Sometimes, a six-shooter just isn’t good enough to get the point across. For many players of Red Dead Online, a melee weapon is a great choice for not only a fun challenge but to evoke a rampage across the Wild West. Red Dead Online features a great number of melee weapons, which many play largely the same.
What’s unique about the melee weapons in Red Dead Online is their animations, swing times, and the fact that using a hatchet to kill another player or NPC is far more gruesome than a quick bullet. Players will want to keep an eye out for the best melee weapons in Red Dead Online.
8 Fists
For some players, the best melee weapon could very well be their two fists. Bar fights in Red Dead Online can be a lot of fun, whether that’s with NPCs or real players. The rowdiness and roughhousing that can be done with fists is far less violent and lacks the degree of murder one can find with a blade.
The combat system in Red Dead Online is pretty good, and fighting with fists can open up plenty of friendly competitions among players that want to start their fight club. Hopefully, the fighting is mutual, and a lack of grief is involved.
7 Hunter Hatchet
Some may market the Hunter Hatchet as a tool for cutting wood, but everyone in the Wild West knows that its best use is as a weapon against other players. The Hunter Hatchet has the classic design one would expect and is a smaller axe to wield for the player.
The fun of the Hunter Hatchet comes from the fact that players can make their own side quest, and pretend to be a protective woodsman who is guarding their cabin against looters and other uninvited guests. It’s also just pretty fun to hit people with an axe.
6 Bow And Arrow
While the bow may not be a melee weapon, it certainly has a unique attack animation when players try to use it as such. Using the bow as a melee weapon will see the player slash at other people with the arrow. In some cases, the player will ram the arrow into other people's necks, killing them instantly.
It’s a brutal way to fight and could benefit some Red Dead Online players that want to roleplay without guns and stick to the basics of a bow and arrow. It’s satisfying getting arrow kills, even if it’s up close and personal, and somewhat evil.
5 Aguila Machete
Although this machete may require the Collector role, and to reach rank 5 within that role, it’s well worth the grind. The weapon offers no advantage over other melee weapons, but the fact that it’s a great big machete is certainly a selling point that will draw in a lot of people, preferably people that don’t mind getting stabbed with it.
What makes the Aguila Machete cool isn’t just the gold handle and serrated blade; it looks rather dashing when players slash with it on their mount. Players can use the machete as if they are about to duel on their horse, although bringing a knife to a gunfight is never a good idea.
4 Hunting Knife
When players start their adventure into Red Dead Online, they will already have the Hunting Knife as a tool in their inventory. This weapon may be the default, but that does not make it a bad weapon. The knife is a decent melee weapon, and the reason it is ranked high is that it is a basic weapon everyone has, and a weapon every cowboy gangster should fear in the right hands.
Not only is the Hunting Knife good for the accessibility of all players, but the fact that it can be customized is another bonus. Players can spend gold and dollars in making their Hunting Knife unique from other players, and put their designs on their weapons.
3 Cleaver
The intended purpose of some tools in the Wild West always seems to be twisted into something more gruesome. The Cleaver is a melee weapon that should be used for cooking, whether that’s dressing an animal carcass or cutting meat. However, players of Red Dead Online far prefer to use it as a murder weapon, and considering the great graphics of the game, it's a pretty brutal murder weapon.
Like something out of a horror movie, the Cleaver certainly gets the point across that someone is going to get butchered. An additional bonus to the Cleaver is not only its use for cutting up meat but the fact that it also can be thrown. It’s a tad pricier than the Ancient Tomahawk, but its bulk and ability to stealth kill make that $8 at the Fence worth it.
2 Ancient Tomahawk
For players that are trying to gain some respect for the tribes that had their lands stolen from them, the Ancient Tomahawk is probably the best bet. Players can purchase this melee weapon at the Fence for $5.50, and it’s a pretty low price considering it will one day be a historic artifact.
It has a beautiful design, worn but well-kept. Players can bring the vengeance of the tribes robbed and killed into the lands of Red Dead Online. An added advantage of this weapon is the fact that it can be used as a throwable, meaning players can launch their tomahawk. Just be sure to retrieve it off of the body!
1 Hammer
Although the melee weapons offer no ranking of what is best based on their damage output, the hammer is certainly the most fun. Not only is there a unique sound design to the hammer, with its repetitive bonking sounds, but it is also fashionably brutal.
Most melee weapons are blades that are sure to stab and slice at players. However, the hammer is a blunt object, bound to cause some issues other than bleeding. It’s for the players out there that might be a tad sadistic but in a game of outlaws, who isn’t?
Red Dead Online is currently available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.