The Melee Weapons skill determines your effectiveness with any melee weapon, from the simple lead pipe all the way up to the high-tech Super Sledge.

Melee Weapons is again in competition with Unarmed, and it again loses. Paralyzing Palm might not be as awesome in New Vegas as it was in Fallout 3, but it does give Unarmed an edge. Also, many of the better perks the two share (Piercing Strike, Slayer) require you to have a large number of points in Unarmed. To its credit, Melee Weapons does control the Ninja, Unstoppable Force, and Super Slam perks, but it does seem to be the loser in this competition, nonetheless. It’s also hard to compare a Super Sledge to a Displacer Glove or Ballistic Fist. Your natural inclination is to specialize in one or the other, but unfortunately New Vegas requires you to pay attention to both, whereas with Guns and Energy Weapons you can get by just fine with one or the other.