There has been a lot of confusion about how the melee attack and melee defense actually work in Total War: Rome II. To help you understand how this system actually works, this guide will give you a breakdown of how it works in the game. At the same time, you will be getting some examples for better understanding.
How do melee attack and defense work?
Let’s clarify everything first. In Total War: Rome II, the melee attack is the chance of hitting an enemy unit, while the melee defense is the chance of blocking an incoming attack from a unit. But how does it work when these stats go up against each other?
Well, there’s a simple formula behind this for almost every Total War game installment. Every unit in Total War: Rome II has a 30% to 40% base chance to hit an enemy unit. For example, if your unit has a melee attack of 36, that 36% will go on top of the 40% base chance to hit an enemy unit. So, the total will be 36% + 40% = 76% base chance to hit an enemy unit.
But what if you’re fighting against an enemy unit with a 47 melee defense? Your melee unit will now have a 76% – 47% = 29% chance of hitting an enemy unit. So, the formula that we have is base + melee attack – melee defense. That’s the chance of your unit hitting an enemy unit.
Also, take note that there is a maximum and minimum chance to hit an enemy unit because otherwise, there is a scenario where a unit can’t do damage against the other unit because of high melee defense. So, the minimum percentage to hit an enemy unit is just 8%, while the maximum is 90%.
What are the best units to upgrade?
Now that you have the basic knowledge of how melee attack and defense work, the question left is which unit is the best choice to upgrade. Here’s the list of units that we recommend upgrading:
- Units with high health
- Units with high armor
- Units with high melee defense
- Units with high weapon damage
These units have the best survivability during the war.
