Knife

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Knife
Alternate names	Combat knife
Weapon type	Close Combat Weapon
Technical specifications
Rate of fire	0.7425s per hit. 14.85s to kill a Tank
Game information
Targetname	knife

"Oh, MAN! This is just like Counter-Strike!"

―Louis

"Grabbin' a bread slicer."

―Ellis

The Knife is a close combat weapon in Left 4 Dead 2.

It is similar to a Katana or Machete, but with very slow speed. This weapon can spawn in any campaign, although it is rare to find more than two in a given campaign. Despite the 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 it is charging, allowing a Survivor to "level" a charge without first dealing damage to the Charger and to gain the achievement "Level a Charge".

The Knife is classified as a slashing weapon. As such, hits from this weapon will sever limbs and splatter blood.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Can be found in all campaigns.
• Can cut a Smoker's tongue.

Cons

• Fire rate is rather slow.
• As of The Last Stand Community Update, it has low hit detection rays, making its range low.
• Attacks may obscure user's vision due to gore.
• Not recommended for killing Boomers due to bile showering attacker and any nearby Survivors.
• Cannot attack large groups of infected

Achievements

Main article: Achievements

	CONFEDERACY OF CRUNCHES	(30G)
	Finish a campaign using only melee weapons.

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	TANK BURGER	(30G)
	Kill a Tank with melee weapons.

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	BEAT THE RUSH	(15G)
	In a Survival round, get a medal only using melee weapons.

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	LEVEL A CHARGE	(15G)
	Kill a Charger with a melee weapon while they are charging.

PC exclusive

	LICKETY-SPLIT
	With a sharp melee weapon, cut a Smoker's tongue before he ensnares you.

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	NEW HAIRCUT
	Kill a Witch using only a sharp melee weapon, without anyone getting incapacitated or killed.

Notes

• The Knife is based on that found in Counter-Strike, the Knife, which is itself based on the real life Bad Land Bowie by Mick Strider.
• The Knife does spawn in the demo of the Xbox 360 version of the game, and functions as normal.
• As of The Last Stand Community Update, the Knife's swing speed was heavily reduced, now being on par with most other melee weapons. Previously it was one of the fastest melee weapons in the German versions of Left 4 Dead 2, along with the Nightstick.
• Most of the melee hit detection rays has been removed causing the knife to "miss" its target most of the time.

Gallery

The white outline of the Knife

Rochelle using the Knife in a custom campaign

Nick using the Knife in a custom campaign

Coach using the Knife in a custom campaign (third person view)