Melee combat in Project Zomboid

Every melee fight uses the same loop. Hold the aim button (right mouse by default, see controls) so the character raises the weapon and faces the cursor. Let the stance settle for a moment, then swing with the attack button when the zombie walks into reach. After the hit, walk backward a step or two while still aiming, and repeat.

• Push: press Space while aiming to shove. A bare shove does no weapon damage. It staggers a zombie or puts it on the ground, and it costs endurance.
• Stomp: stand over a downed zombie, aim at it, and press Space to stomp. Aim at the head. Stomping wears no weapon at all.
• Ground hits: a weapon swing aimed at a downed zombie also works.

Knockdown is not guaranteed. Combat is animation driven, so the same shove can floor one zombie and only rock the next. Sandbox zombie strength and toughness change how often it works (see zombies). Finish a downed zombie before it stands up, but stop stomping the moment a second one gets within grabbing distance.

Opinion Turn on the aim outline for all weapons in the game options. It marks which zombie the swing will hit, which removes most wasted swings.

Reach decides how early you can land the first hit, and multi-hit decides how many zombies one swing can touch. Multi-hit is the sandbox option Weapon Multi Hit. One Build 42 guide lists it as off in Apocalypse, Extinction and Six Months Later, and on in Outbreak and Rising (one source). With it off, every swing hits one zombie. You can change it under sandbox settings.

With multi-hit on, each weapon has its own target cap. The figures below come from a single guide written for 42.19 (one source). Zombies must still be inside the swing arc.

The same guide says a shove made while holding a weapon can push up to three zombies with multi-hit on, and only one with it off (one source). Full stats for every weapon are on the melee list, and classes are compared under weapons.

Three systems decide how long you can keep fighting. Endurance is the short-term one. Each swing and shove drains it, and the exertion moodles cut melee damage hard. The wiki lists the following values, though the page does not say which build it covers (one source).

Endurance comes back slowly while standing still and faster when sitting on the ground, on furniture or in a vehicle. Walking slows the recovery and tiredness can stop it.

Muscle strain is new in Build 42 and is the long-term limit. Swinging strains the arms, and strained arms swing slower and hurt more as the strain grows. It builds even when the endurance bar looks fine, so Build 41 marathon fights no longer work. What sources agree on:

• Higher Strength and a higher skill with the weapon class both slow strain. At maximum skill it is described as negligible.
• Heavier weapons strain more. Using a two-handed weapon in both hands spreads the load.
• Painkillers hide the pain but strain keeps building underneath.
• Rest clears it. No source gives a recovery time.
• The sandbox option Muscle Strain Factor scales it. One guide lists 0.7 for Apocalypse, 0.6 for Outbreak and 1.0 for Extinction (one source).

One wiki adds exact figures: strain is multiplied by 1.5 at Strength 0 and by 0.5 at Strength 10, a swing that hits two zombies costs double, and a shove costs 0.15 against 0.3 for a stomp (one source). See fitness and traits and occupations.

Panic lowers melee damage and critical chance. The wiki's Build 41 page gives a flat damage loss of 0.1 at the second panic level, 0.2 at the third and 0.3 at the fourth, with critical chance down by 1.3% per level (one source). Beta blockers and alcohol bring panic down and the Brave trait slows it.

A hit can lower a weapon's condition, and at zero the weapon breaks. The Maintenance skill reduces how often that happens (see maintenance). In Build 42 some weapons also track the head and the blade sharpness separately from the handle, and a head can come off (one source). Rough life spans from one guide: more than 200 swings for a crowbar or bat, 80 to 150 for axes and crafted spears, 30 to 80 for knives (one source).

Opinion Carry a second weapon on the belt or back, check condition before you leave the base, and finish downed zombies with stomps when it is safe, because stomps cost no condition.

• Doorways: zombies queue badly in narrow gaps. Standing a step back from an open door turns a crowd into a line, and a line is a series of one-on-one fights.
• Windows: a zombie that climbs through a window lands off balance. Wait for the climb to finish, then hit or stomp it before it recovers. Clear broken glass before you climb through yourself, or you risk a cut (see health).
• Low fences: zombies that go over a low fence can fall on the far side, which gives a free ground kill and saves a shove.
• Tall fences: zombies cannot climb them. In Build 42 a large horde can pile against a long wire fence and eventually break it. This is a sandbox option.

Opinion A window or low fence is the best way to rest your arms in Build 42, since the fall does the knockdown work for you.

Opinion Count before you commit. One zombie is practice, two or three are manageable, and past that the fight depends on space behind you.

• Kite: walk, do not run, in a wide curve so the group strings out by speed. Turn and kill the front one or two, then walk again.
• Split: break line of sight around a building or use a shout to pull a few away from the rest. The stealth page covers noise and sight.
• Retreat: leave when High Exertion appears, when an arm shows muscle strain in the health panel, or when you no longer have clear ground behind you.

Do not fight when tired, overloaded, in pain, or already panicking in the dark. Do not melee a horde that a vehicle, a closed door or simply walking away would solve. Guns are covered under firearms.

The lighting statement was made in a firearms context, so its exact effect on a melee swing is not confirmed. The wider list of changes is on the Build 42 page.