Unless you're a stats whore, try it out. It will give you better understanding of the dynamics of a map, and it will make you a better player. To test whether slicing people would bring joy into your heart, pray acquaint yourself with the superb demos from these pages:
Watching a good player move fast and low to the enemies and slice them from unexpected positions feels like a scene from an SF movie, from the evil invisible alien's viewpoint. You could almost hear the slithering sound and see the optical warping accompanying this. Note that as you move faster, strafejumping most of the time (you'd better...), you probably start to boot friends and enemies alike quite often. It's especially surprising if you've just realized how hard it is to kick someone...
As the knife is by its very nature very difficult a weapon, you have to use more cover, move faster and play more tactically -- rushing headlong into someone will get you killed. When you play a few hours with knife only, going back to your favorite brand of fire-breathing toy feels as if you're a god. One warning: do bind a key for "say !fp", as you'll get teamkilled quite often when in the middle of the enemies. (Knifing sure is an art best practiced alone.) On the bright side, you yourself will almost never teamkill:-) When slicing you discover how clueless most players actually are; when you're not actively attacking them, you can basically run past them without being noticed, then turn back and rape them from behind>:-)
One of the coolest things about knife is that it doesn't need reloading -- not even metaphorically, as swinging your arms doesn't use stamina. (There's no real need to fix this "oversight", as it wouldn't add anything to the gameplay.) Another good thing is that if your ratio starts to climb to impossible heights, nobody will suspect you using an aimbot:-P. I wouldn't necessarily enjoy knives-only play, though, as most of the fun in slicing comes from using the advantages knife has over firearms: you rush close to the enemy, so you don't have to aim that precisely; if you can see the enemy, you probably can hit him.
You know you're really contributing in the fun factor of the game when the enemies are starting to compliment you:-)
You hit Element`` in the Torso for 44% damage.
You hit Element`` in the Arms for 20% damage.
You hit Element`` in the Arms for 20% damage.
You hit Element`` in the Arms for 20% damage.
Element`` was sliced a new orifice by JRandomNoob.
/---/
JRandomNoob: :-)
/---/
Element``: random rox
/---/
analvomit: jrandom<3
/---/
You hit analvomit in the Kevlar for 35% damage.
analvomit was sliced a new orifice by JRandomNoob.
/---/
(DEAD) analvomit: xD
/---/
(DEAD) JRandomNoob: :-)
Few things I've found about some of the maps:
- Riyadh is a rather difficult map, because of the large open distances. (This is the very map where camping is not only tolerated, but encouraged.) Two obvious ways to make kills are waiting in the middle of the map, at the ruins, and jump at unsuspecting snipers (difficult to time, but rewarding); and reaching the enemy base and using the cover there to move around. Then you can slice the snipers as much as you want, they're completely helpless>:-) Note that in the middle of the map it's actually easier to get good players, as they usually carry SR-8 -- they pop up and take a shot, you locate their position and jump over the wall right when they're reloading>:-)
- Ramelle has pretty much a single chokepoint; getting through in one piece is difficult, but when you're on the other side, you have enemies clustered together to prey on>:-) Be wary of snipers, though. Should be better on HD, where there are tunnels again.
- Ambush and Sanctuary are very good slicing maps; lots of ways to get around and surprise somebody, you can routinely take them from behind.
- On Uptown, it's best if you can jump well, otherwise it takes too much time to reach the enemies. And climbing makes sound, so they're prepared. Of course, it is possible to camp with a knife...:-)
- Crossing has several nice ways to get around fast and surprise the enemies (walljumping to the train and from there to the other side is a good way to catch the unwary prey), but beware of the chickenwire spans here and there. You can be shot through these, they provide no cover (unlike a wall with windows), and by the time you reach the opening (if any), you're dead several times over.
- Coconutbeta is best played in blue, as they have the higher points to drop from, and the hallways to surprise rushers.
BTW, just a month ago I couldn't get three steps from the spawn without being killed...
