Starfield is the upcoming open world role-playing video game by Bethesda Game Studios. As you explore the Settled Systems and beyond, you‘ll come across a variety of weapons to help you survive. While ranged weapons are extremely useful, having a trusty melee weapon as backup can mean the difference between life and death.
In this comprehensive guide, we will be taking a close look at all the melee weapons available in Starfield and provide useful information like:
- Stats
- Damage
- How to acquire them
- And more
So without any further ado, let‘s dive right in!
Overview of Melee Weapons
There is a total of 9 different melee weapons that you can find and use in Starfield. These melee weapons have their own unique shapes, sizes, stats, and damage capabilities designed specifically for different combat scenarios.
The available melee weapons are:
- Barrow Knife
- Combat Knife
- Osmium Dagger
- Rescue Axe
- Ripshank
- Tanto
- UC Naval Cutlass
- Va‘Ruun Painblade
- Wakizashi
Now let‘s explore each of these melee weapons in more detail.
Barrow Knife
Stats:
- Physical Damage: 220
- Weight: 1
- Value: 1,220 credits
The Barrow Knife is a simple melee weapon that can be purchased from vendors found across the Settled Systems. It has decent physical damage and is quite lightweight making it an easily wieldable backup weapon in most combat situations.
The Barrow Knife is an affordable melee weapon choice available right from the start of the game. You can buy it for just 1,220 credits from vendors in cities like Akila.
Combat Knife
Stats:
- Physical Damage: 160
- Weight: 0.36
- Value: 505 credits
The Combat Knife is an easily accessible melee weapon that can be randomly found throughout the world. It has decent physical melee damage making it a good backup weapon in the early stages of the game.
The Combat Knife is not purchasable and is obtained from defeated enemies or found in containers in derelict spaceships and abandoned outposts.
Osmium Dagger
Stats:
- Physical Damage: 282
- Weight: 0.72
- Value: 2,395 credits
With great physical damage and lightweight construction, the Osmium Dagger is an excellent melee weapon that can puncture through most armors with ease.
Like the Combat Knife, the Osmium Dagger is also found as random rare loot from container or on fallen enemies. So keep an eye out when scavenging through derelicts and abandoned settlements.
Rescue Axe
Stats:
- Physical Damage: 171
- Weight: 0.46
- Value: N/A
The Rescue Axe is designed for emergency situations with its sharp axe head construction perfect for cutting through tough materials.
This melee weapon can be randomly found from early game fallen foes. The Rescue Axe provides great damage for its lightweight and makes an excellent backup choice for combat oriented characters.
Ripshank
Stats:
- Physical Damage: 120
- Weight: 0.43
- Value: N/A
Featuring a crude design, the Ripshank is another common weapon that can be recovered from fallen enemies in the early stages of the game.
Don‘t let its simplistic looks deceive you though, the Ripshank can easily slice through enemies with its monstrous damage output. Definitely a handy weapon to have whenever things get dicey.
Tanto
Stats:
- Physical Damage: 400
- Weight: 0.45
- Value: 3,075 credits
Inspired by ancient weaponry, the Tanto is an exotic short blade that is optimized for armor penetration attacks. Although being lightweight, the Tanto can inflict serious damage with its monomolecular edge.
To acquire the Tanto, you need to increase your character level to 30 and then purchase it from the Rowlands Arm weapons shop in Akila city for 3,075 credits.
Stats:
- Physical Damage: 201
- Weight: 0.49
- Value: N/A
Featuring an elegant curve blade design, the UC Naval Cutlass is a stylish slashing weapon typically used by naval officers in close quarters combat.
The UC Naval Cutlass can be randomly found by looting containers and downed enemies across the systems making it a readily accessible backup melee weapon for spacefaring warriors.
Va‘Ruun Painblade
Stats:
- Physical Damage: 621
- Weight: 0.81
- Value: 11,260 credits
Featuring an intimidating design made from reinforced steel, the Va‘Ruun Painblade is an extremely lethal melee weapon specialized for brute force trauma damage.
As soon as you reach level 5, the Va’Ruun Painblade can be purchased from any weapons vendor for 11,260 credits making it the most expensive melee weapon available.
Wakizashi
Stats:
- Physical Damage: 491
- Weight: 0.35
- Value: 6,140 credits
Featuring a traditional Japanese style design, the Wakizashi is an elegantly crafted short blade optimized for quick draw attacks. With immense damage and great handling attributes, the Wakizashi allows warriors to rapidly slash enemies in blisteringly quick succession.
Much like the Tanto, the Wakizashi is also purchasable once you reach level 30 from the Rowlands Arm weapons vendor in Akila city for a price of 6,140 credits.
Melee Weapons Comparison
Here is a quick overview comparing all the key stats for the melee weapons available in Starfield:
| Melee Weapon | Damage | Weight | Value (credits) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ripshank | 120 | 0.43 | N/A |
| Combat Knife | 160 | 0.36 | 505 |
| Rescue Axe | 171 | 0.46 | N/A |
| UC Naval Cutlass | 201 | 0.49 | N/A |
| Barrow Knife | 220 | 1 | 1,220 |
| Osmium Dagger | 282 | 0.72 | 2,395 |
| Tanto | 400 | 0.45 | 3,075 |
| Wakizashi | 491 | 0.35 | 6,140 |
| Va‘Ruun Painblade | 621 | 0.81 | 11,260 |
As the stats show, the Va‘Ruun Painblade clearly reigns supreme when it comes to dishing out maximum pain with its monstrous 621 physical damage output. However, weapons like the Wakizashi and Tanto also shouldn‘t be taken lightly with their respectable damage and enhanced handling capabilities.
And that concludes our comprehensive guide on all the melee weapons available in Starfield. I hope this breakdown gives you a clear picture of the myriad close-quarters combat options at your disposal. Remember to keep a sharp melee weapon equipped as backup whenever you are exploring new frontiers!
Let me know in the comments which is your favorite Starfield melee weapon and why!
