Star Citizen Unarmed Melee Combat Guide

Even in its current state, Star Citizen has a remarkably robust melee combat system. This article will provide you with detailed insight into the unarmed aspect of melee combat, and reveal little-known features like combos. And once you’ve mastered unarmed melee combat, be sure to read our Star Citizen Knife Combat Guide!

Now let’s dive into how to attack and defend yourself effectively in Star Citizen while you’re unarmed.

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Biomechanics of unarmed combat in Star Citizen

To engage in unarmed melee combat in Star Citizen, press “0” while on foot. Your character will enter an unarmed hand-to-hand combat stance. While in this stance, tap the left mouse button (LMB) or right mouse button (RMB) to perform a light attack. To deliver a heavy attack, hold LMB or RMB. To block, and hold LMB and RMB at the same time.

To perform a non-lethal melee takedown, press the middle mouse button (MMB) while behind an opponent.

It’s possible to dodge attacks by sidestepping, backstepping, or bobbing. To sidestep left, double-tap “A”. To sidestep right, double-tap “D”. To backstep, double-tap “S”. To bob an attack to the head or chest, move your mouse all the way down or all the way up.

To rush forward, hold SHIFT and “W”. Finer control over movement speed can be had by scrolling the mouse wheel up or down.

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Physiological effects and best practices

Excluding the melee takedown, there are three kinds of attacks that you can make: jab, hook, and uppercut. The jab is the standard light attack, while the hook is the standard heavy attack. The uppercut is a conditional heavy attack. An uppercut can only be thrown when you use the opposite hand to perform a second heavy attack immediately after your first heavy attack and are standing still. Following up with an uppercut will usually knock your opponent down.

Your heart rate increases when you punch, sidestep, or backstep. You will “gas out” if your heart rate reaches or surpasses 170 BPM. When you gas out, you will be unable to throw a punch, sidestep, or backstep for a short while. If you gas out, your heart rate will need to fall below 170 BPM before you can perform one of those actions again.

You can throw 17 light attacks or 9 heavy attacks from a minimal resting heart rate before gassing out. At about a 2:1 ratio, two light attacks have roughly the same effect on your heart rate as one heavy attack. Your performance will likely be better if you approach each exchange with some thought toward heart rate management.

Blocking and bobbing on their own don’t cause your BPM to rise. Use both defensive techniques liberally if you gas out.

To block effectively, turn into punches while holding LMB and RMB at the same time. A hook, the basic heavy attack, is effective at getting around blocks with minimal movement from an attacking opponent. A properly placed hook can stagger a blocking opponent, causing them to drop their guard and open them up to further attacks for a brief time. It may cause their screen to wash out, simulating a concussion. This is when they—and you if you’re on the receiving end—are most vulnerable to being knocked down by an uppercut or possibly even another hook.

Bobbing an attack requires you to drag your mouse either down or up quickly. Dragging your mouse down gives you the best chance to completely avoid an attack to the head and upper body, but opens your rear up to attack. When used in combination with blocking, dragging your mouse up will give you the best chance to take a hit meant for your head or chest with your arms instead. But, it leaves your lower torso open to attack.

Combining a sidestep or backstep with a bob whether or not you are blocking is also possible. Remember to re-center on your opponent immediately after bobbing.

You will not be able to punch while sprinting forward or jumping. After sprinting or performing a jump, there’s a small delay before you will be able to punch.

Although animations make it possible to read heavy attack telegraphs, lag or poor netcode can cause damage to be taken slightly before the animation is played. Therefore, currently, you should adopt a predictive defense strategy rather than relying on reaction time.

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Combos and training routines you can practice now

It’s easy to string together a wide range of combos of varying complexity. Below, we have provided you with a fairly extensive list of combos organized in such a way that they can be easily practiced as part of a routine.

In the context of the routines listed below, “lead” is the hand that you use to start or have started a combo with, and “follow-up” is the opposite hand (i.e. the hand that you didn’t start the combo with). For example, if the first punch you throw is with your left hand (LMB), then your left hand would be your lead hand, which would make your right hand (RMB) the follow-up hand.

For a truly robust training routine, each combo should start from a blocking stance, and end with either a block, sidestep, backstep, bob, or some combination thereof. A comprehensive list of combos is listed below.

Routine 1, simple combos

Lead jab, lead jab

• Lead TAP, lead TAP.

Lead jab, lead hook.

• Lead TAP, lead HOLD.

Lead jab, follow-up jab.

• Lead TAP, follow-up TAP.

Lead jab, follow-up hook.

• Lead TAP, follow-up HOLD.

Routine 2, intermediate combos

Lead jab, lead jab, lead hook.

• Lead TAP, lead TAP, lead HOLD.

Lead jab, lead jab, follow-up hook.

• Lead TAP, lead TAP, follow-up HOLD.

Lead jab, lead hook, follow-up uppercut.

• Lead TAP, lead HOLD, follow-up HOLD.

Lead jab, follow-up jab, lead hook.

• Lead TAP, follow-up TAP, lead HOLD.

Lead jab, follow-up jab, follow-up hook.

• Lead TAP, follow-up TAP, follow-up HOLD.

Lead jab, follow-up hook, lead uppercut.

• Lead TAP, follow-up HOLD, lead HOLD.

Routine 3, advanced combos

Lead jab, lead jab, lead hook, follow-up uppercut.

• Lead TAP, lead TAP, lead HOLD, follow-up HOLD.

Lead jab, lead jab, follow-up hook, lead uppercut.

• Lead TAP, lead TAP, follow-up HOLD, lead HOLD.

Lead jab, follow-up jab, lead hook, follow-up uppercut.

• Lead TAP, follow-up TAP, lead HOLD, follow-up HOLD.

Lead jab, follow-up jab, follow-up hook, lead uppercut.

• Lead TAP, follow-up TAP, follow-up HOLD, lead HOLD.

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