A guide to the hand held Melee Weapons
- Weapons Crafted in the Crafting Table (Basic).
- Weapons Crafted in the Machining Table (Advanced).
- Weapons found at the Merchants/Traders (Missions).
Melee Weapons come in various shapes and sizes and whilst some can be found when looting and also be crafted there are some that are only available to barter for at certain Merchants. Early game crude weapons will make the difference between survival and death….
Melee Weapons come in One Handed and Two handed types and whilst One Handed Weapons/Tools can go into any of the 6 Hotbar slots, Two handed ones must go into either the 1 or 2 Hot Bar slot.
For the purposes of this guide, Tools such as Axes, Crowbars and Pickaxes are not included even though they can be used as weapons in an emergency but its not their primary use. Hammers and the Fire Axe are included as although they can be used to break down doors (rather than use Lockpicks) they can make quite good weapons.
This page shows what Weapons are available in the game and how to find/make them and only shows some statistics as an comparison rather than specific details for each one.
Melee Weapon Statistics
- Name: The name of the weapon.
- Weight: The Carry Weight of the weapon.
- Condition: A Blue Bar showing the items durability (Condition).
Update 0.0.8.6 introduced finding many Weapon Loot items with reduced Condition (Durability).
Attributes: (Red indicates a penalty and Green a bonus).
- Damage: The actual damage done by the weapon.
- Impact: The chance to “Stun” or knockback the target.
- Knockdown: The chance to knock a target to the ground.
- Mutilation Rate: The chance to sever a limb or head.
- Speed: The Movement Speed penalty to the Character whilst the weapon is equipped.
Some weapons have a description to further explain its use.
Character Creation Bonuses
Attribute Bonuses
- “Baseball Player” gives +2 to Blunt Weapons Skill.
- “Butcher” gives +2 to Blades Weapons Skill.
- “Body Builder” gives +6 to Damage.
Profession Bonuses
- “Explorer” includes a Steel Machete when first spawned.
The Characters “Damage” statistic is added to Melee Weapons much like it is to Bows.
Update 0.0.8.7 Weapon Repair Kits were introduced which can repair all Melee Weapons and Tools and are available to trade at the Merchants/Traders for x10 Teeth and x1 Toxin.
Weapons Crafted in the Crafting Table
The Stone knife and Wooden Spear are the basic types first crafted either in the Character UI or in a Crafting Table. Once unlocked the next upgrade is to Iron Weapons (Iron Knife, Iron Dagger, Iron Spear, Iron Mace, Iron Hammer, Sledgehammer and Iron Sword) which are crafted in the Crafting Table.
The Meat Cleaver is the only weapon thats needs blueprints to unlock. The basic items require Stone and Wooden Sticks with Iron items needing Iron Ingots to craft.
More information on Crafting Tables | More information on Technology Tree
More information on Smelting | More information on Skills is here.
Tip- Craft Wooden Spears in the Crafting Table to level “Weapon Crafting”.
Weapons Crafted in the Machining Table
A lot of items need to be unlocked in the Technology Tree and a Battery Table needs to be built with enough power to run things. More information on Power is here.
The Machining Table can craft everything the Crafting Table can but quicker and has more advanced options. All of the advanced weapons need Steel to be crafted which requires a Guide:Steel Crafting and is unlocked after the Electric Furnace.
Once Steel in unlocked this now allows the crafting of the Karambit, Kukri, Steel Hammer, Steel Sledgehammer, Fire Axe, Steel Spear, Steel Machete and the Bladed Bat. Crafting these requires Wooden Sticks, Logs and Steel Ingots.
Steel is made in the Electric Furnace (with more information here) and Steel Ingots can be gathered from dismantling unwanted Steel Tools. Dismantling is right clicking on the tool with any Knife equipped and select “Dismantle”.
Tip: Sledgehammers and Steel Sledgehammer’s give Ingots even at low skill levels.
The following Weapons are ones that require Steel but also require further Blueprints/Guides. Blueprints can be found anywhere when looting with the best sources being Cars, Houses, 2nd level of the Police Stations and certain Merchants/Traders.
Update 0090 brought in the new Chainsaw which cuts down Trees very quickly and makes short work of Zombies.
The Chainsaw requires the Tang Dao to be unlocked first and then its own Blueprint with Weapon Crafting 5, Electrical 3 and Mechanical 3 needed along with x2 Steel Ingots and x2 Electrical Wire.
To make it in the Machining Table it requires (x6 Steel Ingots, x4 Electrical Wire, x2 Advanced Parts and x8 Plastic) and is now powered by Small Fuel Bottles with a tank to fit two “Refuels”.
The Small Fuel Bottles can be found when looting and also can be unlocked to craft. 
Weapons found at the Merchants
Some weapons can only be found for barter at certain Merchants/Traders and/or as rewards for completing their “Transmit Signal” missions. More information here.
Some of these weapons can also be found as rare loot drops in Bunkers.
Christmas 2024 saw the introduction of a festive novelty item, The Candy Sledgehammer which is 2 Handed. There was also a Candy Crowbar shaped like a candy cane.
