Ranking the best Melee Weapons in Project Zomboid. Use this Tier List to help you choose what weapon to take.

Check out our Guns Tier List

Melee Weapons Tier List

Below is a list of some of the more common melee weapons you will come across in Project Zomboid. Let’s take a look at their stats and how they rank.

TierWeaponTypeDamageCrit Chance
(Crit Multiplier)
RangeBase Attack Speed*Durability
S
Katana
Long Blade8.0-8.030%
(6x)
0.61-1.41.0150
S
Pick Axe
Axe1.0-2.225%
(9x)
0.61-1.60.8260
S
Machete
Long Blade2.0-3.020%
(5x)
0.61-1.231.0325
S
Spear
(Machete)
Spear1.2-1.730%
(10x)
0.98-1.481.0120
S
Garden Fork
Spear1.0-1.530%
(10x)
0.61-1.370.9150
A
Axe
Axe0.8-2.020%
(5x)
0.61-1.21.0455
A
Baseball Bat
Long Blunt0.8-1.140%
(2x)
0.61-1.251.0300
A
Crowbar
Long Blunt0.6-1.1520%
(2.5x)
0.61-1.251.01050
A
Spear
(Hunting Knife)
Spear1.2-1.730%
(10x)
0.98-1.481.072
A
Spiked Baseball Bat
Long Blunt1.0-1.530%
(5x)
0.61-1.280.95150
B
Lead Pipe
Short Blunt0.7-1.230%
(2x)
0.61-1.150.93300
B
Hand Axe
Axe0.7-1.515%
(5x)
0.61-1.11.0150
B
Canoe Paddle
(Double-bladed)
Long Blunt0.8-1.950%
(2x)
0.61-1.60.8100
B
Shovel
Snow Shovel
Long Blunt0.8-1.940%
(2x)
0.61-1.60.8100
B
Nightstick
Short Blunt0.6-1.125%
(2x)
0.61-1.20.95300
B
Metal Bar
Short Blunt0.7-1.130%
(2x)
0.61-1.20.95120
B
Metal Pipe
Short Blunt0.6-1.030%
(2x)
0.61-1.20.95120
B
Crafted Spear
Spear1.0-1.530%
(10x)
0.98-1.41.010
C
Wood Axe
(Heavy)
Axe1.3-3.050%
(12x)
0.61-1.351.0375
C
Hammer
Ball-peen Hammer
Short Blunt0.5-1.020%
(3x)
0.61-1.11.0300
C
Hunting Knife
Short Blade0.6-1.250%
(3x)
0.61-0.91.0150
D
Pipe Wrench
Short Blunt0.5-1.025%
(2x)
0.61-1.11.0250
D
Wrench
Short Blunt0.5-1.020%
(2x)
0.61-1.01.0135
E
Frying Pan
Short Blunt0.3-0.530%
(2x)
0.61-1.11.0120
E
Griddle Pan
Short Blunt0.25-0.4530%
(2x)
0.61-1.11.0120
E
Rolling Pin
Short Blunt0.2-0.515%
(2x)
0.61-1.11.2112
E
Meat Cleaver
Short Blade0.4-0.815%
(5x)
0.61-1.01.2150
F
Stone Axe
Axe0.5-1.515%
(5x)
0.61-1.21.025
F
Stone Hammer
Short Blunt0.3-0.715%
(3x)
0.61-1.051.025
F
Spiked Plank
Long Blunt0.5-0.825%
(5x)
0.61-1.320.8520
F
Plank
Long Blunt0.4-0.630%
(2x)
0.61-1.30.920
F
Stone Knife
Short Blade0.4-0.620%
(2x)
0.61-0.851.042
F
Kitchen Knife
Short Blade0.3-0.725%
(4x)
0.61-0.91.020
F
Sledgehammer
Long Blunt
(Heavy)
2.0-3.0-0.7-1.350.9400
*Note that weapon type also affects attack speed. Eg. Heavy weapons will attack slower than any other weapon with the same base attack speed.

Spears are Top Tier Weapons But…

Spears are some of the best melee weapons in Project Zomboid. They have the longest range and the highest crit multiplier.

The problem is they have low durability. The crafted spear itself is really good for leveling up your Spear skill. However it will break very easily. Good thing that they are easy to craft.

Once you have sufficient levels in spear and maintenance you can consider using attachments like the Hunting Knife and Machete.

Without sufficient levels to reduce durability loss its a bit of a waste, especially with the Machete as it is itself one of the best weapons in the game.

The Garden Fork is only slightly worse than the Machete Spear. A solid late game option too.

S-Tier Melee Weapons

The Katana is the undisputed champion of melee weapons Project Zomboid. It has the highest base damage. However it’s very rare…

Pick Axe and Machete are still rare but you’ll eventually come across a few. What gives the Pick Axe the advantage is its massive 9x critical multiplier second only to spears and the wood axe.

A-Tier Melee Weapons

The Axe (Red Axe) for Lumberjack Axe Man builds is an S-Tier weapon. For any other occupation it still has all round solid stats.

The Baseball Bat and Crowbar are top tier melee staples. They are easy to find and pretty common. The Baseball Bat has twice the crit chance which is probably why you will notice killing zombies much faster with it. But the Crowbar durability is unmatched compared to any melee weapon. So you’ll probably want one to deal with large hoards.

Both the Baseball Bat and Crowbar are Long Blunt weapons. Attack range is very important in Zomboid, Long weapons typically are superior to shorter alternatives as you can attack from a safer distance. Which is also what makes spears OP.

Whilst the Spiked Baseball bat does have more damage than your basic Baseball Bat it has half the durability and a lower crit chance.

B-Tier Melee Weapons

The Lead Pipe has the best stats out of all the long metal rods (Lead Pipe, Metal Bar and Metal Pipe).

The Nightstick is a great one handed weapon that can be placed onto your belt. The only downside is that it cannot be repaired.

The Canoe Paddle and Shovel both make quite nice weapons with very nice crit chance. However its attack speed is on the slower end and has pretty low durability.

C-Tier Melee Weapons

The Wood Axe is a bit tricky to rank. It’s not as heavy as the Sledgehammer so it won’t cost you as much endurance to swing it (roughly 3x the cost of swinging the red axe).

However the weapon boasts very good damage along with the highest 12x crit multiplier paired with a massive 50% crit chance. So you’ll likely one shot everything.

The biggest down side is that as a heavy weapon it swings slow leaving you vulnerable especially when fighting multiple zombies.

For the Lumberjack this isn’t as much of a problem as the Axe Man trait boosts attack speed by 25% (perhaps increasing this weapon to high B-Tier). However for the rest of us its probably just going to get us killed.

The Hammer/Ball-peen Hammer are great starter weapons you can commonly find. You can switch it out for a longer range melee weapon when you come across one.

The Hunting Knife is better saved for attaching to a stick. Unmodified it has poor range. Short Blade weapons by itself are just not that great.

D-Tier and E-Tier Melee Weapons

These weapons you will use when you have nothing else. They are basically better than nothing and at least the blunt ones allow you to safely break windows.

The Wrenches beat all the kitchen tools. Out of the kitchen options the Frying Pan is the best.

F-Tier Melee Weapons

Don’t bother with these as there are better alternatives that are easy to come by. These items have horrible durability and will just break if you try to use them as a weapon.

The Sledgehammer is more of a tool. A rare item that can be used to destroy walls and help you break into that gun store. You don’t want to use it as a weapon as swinging it will rapidly exhaust you.