War, war never changes, but game balance does and in Fallout 76, players either adapt or they become a target practice or training dummies. For many, guns are overrated and too dishonorable. Some simply prefer a more intimate method of murder such as melee weapons. Our cavemen ancestors can attest to its efficiency back in the good old days when property dispute is settled with sharp rocks and sharp sticks.

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Watching the light fade out of your enemies' eyes while they bleed or writhe in pain from multiple bone traumas is also safer for the environment than polluting the already irradiated wasteland with slugs and lead casings. Unlike our cavemen ancestors though, we have become picky with our melee weapons-- they need to be elegant and luckily, Fallout 76 gives that special treatment to these big sticks.

10 Deathclaw Gauntlet

• Type: Unarmed
• Max Damage: 55
• Speed: Medium
• Weight: 13

Okay fine, scratch the elegant part; this weapon is ugly. But what else is ugly? The target's guts after being too accommodating to this melee weapon. Even in the older Fallout games, the Deathclaw Gauntlet has been a staple top weapon, having 55 max damage and being a punching weapon with fast enough jabbing speed.

Oddly enough, it requires a crafting level of 30, as if it really takes a genius to make this one from readily available materials. If players want to save themselves the trouble, then players can find this weapon in these in-game locations:

• A locked shack in Kerwood Mine
• A table in the Sons of Dane Compound
• A tree on top of a bed in Tanagra Town
• On top of a workbench in Appalachian Antiques

9 War Glaive

• Type: Two-Handed
• Max Damage: 82
• Speed: Slow
• Weight: 9

For those looking for something a bit more civilized than two talons crudely taped together to resemble a gauntlet, then the War Glaive is a pretty weapon. It's a two-handed polearm whose damage can go as high as 82 and surprisingly, it's less heavy than the Deathclaw Gauntlet.

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The weapon is in the slow attack speed category though but the damage should make up for it. It also needs level 30 crafting and process for obtaining the schematics is quite tedious:

• Get a Plan: War Glaive as a rare reward from the Daily Op
• Once the Plan: War Glaive is known, the weapon can be bought from Purveyor Murmrgh.

8 Blade of Bastet

• Type: Unique, One-Handed
• Max Damage: 45
• Speed: Medium
• Weight: 3

Continuing the trend of well-made weapons that are too good for a post-apocalypse setting, the Blade of Bastet is quite the charmer. Other stats it has apart from the usual is +50% armor penetration.

This is a rather good perk for a weapon, especially when stabbing enemies that like to feel comfy in Power Armor. Players can only obtain the weapon through the quest Forging a Legend, specifically in the basement of Riverside Manor.

7 Sheepsquatch Club

• Type: One-Handed
• Max Damage: 60
• Speed: Medium
• Weight: 3

Looking at the stats, one can easily mistake the Sheepsquatch Club for a two-handed weapon. That high damage is enough to make enemies worried at how sadistic the wielder is, preferring this crude instrument of death.

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Beyond that, it's a pretty bland and straightforward weapon. Getting a hold of it requires participation in the Free Range event. Players will have to complete the event without all three brahmin dying for a higher chance of snagging this weapon as a reward.

6 Sheepsquatch Staff

• Type: Two-Handed
• Max Damage: 75
• Speed: Slow
• Weight: 12

Then again, there are players who prefer having both of their hands occupied when defying the 6th commandment in the old testament. For an extra dose of sacrilege, a weapon with ram horns is also ideal. The Sheepsquatch Staff fits the bill in this regard.

Think of it as a two-handed version of Sheepsquatch Club but with the added dread of heathen imagery. Likewise, it's also a reward from the Free Range event if players do well to ensure that none of the dairy victims perish.

5 Fire Axe

• Type: Two-Handed
• Max Damage: 72
• Speed: Slow
• Weight: 3

It's a fireman's axe, plain and simple. Ironically, what was once a pre-ward tool used for saving lives is now one of the best melee weapons in hacking enemies to death. Times have changed for these weapons as there are plenty of them scattered throughout Boston.

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The damage isn't that great but players will mostly love this one for its weight though it still has a slow attack speed. Plus it actually looks like a weapon compared to the more bizarre murder handicrafts in the game. Players can find these axes in these places:

• Charleston Fire Department
• Hornwright Summer Villa garage
• Skeletal remains in the Torrance House maze
• Big Bend Tunnel campsite
• WV Lumber Co. near the stairs inside the main building.

4 Mr. Handy Buzz Blade

• Type: Two-Handed
• Max Damage: 8
• Speed: Very Fast
• Weight: 10

Who needs axes when buzz saws exist right? Some clever post-apocalypse scrappers embraced industrialization by yanking off a Mr. Handy's arm and putting the buzz saw to better use.

The damage is worryingly low but the weapon allows for rapid strikes, making the overall DPS higher even if some of the strikes miss. The weapon modification is also exciting. To get this, players have to enter Monongah power plant and look for a fuel storage room with a cabinet.

3 Grognak Axe

• Type: Two-Handed
• Max Damage: Varies, but it's high
• Speed: Slow
• Weight: 10

Want to crush your enemies and see them driven before you while you hear the lamentations of their women? Look no further than Grognak's Axe. It's one of the best and most thematically-pleasing weapons in the game.

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It has lots of variants though but as long as the version is legendary, players can bet that the axe is in high demand. Legendary versions can drop from legendary enemies, of course, but for those planning to craft one, they're at the mercy of the event: Holiday Scorched.

2 Power Fist

• Type: Unarmed, One-Handed
• Max Damage: 58
• Speed: Medium
• Weight: 4

The Power Fist is an unapologetic weapon both to the enemies and to the wielder as it also tends to take up a huge screen real estate but the damage output makes up for that. Besides, beating enemies to death by punching them never gets old.

Since the weapon is mechanical and modern, it's also highly moddable with a couple of fun modifications to spice up the fisticuffs. As always, players need the weapon plan to be able to craft it. It's a random reward from several events. If not, then these locations might contain a ready-made version:

• A desk near the vine structure in Tanagra Town
• In a church's watchtower, west of Harper's Ferry
• Sunnytop Ski Lanes base lodge
• Vendor bot Phoenix at Watoga Station

1 Super Sledge

• Type: Two-Handed
• Max Damage: 85
• Speed: Slow
• Weight: 20

It's one of the heaviest melee weapons in the game and rightfully so as these things were made for Supermutants. As regular wastelanders though, players can choose to forego weapon class discrimination and get to bashing skulls with this monstrous hardware.

As expected, one will have to pry it off from a Supermutants cold, dead, and filthy racist arms. They probably won't mind if they're too busy picking up their super spattered super brains on the ground due to all those VATS headshots.

NEXT: Fallout 76: All Correct Answers To The Fire Breathers Knowledge Exam