Tribes: Ascend/Perks/Close Combat

"Provides 20% Damage Reduction from all melee attacks, and upgrades for double Backstab damage."

Close Combat doubles the damage of a melee attack when you backstab an enemy, and also reduces how much damage you take when you are meleed. Upgrading the perk all the way can reduce the damage of a melee attack from 900 to 360, and increase the damage of a backstab to 1,800 from the original 900. This is a Primary Perk.

Upgrades

Upgrade 1: x2 melee backstab damage

Upgrade 2: +20% melee damage reduction (40% reduction)

Upgrade 3: +20% melee damage reduction (60% reduction)

Strategies

This perk is a favorite among Infiltrators because of their stealth, which allows them to sneak up on people that are standing still. The double backstab damage is enough to kill all but the heavy classes. If a player uses the Shocklance on an enemy's back first, and then a melee, they can kill all classes within a second.