Prior to HotFix Charlie and until the week after it's release, my Proto NK fit consisted of:

Scout gk.0
2 damage mods
2 profile damps
2 kincats
Ishukone Cloak
Proficiency 4 Knives

Although it only sported 249 eHP, the suit was fast, stealthy, and could one-hit most suits in game. However, it was too squishy and any player who could lock onto me for even a fraction of a second with a full-auto weapon would drop me instantly.

This squishiness made me want to change a couple things. I could either skill into MinScouts and forego the damage mods and replace them with extenders or I could make do with my GalScout and try to fit more tank on it. I decided on option two, but was reluctant to do so because of the loss of damage.

So, after a few changes it dawned on me that Nova Knives do not necessarily need the extra boosts from mods and the MinScout bonus. Two-shotting Heavies is not all that bad as it is now a lot easier to get that second hit in.

Due to the forum's influence, I was under the impression that high alpha damage, speed, and one's disposition to not care about dying made for the best knifer. So, that left MinScouts as the most reasonable choice if one wanted to do proper knife work.

I now disagree with that. Yes, speed and high alpha damage are still necessary to be effective at knifing, but now it's more possible to still do well if one were to give up a little of those stats in favor of more stealth or tank. My fit now has extenders in its highs and a reactive and ferroscale in its lows, and even though it is slower than my previous build and does not hit as hard, it does however perform a lot better.

There is now some leeway for me to screw up just in case my initial slash misses. I am still able to sprint relatively fast, and throwing in an additional hit to down a Heavy is not hard to do, even if I'm under fire.


Tl;dr

NKs are now good enough to allow a player to forego damage mods, kincats, and the MinScout suit.