Rage / Run / Melee Truely Terrible in A18

[Merandor]

Although there seem to be lots of great improvements in A18, Melee is really terrible. Zombies now randomly choose to sprint after you and can reach with their hands a longer distance than you can hit with a club/torch. To make it worse they seem to have massive damage pools and inflict a bleed or infection almost every single time they hit you.

 

I used to love melee but seriously see little point in playing this.

[Gazz]

Yes, that rage is one of the best additions in A18. Melee was horribly boring before.

[Khulkhuum]

Some points to address:

1. Get armor. Any armor. Gather even simple cloth, duct tape and make padded armor, which doesn't slow you down, but gives decent protection. Having it on where you can you'll feel the difference, I certainly do.

2. Wait for the initial swing of a zombie. They usually start swinging as you come closer for the first time and when they miss it's some time before they can attack again. There's your chance to land a successful hit on the head and if it staggers, you've can hit again before taking a few steps back.

3. If a zombie gets enraged, start slowly backpedaling. If its speed is greater than you anticipated (starts gaining on you), quickly turn around and run off a few meters. In most cases they won't be able to catch you when you're running and the distance it has to take to catch you will more often than not make it stop enraging.

4. If you feel uncomfortable with hitting multiple times, relying on Zs not enraging, focus on doing single power attacks. Good aim is needed using point #2 to attack after they did they swing. Back off a few steps and if they get enraged after you hit them, you got enough space to run a few more meters for them to stop being enraged.

5. The lowest difficulty makes zombies not only easier, but also has very low chance (if any at all) for Zs to get enraged.

6. Try different weapons. Knives have short reach, but give bleeding debuff. Clubs are okay, but heard spears have very good reach and attack fast.

 

Most of this is trial and error. If you spend enough time, surely you'll manage to get a good grip on something and move forward from that.

[Katitof]

Yes, that rage is one of the best additions in A18. Melee was horribly boring before.

 

That's without question, but melee seems to be extremely inconsistent now, I keep missing swings I had no problem at all landing on previous alpha and glancing blows don't feel like they work at all(I know they do, but still, rarely any effect).

[ubai]

I like the rage. Before I could easily wreck a whole horde of daytime zombies by backpedaling. Now I have to be a lot more careful, and even when I win I get hit a few times. It's not perfect, but I think it's a step in the right direction.

[aptalley]

The rage is terrible, turning to run or taking a hit after most melee swings is not exciting/fun. Melee has never been boring in this game. It has been my preferred method of combat even back to A14.

[Scyris]

The rage is terrible, turning to run or taking a hit after most melee swings is not exciting/fun. Melee has never been boring in this game. It has been my preferred method of combat even back to A14.

 

That was mine to, but it changed in a18, With the rage mechanic, how good guns are now and how common ammo seems to be I've been leaning more towards guns than ever before. I carry 1 gun that uses each ammo type at all times. Usually a Pistol (as the smg's damage is crap), a shotgun (double barrel or better pump) as the blunderbus is crap. and for 7.62mm, Usually an ak47, or a m60 if I can find one whichever hits harder, as I am all about dmg per shot. Hunting rifle i've seen have damage of over 100 with t4-5 ones with mods, but its not really viable indoors with its single shot nature, haven't found any marksman rifles though so can't comment on those, if they have simmlar dmg to the hunting rifle though I'd use one.

 

I'm on day 15 on warrior, I am getting ferals and radiated zombies once in a while in poi's now, so melee at least with knives is getting less and less viable as it just lacks the crowd control/stopping power clubs have.

[Auger]

Yes, that rage is one of the best additions in A18. Melee was horribly boring before.

 

I agree melee was boring before. I takes a couple of hours but once you get used to the new rage mechanics, it's not that much more difficult.

 

 

If you back pedal you can usually run back far enough for them to lose rage.

 

Make sure you have armor. You can craft the scrap armor really easily after a day or so. Armor really helps so you can stand there and take a hit of two

[Guest]

I don't mind the rage mechanic. I just wish this game would get decent melee combat for once. Currently it feels worse than what Skyrim came out with eight years ago. No shoving, dodging, pushing or whatever, hit detection that doesn't line up with visual models, using crosshairs to aim arcing weapons, etc.

 

The glancing blow is a step in the right direction, though it doesn't really feel right yet.

 

Is the engine just terrible for melee combat?

[aptalley]

A14/15 had amazing melee. Crosshairs didn't really mean anything. In all actuality, you would aim OVER the head so that the arc came down on the head. Felt really good. No stupid whiffs when your weapon goes right through them. Not sure why we deviated from that, but here we are.

[Jeraal]

Yes, that rage is one of the best additions in A18....

 

That's yours and some other's opinions. I, and others, don't share it.

[Kosmic Kerman]

Zombies don’t rage on scavenger difficulty level. I suggest people who don’t like the rage mechanic give it a try.

[RestInPieces]

I don't mind the rage mechanic. I just wish this game would get decent melee combat for once. Currently it feels worse than what Skyrim came out with eight years ago. No shoving, dodging, pushing or whatever, hit detection that doesn't line up with visual models, using crosshairs to aim arcing weapons, etc.

 

The glancing blow is a step in the right direction, though it doesn't really feel right yet.

 

Is the engine just terrible for melee combat?

 

99% of what makes combat bad is hit detection.

[aptalley]

I love that people who like the rage mechanic instantly tell you to play on toddler mode, as if the rage mechanic is the only thing the difficulty changes.

 

People who don't like a dumb mechanic do not inherently want an easier game. It's a pretty intense change to combat in a game a lot of us have been playing for years, and I think we have a legitimate request in not playing the easiest difficulty and not having a rage mechanic.

 

Are we really saying there was no danger before? No difficulty prior to this mechanic? In all reality A14/15 and 16 were more difficult than this is. Slap on heavy armor and they can wail on you and you don't take much damage, but it's not as fun.

[Slingblade2040]

I've gone brawler and have had no issue with melle. hell I punch my way through tier 4 and 5 quests at night and barely use healing items. my game stage as of today is 99, I'm at level 47 and on day 26. I just know that if I'm going to be in the fire I better have some good protection cause I will get hit.

 

if you plan on doing melle healing factor, pain tolerance and armor are basically a must.

[grieferbastard]

I admit - I love the new rage/run. They only do it for a bit and now there's a huge benefit to weapon range, like with spears. Before daytime zombies were just an inconvenience. I could whack them down backstepping with a stone axe. Now you can learn to identify when they rage and sprint FORWARD, past them, for a bit. It's made range and area control a much bigger deal and long, narrow kill boxes far less useful.

 

Also the 7 day horde mechanics - they're approaching from an angle instead of bunching up in a line.

 

Zombie AI in A18 is absolutely first rate IMO. Total zombie population is lower but zombie challenge is higher.

[Scyris]

I love that people who like the rage mechanic instantly tell you to play on toddler mode, as if the rage mechanic is the only thing the difficulty changes.

 

People who don't like a dumb mechanic do not inherently want an easier game. It's a pretty intense change to combat in a game a lot of us have been playing for years, and I think we have a legitimate request in not playing the easiest difficulty and not having a rage mechanic.

 

Are we really saying there was no danger before? No difficulty prior to this mechanic? In all reality A14/15 and 16 were more difficult than this is. Slap on heavy armor and they can wail on you and you don't take much damage, but it's not as fun.

 

Learn to adapt, also play on warrior and see how well face tanking zombies in armor works out for ya. It helps no doubt, but you can still die pretty damn fast on that diffculty even with 60 armor rating.

[Ghostlight]

A18 melee is easily exploitable. Move in to lure their new preemptive swing. They will always miss, then step in and do whatever you like. You can do this all day and they will never hit you.

[Morloc]

When you're clubbing the snots out of a zombie it would be great to have distinct audible cues when a zombie has enraged (your cue to back off). If it's too difficult to create another sample for each zombie at this time, then a general "arrrRRGHH!" would be fine or perhaps a few to cover the genders and sizes of zombie types.

 

 

 

-Morloc

[Jeraal]

Learn to adapt, also play on warrior and see how well face tanking zombies in armor works out for ya. It helps no doubt, but you can still die pretty damn fast on that diffculty even with 60 armor rating.

 

What if I told you that a player can adapt to a new game mechanic, and still dislike the mechanic because they don't find it fun.

[GaleKast]

Love the new rage mechanic. A17 melee was so dull, now at least there is a bit of a risk to wading in and needing to think carefully and keep some stamina to get away if needed rather than just swinging til they are red mist. Wouldn't mind an audio cue possibly but I think that might take out the danger of it all to be honest.

 

Rage mechanic is one of the better things they have added this alpha and I would hate if they removed it to appease people who can't or won't adapt or just want to swing/backpedal with zero risk.

[Wulf]

Your own melee range is still larger than their swing. Yes, even with a Wooden Club. Practice makes perfect.

[quyxkh]

Take it for what it is and it's a really fun combat game. I realized long ago that combat in this game is basically 2D-platformer style with some extra, um, depth, enabled by the 3d world. Start your swing and lock your eyes on the crosshair like keeping your eye on a pitched baseball. While the weapon's swinging bring the crosshairs on target, you'll get the timing down and it'll really start to feel like you're swinging. Pay attention to your opponent's reach and behavior or you'll be stunned and bleeding faster than you can say "♥♥♥♥ me". Armor or no, trading blows with a zed is not a good plan. Early on, especially before you've got a weapon upgrade, you're going to feel desperate and weak. I like it. You cannot just phone in combat in this game, your hits have to connect and anything but headshots had better be Plan B.

 

There's no shields and no blocking in this game, does that not count as a declaration that its aim is fun, not simulation? If you could use trash can lids as shields that'd be awesome but it'd be a different game. The head motion and general movement (to say nothing of the nightmarish reach on some of those guys) makes interesting, even scary opponents. If you want broader realism in melee combat try Warband or KC:D , either of those is a huge step up (but there's no perfect simulator, you could find the limits of realism in any of them and carp endlessly about those if you wanted).

[balls-ofyre]

The Zombie Rage Mechanic is a good thing, in my opinion. Before, it was all too easy to predict exactly how the Zeds would react, and take advantage of the system. Now, things are much more chaotic, unpredictable, and more realistic. I've died from it, but, it's still an A plus new feature!

[Zombizie]

Love the rage mechanic