BEST Cyberpunk 2077 Melee Weapons: Location, Upgrades, Stats

You can also try your luck in hunting down all of the Iconic Weapons In Cyberpunk 2077 and equip V with the Best Cyberducks so you can deal the maximum damage with your build. Alternatively, you can narrow this list down to the Best Katanas, which are seemingly the most popular and easily the best melee weapons in Cyberpunk 2077.

Best Melee Weapons Comparison And Picks

I’ve summarized the stats for the best melee weapons in Cyberpunk 2077:

Socket Wrench

Let’s start the list with the Socket Wrench, a reliable tool turned weapon in Cyberpunk. Its versatility aligns with the game’s theme of using anything as a weapon.

As a blunt weapon, it delivers strong hits, stunning foes. The legendary variant boasts three mod slots, allowing for customization. With high critical chance and damage modifiers, it’s perfect for powerful non-lethal strikes.

While it may be pricey depending on game progress, its 20% Bleed chance makes it effective against humanoid foes. Grab it to spice up your gameplay or playstyle.

Location & Stats

Surprisingly enough, the game likes to hide away some of the best-quality melee weapons under your nose in the most obscure locations. Thankfully, the socket wrench is not too hard to find, as players will need to make the simple visit to a weapons shop in the eastern part of Night City. Just head to the Westbrook district in the borough of Japantown, where a Weapons Dealer will occasionally sell the weapon in his inventory.

Sir John Phalustiff

Now it is worth mentioning that the design philosophy behind some of the weapons in Cyberpunk 2077 can tend to come off as weird and bizarre. The Sir John Phalustiff comes off just the same once you lay your eyes on its hilarious genital-like design for the first time and what kind of a weapon it is from the looks of it. It is one of the one-handed club archetypes, meaning your attacks can hit hard and potentially stun enemies.

The weapon itself has a short value for the DPS since you can get it in the beginning hours of the game. But if you are looking to get the most laughter out by stabbing thugs and netrunners, then I would highly encourage trying the weapon out for your selves. It does not have any particular unique attributes which make it stand out.

Location & Stats

To acquire the weapon early in the game, complete the quest “The Heist” with Jackie, negotiating favorably with Meredith Stout from the corpo. This ensures future opportunities with her. After leaving the gang hideout, wait in-game or have V sleep to accelerate the process. Meredith will later invite V to her apartment in the “Venus In Furs” Side Job, where the weapon will be on her bed.

Scalpel

The first few of the Katanas on my list of the Best melee weapons in Cyberpunk 2077 is none other than the Scalpel, which is an excellent iconic weapon variant, easily acquired in the early-to-mid-game stages. What makes it so cool is the blade itself, which is made of carbon fiber material, which makes it unique in design.

The Scalpel has an element status effect, which will proc 20% electrical shock damage on your opponents with its deadly swings, thus easily stun locking them and making it a beneficial weapon against both robotic and humanoid enemies in the game. Furthermore, I suggest using the Cyberware known as Sandevistan, which will add a whopping 50% critical damage to your DPS, making it a solid melee weapon to use in almost every way.

Location & Stats

• The Scalpel Katana can be obtained by completing the Side Job “Big In Japan.”
• Find this Side Job in the Afterlife Club, which is in the South side of the Watson district in Little China.
• In the club, you’ll meet an NPC named Dennis, who will initiate the quest.
• The objective is to locate a package in the slum area and discover that it’s a dead body. You must then transfer this body to Dennis at a designated location in the city.
• Upon returning to Dennis after completing the quest, the Scalpel Katana should be right beside him, available for you to pick up.

Gold-Plated Basket Bat

Not a fan of workshed tools or Ninja-blades? Then have no fear as you can swing for home runs on the enemies using the Gold-plated basket bat. Unfortunately, the weapon is unlocked during the late-game quests, but it is all worth it if you can tackle it during the mid-game stages, too.

The weapon is a two-handed club, so you can have the option to charge your strikes up to make sure each attack hits as hard as possible on your enemy. What adds to the credibility of the weapon being on my list is solely the fact that it has an intrinsic perk of Denny’s rage being infused in it. The Bat has a high chance of applying the bleeding status effect and a low probability of Stun, which can all be boosted thanks to the addition of mods.

Location & Stats

• Obtain Denny’s Bat during the “Second Conflict” mission, where you meet Johnny Silverhand’s former bandmates, including Kerry Eurodyne.
• The mission takes place at a mansion in the hills.
• During a conversation with Denny, you’ll notice she’s holding the weapon.
• The dialogue options you choose won’t impact your ability to obtain the weapon.
• After the conversation, Denny will angrily throw her bat into an empty swimming pool.
• Ensure you don’t exit the area with the other characters and keep an eye on the bat, which can be picked up by V.

Bluefang

In Cyberpunk 2077’s recent 1.6 update, the Bluefang knife was introduced, perfect for Throwing knife builds. Resembling a CSGO pocket knife, it boasts a striking blue metallic finish.

The Bluefang excels in versatility, featuring bleeding, poison, and critical damage effects. Notably, it supports a 250% headshot damage multiplier, ideal for precise players.

Its main perk stuns enemies upon hits, with headshot stuns occurring instantly after a second, and body shots after 3 seconds. In non-combat scenarios, enemies are instantly stunned, making it ideal for stealth gameplay.

Location & Stats

Weapon Location & Stats: Bluefang Knife

• The Bluefang Knife can be purchased from a vendor located on the outskirts of Night City, specifically on the South end.
• The vendor is situated between the ‘Colby Little Mule’ and Tango Tors Motel fast travel locations.
• To find the vendor, drive off-road a bit to the right, and you should spot a parked trailer van in the distance.

Upgrading to Epic Variant:

• You can unlock an additional Mod slot for the knife and increase its damage by upgrading it to the Epic variant.
• To do this, you’ll need the Perk called “Grease Monkey” and the following materials in the crafting menu:
  • Uncommon Item Components: 35x
  • Rare Item Components: 30x
  • Epic Item Components: 35x
  • Legendary Item Components: 2x

Cut-O-Matic

Have you ever wanted to channel your inner Leatherface from the Chainsaw Massacre franchise in the game? Well, look no further than the brutal and murderous Cut-o-Matic, which lives up to its name of being a motor-running one-handed saw that can shred through the limbs of enemies in Cyberpunk 2077. The weapon earns its place among the best melee weapons because it has quite a unique theme to it.

As soon as you pull out the weapon, it will automatically put you under a threatening status, meaning that nearby pedestrian NPCs will get scared off at the sight of you wielding the Cut-o-Matic. During combat encounters, you will need to remember that the weapon is not suited for stealth, as it will instantly alert your foes. So, with that in mind, it is relatively easy enough to find the weapon since you can buy it from a vendor.

Location & Stats

You can easily purchase the Cut-O-Matic weapon from Melee weapon vendors scattered throughout Night City in Cyberpunk 2077. These vendors refresh their inventories over time, so if it’s not available initially, wait or sleep for 24 hours to update the stock.

I obtained my epic variant Cut-O-Matic from a Melee Weapons vendor situated in the Pacifica district at the West Wind Estate, near the West Wind Apartments fast travel station.

Tinker Bell

The Tinker Bell is an electric Baton that can shock and electrocute enemies using its quick hits. It is yet another one-handed club iconic weapon that has a high probability of incapacitating your foes. I personally found this weapon to be quite helpful in completing the cyber psycho targets, which should preferably be taken down non-lethally.

The weapon has a 20% shock effect along with a 50% critical damage modifier, which makes it ideal if you are looking for another cool electric weapon to add to your inventory. Not to mention, you can easily find it lying around in one of the main NPC questlines featuring the detective, River Ward.

Location & Stats

You can find The Tinker Bell at the end of River Ward’s questline while searching for Peter Pan’s tormentor.

1. Infiltrate a Farmhouse to rescue River’s Nephew.
2. Disable the security system by going into the nearby house.
3. Head upstairs in the house to deactivate automated turrets and make things easier.
4. Inside this room, locate a hidden button under the desk.
5. Press the button to open a secret door, revealing The Tinker Bell on the desk.

Cottonmouth

There is another weapon like the Tinker Bell, which can deal both electrical and chemical damage, called the Cottonmouth. The weapon is an intriguing choice to have since it can potentially shock and apply poison damage to your enemies, which is great for close combat encounters.

It doesn’t come equipped with too many numerical bonuses, but what makes it more interesting is that the weapon will continuously deal either shock or chemical damage, which is excellent in itself. You can also enhance these capabilities with mods to increase these elemental status effects greatly.

Location & Stats

The Cottonmouth can be found during the main quest in Act 2 called The Space In Between, where V will need to visit a clinic called Finger’s M.D. in order to gain access to some valuable information. While you are in the Clinic, there should be an open bedroom door on the left side where you can find the weapon lying around to be collected on the bed, as shown in the image of the Cottonmouth.

Stinger

The Stinger is basically another awesome throwing knife that players can collect from a missable conversation with one of the NPCs in the game. Now that the throwing knives function like boomerangs, you can use this weapon in pure style and comfort by ridiculously throwing it to one-shot most enemies at your level.

What makes the weapon feel special is the fact that its special effect is that with each successful hit to the opponent, it will dish out chemical damage. Furthermore, the poison effect chance is 30% on each of these hits, making it an ideal weapon if you are planning on using a throwing knife build for your playthrough.

Location & Stats

The Stinger can be obtained through a Side Job in the game:

1. Complete the “Riders On The Storm” quest with Panam in the Desert area.
2. After finishing the quest, return to the Aldecaldos Camp.
3. Find Mitch sitting near Scorpion’s grave, who had died in a previous mission with Panam.
4. Talk to Mitch to trigger a heart-to-heart conversation and initiate the “I’ll Fly Away” quest.
5. Upon completing the quest, Mitch will reward you with The Stinger Knife and a lucky charm, resembling Scorpion from Mortal Kombat games.

Also worth checking out: Rebecca’s Shotgun Location In Cyberpunk 2077

Caretaker’s Spade

Out of most of the legendary weapons, the Caretaker’s Spade is certainly one special weapon for a couple of different reasons. One of which is that the weapon is quite literally a reference to The Witcher 3‘s Hearts Of Stone expansion, where you must battle against an abomination known as the Caretaker, who wields a rusty old shovel like the one represented in Cybperunk 2077 here.

It is a Two-handed Hammer type, which means it has slow but powerful attacks that can indefinitely immobilize enemies if used on a melee weapon build of the game. The weapon has great guard potential, which can prove to be fantastic as a guard option against the enemy’s unrelenting attacks. Furthermore, if you successfully manage to land hits with the weapon, it will also restore some of your health, which is useful during combat scenarios.

Location & Stats

The weapon can be obtained during one of the final missions in the game called ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’ in which you infiltrate Arasaka Tower with Rogue, Johnny’s Girlfriend. It can be a little tricky to find since the location of the weapon has been slightly altered since the patch 1.5 release. Thankfully, the spade can be found leaning against a rock when you reach a conference table in the green room-like area of the tower.

Once you reach the Conference Table, there will be a security console that you can hack through in order to disable the defenses around the area. Go forward a bit to the left of it, and you should be able to spot it near a rock formation ready to be picked up.

Satori

For those eager for a superb Katana early in Cyberpunk 2077, the Satori is the go-to choice. Belonging to Saburo Arasaka, it maintains its shine since its 20th-century forging.

The Satori’s effect increases total DPS output by 500%, with only a 20% reduction in base damage. It swiftly dispatches enemies, making it one of the best early-game melee weapons.

There are also ways to maximize the damage probability by applying some mods to it as well as activating some perks that you can earn from the skills tree. I have done some testing by ourselves and found that using perks like Blood Brawl Ninjitsu, and Too Close For Comfort can easily ramp up your damage numbers. Lastly, be sure to equip melee weapon mods like Kunai and White-knuckled to increase critical damage and attack speed.

Location & Stats

You can find the Satori during “The Heist” questline in Cyberpunk 2077, where you infiltrate the Arasaka Penthouse with Jackie Wells. Head to the 42nd floor and locate the package you need to steal. However, the weapon can be collected on the helipad just outside the penthouse room. It’s advisable to grab it during this sequence as returning later can be challenging.

To obtain the Satori, exit through one of the windows onto the helipad and pick it up. It’s one of the strongest melee weapons for the early game. Additionally, you can enhance the Satori to Epic rarity using the crafting menu and the following materials:

• Requires the Grease Monkey perk
• Satori (Rare)
• Uncommon Item Components: 35x
• Rare Item Components: 30x
• Epic Item Components: 35x
• Legendary Item Components: 2x

Jinchu-Maru

The weapon is easily one of the fastest Katanas in the game and belongs to none other than Sandayu Oda, one of the game’s main bosses that you will encounter during the mid-game quests. The weapon is by far the strongest Katanas and is my personal best pick for the Best melee weapons in Cyberpunk 2077.

Enemies will get sliced up to bits in just a couple of seconds because the main effect allows V to deal twice the damage against foes who are double their health them. Furthermore, the effect is boosted with the addition of the last strike in the combo, dealing 2x damage, totaling the damage around four times more than the normal one.

While you are experimenting with the weapon, I strongly advise opting to equip the cyberware ability known as the Kerenzikov alongside it. It works in full conjunction with the weapon as time is slowed down, and the critical chance modifier is raised to a whopping 100 percent, which will allow you to deal tenfolds of the normal damage.

Location & Stats

• Obtain the Jinchu-Maru weapon during the “Play It Safe” main quest, where you assist Takemura in infiltrating a parade to meet Hanako.
• The first objective is to eliminate all roaming enemies, including snipers in three distinct locations, without alerting them. Stealth is crucial.
• Beware of patrolling guards and drones that can spot you easily if not careful.
• Towards the end of the mission, you’ll face Oda Sadayu in an epic boss battle.
• Defeat Oda Sadayu, and the Jinchu-Maru Katana will be rewarded by looting his body.
• Afterward, complete the mission by heading through the nearby exit and concluding the quest sequence.

• Requires Perk called the Edgerunner Artisan
• Jinchu-Maru (Epic)
• Rare Item Components: 25x
• Epic Item Components: 40x
• Legendary Item Components: 3x

Alternative Picks

I omitted some other excellent choices for the Best Melee Weapons in Cyberpunk 2077 from my top 12 list due to certain personal factors:

• Tsumetogi: While it can deliver strong blows, it struggles against heavily armored foes, especially on harder difficulties.
• Crowbar: It doesn’t have unique combos or charged attacks, making it less versatile compared to other melee options.
• Baseball Bat X-MOD2: A viable option, but its customization is limited as it can only be equipped with a few specific mods.
• Cocktail Stick: Despite high base damage, it has a slower attack speed compared to the other melee weapons I picked above.
• Headhunter: It heavily relies on build and skills, shining best with builds focused on critical hits and headshot damage.

My Opinion And Experience With Melee Weapons

Throughout my time in Night City, I mostly used the Scalpel. As a fast and precise Katana, it offered a unique and stylish approach to melee combat. The Scalpel’s 20% electrical shock damage made it a versatile choice, effectively stunning both human and robotic adversaries. It became even more lethal when combined with the Sandevistan cyberware, boosting critical damage by 50%. This weapon’s non-lethal capabilities were ideal for stealthy gameplay, allowing incapacitation without killing foes.

Cyberpunk 2077’s melee combat, in general, is a pleasant surprise within a predominantly first-person shooter game. The diverse selection of melee weapons and the ability to customize and apply various status effects to them added depth to the overall gameplay, offering players an array of combat styles to explore.

If you enjoyed reading this list, please let me know your favorite weapon, and if so, would you recommend it to other players? Be sure to let me know if you have any other questions too in the comments section below!

Next: How To Get Edgerunners Jacket In Cyberpunk 2077