Catching up on all the patch notes I missed since I stopped playing for a year. Did a cursory search but couldn't find an old thread talking about this. Has the meta for stalkers effectively shifted since the melee revamp? It seems to me that bolt+knife combo is no longer the king of melee assassinations, given activated knives are actually reliable now. Both techniques have identical range and usecases, and the sprint cooldown after knifing are about the same. But the big drawback of bolt+knife is that you have to wait for COF reset after coming out of sprint state before you can initially fire. I find that split second sometimes allow the opponent to move out of range for the quick knife, in which case I have to do a follow up bolt to seal the deal. With activated knives this isn't an issue, because I can turn it on as I decloak, and land that OHK straight out of sprint and never miss a step. Before, the crossbow was prob the best "primary", as it was the only reliable way to get instagib. Now I feel like the activated knives are the best primary for stalker, with whatever you fancy for midrange plinking in the pistol slot. Crossbow is still good for the emp+bolt combo, but I can imagine a Blackhand stalker being much more versatile now, as you can have both sniping and assassination capabilities. Thoughts?
AFAIK the power knife is OHK so you don'r need to shoot. But I got the TR one and it advertised my approach with it's loud noise, so I stopped using it. Personally I use two swings with the knife instead of shoot/swipe.
I mentioned in the OP that you should turn on your knife at the same time as decloaking, then you can swing immediately as decloak finishes. I believe this well known to be the proper way to use activated knives and still retaining the element of surprise. Don't just leave it on as you run around and there'll be very little noise even for TR.
Deployable knives always brought me the most heart warming rage messages. Especially when you see a tank crew pull up to your hiding spot to repair. Two quick slices and then bask in the warmth of their tank exploding while they rage at you for the next 20 minutes.
So there is the Power Knife, slow but powerfull...need precision! And there is the Normal knife, fast but needs 2 hits...can be missed more... And there is the Amaterasu....the queen of blades... Strikes fast like standart...BUT shoots silenced shockwaves!
These are two rather different playstyles. With crossbow you don't have to kill the enemy with melee, and you are left with a fighting option even if you never get the chance to melee. Crossbow by itself is a good weapon; it has potential to be effective at range, it's nearly silent, has a lot of reserve ammo, finishes off people after EMP in one shot, same for deployables and other infils (on a headshot), performs very consistently over range and against nanoweave. Crossbow is all-around great choice for stalkers, melee combo instant kills is just a cherry on top. I'm not sure what you mean by "waiting for CoF to reset after sprinting". You're not waiting for CoF to reset, you're waiting for Sprint Recovery to finish. CoF reset just happens along the way, but supposedly being already in melee range, you don't really care about CoF. Quick knife attack after the crossbow bolt is easy to hit as well. Meanwhile, wielding power knives can be more punishing and more forgiving at the same time. Ideally, to never let yourself be defenseless until you're in melee range, you would want to always run around with a secondary weapon in hands. But that means that when you do have to melee someone, you need to perform 4 actions at the same time: wield and activate the knife, decloak and stab. Piano lessons, anyone? You also need much greater accuracy for melee swings. E.g. watch me miss 3 swings in a row here. And you are limited to melee only. If the enemy suddenly breaks and runs away, or you are engaged by another enemy, you're gonna have to go through the Equip Time of your sidearm before you can even respond. Wielding a knife has its moments, of course. You can quickly kill more than 4 people in a row, and without relying on 100% accuracy. However, a standard knife can be used for the same purpose as well. Just as a power knife can be used in melee combos. In fact, Crossbow + Power Knife is probably the most versatile loadout you could have as a stalker, giving you an option in both cases. I'll be honest and admit that I haven't used Power Knife a lot since melee buffs, though. Maybe it's way more powerful than I give it credit for.
Iridar, nothing you're saying is technical wrong. But I highly encourage you to give activated knifes another serious go, either on a stalker build or maybe even your smoke LA melee build. I think your opinion will be swayed. I find that not having a firing delay out of sprint with power knives is a huge advantage, and all the downsides of activating a knife (noise, delay, etc) are easily mitigated via proper keybinding and muscle memory. Whether you have a crossbow or a knife equipped by default is strictly a difference in mindset. At <15m range I don't find having a power knife out to be a hindrance. If I have the initiative, it doesn't matter that I don't have crossbow equipped because I don't need to shoot at anyone. If I'm surprised, but have not lost the initiative (e.g. someone suddenly rounds a corner and is about to be in my face, but they don't know I'm there yet), then decloak+activate -> OHK with power knife, is just as fast as decloak -> bolt+knife. If I have lost the initiative, then it means I'm already being shot at by what's likely a full-auto primary. If this happens at >15m, the smart thing to do is disengage, break LOS and try again later. But if it happens closer, then I probably need to stay and fight. In the latter, doing irregular-sprinting towards my shooter to land the knife hit has about the same chance of success as trying to shoot back with a crossbow. TTK with crossbow is 0.85s + projectile travel + aiming time. In that window, it's actually very possible to quickly close the distance to melee because you're sprinting and your opponent is walking. Adrenaline pump helps a lot, both for closing the final gap on someone who saw you at the last second, and for following unaware enemies in general. But it may or may not be worth giving up EMPs depending on how heavily you want to invest into the melee aspect of the build. All I'm saying is, at the ranges where you'd previously approach to use bolt+knife, the power knife can pull all the weight on its own and then some more, freeing up your sidearm slot for something dedicated to mid/long range should you want to.
Yeah those are good points. The reason I haven't played with power knives a lot isn't because I think they're inferior. It's much more mundane. The whole reason I even started playing melee stalker is to farm melee kills with specific knives for exceptional weapons directive. I was going for black camo, but then last year black camo for TR was sold during winter holidays, and I didn't feel as motivated anymore, and stopped with ~600 melee kills left on the Slasher, after doing Campion and that other NS DBC knife.
At this point power knife + crossbow is the combination I have switched to. Classic knives still work but the added situational benefits of the power knife are super appealing. (Still using EMPx 4 + Bando) The great thing about Bolt + Knife: There is absolutely zero warning caused by additional sounds, because I do not need to equip the knife in my hands. If the target unexpectedly sprints forward during my ambush (you have to account for your own human reaction time adjusting to this unexpected enemy movement ) Its very likely the target will remain out of your knife range. However thats okay because its easy to finish off the enemy with a second crossbow bolt. It also allows you to disengage from a situation you might loose when fighting another melee user gaining the upper hand. The approach with a crossbow bolt + knife combo is silent, excellent for single or double targets (both enemies dead under 3 seconds) and provides a longer effective reach if things go sideways by having the ability to fire off a second shot. I do like to try and use the power knife on larger groups of unaware enemies which are more or less stationary. However mobile enemies I will keep using the crossbow and bolt + knife. Having the crossbow equipped while moving around is also better in terms of what opportunities remain available to you. In addition to giving you the option to use EMP + Crossbow attacks as needed to twist a situation in your favor. That is not to say holding a knife in your hands is a poor choice. If you were NOT using a crossbow, and had a different loadout that doesn't share that synergy with EMP then I could see someone opting to hold a power knife to overcome the issues presented with sound on equip. Again though you would need to pre-plan that. Doing so does mean your at a loss to take advantage of other targets with your sidearm. Under the best settings pushing far more keys then most people find comfortable during a very short window of time. Having both the power knife + the crossbow means I can switch it up now too, which is awesome. Not only in terms of ammo conservation (this is my biggest peeve - stalkers having such a terrible ammo pool) but also for those moments when you have completely distracted and oblivious targets. The downside of EMPs in these situations is everyone affected by the EMP is no longer unaware or oblivious. So in those cases dropping behind them with a power knife out is far less likely to draw the attention of others in the group of enemies while you systematically kill them. You can very quickly kill large numbers of enemies for no cost in this manner, and its the reason the power knife is so appealing to me. Again, what I love about the power knife + crossbow combo, is if that group of enemies are in a location where escape isn't possible I still have the option to EMP + Shoot a couple down before they can react. I probably wont get as many kills (since the EMP distorts their screen and alerts them) but at least I won't have to be in a poor location, risking getting killed in melee range when taking them out. Having both options is great since it allows you to be more flexible. <3 As far as mechanics wise between the classic knives and power knives. I don't find the sprint recovery time on the power knife to be an issue. Frankly just having the ability to initiate the attack directly from sprinting state is enough for me. The Pump is glorious to use with the power knife, but I prefer to still use Bando and EMP because the crossbow just pairs so exceedingly well with EMPs. Whats better? Honestly its a play-style thing. If I were using a different secondary + power knife. Pump would probably be the best choice given the loadout. If someone doesn't like the crossbow and is more effective with a different sidearm then by all means use what your good at using. For me, its clear the Crossbow is like a limb. So for me giving it up and / or tossing away synergy with EMP would be foolish. I fully acknowledge that not having the Pump + Power Knife means a less reliable power knife. The pump is great for going from target to target and making up for sprint recovery delay. However again the ability to splash enemies directly (even behind cover objects by throwing past the cover) turns the crossbow into a point clearing weapon. It allows you to be more aggressive. I can do more with EMPs to turn a situation to my favor.
