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Sword vs Knife

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madnar

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Madnar VY Starchild
Hello all,

I am currently lvl 20 sword dmg, and 15 or so knife hit...
Also, having a doubt if I should switch to knife. Some players say one thing, and some another... For now, on this lower lvl i guess sword is better bcs of price (first of all). For example, Philosopher Sword (which is my next) costs about +70, and knife that i would use is about +200...
Also, talked with a guy who is lvl 70+ sword, and he said that he wish he went knife, instead...

What are Your opinions ? Sword or knife?


Sorry if this topic like this is already there somewhere, i didn't find it...

:)
 
I prefer knives for their higher speed and lesser dmg per hit, more fun, less overkill.
 
If you have a life outside of EU, go sword, if not, go knife. :)

Here's why: with current availability of amps, your mid-level weapons you'll likely be using for a long time will be Lokabhu+IV for sword or Aakas+IV for knife. Now, Aakas has more dps (~50 vs ~38) but it also requires a lot higer prof level (39 vs 24) to max. If you play six hours a day, Aakas probably is within your reach, but if you only play now and then, Lokabhu is much closer.

That may of course change if MA, in their infinite wisdom, decides to flood the world with amps other than I, IV, VI.

madnar said:
For example, Philosopher Sword (which is my next) costs about +70, and knife that i would use is about +200...
Click to expand...

Or maybe, if this is a matter of concern, you could go mining to generate some profit first.

- Doc, I'm worried about gaining weight...
- Drink a big glass of cognac before meals!
- Would it prevent me from gaining weight?
- No, it will prevent you from worrying.​
 
Svarog said:
I prefer knives for their higher speed and lesser dmg per hit, more fun, less overkill.
Click to expand...

as he said.

A bit like pistol vs rifle. But with rifle at least you have a longer range which can prevent armour decay or healing, but for swords vs knife this doesnt hold up.
 
Haruto Rat said:
Or maybe, if this is a matter of concern, you could go mining to generate some profit first.
Click to expand...

worst advice ever!
As if mining automatically generates profit....pffff :confused:
 
There was a thread in Ark forum a few months ago about melee, good long discussion.

I can't look up the link now, cos the ark forum seems to have problem loading.

When it comes back, will link you the thread.

Anyway, as I stated in that thread, I personally like knives cos of various reasons.

Will edit this when that site is up.

Edit :

Here is the link :
http://arkadiaforum.com/threads/longblades.13907/

Lizzy made a nice chart as well.
 
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The Lizzy who made that thread here!

I was swords for a while, and now I am with knives.

1: Range is still a thing, with knives you can't hunt walking backwards, that will have an effect on event hunting. I did GR and with walking backwards I get to new targets faster, some knives don't have enough range to do that proficiently.

2: Knives are naice! A lot of the low level knives can be bought at low tt. Often around 101-102% MU. Swords often enough too mind you, but mostly at higher level. Reason? There still seem to be more people choosing swords over knives. Because they are often less damage too (but faster) you get a slightly better eco hunting though.

3: The downside of knives (and swords alike) at level 44 shortblades you can use the Songkra corrosive dagger, and that's basically it unless you have a ton of peds. "end game" shortblades (and swords) are so bloody hard to get, that you might be stuck in 'mid level' for a very long time. My estimate is up to mobs of 2500hp give or take if you continue tiering the level 44 knife/blade. The DPS is not good enough to compete properly over level/category 3 instances for events IMHO.

4: Forget about strongboxes, the uni ammo is a waste if you don't plan on going mining.

Don't mind the prices, it's still far cheaper than going for a ranged weapon. Same with the extra evade gains, the extra gains are marginal so don't stick with melee if that is your motivator.

Do what you like, blades or knives, the difference is small. It mostly comes down to what your goals are in game.
 
Lizzy Storm said:
4: Forget about strongboxes, the uni ammo is a waste if you don't plan on going mining.

Don't mind the prices, it's still far cheaper than going for a ranged weapon. Same with the extra evade gains, the extra gains are marginal so don't stick with melee if that is your motivator.

Do what you like, blades or knives, the difference is small. It mostly comes down to what your goals are in game.
Click to expand...

i find it good to dual skill Rifle and Melee that way you can tag and change to melee when close, so UA will still come in handy from boxes and you can sell the shrapnel you loot. i like to hold 300-500ped as UA. i'm currently using a LC-55 rifle with Corrosive Dagger, the dagger has slightly better dps but far higher eco, but means i can avoid agro and increasing my defence costs.

also apart from evade, the HP you gain with Strength and Melee Combat is pretty incredible
 
Ditch em both and grab yarself a good ol whip... then add in a grenade launcher and flamethrower and You'll be ready to roll soldier! :)

(advantage of mixing em up is that each gives different skills, so you reach combinations of skills that help you get higher stats across the board instead of just in one thing... that and uh, taming is just 'fun' thing to do as is barbequing everything in sight, lol)

Also don't forget bout clubs and fists.

...

seriously though, get yourself at least 3 of each weapon types... one high damage, one medium, one low damage... so you have a 'starter', average clicker, and finisher... Also possibly get a 'big bad emergency weapon' that does more damage than the rest that are probably are not maxed on yet - good ol katsuichi determination is nice for this...

Then go have fun.
 
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Well, I expected some nice answers and advices, but this is just great :)
So many nice ppl :)
Thx for clearing things up...

I guess i will get philosopher sword and for the start use knife as finisher... Philosopher has nice dps and att speed, so i will see what happens next, but probably will switch to knife later on :)
 
The advantages of knives over swords:

1. Lower dmg at a higher rate gives you more control, and less overkill, as someone already pointed out. The faster reload allows you to switch more quickly (e.g. to fap or finisher).

2. Lower dmg also means cheaper amps as you level up; as you get towards the higher end, knives will cost you a trauma VI while swords will be VIII or X. In other words swords will demand bigger (more expensive) amps earlier than knives will.

3. At the time I made the decision, there was greater availability for knives; I can't say if this is still true, check AH.


As a side note, you can burn UA using the ELM weapons, but personally I use both a pistol and a knife and skill them simultaneously -- this allows me to cycle my own shrapnel/UA.
 
I went from songkra to xeno dagger scratcher and I love it.
It does 66 dmg at 66 reload. I also bought a VII amp for 32 added dmg. I also had the shagadi sword maxed, but I noticed I never used it anymore. I would say knives rock even more than swords.
 
streets said:
. I wish powerfist was a viable path. I'd really enjoy punching the shit out of mobs and avatars.
Click to expand...

100% this. I started on powerfist and it was the most fun, but quickly realized there are no decent weapons on this path. I hope MA revamps this weapon type someday.
 
I just wonder if Ancient Greece had more traction in the game, if it would have created a different and more competitive playing field in melee vs ranged.

Love to read this thread and see there are probably much more melee players than I though. :)
 
Lizzy Storm said:
I just wonder if Ancient Greece had more traction in the game, if it would have created a different and more competitive playing field in melee vs ranged.
Click to expand...
AG lost sense when they opened it to all gear. If they would made it melee-only, but allowed all the existing melee gear, it would be invigorating both for melee and AG.
 
for the upside of swords.. after shagadi, there are always the low priced ELM blades. I think you can get the big sparkbite (179 dmg) for 4-6 ped each and they last a long time. sib starts at level 60 and they max at level 65. The even bigger spectral enblade is 3 ped each..
So there is life after shagadi if you want to keep skilling up.. simply buy yourself for a couple of 100 peds of these ELM blades and you can keep swinging from level 60 onwards until the spectral enblade maxes out at level 90.
Knifes do not have these low-cost options
 
uhhh, so many options...

well, about rl, i can play 2-3 hours per day. Or sometimes none :)
So that sticks me to swords i guess... Someone said that i should go swords if i cant play a lot...

On bigger mobs (for me) i can use X3 + A102 until mobs get to me, and then swotch to philosopher/(or some knife)...
As i read posts, many ppl points to high att rate of knifes. I also like it, so later on, knife will probably be my choice...
I don't know if I will ever get to high level as you guys (50+, or even 70+), such a long way for me...

Also, i really like the thing that knives use lower amps, compared to same level swords...
 
Also consider - if the trend continues - that sometime in the near or distant future, one of the UL non-sib Caly shortblades will likely become sibified. I'm guessing somewhere in the range above the level of the Songkra blade, possibly giving another upper mid level option in addition to the Arcspark.
 
Optimator said:
Also consider - if the trend continues - that sometime in the near or distant future, one of the UL non-sib Caly shortblades will likely become sibified. I'm guessing somewhere in the range above the level of the Songkra blade, possibly giving another upper mid level option in addition to the Arcspark.
Click to expand...

we can hope, dunno which tho. As most knifes over 60dps are no longer really lootable or crafted. i think our hope might lay on Ark adding a new blade or corrosive MkII
 
Depends on your style.
Knives are good if you don't use enhancers (higher reload presumably results in higher enhancer burn rate), as you'll have less overkill.
Swords are good if you're looking to use enhancers, hunt bigger mobs, or PK.
 
I would just follow the progression with what is available in L items. Both are melee, so use whatever is available to you for less than 105% on the auction with the highest possible DPS maxed (or close to it). Eventually you will get to a higher level where you can spend some ped on a good UL blade.
 
Problem on depending on L items for your progress is, you have to hope that MA allows those L items to still drop in 6 months, 1 year, or even longer term.

If for whatever reason MA changes the drop rates of those L items you are depending on, there goes your plans......
 
I want to go back for one more thing...
I can't search for it in posts, but someone said that swords have slightly more range and we can go backwards when using swords, but we can hardly do this with knife... I never did this.
Why you go back when you use melee weapon ?
 
madnar said:
I want to go back for one more thing...
I can't search for it in posts, but someone said that swords have slightly more range and we can go backwards when using swords, but we can hardly do this with knife... I never did this.
Why you go back when you use melee weapon ?
Click to expand...
You can, but if you use both auto-use-tool and auto-move-to-target it can prevent you from moving away until you stop hitting. With auto-move deactivated, you can roam freely and the mob will follow you once aggro'ed. Some reasons for doing this are dragging it away from other mobs that are too close for comfort, or --ever watched snooker?-- for shifting to a better position for the next mob without having to wait until you're done with the current one, since melee hunting consumes a fair bit more time running (unless you use a tagger).
 
Walk backwards theory is that you move out of mobs range of attack or alternatively that you'll see more dung and fruit as you walk back. Also some fap when walking backwards. In ancient days move penalty on tapping didn't affect backwards movement. In today's rubber bandy server that's somewhat buggy and die to nonja mobs i isuggest just standing still as you melee hunt usually.... more decay on armor will tier you up faster and give you more evade skill.

If u do walk backwards watch your back so you don't back up in to turret, another red dot, a wall, etc. In low density mob packs walk back works nice to pull mob... but if u got speed boost running foreward and then turning around works too especially if you use select next/select last, autotool and loot or autoloot buff.... with select next mob stays targeted if u run

Range thing is also a timing thing dependent on reload time.. got a fast melee weapon stay close to mob and don't walk back to up your dps especially if your health can maintain 2 or more hits and mob health is over 50 percent down....

Me personally I prefer over protection and armor decay over fapping skill on walk back... others like it opposite. Depends on goals and your hunting style.... and on mob health, regen, and density

3 or more aggro mobs in dense red and melee only walk backwards is bad idea as non targeted mobs will shield targeted one and cause unreachable unless maybe you are targeting different mobs before looting em or target all with area of effect stuff
 
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Oh ok... Cleared...
Anyway, i am using tagger, so np with that...
I hoped that walking backwards somehow affect mob's attack speed... Too bad it doesn't :)

EDIT:
And, that thing about amps.. If knife hits faster, amp decays faster... The, why should we use knife at all ?
 
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Svarog said:
Since amps increase dpp, the faster the weapon, the greater the effect.
Click to expand...

That explains a lot :)

Now, if we get skills per hit, could it be that skilling knife is a bit faster?
 
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