Using melee Weapons in Starfield is a niche way of playing the game, with players able to use melee weapons, get lots of melee damage modifiers via Sneak attacks, Stealth, and via combat skills to ramp up a lot of damage. If you’re interested in knowing all there is to know about melee weapons in Starfield, then look no further.
All Starfield Melee Weapons¶
Here’s a closer look at all Starfield Melee Weapons, featuring the best tips we can suggest for melee weapons in the game.
- Va’runn Painblade: A melee weapon commonly found from the Va’ruun snake people as loot or in their bases. You can also buy it from vendors from around level 5 onwards.
Wakizashi - A Katana weapon that you can get from 
Neon. Join the Strikers Gang in Neon, located in Madame Sauvage’s. There’s a man squatting near the bar that tells you to go there. Follow with the Strikers gang side quest, and you can get your hands on this weapon.
Tanto - Another random drop weapon from containers enemies and more. You can also find the weapon in Rowland Arms- UC Naval Cutless - The melee weapon of choice for the United Colonies, you can find this often on their bodies or in UC-related military gear stores and POIs
Barrow Knife - Similar to 
Combat Knife in terms of drop chance- Combat Knife - Common military blade you can find all over and in stores.
Ripshank - A criminal blade often found on your more common hostile foes as potential loot drops.
Rescue Axe - very common white quality melee weapon you can find often in mines, the stating areas and more.
There doesn’t seem to be any unique melee weapons in the game. All of their drops are random when you get them, including any rarities and perks they come with. You also cannot modify melee weapons in the game.
Melee Quest Rewards¶
However, there does seem to be two decent sources of melee weapon.
One of them is after the Groundpounder quest in the Altair on the planet Altair II. When you complete the quest, you can find the quest giver appears when you’re traveling around space. It is reported that this NPC can give you a legendary quality melee weapon. This is a tip we received from one of our readers, and so, it could also be random.
The other method of getting a melee weapon can be completing the Strikers side quest on Neon. Go and visit the Strikers housed in the Madame Sauvage’s bar on the southern side of Ebbside. A man is squatting near the bar, who will tell you to visit it so you can get a side quest to speak to them. If you complete the quest, you can get a Katana, aka the Wakizashi.
Best Melee Weapon in Starfield¶
We advise taking a crit apparel since crit damage spikes with melee weapons are fairly easy to land, such as the Crimson Fleet apparel.
For the most part, the best melee weapon in Starfield is the Va’Ruun Painblade, largely thanks to its higher base damage profile. Of course, some weapon drops will randomize their damage profile to beat out other weapons depending on the rarity of the drop, but, in general, the Va’Ruun Painblade will outclass every other melee weapon in damage.
The only other factor to consider is the range of a weapon. The UC Cutlass or the Wakizashi are likely better options, but range isn’t much of a factor in Starfield. Your best bet is to stun-lock enemies with your melee weapons, use the anti-gravity power, and unleash hell the best you can.
Other things to consider if you intend to use melee weapons in Starfield are Outfits. Outfits tend to come with some decent bonuses in some instances. For a melee weapon build, then we recommend grabbing the following suits whenever you can:
- Swashbucker Uniform: -5% crit chance. Unlocked via the Crimson Fleet Quest,
Rook Meets King - There’s also the
Nightwear, which can be purchased from apparel stores in 
New Atlantis and Neon, which lowers O2 consumption and is handy for melee builds thanks to needing to run a lot to reach enemies to mitigate damage the best you can.
The Swashbuckler uniform is pretty good for crit chance, since you can make crits land easier while you whale at heads with your melee weapon.
Also, don’t forget the following skills to make the best melee weapon in Starfield feel much stronger.
Dueling skill for melee weapon damage bonuses, alongside
Stealth
Martial Arts
Concealment
This concludes everything you need to know about melee weapons in Starfield. If the build still interests you, then feel free to grab the recommended skills, outfit, and the Painblade for some spiking.
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