The melee weapons appear to do more damage if an Infected's head or upper body is targeted. Due to their death effects, it is generally advised to melee neither the Boomer (unless there is no choice) nor the Spitter (unless it is possible to move away immediately from the resulting acid splash). All melee weapons, on all difficulties, kill Common Infected and most Special Infected in one hit, aside from the Charger (which takes two-but see point below), the Witch (which takes four), and the Tank (which takes twenty, excluding the Chainsaw).
Close combat weapons cause minimal friendly fire damage to the Survivors, even on Advanced and Expert difficulty levels (the Chainsaw is an exception). They have two main drawbacks: a limited reach and (with a few exceptions) relatively long cooldown periods. Unlike Pistols, close combat weapons never need to be reloaded and cannot run out of ammo (excluding the Chainsaw). Melee weapons replace Pistols in the secondary weapon slot.
