What is the point of Knives? Weapons Discussion

[Abe Froman]

I use axes. It was a no-brainer when I first started and I would often need to fight while I was out harvesting wood. Why waste resources on another weapon, when the tree killer is great? Why switch weapons when out harvesting and I'm still learning the game? Plus, the upgraded flint axe was all I needed for a long time.

I tried to learn spears recently, but I think it's too late for me. Arrows and axes - it's enough.

I understand that one of the 3rd boss' weaknesses is blunt, but it just seems like a forced game mechanic to get me to ever use a mace.

My axe seems to work just fine against every creature, undead or not. My axe is 4x the level of every other weapon skill. You know why Gimli never used an Elvish leaf-shaped blade? 'Cause he's friggin Gimli, and he uses axes!

Which brings me to the real point - what good are knives? When I could first craft a copper knife, I tried it. I figured it must have something to make up for its low damage. Nope. If I could destroy it and reclaim the copper, I would.

And now I finally get the material to make the harpoon, and they also give me a new knife recipe??

Is there any point whatsoever besides cosplay?

[Sir Sparrow]

Maelstrom님이 먼저 게시:

I did the same thing but axes eventually run out of steam. It starts at Bonemass who is essentially immune to everything except maces and frost arrows, then continues in the mountains with the wolves who will murderize you (especially at night) if you don't have a weapon with a strong CC effect. Same with Furlings in plains. And it just so happens that Frostner is a mace, has huge knockback, and stun the hell out of almost everything.

As for knives, I've never really found them useful either. A sword is good for deathsquitos though, it's fast and has a big hitbox. Might as well be a flyswatter.

Well, you can easily kill loxes, trolls and fuling berserkers with knives.
Aaaand it's just satisfying for me at least to one-shot trolls with backstab knive attacks.

[Maelstrom]

Troll armor + knife does work, but sneaky backstab in troll armor isn't a style of gameplay that really interests me.

[M.Red]

the knife is great for sneak attacks as it will not alarm nearby enemies
one can take down trolls even face on
its not uberdamage but provides fast attacks

[River]

I used the knife as my primary weapon up until iron, when I switched to the mace. The lack of a speed penalty and the low stamina cost made it ideal for me, I didn't even bother with sneak attacks. Chaining attacks constantly frequently stuns the enemy anyway.

End game maces are so good though it's hard to justify using anything else, aside from novelty. Though to be honest, if you like the style, any one handed weapon is viable. If you can use a shield, you're all set. It's the two handed weapons that I haven't gotten to work for me, aside from playing in a group.

[Nascarman]

I know your original post is about knives, but you do mention maces and axes so I’ll bring it up:

Maces are hands down the best weapon in the game, as there are a handful of enemies with blunt weakness (and the porcupine covers the 2 enemies resistant to blunt anyway) plus the frostner is a blunt weapon that is a must have. 2 handed hammers are also considered clubs and level with maces as well.

It is absolutely worth it to make a mace alongside an axe.

[Xyngrr]

Other benefits to knives are listed above, but I notice no one has touched on damage types. Knives uniquely have evenly split damage between pierce and slash, meaning they will suffer less against a resistant enemy even though their damage is low, and function reasonably against most natural targets.
I have one save in which I use a knife and a mace for melee depending on the enemy, and a bow for range. The Combo works nicely once you learn which enemy each works on, and allows the option of sneeky viking tactics to pitch a battle in your favour from the first hit. Additionally, knife combos with a bit of skill stun quite often letting you slice up an enemy pretty quickly so long as you have some reflexes to know when to block and not try to go for the killshot too early.

That said, maces are currently OP. Especially Frostner, that thing is a beast.

[Jamieson]

I did the same for a long while and used the axe for a lot of things but there are benefits to diversifying your tools.

1) The sword (another slashing weapon) has better range and also has an alternative attack (thrust) which is useful for confined spaces where otherwise your axe would get caught up on walls or trees etc.

2) It's better to have dedicated tools for tasks and dedicated weapons for fighting enemies, otherwise you will burn through their durability ultra fast. When I was using the axe for chopping tress and fighting I would always need to repair it.

I'm currently in the swamps / mountains and I find the best gear is as follows:

• Round shield (parrying and defence).
  
• Sword (slash dmg).
  
• Mace (blunt dmg).
  
• Spear (melee pierce dmg).
  
• bow (ranged pierce)
  
• 2 hander (AOE dmg / knock back).
  
  Other tools:
  
• Axe for chopping wood / backup.
  
• Pick axe.
  
• Hoe (useful for swamps).
  

[Nerd.Gamer.Dave]

Cockroach님이 먼저 게시:

There are these small islands that float around and about the ocean areas. You need to get onto one of them and harvest with a pick its barnacles. You can then make a harpoon.
They are not common but if you go around in the boat a bit you will eventually see them.

Those are not islands :P. Those are alive

[Methrin]

Knives deal piercing and slashing damage, which can be useful or awful depending on what you're fighting.

[River]

The axe really is a tool, not a weapon. The only reason to use an axe over a sword is for style purposes, or to reduce the number of items carried, which as was pointed out, becomes a durability problem if you're fighting with your tool.

[Atma]

Knives exist to make the other weapons look better.

[Frozztastic]

Jamieson님이 먼저 게시:

I did the same for a long while and used the axe for a lot of things but there are benefits to diversifying your tools.

1) The sword (another slashing weapon) has better range and also has an alternative attack (thrust) which is useful for confined spaces where otherwise your axe would get caught up on walls or trees etc.

2) It's better to have dedicated tools for tasks and dedicated weapons for fighting enemies, otherwise you will burn through their durability ultra fast. When I was using the axe for chopping tress and fighting I would always need to repair it.

I'm currently in the swamps / mountains and I find the best gear is as follows:

• Round shield (parrying and defence).
  
• Sword (slash dmg).
  
• Mace (blunt dmg).
  
• Spear (melee pierce dmg).
  
• bow (ranged pierce)
  
• 2 hander (AOE dmg / knock back).
  
  Other tools:
  
• Axe for chopping wood / backup.
  
• Pick axe.
  
• Hoe (useful for swamps).

I always carry a variety of tools, just in case. I always have:

Iron Sword
Banded Shield
Iron Mace
Bronze Axe
Hoe
Hammer
Bow
Circlet
Mejinjord
Mead for the Biome I'm in

Plus armor.

There is very little that I can't deal with. Death is a ♥♥♥♥♥, however. But I keep a full set of Bronze armor and weapons next to my spawn point.

And some Troll armor next to that for when I die a 2nd time.

And a few more sets of Troll armor for the same reason. >_<