In all versions of Counter-Strike, the knife serves as the primary hand-to-hand combat tool and is automatically provided to players. However, in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, while participating in the Danger Zone mode, players must find a knife inside special boxes. In the same version, it is possible to get rid of the knife only in certain situations: either in the Danger Zone, or when the console command mp_drop_knife_enable is activated. There is no Danger Zone feature in Counter-Strike 2, which is why the knife remains an integral attribute of every player without exception.
"Quiet and always available, the knife has a fast, low-damage primary attack and a slow, high-damage secondary attack. A backstab will earn quiet players an instant kill.” ― Официальное описание
Review
In every Counter-Strike game, a knife is a standard item in the melee slot, and can only be purchased or discarded by using certain console commands.
The knife is distinguished by its short-range combat characteristics, having a minimum attack range and producing very little noise. It has two types of attack: fast with low damage and slow with high damage. In Global Offensive and CS2, consecutive hits from a fast attack deal reduced damage, making it less likely to be used frequently.
Knife damage is affected by certain multipliers that differ from other weapons. In Counter-Strike and Condition Zero, in addition to the special damage multiplier for backstabs, the head hitbox is also taken into account. However, in CS2 and Global Offensive the head hitbox multiplier was removed, leaving only a multiplier on backstabs, making the secondary attack deadly if hit to the head in early versions of the game or to the back.
In all versions of the game, while holding a knife, players can move at a base speed of 250 units per second, which is the standard movement speed. In previous versions of the series, some other weapons and grenades also allowed the player to move at the same speed, and the Schmidt Scout even increased the player's speed. However, in CS2 these features were removed, leaving the knife as the only item that provides maximum running speed. When moving with a knife in "Shift" mode, the speed is 130 units, which is higher than with any other weapon, and in a sitting position - 85 units.
Knife Damage
- To the chest and arms: the primary attack also deals 34 or 21 damage with armor and 40 or 25 damage without armor. The secondary attack deals 55 damage with armor and 65 damage without armor.
- In the stomach: damage from the primary attack is 34 or 21 with armor and 40 or 25 damage without armor. The secondary attack deals 55 damage with armor and 65 damage without armor.
- To the legs: the primary attack deals 34 or 21 damage with armor and 40 or 25 damage without armor. The secondary attack deals 55 damage with armor and 65 damage without armor.
- In the back: the primary attack deals 76 damage with armor and 90 damage without armor. The secondary attack deals significantly more damage - 153 damage with armor and 180 damage without armor.
What about the money?
In Counter-Strike 2, using a knife to take down an opponent is a profitable action, as this weapon provides the highest cash reward of any weapon: $1,500 in competitive mode and $750 in normal game mode. In Deathmatch mode, killing with a knife not only earns the highest 20 points for eliminating an enemy, but also an additional 10 point bonus.
As for bot behavior in the game, they will resort to using the knife in a limited number of situations: when they run out of ammo, when they need to quickly move at the beginning of a round, or when they are trying to quickly leave the bomb area before it explodes. Bots set to a higher difficulty level will hold the knife in their hands until they meet the enemy.
Where would we be without skins?
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Counter-Strike 2 introduce players to various cosmetic knife options that serve as alternatives to the regular knife and were first introduced to the game with the Arms Deal update.
In Counter-Strike 2, all of these cosmetic knives are classified as rare special items (★), except for the Golden Knife, which is obtained as the final weapon in Arms Race mode.The Bayonet and Flip Knife were also standard knives in the beta and were therefore not considered rare special (★) items until the release of Global Offensive, when they were removed to be reimagined in the Arms Deal update. These rare special (★) items cannot be used in boost contracts. The following is a list of knife types that are available for purchase on the Steam Marketplace or for trading directly with other players:
- Bayonet
- Bowie Knife
- Butterfly Knife
- Classic Knife
- Falchion Knife
- Flip Knife
- Good Knife
- Huntsman Knife
- Karambit
- Kukri Knife
- M9 Bayonet
- According to Knife
- Nomad Knife
- Paracord Knife
- Shadow Daggers
- Skeleton Knife
- Stiletto Knife
- Survival Knife
- Talon Knife
- Ursus Knife
Tactics
In Counter-Strike 2, a knife acts as a means of high-speed movement, allowing, for example, to quickly evacuate from the area of an upcoming explosion. It also serves to quietly destroy enemies, especially snipers, when silent small arms are not at hand.
Please note that the range of the secondary attack of the knife is limited. In situations where you and your opponent are out of ammo, using a knife can be a faster solution than reloading, especially at short ranges.
For maximum effectiveness in CS2, it is preferable to use two primary attacks followed by one secondary attack. Due to the quiet nature of the knife, it is possible to get close to an enemy unnoticed, although this entails a certain risk in the presence of close opponents.
When sneaking up on an enemy, it is important to minimize the sound of footsteps in order to remain undetected. Although knife strikes can be heard a short distance away, unlike previous versions, in Counter-Strike 2 the sound of a knife being drawn does not create noise.
Interesting the facts
- The knife model in the first versions of Counter-Strike (from 1.0 to 1.5) and in the Deleted Scenes story campaign was created based on the SOG Seal 2000 knife. However, the design of the knife in the beta versions of the game is partially borrowed from the Eickhorn FK 1000 model.
- The knife kill icon seen in Counter-Strike 1.6 and Condition Zero reuses the knife model from the first version of the game (1.0).
- The knife model present in Counter-Strike 1.6, Condition Zero and Counter-Strike: Source (as well as the German version of Left 4 Dead 2) was developed based on the work of the master Mick Strider - the Bad Land Bowie knife.
- In Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the knives for each side of the conflict are different: the counter-terrorists have a military-style combat knife inspired by the Eickhorn Recondo IV model, and the terrorists have a knife with a traditional Persian blade.
- The original knife model in the Counter-Strike beta did not include a secondary attack, which was added in Beta 7.0 along with the updated knife model.
- In the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive beta, the knife attack animations were different from subsequent versions.
- In the alpha version of CS:GO, the knives for the sides were different: M9 Bayonet for counter-terrorists and Jackknife for terrorists.
- Knife textures in Counter-Strike: Source are referred to as knife_t in the game files, despite the fact that knife models for different teams were introduced later in Global Offensive.
- After the update on January 27, 2016, Global Offensive now has the ability to drop a knife at will if the mp_drop_knife_enable console command with a value of 1 is activated on the community server.
- All cosmetic knife models have the same attack range, despite differences in blade length.
