Butcher's Cleaver
| Butcher's Cleaver | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class | Melee Weapon |
| Weapon | Knife |
| Tier | Iconic |
| Armor Pen | 25% |
| Attack Speed | 1.8 |
| Weight | 4 |
| Location | Coastview |
The Butcher's Cleaver is a bloodstained knife that gets faster the more its target bleeds. Against a bleeding enemy it attacks more quickly and spends less Stamina on every swing. It is a close-range blade for a Bleeding build, where each cut makes the next one faster. It sits on a table during a main job, so it is easy to miss. The Butcher's Cleaver is a main-story pickup from M'ap Tann Pèlen, the job that brings V to the Voodoo Boys in Pacifica.
Combat
The cleaver is a knife, but it cannot be thrown. Its strength is Bleeding. Once an enemy is bleeding, the cleaver swings faster and each attack costs less Stamina. V can then keep up a long, fast combo against that target.
The first hits are therefore the slow part of any fight. After the first Bleeding lands, the cleaver speeds up. It stays fast as long as the Bleeding lasts. It also has extra armor penetration, which helps against armoured enemies.
How to Get Butcher's Cleaver Guide
- Finish Double Life to start the main job M'ap Tann Pèlen.
- Call Mr. Hands and wait for his call back.
- Meet the contact at the chapel, then go to the butcher shop.
- Ask the vendor for Placide and find him in the back of the shop.
- Take the Butcher's Cleaver from the table once Placide finishes with the chicken.
Butcher's Cleaver Map Location and Quest Guide
- Finish Double Life to start the main job M'ap Tann Pèlen.
- Call Mr. Hands and take on other work until he calls back.
- Go to the chapel in Pacifica and meet the contact at the altar.
- Go to the butcher shop and ask the vendor for Placide.
- Look into the camera so the shop can scan V.
- Find Placide in the back of the shop and talk with him.
- Take the Butcher's Cleaver from the table when Placide sets it down.
Butcher's Cleaver map location:
Map credit by Map Genie.
Upgrades
Like every Iconic weapon, the Butcher's Cleaver can be raised through the tiers in the crafting menu's Upgrades section, paid for with crafting components.
The table shows what each tier step of Butcher's Cleaver costs.
| Upgrade | Components | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 to Tier 1+ | 75 Tier 1 components | - |
| Tier 1+ to Tier 2 | 40 components | - |
| Tier 2 to Tier 2+ | 75 Tier 2 components | - |
| Tier 2+ to Tier 3 | 40 components | - |
| Tier 3 to Tier 3+ | 75 Tier 3 components | - |
| Tier 3+ to Tier 4 | 40 components | - |
| Tier 4 to Tier 4+ | 75 Tier 4 components | - |
| Tier 4+ to Tier 5 | 40 components | - |
| Tier 5 to Tier 5+ | 75 Tier 5 components | - |
| Tier 5+ to Tier 5++ | 200 Tier 5 components | Phantom Liberty |
Character Builds
The cleaver works best in a Reflexes build with blade perks. Slaughterhouse is the key perk. It makes every attack, counterattack and deflected bullet apply Bleeding, so the cleaver's bonus is active almost all the time. Opportunist makes bleeding enemies easier to finish. Finisher: Bladerunner adds blade attack speed and a finisher that heals V. Flash Of Steel then adds movement speed and attack speed after a finisher. Lead And Steel lowers the Stamina cost of blade attacks.
For cyberware, Microrotors raise melee attack speed. The Stabber adds crit chance with blades. The Adrenaline Booster restores Stamina after a melee kill.
Select a Build
Dashes carry the character behind enemy lines to cut groups apart with blades. Finishers restore Stamina, so the Sandevistan is turned off before each one. High Mitigation from Countershell, NeoFiber and Spring Joints cuts most incoming damage.
Attributes: Body 18, Reflexes 20, Technical Ability 20, Intelligence 3, Cool 20.
The perks, cyberware and weapon mods for this build are listed below.
| Name | Image | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painkiller | 
|
Body 4 | Slow Health regeneration in combat |
| Adrenaline Rush | 
|
Body 15 | More Health and the Adrenaline Rush mode |
| Juggernaut | 
|
Body 15 | More speed and damage during Adrenaline Rush |
| Calm Mind | 
|
Body 15 | Adrenaline lasts longer before it decays |
| Slippery | 
|
Reflexes 4 | Harder to hit while moving fast |
| Dash | 
|
Reflexes 9 | Unlocks the Dash and makes it cheaper |
| Mad Dash | 
|
Reflexes 9 | Double Dash range toward enemies |
| Lead And Steel | 
|
Reflexes 9 | Block bullets with Blades |
| Bullet Deflect | 
|
Reflexes 9 | Blocked bullets fly back at the aim point |
| Seeing Double | Reflexes 9 | Counterattacks hit harder and can stun | |
| Flash And Thunderclap | 
|
Reflexes 9 | Strong attacks leap to nearby enemies |
| Air Dash | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Dash in midair |
| Finisher: Bladerunner | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Faster Blade attacks and a Blade Finisher that heals |
| Flash Of Steel | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Faster movement and attacks after a Finisher |
| Opportunist | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Stunned, staggered and bleeding enemies are easier to finish |
| Going The Distance | 
|
Reflexes 15 | Double Finisher range |
| Slaughterhouse | Reflexes 20 | Every Blade hit applies Bleeding | |
| Tailwind | 
|
Reflexes 20 | Stamina back from Air Dashes and double jumps |
| Glutton For War | 
|
Technical Ability 4 | Kills recharge Health items and grenades |
| Health Freak | 
|
Technical Ability 9 | One more Health item charge and faster recharge |
| All Things Cyber | 
|
Technical Ability 9 | Stronger cyberware stats |
| License To Chrome | 
|
Technical Ability 15 | Stronger cyberware, more armor and a Skeleton slot |
| Edgerunner | Technical Ability 20 | Cyberware past the capacity limit for a small Health cost |
| Name | Image | Slot | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biomonitor | 
|
Circulatory System | Uses a Health item when Health runs low |
| ThreatEvac | 
|
Circulatory System | Faster movement at low Health |
| Newton Module | 
|
Frontal Cortex | Kills cut cyberware cooldowns |
| Stabber | 
|
Nervous System | More crit chance with Blades and throwables |
| NeoFiber | 
|
Nervous System | More Mitigation Chance and Strength |
| Militech Apogee Sandevistan | Operating System | Slows time by 85% with crit bonuses | |
| Dense Marrow | 
|
Skeleton | More melee damage |
| Name | Image | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Severance | 
|
Chance to dismember and kill enemies below half Health |
| Slice 'Em Up | 
|
Enemies are easier to finish after a kill |
| Cyclone | 
|
Endless combo for a few seconds after a sprint attack |
| Bleedout | 
|
Bleeding damage can crit |
Lore
The Butcher's Cleaver comes from a butcher shop in Pacifica where Placide, one of the top Voodoo Boys, waits for V. Its description calls it the definition of bloodthirsty. In M'ap Tann Pèlen, Mr. Hands arranges a meeting between V and the gang. V goes to a butcher shop and asks the vendor for Placide. Placide is in the back, butchering a chicken. When he is done, he leaves the cleaver on the table, and V can take it.
Notes
- With Phantom Liberty, a missed cleaver can be bought from Herold Lowe at the EBM Petrochem Stadium.
Weapon Categories
All Melee Weapons
Every melee weapon is listed below. The Iconic weapons come first, then the standard ones.
Iconic Melee Weapons
| Name | Image | Weapon | Headshot | Armor Pen | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agaou | 
|
Axe | +125% | 25% | Dogtown |
| BFC 9000 | 
|
One-Handed Club | Rancho Coronado | ||
| Baby Boomer | 
|
Two-Handed Club | 25% | ||
| Baseball Bat x-MOD2 | 
|
Two-Handed Club | Dogtown | ||
| Black Unicorn | 
|
Katana | 25% | ||
| Blue Fang | 
|
Knife | +150% | Badlands South | |
| Butcher's Cleaver | 
|
Knife | 25% | Coastview | |
| Byakko | 
|
Katana | 25% | Little China | |
| Caretaker's Spade | 
|
Hammer | 25% | Corpo Plaza | |
| Claw x-MOD2 | 
|
Axe | |||
| Cocktail Stick | 
|
Katana | 25% | Japantown | |
| Cottonmouth | 
|
One-Handed Club | 25% | Japantown | |
| Crowbar | 
|
One-Handed Club | |||
| Cut-o-Matic x-MOD2 | 
|
Chainsword | Dogtown | ||
| Errata | 
|
Katana | 25% | Arroyo | |
| Fang | 
|
Knife | +50% | ||
| Gold-Plated Baseball Bat | 
|
Two-Handed Club | 25% | North Oak | |
| Gwynbleidd | 
|
Sword | |||
| Headhunter | 
|
Knife | +150% | West Wind Estate | |
| Jinchu-Maru | 
|
Katana | 25% | Japantown | |
| Murphy's Law | 
|
One-handed Club | 50% | Dogtown | |
| Nehan | 
|
Knife | +150% | Arasaka Waterfront | |
| Sasquatch's Hammer | 
|
Hammer | 75% | Coastview | |
| Satori | 
|
Katana | 25% | Arasaka Waterfront | |
| Scalpel | 
|
Katana | 25% | Northside | |
| Sir John Phallustiff | 
|
Blunt | 25% | Kabuki | |
| Stinger | 
|
Knife | +150% | Badlands East | |
| Tinker Bell | 
|
One-Handed Club | 50% | Badlands East | |
| Tsumetogi | 
|
Katana | 25% | Japantown | |
| Volkodav | 
|
Machete | 25% | Dogtown |
Standard Melee Weapons
| Name | Image | Weapon | Headshot | Armor Pen | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseball Bat | 
|
Two-Handed Club | 25% | ||
| Chef's Knife | 
|
Knife | +150% | ||
| Claw | 
|
Axe | +125% | 25% | |
| Cut-O-Matic | 
|
Chainsword | 50% | ||
| Electric Baton Alpha | 
|
One-Handed Club | Rancho Coronado | ||
| Electric Baton Beta | 
|
One-Handed Club | 50% | ||
| Electric Baton Gamma | 
|
One-Handed Club | 50% | ||
| Hammer | 
|
Hammer | 25% | ||
| Kaiken | 
|
Knife | +150% | ||
| Kanabo | 
|
Two-Handed Club | 25% | ||
| Katana | 
|
Katana | 25% | ||
| Knife | 
|
Knife | +200% | ||
| Kukri | 
|
Machete | 25% | ||
| Machete | 
|
Machete | 25% | ||
| Neurotoxin Knife | 
|
Knife | +150% | ||
| Punknife | 
|
Knife | +150% | ||
| Razor | 
|
Machete | 25% | ||
| Steel Pipe | 
|
One-Handed Club | 25% | ||
| Tire Iron | 
|
One-Handed Club | 25% | ||
| Tomahawk | 
|
Axe | +125% | 25% |