Nuclear Knife

Nuclear Knife is a sidequest weapon from the Radioactive item set with a volatile charge mechanic. It deals melee damage equal to its current charge count, and gains 1 charge at the end of each turn. However, if charges ever exceed 10, the knife explodes — forcing the wielder to land a kill periodically to halve the charges and prevent detonation. Complete the sidequest to earn the Nuclear Gun.

At low charges (1-5) the knife deals modest damage; at high charges (8-10) it becomes a serious threat. The optimal play is to let charges climb toward 10 between kills and then cash in the high damage against a meaningful target. Because charges halve on a kill, a kill at 10 charges drops back to 5 — meaning the cycle is kill at peak damage, let it climb again, kill again. Managing this rhythm is the knife's core skill expression.

Nuclear Knife works best on aggressive melee cats who are in combat every turn, ensuring the kill cadence never lags behind the charge gain rate. SPD investment helps act early, land kills quickly, and avoid reaching the Glowing threshold. It pairs with the Radioactive set for thematic bonuses and is the direct prerequisite for the Nuclear Gun, so completing the sidequest is worth the risk. Avoid long multi-round fights where the charge can outpace your kill rate.