Combat Arms/Melee

Melee Weapons
Melee weapons aren't always what you need. Unless you are good at and enjoy playing knife-only games, the default M9 Knife can suit you well. This is because you rarely use a melee weapon in regular games, as having a non-ranged weapon gives you a severe disadvantage. You usually only use the knife to humiliate somebody who is not watching their back, often a camping sniper.

All melee weapons have infinite "ammo", have 100 accuracy, are not affected by "recoil" because they aren't guns, and have a special red x-shaped crosshair that doesn't get bigger. Melee weapons have another stat called "range", which is basically how long the weapon is and how close you need to be to your enemy for it to reach. Range is rated from 1 to 10, 10 being the longest.

All the melee weapons also have a secondary attack that can be used by pressing the right mouse button. It is always slower and stronger than the primary attack, but never to the point of decreasing the number of slashes to kill (always two). Therefore, the stats will only cover the primary attack, and the secondary attack will be only briefly described.

The portability is not at all accurate, or pertains to the realistic game measures at all. i.e. In the actual game itself, the portability of the M9 knife is 81, not 95, the heartbeat detector is 97 portability, not 98. These made up portabilities are just opinional gauges of their speeds, not to be taken professionally.

What was said here is backed up by the official Combat Arms wiki and the arsenal on CA main website.

M9 Knife


Common Name: Knife

This is your default knife, which will suit you well enough unless you want an advantage in knife-only games. It is a good two-shot kill and has a high slash rate. You have to get pretty close to your enemy for the knife to reach. The secondary attack is a stabbing motion, which does more damage but not a one-hit kill.

Sickle


Common Name: Sickle

This sharp farming tool is better than the M9 Knife in damage and slash rate. It is slightly heavier and also has a bit more range. Therefore, when playing a knife-only game, if somebody charges at you head-on with a regular knife, you should be able to get kill them with a headshot first because of the range. The sickle's secondary attack is a slow side-stab, which isn't really useful.

Kukri


Common Name: Kukri

The Kukri is a long curved blade with a tremendous range. If somebody charges at you head-on with a knife or sickle, you should always win because you can get a headshot first. To compensate for this, the Kukri has a slower slashing rate. The secondary attack is a two-move swishing motion, which deals a lot of damage.

G.I. Shovel


Common Name: Shovel

The G.I. Shovel has the exact same stats as the Kukri, and is basically the same thing. Long range, high damage, slow slashing rate (but without the rank restriction).

Bowie Knife


Common Name: Bowie

A sharp blade that is much like the Sickle, but slashes faster and has a slightly longer range. There is a high rank requirement on this melee weapon, so you may not reap its benefits immediately.

Tomahawk


Common Name: Tomahawk

The Tomahawk has the longest range out of all the melee weapons, and it doesn't sacrifice much speed for it either. Otherwise, it is much like the Kukri or G.I. Shovel. The Tomahawk has a high price and also a very high rank requirement, so that not everyone can buy it and completely dominate a melee-only game.

Support Weapons
Support weapons include a variety of grenades, enemy detection machines, and the LAW rocket launcher. They each have their own special capabilities. For grenades and mines, the "amount" is like ammo, it is just how many you get.

M67 Frag Grenade
Common Name: Grenade

A throwing grenade that everybody gets as the default support weapon. Unlike the other default items, this one is actually pretty useful. You pull out the pin by clicking down on the mouse button and throw it by letting go of the mouse button. After throwing, The grenade takes exactly five seconds to explode dealing variable damage depending on how close the enemy was to it. If the grenade lands and explodes very close, it deals an instant kill.

After the grenade lands on the ground, it still takes a few seconds to detonate, so if you hear a tingling sound on the ground, you better run, or else you'll be blown up. The M67 Frag Grenade is also the most portable free item, so it is useful for running flags in Capture the Flag.

If you pull the pin, but are killed before you throw it, the grenade lands on the ground. You can use this to your advantage with a method called "suicide bombing". To suicide bomb, you pull the pin out of a grenade right before you die, so that the person who killed you may get blown up. The grenade does not drop if you were sprinting when you died.

M69HE Frag Grenade
Common Name: HE Frag

This handy high-powered frag grenade is better than the regular M67 Frag in several ways. It has a larger range of impact and deals more damage relative to range. It also explodes quicker, with less delay time. The M69HE Frag doesn't make a sound when it hits the floor around you, so you probably won't know to run away from it.

The M69HE Frag is the most portable item available, on par with the Heartbeat Detector.

M18 Smoke Grenade
Common Name: Smoke

This smoke grenade does no damage, but instead blankets the immediate area with a thick cloud of grey-colored smoke that is impossible to see through. It is useful for cover and stealth in Capture the Flag, but players rarely find it useful in other situations. Therefore, it doesn't cost a lot.

The cloud of smoke dissipates in 15 to 20 seconds.

XM84 Flash Grenade
Common Name: Flash

The flash grenade is good to use in a variety of situations. Although it does no damage, it will blind an enemy for a full 20 seconds if it lands at their feet. The duration and effect will go down dramatically the further away from the person the flash grenade detonated.

During the period that your enemies are blinded, they will only see pure white on their screen. Then, their view begins to come back, but they will be disoriented with confusing images that combine where you are and where you were before, making it impossible to aim.

M24F Incendiary Grenade
Common Name: Fire

Upon detonation, this incendiary grenade produces a cloud of orange chemicals in the vicinity of the blast. Any enemy who steps into the fire suffers periodic HP damage. After the person exits the cloud, he or she will continue to be on fire and take damage for several seconds. During that time, they will be easy to notice because they will be in bright orange flames.

When a person steps in fire, the screen will flash orange until the effect wears off. Fire damage can be reduced by wearing a fire mask, and the fire cloud dissipates in 15 to 20 seconds.

Not many people get kills from this item, instead, they use it as a "softener" to lower the enemy's HP to make them easier kills.

Starting with 100 HP and no fire protection, up to 50 health can be lost if you get out of the fire cloud almost immediately after starting to burn.

G7A Gas Grenade
Common Name: Gas



The gas grenade releases a cloud of purple chemicals that damages HP more quickly than does the fire cloud. The main difference is that when someone steps out of the gas cloud, the effect ceases almost immediately. People in gas can be identified easily because they appear to be convulsing. Also, gas ignores AP, so full HP damage will be taken.

The gas cloud takes longer to dissipate, around 20 to 30 seconds. Gas damage can be reduced by wearing a gas mask.

M16A1 AP Mine
Common Name: Mine



The mine can be key to victory in games, but only if placed strategically in proper areas. Planted mines can be seen very easily above ground, and there isn't any use putting one out in the open where anybody can see it. A few examples of strategic mine placements are:


 * On a flag in Capture the Flag
 * In narrow areas and doorways
 * On ladders
 * In dark areas where it might not be seen
 * Corners where your enemies normally camp

Basically, the person with mines (you get 3), can plant the mine anywhere, and someone who steps on it will suffer exactly 80 damage to HP. A mine explosion will trigger other mines within the blast radius. Therefore, if there are just two or more mines planted in a cluster, stepping on either one will cause an instant kill.

If you see a mine in your way, you can jump over it, or shoot the rod of the mine from a distance.

Good areas for mine placement in each map are detailed in the guide page for that map.

Heartbeat Sensor


Common Name: HB Sensor

This very portable little device can detect enemies, but only at a short range. When you hold the mouse button, detected enemies will appear as orange dots on the minimap. The use is limited by a battery life, shown around the minimap. The battery recharges when the device is not in use.

Due to its ridiculously small range, the Heartbeat Sensor is used by very few players and is deemed the most useless item. An enemy who is so close that you can detect them with this item has probably already seen you.

Although, this can be an extremely useful item in small battles in small maps. (4 or less players, Cold seed size and smaller)

Heartbeat Detector


Common Name: HB Detector

This "upgraded version" of the Heartbeat Sensor is about ten times better than the Heartbeat Sensor, with the ability to send the orange dots to your teammates minimaps as well. Since the usefulness of the Heartbeat Sensor was just about zero anyways, most players deem this just as useless. And zero times ten is zero. The range isn't even any better.

The Heartbeat Detector is one of the two items tied for highest portability - the other being the M69HE Frag.

M72 LAW


Common Name: LAW

The LAW is a rocket launcher, that for some reason doesn't do instant kills. It is still useful in other ways, however. When you fire the LAW, a rocket shoots out in the direction of your crosshair. Once it hits a solid object, an explosion is created with a blast radius larger than that of the M69HE Frag. Any enemy within that area receives 80 damage. The LAW can be very useful for getting rid of campers.

Make sure that you don't fire the LAW at a short range, otherwise you will blow yourself up! A less common known fact is that you can actually shoot down the rocket while it is flying. It takes just 3 to 4 shots with an assault rifle (and just one shot with a sniper rifle) and is a possible defense tactic if somebody else fires a LAW at you.

Also note that while the LAW is classified as a support weapon, it takes up a slot as a Primary Weapon instead. Therefore, if you buy the LAW, it should be backpacked.