I love Atomfall and I praised it during my review. I had an absolute blast while playing through it, and once I'm done writing these guides, I'm headed back to get the other endings.
A lot of stuff I just felt lucky to find. To make things a little bit easier, I thought I'd bring you a lovely little guide on getting your whacking game up to snuff.
Best melee weapon and best melee perk
I'm so fortunate that I was able to find this combo early. It went from staggeringly brutal combat to a one-two punch on every human enemy in the game.
Seriously, it's a night and day difference once you find the Mace and this Melee Combat Manual.
Best weapon: The Mace
First, let's head to Slatten Dale.
Head out west to a location called Outlaw Caves. This place is plumb full of Outlaws, and getting there is about another dozen that you can either choose to avoid or farm for gear.
Once inside, you'll be greeted by a big old trespass warning. Enemies will immediately attack you as a result.
Head forward a little bit until you get to a longer hallway; there's a trap here, so be careful. Setting it off won't cause any damage, but it will alarm the rest of the camp.
Inside, there are around 7 or 8 enemies. Only one of which is carrying a pistol. At least, that's how it was during both of my runs.
Take them out, and keep an eye out for a Mace on a wall. The Mace is somewhere along the sides of the wall by this hallway.
This thing is a monster when paired with the melee combat book we'll find later. It will two-shot any human enemy while one-shotting enemies when thrown.
It's worth noting also that if you're up in Casterfell Woods it's possible to get a Mace dropping from Druids. For example, in The Speaking Caves there are a couple of enemies that we've had the Mace drop from.
Obviously, this location is further through the game than Slatten Dale, but if you missed the Outlaw Caves, there are alternative ways to get a Mace.
Getting the best Skill Manual for melee combat
Once you've taken care of the enemies in the cave, go back to where I mentioned the first trap was. Take a left, then a right to the bottom of the cave where the water is.
Look in the direction listed above and start walking into the hallway. It will bend up and to the left as you're walking.
Eventually, you'll come to a room on the right. BE CAREFUL! There's an explosive trap here waiting to catch a player off guard.
Either disarm or jump the trap to get inside. On the right is the Melee Combat Manual, and in the back is a B.A.R.D. box. Grab both!
What perk should you learn first?
Now that you have the Mace, you'll need to start learning skills. The first one that you absolutely must pick is the increased melee damage, Melee Weapon Attack Power. This perk will reduce the swings you take to kill enemies. Fewer swings mean keeping your heart rate low and killing enemies faster.
From there, I recommend taking the decrease in heart rate per swing, Seasoned Brawler, followed by the increase to heavy swing damage.
Pair this with the perk that reduces your overall heartbeat increase in the conditioning skill tree, and you'll be set for the rest of the game.
