One-What are the possible armors that can be used to fight the master in melee combat?

Two-What are the possible weapons that can beat him for melee weapons or unarmed? Do you really have to have the best melee or knuckle weapon or can you just get by with criticals and damage?
Last time he cleaned my clock. This time the bastards goin down.

SPOILERS below. You have been warned.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I am about to try this again myself, just loaded the FIXT patch and started playing with a melee character.

You pretty much need the hardened power armor to survive. Yes, I would recommend the best weapons available, either the Super Sledge or the Power Fist.

If you want to soften him up a little first, drop a bag of armed explosives at his feet and duck behind a pillar until they've all gone off. Also, the floating eyes don't attack you until you attack them, and they will attack the Master if he hits one of them by accident, so you may want to try standing behind one of them at first.

One option is to stop just before you reach the point where he initiates dialogue, enter combat mode and walk up to him, then exit combat mode. Then after you have your little chat with him, you don't have to waste a combat turn on closing with him.