Knife

"Grabbin' a bread slicer."

- Ellis

The Combat Knife is a slashing weapon, similar to a Katana or Machete, but with a higher speed. this weapon can spawn in any campaign, although it is rare to find more than two in a given campaign. Despite the Combat Knife's smaller size, its reach or range matches that of any other melee weapon.

Melee Mechanics
Melee weapons replace Pistols in the secondary weapon slot. Unlike Pistols, close combat weapons never need to be reloaded and cannot run out of ammo (excluding the Chainsaw). They have two main drawbacks: a limited reach and (with a few exceptions) relatively long cooldown periods. Close combat weapons cause minimal friendly fire damage to the Survivors, even on Advanced and Expert difficulty levels (the Chainsaw is an exception).

These weapons are extremely effective. All melee weapons, on all difficulties, kill Common Infected and most Special Infected in one hit, aside from the Charger (which takes two — but see point below), the Witch (which takes four), and the Tank (which takes twenty, excluding the Chainsaw). Due to their death effects, it is generally advised to melee neither the Boomer (unless there is no choice) nor the Spitter (unless it is possible to move away immediately from the resulting acid splash).

The melee weapons appear to do more damage if an Infected's head or upper body is targeted. With the correct timing it is possible to kill a Charger with one hit while he is charging, allowing a Survivor to "level" a charge without first dealing damage to the Charger and to gain the achievement LEVEL A CHARGE.

Pros

 * Fast swings.
 * Can be found in all campaigns.
 * Can cut a Smoker's tongue.

Cons

 * Short reach.
 * Slightly slow attack intervals.
 * Attacks may obscure user's vision.
 * Not recommended for killing Boomers due to bile showering attacker and any nearby Survivors.