[Top 5] Days Gone Best Melee Weapons and How to Get Them

Updated:

17 Apr 2020

What do you use when you run out of bullets?

The wilds of Days Gone are unforgiving and desolate to the extreme. Between ambushing bandits and rampaging Freakers, it’s easy to waste all of your bullets just trying to stay alive for five minutes. Luckily, there’s a bevy of melee weapons out there that you can get your hands on so you can take out the trash while saving up your ammo for when it really counts.

A big positive of melee weapons in Days Gone is that you can craft many of them from items you can scavenge from the wreckage of the old world. Crafting Recipes are spread throughout the regions though, so you’ll need to do a little exploring to find them all.

Additionally, there are a number of skills that can boost melee capabilities that you should consider spending points for. These include:

Field Repairs
Hard Hitter
Home Run

Read on, and find out which melee weapons you should try to keep on hand when guns just aren’t an option.

5. Lawn Mower Machete (Best for: Carving Through Enemies Early On)

Clearing a horde with only a Machete.

The Lawn Mower Machete is exactly what it sounds like; a machete made from a scavenged lawnmower blade. Its high durability and quick strikes make it perfect for when you’re just starting out. It might be number five on the list, but it can more than carry its own weight in the right hands.

The Lawn Mower Machete’s stats are subject to change depending on where it’s found:

DMG: Mid-Low to High-Mid
Durability: Mid to Near Max

What does the Lawn Mower Machete have that makes it so awesome?

It’s the first melee weapon with durability that can match its power.
It can cut down normal Freakers in three hits max.
It has some serious stopping power.

How can you get your hands on a Lawn Mower Machete?

During the mission ‘Bugged the Hell Out’ you can find one in a red pickup truck at the Nero Checkpoint. It’ll be there before and after the mission as well.

South of the cemetery in the Cascade region, there’s a teal pickup truck on the main road.
- This location will respawn the Lawn Mower Machete after you leave.
Roadside ambushers will often times have a bandit that will carry one; you can take from their corpses.
Ambush camps can also have Lawn Mower Machetes lying around.

Video Guides to finding a Lawn Mower Machete:

4. The Ripper Blade (Best for: Giving Them a Taste of Their Own Medicine)

A showcase of the Ripper Blade's ability to slice and dice.

The Ripper Blade is the best of the melee weapons the RIP cultists will throw at you. It’s quick, it’s sharp, and it doesn’t break without a fight. If you can get your hands on one of these babies, you’re as good as set.

Just don’t let it break.

The Ripper Blade’s stats are some of the best you’ll find.

DMG: High
Durability: Mid

What could make a Ripper’s weapon awesome in any way?

Its damage and durability are some of the highest you’ll find.
Normal Freakers and humans alike will fall after only one or two strikes.
Just as fast if not faster to swing than the Lawn Mower Machete.
It has a Craft Recipe.

How does a Ripper Blade find its way into your hands?

You can craft your very own.
- Craft items needed include a Stool Leg, a Sawblade, and Scrap.
  - (The exact amount is subject to Skills acquired)
- You must complete the raid on the Ripper camp in the ‘They Will Never Stop’ mission to automatically unlock the recipe.
Various Rippers can be found carrying the Ripper Blade; you can take it from their corpses.

Video Guides to Finding or Crafting a Ripper Blade:

3. The Baseball Bat Axe (Best for: Being the Strongest Crafted Melee Weapon)

Deacon up to bat at a nest of Freakers with the Baseball Bat Axe.

The Baseball Bat Axe is the pinnacle of homemade weaponry in a world gone to the dogs. It’s beyond tough and carries a bite that’s way worse than its bark. You’ll blow through any foe that gets too close to you with this monstrosity in your hands without breaking a sweat.

The Baseball Bat Axe’s stats are top of the line for a DIY:

DMG: High
Durability: Near Max

What makes the Baseball Bat Axe the most awesome crafted melee weapon?

Its damage and durability are the highest you’ll be able to craft yourself.
It’s a one-strike killer for both normal humans and Freakers during the day.
It has an easy to obtain Craft Recipe.

How hard is it to get a Baseball Bat Axe?

You will probably have to craft it.
- Craft items needed include a Baseball Bat, a Sawblade, and Scrap.
  - (The exact amount is subject to Skills acquired)
- You’ll need to clear 29% of the Ambush Camp Hunter mission to unlock the recipe.
It can randomly appear in the open world, but it's rare.

Guide Videos to getting a Baseball Bat Axe:

2. The Superior Mace (Best for: Crushing Everything in Your Way)

Picking up the Superior Mace along the Broken Road.

The Superior Mace is, well… superior to all but one melee weapon in Days Gone. The only thing holding it back is a bit of power and a slow backswing, which might make taking down swarming Freakers just a tad more difficult. But with nearly all of its stats at max capacity, as long as you can get a bead on a (normal) target, you’re guaranteed to take them down without any issues.

The nearly unmatched stats of the Superior Mace are insane:

DMG – Near Max
Durability – Maxed Out

What else makes the Superior Mace so awesome?

Each attack that lands only costs 3% of total durability; that’s thirty swings before breaking.
It’s a one-shot drop for all normal enemies during the day.

How do you get a Superior Mace of your own?

Outside of the Diamond Lake Camp in the Crater Lake region, there are a series of burnt-out buildings. A mace is hiding in one of them.
Near the Crater Lake Visitor’s Center southeast of Wizard Island, there’s a car near a gas station where someone’s left a mace for you.
After you complete the ‘A Target on Their Backs’ and ‘Proposal’ missions, Captain Kouri leaves you at a scenic overlook north of the Wizard Island Camp. A mace is resting against a bench behind you.

Video Guides to Superior Maces:

1. The Superior Metal Axe (Best for: When Only the Best Will Do)

Reigning supreme with the Superior Metal Axe.

The unapologetic champion of Days Gone melee weapons is undoubtedly the Superior Metal Axe. It’s the strongest and most durable of all options, and it only needs a few more pieces of Scrap to repair using the ‘Field Repairs’ skill compared to the Superior Mace. Once you get your hands on one of these babies, don’t let go.

The supreme stats of the Superior Metal Axe

DMG – Maxed Out
Durability – Max Out

What could make the Superior Metal Axe even more awesome?

It’s a one-shot drop for all normal enemies during the day.
Each attack only drains 2% or 3% of total durability.
It can down a Breaker in four or five solid shots.

How can a Superior Metal Axe find its way into your inventory?

In the eastern section of the Crater Lake region, there’s a lodge. At the back, there’s an SMA waiting for you on a table.
At the eastern border between the Crater Lake and Highway 97 regions, there’s an abandoned house with a shack by the north-most tunnel. Behind the shack, there’s an SMA stuck in a tree.
At the Crater Lake Visitor’s Center southeast of Wizard Island, on the left side of the building, there’s an SMA sitting out on the porch area.

Video Guides to Superior Metal Axes: