Vampire Knives

Vampire Knives

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Statistics

Type	Weapon
Damage	29 (Melee)
Knockback	2.75 (Very weak)
Critical chance	4%
Use time	16 (Very fast)
Velocity	15
Tooltip	Rapidly throw life stealing daggers
Rarity	08*
Sell	20
Research	1 required

Projectile created

• Vampire Knife
  
• Vampire Heal
  

Sounds

Use

• Internal Item ID: 1569
• Internal Projectile ID: 304, 305

The Vampire Knives being used against a group of Target Dummies.

The Vampire Knives are a Hardmode post-Plantera melee weapon that autofire a spread of projectiles. The player is healed by a small amount for each projectile that hits an enemy. The Vampire Knives are always found inside the Dungeon's Crimson Chest in Crimson worlds. A Crimson Key will be needed to open the Crimson Chest.

Vampire Knives fire between 4 to 8 fast knife projectiles at a maximum spread of approximately 45 degrees. The knives are not affected by gravity, but at 28 tiles will begin to spin and fade, dissipating entirely after another 26 tiles (54 tiles total range). The knives may disappear visually a few tiles before they actually become ineffective. The knives deliver the weapon's full damage per knife until they begin spinning and fading, at which point their damage drops gradually until they dissipate.

Whenever a knife hits an enemy, a red beam extends to the player, healing them. The healing effect is 7.5% (rounded down) of the damage dealt by the hit. For example, it will heal 3 points of health for every 40 damage dealt.

Its best modifier is Godly or Demonic. Both modifiers increase the average damage output by the same amount.

Notes

• Because the lifesteal effect is rounded down, it won't heal the player if it deals less than 14 damage.
• At full speed (when first thrown), the projectiles travel at 76 mph.
• Melee damage bonuses and modifiers increase healing.
• Vampire Knives will not absorb any health from critters.
• Due to their high speed, some of the Vampire Knives' projectiles may travel through 1-block thick walls.
• Despite the visual effect indicating otherwise, the player gets healed immediately upon dealing damage, rather than when the ensuing red beams connect.
• It is impossible to obtain the Vampire Knives on Corruption worlds, as these lack a Crimson Chest. Instead, the Dungeon has a Corruption Chest containing a Scourge of the Corruptor.
• At least 4 knives will always be thrown. There are 4 independent chances (1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and 1/16) to increase this number by 1, resulting in a maximum possible number of projectiles of 8. The following table visualizes the number of projectiles and the respective chances:

Number of projectiles	Chance
4	30.76*315/1024 (30.76%)
5	47.46*243/512 (47.46%)
6	19.14*49/256 (19.14%)
7	2.54*13/512 (2.54%)
8	0.1*1/1024 (0.1%)

The average number of projectiles thrown is 4.94.

Tips

• Some higher melee speed bonuses will cripple the Vampire Knives, as this may cause the player to only throw the knives every other swing. However, the high melee speed will make them fly farther.
• Vampire Knives are less useful against the Moon Lord because of the Moon Bite debuff he can apply to the player, which disables the life-stealing effect of the knives.
• The Vampire Knives are still useful with endgame gear, as no melee weapon can replace their healing effect.
• They prove effective against numerous bosses and events. With proper preparation, it can be impossible to die.
• While all flasks work well with the Vampire Knives, using a Flask of Ichor will lower struck enemies' defense, increasing damage dealt, and thus increasing health recovered to the player. Note that the healing cap still applies.

History

 PC version

• Desktop 1.4.0.1: Sprite updated.

• Desktop 1.2.4: Fixed an issue where Death Sickle and Vampire Knives would not animate properly on other players in multiplayer.

• Desktop 1.2.2: Items which regenerate health per hit now have a cap of 2 hearts per second.

• Desktop 1.2.0.3:
  • Use time increased from 12 to 16.
  • Damage reduced from 35 to 29.
  • Knockback reduced from 3.5 to 2.75.
  • Life return reduced from 10% to 7.5%.

• Desktop 1.2.0.2: Fixed rare bug where the item would spawn pre-Hardmode in the upper dungeon.

• Desktop 1.2: Introduced.

 Console version

• Console 1.02: Introduced.

 Nintendo Switch version

• Switch 1.0.711.6: Introduced.

 Mobile version

• Mobile 1.2.6508: Introduced.

Nintendo 3DS version

• 3DS-Release: Introduced.