
This is a great upgrade! Let's go over what you get for 2 xp:
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Headliner first: The reaction is changed from "After an enemy attack deals damage to you during the enemy phase" to "When an enemy attacks you during the enemy phase (before resolving that attack)". The other commenter already pointed out how this means that you can avoid taking damage from incoming attacks altogether so long as you kill the enemy, which is indeed great when it lines up, but can be a bit situational. There are two other consequences of this change that make the knife much less situational than it was before. Since it triggers on attack instead of damage, enemies that only deal horror can no longer attack you with impunity! Since it triggers on attack instead of assigned damage, the weapon now pairs well with soak - your allies can take the brunt of the attack and you can stab the enemy back with a vengeance. These changes mean that you can rely on the reaction in a way that you couldn't before, I love it.
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A second on the activation. Usually this would be the headliner on a weapon upgrade, but since this is usually your offhand weapon it ends up being fairly low impact. But when the draws don't line up and this is all you have, it's a welcome boon - another boost to the weapon's versatility; its worst case scenario is less bad.
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A second on commit. Not bad, added versatility!
Overall, I really like upgrades that take a situational card and make it feel smooth. The previous knife felt like it had high highs but frequent awkward lows. This upgrade brings up the floor quite a bit and also gives you new highs to explore: suddenly the hunter keyword just saves you the work of moving to them. If you ever kill an enemy without taking a single action or taking a single damage, it just feels incredible.
Never bring a mysterious glowing eyes to a knife fight.