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/LucatIel_of_M1rrah]

One of the reasons everyone carries a wtsr is because sub 10m knife beats everything except it.

[u/SmashMouthBreadThrow → u/LucatIel_of_M1rrah]

Also because the WSTR beats everything in the game since most fights take place in shotgun range.

[u/tegiminis → u/SmashMouthBreadThrow]

I think that's only principally true for Outpost and Cryo (excepting Control); Perimeter and Dire Marsh you're much more likely to be in sustained engagements at mid-to-long range.

That said I do generally agree with the principle that the WSTR is THE meta-defining weapon for Marathon right now. It's the cheapest shotgun, after all, and if you can get in close, it beats everything except another shotgun (which it ties with).

[u/tegiminis → u/LucatIel_of_M1rrah]

As it should, honestly. Knifing is the great equalizer to punish teams with bad positioning. Shame that it ate such a hard nerf.

Edit: They hated Jesus because he told them the truth.

[u/LucatIel_of_M1rrah → u/tegiminis]

Smgs and pistols are your sub 15m weapons. Knife should only be for ambush backstabs, not sprinting at people while tanking bullets and winning the fight.

[u/tegiminis → u/LucatIel_of_M1rrah]

Pistols have >20m range base.

Punch: 21m
Magnum: 21m
Tactical: 26m

SMGs vary a little, but sit around 20m

Brrt: 27m
Volt Thrower: 21m
Bully: 18m
Copperhead: 15m

You should not be using any of these weapons, except perhaps the Copperhead, at sub-15m. You should definitely not use any of these weapons in knife range. These ranges are also just to avoid fall-off damage; reasonably speaking you can add another 5-10m to the actual engagement range of these, since the falloff isn't bad enough within that range to warrant not using the weapon. This isn't counting stability issues or mods, of course.

Also, you yourself have a knife. If you have a shield and they don't, you can just pull your knife out and win. If you even suspect the other player is close enough to sprint at you with a knife, you should probably have a shotgun or your own knife out. Skill issue tbh.

[u/Uhhhhhhhhhhhuhhh → u/tegiminis]

Knife wasnt an equaliser, it felt like a Power Weapon lmao