Melee Weapons

Melee weapons is a Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout Tactics, Van Buren and J.E. Sawyer's Fallout Role-Playing Game skill (in Van Buren and J.E. Sawyer's Fallout Role-Playing Game, it was renamed to simply "Melee").

This skill determines your combat effectiveness with all melee weapons. In Fallout: New Vegas, it's also determines your combat effectiveness with non-explosive throwing weapons.

Fallout
The initial skill is determined as follows:
 * 55% + (1% x (Strength + Agility)/2)

Example: A starting Strength of 5 and Agility of 5.


 * 55% + (5 + 5)/2) = 60%

Ways to increase

 * Lost Hills, Thomas: permanent +5%, watch the entire unarmed combat demonstration

Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics
The initial skill is determined as follows:
 * 20% + 2 x (Strength + Agility)

Example: A starting Strength of 5 and Agility of 5.


 * 20% + 2 x (5 + 5) = 40%

In Fallout 2, you start out with only a spear, making melee weapons a highly valuable skill from the beginning.

Ways to increase

 * Arroyo, Cameron: permanent +10%, needs 6 or less Agility, no tagged combat skills
 * Arroyo, Jordan: permanent +10%, needs 36% or more Melee Weapons skill
 * Klamath, John Sullivan: permanent +10%, talk to him about "magic"
 * New Reno, Little Jesus Mordino: permanent +10%, talk to him with a Knife, Combat Knife, Ripper or Throwing Knife; female characters with 6 Charisma or Porn Star title can sleep with him instead for a 10% bonus (if the sex rating is good)

Affected weapons

 * Fallout

Fallout Melee Weapons skill weapons, 2


 * Fallout 2

Fallout 2 Melee Weapons skill weapons, 2


 * Fallout Tactics

Fallout Tactics Melee Weapons skill weapons, 2

Fallout 3
The initial skill is determined as follows:
 * 2 + 2 x Strength + Luck/2)

Example: A starting Strength of 5 and Luck of 5.
 * 2 + 2 x 5 + 5/2) = 15

As this skill increases, so does the damage inflicted with all of these weapons, both in and out of V.A.T.S. mode. The melee weapons skill also allows you to use a melee weapon to block an attack; the higher the skill, the more damage is absorbed.

In choosing a melee weapon, don't focus too heavily on which weapon has the highest damage. A fast weapon like a combat knife or Ripper can make more attacks in a given length of time than a heavy sledgehammer, potentially generating more damage in a shorter amount of time. More attacks also means more chances to stagger an opponent so they can't attack back as quickly, reducing the damage you take. The Shishkebab is generally considered the best melee weapon available as it has the highest base DPS, which is only improved further when combined with Pyromaniac. However, Jack can, depending on whether or not you have a high base critical chance and/or the Ninja, Better Criticals or Finesse perks, deal an astounding amount of damage far superior to that of the Shishkebab in a damage-per-second sense. Jack is especially effective when performing a sneak attack critical hit, since these are known to instantly splatter most enemies.

Ways to increase Melee Weapons

 * Permanent
 * Bobblehead - Melee Weapons (+10)
 * Grognak the Barbarian (+1 or +2 with Comprehension)
 * Little Leaguer (+5 with each rank)
 * Tag! (+15)
 * Temporary
 * Note: Only items adding +5 or more are included.


 * Buffout & alcohol (+2-6 depending on Strength, a perfect Strength of 10 will see no benefit)
 * Vault 77 jumpsuit (+5)
 * Tunnel Snake outfit (+5)
 * Takoma Park little leaguer cap (+5)
 * Kid's baseball cap (+5)
 * Samurai armor (+10) (Mothership Zeta)
 * Tribal power armor (+5) (The Pitt)
 * Pint-Sized Slasher mask (+5) (Point Lookout)

Affected weapons
Fallout 3 Melee Weapons skill weapons, 2

Fallout: New Vegas
The initial skill is determined as follows:
 * 2 + 2 x Strength + Luck/2)

Example: A starting Strength of 5 and Luck of 5.
 * 2 + 2 x 5 + 5/2) = 15

As this skill increases, so does the damage inflicted with all of these weapons, both in and out of V.A.T.S. mode.

When the player has 50 Melee skill points, they have access to special melee moves which consumes a certain amount of AP for a variety of effects in V.A.T.S.
 * All one handed edge weapons (such as combat knives) have the Back Slash special which, at the cost of less damage, delivers a quicker attack.
 * All one handed blunt weapons (such as the lead pipe) have the Lights Out special, which does twice as much damage. This move is identical to the one used by super mutants.
 * All two handed melee weapons (such as the sledgehammer) have the Mauler special, which causes knockback but does much less damage.
 * Staff-like weapons (such as baseball bats) have the Grand Slam special, which does twice as much damage and causes a chance of knockback against the enemy.
 * Unique to the 9 iron is the Fore! special; it does more damage as well as a high chance to cripple a target's head.
 * All "grinding Melee" weapons like the Ripper and the chainsaw have a skill that delivers an overhead swing which does more damage per hit.

It's possible to execute all special melee moves outside of V.A.T.S., although the animation is very different from first person view to third person view, usually being only correct displayed in third person view. The advantage of this technique, while requiring more timing, is that you don't need 50 points on the skill to perform the moves. For performing any special move described above, initiate a power attack (hold attack button) while moving forward.

Ways to increase Melee Weapons

 * Permanent
 * Grognak the Barbarian (+3 or 4 with Comprehension)
 * Tag! (+15)
 * Temporary
 * Note: Only permanent gains or items adding +5 or more are included.


 * Tales of Chivalrie (+10 or 20 with Comprehension)

Affected weapons
Fallout: New Vegas Melee Weapons skill weapons, 2

Fallout

 * Lasher, high elder of the Children of Cathedral.

Fallout 2

 * Frank Horrigan, secret service agent of Enclave and president bodyguard.
 * Lil' Jesus Mordino, son and right hand of Big Jesus Mordino.
 * Sulik, tribal warrior of the Primitive Tribe and a possible companion of the Chosen One.

Fallout 3

 * Cross, star paladin of the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood of Steel and a possible companion of the Lone Wanderer.
 * Fawkes, an intelligent Vault 87 super mutant and possible companion of the Lone Wanderer.
 * Jackson, founder and leader of the Point Lookout tribals.
 * Jingwei, Chinese Army general who commanded the Chinese troops during the Invasion of Alaska.
 * Toshiro Kago, an old samurai of the Azuchi-Momoyama period.
 * Vance, leader of the Family.

Fallout: New Vegas

 * Aurelius of Phoenix, centurion of the Caesar's Legion and commander of Cottonwood Cove.
 * Davison, leader of the Davison's nightkin.
 * Joshua Graham, co-founder of the Caesar's Legion and ex-legate.
 * Lanius, legate of the Caesar's Legion.
 * Lily Bowen, 203-year old nightkin and a possible companion of the Courier.
 * Neil, confidence man and spy of Marcus.
 * Tabitha, leader of the State of Utobitha.
 * Vulpes Inculta, frumentarii leader of the Caesar's Legion.

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel

 * Attis, former commander in the Master's army and founder and general of the Attis Army.
 * Blake, founder and high priest of the Church of the Lost.

Fallout: New Vegas
"ryan-kerr asked: At any point in making Fallout: New Vegas did you consider combining Melee and Unarmed like First Aid and Doctor? The two skills are rather similar (punching someone and using an axe are different true, but so is using a knife and using a sledgehammer,) they appeal to a similar play style and in order for a Melee specialist to get some of the best Melee perks (e.g Piercing Strike and Slayer) they need a significant Unarmed skill even if they don't plan on using unarmed weapons. Thanks.

I did consider that, but I considered it late in the development cycle. Deciding what skills to combine or separate can be tricky for a number of reasons. A distinguished play style or use between them is a good reason to separate them, e.g. Explosives plays pretty differently from Guns, but Guns doesn’t play dramatically different from Energy Weapons. On the other hand, in a skill-based game, folding too many skills together can make characters feel overly similar. If Melee and Unarmed were to remain separate in the future, I think they should feel more distinct in play."

- J.E. Sawyer