Getting up close and personal with opponents is a tough but necessary role in Evil Dead: The Game. It's not realistic to go through a game without getting involved in at least some melee combat. Warriors understand that, telling themselves that melee combat, if it is inevitable, should be embraced.
More than any other class, warriors are going to struggle to level up due to the frequency of putting themselves at risk. If this class is to survive the toughest challenges in Evil Dead: The Game, they'll need to be smart about what skills they get and which ones to prioritize.
10 Seasoned Survivor: Boss
- Reduced damage taken from possessed boss units.
With three seasoned survivor skills available, it's fair to wonder why this is the only one that made the cut. The issue here is that the skill only reduces the damage from possessed units. Of all three types of units, only one of them is always possessed: the boss. This effectively reduces all boss damage by 13%. Considering this is going to be the toughest unit for a group of friends in a party to take on, those are skill points well spent.
9 Second Wind
- Increases the melee damage you deal when your health drops below a certain threshold.
Don't get it twisted, there is never a good time to intentionally lose health for the sake of a damage buff. But when these moments happen, it's nice to know that each hit is going to be stronger. Ask anyone across all platforms and they'll say it; the best defense is, indeed, a good offense. Fewer swings to the kill end the fight faster and allow the warrior's support time to heal them afterward.
8 Fighting Shape
- Increases the melee damage you deal when your health is above a certain threshold.
The supports vary in effectiveness and quality, but most of them will keep their team at full health after their cooldowns have come back around. Since the warrior can count on spending a good chunk of the game topped off, it's easier to stay topped off when deadites bite the dust faster with some bonus damage. The first hit is the most important one as it determines the advantage in the battle. With this skill, players can be certain that that initial tussle will always go their way.
7 Tougher Than Hell
- Reduces the amount of damage you receive.
Getting clobbered is just part of the business as a frontline combatant. There's not avoiding every hit, given a limited stamina bar and the timing of deadite swings. Knowing that warriors are going to get hit a few hundred times, reducing the damage by 10% can add double-digit to the number of absorbed swings that would ordinarily be fatal. The warrior isn't usually a classic tank, necessarily, but these incidental hits doing less will go a long way toward protecting the squad.
6 Industrial Strength
- Increases maximum health.
An extra 10% health is more than what it seems. Consider that supports and Shemp's Colas will be healing throughout the match, so a little health means more than just 10% strength. In an average match, this will save the survivor's life more than a few times, allowing them to take an extra hit or two in each clash. Keep in mind that this stacks directly with the warrior's naturally high health, so it works better for them than most other classes.
5 Seeing Stars
- Increases the balance bar damage from your melee attacks.
The finishers are an obvious reason to want to reduce the enemy's balance bars faster. But that's not the only reason. Staggered enemies can't attack, which saves on team health. And during the finishing move, stamina will recharge and the character will be immune to other sources of damage. Keeping deadites off-balance ruins any combos they might set up and throws a wrench in any demon's strategy.
4 Cutting Blows
- Increases dismemberment damage of melee weapons.
The easiest way to disarm an enemy is by, quite literally, dis-arming them. By ripping off a limb, the enemy suffers a catastrophic blow, removing their primary (and sometimes, only) means of attack. This skill gets more valuable as enemies get tougher; an elite enemy without its limbs is a waste of resources for the demons that made them. Making life expensive for the opponent is a solid strategy on every front.
3 Sting Like A Bee
- Increased damage with light melee attacks.
Light attacks may not seem as flashy, but they are superior in about every way to heavy attacks. The lone exception is if the specific survivor has a bonus to doing heavy attacks and, even then, these heavy swipes should probably only be used in specific circumstances. Light attacks give players a larger window to respond to enemy movement. Dealing more damage per swing for these short intervals is a wise idea.
2 Devastating Force
- Increases melee weapon damage.
Several skills available boost a specific kind of melee damage, like with blunt, sharp, one-handed, or two-handed weapons. The problem with these skills is that they are too specific. Players don't get to control what type of equipment drops. Sometimes a legendary mallet will drop and this forces players who invested in axes to make an unpleasant choice. Thankfully, Devastating Force works for all melee weapons.
1 Artful Dodger
- Reduces the stamina cost of dodging.
Although offense is the primary purpose of the warrior, due to the lack of a true tank, melee-focused damage-dealers will need to mitigate their blows. Most damage can be entirely negated by dodging hits, but players can only dodge twice before waiting for the bar to recharge. That is, unless they have three points in Artful Dodger, which gives them access to a third dodge. Being able to avoid one-third of the incoming blows is an advantage that no warrior can pass up.
Evil Dead: The Game was released on May 13th, 2022, and is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.