Fortnite: What is a Melee Weapon?

Through its development, Fortnite has actually become a pretty complex game. There are tons of weapons to use, all with different strengths and drawbacks. One weapon type that confuses a lot of players are melee weapons.

If you’re in this situation, then you’ve come to the right place, as in this article, we’ll provide an answer to the question, what are classed as melee Fortnite weapons? This answer should help you to better understand the weapons aspect of Fortnite, helping you become an all-around better player. So, let’s take a look, shall we?

What is a Melee Weapon in Fortnite?

A melee weapon in Fornite is a handheld weapon that can be used in close-range combat. Melee weapons don’t consume any ammo, don’t need to be reloaded, and don’t ever break. They can be pretty tough to use, as you’ll need to get right close and personal with your enemies.

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There are two categories of melee weapons in Fortnite:

• Harvesting tool- Every player has access to a harvesting tool in Fortnite. This is a pickaxe by default and allows you to collect resources throughout the map. Your pickaxe is one of your most valuable assets in Fortnite, so make sure to make full use of it.
• Combat Melee Weapons- The other types of melee weapons are used in combat. There are a variety of different melee weapons to use, each with its own strengths and drawbacks. We’ll explore this a little later.

So, the concept of a melee weapon is actually pretty simple. Things do start to get more tricky when you realize that there are different categories of melee weapons in Fortnite. Let’s take a look at each of these.

Melee Weapon Subcategories 

Here are all of the melee weapon subcategories in Fortnite.

Axes

Axes are edged melee weapons with a slow speed but high impact. Axes have great damage and knockback but do lack range. If you like weapons that have great crowd-control capabilities, axes are a great choice.

Spears

Spears do piercing damage and have a long-range, medium attack speed and solid damage. Spears are a great all-round weapon and don’t have large flaws, making them a perfect choice for nearly any play style.

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Scythes 

Scythes are huge melee weapons that deal massive damage at long range. However, they do lack attack speed. But, this drawback is compensated for with huge knockback and crowd-control effects, especially during heavy attacks.

Clubs

Clubs are a type of blunt weapon. Clubs have great attack speed and solid damage output. Like spears, they’re a great choice for newer players, due to their all-round capabilities.

Hardware 

Hardware melee weapons have the slowest attack speed in the game. However, this is compensated for with huge damage output. If you can land a shot on your opponent with a hardware weapon, they will probably go down.

List of Every Melee Weapon to Have Appeared in Fortnite

Here’s a list of every melee weapon currently in Fortnite:

• Infinity Blade – The Infinity blade is a mythic sword that deals massive damage. It’ll also increase your total HP.
• Sideways Scythe – This is a scythe melee weapon that gives you access to a leap, swing, and dash attack.
• Lightsaber – This is a mythic weapon that can block incoming damage, and hurt your enemies at the same time.
• Darth Vader’s Lightsaber – This is a mythic melee weapon similar to the normal lightsaber. However, this version can be thrown at enemies to deal huge damage.
• Kingsman – This is a legendary weapon that allows you to block incoming damage. You’ll also be able to temporarily redeploy your glider with the Kingsman equipped.
• Wolverine’s Claws – Wolverine’s claws give you access to a superpower that allows you to swipe at your opponents, and destroy objects, in devastating fashion. You’ll also get the ability to dash forward whilst in mid-air.
• She-Hulk’s Fist – This is a legendary weapon that gives you access to a superpower, allowing you to hit your opponents multiple times to create a combo. You’ll also gain the ability to double-jump and slam your enemies.
• Amban Sniper Rifle – This is technically a ranged weapon. However, you can use it for melee attacks.
• Howler Claws – This mythic weapon is awesome. With the Howler Claws equipped, you’ll be able to see nearby players through walls. To get this weapon, you’ll need to dance on an Alternation Altar.
• Predator Claw – This is a legendary weapon, and is actually unobtainable to players right now. The Predator AI use these claws, and hopefully, we’ll have access to them soon.
• Basic Sword – Currently, the basic sword is exclusive to Fortnite: Creative. You can customize it via the Melee Designer Device.
• Basic Hammer – This weapon is also exclusive to Fortnite’s creative mode. It can be customized in-game.
• Basic Spear – The basic spear is not yet in the game. It should drop soon, and players will have access to it via Fortnite: Creative
• Blade – like the spear, this weapon hasn’t yet been released. You should be able to access it soon in Fortnite: Creative.
• Thor’s Stormbreaker – this is a mythic weapon, exclusive to the Endgame LTM. Stormbreaker can be thrown at enemies to deal devastating damage.
• Torch – This is a rare melee weapon that can only be used in Fortnite: Creative. It’s not used to take on enemies, but rather light up dark areas!
• Flag – The flag is another rare weapon used only in Fortnite: Creative. It mainly serves as a tool to create capture the flag games, and cannot be used to deal damage to other players.
• Shockwave Hammer – This is the newest addition to Fortnite Battle Royale, and it currently the only melee weapon available outside of the Creative Mode. The hammer not only does big close range damage, it can be used to navigate the map easier too.

Are Melee Weapons Good in Fortnite?

All of this does beg the question, are melee weapons any good in Fortnite?

Well, your harvester tool is an absolute essential in Fortnite. It can be used to gather resources, which will help you build structures during firefights. Such structures win games, so a harvester tool is absolutely essential for any player to win a game of Fortnite.

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There are also several advantages to melee weapons in Fortnite. Primarily, you don’t have to worry about running out of ammo, which means that you can use a melee weapon right until the very end. Melee weapons are therefore a great way of dealing with downed opponents.

Melee weapons are also a great choice when it comes to close-quarters combat. You can easily miss with a ranged weapon, but once you’re in hitting range, it’s hard to miss with a melee weapon.

However, melee weapons are overall pretty situational. In most cases, you’re going to be engaging your enemies from a distance. In fact, you might never need to use your melee weapon to take down an enemy in a Fortnite game.

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So, don’t expect using a melee weapon to completely change your success rate in Fortnite. That being said, they are very useful in some situations.

It is worth noting, that like all weapons in Fortnite they fluctuate between being available and not being available depending on what is archived. You can access all weapons though in the Creative Modes.