Not trying to muddy the waters, but there were many uses of items made specifically to throw. The one I like is tying ordinance to it so it sticks in your target and explodes (I know, pre-cursor to hand grenades) I just wonder if (like previously mentioned) the distance and damage could be tied to the throwing skill and only throwing skill?
Some food for thought (15 min long for peeps with short attention span BTW)
I actually made a character with the specific intent on using mostly throwing weapons only and the Railgun CBM for end game. Maybe even add in the Hydraulic Muscles CBM for extra fun once I eventually found it. In the end I shelved the character right after finding and installing the Railgun CBM due to disappointment. I do hope to load it up again one of these days.
I’m still somewhat confused on how exactly everything is determined even after checking the code and using debug to play around. The CBM text states it will double the throwing range and damage for iron/steel yet it seems Railgun just doubles your strength value? Even that seems inconsistent as some items get double range while others want to cap out at 50 range. They will however surpass that cap if you debug in double your strength to simulate Railgun, but it’s a moot point as you’d be throwing items outside of your reality bubble at that point.
I have more trouble following throwing damage, especially when factoring in strength. Items seem to have a damage ceiling they cap out at regardless of what strength levels you achieve via CBMs or debugging stats. I’m not sure if it’s linked to item weight. Bashing/Cutting/Piercing damage values are also a very large factor and bashing damage is heavily favored compared to cutting/piercing.
I’m not sure if anyone else has more knowledge or input that might make more sense of the situation. I guess there’s always the novelty factor of throwing around lightning blasts.
TL;DR - I wanted to have fun doing superhuman throwing shenanigans and instead got
I know reading any responses to me will just make me angry, so I’m just going to press End and put this here.
If anyone from the future is reading this thread actually looking for a viable throwing weapon that can be carried easily:
Carry a 1911. Throwing a 1911 does 30 damage. Don’t even need any ammo, throwing it does as much damage as shooting it.
Virtually anything you can pick up off the ground will do more damage than throwing a knife, but you can put a 1911 in a holster and it works with Railgun. A Desert Eagle or Smith & Wesson might be even better, I dunno, but a 1911 is easy to find.
The system is directly weighted against anything that could even concievably be used as a passable throwing weapon actually dealing damage. Throw a pair of pants instead, I guarantee it will hurt more. Because realism.
Of course, this might change in the future, but somehow I have doubts. Call it a hunch.
I think what Kevin’s getting at, and what would be most useful to players and the game as a whole, is that the current system is badly flawed, and tossing arbitrary damage bonuses on various things with the mentality “yeah this should do damage if thrown” isn’t going to make this better (though it might be a step in the right direction).
What’s really needed is a reasonably simple set of standards that detail how much damage and range a particular item should have, which can then be applied to various dedicated throwing weapons to generate consistent and reasonable stats. For reference, you might look at the design doc for melee weapons on Github. It details each of the main stats of a melee weapon, and what real world characteristics and features would determine each stat (e.g a proper handle substantially increases the to-hit of a melee weapon, but only being 6 inches long, like a dagger, decreases it). Without some form of standardised guideline, any attempts to “fix” throwing weapons are going to be vague shots in the dark at best.
That said, the only truly effective thrown weapon I can think of is thrown spears or javelins. Knives and tomahawks rarely have the penetration to cause serious damage, and most blunt thrown weapons are essentially equivalent to a strong punch. Shurikens are interesting in that every reasonable source (That “Ninja Truth” video seems extremely Hollywood) I’ve looked at suggests they were a backup or emergency weapon. Either as an easily concealed emergency knife, to distract someone, apply poison, or be dropped on the ground to act as caltrops. Just from looking at them you can tell that it would require massive amounts of power behind them to cause any serious damage, unless you got exceptionally lucky and hit an artery.
That said, I wonder if that would be the correct way to go with thrown weapons. Pathetic base damage means they’re in no danger of becoming overpowered, but high critical damage (If you assume zombies need blood and/or intact brains to function) would make them reasonably useful.
I endorse this summary 
I’m not sure how much stock I would put in that guy’s “duct-taped pork chops in a t-shirt” dummy. The guy upthread at least used ballistics gel.
The vid was a bit hollywood, or more, but made the point of multipurpose throwing. Damage done not so much via weapons thrown as what you add to it before the throw.