Ok guys, since we are on the topic of the nova knives here, I think it's time for me to let you all in a little secret that can help you all in your nova knifing career as it did for me.
My recent record.
https://plus.google.com/109956220065876189966/posts/KLQpqv8qRWjAs you can see from the chart in one of the images, I was able to kill 10 reds in a very short amount of time. Before I go on I must make it absolutely clear that these kills were mostly from the result of my experience as a ninja knifer who has not invested a single SP into any gun whatsoever. I used the following fit.
[Dramiel]
Scout MK.0
x1 Ishukone Nova Knives
x1 BPO Militia SMG
x1 R-9 Drop Uplink
x1 Flux Grenades
x2 Enhanced Kinetic Catalyzers
x3 Enhanced Shield Extenders
Notice two things here. The shield extenders and the SMG. Why do I have shield extenders and not a single damage mod? And why do I even have an SMG in the fitting if I don't even use it not even as backup? Well, here is the secret.
There is a way to sprint with charged knives.
How is it done? Here it is:Remember back in Chromosome there was a melee-sprint bug that enabled you to sprint with the charge held for the knives? For those of you who weren't around back then you had to first melee. As the melee animation is processing, you immediately press and hold the charge button before the melee is complete. As a result, you are able to sprint with the charge held until you let go despite climbing latters and falling with the inertia dampener. Of course there were downsides to this bug. You had to melee which took up precious stamina that you need to sprint out and it was cumbersome to do. The charge could also be interrupted when you hack something or switch weapons.
Then Uprising came and that got fixed. To be honest, the nova knives in Chromosome were not really powerful at the time they were still laughable at best in terms of damage dealt.
What about in Uprising? It's still possible to do. But if you remember the melee-sprint bug, that's almost exactly how it can be reproduced now. Except you can only do it while swapping weapons instead of meleeing.
This was actually brought to my attention by a fellow ninja knifer some time ago. At first we thought this would make the knives overpowered and thus kept it a secret for some time. But now, after a long time of using this bug, I noticed something. This really didn't make the nova knives OP at all. It made it more viable and practical but not OP. If you see the chart in the images I linked, you'll see that I still died a considerable amount of times. There was also a downside to this bug. It requires that you fit an extra weapon which eats up the CPU and PG of the scout suit and we all know how limited the CPU and PG in these suits really are.
Another thing to remember that I have been running around with knives for a very long time and never bothered to use or invest skill points in any other weapon with the exception of the swarm launcher to deal with LAVs. That means that my experience has been fine-tuned long before I was notified of this bug which is why I was able to get an 11-kill streak in one match. I knew the layout of the maps, I knew how to deal with each type of enemy suit, and I knew how to utilize the obstructions to my advantage.
Important NoteI have notified CCP about this bug and so far they say they will look into it. I did ask them if they intend to let the bug stay, but they told they are not sure.
My ViewOriginally, I once believed that sprinting with the charge will make the knives OP given the insane amount of damage these knives can do. A skilled player fitted with all the damage mods needed can almost one-hit-kill every heavy in the field with the exception of the proto-heavies.
However, this new bug has taught me differently. It will not make them OP. You still die considerably and only the best knifers in the game can make the most out of it. And seeing as there are not that many ninjas out there and considering the scout suits seem underpowered, I think it's high time that we are given a chance to shine once more.
Have fun guys.