The Knife, or Hunting knife, is a melee weapon featured in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat.
Characteristics[]
The weapon has a single-edged blade, and a "clip point" on the top of the blade which is typically utilized by Bowie knives. This brings the point slight lower than the knife's spine to produce a more pointed edge, which allows better control of the knife as well as better penetration. The grip is made of a metal and synthetic finish with the hilt sporting a bayonet lug. The other edge of the blade is serrated which is typically used for cutting objects rather than for combat. Oddly, the Knife combines several features of different knives which includes the blade of a bowie knife in tandem with a sawback (typically utilized military-wise by combat/survival knives) and the hilt of a bayonet. Its appearance is similar to the Buck 184 Buckmaster.
The weapon possesses two attacks: "slashing attack" and "stabbing attack". The "slashing attack" is a fast attack which slows down the player if performed while running. If targeted at the head it would disorient the target and two slashes at the head can put any human opponent down. The "stabbing attack" deals the most damage and can slay most targets in one attack if stabbed at the head or disorient the target if stabbed at the body. This attack performs slower than a "slashing attack" and has a slightly lower range compared to the "slash". On the other hand, when this attack is performed it does not slow down the player in the middle of running.
Beyond being a last-resort option for the player if no other weapons are available or a mere tool for smashing metal boxes, wooden crates, and other breakable objects, the knife is extremely powerful. In addition to having the highest damage of any non-explosive weapon (and surpassing even those in an unpatched Shadow of Chernobyl), the knife has no penalty for being used when being used while sprinting and has no need for sights. This makes it highly lethal in close quarters, or when combined with stealth. Some mutants like Controllers or (in Call of Pripyat) Snorks have poor offensive capability in melee compared to their effectiveness at a distance, making the knife an effective option for dispatching them if terrain allows. A lightly loaded (and bold) player may even exploit the poor turning radius of an isolated Boar or Flesh to dispatch it using only a knife.
Unlike other in-game weapons, the Knife does not appear in the player's inventory; it is automatically equipped for most of the game and cannot be discarded or sold.
Appearances[]
Shadow of Chernobyl[]
Holding the knife.
The weapon can be acquired from Wolf, along with a PMm and a box of 9x18mm ammo, when talking to him after obtaining the mission to rescue Nimble from Sidorovich.
In round 6 of the Arena, the player is tasked with killing an expert stalker equipped with an Exoskeleton and an FT-200M with only a knife and four F1 grenades.
Due to the type of damage the "stabbing attack" does in Shadow of Chernobyl (wound_2) it is capable of destroying any destructible object in one hit, regardless of damage. This includes crates, boxes, the wall into the Freedom base, the APCs outside the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and the C-Consciousness projectors in the Monolith Control Center.
Clear Sky[]
The weapon is acquired from Docent Suslov along with a basic equipment kit at the start of the game. The knife's range is slightly lowered compared to Shadow of Chernobyl. Notably, the knife's "stabbing attack" has been changed to a much faster, vertical stab, but it no longer destroys breakable objects in one hit.
One of them can be picked up in a truck along to road to the Duty base in Agroprom Research Institute, but is unusable.
Call of Pripyat[]
Upgrade view
In Call of Pripyat, the knife is available from the start of the game. It has had some changes from the previous games - it became substantially faster with both swings, capable of swinging nearly instantaneously or with little delay. The knife's attack damage has been reduced compared to its previous iterations, but the weapon remains powerful, capable of killing most stalkers no matter where it hits, and the primary slash can bring a lightly armored stalker to a critically wounded state with a single well-placed swing - a slash to the head for nearly any stalker is fatal.
Glitches[]
- In Call of Pripyat, there is a strange bug that allows the player to heal wounded NPCs with the knife. This can be done by stabbing the feet of a grounded NPC (this is best done while crouching). Be aware that standing too close to the NPC will kill him instead. A couple of slashes (usually two-three, sometimes a single one) will allow the NPC to get back up. This is especially helpful if the player doesn't want to spend Medkits, or doesn't even have one.
- In all games of the series, triggering a "stabbing attack" whilst a "slashing attack" is in progress will give the attack the damage of the "stabbing attack" with the range and speed of the "slashing attack". In Shadow of Chernobyl, performing this glitch causes the "slash" animation to morph into the "stab" animation.
Behind the Scenes[]
Depiction[]
- In Shadow of Chernobyl, the Marked One's stab attack shows him putting both of his hands at the hilt and thrusting the knife to the target. In Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat, both Scar and Major Degtyarev have a different stab attack where they raise their hand and rapidly drops it down like an overhead chop.
- Stalkers never use the knife in combat - in Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky, they instead try to get their target from a distance, but will fire at point-blank if necessary. In Call of Pripyat, they may rarely riflebutt the player, resulting in a brief but usually fatal stun.
- Despite Scar and Degtyarev doing very different attack moves than the Marked One does, they have the same motion and shadow when attacking if they are viewed from third person.
Development[]
- Originally the Hunting Knife was an inventory item back in the beta-phase of Shadow of Chernobyl, similar to the Binoculars. If using the version 1.0000 of the game, one can see this item while fighting in the Arena in their inventory labeled as "Hunting Knife". In the Russian version, this knife doesn't disappear from the inventory even whilst using the 1.0006 version.
- In Build 1935 of Shadow of Chernobyl, the stab in that version is where Marked One moves both hands to the left, and then quickly jabs with his right arm.
Notes[]
- In the patched version of Shadow of Chernobyl, the knife is unavailable to the player until the rescue mission is accepted from Wolf. Should the player rescue Nimble before speaking to him, the knife will be permanently unobtainable this way.
- Since the Binoculars weigh 1.0kg, and the player's default carrying weight without any item is 1.3kg, the Hunting knife has an implied weight of 0.3kg. However, it is listed as weightless in its config file.
- In Shadow of Chernobyl, the weapon is coded to use 9x39mm PAB-9 ammunition, whereas in Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat it is configured to use both types of 9x19mm ammunition, with a 15-round magazine.
Gallery[]
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