haha I am specifically not using the hammer because I feel dirty when doing it.. It is much more interesting to try to make cutlasses, axes, short swords and spears work than just picking hammers since you can't miss. I only take it out to clear elevators (one instance where melee weapons completely fail since you can't stab up). I also feel wrong that my hammer gals become great markswomen. To me, the hammer makes melee accuracy obsolete by not requiring it and also making its user a great shot eventually. Maybe if its damage heavily depended on melee (if you're not a good fighter, it's too slow to land a telling hit on anyone? but then that'd break the terrain damage capabilities).
You do highlight something interesting though, and it is the lack of really reliable melee weapons. There are quite a few guns with crazy accuracy (shotguns and blunderbuss for short range, sniper rifles and bows for long range) which allow gals with even just 65% accuracy to hit very reliably. And if it doesn't kill? Just shoot again (with another gal if necessary) or hide around the corner. You don't get that kind of backup or easy escape when using melee weapons. You do get better damage (especially in the early game), but a short string of misses is much more likely to mean a dead gal.
Gals used to start with very high melee accuracy, but that was nerfed (rightfully). There was no "starting melee" weapon added to help in the budding warriors though. I guess there's the spear and billhook, but you also need good bravery/throwing accuracy for it to be worth it, otherwise it's ballbats, pipes and shovels for their "melee/2+50" hit chances. Which actually I'd say is fair enough.
I would say the solution lies in squad (and particularly boarding party) composition:
- Fewer melee weapons (only on gals that have quite good odds to hit): cutlass/axe/billhooks/spears on the best gals to deal with PA, ballbats/pipes/shovels/billhooks/spears on "training gals" to bash the non-PA targets (and leave the PA killers free to kill PA) so they can train their melee accuracy.
- A few gals with better short range backup in the form of blunderbuss (special ammo make that gun a great personal armor killer) and shotguns (great for reaction training too) to try to save the melee gals if things go wrong/ambush enemy units that might be coming after the melee gal who missed and could only run a few tiles. Generally, shotguns are pretty much unused in Piratez, and the blunderbuss.. maybe 1/team?
- Midrange support who can lob explosives at PA and take the pressure off the front lines
- Long range support who can snipe/blow up PA if really needed (tends to be even more expensive, but also tends to get the job done)
One weapon that would be cool is a gladiator net. Drains stamina and TUs on hit (to represent entanglement) and applies some stun damage. Is it possible to also drop firing/melee accuracies like if the target had suffered damage? Or TUs on the next turn? Or melee dodge? Basically, what do you do if your target proves impervious to your weapons? You trap it until it is at your mercy and then hit it many times with something heavy
Doesn't matter if your weapon is inaccurate or unwieldy if you can swing however many times it takes.
Although thanks to my new friend Tesla, I found a weapon I like even more than I ever liked the hammer
@niculinux: You really think there isn't enough variety in starting guns? That's probably one of the most well furnished tier of any game/mod, and most people barely look at it.
