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In this episode we're covering the first special weapon, the ballistic knife.

It's a single shot weapon, unlocked at level 15.

Originating from the Soviet Union, it was first seen in the hands of Spetznaz forces operating in Afghanistan around the late 1970s.

A largely impractical weapon, intended to extend a fighter's reach and capability in close combat, although its exact usage is unknown

Although deadly when launched, the weapon is only truly effective within a very short range - a role in which a full-tang fixed blade may have been better suited.

The weapon rose to some prominence in the United States, though - its reputation as the Soviet elite's close quarter weapon of choice made them quite the collectible, and in the early 1980s were a popular novelty.

As collectable as they were deadly, it's little surprise that the spring-loaded blades were banned outright in 1986.

In-game, The Ballistic Knife has a supply of just two blades - one ready to fire with another to spare.

The blades have a cutting edge 5 inches long, and the entire assembly with handle measures about ten inches in length.

The blades are spring loaded and are fired by pulling the safety pin and pressing the button on the handle, releasing a simple latch and decompressing the spring.

This launches the blade at quite some velocity - typically some 60 feet per second, more than enough to embed deeply in flesh should it come into contact with the enemy.

In-game, The Ballistic Knife will kill in just one hit, at any range, anywhere to the body.

Unfortunately landing a hit is quite tricky, given that the blades follow a parabolic trajectory - this means at a distance you'll need to aim above your target to hit.

The travel time of the blade also makes aiming difficult, particularly on a moving target - in many cases you'll need to aim ahead of the enemy, anticipating their movement.

One tip as far as accurate aiming is concerned is to decrease your sensitivity - as you can't aim down sights with this weapon, a lower sensitivity will grant better precision when lining up a shot.

Reload is relatively quick, at just 1.5 seconds - although given that you only get one shot on target, missing might just spell your doom if the target is aware of your presence.

Sleight of Hand is a good perk choice if you find the reload time problematic, doubling the speed with which you can rechamber a new blade.

One thing to beware with the Ballistic Knife is that firing the blade will make you appear on the enemies radar - while it might not appear to make much noise when firing, it's not considered a weapon of stealth by the game.

This can be dangerous if facing a group of enemies, or should your first shot miss - if you have the advantage of surprise it's often best to use your knife attack instead of firing your blade and revealing your position.

One secondary benefit of the Ballistic Knife is that it improves the speed with which you can recover from your knife slash or lunge - by about 20% - making it useful for silently despatching small groups of enemies.

It's worth ensuring that you're using the default button layout if you plan on knifing frequently - I normally play on tactical, but the default layout will allow you to knife without changing position on the control pad.

Pair the weapon with Steady Aim Pro and you'll have the additional benefit of that perk, nearly doubling your melee speed, and allowing you to cut through unwitting enemies in quick sequence.

The combination of a quick melee attack, with the option to launch a blade at enemies out of reach is a good combination for those adept at getting close to the enemy, and Marathon is essential should you plan on making extensive use of this weapon.

Lightweight would be a good partner for the added mobility, but for sustained use of the projectile blades I found Scavenger to be altogether more useful, allowing resupply of the blades without having to track down those fired to their terminal position.

Few weapons are capable of killing in one shot at any distance, and a well-aimed ballistic knife can spell a quick - and surprising - demise for your enemy.

The faster melee is also useful, especially when facing more than one opponent, or in those cases when your knife meets nothing but air on your first attempt.

The limited supply of blades and difficulty in landing shots at any sort of distance limit the Ballistic Knife's practical application - in most cases a pistol is a far more sensible secondary choice.

But for those who enjoy a challenge, the ballistic knife is a welcome departure from sensibility. It's not the easiest weapon to use - but it ranks highly amongst the most satisfying.

With a good eye and a healthy dose of luck, this spring-loaded surprise ... will cut your enemies down.

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