Training melee and dodge

WHat do you do to train melee and dodge? Especially early. Im putting together some tip guides. Ill post and see if anyone wants to add them to the wiki.

Fungal Spawns: These are GREAT if and ONLY if, you have a filter mask. if not your dead. If you dont clear out the spire, the spawns are endless. The adult F are very slow so you can run away. When you kill one you get 0-3 spores (this is why you need the mask. if you breath you die). then you get baby 'f’ungus. So mnore to fight. Be warned dont kill too many F or you will get surrounded by little ‘f’. This is safer if you have quick or fleet footed trait so you can run away. pain happens quick. but in general its not that dangerous if you are careful.

What do you like to fight to get melee up? trying to look for risk averse strats (ie not running into town to waste lots of zombies)

Huh, so this gas mask I have is useless compared to this smaller object.

Smacking rats in the sewers tends to be a safe bet. Specially since you can do it right next to the stairs up.

have not spent much time in the sewers. what about the harder mobs? how often do they spawn?

if you were to train melee i would try to kill the regular Z’s when they try to climb through windows.

Best early-to-midgame sparring partner I could recommend would be the Scarred Zombie (from Bee Hives): they move more slowly and have armor, so your punches do less damage (=more attacks per zombie). Occasional honeycomb drop is a nice bonus.

Blobs are nasty fighters but can take your Dodge to at least 7, possibly 8 or higher.

Well, some advanced tips would surely spoil the game; I’m not just saying it not to comply with the tactics section of the Wikis, which has massive helpers only to come handy if someone’s more used to descriptive RLs that discover positive and negative opponent traits and structures they dwell in. But since you have to cut the thorn to smell the rose, there could be tips that offer some insight before you engage in CataDDA play.
First, you’ll need to fetch some gear and supplies and learn how to defend yourself before taking on throngs of foes. This may involve suiting up and picking a weapon of choice. If you can dwell on this before you start your game, you may want to save a few points for Melee and Dodge in the start. It helps when you’re packing a lot on back while engaging some opposition, or you’re just a newbie player that still can’t track all the parameters of your character. You’ll see a lot of gear lying around, but there is only a small chance you’ll find the right warderobe that fits that often, so you could practice Sewing a few levels up. Light armor and swift, deadly weapons come hand in hand, so torso encumberance of 3 or 2 may get to be your choice early in the game. If you’re fighting bare-handed and with very little or no encumberance, it may get your battle style to become fast and efficient. Furthermore, there could be more weapons to choose from in the start, so the hatchet, for example, offers excellent balance between cutting and bashing weapons with a quick attack.
Other than that, the wise thing would be to test the opposition before going for the spoils, so you can finish some tasks to ensure it’s a winning combo. And since a brawl hurts both sides, keep some painkillers close so you don’t get too stuck.