From Brotato Wiki
Melee
Melee is a melee weapon. Melee weapon have two different attack types, thrust and swing, both are capable of hitting multiple enemies. Melee weapons' Range only increase or decrease by half the amount of your range stat. The attack speed of melee weapons depends on their range. Increasing the range slightly decreases the Attack Speed, but increases the area hit by the weapon. Negative range has the inverse effect.