Best Melee Weapons in No More Room in Hell 2 (1.0): Every Melee Weapon, Damage & Tier
Quick answer: the best melee weapons in No More Room in Hell 2 are the Fire Axe and Sledgehammer if you can carry a two-hander, and the Machete or Hatchet if you need a hand free for your flashlight. The Fire Axe has the highest damage in the game (35/50/65 base, 60/80/100 on headshots — a charged headshot kills a normal zombie outright); the Sledgehammer trades a little damage for best-in-class knockdown; the Machete and Hatchet are the only one-handed Tier 3 blades and both got a 1.0 buff to 20/25/34. For reach and crawler-making, the Tree Trimmer is the community’s favourite specialist. Everything below comes from the official melee balance tables (0.8.0.1 hotfix, updated by the 1.0 Armageddon notes).
How to read the numbers
- Damage is written Quick / Strong / Charged (X/Y/Z), the format the developers use. Normal zombies have 100 health, Shamblers 70, Primes 130.
- Blunt weapons deal bonus charged headshot damage and knock zombies down (a downed zombie takes 100% bonus damage until it starts getting up). Slashing weapons sever limbs more readily — a legless zombie becomes a crawler.
- One-handed weapons let you keep the flashlight in your off-hand. Two-handers hit harder over a bigger arc, cost more stamina and lower the light.
- Tier is the loot tier (1 = starter grade, 3 = the good stuff). 1.0 reshuffled several weapons between tiers, so older tier lists are out of date.
One-handed blunt
| Weapon | Tier | Base Q/S/C | Headshot Q/S/C | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mallet | 1 | 10/13/15 | 20/25/30 | Default starting melee since 1.0 (replaced the Small Pipe); damage trimmed to fit the role |
| Small Wrench | 1 | 10/13/15 | 20/25/30 | Fastest charged swing after the 1.0 +12% buff; stackable/throwable |
| Small Pipe | 2 | 10/10/15 | 20/30/35 | Promoted to Tier 2 at 1.0 with a headshot buff |
| Tire Iron | 2 | 13/15/20 | 25/30/35 | 1.0 fixed its charged attack to the intended 20 |
| Claw Hammer | 3 | 15/20/25 | 30/35/45 | High stability damage — good with the Hitman skill |
| Crowbar | 3 | 15/20/25 | 30/35/45 | Same statline as the Claw Hammer; 185 reach, the longest one-handed blunt with a published number |
One-handed slashing
| Weapon | Tier | Base Q/S/C | Headshot Q/S/C | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Knife (Kitchen Knife) | 1 | 15/18/25 | 25/38/40 | Fastest swings in the game; poor at severing limbs |
| Cleaver | 2 | 15/18/25 | 28/38/50 | Double-buffed at 1.0; a popular “best starter” on r/nmrih |
| Hatchet (Hand Axe) | 3 | 20/25/34 | 35/45/55 | Faster heavy swings, built to dismember |
| Machete | 3 | 20/25/34 | 35/45/55 | Same numbers as the Hatchet; quicker light-attack combos |
The Hatchet and Machete share a statline after 1.0 (both were raised from 17/22/26). The developers’ melee blog describes the difference as feel: the Hatchet “is faster at heavy swings, maximizing damage per swing to dismember limbs”, the Machete “excels at quick swings”. Pre-1.0 Reddit threads called the Machete the best one-hander “by far”; post-1.0 that is a coin flip.
Two-handed blunt
| Weapon | Tier | Base Q/S/C | Headshot Q/S/C | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rebar | 1 | 15/20/30 | 30/35/40 | Weakest two-hander; two charged headshots still kill |
| Hockey Stick | 1 | 15/20/30 | 25/30/35 | Longest blunt reach (255); moved down to Tier 1 at 1.0 |
| Large Pipe | 2 | 20/25/33 | 30/35/40 | Moved up to Tier 2 at 1.0 with a damage buff |
| Large Wrench | 2 | 25/25/40 | 35/40/60 | Hits hard for Tier 2; 1.0 slowed its swings 10% |
| Baseball Bat | 2 (statline) | 20/25/33 | 25/35/50 | The 1.0 nerf victim — was 30/35/45; still the fastest two-hander |
| Sledgehammer | 3 | 30/35/50 | 50/65/100 | One charged headshot kills; best knockdown in the game |
T-Junction Pipe and Giant Wrench are field variants of the Rebar with the same role.
Two-handed slashing
| Weapon | Tier | Base Q/S/C | Headshot Q/S/C | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shovel | 1 | 20/25/34 | 35/45/50 | 1.0 turned it into a real weapon (was 13/18/25); long reach |
| Tree Trimmer | 2 | 25/30/35 | 35/35/45 | Longest reach; charged sweeps take legs off whole packs |
| Fire Axe | 3 | 35/50/65 | 60/80/100 | Highest damage in the game; charged headshot one-shots normals |
Best melee weapons by role
| You want… | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Raw kills | Fire Axe | 100 charged headshot damage = one-shot normals; 65 charged body damage two-shots them |
| Crowd control | Sledgehammer | Knockdowns on regular hits, 100 charged headshot; downed zombies take double damage |
| Flashlight in hand | Machete or Hatchet | Tier 3 one-handers at 20/25/34 — statistically above every other one-hander |
| Reach and crawlers | Tree Trimmer | Longest reach of any weapon; charged attacks sever legs |
| Early game | Cleaver or Small Knife | Fast, cheap, and the Cleaver’s 50 charged headshot punches above Tier 2 |
| Speed | Baseball Bat | Still the fastest swinging two-hander after its 1.0 trim |
Two habits make any of them better. Charge your swings on the first zombie of a fight — charged headshots are where the one-shot breakpoints live. And don’t swing to empty stamina: swings, sprints and shoves share one pool, and an exhausted Responder next to three zombies is already dead (beginner guide).
What changed at 1.0 Armageddon
- Mallet became the default starting weapon (Tier 1); Small Pipe moved to Tier 2.
- One-handed weapons start strong attacks 10% faster and charged attacks 20% faster; two-handers start charged attacks 10% faster.
- Machete, Hatchet, Shovel and Cleaver were buffed; the Baseball Bat was cut hard (“Sorry, sluggers!” — the notes say its best-in-class speed and stats crowded out slower heavies).
- Hockey Stick moved down to Tier 1, Large Pipe up to Tier 2.
- All slashing weapons now deal 5/10 stability damage on quick/strong attacks; the Fire Axe got 10 on quick attacks.
The full firearm side lives on the weapons list; rankings that weigh melee against guns are on the weapons tier list; and if you want to build a Responder around never firing a shot, the melee lane in best builds pairs these weapons with Athlete, Marathon Runner and Hitman.
Sources: official Genesis 0.8.0.1 hotfix melee tables, the “Melee Combat” developer blog (February 2026), 1.0 Armageddon update notes; community NMRiH2 wiki weapon list for one-/two-handed classification; r/nmrih and Sportskeeda melee discussions for consensus picks. 1.0 numbers are the 0.8.0.1 baseline with the 1.0 changes applied.