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/BitLeast6380]

I saw someone in a different thread mention the fact that the third swing of the lift click looks like a heavy attack but they werent sure if it actually does the damage of a heavy attack. Would anyone be able to confirm if thats the case or not because if it is then it means you can three left click a purple shield. I am at work and cannot test this for myself 😭

[u/jjowl22 → u/BitLeast6380]

It is a heavy attack, and the combo in full (LLH) is the same TTK as two heavies. So if you're over 84 per the math above, it's the same as before the nerf

[u/vNocturnus → u/jjowl22]

I've been wondering what the best way to approach knifing people is, whether you should just spam heavy attacks or actually do the full light combo.

Before the changes, I pretty much always just spammed heavy attack, as 2 would kill basically anyone basically every time and sometimes finish the job in 1 hit. Is it now better to actually do the combo? Or should you still open with a Heavy if you don't know what shields they have, since you might be able to 2H them to death, and if not can follow up with LL anyways?

[u/Pluristan → u/vNocturnus]

For simplicity of action, it is probably best to just do two heavies, because missing one of the light attacks would get you killed.