Sam’s melee attacks in Death Stranding are surprisingly effective against human targets. However, on a higher difficulty, you’ll find you’ll need to guard break MULEs before you can knock them out. We’ll show you how to use physical attacks in Death Stranding and the best way to bust through an enemy’s defenses, as well as how to perform a tackle.
How do you melee attack in Death Stranding?
Using melee attacks is easy in theory. All you have to do is tap the Square Button, and Sam will perform a combo. Of course, with Death Stranding’s complex movement system, many factors come into play when getting into fisticuffs. A completely unladen Sam will be able to melee faster than when you have him loaded down with a ton of cargo. Additionally, hand-to-hand fighting can cause you to lose your balance if you’re not careful.
You can also tackle in Death Stranding by holding L2 and R2 and tapping square. This shove is useful for knocking enemies off-balance, and the more cargo you’re carrying, the harder you hit with it. Since Sam braces himself as part of the tackle, you don’t have to worry about your balance too much as long as you don’t quickly spin out after performing the move.
How do you guard break in Death Stranding?
You’ll find when playing on normal and hard that MULEs equipped with staffs will guard against your physical attacks. Especially on hard, you’ll have trouble landing a blow if you’re taking a frontal approach.
To break a MULE’s guard, you do one of three things:
- Use a tackle.
- Flank and attack from behind.
- Throw cargo at them, or attack while holding cargo.
The packages that MULEs carry can augment your physical attacks considerably. By picking up cargo and then physically attacking, Sam will slam them with the box, which is more effective than a punch by itself. Once you’ve broken an enemy’s guard, you just have to keep on them and knock them out before they can recover.
