How do I sharpen my knife?

[Dare978Devil]

It appears I suck horribly at using the knife. I have my camo upgrade, but all I ever do is get killed over and over. I have managed to creep up behind the enemy, and prone beside them. Then I start swinging. I am so close, I am practically laying on top of them. But nothing. One guy didn't even try to look around. I swung 5 times, but nothing. It was impossible that I was missing, I could see my arm disappear into his head. But no kill. Finally one of his teammates put me out of my misery.

This is happening over and over again. I get behind some guys, and start swinging. Most people know to at least start blasting away when they hear the swish, so usually I only get one swing. But I have 3 dogtags and about 30 deaths to show for my efforts.

I watched that knifing video on youtube, but I have no idea how that guy does it. It looks like he is 2 meters or more away from some guys, way out of arm's reach, yet they die with one swing. Also, is it normal that it takes my guy so long to swing again? It seems almost as long as a gun reload, which is odd. I click away like a madman, and my arm just sits there until it finally decides to swing (and miss) again.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
DD.

[Lolyn]

The knife is a weird one, but a generic tip you'll get a lot will be crouching before swiping. You might nail their armour once or twice which won't be a kill, but you'll have to get used to that as one of the more infuriating parts of knifing. Dolphin diving (running then slamming prone (z) and swiping) works well against targets backing away as it extends the effective kill zone of the knife forward.

Also, don't get too close, a fair few times I've dived onto a prone enemy, and the first slash has done nothing to them despite me being... well.. on top of them. Distance yourself a little bit if possible.

Pretty sure you'll get other tips soon, but also look for some existing threads, there are bound to be some somewhere.

[Killerus]

i had the same issue when i first tried to knife people. The closer you are the less chance you have to score that kill. I have found that around 3 feet or so seems to work nicely. Thats about the distance of your arm fully extended.

If the person is standing i never try to crouch because if you miss then they can shoot you right in the head with little effort. Only time i crouch is if the victim is lying prone. Many times i have tried to knife when proned only to have the intended victim kill me at point blank range with their gun.

[l33tfodder]

I am so close, I am practically laying on top of them.

Probably you're too close, I always knife at arms length (apx 60 cms 2 ft). ping might be a problem sometimes

[imported_Tim]

Hi Lolyn! I recognize your name. You're one of the top 100 I believe. Either I have your dogtags already or I still need them. I forget but there are still 2 of the top 100 that I need. I've almost got all of the top 200 as well.

[vincentj]

I don't notice any of that.

Just play on servers on which you have very low ping, and always crouch when knifing.

One thing which really helped me was imagining crosshairs on the center of the screen, when you do so, aim the knife at the midsection. Standing about 50 cm away works for me.

[Catbox]

The knife is actually a projectile... like a bullet if you can imagine... when you stab you see your knife go forward but its actually a projectile that flies into your target... line up victim in middle of screen...

[ysm]

What i do is i space myself from the target. 1-2 feet is good. then you swing. If you hit their armor then swing again. I try not jumping into them because then they notice and blast your face off D:

[DunNa]

AIM FOR THE LEGS!!!

Specially against people who are laying down. For whatever reason the hit areas in/near the legs are bigger/easier to hit. Since the knife is one hit kill regardless of where you get them always go for the legs if you can.

This is also why you see alot of quasi dolphin diving going on when people try to knife since it puts them right at the leg area to swipe at and makes them a smaller target to shoot at if they are rushing the person.

DO NOT pay any attention to where you knife is or where it visually looks like its hitting, just center your screen on your targets legs get close and click. The animation doesn't match up exactly with the center so its best to ignore it or learn to adjust for it.

[Fingulfin]

Ugh, I just walk up to them and knife them. I have probably over 2500 Tags if you combine my two soldiers, and have made 3 knife videos so far... Never touched a Knife only server :)

I do alot of dolphin diving, and a fair bit of crouching as well. I ALWAYS go with Light Armor when going on a "Knifing Round", but whenever someone presents their back I have no problem knifing them, regardless of their kit. I really prefer Ninja Style, where you sneak and knife rather than Pirate Style where you rambo up to the enemy and stab em in the face. Note that you don't really need to be on top of the enemy to get them... You can hit them from several meters away, depending on ping differences.

I can't give you tips on Knife Duals, as I don't do those. If I rush you with my knife and you get out yours, I will shoot you in the face. If I rush you with my knife and you start shooting at me, I will attempt to take your tags. All is fair in love and war! I love knifing, and this is a war game which means that all is fair right :p

[BandoIruka]

Dolphin diving infront of your opponent might make it hard for them to hit you momentarily, but it takes away your mobility. Plus someone mentioned that being proned basically increases your knifing range. That is a myth. The standing, crouching, and proning stances are just animations that change the orientation of your hitbox, it does not change your pov or increase knife range, even if the proned stance show your arms are forward. A simple way of proving that is when you change stance from standing to crouch or prone, your POV only just goes up and down. Going prone does not make your POV lurch forward as expected when you throw yourself forward to the ground.

The knife in the end is really just another gun skinned as a melee weapon, with its range and projectile speed modified to give the impression that its a knife. Aim your target dead center and fire. The range is long enough for you to knife proned targets from standing stance, but you have to pretty much be standing ontop of them.

[Fingulfin]

I don't Dive for increased range (the range is already really far :p), I dive cause it disorients the enemy.

[Lolyn]

Hi Lolyn! I recognize your name. You're one of the top 100 I believe. Either I have your dogtags already or I still need them. I forget but there are still 2 of the top 100 that I need. I've almost got all of the top 200 as well.

*brief topic deviation* - yup that's me, mr mid-80's man. I've got most of the top 100 but at the moment I haven't been on a knife hunt in ages, so missing about 5 I think. You're welcome to try for my tags if you need them, I'm not really that difficult, and I will knife fight if you give me enough warning and you catch me alone.

[dontsh000t]

if the enemy starts to fire at you, jump like the energizer bunny on steroids. most people end up firing at nothing and once they reload, take your time to knife =D

[Twizzz]

You can go in and practice in single player mode to get a feel for the strike zone.