When the harpoon gun isn’t going to cut it and your trusty firearm is out of ammo, the best course of action is to get up close and personal. Here’s every melee weapon in Dave the Diver ranked from worst to best.
Ranking Dave the Diver’s Melee Weapons
While guns may be a crucial aspect to hunting some of The Blue Hole’s bigger fish, you’ll need to incorporate some more hand-to-hand methods when your targets get too close. Dave the Diver is stuff with a wide variety of melee weapons but they’re not all made sequel. Some have status effects, others apply elemental damage and a couple are just outright bad. You’ll need to uncover these weapons whenever you go exploring the ocean so there’s an aspect of luck that plays into finding these various tools but this guide will hopefully help you figure out what you want to be looking for.
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16. Toy Hammer of Sleep
I mean, what is there to even say about this weapon? It’s a literal toy hammer that only deals a measly single unit of damage per hit. Granted, it also has an opportunity to immediately knock out any fish that it hits but the odds aren’t especially great. Let’s be open and honest with ourselves, if you’re trying to fend off a shark and you only have a chance to put it to sleep, you’ll likely go looking for something more effective. The Toy Hammer of Sleep is undoubtedly the worst melee weapon on this ranked list of them in Dave the Diver.
15. Dive Knife
Dave’s default melee weapon, in it’s original state, isn’t fantastic. It’s a short, stumpy blade so you’re not exactly going to be able to hang back and keep out of your target’s reach. It also only deals three damage per hit but you can upgrade it to a maximum of 17, which is actually fairly strong. Just a pity you’ll have to sink some resources into it first.
14. Pickaxe
While it may only deal three damage, this particular tool also makes it possible mine various precious metals from ore deposits on the ocean floor. Not only that, but it also doubles the yield of copper, lead and iron! However, its limited reach and the aforementioned low DPS mean that you’ll effectively have to make do without a melee weapon if you want to spend some time mining.
13. Cheap Japanese Sword
There’s nothing especially interesting or noteworthy about this particular weapon. It deals eight damage, which is more than Dave’s default Dive Knife but aside from that, it doesn’t have perks or favorable attributes. Good for an initial swap but you’ll want to find something better if you plan on swimming deeper into The Blue Hole.
12. Baseball Bat
While a good ol’ Baseball Bat may be great against a zombie horde, it’s much less effective under the ocean. Blunt force trauma isn’t all that useful when deal with fish and its limited range makes this particular weapon fairly unimpressive, especially since it’s only deal five damage on a hit. The only reason it’s above the Cheap Japanese Sword on this ranked list of melee weapons in Dave the Diver is because it has a Charged Attack that lands for 10 damage.
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11. Rubber Chicken
SOMEHOW the Rubber Chicken deals more consistently high damage than the Baseball Bat. A single quick attack will deal 10 points of damage and while I’m not about to sit here asking silly questions, it does make you wonder what’s so special about this toy-turned-fish-killer…
10. Golf Club
With a decent reach and a flat damage output of 10, the Golf Club is a decent melee weapon when you first start exploring The Blue Hole. Better yet, it also includes a Charged Attack that, if it hits, results in a whopping 30 damage! The downside is that it’s really tough to land this move, especially if you’re in the middle of a fight with a shark, let alone a boss of any kind.
9. Sea Snake Whip
One of the coolest (and goofiest) melee weapons in Dave the Diver, the Sea Snake Whip is an oddity that’s certainly fun to mess around with, but not all that useful if you want something that’s going to take you far. It’s base damage is decent, clocking in at 10, but the additional poison damage is the star. Dealing an additional unit of damage for eight seconds, the Sea Snake Whip can be great for guerilla warfare, if you’ve got the time to kill.
8. Baseball
While this melee weapon should technically be classified as “ranged” if you ask me, it’s a pretty decent piece of equipment. Dave can hold seven of these sporty projectiles at once and, when thrown, they’ll deal an impressive 20 damage on a hit. Hit your prey with them all and that’s a whopping 140! Of course, fish writhing about in the water don’t make for the easiest target so you’ll have to be accurate, a concern that doesn’t really factor into any other melee weapon.
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7. Tennis Racket
Dealing 10 damage on a hit, the best part about the Tennis Racket is its knockback effect which sends fish flying away from Dave. Not only is it hilarious to launch the critters about the ocean but it’s great for making space if you’re ever surrounded by a shoal of bitey bastards. Of course, the downside is that you’ll have to always swim on over to collect your trophy but it’s a small sacrifice.
6. Shovel
An honest working person’s melee weapon of choice, the Shovel is great for a reliable, well-statted piece of equipment. Taking a page from the page of a certain indie Knight, this weapon allows Dave to dash downwards and slam the Shovel blade into anything below him. Great for popping crabs and fish alike, with a solid 16 damage meaning you’ll do dishing out more pain than you might expect from a humble garden tool.
5. Sharp Japanese Sword
The older brother of the Cheap Japanese Sword, this weapon has the same moveset but deals 10 damage on a hit. That’s not why you want it though because a Charged Attack yields 32 points of damage! Open and shut case here, it’s just a good melee weapon that’ll spawn relatively commonly in Dave the Diver in comparison to some of the other items on this ranked list.
4. Boxing Gloves
Once again, these will deal 10 damage on a hit which is seemingly just the agreed-upon average when it comes to melee weapons in Dave the Diver. The best part about the Boxing Gloves is that you can combo together three hits in very quick succession, dishing out 30 damage before your target’s had time to swim away!
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3. Frozen Cod
Now we’re getting into some of the status effect weapons! The Frozen Cod only deals a single point of damage on a hit but it has a 30% chance to completely freeze your target for seven seconds. In this state, they’ll take another 30 damage for every subsequent hit. The math doesn’t lie! As an added bonus, having the Frozen Cod equipped gives your Harpoon +1 damage for some reason. Don’t look a gift fish in the mouth!
2. Shock Bangstick
One of the best melee weapons in Dave the Diver can be found relatively early into the game, and it’s earned itself a high place on this ranked list. The Shock Bangstick only deals five damage but it also delivers an electric pulse that paralyzes fish 10 seconds and reduces their movement speed by 30%. No creature will be able to escape your grasp with the Bangstick in tow!
1. Mjolnir
The literal hammer of Thor, Mjolnir is incredibly rare but also ridiculously powerful. It deals 20 damage on a single quick attack, 30 on a Charged Attack and with its chain lightning ability dishes out 80% of its base damage to a single nearby target. You don’t get much better than Mjolnir in Dave the Diver, so enjoy wielding it while you can! With that in mind, Mjolnir is at the top of this ranked list of melee weapons in Dave the Diver, ranked from worst to best.
If you’re looking for more, check out how to beat Klaus in Dave the Diver.
