Atomfall Melee Combat Tips

The quarantine zone surrounding the Windscale nuclear site in Atomfall is filled with threats, ranging from radioactive zombies to deranged humans in their respective costumes.

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Fighting these enemies can be challenging, especially when they're so often found in large groups. So how can you better defend yourself in the quarantine zone, especially in the merciless veteran difficulty? Here are our Atomfall combat tips.

The Stealth Limitations

Sneaking up on an Outlaw. Screenshot: Atomfall, captured by Blast.

Stealth doesn't play as major of a role in Atomfall as we expected, at least in Veteran difficulty. Despite the game being filled with tall grass that keeps you hidden even from enemies quite close to you, the veteran AI can spot you from miles away.

Paired with how much noise silent takedowns and arrow kills make, stealth is mostly limited to eliminations of isolated enemies, or for taking out an outlaw at the start of a fight to thin the herd.

So, whether you like it or not, you'll be in the middle of combat a lot in Atomfall.

Melee Combat Explained

Your first hours in the quarantine zone will mostly be spent holding a variety of melee weapons. These will have quite a few different looks, but they can divided in much simpler categories:

• Single slot weapons- Single slot weapons can be fit in your backpack. They deal less damage than bigger weapons, have a lower reach, and usually hit faster.
• Double slot weapons- Bigger weapons will take one of your limited double slots. You can only hold four weapons of this kind, and that will include the bow and any gun that isn't a pistol. These melee weapons hit harder, have a higher reach, and stagger enemies more easily.
• Bleed weapons- Any melee weapons that have a sharp edge (axe, scythe, knife) can inflict bleed. Enemies that are bleeding will take damage over time.
• Blunt weapons- These weapons obviously do not inflict bleed, even the ones that you might think would (spiked club). There is no mention in Atomfall of a stagger stat, but in our experience, blunt weapons staggered enemies more frequently, though that might be placebo. They will often have more damage than their bleed counterparts, or attack faster with the same damage.

Staggered Outlaw. Screenshot: Atomfall, captured by Blast.

There are only four actions you can take in melee combat:

• Normal Attack- Your normal attack is quick, deals the weapon's base damage and usually will not inflict stagger. You can land multiple normal attacks in a row, though, completing a sort of combo.
• Heavy Attack- Heavy attacks deal a lot more damage, and will stagger most enemies, especially with bigger weapons. These will take a lot longer to charge though, and they'll considerably raise your heartrate.
• Throw- All melee weapons in Atomfall can be thrown, for a variety of purposes. Skills can be unlocked to make thrown weapons more deadly, but even without any skills, thrown weapons nearly always stagger an enemy.
• Kick- No matter what weapon you're wielding, you can kick your enemy if they get close enough. This is a confirmed stagger, but deals little to no damage.

Atomfall does not featured dodging, blocking, or parrying. You can only do the three actions highlighted above, and the only "dodging" you can do is moving left to right, or kiting your enemies backwards by walking.

Atomfall Melee Tips

About to get smacked by a lunge attack. Screenshot: Atomfall, captured by Blast.

Melee combat in the quarantine zone ultimately boils down to spacing. You need to become familiar with your weapons in order to learn which moves usually stagger enemies, and what is the sweet spot of range to hit them without getting hit back.

In our experience with Atomfall, you will want to focus on starting most encounters with a heavy attack. If the enemy is staggered, follow up with a single normal attack before taking a step back.

If your weapon is quick, try to hit the enemy while they are in the middle of their attack animation, and you'll always stagger them out of it. In case you're not confident in that, simply walk backwards and they will never hit you, with a single exception.

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When an enemy with a melee weapon charges at you, they'll almost always do a lunging jump attack. You cannot dodge this by walking backwards, you instead need to walk to the sides once you see their animation start.

Getting hit by this is devastating, and will stagger you, so it is imperative that you dodge these hits. You can, alternatively, throw a weapon at them if you're fast enough, but you can only do this if you see them running from afar, otherwise you will not have time to charge up the throw.

These tips will only work against human enemies, we'll go over the zombie-likes later in the article.

Melee Versus Ranged

Taking down ranged enemies in Atomfall with melee weapons is quite easy, but you'll have to pay attention to your surroundings, and to what weapons your enemies are wielding.

Once you head into the Casterfell Woods, you'll encounter a ton of druids using bows. Getting hit with arrows is painful, and can cause you to bleed. If you're fighting a melee opponent while getting pelted with arrows, you'll most likely end up dead.

So any time you get into a scuffle with a group that features bowmen, rush them down, hit them with a heavy attack, and finish them off with a couple of normal hits. Incorporate spacing here regardless though, as ranged enemies will react with shoves if you get too close.

Rushing down a Druid. Screenshot: Atomfall, captured by Blast.

As soon as you dodge their shove, get back into melee and finish them off.

When fighting enemies wielding guns, the conversation is similar, but you'll have to be extra careful. As long as you don't run in a straight line towards a bowman, they'll almost always miss their shots. Gunmen won't.

You will either need to use cover to close the distance, approaching them while not giving them time to shoot you, or you'll need to hide and let them come to you.

Alternatively, if you are wielding multiple melee weapons at once, you can throw one at them, and use the stagger window to get into melee. They'll react exactly like the bowmen, attempting to shove you after they exit the stagger state. Finish them quickly and they won't have time to shoot.

How To Handle Non-Human Enemies

There are a few different non-human enemies in Atomfall. These are the ones you'll encounter:

• Plants- There are two kinds of plants you'll meet in the quarantine zone. The purple ones should be avoided at all costs, the green ones can be taken down with a few melee hits.
• Radioactive Zombies- Thralls and Ferals are the radioactive zombies you'll encounter. Do not engage Ferals in melee, but we'll give you the secret to taking down Thralls without wasting ammo.
• Swarms- Although the game recommends stomping swarms, this is not the best way to deal with them. Simply equip your biggest melee weapon and swing until there's nothing left to hit.
• B.A.R.D. Robots- Do not engage any robots in melee combat, you'll have to resort to guns to take these guys down.

Killing a Thrall. Screenshot: Atomfall, captured by Blast.

Taking down Thralls is always a lengthy affair, they are one of the tankiest enemies in the entire game. With a bit of practice and a lot of patience, though, you can take them down without wasting a single bullet.

Despite being heavily armored (and still being insanely tanky even while wearing nothing but a hazmat suit), Thralls are extremely slow. They will menacingly walk towards you and only attack you with two different moves.

They will never rush you down or use a lunging attack like the humans, so walking backwards will always be fast enough to kite them down. The best way to deal with them is to equip the biggest weapon you have and to make sure your heartrate is at the lowest possible before you engage them.

Once they start walking towards you, simply hit them with a max range heavy attack, and walk back. They will often shove you right after being staggered, so do not get greedy. Simply keep repeating the heavy attack into back walk loop, and they'll eventually die.

NEXT: Atomfall- Barter system, explained