Knives Guide

Below you'll find everything important to know about the Knives skill set.

In a Nutshell

Pros

Cons

Advice & Tips

• Whirling Slash and Stab and Slash both have penalties and require high ranks of Slash/Stab. It is not recommended to learn them early on.
• Push Aside can only be used against humanoids that wield weapons. It can be useful against NPCs but is primarily used against PCs.
• Flicking Feint is a more difficult feint that does not work properly against NPCs. Only learn to fight against PCs.
• Round Strike is a weak attack that will only work against an opponent's weapon blocks for the follow-up strike when failed. It is worthless against high level opponents who have CMs higher than their weapon blocks. Great practice attack.
• Stab and Slash / Underhand Stab are the best damage dealers. Stab and Slash can be aimed, allowing you to strike twice on an opponent's weak spot even with a 1-over roll. Underhand Stab has the highest basic damage for Knives.
• Ranks in Knife Slash lower the threshold for landing multi-hitters with Whirling Slash by 1 per rank (see 'Whirling Slash' table below).
• Ranks in Knife Slash reduce the penalty for attacking with Whirling Slash by 2 per rank (see 'Whirling Slash' table below).
• Ranks in Knife Slash lower the threshold for landing multi-hitters with Stab and Slash by 1 per rank (see 'Stab & Slash' table below).
• Ranks in Knife Simple Stab reduce the penalty for attacking with Stab and Slash by 2 per rank (see 'Stab & Slash' table below).

GM Senses:
"Unlike soundly built skill sets with standardized weapons, knives come in a mess of different varieties with all different properties. For most purposes, daggers are the only ones that matter e.g. they have the most favorable stats."

Knives Whirling Slash
Slash Ranks	Penalty	Multi Hit
20	-60 offense	+81 over success
30	-40 offense	+71 over success
40	-20 offense	+61 over success
50	No penalty	+51 over success
100	No penalty	+1 over success

Knives Stab and Slash
Slash Ranks	Stab Ranks	Penalty	Multi-Hit
10	10	-80 offense	+76 over success
20	20	-60 offense	+66 over success
30	30	-40 offense	+56 over success
40	40	-20 offense	+46 over success
50	50	No penalty	+36 over success

Suggested Training Plan

Special Thanks to the Discord community for the training plan.

Phase 1 (~60 SP)

Name: 5-Move Rotation
Required SP: ~60 SP

#	Skill	To Rank
1	Knives	10
2	Knife Jab	1
3	Knife Chop	1
4	Knife Simple Stab	1
5	Knife Slash	1

• Using the dummy, learn jab, chop, stab, slash as soon as you can.
• If you have below average speed, learn combat maneuvers + 1 rank reflexes.
• Using your five-move rotation, earn as much SP as you can from the dummy until your SP gain reaches 0.

Note: Learn as much as possible from the instructor at Ludus Valerius, since he teaches at 50% of Gilven's price.

Phase 2 (~300 SP)

Name: Leaving a Mark
Required SP: ~300 SP

#	Skill	To Rank
1	Knives	30
2	Knife Jab	10
3	Knife Chop	10
4	Knife Simple Stab	10
5	Knife Slash	10
1	Combat Maneuvers	1
1	Killing Blow	1

• If you hunt in the sewers or the alleys, learn Combat Maneuvers' Killing Blow and carry a tin gladius. A failed killing blow will use up 1% of your fatigue. You will practically never fail with a gladius.
• If you have below average agility or dexterity, learn Footwork and/or Grip 1 rank.
• Purchase good armor, to at least cover the head, chest, thighs and shins. (e.g. lorica hamata & a bronze helmet)
• Purchase the best knife/dagger available given your funds, the more damage you do, the quicker the slaves' success will rise making you take less damage.
• Purchase a good shield (e.g. long shield).
• You should now be able to fight in Ludus Valerius with decent success in a berserk stance. The shield will absorb blows even if you do not know how to use it.

Note: Learn as much as possible from the instructor at Ludus Valerius, since he teaches at 50% of Gilven's price.

Phase 3 (~558 SP)

Name: Well-Rounded Fighter
Required SP: ~558 SP

#	Skill	To Rank
1	Knives	50
1	Combat Maneuvers	30
1	Basic Dodge	10
1	Swaying Dodge	10
1	Leg Dodge	10
2	Knife Short Block	10
3	Knife Cross Block	10
2	Knife Overhead Strike	10
3	Knife Underhand Stab	10
1	Sidestep	10
1	Duck	10
1	Jump	10

• You will now be able to fight in the Ludus' first level until you reach 250 TCR.
• Save up as much SPs as you can before you are forced to spend them.

Weapons

This is the list of weapons that can be used by the Knives skill set.

Weapons	How to get it	Est. cost in shops
Knives
A (tin) knife	Bacei (Junk Dealer)	53d
A knife crafted from <animal> bone	Hunting	Cannot be purchased.
A bronze knife [RF]	Apecuia (Officium de Humanitas).	44d 1st 1s + 19 Pebbles
A long knife [RF]	Various Shops | NPC Loot	+2t 192d
Dirks
A cineran fighting dirk [Bronze]	Various Shops	2t 105d
An iron dirk	Tylantarias (Quartz Heights, random item)
Daggers
A wooden dagger	Usius (Bronze Lane)	76d
A makeshift dagger	Rioters (NPCs) (The Steps)	Cannot be purchased.
A tin dagger [RF]	Callia (Bronze Lane) | NPC Loot	276d
An alanti dagger [RF]	Callia (Bronze Lane)	+3t 537d
A bronze dagger [RF]	Various Shops | NPC Loot	+1t 1477d
An iron dagger [RF]	Various Shops	+4t 83d 1st 1s
A boison dagger [RF]	Callia (Bronze Lane)	+33t 687d
A retalq dagger	Sold by Fama (Vetallun)	TBC

[RF]: This item can be Re-Forged by Ferrarius.

Summary

In most cases you'll want…

A rank of 1 signifies the best in this category.

Weapon	Damage Rank	Speed Rank	Weight Rank	Overall Rank

Weapon Damage

A rank of 1 signifies the best in this category.

Weapon	Damage Rank

Weapon Speed

A rank of 1 signifies the best in this category. (FURTHER TESTING NEEDED)

	Rank 90 Reflexes		Maxed Speed
Weapon	Speed Rank	Average Speed	Speed Rank	Average Speed
A knife	??	??	??	1+MoS
A knife crafted from bone	??	??	??	1+MoS
A bronze knife	??	??	??	1+MoS
A long knife	??	??	??	1+MoS
A cineran fighting dirk	??	??	??	1+MoS
An iron dirk	??	??	??	1+MoS
A makeshift dagger	??	??	??	1+MoS
A tin dagger	??	??	??	1+MoS
A bronze dagger	??	??	??	1+MoS
An alanti dagger	??	??	??	1+MoS
An iron dagger	??	??	??	1+MoS
A boison dagger	??	??	??	1+MoS
A retalq dagger	??	??	??	1+MoS

Weapon Weight

Weapon	Weight Rank	Weight

Moves

Worthwhile

Less useful

Complementary Skill Sets

• Combat Maneuvers is essential for any weapon skill set.
• Brawling is a highly encouraged complement to the Knives skill set.

Complementary Traits

Miscellaneous