It’s easy to forget about melee weapons in Call of Duty, a game that emphasizes guns and bullets. Why would I stab someone in the back when I can blast them instead? While melee weapons might not always be the best choice in a given situation, especially if you’re playing for weapon camos, that doesn’t make any of the knife variations any less enjoyable or effective in the right hands.

Learn how to become a threat on any map to rack up quick kills across different modes.

Melee Weapon Tips

Melee weapons are generally difficult to use, meaning you should respect anyone that runs one. Patience and mind games are crucial to get kills, otherwise you’ll be wiped out before you can get close to any foes.

Understanding melee weapons, range, and your ability to hit foes makes a big difference in point blank encounters. Some players might switch to a secondary, which isn’t always the best option when you can attack with one less button press. Get comfortable to improve your close range combat skills even when you’re not holding a knife.

The more tools and techniques in your arsenal, the better prepared you’ll be to succeed. Remember that many players feel demoralized or embarrassed when knifed, so ride that momentum to take advantage of careless aggression in public matches.

Here’s how to use every melee weapon as of season 1. Plus, tips for cutting through the competition.

How to use the Knife

The knife is a light melee blade that kills with one strike. It’s unlocked at level 13 and doesn’t have any attachments. Regardless, there are still challenges to customize the aesthetic via camo and stickers. Equip a knife as your secondary weapon for a faster melee attack even if your gun is out.

Knife Tips

Speed is key to eliminating enemies. Take advantage of your higher mobility stats and run when possible. Do not try to take on enemies face to face because you likely won’t stand a chance.

Instead stalk enemies. Rush enemies that are either distracted or facing the other direction. Learn maps and pay attention to the enemy’s common routes to flank foes. Vary your approaches and spots. Remember, predictable melee users are free kills.

Stealth goes hand in hand with melee weapons. Use a loadout that will dampen your footsteps. Field Mic helps you spot enemies, Tracker helps you hunt other players, Ninja reduces sprint sounds, and Ghost protects you from Spy Planes.

How to use the Sledgehammer

This beast of a melee weapon is also a one hit kill machine. It has a larger radius than the knife at the cost of speed.

How to unlock the Sledgehammer

Get at least one double kill in 15 matches or buy it from the store.

Sledgehammer Guide

The Sledgehammer requires strategies similar to the knife to succeed. That means you’re probably not going to win one-on-one battles against competent opponents. Sneak up on people, catch players on running around the map, or slam them in tight areas.

Unlike the knife, you’ll probably lose against a shotgun at short range because of the sledgehammer’s slow speed. Jumping down from a second story is a good way to take out enemies, albeit very situational. All in all, this is more of a novelty item than anything. The knife and Wakizashi are better options.

How to use the Wakizashi

This small, fancy sword is a companion to the Katana. Both are used by Samurai in Japan.

How to unlock the Wakizashi

Complete two finishing moves in 10 different matches using the regular knife. This is fairly difficult, so you can also buy it from the store.

Both the Sledgehammer and Wakizashi were added in Season 1.

The best melee weapon

This melee weapon is basically the knife with better range, so all of the previous tips still apply. The Wakizashi has a slightly slower speed than the knife, although it can be hard to tell due to the lunge.

Don’t expect the infamous Commando lunge or anything from older Modern Warfare titles. Even the Sledgehammer covers more ground than this weapon.

However, the Wakizashi is arguably the best melee weapon in the game thanks to high mobility coupled with swift swipes and decent distance.

Check out TheseKnivesOnly on YouTube for some of the craziest melee weapon highlights in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War and Warzone.