I’m doing a perk book challenge on my main. But I found grover high and it’s pretty close to start and I’m wondering if I can smash and grab it with explosives. However I haven’t messed with the great heist, rogue gloves and max lockpicks yet
Amazing comparison, well done Sir! I think a ranged weapon version would be awesome.
Thank you firespark 81 for this video. I have level 5 machete and I've never really used it that much for melee attacks cuz I was more of a club guy. I they'll give the machete a try and see if the way I play is better. It's hard to argue against your opinion considering you give all the stats.
You missed a number of important factors, such as weapon reach, and hitbox (ease of attacking through doors and bars).
Not talking about the perk books is a big miss too, as they add a lot. For example, spears will have a knockdown, bleed, snare, pierce multiple enemies, and the longest reach. Best weapon to kill a group of enemies is a spear.
I think the reason those wasn't mentioned about the books is for video length.
However hit box and reach I value the most. Tactically I love spears. It might take a longer time to kill with it and uses more stamina than necessary. However I correct that with spike traps.
@@MildarValsik you don't use spears otherwise you would know the more u use it the more stamina you have lol
@@TryHardCentral i should of explain better. It's early game I'm thinking of later on full perks and a few choice perks in other spots your a complete beast with spears. I've ran multiple horde nights with no base and melee only. Done it with knives, spears, punch weapons, sledgehammers, and stun batons. My favorites are spear and sledgehammer late game for multiple hits. Third is stun batons it does better crowd control because of the weapon mods for it.
The only reason some key details in my comments are left out is because for me to explain everything I would need to do my own videos.
@@MildarValsik you should do a video then I'd watch
Great vid. I am going to give sledge hammers a try now. Subbed! 🤘
personally i think you should have included the books for the weapons because that puts clubs higher than it is. however i do agree machete dmg is insane specially with stealth maxed ( books+ armor + perks)
Thanks dude, nice to know a bit more of how melee weapons work, I liked how you did ignore books etc. as this helps determine what will work better early game. Before 1.0 I would have said hunting knife all the way, its knockdown chance was great with crowd control/stamina/speed and still is. However, machete with the dismemberment is great fun now, one mechanic worth noting is the accuracy required, machete has slash that can hit multiple enemies and dont have to be too accurate to at least cause stagger. Spear you have to be super accurate for example. This might help decide what best suits the player based on their skill/experience
Anyone who thinks the Sledgehammer is a poorer option compared to the Baton needs to watch some Glock 9 vids. Specifically the one where he clears the High School with just the Baton as a test. It's good but he's back on the Sledge. And he's a better player than 99.9% of those commenting here.
Can you do another test like this, but have the best possible mods, etc equipped on each weapon? That would be useful to see which weapon is the best at end game.
I’ve always been a club girl. I just love to watch them fly with power attacks. This play through I’m going for knives though, so I’m excited to try the machete. I’ve never been a fan of the sledgehammer. The swing is just so slow. At least that’s how I find them. Thanks for the video. I always appreciate your work you put into them.
when i start a new game my first weapon of choice is the prim sledgehammer, no matter what build i'm going for later. it has the best chance to knock down and deal with enemies.. i've always considered spears weak and it's not reliable if there's more than 1 target unless you have some sort of wall protecting you but at that point any weapon works the same. sledges are multipurpose tools as well so almost always worth carrying around early game
I generally only use two weapons: sledge or machete. I didn't know maths behind it, but now I do.
Yay! My daily dose of video goodness!
This is only on paper though, don't get me wrong it can be done but in my experience running a tier 6 infestation insane nightmare with only melee practically speaking the machete is very difficult the only knockdown that you get is when zombies reach the half health treshold, it's way easier to do with a sledgehammer, a club or the baton even withouth the repulsor mod cause of the amount of control that you get.
I kinda agree, paper dps is very different from practical dps. Using the machete on harder difficulties and higher tier poi's needs some support either with guns or stealth then again every weapon is OP with the new stealth armor.
Lack of stagger ruins the machete imo. Knives arw billed as close range, sneaky weapons that prioritize accuracy. I was surprised to find that after the hunting knife, which I loved, theblast upgrade was a machete.
A machete like what's in the game is really a sword, which while cool, should be a different class. There should be a buck knife or even dagger that staggers on heashots.
Imagine a long stiletto dagger that you thrust like a rapier. Perfect accuracy, a bit of reach for sneaking and safety, and potentially the ability to hit two heads.
The automatic shotgun and the desert vulture are god-like
Spears got that range though
That was a fun and informative journey. 👍
I use a mix of stun baton and machete. Works best for me. Used to use spears since I was a Perception player before switching melee weapons.
My favorite weapon is the steel sledgehammer. Mostly Glock9 influenced me, but it has great stopping power. I just have to time my power attacks and level it up for stamina. But I like to have the Steel spear as a backup melee.
Heck m8 even the stone sledge goes hard. I'll run that thing as long as I can just because it's faster and uses less stamina. But sledgehammers are for sure the best jack of all trades weapon.
Once i switched to higher difficulties (and some crazy mods that increase number of zombies) i only used knives in EARLY GAME. bc you really want to deal as much damage as you can for your limited amount of stamina. they are simply the best melee weapons, hands down. the bleeding is basically cheating :) i always miss other weapons (and bullets !) ability to bleed. -- Late Game i dont know since im restarting over and over and over :) -- adding and adjusting constantly mods (POI, WEAPONS ZOMBIES, VEHICLES, etc etc) until im fully satisfied with the setup. :) ... but i think im soon ready to test long run :)
"Best" is always situational
In video games there's almost always a best item in every category
Not in this game. The best is brawler
Stunt baton is just much better than the sledgehammer. Yes you need those books to get it going but once you do that its just so much better than the sledge hammer. It also has a faster attack speed which will be important against bigger crowds of zombies
It has a 10% chance to insta kill zombies if you max out Physician, and with high attack speed and some mods it can compete with Sledge hammer because no matter what difficulty you play on, you always have a 10% to insta kill any zombies which is broken
It depends too on if you're good with your weapon. Sledge is a no go for me. I've never used them since 2016
I would actually like to see a video on BiS (Best in Slot) mods for all the weapons and tools. :) Or at least your opinion since it may be objective.
Subjective*
Bro is in another dimension entirely.
Awww did I not pick your favorite weapon and it made you sad lol
@@Firespark81you kind of failed to realize a lot of things. I dod something similar to you on a reddit post. And it made me realize how dumb it is making a video without including things that make the weapons good..
Having said the comment below this can also be argued that some weapons are better than others when used a certain way. Ie the crossbow, whilst in stealth can be a game changer and later the compound crossbow...being the only weapon i have seen able to one shot a demon zombie bear. It still requires 2-3 shots with a fully maxed out and modded steel sledge, or 3 shots of AP Ammo with a tier 6 sniper rifle and perks/mods attached.
I appreciate you taking the time to do this. Every time you post a video there's always someone posting "but what about X with Y?" and you often have covered that, but they didn't watch the whole video. I can't imagine what it's like being a content creator and knowing that very few people are actually paying attention or immediately going to the comments to write up a response before they finish the video. I saw this with some of your Valheim videos, specifically when the bug to do 0 dmg using the frost staff to the golems in the mountains existed. Like 90% of the comments were people saying "but you only do 0 dmg and they are resistant to frost dmg, this isn't a bug!" without realizing that this basically made it so anyone could powerlevel magic. I think the fist and stun baton folks won't like this video, but those of us that just want to know what is meta for a solo player at any given point in time will appreciate the video. I used club up until someone said sledge was better and I gotta say the AoE definitely fits my playstyle, and it does seem like I'm gibbing the body parts off of the zombies way more than club ever let me. Once you start getting into Tier 4 and higher the AoE and power of the sledge is just too good to justify sticking with the club, though the club is still one of the best early game single target melee weapons, IMHO, and even more so with the chain mod, too.
ranged weapons is probably the m60 the goat lmao
Interesting video. Then why do I feel like the club is so far the most OP one? Here is what I have in my mind. If zombies can get close to you, then they can hit u and then u need honey, vitamins, painkillers, bandages or whatever. Sladgehammer is too slow why u have many zombies on you, and costs a crazy amount of stamina, spear does not have a useable power attack. I have tried out machete and club in the same high tier POI. Machete works so well against low and mid tier zombies, but when high tier zombies comes, u just cant 1 shot them, and u also cannot wait for the bleed because they gonna kill u before. With club, u also cannot 1 shot hight tier zombies, but at least they fall to the ground where u can finish them with a 2nd shot, and it resets always your stamina, so as long as u keep killing zombies with club, u never run out of stamina and it was a problem with machete because after a few power attacks, I cant even run away without stamina. So the video says, use Machete because of the dps, or sledgehammer, but in my opinion the only S tier weapon is the club in the game. I just lose less health, I clear POI-s faster and just feels better and quicker. And again, when u r facing only a few zombies, it doesnt matter what weapon u have, but when there are a lot, and u have only 1 gun with u and u have no ammo, or the gun is broken, club can save your life against a ridiculous amount of zombies.
Feels crazy to me he didnť even mention the stamina refill on clubs. U basically can use solely heavy attacks without any penalisation
U have no clue how melee works in this game do you? Club is NOT S TIER. It's the worst melee weapon lmao
the steel club is the most op .. even in hardest difficulty ..if you read all the club book its literally max stamina power attack swing everyday
machete has 50% instant kill with the decapitation...no books or skill points needed
Sry but steel club is literally bottom of the barrel now
I am fairly new to the game, and have used and liked the stun baton as well with the spears. Currently, I am using clubs and having a lot of fun with them, but I decided that I am going to go sledgehammer because I never have really used that weapon. Curiosity is driving me to try all of the weapons, but this video was very helpful in helping choose the order that I will go through them. Thanks for your efforts with this very informative video!
Spears are amazing. When come across the burning shaft and serrated blade mods. You should try out stacking those on a spear, so much dot damage with the burning and bleeding.
Yeah, I stick to my sledgehammer
Great video Buddy.
If you did this for some popular overhaul mods... I'd watch that 😊
I’m old school. I only use the club wrapped in barb wire and the smg. I also wear full biker gear. Seems to work very well.
I can go with Brawling alright, but since I am playing on Insane difficulty, and I have issues with dying all the time, I believe my stone sledgehammer with save me, as well as parkour, (And of course, the daring adventurer.) Thank you so much for all the help.
I struggle in 7D2D as a player. My go-to weapons are the spear and pistol until fairly late. I rarely get the machete and due to my medical issues sledgehammers consistently kill me.
thank you for the hard work! My Fav weapons is knuckles but without mags and buffs i know its not that good.
But like you said "it doesnt matter as long as you have fun" much love
Great Video! Well done.
Is there still a bonus for sprinting at an enemy and timing a machete power slice to behead them? I heard that was a thing at some point but I don't know if it is true, it sure feels that way..
I know this would be pretty much impossible to test but I feel like The robotic sledge should be paired with the baton and taken into account when considering dps and cc capabilities.
Unless something goes very wrong, I have the sledge at a choke point in every combat situation.
I tried out spears because it works well with explosives for the type of horde base I made. I think it works really well I like the stamina reset. I don't know how the others work. What build should I try next run?
Sledge. I started playing with it after doing a spear run and I was surprised at how well it can take a crowd of zombies out while running on an insane nightmare server. Stamina management is no issue if you're used to games like Conan Exiles and Valheim. I always avoided it before because of the attack speed, but once you get the timing down, well, I still giggle when I see a group of zombies all get flattened out, and I've been running sledges for several months now.
How about best modifications for each weapon
Machete with flaming is fun. My 2nd horde night I decapitated so many zombies.
Flame mod doesn't even work on the knives
@@joeloweryourexpectationsbiden it work on machetes but I don't know about knives. Will defenetly check it out
@@Eg00N1 nope just machetes
Or rather, no not on knives but it works also on like, axes and maybe spears?
My preferred weapon is the steel sledgehammer, especially at higher level with perks. I also like the hunting knife but the rag doll effect from hitting zombies with the sledge are amazing and amusing. Stamina tends not to be a problem. If there are too many zombies to use the sledge I use the M60 machine gun.
When all else fails spray and pray. I have always hated the club and favored the sledge but I gotta be honest after learning how brutal the club is I kinda wanna do a run with it. Beating a zombie onto the ground watching it try to get up then fall back down over and over is kinda hilarious.
Your forgot to include brawling + beer. That is 50% more DPS. Also you heal 1hp per hit.
No I didnt I talk about why I did not include such things at the start of the video.
@@Firespark81yeah because you know knuckle would be best
You never mentioned a spear's range.
Yeah things like steel knuckles is super short range while spear has a lot of range.
And knife weapons shortish range vs hammers longish range.
Also you need to be practical for the difficulty you're on, some weapons are much worse at low level vs others. Like clubs early are better than hammers because you don't have the stamina stats to make hammers work. But you could also get a super early stun baton within the first 6 days and clean house with it and can spec out of it down the line.
I did not see any mention of range ..ie weapon range due to hit boxes, bats, sledge's, clubs have a better range to attack/hit a zombie compared to a knife or machete etc. this is not mentioned in any of the stats or perks but is evident when you play. You can effectively hit a zombie further away from you without getting hit at all when swinging one of the first weapons compared to the closer range of the machete or knife can. You especially see this in higher game levels where zombies become tankier and you are hitting them with closer ranged weapons and still getting hit by them compared to using the ranged melee weapons, regardless of their tiers.
But as mention all these things change and are subject to change depending on your build, and now your armor type and any added buffs received from consumables like skull crusher candy, beers, etc
Weapons are also dependent on the situation and location, ie trying to swing a weapon in an enclosed environment inside a POI and you hit, walls, furniture, light fixtures, roofs etc..where as a close combat weapon like a knife will slay if weapons are not an option.
I agree with this assessment. Id say Sledge and knife are the best to pick up early
range no factor here? bc it feels like i can stab zombies 4m away with the spear😂😂
No wonder, I've had such an easy time. I've always used blade weapons because they look cool, turns out, they're also the best. Granted, the agility tree has by far the weakest gun skills, so I guess it balances out. Maybe the sledgehammer is technically better because it goes in the same skill tree as shotguns?
If it invis them down so I can shoot into the downed enemies then I’m good with that. By the time I need the sledge again my stam should be regenerated.
Knuckles all the way for melee if you use beer. If not, use machete. This is all assuming you're not using books or special mods to change them.
Not just beer lmao
@sauronikov9254 idk about you but beer and knuckles with iron raider is all I need to go full on Doomguy on blood moons.
Sneak + Machete is GOAT for POI clearing, but I've been trying to find something to use for horde nights. I'll probably take a shot at making a horde base that works well with sledges :)
Yea sneaking will always be op af
i think you should of added weapon mods into this on top of, especially burning shaft
im a simple guy... hunting knife + crossbow is what i do for questing/scavenging... imo bone knife is probably most broken weapon early... i keep ammo and heavy stuff for horde nights
Was playing Knifes and the Machetes when 1.0 dropped, now I will try Sledgehammers.
The Hunting Knife power attack dps is due to the attack speed or how it's so high? That was quite interesting bit of information.
Though I guess the Machete dismember chance alone could hide any dps differences :D
should also mention knives have base armor pen unless it was changed since i cant find anything on it, basically used to be bigger zeds have armor and knives bypassed most if not all of it dealing full dmg
Steel Knucks + Weighted Head mod
I don't like the speed that you swing the sledge hammer. Machete stealth build is my preferred method. I'll look for the candy knife if they make it available in December.
I used to love blades and before that sledges but stun baton with repulse seems to be the best horde melee since the repulse seems to be aoe. but with the broken stealth I am rethinking blades.
i love to switch between weapons, so i can get the full exp of the game.. and all playstyles are worth a try.. nice video btw
This is the best approach, really. Try it all. Although if you are putting skill-points into all the melee weapons, you might be shooting yourself in the foot, unless you got too many skill points to spend. Better to focus on 1 melee weapon early on to keep skill points for more useful abilities.
@@LethalOwl Generally in games with skill systems like this, I love just focusing hard on a couple weapons for a single playthrough. Or in 7d2d's case I just pick one skillset (i.e. strength, agility, etc.) as my primary focus skills and use the weapons from that category. It helps keep replayability for games when I section myself to specific builds or weapons, and I'm a min maxer at heart so it allows me to experience the weapons to their fullest. I had the same mindset for elden ring, and its the main reason I was able to put 700+ hours in that game. Soooo many playstyles, and I haven't even touched some of the hybrid setups in that game yet.
I'm a club guy. Always was, likely always will be. I know it'll never be a chart topper for "best" this or that, but the ragdoll, stuns, reach, timing and stamina use all fall into areas I'm comfortable with. I've never been able to find the right rythm for sledge swinging. Stun batons are too random for my taste. Stealth, spears and bows were kind of useless for me personally when so many zombies auto trigger in POI's regardless of sneaking or not (this may have changed since those days, I'm yet to re-try agi builds) Knuckles and knives look fun but you have to be so close to connect you take so many hits using them I've never been ok with that. Plus my usual skill priorities have always favoured several points into strength early. Bit of a rant I know but play what you like and what you're comfortable with. I'll def be looking into new playthroughs with other builds now 1.0 is out and a bunch of stuff has changed.
For me its the range with spears... Its soo big, I can do lots of new ways to cheese zombies
I still prefer club over sledgehammer solely for the fact I've broken my own hoard defensive position with the steel sledgehammer 😅
Mods, books and skills will improve weapon utility greatly - which weapon is better then? The Stun baton is nuts, knuckles with bleed, Knockdown, armour penetration etc all different improvements...
All of them. I can make you a totally busted build with each of them maxed out. But then you need to ask the question how long will it take for you to be op? Or you could just get your hands on a sledge or machete and feel op instantly.
@@Firespark81every weapon is not busted... you just havnt tested properly
Unfortunately your math for the highest dps is still off, the sledge has the highest pure dps, because the slower a weapon is the more it gains from attack speed %. 30% AS* to a 1s swing would be .3% and a .7 swing. If let’s say the sledge is a 2 second swing the 30% would be .6% or a 1.4s swing. Increasing its dps at a greater rate. The highest pure dps even with the bleed is still the sledge
this is OK if stamina was not a factor! as with all 6 batter up books you refill full stamin with Heavy attack kills on clubs, this makes the clubs far superior
@@glitchhunter8672 …. Killing blows with sledge give you back 30 and with correct gear you never run out of steam ever..
@@glitchhunter8672 also you’re basically always 1 shotting mobs with the sledge