Battlefield V‘s multiplayer moves at a faster pace than any other game in the series. Players run quickly, and action-movie escapades are common. Players also die faster, especially when they encounter the deadliest weapon in the game: throwing knives.
The throwing knife is only available to the Recon class. Every class in Battlefield V has its own gear limitations. Medics can only use close range submachine guns, but they have access to tools that heal their teams and helpful smoke grenades. Assault soldiers are the only troops that have access to anti-tank weapons like bazookas and the PIAT mortar. Recon soldiers use sniper rifles to attack from a distance, but they can also unlock throwing knives.
These tiny knives are, at the moment, almost always a one-hit kill unless thrown a great distance. A single Recon soldier with all six of their throwing knives can dispatch a squad and a half with some decent aim and a smattering of button presses. When placed into the right hands, throwing knives essentially transform a Recon soldier into a sneaky one-hit battle ninja of doom.
Throwing knives’ sheer power has been the normal state of affairs since launch, and it’s common to see intense gameplay clips where one soldier wrecks shop as well as players complaining about the weapon in the game’s chat. The strength of knives might fall in line with Battlefield V‘s action movie sensibilities, but their dominance in multiplayer is something of a sticking point.
On the one hand, there’s nothing wrong with giving Recon soldiers some close range defence, and not everyone can master hurling the throwing knives around. On the other, it’s frustrating to die in a single hit to an enemy who prepared their attack from behind a corner, stepped out, and only had to release their hold on a button to instantly take you out.
There have always been one-hit weapons in Battlefield, but they tend to get adjusted quickly. Battlefield 1‘s infamous Martini-Henry rifle could dispatch anyone within a certain range in one shot until it was greatly adjusted by the development team.
It’s hard to know what tweaks to throwing knives could look like, but Battlefield V‘s developers did reveal yesterday that changes are coming to the game’s overall time to kill. Their list of upcoming change doesn’t specifically mention throwing knives, but hopefully something can be done to give Recon players options, while also making things a bit less one-sided.
Comments