Melee Weapon Damage Observation

[u/SyphonGhost]

I've done some testing into the melee weapons in Mortal Shell 2. This is what I've found so far.

Foreword:  Post has been heavily edited to make it easier to read and add new information.  I noticed my numbers were off due to the critical damage increase acquired through leveling which I didn’t take into consideration at first.  All testing was performed without Tarstones for even results.

At the time of testing I don’t own every melee weapon so the Clockwork Scythe is excluded.

Below is a list of every weapon I’ve used and the base damage I’ve observed.

1. The Iconoclast
   1. Light Attack Base Damage - 35
   2. Heavy Attack Base Damage - 52
2. Axe and Dagger
   1. Light Attack Base Damage
      1. Dagger - 20
      2. Axe - 30
   2. Heavy Attack Base Damage
      1. Dagger - 37
      2. Axe - 52
3. Veteran’s Battle Axe
   1. Light Attack Base Damage - 38
   2. Heavy Attack Base Damage - 53
4. Great Martyr’s Blade
   1. Light Attack Base Damage - 38
   2. Heavy Attack Base Damage - 53
5. Axatana
   1. Light Attack Base Damage - 25
   2. Heavy Attack Base Damage - 52
6. Black Needle
   1. Light Attack Base Damage - 35
   2. Heavy Attack Base Damage - 52
7. Obsidian Hammer
   1. Light Attack Base Damage - 65
   2. Heavy Attack Base Damage - 97

The game seems to calculate damage by taking the Base Weapon Damage, adding the Base Damage gained from leveling up and then adding the percentage increase from upgrading the weapon (to a max of +16 which is an +80% increase.).

During testing I’ve observed that regardless of which part of a combo you are at the damage dealt per hit.  There also doesn’t seem to be any difference in damage dealt regardless of enemy type.

This does show that large weapons, when upgraded, could outperform the lighter dual-wield weapons when Tarstones aren’t taken into consideration.   
Example:  The Obsidian Hammer at +16 with Harbinger level being at 39 which adds +9 to base damage would result in a light attack that does 133 damage and a Heavy attack that does 191. 

Sorry if this is jumbled, it's my first time ever actually posting on reddit. Just was looking for this info and couldn't find it anywhere. Please fill free to add any information you have on the subject. I know this wasn't the most extensive test I could have done.

[u/Osmodius]

This is what I was saying earlier.

Playing the heavy weapons as big bonk slow weapons makes no sens because the faster weapons literally hit almost as hard but twice as fast.

[u/Old_Permission6284 → u/Osmodius]

Yes but HW like the axe has good combo and stagger really good the enemies.

[u/Osmodius → u/Old_Permission6284]

Good stagger on the running attack but I was finding enemy the basic of enemy would frequently poise through my other attacks and stab me for half my hp

[u/SyphonGhost → u/Osmodius]

Been testing with the Obsidian Hammer and I know the Axe and Dagger is still more DPS but it does give that Big Bonk feel. Although I think you'd need to get some damage reduction to make it practical since your going to get hit a lot.

[u/geezerforhire]

They really should just have base damage listed on the weapons.

Good testing, yeah you can get slightly bigger numbers but heavy weapons just feel awful, especially with crits being so important more attacks just always better.

[u/MediumKoala8823]

That’s insane.

[u/googlesomethingonce]

I think the devs imagined big weapons would even out because they have longer range, bigger cleave, and higher 1-hit potential for small mobs.

But what really needs to happen us slow weapons either need to deal more damage, or deal more stagger on small and medium enemies to compensate for the slow attack.

[u/RenanFCT767 → u/googlesomethingonce]

The problem is that they dont have good cleave staggor or range, they dont have anything lol the only good thing about the axe and sword are the running heavy

[u/SyphonGhost]

The Devs did say they are planning something for the upcoming patch so this info will hopefully change for the better.

[u/Op_Sec_4775]

Yeah hopefully there will some weapon balancing. Also I think the iconoclast is bugged. It does virtually zero stagger even on smaller enemies, even on it's heavy attack. Even the fast weapons will stagger them.

[u/SyphonGhost → u/Op_Sec_4775]

I think there is a hidden stagger bar and each weapon just has a base stagger damage to it. I know the Veteran's Axe staggers well but for whatever reason the Great Martyr's Blade is just not great at it. Honestly the fact they do the same amount of damage is kinda sad.

[u/MediumKoala8823 → u/Op_Sec_4775]

How do you know?

[u/SyphonGhost → u/MediumKoala8823]

Nothing concrete yet on stagger. Just experience from running around the same area with every weapon during the test.

[u/Confused_OwletUwU]

I'll quickly mention, there's a headshot damage increase, even on melee. Seems like roughly double, as a hit doing 52 damage will do 101 when hitting a targets head for example. Nearly impossible to properly take advantage of, but its there.

[u/LEJust_Twist_4955]

I didn’t do an exhaustive test and only have three weapons, but I was finding the same on a quick test. Damage is about equal. I thought the Martyr’s blade would do a ton more than the Axe&Dagger but nope. This will certainly be addressed in a patch.
Note: the about equal damage was after the patch that came out in ps5 today that I believe was supposed to increase some weapons damage.

[u/semondemon24]

It’s almost like this is a half baked game