Melee

Melee: The act of using your weapon as a bludgeon. This action can be executed by default by pressing the B button on the Xbox version or the F key on the PC version (default controls).

Melee attacks enhance the stealth of a player and conserve ammunition. One melee attack from behind (an "assassination") will kill most enemies in both Multiplayer and Campaign, provided you sneak up behind them and melee them in the back. Although this tactic is successful against most enemies in the Halo games, assassinations are not always successful against Halo 2 Brutes on Legendary.

If an enemy is hit from the side or front, it may take two or three hits to kill them, depending on the enemy and weapon being used. AI's, such as Elites, Hunters, Combat Forms and most notable Halo 3's Brutes, will melee if you get too close, but they will seldom attempt the stealth melee. The way a melee works is by breaking bones and damaging organs and tissue. An assassination works by breaking your opponent's neck or spine, resulting in instant death even with an overshield.

A melee is mostly used when an opponent is too close to effectively shoot, to attempt assassinations, or if the prospective melee is wielding a weapon that performs melee attacks only, such as the Energy Sword and Gravity Hammer.

Assassinating an opponent in Halo 3 multiplayer earns the player an Assassin Medal, while simply meleeing from the front and killing your opponent yields a Beat Down Medal.

Character compatibility

 * Spartans
 * Elites
 * Hunters
 * Brutes
 * Drones (only if they board your vehicle)
 * Marines (Halo 2 and 3 only, very close enemies,and they usually kick instead of punching or whacking)
 * Flood Combat forms
 * Flood Pure Forms
 * Flood Tank Forms
 * Flood Stalker Forms
 * Flood Thrasher Form

Halo 3
In Halo 3, the melee ability is much more powerful than it was in the past two games, making it a seemingly integral part of all close range engagements, especially in multiplayer. Due to it's augmented power, a common multiplayer tactic is to charge the enemy with an assault rifle, then melee the enemy once up close. If performed correctly, the enemy should have been slain once meleed, given that the enemy had regular shields. When the energy sword is equipped, the melee ability becomes a quick "slice", which although faster, is significantly weaker than the regular "lunge". Also, it is possible to assassinate another player through thin glass, such as the glass in the Valhalla and Snowbound bases.

Trivia

 * In the Halo 3 Campaign, the Arbiter can melee while dual-wielding Plasma Rifles without dropping them.
 * In the Halo 3 Campaign, it's impossible to melee while wielding Support Weapons, even for the Arbiter. However, Brute Chieftains who carry plasma turrets can still melee you with it, most likely due to their colossal strength.
 * In Halo 3, even if you set the players to have invincibility (as in the famed Halo 3 playlist Rocket Race), assassinations will still kill them, though nothing else will.
 * If you get too close, Hunters will use their shields as melee weapons.
 * Some fans have called using melee attacks "whacking" and "nutting", and in Campaign, when using the method mentioned above (going around in Campaign hitting enemies) "Whack-Attack" or "Ammo-Saver-fest '07".
 * Melees are almost useless against Flood Combat forms, except when you have its arm blown off. However, in Halo 3, the melee is actually more powerful to them. A newly infected Combat form will usually die with one blow while an old combat form should die in 2-3 blows. Assassinating a Flood form does not work.
 * In Halo 2 multiplayer, it can take up to three melee strikes to the front or side to kill a fully regularly shielded enemy. In Halo 3 multiplayer, if the target has no Overshield, only two strikes to the front or side are needed.
 * Halo 2's melee system was based on three levels of player movement, a stationary melee doing the least damage, a running melee taking down roughly half of the shield, and a jumping melee almost completely removing the shield.
 * In Halo 2 and Halo 3 the melee attack has a short distance compared to that in Halo CE, though in Halo 3 and Halo 2 the lunge is longer.
 * It seems in Halo 3, melee attacks are moderately more powerful than they were in the previous Halo games. This allows players to combat enemies with ease.
 * In the recent update to Halo 3 the melee attacks are more balanced so that if the server has trouble declaring a winner, both players will be killed and each will recieve a kill credit.
 * In Halo 2, repeatedly press X&amp;B combined and you will melee very fast if pressing nonstop fast, although it will only hurt at random times. It does not work in Halo:Combat Evolved, but partially works in Halo 3.
 * In Halo: Combat Evolved, a melee attack in the back can kill a Marine instantly. However, in Halo 2 and Halo 3 friendly characters cannot be Assassinated by a single hit to the back.
 * In the popular internet video series Arby 'n' the Chief, the Chief is frequently angered by the intricacies and perceived unfairness of the melee system in Halo 3, an attitude mirrored by many real-life gamers.
 * In the pre-beta (Bungie employees and staff only) versions of Halo 3 multiplayer, the melee was less powerful, a single melee failing to significantly deplete a player's shields. Obviously, this feature was changed in the final game.
 * In Halo 2 just one melee from an Elite on campaign on Normal can kill the player immediately, whether the attack is in the back or front. However if an Elite is wielding a carbine ,then the melee will not effect the player if at very close distance.
 * In Halo Wars the Spartans will often "drop" their weapon to start meleeing a close enemy.
 * In Halo 2, if you have the Sputnik skull activated and keep meleeing a dead body for a while, the body will fall through the floor.