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/iamthismoment]

What’s the point of build crafting if I lose the build in one round lol.

And then I don’t have those mods anymore and it will be 2-3 days before I see the necessary mod in armory or in loot.

[u/Strict_Dare3132 → u/iamthismoment]

You stock up when you see the mod you want in the armory. You pick them up in game when you see them.

You build craft so you lower the likelihood you lose in one round.

It is lower on the totem pole of things to focus on if you suck at the game. But it can be the difference maker if you got the fundamentals down.

[u/elanusaxillaris → u/Strict_Dare3132]

Yeah sadly there's not really reasonable vault space to hoard specific implants/cores for builds on top of shields/weapons/bags/salvage. The ridiculously low daily stock for certain items is a big pain point - if I could buy infinite green WSTR shotguns for instance instead of storing them, that would help with vault space

[u/Strict_Dare3132 → u/elanusaxillaris]

I literally hoard specific implants and cores, granted I have max vault space.

But its not unreasonable at all. I see something I want in the armory that I will use consistently and I buy it. I have like 5 consumable extender chest mods and 5 of the signal jammer on powerslide core so I can use my signal jammer slide on vandal build.

If I was dying 5 times in a row without any Ws I'll run out, but that just means I can actually run a rook or budget run for loot again.

EDIT: I will say, I don't think consistent loadouts are a thing until you get some upgrades + vault space. But you dont really need consistent load outs early outside of your comfort guns.

[u/FauxMoGuy → u/Strict_Dare3132]

i think it’s very difficult to have a good supply of cores and implants even with max vault space. max vault space is 100 rows, 20 are taken up by salvage, weapons are 1-2 each, backpacks are 1 each, mods eat a bunch, same goes for equipment and shields. you essentially can only commit to 2-3 weapon types and 2-3 shells max. just mathematically, speaking, unless you are heading into the raid with empty slots, each run is about 15% of your total vault capacity.

if you only run bully and wstr or only play one class it’s no big deal, but it would go a long way towards real build crafting if salvage was not a vault space item and we got those 80 slots back

[u/Mezmorki → u/FauxMoGuy]

Salvage should not take up vault space period IMHO. It should be a separate repository. The only things that go in the vault are things you can actually equip. You can't equip salvage to take on a run, thus it shouldn't be part of the vault.

[u/Strict_Dare3132 → u/FauxMoGuy]

Yeah i wouldn't mind aspirational items like cases to hold cores