If you've been here from the start you might have realised that it has already been nerfed multiple times, but always indirectly. Always by relation to other aspects that have been buffed:
-We now start with a body shield. In addition to being immediately tankier, it also means that every deathbox will have a shield too.
-We now start with cells and syringes too. In other words it is easier to ready yourself, or reset if there is a pause in the fisticuffs.
-The 'junk' weapons have also been buffed massively since 1.0, probably in response to the above points.
-To a lesser extent red lvl 4 shields will also nerf melee in the later game, relative to how it was when purple/gold provided top defence.
I feel like it's in a good place personally and I certainly do not feel like it is subject to real world comparisons, especially when we take heirloom melee attacks into account. Balance comes first, and anyone that is indeed taking the melee approach is always subject to being melee'd themselves.
If I am finished by melee, there is always something that I should be asking myself. Where tf am I? Where's my team? Where is my pewpew? If my pewpew is pointing the right way when I shoot it, surely I can go into a fist battle with an advantage. And if my team isn't responding quickly enough, that's just a classic way to die regardless of murder tool.
