I tested how Melee works. This is what I learned.
Melee Explanation
The Basics
- To hit, just move through a target within the melee range with a melee attack.
- Melee requires that you be a certain distance away just like guns in order to hit opponents.
- Check your range mid fight by hovering over pink melee button. How far you can move does not match where your melee attack is active.
- Melee deactivates crashing into other mechs/tanks.
- You will count as crashing If you stop on top of a unit.
- Ignore the red swing arc. Ignore the animation.
Visual Guides
Range Explained. Hover over melee button. Do not click to start an attack.
A Valid Attack
Video Example
Planning and Execution Video Example.
Last Notes
- I shrug on the effectiveness of melee late game.
- Dear Devs, melee needs to show its attack range rather than movement range.
- I have not tested if thrust affects melee attack ranges.
- Mech was kitted with 48 thrust range and tankyness for examples.
- Got to test if melee can hit multiple targets.
From my experiments, thrust functions as a 2nd cap on your melee attack range. The lower value of your max thrust range and your max melee weapon range will your max melee attack range. The range preview will still show you the full attack range, but when you plan it you’ll won’t be able to go far enough to reach your max range.
Also of note range increases from sensors do impact melee weapons. So both range sensors and boosters help you achieve more ridiculous melee attacks.
I can personally confirm hitting more then one target. it was early game and i didnt fully understand how melee worked, but i manged to hit 2 mechs at once with an axe swing
the weird spinny attack marker thing for melee always throws me off…
…its like… are you doing a dash attack or are you doing some kind of mad spinning swing…
Melee is *extremely* good if you can put an (obsensibly salvaged) over leveled melee weapon on your mech. This is due to concussion damage requiring your weapon the be higher level than the opponent.
Managed to get 2 level 17 plasma axes (while the region was 13) and used them to complete trivialize the final battle. 1 hit ko kills for every enemy, and didn’t need the help of my other 2 mechs or anything else. I’m not all that confident I needed two of them, I probably could have soloed it with 1 of them, but the noclip when meleeing ment I could have both swing at the same mech with little risk, and that helped melees unreliable targeting.
My biggest hint for getting melee to hit is do min distance jumps, you will have a much more consistent experience.
“This is due to concussion damage requiring your weapon the be higher level than the opponent.”
Does that mean my lvl 5 Vulkan gun with high concussion damage will do NO concussion to a lvl 6 enemy?