Short Range Weapons

Short range weapons are melee weapons the main characters can use. They vary from axes and clubs to ray swords and T-shirts. Eliot has access to 7 short range weapons, while Dogs has access to 4.

Their main advantage is that they don't use ammo and are effective at stunning enemies. They're very useful when conserving money and grinding, as you don't need to keep spending money on bullets. They also don't need to be reloaded.

Their main disadvantage is that they can't reach faraway targets, and aren't useful against certain enemies, particularly tentacles, flying enemies, and bosses. They also put the player much more at risk of taking damage, because most short range weapons have equal to or shorter range than enemy attack ranges. Some short range weapons, like the Sumo T-Shirt and the Iron Fists, move your character forward when attacking, which can make it tricky if you're trying to keep yourself in a corner, or keep attacking a stagnant enemy.

Each short range weapon varies in attack speed, damage, and stun sequence. Each short range weapon has an attack pattern, and certain attacks stun hit enemies, interrupting their attack and movement.

Tips
Once you've reached the upper level of the Bay Area - Shuttle area (the area where you save the worker trapped in the shuttle), you can find the Metal Bat behind a pile of four white "PolarBearExpress" boxes. They're the boxes the two flying bird-monsters are perched on. Once they're all killed, climb on top of the boxes, and fall behind them to find a Large Hassy and the Metal Bat. It's a decent improvement over your Hand-To-Hand attack, as it deals a bit more damage.

However, it is highly recommended to purchase an Emergency Axe as soon as you can (located at the Hello Market gun shop), as it is a vast improvement over Eliot's Hand-To-Hand attack and the Metal Bat. It deals a decent bit more damage than Hand-To-Hand, has a larger hitbox, and has more attacks in its sequence that stun enemies. It also swings a bit faster than the Metal Bat.

Dogs' Sumo T-Shirt can also be very useful early on, as it is very good at stunning one enemy at a time. Its fast sequence only stuns enemies, allowing you to keep damaging them until they're dead. Its drawback is it moves you forward as you attack, which can make attacking certain enemies difficult. It's also almost useless when dealing with two or more enemies at a time, as the 'sumo slap' attack has a very small hitbox, and does little damage, so you'll be constantly interrupted by the second enemy's attack when in your attack sequence.

Dogs' Wrestling T-Shirt has two attacks, and trigger depending on the distance Dogs is to an enemy. If an enemy is far away, Dogs does a running dropkick, which is slow, but deals a lot of damage. If you're in close range, Dogs does a single gut punch, which attacks a lot faster, but doesn't do a lot of damage.

If you're considering purchasing expensive short range weapons, it's best to save up money for the different sushi/pasta/steak plates found in the Hello Market Secret Shop until both character's health has maxed out before purchasing new weapons. Many effective and useful weapons, both short and long range, are found throughout the game without buying them, so grinding and saving up money for them can be a waste of time. This is particularly evident with the Stun Rod and the Ray Sword, as both can be found around the mid-point of the game for free, and both cost a lot of money that could be spent on sushi/pasta/steak plates and/or ammo.

Although arguable, the most effective short range weapon is the Ray Sword. Despite its slow sequence speed, it deals absurd amounts of damage, killing many enemies in just one or two hits. Also, Eliot doesn't move when he attacks, and his third sequence attack can also hit enemies beside and behind him.

While the Jumbo Club kills most enemies in one shot, it takes a long time for its attack to start, making you highly vulnerable to enemy attacks.