Melee

Heavy's Fists

Melee weapons are a type of weapon that have a limited and typically short range and do not require ammo, making them a reliable, if risky, last resort option should a player run out. Most classes' default melees do 65 damage, the only exceptions being the Scout and Civilian, whose melees do 35 damage in exchange for a , and the Spy, whose knife does 40 damage. Melee weapons have an increased chance of critical hits from the 2% to 12% chance on non-melees to a 15% to 60% chance, depending on recent damage or healing done. This can make them effective, albeit risky, ambush tools to try and quickly eliminate other classes. These random critical hits do not apply to the Knife, Harvester, or Chekhov's Punch. Some melee weapons have a different swing animation, such as the Fists uppercutting or the Kukri swinging downwards. The Demoman's bottle breaks on a critical hit. This is a purely visual change and otherwise does not affect the weapon in any way.

Due to their niche uses and the standard set by Engineer and Spy, a common theme among melee weapon design is to trade the consistent damage and/or random critical hits for some sort of utility. The Wrench for example, maintains the standard stock melee stats, but with the added ability to heal and upgrade buildings, as well as refill Sentry Guns with ammo. In addition, the Knife has added utility in being able to one shot any class from behind with a guaranteed critical hit, called a backstab. It is worth noting backstabs can only happen from behind enemies, and attempting to attack an enemy with a crit boosted knife from the front will result in the Knife critting as normal, dealing 120 damage. Other examples of utility melees include The Harvester, Chekhov's Punch, Shock Therapy, Umbrella, Derby Cane, Uberspritze, and Fishwhacker.