Reposting, but so I found out the issue with the machete, and it makes me so mad. So with the Spear and Flag, you keep your shield up when you attack. With the others, you do move the shield when you swing but the attacks are fast and the animation for returning the shield to the front of you is timely-enough. But for this machete? Since the animation is twice as slow, the slowest of melee weapons, the return to the animation for the shield being in front of you leaves you wide open; you will get hit far more often using Ballistic Shield. You can cheese the animation by swinging and aiming to force it in front of you, but it's so tedious and visually jarring. I'm unsure if it has a longer range or if the penetration even actually matters, or if it even meaningfully does more damage. Sadly it's a huge whiff and only useful when you'd use a Shield Generator for quick in-and-out melee attacks. This is in theme to Dune and the warbond, but it feels unfun to use. Sasuga as always, Arrowhead. Maybe one day we'll get more decent melee gameplay.