3 best melee weapons in Atomic Heart

Your first weapon in Atomic Heart will be an axe that’s given to you at the very start of the game. From here, one of your primary objectives is to unlock new weapon recipes so you can craft even stronger weapons to use against the robot hordes you’ll be facing. While players might be more attracted to the various guns in Atomic Heart, there are a few melee weapons we think you should also pay attention to.

In total, there are five melee weapons in Atomic Heart, which doesn’t seem like a lot. However, given that you can upgrade all of these weapons, only having five to pick from makes those upgrades feel more substantial. If you’re simply looking for the best overall melee weapon to use inside Facility 3826, then look no further, as we have our picks for the top three below.

1. Zezdochka

There’s not really another option aside from the Zezdochka for the best melee weapon in Atomic Heart. It has the best damage and best charged damage out of any melee weapon in the game, causing it to hit like a ton of bricks. While it has a slow charge speed, players can quickly improve that stat with upgrades. Players won’t be able to unlock the Zezdochka until later in the game, but it’ll be worth the wait.

2. Pashtet

The second weapon on our list is the Pashtet, which is the complete opposite of the Zezdochka. The Pashtet has the best speed out of any weapon in Atomic Heart, but is somewhat lacking in the damage department. However, the Pashtet is a one-handed weapon, meaning players can use it with their Polymer Glove and have access to all of its abilities, giving them some extra damage during a fight.

3. Fox

While you could put the Swede here, the first weapon you unlock, we feel the Fox is slightly strong across all of its stats. It also helps that you unlock the recipe for the Fox just a couple of hours into the game. The Fox has great speed and charge damage, but doesn’t have the best base damage. However, it’s a fast weapon that you can use one-handed, making it a versatile choice until you unlock the Pashtet.

If you want to read our other Atomic Heart guides, you can check out how to increase your FPS on PC, how to fix the FOV issue, or where to find the Dominator gun recipe.