Knives are an underrated part of the weapon arsenal in Cyberpunk 2077. They are overlooked due to not being as effective as Katanas or other melee weapons. But when used with the right perks, Knives are just as deadly as a gun; with a single slice of the knife, you can doom your enemies. This guide will rank all the Knives available and lay out their strengths and weaknesses. Without further ado, let’s jump in.
Perks Required
According to this model, players choosing to equip knives should first distribute their skill points. They will need to upgrade the attributes to the following: Body 10, Reflexes 17, Technical Ability 20, Intelligence 3, and Cool 18. Players need to unlock all the perks from the Blades section in Reflexes. Similarly, all the Ninjutsu perks in the Cool skill tree should also be acquired. These will help with health regeneration as the Cheat Death and Restorative Shadows perks.
The Cheat Death perk is particularly useful as it reduces all incoming damage by 50% for 10 seconds when your health falls below 50%. The Restorative Shadows perk increases your health regeneration by 25% in stealth. The Edgerunner Artisan perk from the Crafting section in Technical Ability is crucial for this build. The poison damage from the rest of the Ninjutsu perks will effectively overpower your knives significantly, and a single slice from one knife will drain their health pools completely.
Chef’s Knife
The first weapon on our list and the lowest ranked, the Chef’s Knife has a base DPS of 1,034. This culinary tool slices, dices, and stabs your enemies. It’s not a terrible weapon but compared to the rest of the knives; it’s pretty average. It deals an 11% Critical Chance, 34% Critical Damage, a 35% Bleeding chance, and a 250% Headshot Damage multiplier. It only deals 1.79 attacks per second.
The Legendary tier of this weapon can be bought from an inconspicuous Ramen shop near Jig-Jig street. The ramen and the knife will cost the players $50,000 eurodollars. The Jackson Plains weapons vendor will also sell the epic crafting specification for this knife. After throwing, the blade returns to the player after 5.5 seconds, a bare average return time in this list. It is recommended to skip this culinary essential for other superior knives.
Knife
Every weapon class has a basic variant, usually the most ineffective item. The knife doesn’t follow that rule, with a higher DPS of 1,153 and a 300% Headshot damage multiplier. It also has a superior attack speed of 3.38 and a return time of 4 seconds, relatively better than Chef’s Knife. The Legendary variant of this knife can be bought from a weapon vendor in Northside or Spector Chang in Japantown.
By unlocking the Dagger Dealer perk in the Ninjutsu skill tree, knives can be thrown and automatically returned after a short delay. The closer you are to the blade, the quicker it will return. With its fast attack speed, the knife pairs well with this perk and can be equipped in a multi-throwing knife build.
Butcher’s Cleaver
As the name suggests, the iconic Butcher’s Cleaver is the heaviest and deals the greatest damage per swing. This knife can’t be thrown and has a base DPS of 1,277. It also has a terrifying ability attached to it, as the cleaver attacks faster and uses less stamina when an enemy is bleeding. It’s the epitome of the word ‘bloodthirsty.’ It has a relatively slow attack speed of 1.79 which is good as the slower the attack speed, the more damage it deals.
No weapon vendor sells this magnificent chopping weapon; it can only be obtained early in the game. In the quest ‘M’ap Tann Pelen‘, where you first meet Placide, this knife can be picked up in Rolland’s Butcher Shop after Placide has slaughtered the chicken and left it on the table. The legendary variant of this knife has three additional mod slots. The Kunai mod increases weapon attack speed by 0.3 and should be equipped in all three spaces. Providing the Kunai mods will increase the attack speed significantly and make enemies fear their limbs whenever they see the Butcher’s Cleaver.
Tanto
The perfect mini-Katana, the Tanto is a miniature version of the long-blade Katana. It has a base DPS of 1,297. This piercing knife deals an 11% Critical Chance, 34% Critical Damage, a 20% Bleeding Chance, a 200% Headshot Damage Multiplier and a 10% Bonus damage to enemies within a 5-meter radius. Tanto serves as a throwing knife, but annoyingly, the return time is 7 seconds. Players will want to equip other knives for that long duration.
The Tanto is sold everywhere by the melee weapon vendors, but for the legendary crafting specification, the Animals weapon vendor in Rancho Coronado sells it for $38,500 eurodollars. Being a version of the iconic Katana, the Tanto deals the best damage per hit of all the knives and has the highest attack speed of 6.33. Tanto is an ideal pairing with Katana builds and will pierce even the toughest armor. The throw-return time puts it at a disadvantage to other knives, so players should equip other knives for 7 seconds.
Neurotoxin Knife
Introduced in Patch 1.6, the legendary Neurotoxin Knife is vital to any build. As the name suggests, the knife deals physical and chemical damage with a base DPS of 1,059. It has a 35% Poison Chance and a 250% Headshot Damage multiplier. It’s a fun little stabbing tool with a poisonous bite. With all the perks equipped to increase poison damage, one little cut from this knife and players can sit back and watch their enemy fight and ultimately die from poison damage.
The lingering poison effects make this a very lethal knife. It has a low cooldown of 4 seconds for throwing the blade, which is low compared to the rest of the knives. Using the Dagger Dealer perk, you can infect faraway enemies with neurotoxins by throwing it frequently. The Epic crafting specification is obtained from the Jackson Plains weapon vendor, while the Animals weapon vendor in Arroyo has an expensive legendary crafting specification for $49,685 eurodollars. Equipping this knife will certainly make your knife gameplay much more comfortable.
Punknife
The Punknife boasts the lowest recovery time of any knife, a lowly 2.5 seconds. It has a base DPS of 1,216 and a 250% Headshot Damage Multiplier. By stacking three of these knives, you can throw a knife every two-thirds of a second with a low recovery time. The Punknife is ideal for players who want to throw knives consistently and aim for the headshot damage multiplier. It has no unique effects except for the frequently throwing aspect, which matters more than the damage increase for some players.
The Jackson Plains weapon vendor sells an Epic crafting specification for $24,750 eurodollars, which allows you to create a knife with 2.5 seconds of cooldown time. For the legendary specification, visit our long-time collaborator Coach Fred and spend $50,873. For the quickest cooldown, the Punkife is the knife players will want to equip, allowing you to throw these at enemies’ heads for that massive Headshot Damage Multiplier. Fitting all the perks from the Ninjutsu section will effectively make this a one-cut knife, dispatching opponents with a single strike from your blade.
Blue Fang
The legendary Blue Fang knife is, by far, the coolest-looking knife on this list. With a 1,237 base damage, a 20% Bleeding Chance, a 35% Poison Chance and a 250% Headshot Damage Multiplier. The Rare variant can be acquired from the Jackson Plains weapon vendor for a reasonable $27,000 eurodollars. It can be upgraded to higher tiers, increasing its damage by equipping the Crafting perks from Technical Ability.
The Blue Fang has a unique ability to stun enemies. Landing a hit outside of combat will stun them immediately, while a headshot hit during battle will stun them after one second, and an impact on any other body part will stun them after three seconds. This ability is great for immobilizing enemy clusters or when in stealth mode. The additional capability of Blue Fang to deliver chemical and poison damage makes it an effective weapon. The Blue Fang is an overpowered weapon having stun and lingering poison damage from a single hit by equipping all the right perks from the Ninjutsu section.
The exponential Poison Damage is an overpowered ability and is advantageous for players who prefer single hits to decimate enemies. The only drawback to this weapon is the lengthy cooldown period of 10 seconds. The long cooldown period makes you vulnerable to attacks after throwing the Blue Fang. Players can counteract this annoying effect by equipping the Juggler perk in the Ninjutsu section, which regains all knives on cooldown after landing a successful critical hit or a kill. The Blue Fang is an extremely powerful knife and a vital addition to any build.
Headhunter
The Headhunter is an iconic, superior variant of the Punknife. It has a base DPS of 1,277. It has 5 seconds of recovery time, meaning you can only throw it sometimes as the Punknife. But it has a redeeming, powerful feature. When thrown at an enemy, it will attach itself to the enemy for 5 seconds, and if the player hits the enemy with a headshot from another knife, it will deal an impressive 250% Bonus Headshot Damage.
This ability makes it a two-shot weapon while the players gain an enormous damage boost. Using this knife first in a three-knife build and following it up with headshots is a great combat tactic. The Rare Headhunter can be obtained from the West Wing Estate melee vendor for a reasonable $27,000 eurodollars, the same as Blue Fang. Using the perks from the Crafting section, it will need some upgrading. This knife is essential when facing multiple enemy clusters and can extract tons of damage with other blades for follow-up damage.
Stinger
Cosmetically identical to the regular knife, the Stinger is ranked at the top of this guide. The Stinger is the signature weapon of Scorpion, a nomad, and is given to V at the end of the “I’ll Fly Away” quest after Scorpion’s demise. It has a base DPS of 1,278. It has 4 seconds of recovery time which is decent enough. The unique ability of the Stinger is that it deals 100% Poison damage to enemies who are bleeding and a 100% Bleeding Chance to enemies who are poisoned.
For a low-level player, who uses multiple cuts on an enemy, this effect creates a compounding effect of bleed-poison-bleed-poison-bled-poison, cascading significantly until the enemy dies. It is an overpowered ability, and equipping the Venomous Fangs, Rattlesnake, and Corrosive Poison perks will transform it into a godly weapon. The Edgerunner Artisan perk is necessary to upgrade it to the Legendary tier, and by boosting, players will be unstoppable. The best Knife in Cyberpunk 2077 should be the priority and choice in any Knife build simply because of the tremendous damage it causes its enemies.
That’s all from this guide. Remember to unlock all the Blades and Ninjutsu perks to make your knives throwable, deal poison, and become too overpowered for enemies.