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Stays sharp & will last a lifetime!— Cosmic knife ad

The cosmic knife is a weapon in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Dead Money.

Background[]

Made from a "space age" Saturnite alloy in the Big Mountain Research and Development Center, cosmic knives were advertised to be super-sharp, all-purpose kitchen knives that would not chip or dull. A surplus was shipped to the Sierra Madre Casino & Resort kitchens in preparation for the Gala Event. Though lightweight and durable, they proved to be too sharp for their own good, able to cut a person's thumb off if they were careless and even slice through cutting boards with no effort.[1] Concerns were raised about the safety and necessity of having so many of these knives lying about, but Frederick Sinclair insisted that only the best equipment be used in his resort.[2]

Accidental negligence by the staff revealed that the knives have incredible heat retention, able to stay super-hot for hours after being heated over a stove. However, they are much more brittle when heated, and if left on an uninsulated surface, they would melt right through.[3]

In between the Great War and the arrival of the Courier in 2281,[4] many of the intact cosmic knives were scavenged and repurposed by the ghost people who inhabit and stalk the streets of the Villa, assembled into makeshift spears to use as weapons against any unfortunate visitors.

Characteristics[]

The alloy that makes up the Pre-War kitchen knives is unknown, and seems to have decayed in contact with the toxic cloud.Loading screen

Compared to the more common knife, the cosmic knife deals higher damage per strike at the same attack speed, thus having a higher damage=per-second (DPS) value. It deals higher critical hit damage, costs the same amount of AP, has the same durability, and shares a lack of a Melee Weapons requirement and a requirement of 1 Strength. The primary element of the cosmic knife is that it inflicts higher damage against an enemy's limbs, increasing the chance of crippling them.

Visually, the unclean cosmic knife has been stained a dark purple due to years of exposure to the Cloud and aside from the handle and tip, they appear similar to the knife.

In terms of crafting, the cosmic knife is required in making the knife spear, the knife spear clean, the cosmic knife clean, and the cosmic knife super-heated.

Special attack[]

The cosmic knife has a special Back Slash attack, which does 70% damage in V.A.T.S. at the cost of 4 fewer Action Points (requires a Melee skill of 50).

Legend
Type of attack- Type of attackSkill required- Skill required
Damage per attack in V.A.T.S.- Damage per attack in V.A.T.S.Action point cost- Action point cost
Damage per action point- Damage per action pointAdditional effects- Additional effects
Type of attackSkill requiredDamage per attack in V.A.T.S.Action point costDamage per action point
Normal024201.2
Back Slash5016.8161.05
Note: Melee weapons do double normal damage in V.A.T.S.

It is possible to execute Back Slash outside of V.A.T.S. (without the required Melee skill of 50 to perform the move) by initiating a power attack (hold attack button) while moving forward.

Durability[]

The cosmic knife can successfully strike about 745 times from full condition before breaking.

Variants[]

Comparison[]

Legend 
Weapon name (current weapon is highlighted)- Weapon name (melee or unarmed)Attacks in V.A.T.S.- Attacks in V.A.T.S.
Weapon name (current weapon is highlighted)- Weapon name (gun, energy or explosive)Action point cost- Action point cost
Damage per attack (damage per projectile)- Damage per attack (damage per projectile)Damage per action point- Damage per action point
Damage per second- Damage per secondWeapon spread- Weapon spread
Area of effect damage- Area of effect damageMagazine capacity (shots per reload)- Magazine capacity (shots per reload)
Effect damage & duration- Effect damage & durationDurability (number of attacks before breaking)- Durability (number of attacks before breaking)
Bonus effects- Bonus effectsWeight- Weight
Attacks per second- Attacks per secondValue in caps- Value in caps
Critical chance % multiplier- Critical chance % multiplierValue to weight ratio- Value to weight ratio
Critical damage- Critical damageSkill required- Skill required
Critical effect damage & duration- Critical effect damage & durationStrength required- Strength required
With all mods attached- With all mods attached
Weapon name (current weapon is highlighted)Damage per attack (damage per projectile)Damage per secondBonus effectsAttacks per secondCritical Chance % multiplierCritical damageAction Point costDamage per action pointDurability (number of attacks before breaking)WeightValue in capsValue to weight ratioSkill requiredStrength required
Cosmic knife 12
36x1.5 limb Damage3x112201.27451353501
Cosmic knife clean 15
45x3 limb Damage3x1.215201.59951505001
Cosmic knife super-heated 14
42x1.7 limb Damage3x514201.47451505001
Note: Melee damage is doubled in V.A.T.S.

Locations[]

Notes[]

  • Despite being originally developed at Big MT, none can be found there during Old World Blues.
  • Despite the fact cosmic knives proved capable of cutting open the hazmat suits after the Cloud corroded the locks,[5] attacking with the regular or clean version has no visible effect when used on the ghost people.

Behind the scenes[]

Shape and texture resources for the cosmic knife, its clean, and super-heated variant are all present in the files of the Old World Blues add-on, but not used. Though present, no objects in the add-on use these resources. The resources are stored within the nvdlc01 folder used by the Dead Money add-on, rather than the nvdlc03 folder allocated to Old World Blues.

Bugs[]

  • PCPC Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Xbox 360Xbox 360 The cosmic knife is not affected by the Cowboy or Super Slam! perks.[verified]

Gallery[]

References[]

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