Melee - The Heart of Destiny – Destiny 2.5.0.2 [b](Long Post)[/b] To start these are the core attributes that we will look at for each: Melee Range, maximum range in meters that your melee will hit; Damage, damage the melee deals including burn and explosions; Speed, the time it takes from melee activation to damage dealt; Recovery, the time it takes for your melee to finish; and Total time, the entire time it takes to complete a melee. We will start with the Titan and finish with the Hunter. The [b]Titan’s melee[/b] has these core attributes: (attributes not shown for a melee can be assumed to be the same as the Base) Base Melee: - Range of 5.2m - Damage of 122hp - Speed of 0.4s - Recovery of 0.66s and 0.46s with gauntlet perk - Total time of 1.06s and 0.86s with gauntlet perk [b]Storm Fist: [/b] - Range of 5.5m - Damage of 158hp and + 13 with Discharge [b]Sunstrike:[/b] - Range of 5.5m - Damage of 104hp + 7hp x 10(70) damage over time and +13 with Thermal Vent [b]Disintegrate: [/b] - Range of 5.5m - Damage of 134hp [i]Disintegrate will only activate if the enemy has 134 health or lower.[/i] Titans are some of the best when it comes to melees. They have the best melee speed decent range and the best damage. As well their movement makes them optimal for getting close to enemies to melee them. [b]Storm Fist[/b] offers huge damage in a single hit and you can get even more with discharge. With overload you can have melees ready constantly, and with transfusion they will immediately start your health regen. With this melee and shoulder charge strikers can net themselves significant kills without any weapon needed. [b]Sunstrike[/b] has the lowest impact damage of all melees while a very high damage when you include the damage over time affect. This causes you to get tons of post-mortem kills but can be used very tactically. Overall this melee will still kill with 2 hits but if you want to combo things with it you will either have to get away while they burn out or get a post-mortem. Thermal vent can be very powerful for fighting multiple enemies as it will activate the DoT affect on all enemies hit by its explosion and even create a sunspot on the ground if you kill your target with the melee. [b]Disintegrate[/b] is one of the worst and best melees in the game. In a 1v1 melee fight it gives little to no advantages although if you do win the fight you will be rewarded with a powerful shield and a passive buff of your choice. The shield alone will give you a huge advantage in any fight you move onto next and the buffs include making orbs, a stronger shield, or faster handling and reload. Overall this melee adds to the Defenders powerful kit of high skill and tactical abilities. The [b]Warlock’s melees[/b] have these core attributes: Base Melee: - Range of 6.6m - Damage of 122hp - Speed of 0.4s - Recovery of 0.83s and 0.6s with gauntlet perk - Total time of 1.23s and 1.0s with gauntlet perk [b]Thunderstrike:[/b] - Range of 6.6m and 8.3m with Amplitude - Damage of 122hp and 182hp when Feedback is active. [b]Energy Drain:[/b] - Range of 6.6m - Damage of 134hp [b]Scorch:[/b] - Range of 6.6m - Damage of 122hp + 7hp x 5(35) Warlocks have a longer than average melee which make them the best for doing shotgun melee combos but their melee cool-down is slower. In regular crucible the range is a huge advantage and easily makes up for the slower melee recovery speed. Using purely melee titans will still likely be better in many scenarios due to their faster melee speed, higher damage, and the ability to titan skate. [b]Thunderstrike[/b] without amplitude is now the weakest melee in the game giving no advantage what so ever. Most melees have an inherent ability (higher damage, damage over time, etc.) but thanks to the recent update thunder strike does not have any. With Amplitude the melee has the best range in the game able to match the kill distance of a max range shotgun. You can also have the melee chain to another enemy or give you super energy but in comparison with amplitude or other melee these options really are not too extremely great. Overall apart from using Amplitude the Thunderstrike is likely one of the worst melee abilities. [b]Energy Drain[/b] is the melee for those who like to throw tons of grenades. The Voidwalker has a variety of great grenades and their Energy Drain ability allows them to throw them constantly as long as they can activate it. This melee comes with several powerful options on top of the Energy Drain ability including; faster weapon and character movement, immediate health regen, and more super energy. As well it comes with a little additional damage making it a great option for using in combination with a close range weapon like a shotgun or sidearm. [b]Scorch[/b] is quite similar to the Sunstrike, leaving damage over time on its target but also quite different. Rather than dealing lower damage it deals the regular base damage on impact while having a shorter lasting DoT effect. Sadly, there is only really one good option to run for PvP with this melee, which is Flame Shield. Flame shield offers a short shield upon hitting a melee, although not as strong as the Disintegrates shield it is quite powerful since you only have to land a hit rather than a kill. The other two options include; pushing enemies, and creating an explosion on a kill, while also both offering quicker melee charge which is great for PvE. The [b]Hunter’s melee[/b] has these core attributes: Base Melee: - Range of 4.9m - Damage of 122hp - Speed of 0.4s - Recovery of 0.66s and 0.46s with gauntlet perk - Total time of 1.06s and 0.86s with gauntlet perk [b]Blink Strike:[/b] - Range of 6.0m - Damage of 122hp, 364 for Backstab [b]Smoke – Throwing Grenade: [/b] - Impact damage = 20hp - Explosion Damage = 53hp max. - Envenomed = 15hp per hit - Linger effect (activates on all hit by explosion and deactivates if player is hit by envenomed) = 8hp, stays active when in smoke and once out of smoke it then hits up to 6 more times. [b]Throwing Knife:[/b] - Damage = 110hp - Critical Damage = 142hp - Incendiary Blade = 7hp x5 (35) The Hunters base melee is the worst of all the classes having the worst range and their movement tending to be much more linearly slow. Although they have this disadvantage they make up for it with their powerful melee abilities. The Bladedancer and its [b]blink strike[/b] are the exception to this statement. With almost as much range as a warlock as well as faster melee recovery and the ability to blink, these hunters can definitely hold their own in a melee fight. Their melee options are also very powerful offering the option of either stealth or super fast melee recharge. The back stab ability will allow you to kill any opponent with a single hit as long as you hit their back, which matches well with stealth and can even be super useful in unexpected situations. The finale part that makes the melee one of the best is hungering blade which will return a portion of your health on a kill preparing you for the next engagement. The [b]Smoke grenade[/b] is a powerful and versatile ranged ability. It creates a cloud of smoke which blinds, slows and damages targets. You can throw them at targets for bonus damage on impact, lie them to go off when an enemy passes or use them to gain invisibility. I don’t recommend using envenomed as it does not do much more damage than the regular grenade and does not leave a DoT on your target, which means targets hit by it will recover quicker from the grenade. Overall this ability is a hugely powerful tool for the hunter offering extra damage on a target from a range, the ability to close off entrances and exits, as well as many other creative uses. The [b]throwing knife[/b] is an effective ranged precision weapon and can achieve very quick kills but requires a quite skilled hand. The knife does have a large hit box on enemies but its travel time precision and arc can make landing them on targets difficult. An experienced hunter can use these knifes in combination with a hand cannon for extreme effectiveness. I would recommend trying these out but simply know it will take practice to make them a reliable part of your kit. [b]So which subclass has the best melee ability?[/b] ( my opinions based on the information) For this question we will have to identify what situations we are looking at. Arguably the two most common situations to use melees in are: when you run into an enemy face to face and it’s a fight of who can land 2 melees first; and when you use the melee in combination with another ability or weapon. The best melees for the first situation include [b]Blink Strike[/b], [b]Storm Fast[/b] and [b]Thunderstrike with Amplitude[/b]. These three are all strong melees with their own significant advantage. Storm Fist has the linear speed of a titan, Blink Strike the range advantage with no recovery loss, and Thundersrike the ultimate range advantage. For this scenario I think the [b]Thunderstrike wins[/b] as long as there are using Amplitude. The Range on their melee will allow them to back pedal possibly stopping the others from being able to melee them while also allow themselves to still land their melee. Without amplitude though the winner would likely be [b]Blink Strike[/b] as it offers the best mixture of speed and range. The best melees used in combos include [b]Energy Drain[/b] and[b] Storm Fist[/b]. Energy drain has the advantage of additional damage and good range while Storm fist has the advantage of having super high damage. I think Energy Drain is likely the best. The additional damage means you don’t need to damage your enemy as much with your weapon and the range will make landing the melee easier. Which do you think is best for these situations? Which melee is your favorite? Other in depth posts: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/209148528