I've been playing Doom II for the past few days, and I've never really used a melee attack at all. The berserk seems like it'd be awesome, but I always end up switching to a shotgun once I get in a real fight because I take so much damage when trying to actually punch mutants. Even the chainsaw seemed next to useless, to the point where I just ignored that it existed.
When are these melee attacks worth using? Are there any techniques I should keep in mind when using them? Or were they added just to have more cool items and not to actually see serious usage?
Best Answer
Use your fists exclusively against hordes of pinkie demons, chainsaw if you can get them in a choke point. Use chainsaw against former humans (pistol zombies) because the damage they deal you is negligible compared to wasting ammo on them, and any time you get imps in a straight line use the chainsaw on them. Use a chainsaw on the cacodemon as it stunlocks indefinitely when you do this. Use your fists or chainsaw on a Pain Elemental. Use fists on Arch-Viles if you can round a corner well. Use fists and chainsaw on lost souls almost exclusively.
Why fists and not a chainsaw, and why melee against things like demons?
Shotgun zombies, Chaingunners, hell knights and barons, mancubus, revenants, and of course the Spider Mastermind and Cyberdemon are all too dangerous to close in on melee without extreme dedication and patience. The Icon of Sin is impossible to kill without rockets in vanilla Doom 2.
Another chainsawing tip: do the same thing as with fists if you need to. Get a feel for how the chainsaw locks you in and how much damage you can do in a burst before you can back away again. The wind up is instant unlike the punch, but the damage holds you in place longer than the punch would. The timing is different.
Rereading my comment I decided it probably sounds ridiculous to melee an Arch-Vile: I've done it, but I usually don't do it. There are very few situations where an Arch-Vile will be close enough to a corner for you to round it quickly at melee range, without the AV rounding the corner itself and chasing you down. You can probably get a few hits in and kill it for laughs, but I still just use a shotgun and lots of cover. Sorry if I made it sound really easy.