THE PINECONE GUIDE TO K.N.Y.F.E.
This guide uses Flamethrower49's Basic Outline, which is ironic considering what Flamethrowers do to Pinecones. These guides are a community effort and if you can provide any suggestions or constructive criticism, I will modify them accordingly.
Best Attack: Energy Burn, Battlefield Experience
Best Team Support: Wrecking Uppercut?
Best Personal Support: Focusing Conduit Blade
Primary Damage Type: Energy
Secondary Damage Type: Melee
Worst Card: Overdo It
Nemesis: None Yet
K.N.Y.F.E. Is all about damage. She plays very similarly to Ra, boosting her own attacks to frightening levels and unleashing powerful barrages. The main difference with K.N.Y.F.E. is that she has two different primary damage types, and her damage is usually dealt in several smaller bursts rather than all at once. Depending on the villain and the heroes aiding her, this can be a detriment or a very powerful benefit.
Attack:
32 of K.N.Y.F.E.'s cards damage, and all but two have to do with damage. 6 of those are Equipment cards, and very good ones at that.
Focusing Conduit-Blade is your best friend. Increasing your base Damage by 1 is great, but the true awesomeness of this card is when it is combined with K.N.Y.F.E.'s one shots. Energy Burn goes from being a sub-par Fire Blast to dealing 7 damage in the right circumstances (The weakness, of course, being that you usually won't be able to use it effectively against anything other than the villain character card itself). Incidental Contact, which usually has trouble against armor, can now overcome it, or, against armorless villain targets, deal 4 damage. 4 damage to all villain targets is not something to be trifled with, although be careful of the 2 damage you'll be dealing to your teammates (in this way it works very similarly to Nightmist's Oblivion). Amplified Combatant becomes able to overcome armor, and to theoretically deal 3 damage to 3 different targets. Battlefield Experience reaches 5 damage total, and Primed Punch gets to 3 (although using primed punch with only the FCB out is no more useful than simply Energy Lancing for 3). The FCB can also deal 4 and destroy itself, bringing in another equipment card in the process. This is usually only worth doing if you have another FCB (Or a Prototype Servo-Guantlet) sitting in your hand, or you need the one extra damage, or both.
Prototype Servo-Guantlet is equally as useful, but you only have two copies as opposed to four. It gives you a great baseline ability (deal 3 melee and maybe take out an ongoing), and boosts up the aforementioned Amplified Combatant, Primed Punch, and Battlefield Experience. It also boosts Wrecking Uppercut, which itself is a very “meh” card, but has some potential with the right support. Obviously, the best situation is getting both the Gauntlet and the Blade out at the same time, but this is difficult to accomplish. If you can get it though, you're set.
Several of K.N.Y.F.E.'s other damaging cards warrant further discussion. Amplified Combatant, if you can get a universal damage boost (most easily with Legacy, but there are other ways too), becomes very threatening, able to deal 4 damage to 3 targets. Combine that with the PSG or the FCB, and it becomes 5. Primed Punch works the same way, but only affects one target. However, the ability to whack something for four melee at the start of your turn is also very alluring. The problem with Primed Punch, obviously, is the delay between playing it and it being able to reach it's full potential, and you can't cheat it into play with FCB either. Sadly, this otherwise decent card is rarely worth your play phase, unless you do already have a universal damage boost. Wrecking Uppercut is really not that good, especially compared to your other one shots, but if you have nothing else to use, there are worse things than dealing 3 damage. This card also combos well with the likes of Visionary, Parse, and anyone else who can notify you as to what the top card of the villain deck is. Just be careful; this is a very bad card to play against certain villains, such as Baron Blade, Citizen Dawn, The Ennead, and Friction.
Battlefield Experience is an amazing card. With either of your self-boost cards, it deals 5 damage, and with a universal one it does 6. It's a shame you can't just leave it in play and use it continuously, but at least it lets you replace it when it leaves. With this card, you have to potential to play two damaging one-shots and a damaging power all on one turn. These are the situations where K.N.Y.F.E. Is actually able to deal even more than Haka.
Also in the vein of playing more cards are Overdo It and For the Greater Good. Overdo It relies on team support to be any real use; K.N.Y.F.E. Really doesn't have reliable card draw, so Overdoing It will burn through your hand and your HP too quickly to really be useful (not to mention the fact that you need to wait a turn to use the effect). However, do note that Overdo It allows you to play a Primed Punch and detonate it right away, which can be effective in the right circumstances. On the other hand, For the Greater Good is extremely useful, as a one time 3 HP loss is not terrible, and you essentially get a double turn from it. One suggestion from personal experience though: don't destroy your Focusing Conduit-Blade without something in your hand to replace it just because you happen to have a bonus power phase.
K.N.Y.F.E.'s attack power is rounded out with Flawless Execution and Kinetic Neutralizer. Flawless Execution is one of those lousy cards that actually becomes useful sometimes. It is situational, and even when it works it only increases your damage by one, but thatnks to K.N.Y.F.E.'s tendency to deal damage in short bursts, Flawless Execution might become more relevant than you would expect. Kinetic Neutralizer is pretty useful. Combine it with FCB and Energy Burn and you can whack the Villain Character card for 9 damage, 12 counting your power phase. That's powerful.
Defense:
Two cards here, rounding out K.N.Y.F.E.'s deck. Overcharged Null-Shield gives cover against the Villain his/herself, which ranges from really useful (the Matriarch) to really useless (Omnitron). The secondary power is a weak one, but you might find yourself forced to use it anyway, thanks to K.N.Y.F.E.'s total lack of other draw. Infiltrate and Obfuscate is another card that varies in usefulness; on the Mobile Defense Platform, it's great, but on the Wagner Mars Base, it's worthless. However, considering that K.N.Y.F.E.'s HP is pretty high, one or both of these defense cards will help keep her a sustainable damage-dealer.
Weaknesses:
The biggest problems K.N.Y.F.E. Runs into is a lack of card draw. If the villain forces you to discard something, you're in trouble. Using your FCB's second ability will deplete your hand as well. Think Expatriette's card problems on steroids. If you want K.N.Y.F.E. To remain useful throughout the game, you must have someone giving her cards. K.N.Y.F.E. Also struggles with “Powerful one turn, useless the next” syndrome. Often, after executing a major attack, she won't have anything left and will have to resort to her base power the next turn. K.N.Y.F.E. Is also very susceptible to armor, as her attacks usually come in separate parts.
Teamups: Legacy is K.N.Y.F.E.'s best friend, being able to turn her double-strike attacks into monsters. Visionary is great, as she can reliably give K.N.Y.F.E. More cards when necessary, and Twist the Ether can boost K.N.Y.F.E.'s power AND change it to the type that's most advantageous to you (like changing a melee attack to energy while you have the FCB out). The Argent Adept can do both, making him the ultimate K.N.Y.F.E. Support.