- H3VR 2 melee weapons split into two damage types: blunt and bladed, with bladed further divided into stabbing and cutting.
- Muscle Meat power-up boosts all melee damage and lets you pick up, throw, or tear sosigs in half.
- Any weapon can be thrown, including swords that impale sosigs with physics-based stabbing.
- Two-handed grips add extra power and follow-through to most melee weapons.
- Grab handfuls of shurikens and throwing knives and store the whole handful in your pocket.
Melee Weapon Fundamentals in Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades 2
Melee weapons may not be the center of attention in H3VR 2, but the development team built an entirely new melee system that is a significant step up from the original H3VR. Handling feels natural: just like firearms, every melee weapon supports multiple hand poses, and the AX button lets you quickly swap between two poses — forehand to backhand, or front to back on an axe. Many weapons can also be gripped two-handed for extra power and follow-through on your swings.
Video Highlights:
- Melee system designed by Zach, creator of Vertigo Remastered and Vertigo 2
- AX button swaps between hand poses like forehand/backhand
- Physics-driven spinning karambits and revolvers that collide with the world
- Blunt damage stuns, concusses, and permanently dents sosigs
- Blades can stab, stick, and slice sosigs in half with realistic friction
A select few weapons have special extra interactions worth learning. The spinning karambits are now fully physics-driven, so they actually collide and bounce off objects while spinning. That same physics tech applies to spinning revolvers, opening the door for stylish — if silly — trick play.
Practice flicking the AX button to alternate grips mid-fight. Swapping between forehand and backhand keeps your attack angles unpredictable against sosigs.
Damage Types Explained: Blunt vs. Bladed
All melee damage in H3VR 2 falls into two families, and bladed damage splits again into two sub-types. Each behaves differently on contact with a sosig.
| Damage Type | Sub-type | Primary Effect | Extra Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blunt | Fists, clubs | Stun, concuss, knock down | Strong hits permanently dent sosigs (visual only) |
| Bladed | Stabbing | Deep puncture, bleed on removal | Damage scales with stab depth; multiple sosigs can be skewered |
| Bladed | Cutting | Slice through, potential half-cut | Sawing motion overcomes static friction; only at 1-3 joints |
Blunt weapons, including your bare fists, focus on incapacitation rather than instant kills. Once a sosig is stunned or knocked down, you can take your time finishing it off. Thanks to the sosig rendering tech, strong blunt hits leave permanent dents in sosig bodies — a purely visual effect that does not change their physics colliders.
Blade physics are not restricted to sosig bodies. Clothing and accessories can protect against blades, while soft objects can be stabbed through entirely to reach the sosig underneath.
Muscle Meat Power-Up and Bladed Combat
The Muscle Meat power-up deserves special attention for melee-focused runs. It increases the effectiveness of all melee weapons, with a particularly strong effect on punching and other blunt damage. It also grants physical dominance over sosigs: pick them up, throw them, or tear them straight in half.
Muscle Meat
- Boosts all melee damage
- Strongest effect on blunt/punching
- Pick up and throw sosigs
- Tear sosigs in half
Stabbing Blades
- Physics joint sticks blade in body
- Damage scales with depth
- Bleeding damage-over-time on removal
- Multi-blade weapons stab independently
Cutting Blades
- Realistic internal friction
- Sawing motion completes the cut
- Short blades cause bleeding but cannot fully bisect
- Stab-to-cut transitions supported
Cutting damage is where H3VR 2's bladed combat truly shines. A blade can get stuck halfway through a sosig, and a deliberate sawing motion helps overcome static friction to cut the rest of the way. Cut all the way through and you may slice the sosig in half — though this is not a fully dynamic slice, limited to one to three joints per body. You can also start with a stab and pull sideways to transition into a cut, blending both damage styles in one motion.
There is a wide variety of blades with different effects depending on physical shape and size. Shorter edged blades still cause bleeding but cannot fully bisect a sosig — pick your blade for the job.
Throwing Weapons: How to Use Them Effectively
In H3VR 2, any weapon is a throwing weapon if you want it to be — but some are specifically designed for throwing. The design philosophy is simple: anything you could realistically hold many of in real life, you should be able to hold in the game.
| Throwing Weapon | Holding Method | Storage | Best Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shurikens | Grab a whole handful | Handful fits in pocket | Sustained ranged harassment without spawn-locking |
| Throwing knives | Grab a whole handful | Handful fits in pocket | Precise silent takedowns |
| Any melee weapon | One at a time | Normal slots | Sword impalement from across the room |
Stock Up
Grab a full handful of shurikens or throwing knives. The whole handful stores in your pocket as one unit.
Pick Your Target
Choose an exposed sosig. Aim matters — a good throw with a bladed weapon triggers physics-based stabbing on impact.
Release and Follow Up
Throw and immediately draw the next handful. Because small throwing weapons pocket as groups, you never fumble with individual pieces mid-combat.
Impale for Style
For maximum effect, throw a full-size sword. If your aim is good enough, it will pin a sosig's head from across the room.
Handful-based storage makes throwing weapons genuinely viable in combat without needing infinite-supply spawn locking — and far more fun to use.
Melee Combat Checklist
Work through these milestones to fully master H3VR 2 melee mechanics before your next session.
Melee Mastery Goals:
- Practice AX-button pose swapping on an axe and a bladed weapon
- Land a two-handed grip swing for extra power
- Stun a sosig with fists, then finish it while incapacitated
- Perform a stab-to-cut transition with an edged blade
- Slice a sosig completely in half with a long blade
- Store and deploy a full handful of shurikens
- Impale a sosig's head with a thrown sword
- Activate Muscle Meat and tear a sosig in half
Start with blunt fundamentals to learn stun windows, then graduate to bladed weapons where depth control and sawing technique reward patience.
FAQ
Q: What are the melee damage types in Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades 2?
There are two main types: blunt and bladed. Bladed damage is further divided into stabbing and cutting, which have slightly different effects. Blunt damage stuns and concusses, stabbing causes depth-scaled damage plus bleeding, and cutting can slice sosigs in half.
Q: Can I slice a sosig completely in half?
Yes, but only with a long bladed weapon using cutting damage, and only at one to three designated joints — it is not a fully dynamic slice anywhere on the body. Shorter blades can cause bleeding but cannot fully bisect a sosig.
Q: How does the Muscle Meat power-up work?
Muscle Meat increases the effectiveness of all melee weapons, with the strongest boost applied to punching and other blunt damage. It also grants the ability to pick up and throw sosigs, and to tear them straight in half.
Q: Can any weapon be thrown in H3VR 2?
Yes. Any weapon is a throwing weapon if you want it to be, and physics-based stabbing means even a thrown sword can impale a sosig's head from across the room, provided your aim is good enough.