Need help with melee combat

Hello guys, I could need some help with Melee combat. In versions Kaufman and Brin I could fashion a nail board and if there weren’t too many zombies I was set. Now in Cooper almost nothing works right. Combat Styles have no effect in my game. I give myself 20 strength and 15 dexterity - still not much success. Every 4th attempt is a hit but previously I could hit everything with a nail board. Can’t attack children with Melee either.

Am I doing something wrong? I have upped my stat points to 20-15-15-15 and my skills all have a value of 4. Need advice please…

How much armor are you wearing? Torso encumbrance can and will screw you over. =w=

There should be a message telling you that your torso encumbrance is throwing you off balance… I doubt that he wouldn t have noticed that.

What’s your melee skill at?

What’s the relationship? Is your effective melee skill equal to your skill level minus your torso encumbrance?

Each level of encumbrance (1 in the stable and early experimentals, 10 after they made the stat more granular) is effectively minus 1 level to both melee and dodge. This is especially annoying with zombie children and other small targets. Since you said your relevant skills are all at 4, it wouldn’t take much to lower your effective skill. Just a duffel bag or too many scavenged clothes that haven’t been refitted can eat up all that skill easily.