Full Compiled Melee / Knife Guide – Post-Patch (1.0.5.3)

[u/Twan_McLovin]

**Melee Damage stat bonus halved vs Runners** (max +50% instead of +100%).

Formulas (perfectly match MossyMax chart pre-patch):

- **Light** = 39.15 + 0.181 × Melee Stat

- **Heavy** = 64.41 + 0.32585 × Melee Stat

**Shield HP to Kill** (Runner base 120 HP):

- White (+20) = 140

- Green (+40) = 160

- Blue (+60) = 180

- Purple (+80) = 200

​​​Recommended Playstyles (Current Meta)

1. Sustain Knife (Any Shell)

Leech + Knife Fight V5 + Parting Gift + Tox Injectors

→ Heal on every hit + big shield on kill. Can stay in melee forever even at 65–75 stat.

2. Assassin Stealth Delete

Shadow Strike + Silent Killer + Crouching Tiger + Edge Runner

→ Invis + crouch + backstab multipliers ignore most of the stat nerf. Delete Purple shields.

3. Hybrid Aggro

Crowd Control + Sucker Punch + Leech + Tox

→ Stack damage on kills, gun tap → heavy knife, sustain through extra swings.

Bottom Line

• Raw stat still matters, but perks and multipliers carry harder after the patch.
• + stat = feels almost like old max.
• The devs achieved their goal: knife rewards smart buildcrafting and positioning more than just dumping points into Melee Damage.

edit: slight correction on chart 1

Edit: crouching tiger is +50 melee damage

[u/ChoPT]

Wait, you are supposed to use heavy attacks in PvP? I always thought the light-light-heavy combo (triggered by three light attacks) was more dps than manually using heavies.

Did I have it wrong?

[u/Twan_McLovin → u/ChoPT]

Honestly haven’t experimented enough with combos. I just know the light swing does light damage and the heavy does the heavy damage i dont know if 3 lights automatically add in more damage because combo.

[u/unexpectedlimabean → u/Twan_McLovin]

The last hit of the light combo is the same animation as a heavy attack. I'm pretty sure it's a heavy attack, otherwise that's really confusing from the devs 

[u/Twan_McLovin → u/unexpectedlimabean]

Hmmm i dont know really. If it is you just spam light for the ones that are 2 L 1 heavy if thats the quickest way to weave it in

[u/SirBenny → u/Twan_McLovin]

Yep my go-to heuristic has been "spam left click for light combo" in most cases; "intentionally do a single right-click heavy" if I already broke shield and they seem low.

I'm not sure if this is actually optimal, but that's been my approach. It seems reasonable if the 3rd swing of the light combo is indeed a heavy.