Is it true? VS....

Is it true that VS gets a high damage knife that makes no sound when out...whereas NC and TR equivalents make noise?

Is that true?

Maybe Wrel can weigh in...HAHAHA.

VS Power-Knife isn't silent, but it's the most quiet; To the point of being stealthy.
Been like that for ages.

TR has the loudest thing on earth, with that Chainblade, and the Vibrator-knife ain't that far behind.

For the exact degree;
Just roll a temp VS, and visit the VR training.

It's partly true.

The VS' Lumine Edge makes a very loud and very distinct (and very unpleasant) noise upon activation as an asymmetrical balancing factor, though it does emit a low hum, while the NC and TR's power knives make a much louder noise constantly.

I don't think the single-time activation noise makes it balanced. It ought to be equalized with the other factions' knives in my opinion.

when you consider that they have infinite ammo sniper rifles with no bullet drop,
and legit hitbox-hack on LMGs and carbines and even a damn max weapon,
a much quieter knife doesn't seem like too big an issue on the VSbias list.

This all predates Wrel.

Played a little bit on my VS char today, to check it put after 5 years of pretty much exclusively NC.
DAMN they have an easy time killing things (even without being used to their weapons, killstreaks were easy peasy, constant headshots and reliably fighting power on longer ranges). No more cutout shooting around people because the rifle behaves like a crazed mule, no more "oh, they are more than 50m away, might as well not bother". With NC LMGs you mostly have to aim for center mass (hello headshot damage thread^^), with VS ones you can ride the meta like a surfer.
If I weren't so used to my NC char (and his equip and all that), I would permahop faction right now. Guess they will continue with lopsided balance until only VS players are left.

Our Luminous Edge has the loudest activation noise, the lowest continuous noise, and the most noticable design when we start to swing it around (hi! Look at my beautiful light effect that shines so brightly in the dark and makes everyone turn their eyes in your direction...)

It's hardly silent and experienced players actualy track you pretty easily just with its sound, and I have the weird impression that in mass battle situations, the light effect prevent us to pull out kill streaks as easily that the two other knives allows.
Many TR/NC stalkers describe their knives have 10+ kill streaks tools when in the middle of chaotic battles... while I not have yet encountered a VS stalker pretending something similar.

Note that VS stalkers also have the loudest sound effect, which doesn't simplify the stabbing work: with a loud uncloaking effet, a loud knife activation effect and a knife design which looks like a weildable light stick... we draw a lot of attention as we decide to stab someone.

But despite of this, I do feel it is indeed the best of the 3 power knives.
If it can make you any better, let me tell you that I'm jaleous about TR/NC pistol options since years....

A bit more information.

You can check the sounds of the three power knives here (please jump at 6:05) :

Strangely, Wrel's capture seems to not makes justice at high piched noises, like the one happening at the activation of the Lumine Edge. Lumine Edge does a very very displeasing high-pitched noise at activation, and that's why it's considered as the most noisy power knife activation of the three.

This doesn't change the fact that the VS power knife is the better of the three to my eyes, and this feeling of mine seems actually correlated by those stats:
https://voidwell.com/ps2/oracle?sta...1,285&startDate=2016-07-07&endDate=2019-09-09

Hope this factual data currently helps to answer all your questions.

No. It hums loudly, and you can hear it well. Most do not pay much attention to it though because it is steady. Often confused with a vehicle drone or stage equipment. Where as T.R.'s Chainsaw blade, sounds unique much like their T7 Minigun. Like being in a room with servers all day... You stop hearing the loud A.C. but you will definitely hear a whisper from across the room. I would say N.C.'s knife is the absolute quietest.

That knife has been around for a while, when it's on there's a slight hum, and it shines, don't know if it's all that visible to enemies.
In any case I don't think I've ever actually heard the other special knives even though I get hit by them in some fights. Everything else probably drowns them out.

This metric sums up the grand total of kills per hour. When you weigh in uniques you notice there are a lot more VS players using their power knives which should, and does, result in more kills per hour (and in total). You also have to look at KPU (kills per user).

Uniques: https://voidwell.com/ps2/oracle?sta...1,285&startDate=2016-07-07&endDate=2019-09-09

When you look at KPU you do not see anything which suggest the VS power knife is better than the rest, indeed, the Carver seem to perform better at a more consistent rate and produce the most extreme/frequent increases in performance.

KPU: https://voidwell.com/ps2/oracle?sta...1,285&startDate=2016-07-07&endDate=2019-09-09

TL;DR: The NC power knife is the best, VS power knife in the middle, and the TR power knife beings the worst. Why the TR one is crap should be fairly obvious as it has a very recognisable and easily distinguishable sound.

Well if that isn't a delicious load of bias I don't know what is.

The Lumine Edge is absolutely by far the loudest of the knives upon activation, but subsequent use is very softer. While the initial noise can draw attention the lack of obvious noise allows the knife to remain activated for the duration of its use. It can be taken anywhere away from the spot where it was activated and will do so much better than either of the other two knives.

It's widely considered to be the quietest knife of the three by a long shot.

The stats do not show this at all. The VS have far more users which can artificially lower the average KPU and suggests it's more useful in comparison. Regardless, all three knives perform very similarly with each knife trading places frequently. The NC's spikes are predominately outliers caused by a single player or a small group of players using the knife exclusively.

All three knives have equally recognizable and distinguishable sounds, even the Lumine Edge. The only difference is in volume, which the Carver & Ripper share while the Lumine is obviously much softer as has been mentioned already.

The higher number of users is probably because it's a mini light saber.
Since they literally perform the same there shouldn't be much of a difference in actual per user performance or anything.

It is what the data is showing us. There might be other factors, true, but overall the sample size is pretty small no matter which knife you are looking at. Indeed, if it is as you say that such a small group of players would skew the data so much I'd throw it all out of the window just to be consistent.

It doesn't work like that but sure, let's just base things off the actual weapons themselves. What do we find? Why, two are almost completely identical and the third behaves in a slightly more practical manner. The end.