Carry weapon limit question.

[Angelix]

When my pawn pickup some weapon it drop current.
Am i limited to carry only one weapon or i can equip rifle+knife?
Is there some mods to change this?

[Devon_v]

As far as I know the game itself only supports one weapon, and I haven't seen a mod which changes this. The game is set up with a clear distinction between ranged and melee combatants, so it's not intended that everyone have a primary gun and a backup blade.

[IkeaSwede]

Yeah, being able to equip everyone with knives + ranged would nullify the idea of melee combatants, which the game is based around having.

[sadpickle]

Yeah, being able to equip everyone with knives + ranged would nullify the idea of melee combatants, which the game is based around having.

Does anyone even use melee combatants? I know there are shields but they only delay death by a seconds if there's any sort of formidable group. I find melee fighters can't be used offensively unless you want them to wind up as a pincushion. Ditto for hunting, of course.

Melee combatants are sort-of effective for me as backup if the raiders can reach my shooters, but if they get that far odds are the colony is doomed.

[Devon_v]

Use a shielded melee fighter to draw fire by running around the edge of the enemy's firing range, it's very helpful in the early game or if you're running mods that don't let you just spam turrets right away. Late game melee can be very effective in the correct circumstances. It's a horrible idea in an open firefight, but if enemy units have infiltrated your base you can jump them from around blind corners or through doors. A good shiv will easily stunlock most biological opponents. Some characters suck at shooting, but they might as well contribute to the defense.

[Beathrus]

Yeah, being able to equip everyone with knives + ranged would nullify the idea of melee combatants, which the game is based around having.

Does anyone even use melee combatants? I know there are shields but they only delay death by a seconds if there's any sort of formidable group. I find melee fighters can't be used offensively unless you want them to wind up as a pincushion. Ditto for hunting, of course.

Melee combatants are sort-of effective for me as backup if the raiders can reach my shooters, but if they get that far odds are the colony is doomed.

Melee is also good if you want to arrest/accost people and have the shields and gear for it. I mean, A  mace + good melee skill will catch you a pawn better than shooting them. Just yeah.. blunt force trauma, no blades.

[Limdood]

Yeah, being able to equip everyone with knives + ranged would nullify the idea of melee combatants, which the game is based around having.

Does anyone even use melee combatants? I know there are shields but they only delay death by a seconds if there's any sort of formidable group. I find melee fighters can't be used offensively unless you want them to wind up as a pincushion. Ditto for hunting, of course.

Melee combatants are sort-of effective for me as backup if the raiders can reach my shooters, but if they get that far odds are the colony is doomed.

I dislike killboxes and turrets in general.  I often prefer to play on flat maps with wide areas to build...i build a "Box" of square shaped buildings with doors on all but the outside.  Crops in the middle.  Enemy attacks tend to split with some people shooting at my people popping out of doors to take a shot, some people running to the center to try to burn my crops, and some people trying to hit my walls.

In that case, with a no turrets, manpower-only game, i tend to like a 50/50 split of shielded melee units and ranged combatants (split with fast-aim long range like assault rifle, fast-aim short range, like shotgun/charge rifle, and long range power like sniper).  My ranged pop in and out of doors trying to shoot people down while walking room to room inside to use different doors. 

More notably, my melee squad stays together and avoids the central courtyard.  Their job is to gang up on isolated singles or small groups hitting walls or standing still trying to shoot my gopher ranged pawns.

Additionally, you can use 2 or 3 shielded pawns in a slightly forward heavy cover position.  They're very hard to hit, and protected from a few stray bullets that may find the mark.  As one shield starts to get low, rotate the pawns so a fresh shield is closest.  Enemies have a very simple AI to target and shoot the nearest target.

[IkeaSwede]

Yeah, being able to equip everyone with knives + ranged would nullify the idea of melee combatants, which the game is based around having.

Does anyone even use melee combatants? I know there are shields but they only delay death by a seconds if there's any sort of formidable group. I find melee fighters can't be used offensively unless you want them to wind up as a pincushion. Ditto for hunting, of course.

Melee combatants are sort-of effective for me as backup if the raiders can reach my shooters, but if they get that far odds are the colony is doomed.

It is absolutely not perfect and I - along with many other feel like it needs a lot of tweaking but the solution is to make it viable, not make it impossible =P

[mumblemumble]

I think carrying both actually could work IF :

*Switching between weapons had to be done manually, and took a few seconds (to holster the pistol, draw the knife, vice versa)
*Weapons had weight which slowed you down proportionally (carrying a mini-gun and long sword would slow you down a ton)
*Holstering / prepping different weapons took certain amount of time (pistols and shivs would be rather swift, but larger stuff would take much more time

Just a thought.

[Grimandevil]

Does anyone even use melee combatants? I know there are shields but they only delay death by a seconds if there's any sort of formidable group. I find melee fighters can't be used offensively unless you want them to wind up as a pincushion. Ditto for hunting, of course.

melee are actually very effective if u dont throw em in the open field, being shot holes in them, but have em pop up now and then from around the corners.
with bionics, they get even more dangerous, supplied with power arms or scyter blades. i had my cyborg brawler drop down a centipede once.

as for OP subject, there is this mod that adds backpacks to carry multiple stuff.

[praguepride]

One of my favorite tactics is to build a small melee squad with clubs and have a "secret back door" (i.e. a tunnel protected by a hell of a lot of stone doors) that bypasses the killbox maze. When the enemy raiders rush my entrance, my melee squad swarms out behind them to pick off their snipers or to engage enemies that are fleeing.

This is my primary source of slaves/prisoners as fleeing enemies stop when they're engaged in melee giving me time to anchor the surviving raiders and rush forward with my shooters for melee backups.