The long-awaited 7 Days to Die 1.0 release is here and it brings a ton of new features to the game. The completely reworked armor system has shuffled up the build options for every type of player. For players looking to get up close and personal with the new zombie variants, you’ll want to build your character so that you can withstand as much damage as you can dish out. Here’s everything you need to know about making the best melee weapon build in 7 Days to Die.
The best melee weapon type in 7 Days to Die
The best melee weapon in-game is different than the best melee weapon in theory. In the game, your best weapon type will likely be whichever one you have the most books and highest tier weapon in. An epic-tier combat knife with multiple books will beat a low-tier stone sledgehammer any day of the week.
But if finding books and crafting high-tier weapons isn’t an issue, clubs are by far the best melee weapon to take from the early to late game stages. In both a POI-raiding and horde defense situation, it helps to not have to worry about stamina consumption. With clubs, you’ll be able to hop around the environment, knocking down zombies with nearly every swing whilst staying outside of harm’s way due to your swift movements.
Steel Clubs are the best of this class with Baseball Bats slightly behind it in terms of damage.
The best armor set for melee weapon builds in 7 Days to Die
So we’ve decided to use clubs. Now we need to determine which of the new armor sets are the best for our build. I’ve found that the Biker Medium Armor set is the best option as it provides increased melee damage, reduced stamina usage, and movement speed.
Other viable but less optimal armor sets include the Athletic light armor set and the Raider heavy armor set. When it comes to light armor, it’s simply not enough for melee weapon builds. Light armor contains more utility options or in the case of the Athletic set, general stat increases. Heavy armor on the other hand makes for a very tanky character, but with minimal damage bonuses.
The best melee weapon attributes and perks in 7 Days to Die
For the best melee weapon build, you’ll want to focus on the Strength, Agility, and Fortitude attributes. Here’s what your attribute and perk distribution should look like:
Of course, these are what you should be aiming for to make the best melee weapon build. If you’re playing solo, you’ll likely need crafting or gathering perks to progress comfortably. Since you’re investing in Agility, stealth is a viable strategy but will require many more perk points and thus should only be considered in later game stages.
The best consumables for melee weapon builds in 7 Days to Die
Melee weapon builds look for two buffs from consumables: Melee weapon damage and stamina recovery. Coffee is one of the easiest to craft stamina drinks and its higher-tier version, Blackstrap Coffee, is a consumable that every build should use. Skull Crushers are the best candy due to the 50% melee damage buff.
The books you’ll want to use are:
- All 7 volumes of the Batter Up series since its collector’s perk makes power attack kills refill your stamina.
- Art of Mining Volume 4 so that you can craft Blackstrap Coffee.
- Volumes 2, 3, and 4 of Bar Brawling for additional damage and knockdown potential.
- Volumes 1, 6, and 7 of Urban Combat to craft the Stealth Boots mod, remove armor movement penalties while in combat, and increase damage and defenses while indoors.
The best melee weapon mods in 7 Days to Die
For clubs, we have many useful weapon mods. Here’s the best weapon mod combination for Steel Clubs:
- Weighted Head
- Metal Chain
- Burning Shaft
- Rad Remover or Metal Spikes (Depending on the types of zombies you encounter)
Increasing the stun/knockdown chance on a fast attack speed weapon like clubs turns 7 Days to Die into Whack-A-Mole. With this combination of perks, mods, and consumables, you’ll be sweeping the hordes of Navezgane off of their feet with every swing.
