Welcome to Cirno's School For Runners Who Can't Punch Good and Want to Kill With Other Stuff Good Too.
Today we're going to be BRIEFLY discussing how to kill baddies through the power of your swole. Well, more to the point, we're gonna be looking at melee options and melee characters
in general. We'll also somewhat briefly go over non-gun ranged options, as they really do fall into the same category. This covers a pretty wide gamut, so join me as I go through the various ways to put that "samurai" into "sweet samurai," and maybe add a little phys to your adept. I'll also once again press that this is going to be somewhat brief - I'm not examining every bit of 'ware, just the basics. First, let's talk about what you're MOSTLY getting in a melee character.
All forms of melee combat offer something small and easily hidden. There's no gunpowder to worry about with chemical sensors, nothing you have to keep disassembled because it's big time forbidden, there's a lot of easy ways to sneak stuff past sensors, etc, etc. Worst case scenario you can probably grab a melee weapon (or just use your FISTS) somewhere in the operation zone. Melee isn't a bad choice for assassins because it's very difficult to NOT be armed.
Melee characters are going to want to be running literally all the time. With their desire to have high strength connected with that, melee characters share a huge overlap with your "parkour" style character - your urban travel specialist. You can't always escape via car, and sometimes it's best to pass the goods to a courier while everyone else goes to ground.
- Big Guy, Move That Thing!
Sometimes high strength is its own reward. Sometimes you just need someone with tree trunk sized muscles to, well, muscle a thing.
- (Adepts Only) Lmao Magic Threats
Absolutely nothing will put down magical threats faster or easier then a melee adept. Absolutely nothing. Spirits, vampires, awakened critters - the number of defenses that killer fists or weapon foci slice through is close to the whole list of actual defenses.
- Melee Beats Guns (In Melee)
Ranged attacks get a lot of penalties when someone is in your face - and melee gets a lot of bonuses AGAINST ranged attacks when it's in someone's face. Once you hit point blank, it's significantly harder to out-fight someone with a knife. This is why a decent number of people take Ambidextrous specifically to go knife+pistol.
Let's face it - there's a style to melee. Generic shooting games have become just the biggest possible cliche, so going full RULES OF NATURE has a real distinct flavor to it. In a veritable sea of stock grunting rifle guys, being someone who actually literally pounds the life out of an enemy is gonna stand out. And frankly, if you aren't playing to be cool, what ARE you doing? Style IS substance, man!
- You Actually Can Do Awesome Damage
At 10 strength - which is for trolls and ork sammies - a claymore will do 15P damage. That's anti-material rifle damage. That's almost assault cannon damage. At 8 strength (or 7 + critical strike) which is human adepts and just about any ork, the humble katana does 13P, and even the tiny little ol' knife does 11P. You're gonna be real good at murdering people.
So let's look first at our killing options, then how we do it.
BladesSomething of a classic option for the steel-muscled samurai. I mean, he's even called a samurai! There's a few options here that greatly outshine most of the competition. There are a number of options on how you kill people with bladed weapons, to boot!
Claymore - expensive, impossible to get in chargen, and huge, the claymore is the best melee weapon to use when actually just murdering all kinds of people. It has it's downsides - you'll never be able to hide it and you can't start with it - but it's hard not to want it at least a little if you're going for close combat. A good upgrade for non-subtle warriors who start with the axe.
Combat Axe - The shotgun of melee weapon, the combat axe has atrocious accuracy and is pretty darn hard to hid on your person, but high damage, high reach, and high armor piercing. Fantastic for the troll of your group, the combat axe is an unsubtle death tool. You'll want to upgrade to a claymore eventually though.
Katana - Ahh, the classics. Sure, it ain't the 80's anymore, and we don't need to Turn Up the Radio, but some things don't go out of style. I'm sure someone reading this is getting ready to type an essay even bigger then this worthless post on how they AREN'T THAT SPECIAL and FURTHERMORE WESTERN SWORDS - bro, save it. Shadowrun always has been and always will be at least a little anime. Mechanically, katanas are good well rounders; they do good damage, have decent AC, and amazing accuracy. The book says they're two handed weapons; most GMs won't really care if you go one handed, but if they do, and using it one handed is important, then the
monosword is basically a katana with a bit less accuracy, and a
vibrosword is a loud katana with a bit more damage.
Knife - Good ol' reliable. The knife is your ace in the sleeve; always easy to hide somewhere, often overlooked, and frankly timeless. There's never a reason to go with the vanilla flavor; the survival knife is a good subtle killing tool, the memory blade is for real tricky infiltrating, and sapphire knife is for style points and for never having to worry about a scanner ever again.
Tomahawk - A character theme I've wanted to go with for awhile! Adepts work well here for missile mastery. This is more a throwing character that can also melee. Tomahawks have the best throwing damage and not super shabby melee damage either. If your GM is nice, they'll allow missile mastery to work on tomahawks even when fighting face to face, too.
BluntIn SR4, blunt weapons were fantastic because shock sticks were strong and didn't require high strength to do their damage. In SR5 they still kinda do that, but a max damage of 9 isn't that great, and it is significantly easier (and a no brainer) to defend against shock attacks. Also, I personally find clubs to be sorta boring. So, they suffer. The only real option, either way, is to go with one of the shock-sticks. Bunt weapons otherwise offer no upgrade over blades due to having the same damage, but no armor piercing.
UnarmedSadly, unarmed isn't doing as hot. It does far better if you allow for 'ware (and has a few niche branches of it's own there), but for all you kung-fu adepts out there, this just isn't all that supported. The other issue with unarmed is how stacking works. If you go spur, do you add the reach from punch calluses? Probably not? If you go with razornails and you have level 4 BONES, do you use bone damage with fingernail armor piercing? The easiest hypothetical answer is "bioware mixes with itself, cyberware doesn't." Either way, there's four major methods of punch.
Cyberweapons - Cyberweapons unsurprisingly are the big choice for people who already have cyber limbs. The two biggest ways to do this are either keeping a spur in your cyberarm when you go for a mixed guns+melee build, or going for a taekwando expert. I mean, you'll still probably want bones.
Dem Bones - Wrapping your bones in stuff - or just getting REAL GOOD BONES - likewise increases your punch. While you don't get the minor armor piercing that spurs get, the bigger benefit is that you probably already wanted to get the bones augment in the first place. I mean, you can still get a spur on top of it, it just won't add a whole lot, but it might also be super sick and stylish so go for it.
Killing Hands - Nope. Sorry adepts. You kinda suck at this. The only way to add damage to your punch outside of critical strike (which is just +1 DV) is having a very specific mentor spirit that might not even fit your character. Elemental punch is an absolutely terrible trap choice. Get some 'ware.
Shock Punch - If you add strength damage to this, it's a no-brainer. That's not what the rules say though, so shock-punch isn't a good option for someone to specialize in. This is for people who put one point into unarmed in chargen "just in case."
ExoticIn truth, there are only two things to look at here, and this is where this post becomes REAL biased. I will note now: if you want to be a non-strength heavy melee combatant, these are really your only two options.
Monowhip - I think monowhips are dumb. From a purely practical viewpoint they are the best option every single time. There is no non-gun option that is better then a monowhip. The only downside it has - "oh no critical glitch" - is absorbed by just being good at using the monowhip in the first place, and thus doesn't even really exist. But I think it's dumb, and I think the concept and aesthetics are stupid, and having one clarified easily "the best" option is boring, so bleh. Screw the monowhip.
Chainsaw - Oh hell yes. Chainsaws are awesome. I mean sure, they'll NEVER fit in a game that isn't loud to the max, but sometimes you just really wanna chainsaw a dude. Chainsaws get another special mention - you can stick it on your gun Gears style and it actually isn't a terrible idea! See, this gives you a non-strength required melee weapon attached to your weapon, allowing you to wield both a strong gun and a melee weapon without requiring Ambidextrous, and having a melee option is good for reasons already listed.
So now that we've looked at what we're using to kill people with, who's doing the actual killing? A quick look at metahumanity.
HumansHumans have a major problem: their max strength is 6, except MOST melee characters will max out agility, meaning their max strength in chargen is 5. Without augmentation, their general damage output is going to be between 6 and 8. That's just not enough. At this point, a character would be hard pressed to think of a reason not to use a gun, when even a pistol will be doing equal if not more damage. The upside to humans is a big one: Priority E. Humans are bar none the best for making a ware/adept hybrid, and maybe even the only race that can actually do it period. Humans are also probably the best if you just want to sprinkle a bit of melee onto an otherwise ranged character. Really, the less focused you are on melee (while still having it as an option), the better humans look due to their ability to make use of their priorities. Priority E even starts with Edge 3 - not a bad way to go at all.
ElvesI know elven samurai are probably classic, but...they suck at melee. Sorry. They have the same major downside humans have without the upside. Now, if you wanted to go a non-strength monowhip (bleh) or chainsaw (YEAH!) build, elves would be much better at those, but those are both fairly niche for the purposes of this look. Stick to your guns and shaman, elves - you're way, way better at them.
DwarvesI have literally never cared about dwarves in Shadowrun.
OrksOrks are sorta the designated "cyber samurai" of metahumanity, and it shows. Mix up attributes and resources at A and B and you'll have an exception close range fighter, if somewhat one note with the lack of skills. That isn't to say they're bad adepts - in fact, orks are probably the best adepts, too. I'm gonna just go out on a limb and say orks are fantastic at fighting in melee regardless of how you do it - at least, on the assumption you wanna do at least a little more then murder. Whenever you make a melee character, you should always pause and ask "but can it be an ork?"
TrollsTrolls are natural tanks, and they can be short ranged tanks with ease. The primary issue of trolls is what you give up. Stuck at priority A or B, with the other likely going to attributes, also go Troll A because you gain so much more doing so, doesn't leave a lot of space. Furthermore, because of their high caps, trolls are actually rather terrible when it comes to cyberlimbs. A troll is going to be the absolute best at murderdeathkill face-to-face, but at the cost of being pretty rubbish in literally everything else. The good thing about trolls is that they have a lot of space to grow. Trolls are naturally tall characters - not literally, but, well, also literally I guess. I mean more that trolls mechanically are pushed towards having a few very tall peaks of specialization, and very little small stuff.
Ok, so we know what we're killing with and who we are - but HOW are we killing? There's three overall options here. Adepts, sammies...and the ever elusive hybrid.
AdeptIf you've read everything so far, you know that melee adepts are bar none the best at killing magical threats. The downside is, they're going to fall behind in total overall damage to sammies and their cheap attribute boosters. An adept typically has only one way to raise damage - critical strike - and while +1DV isn't bad, it's not much to muscle aug's +3. Accuracy (as in, ability to hit, not the stat) is more balanced out; the sammy gets between +3 and +4 (muscle toner + possible reflex recorder) while the sammy gets +3 from Increased Skill, and potentially +2-ish more from Agility Boost. However, Agility Boost has it's own share of problems; it ruins your custom fit suits, and more importantly, costs an action. Which in turn can be fixed with rapid draw. Point is, when it comes to using a weapon, adepts and sammies are probably about even. Sadly, as was mentioned above, when you're NOT using a weapon, that stops being true fast. A sammie is going to be adding on average +6 to their punch DV; +3 from muscle aug, +3 from their unarmored punch attack of choice. Adepts on the other hand can only really add +3, and that's only if they take a specific mentor spirit. So, sorry adepts - stick to the swords. The biggest advantage adepts have is initiative; starting off with +3+3d6 is a huge benefit. If people on these forums tell you to take only two points then get a ki foci for the rest, ignore them. Ki foci have a much more important place: your versatility. There are a lot of adept powers you don't need on 24/7, and these make PERFECT ki foci, so stick to those. Elemental attacks are a massive trap; you only get one, it costs an action, and it
doesn't actually increase your damage. Adepts make great dodge monkies too; melee characters will already likely have higher defense rolls due to countless modifiers, and nobody cam stack more defense rolls then adepts can. Note that adepts will need to do some harsh prioritizing in chargen on where their money is; expect to save up your nuyen early on to buy more and better SINs and other vague necessities. Weapon Focus is invaluable; not for the +attack dice, but for it's ability to slice through any sort of supernatural defense like butter. Just wave it around vaguely when a vampire turns to mist to kill it!
SammiesSammies are going to be more in depth due to their wider variety of 'ware. Broadly speaking any sammy worth their salt wants to capitalize on their big advantage: (relatively) cheap, easy attribute augs. Namely, muscle toner and muscle augmentation. Cyberlimbs are a possibility but something of a trap; they mechanically encourage dumping your stats...except you need high agility (and probably strength) in your LEGS if you ever want to REACH the bad guys. This means cyberlimbed sammies are going to sorta want to fall into three categories; those that only get cyberlimbs and go full taekwando, those that take a mixed gun+melee approach and only use melee when baddies come to THEM, and full cyberlimb everything psychos that are actual tanks in human disguise. Accept you won't be beating adepts at initiative, and note that, while adepts are better at dodging, you're better at absorbing. New skin, new bones, and cyberlimbs if you go that route can all add to your armor. Adepts flip around and slice bullets like anime ninjas; you just take shots to the chest and keep going Doomguy style.
HybridsCombining 'ware and adepts ain't easy. But it's doable. But it ain't easy. For a long time, the primary method was to simply be an adept then buy some 'ware. This had downsides of course - magic is harder and more expensive to earn back the higher it is when you lose it. The second way is to just not really be all that magical in the first place; this is where I personally put a lot of Edge heavy builds. Unfortunately, that also has a downside; melee is, sadly, a bit of a specialist build. Having only a little magic and a little 'ware means you'll only have a little bit of an advantage, which usually won't beat out full adept or 'ware builds until you get enough karma to make up for it. But now there's another way. Enter the prototype transhuman. This quality gives you one free point of ESS to spend in chargen! The downside is of course that you have to SPEND it in chargen. The actual downside to the quality is negligible compared to this - it means you need both high enough resources to buy your 'ware and high enough magic for it to be worthwhile. This is why I noted humans are the best, if not maybe ONLY options for transhuman hybrids. Only with Human E will you really have the priority spaces or points to make it possible. The big thing you want is muscle aug - doing this allows you to have the best of both worlds, so to speak. Non-ork/troll adepts should pay rrreeeeeaaaaal close attention to this.
And that's kinda itHope you enjoyed the probably garbage post. I won't pretend to be any sort of expert in Shadowrun; this is just mostly a collection of things I've noticed as someone who really likes dumb melee characters. Feel free to pick things apart below and tell me how dumb and stupid this post was and how useless all my thoughts have been! Unless you're going to try to talk up monowhips. Ugh. Don't even.
Monowhips. Bleh.
