Vagrant wrote:What I find odd is that the survivors seem to be more effective when using melee weapons for defense. You would think having a shotgun or AK47 would make it easier to defend, just as it does for the NPC's guarding their hideout.
I'm not sure about that. You might be right, but when my group had that pistol and ammo, we did not suffer a single injury or stolen item. We also had at least one melee weapon in the house, if not more than one. The house was raided many times, and sometimes by well armed and very determined dudes (we went through the whole heavy crime period of the game) and we did not lose anything but ammo.
Later when I traded away the ammo-less pistol out of sheer desperation, but retained a knife for one my survivor, we did suffer a raid in which the survivor was injured.
So I do think firearms make a difference. But I am not sure if the distinction between what TYPE of firearm is that broad. It may not make a huge difference whether that firearm is a pistol, shotgun or assault rifle. Or maybe it does, I can only guess. But if I were to replay the game again, my goal would be to get at least 1 working firearm (of any type) and ammo for it for home defense.
EDIT: It just occurred to me that you might be talking about scavenging and getting into fights while scavenging. I do feel like I've won a lot more melee battles than I have gun battles.