Ranged Weapons Quickly Outclass Melee

[Altissimus]

Mastery level 4, and I don't use melee anymore.

 

Let's ignore elemental and AP, as all the weapons have them.  Now, take a look at:

 

Rifle: Serration, Split Chamber, (Thunderbolt)

Pistol: Hornet strike, Barrel Diffusion

Shotgun: Point Blank, Hell's Chamber.

 

Each of the above basically allow you to double your damage.  Quadruple, if you use both together (as you do, of course).

 

And on melee you have:

 

Point Strike Pressure Point - doesn't apply to charged strikes. (Thanks for the edit, juel)

Killing blow - doesn't apply to non-charged strikes.

 

Pressure Point caps at 42%.  Killing Blow @ 150%.  Compared to the 200%+ x 2 (multishot) you get from a ranged.

 

So, why would you ever bother to enter into melee?  Plus, if you get into melee you're probably only there to press 4. and then get out again.

 

TL;DR

Melee needs mods that scale it in line with Ranged.

 

Thanks.

A.

Edited June 30, 2013 by Altissimus

[LalaLuck]

I just want to say one thing.

 

Orthos.

[Altissimus]

Orthos is nice.

 

Doesn't scale.

 

You say Orthos, I say braton, boltor, latron prime, paris, dread, hek, akfuris, lex, kunai, despair..............

[Sesshou01]

Well imo non charged melee is garbage because of the damage (even if things like stun locking are nice).  Charged melee attacks can hit really hard, especially if you are using Ash / Loki.  Just killing blow and smoke bomb makes my charged melee hit for 1k (which is armor ignore) with any of the heavy weapons.  Then consider how fast something like the Orthos can get CA off and that you can hit multiple things at once (technically you could do this with puncture with some guns, but puncture mods are kinda mediocre).  Sure if its just 1 guy or you have to run out of your way, just shoot them though.

 

I also tend to melee to finish off a group rather than reload or when I'm trying to stock back up on ammo because my primary chews through it too fast regardless of  my frame.

 

Edit:  You say doesn't scale, but yeah it does.  It scales based off the number of enemies in range.  All of those things you mentioned (thunderbolt aside) are really only going to hit 1 guy.

Edited June 30, 2013 by Sesshou01

[Dochi.]

Don't you mean Pressure Point? Point Strike is Rifle Crit Chance+

Edited June 30, 2013 by juel2910

[Altissimus]

Well imo non charged melee is garbage because of the damage (even if things like stun locking are nice).  Charged melee attacks can hit really hard, especially if you are using Ash / Loki.  Just killing blow and smoke bomb makes my charged melee hit for 1k (which is armor ignore) with any of the heavy weapons.  Then consider how fast something like the Orthos can get CA off and that you can hit multiple things at once (technically you could do this with puncture with some guns, but puncture mods are kinda mediocre).  Sure if its just 1 guy or you have to run out of your way, just shoot them though.

 

I also tend to melee to finish off a group rather than reload or when I'm trying to stock back up on ammo because my primary chews through it too fast regardless of  my frame.

 

Edit:  You say doesn't scale, but yeah it does.  It scales based off the number of enemies in range.  All of those things you mentioned (thunderbolt aside) are really only going to hit 1 guy.

 

Ok, I agree that melee occasionally has a use, but your points are very situation-dependent - your Ash/Loki example, while very true (they're the two warframes I use most) are the ONLY two that this applies to (far as a I know).  And stealth weapons (paris, dread, kunai, despair) have the same effect.

 

Anyway, I wasn't trying to say melee has no place, I was trying to say it's damage doesn't scale equally with ranged.

 

Perhaps pressure point and killing blow should stack.  After all, you're taking a risk stepping toe-to-toe with that Ancient in the first place.

Edited June 30, 2013 by Altissimus

[Sesshou01]

I think you are giving the bows too much credit.  I'm pretty sure I can speed clear (and kill anything on my way, gigantic rooms with multiple levels aside) through most missions as fast if not faster with a good melee weapon as I can with a bow.  Don't get me wrong, I love my dread and have it potatoed and double formad (loved my paris too but I sold it when i got my dread), but once you get to the point where you need to charge your shot to kill guys in 1 hit, it slows you down considerably.

 

Or actually, even several of the other weapons you mentioned, if its an infested level, it is much easier to clear a pack of non ancients with melee compared to quite a few of the ones you mentioned earlier.