During the zombie apocalypse, not all weapons come in the form of cold or hot steel. Survivors may find themselves in a situation where their trusty bat just broke or their favorite gun has just run out of ammo. Players can still defend themselves with a wide range of unarmed attacks, including punching, kicking, head stomping to name a few.
Listed below are some of the disadvantages of fighting completely barehanded.
- Basic unarmed attacks (X or LMB) lack the ability to knockback, stun, dismember or decapitate of basic melee weapon attacks.
- Character cannot counter-attack (dodge then press X (LMB) when holding a melee weapon)
- Character cannot finish off a zombie leaning up against a wall (normally they can crush its head with a melee weapon)
- Sometimes if the character pushes a zombie from behind into a wall or other hard environmental object the zombie's head will explode on impact.
On the whole, Unarmed Combat is not a separate combat option for survivors. In fact, all characters with or without a melee weapon tend to use many unarmed combat moves to quickly knock zombies down for easy killing. This approach helps keeping fights brief, reducing threats and conserving weapon durability. With proper weapon usage (choose durable melee weapons, switch them out after extended use, using them only for finisher attacks), most players likely never find themselves needing to fight barehanded, except at the beginning of the game where durable melee weapons are in short supply.
Move list[]
All survivors can execute these moves by default.
| Move | Xbox | PC | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dodge | B | LCtrl | Cannot counter attack (needs melee weapon) |
| Roll | LB + B | LCtrl | |
| Kick | Y | E or LMB | |
| Dropkick | LB + A | LShift + Space | knocks down target |
| Push | LB + Y | LShift + E | Target is knocked down if shoved from behind. |
|
Stomp |
Y | E | on lying targets |
| Finisher | LB + Y | LShift + E (or Z) | on lying or kneeling targets |
Special Moves[]
These moves are only available for characters with Powerhouse or Reflexes skill. Leveling up these skills give them access to the following Utility or Defensive moves. These moves can easily knock down, stun, or even kill zombies with a single strike.
| Move | Xbox | PC | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Powerhouse) Shove | LB + (hold)Y | LShift + (hold) E | knocks down target. If Y (or E) is tapped, not held, it results in a normal shove. (video) |
| (Powerhouse) Power Kick | Y | E | knocks back and staggers target |
| (Reflexes) Spin Kick | Y | E | knocks targets away (video) |
| (Reflexes) Sweep Kick | Y | E | knocks down multiple targets (video) |
| (Reflexes) Leapfrog | LB + B | LCtrl + LShift | jump over enemy and knock it to it's knees (video) |
|
(Reflexes) Instant Counter |
LB + B | LCtrl + LShift | (hold - standing still) counter incoming attack with a leg sweep that knocks down target |
| (Powerhouse) Pro Wrestling | LB + B | LCtrl + LShift | knocks down target. press Y (E) during suplex to instant kill |
| (Powerhouse) Double Kill | LB + B | LCtrl + LShift | (hold - standing still) smashes two zombie's heads together (video) |