The Evil Within Wiki

Welcome to The Evil Within Wiki. This wiki contains unmarked spoilers!

NOTE: The wiki is currently under maintenance.

READ MORE

The Evil Within Wiki
Advertisement
Mobius Symbol (transparent)
This article is about the melee weapons in The Evil Within and its DLCs. For their equivalents in The Evil Within 2, see Melee Weapons (TEW2).

In addition to their arsenal of firearms and explosives, Sebastian Castellanos and Juli Kidman also have access to several melee weapons with which they can fight off the horrors of STEM.


Melee weapons[]

Throughout the course of The Evil Within, melee weapons are the only truly silent ones in the game, which lets Sebastian get the drop on his enemies without attracting undue attention. Some of these melee weapons have unique skills associated with them as well, which lets Sebastian pull off kills without putting himself in much danger.

Five (technically four) melee weapons are available for use in The Evil Within.

When attempting to attack without a weapon, Sebastian will punch his enemies with his bare hands, dealing very minimal damage and minor knockback. It is therefore an ill-advised move on anything short of a stunned enemy, as even the lowliest of The Haunted can take several hits before dying. When approaching a downed enemy, a different prompt will allow Sebastian to stomp them for extra damage.

Attempting to melee with a firearm equipped will cause Sebastian to strike with the butt of his weapon; meleeing with handguns will produce a pistol whip, while two-handed firearms have a slow wind-up period before smacking the target with the stock of the gun.

Equipping the Brass Knuckles greatly increases Sebastian's punching damage when not carrying a firearm.

"A survival knife found stuck into a dead body in the room beneath the hospital. Apart from a sneak kill, taking on monsters with this is suicide."
―Inventory description.

The Survival Knife is Sebastian's personal melee weapon throughout the entirety of the game. It is first acquired in Chapter 1: An Emergency Call as part of the tutorial on stealth and sneaking, and is subsequently relegated to performing Sneak Kills rather than direct confrontations.

Despite what the description claims, Sebastian cannot actively engage enemies with the Knife, as he will punch them instead unless carrying an Axe.

The Hand Axe functions as a one-time use melee weapon that instantly kills most common Haunted and does extra damage to their larger brethren. Larger enemy types cannot be attacked with Axes. Axes can be looted from enemies or found lodged in the environment, and are generally more common than Bottles in the world.

The axe returns as the sole offensive tool available to Juli Kidman in The Assignment, and again in The Consequence, where it retains its good utility despite the inclusion of firearms.

Hand Axes cannot be used in conjunction with the Brass Knuckles, as the latter takes precedence over the former, though the player is still able to pick up fresh axes if currently carrying none.

Torches are powerful melee weapons that are very effective against most enemies due to their weakness to fire. They make for a good substitute to matches in setting things alight, and can also be used as a portable source of light if the lantern attracts too much unwanted attention.

It is often carried by the Haunted and occasionally found around levels. They can only be carried one at a time and are not included in Sebastian's inventory space.

TEW1 Brass Knuckles BW
"This special equipment increases the strength of a punch. The effect is only realized when punching without a weapon equipped."
―Inventory description.
"Worn around the knuckles, this weapon increases the strength of physical attacks."
―Model Viewer description.

The Brass Knuckles are in practical term an extreme damage boost to Sebastian's unarmed attacks, allowing him to punch his enemies with great expediency, usually killing them in one solid blow.

Care should be taken when engaging certain opponents with the Brass Knuckles, as some are prone to performing an insta-kill attack on Sebastian should he remain near them for too long (e.g. Quell, Neun), though with nimble techniques, the player should have little trouble.

They also cannot be utilized when carrying a temporary weapon like an Axe, Torch or a Bottle, requiring Sebastian to drop them first before he can re-equip the Knuckles for use.

The Brass Knuckles are unlocked after completing the game on either Nightmare difficulty or AKUMU mode, and are deposited automatically into Sebastian Castellanos' inventory at the start of Chapter 3: Claws of the Horde.

Stealth kills[]

Stealth kills are mostly made with the Survival Knife, and are instantly lethal on most lesser enemies, though Traumas and the Sadist require two or more such hits to kill.

  • The Haunted:
    • Assassinate: This is the default melee kill on Haunted enemies, and will override the other animations if performed from behind and the enemy was not stunned. Sebastian will restrain his victim with his left arm before swiftly driving his knife into their head, destroying the brain.
    • Rear: This kill can be performed on a stunned enemy from behind. Sebastian will grab onto the Haunted's shoulder to get a bead on their head, onto which he swiftly stabs them with his knife, killing the enemy instantly.
    • Frontal: This can only be performed if the Haunted was stunned with a Bottle throw or a Flash Bolt. Sebastian will run up to the creature and drive his knife into its head from below, destroying the brain. Performing a Frontal kill on a Flashed enemy results in a much faster animation, as Sebastian will simply yank the knife out, and doesn't crouch down to rest the body.
    • Neck Snap: Performing a Sneak Kill on enemies wearing hard hats will instead cause Sebastian to snap their necks instead of using his knife.
    • Push: This attack is exclusive to Juli Kidman and is performed by sneaking up to an enemy standing over a ledge and hitting the melee button to shove them off the edge.
  • Sadist:
    • Rear: This can only be performed if the Sadist is staggered with a Flash Bolt. Sebastian will stab the Sadist with his knife in the lower back, seriously wounding or even killing him if his health is low enough.
      • Attempting this in Chapter 1 will have Sebastian stabbing him in the shoulder instead. This is not a guaranteed kill, as the Sadist during this section requires 16 stabs in total to put down.
    • Frontal: This can only be performed if the Sadist is staggered with a Flash Bolt. Sebastian will stab the Sadist in the stomach, seriously wounding or even killing him if his health is low enough.
  • Trauma: While it is a hard maneuver, Trauma can actually be stealth attacked, and will die after two hits. Sebastian will leap up onto a Trauma's back and stab it in the base of the neck once, before being shaken off.

Upgrades[]

TEW1 melee upgrade

Melee Damage

100%

120%

green Gel 2,000

150%

green Gel 3,000

180%

green Gel 6,000

240%

green Gel 18,000

 

Achievements[]

Silent Kill Silent Kill
20 Gamerscore - This is a bronze trophy.

Kill 5 enemies in a row with a sneak kill without being discovered.
Ammo Conservationist Ammo Conservationist
10 Gamerscore - This is a bronze trophy.

Kill 25 enemies with melee attacks.
Bloody Bar Brawl Bloody Bar Brawl
10 Gamerscore - This is a bronze trophy.

Sneak Kill an enemy after hitting them with a bottle.
Burn Baby Burn Burn Baby Burn
10 Gamerscore - This is a bronze trophy.

Kill 5 enemies with a torch.
Knife Beats Chainsaw Knife Beats Chainsaw
40 Gamerscore - This is a silver trophy.

His engine roars, but my knife is strong enough to take him out.

Trivia[]

  • The unused inventory icon of the Survival Knife was recycled for use in The Evil Within 2, with some minor changes to texture quality.

Gallery[]

Advertisement