Butter Knife
| Butter Knife | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class | Short Blade |
| Skill | Short Blade |
| Damage | 0.1-0.4 |
| Range | 0.61-0.8 |
| Crit | 7% x10 |
| Condition | 3 |
| Weight | 0.25 |
| Hands | One-handed |
| Crafting Skill | Blacksmithing: 2 |
| Crafting | See How to Craft |
| Location | Containers |
| Spawn ID | /additem Base.ButterKnife
|
| Crafting XP | 35 XP (Blacksmithing) |
The Butter Knife is a blunt table knife that can serve as a last-resort weapon. It is a one-handed stabbing weapon that trains the Short Blade skill. Its damage is tiny and its reach is very short. Its one strength is the jaw stab, a finishing move that can kill a zombie outright.
It is far more useful in the kitchen and at the workbench. It slices bread and cake, helps with preserving food, and turns into a Shiv or an Improvised Screwdriver. It is a very common find in kitchens, living rooms and restaurant kitchens. A blacksmith can also forge a pair of them. The best occupations for short blades are the Burger Flipper, the Chef and the Doctor. Each starts with the same Short Blade skill.
Combat
The Butter Knife stabs at close range, so a zombie must be right in front of it. A normal hit barely scratches a zombie. A crit multiplies the damage ten times, but the crit chance is low at 7 percent. The jaw stab is what makes it worth holding. When it lands, a single stab can kill a zombie at once.
It is a poor defensive weapon. It only knocks a zombie back a very short way, so a group can close in quickly. Higher Short Blade skill raises damage and crit chance. The Butterfly Knife does the same job far better. Use it only to escape a single zombie when nothing else is at hand.
Uses
The Butter Knife slices Bread into three slices and cuts a cake or pie into five slices. It counts as a dull knife for making a Jar of Preserved Food and for scutching flax or hemp on a Scutching Board. It can slice an animal head down to a skull. With a whetstone or a file and some tape or binding, it becomes a Shiv or an Improvised Screwdriver with Maintenance 1. A blacksmith with Blacksmithing 2 can forge two Butter Knives from a Steel Bar Quarter at a forge.
How to Craft Butter Knife
Each recipe that makes the Butter Knife is listed with its materials and the tools it keeps.
Forge Fine Butter Knives
The Forge Fine Butter Knives recipe makes the Butter Knife. It needs Blacksmithing level 2. It is made at a Simple Forge. The recipe has to be learned first.
| Name | Image | Amount | Kept | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charcoal | 
|
2x | No | /additem Base.Charcoal
|
| Steel Bar Quarter | 
|
1x | No | /additem Base.SteelBarQuarter
|
| Ball-peen Hammer | 
|
1x | Yes | /additem Base.BallPeenHammer
|
| Metalworking Pliers | 
|
1x | Yes | /additem Base.MetalworkingPliers
|
Used in Crafting
These recipes take the Butter Knife as an ingredient or a part.
| Recipe | Output | Image | Station | Skill | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Make Improvised Screwdriver | Improvised Screwdriver | 
|
- | Maintenance: 1 | /additem Base.Screwdriver_Improvised
|
| Make Shiv | Shiv | 
|
- | Maintenance: 1 | /additem Base.KnifeShiv
|
| Smelt Smaller Steel Item | Small Ceramic Crucible with Steel | 
|
Advanced Furnace | None | /additem Base.CeramicCrucibleSmall_Steel
|
Any recipe that asks for a dull knife accepts it as the tool, such as Scutch Fibre, Slice Animal Head and Slice Bread.
Repair
The Butter Knife has 3 condition and loses a point on almost every hit. The Short Blade skill and the Maintenance skill lower that chance a little. Fighting with it gives no Maintenance experience. A worn knife is best turned into a Shiv or an Improvised Screwdriver.
Locations
The Butter Knife is a very common find. The best odds are on diner counters. Kitchen overhead cupboards and the counters and overhead shelves in living rooms also hold one often. Restaurant kitchens of every kind keep them on the counters, from diners and cafeterias to Italian, Western and fish and chips kitchens. Ordinary kitchen counters and shelves are a reliable spot too.
The places where it spawns, with the rough chance per container. Each tab shows one kind of place.
| Location | Container | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Diner counter | Counter | 36.7% |
| Cafeteria kitchen | Counter | 18.3% |
| Diner kitchen | Counter | 18.3% |
| Donut kitchen | Counter | 18.3% |
| Kitchen crepe | Counter | 18.3% |
| Restaurant kitchen | Counter | 18.3% |
| Fancy restaurant kitchen | Counter | 18.3% |
| Houseware store | Shelves | 16.9% |
| Dinerback room | Counter | 13.2% |
| General store | Shelves | 10.2% |
| Location | Container | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen | Overhead cupboard | 21.2% |
| Living room | Counter | 21.2% |
| Living room | Overhead cupboard | 21.2% |
| Catfish kitchen | Counter | 18.3% |
| Deepfry kitchen | Counter | 18.3% |
| Fishchips kitchen | Counter | 18.3% |
| Italian kitchen | Counter | 18.3% |
| Western kitchen | Counter | 18.3% |
| Kitchen | Counter | 17% |
| Kitchen | Shelves | 17% |
| Location | Container | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Oldarmy | Counter | 17.5% |
| Department storage | Metal shelves | 10.2% |
Notes
- The jaw stab is the only reliable way to kill with a Butter Knife.
- A spare Butter Knife makes a quick Shiv, which is a better stabbing weapon.
- It is light enough to keep in a pocket for slicing food.
- Swinging it gives no Maintenance experience.
Template:ProjectZomboidWeaponTiles
All Short Blades