Melee, dodging and blocking: fight up close.

Swinging a weapon

Hold the mine button (left click, or RT on the pad) to swing at what is in front of your crosshair. A creature within reach is struck instead of the block behind it. Bare hands do 2 damage. A held tool does its own damage, scaled by how good its head is.

Weapon	Base damage	Reach	Time between swings
Bare hands	2	3 m	0.42 s
Pickaxe	4	3.2 m	0.62 s
Axe	6	3.2 m	0.60 s
Shovel	3	3.2 m	0.50 s
Hoe	3	3.2 m	0.50 s
Blade	7	3.2 m	0.42 s
Spear	6	4.5 m	0.55 s
Sword	9	3.5 m	0.46 s
War Hammer	12	3.2 m	0.95 s

The damage of a tool is its base damage times (1 plus 0.3 times its tier). The tier comes from the head of the tool:

Tier	Multiplier	Blade (7)	Sword (9)	War Hammer (12)
0 (a soft or unranked head)	1.0	7	9	12
1 (flint)	1.3	9.1	11.7	15.6
2 (copper)	1.6	11.2	14.4	19.2
3 (bronze)	1.9	13.3	17.1	22.8
4 (iron)	2.2	15.4	19.8	26.4
5 (steel)	2.5	17.5	22.5	30
6 (titanium alloy, tungsten, Nova)	2.8	19.6	25.2	33.6

Other things add to a blow:

• Critical hit: a blow struck while you are falling (and moving down fast), or the first blow after a parry, does 1.5 times the damage.
• The Combat skill: each level adds 3% damage. See Skills and levelling.
• Research: Whetted Edges adds 4% damage.
• Mighty: the buff from a rare dish makes your blows 30% harder.

A tool that strikes wears a little, like any tool.

Dodging

Press Left Alt to roll. The roll throws you along the way you are pushing (or straight back if you are not pushing), at 10.5 metres a second, for 0.42 seconds.

• The first 0.3 seconds of the roll cannot be hit by anything that strikes: a bite, a blast or a boss's slam.
• A roll costs 22 stamina and you cannot roll again for 0.75 seconds.
• A perfect dodge is a roll that goes through a blow just as it lands. It gives back half the stamina.
• Rolls only work on the ground, and not while you are riding, swimming or on a rope.
• Rolls do nothing against falls, fire, hunger or the air.

Guard, block and parry

Hold U (or right Shift) to raise your guard. You need something to raise: a worn shield, or a blade, spear, axe, sword or hammer in hand. While guarding you walk at 55% of your speed.

• Block: a blow from the front is cut. A shield cuts 60% plus half its turn share, up to 85%. A weapon cuts 40%.
• Each block costs stamina equal to 70% of the blow. When you run out, the guard breaks and you cannot raise it again for a second.
• Parry: a blow that lands in the first 0.2 seconds after you raise the guard does no harm at all. The attacker is staggered for 1.5 seconds and its wind-up is broken, and your next blow within 2 seconds is a critical hit.
• The guard cannot be raised again for 0.35 seconds after it drops, so you cannot hold it open by tapping.
• The guard only works against blows from in front of you.

Telegraphs

Big attacks from creatures and bosses wind up first. You will see and hear a warning for a moment before the blow lands. Use it to roll or raise your guard.

Tips

• Spears reach furthest, and you can throw one with right click and pick it up again.
• Hit from above: a blow while you are falling is a critical hit.
• Keep a little stamina for a roll. Running out in a fight is the usual way to die.
• Use a shield to block and then crouch behind it: the shield turns twice as much.
• Mix in a parry: a well-timed guard is worth more than a long fight.

For ranged weapons see Guns, bows and crossbows, and for protection see Armour.

← Back to the wiki · Last updated 25 October 2026. Mantlenaut is in alpha, so things change.