The Knell Prime is an unusual MR14 Secondary. Harrow Prime's signature Pistol, it transforms from a mediocre one-shot to a formidable Full-Auto weapon upon achieving headshots. With additional stat improvements from landing headshots, it possesses exceptional firepower when used correctly, but offers very little if not.
Acquisition
Stats
The Knell Prime is clearly an excellent Crit weapon, 40% Crit Chance being exceptionally high. 10% Status Chance isn't great, but this is largely remediated by other aspects. A very high base Damage is unfortunately split primarily into Impact and Puncture, with very little Slash to speak of.
A single-shot magazine and a 2 second Reload initially seems very poor, and indeed can be quite punishing if not used correctly. The trigger type (Auto) and the fire mode description (Semi) seem at odds with each other, though this makes much more sense with the KnellP's unique feature.
As mentioned previously, the KnellP is greatly improved upon landing a headshot. Each headshot grants a stack of the unique "Death Knell" buff, which lasts for 2 seconds per stack, to a maximum of 3 stacks, which can be refreshed while active. Each stack grants an additive +0.5x Crit Multiplier and +20% Status Chance, applying after all mods. Additionally, while Death Knell is active, the KnellP does not consume ammo.
This feature makes the KnellP a very polarising weapon. Before landing a headshot, it is extremely inefficient as it is not notably strong for a single-shot weapon, and has no AoE. After landing headshots however, it becomes an extremely strong Full-Auto weapon.
The KnellP is unusual in that it is one of the few Secondaries with a scope. It is very accurate when aimed in, though this accuracy degrades in sustained fire. Note that though the bonus appears in the scope, you do not need to be aimed in to benefit from Death Knell.
When wielded by Harrow (Prime), the KnellP gets an additional shot in its magazine. This makes landing the first headshot much more forgiving, since you are not punished with a reload for every single miss (just every second). Note that it has a very small spare ammo count of 10.
Augments
None.
Builds
NOTE: Overframe.gg does not currently have an option to emulate Death Knell's infinite ammo, so all Burst DPS numbers should be multiplied by Fire Rate for actual DPS. Unfortunately, this also does not include the Death Knell +Crit Damage or +Status Chance bonuses either.
Basic 0-Forma:
The Knell Prime has two innate V polarities which are very helpful. This pictured basic build has all the essentials with 4 spare capacity - depending on the mods you have available, you may need that capacity to fit in elemental mods. The 60/60 mods can be more difficult to acquire (Electric ones especially), necessitating the use of the higher drain 90% elementals.
Multishot is especially valuable on the KnellP. Each pellet landing a headshots counts towards a stack of Death Knell, so added Multishot allows it to gain multiple stacks with a single shot.
The usual elemental combos are up for consideration. Viral is the standard go-to, with a near-universally useful proc. Corrosive is stronger against Ferrite-armoured enemies in particular, as well as having a better multiplier against most heavier Infested units. Radiation is good against Alloy-armoured enemies. Toxin is a strong option against unarmoured Corpus, as it bypasses their Shields entirely and strikes at their often weak Health.
Recommended Setups: Viral vs everything, Corrosive vs Ferrite-armour, Infested, Radiation vs Alloy-armour, Toxin vs Corpus
Primed Crit 1-Forma:
Only one added V polarity is needed to comfortably upgrade both standard Crit mods to their Primed versions, for significantly more damage.
Recommended Setups: see above.
Primed Heated Charge 3-Forma:
A few more Forma are needed to fit an eighth mod in, with the best polarities depending on which mod(s) you intend to use. This pictured build slots in Primed Heated Charge for a massive damage boost. Other elemental setups are also worth considering for various targets.
Viral + Heat is the most common catch-all elemental setup. It is effective against almost all targets, Viral procs drastically increasing damage dealt to Health, with Heat weakening armour and dealing solid damage-over-time. Corrosive + Heat has stronger multipliers against the Infested, especially the Viral-proc-immune ones on the Cambion Drift. Radiation + Toxin is a nice catch-all against the Corpus. Most of their armoured units use Alloy-armour (weak to Radiation), while Toxin bypasses Shields entirely.
Magnum Force and Augur Pact are generic +Damage options, though their value drops dramatically once Galvanised mods and Arcanes are included. A (Primed) Expel mod is a very strong multiplier against the right faction, but of course are expensive to max and tedious to switch around. The conditional Crit from Hydraulic Crosshairs and Sharpened Bullets can be nice buffs. Thanks to Death Knell's additive +Crit Damage, the former is much stronger of the two.
If missed first shots are a concern, you can slot in Primed Slip Magazine for a second shot per magazine, minimising the punishment for missing the first headshot.
As always, I am a big fan of Seeker for Punch-Through. For single-target weapons like the KnellP, Punch-Through adds a degree of anti-crowd capability, potentially damaging multiple enemies if they are lined up. This is especially useful here as it gives more opportunities to potentially land a headshot and kickstart the Death Knell buff.
The Exilus slot is an odd one to fill. Steady Hands is probably the best option so as to minimise recoil, though I find the KnellP's recoil relatively low anyway. Suppress can be neat for keeping enemy alertness down, or if being used by Ivara.
Recommended Setups: Viral + Heat vs everything, Corrosive + Heat vs Infested, Radiation + Toxin vs Corpus
Galvanised Build and Arcane
Galvanised Diffusion is always amazing, but has a specific notable advantage on the Knell Prime. At 3 or 4 stacks alone, it guarantees firing at least 3 pellets. Alongside Lethal Torrent, it just needs 1 stack. On a headshot, this will instantly max out the KnellP's headshot stacks for maximum firepower. The standard Barrel Diffusion + Lethal Torrent combo only has an 80% chance for the third pellet.
Galvanised Shot is a strong option. Though the KnellP's base Status Chance is unexceptional at 10%, its headshot stack bonus maxes out at an additive +60% Status Chance, which results in very reliable Status procs. With all three physical damage types as well as whatever elements you mod on, Galv Shot can easily provide a +Damage bonus well beyond that of Hornet Strike. A decent Fire Rate minimises the ramp-up time of inflicting procs for maximum damage.
Galvanised Crosshairs is also a really solid option. The KnellP already wants to be landing headshots regularly, so can stack Galv Crosshairs easily at the same time. The massive Crit Chance bonus it offers is a major damage increase so long as you stay zoomed in. It can be used alongside or even instead of Primed Pistol Gambit.
In the same vein, Deadhead is a great Arcane choice, stacking from and further enhancing headshots. The Recoil reduction can help to stay on targets and keep control, though I don't find it to be a big deal. Inability to get stacks from kills from damage-over-time procs is annoying, but not a dealbreaker in my opinion. Merciless makes missed first shots a little more forgiving with its increased Reload Speed, but stacks up slower and decays faster.
My Build
Combat Use and Summary
As mentioned previously, the effectiveness of the Knell Prime banks entirely on landing headshots. Without them, it is an extremely slow, inefficient weapon. After landing headshots, it transforms into one of the strongest single-target Secondaries in the game, with incredible Crit, very good Status Chance and high damage-per-shot. Its Burst DPS is incredibly high especially with the Death Knell +Crit Damage buff included, making it extremely effective against unarmoured and Status-immune heavy enemies, provided you can keep landing headshots.
The additive +Status Chance from Death Knell is also a great help against heavily armoured enemies. It bypasses the otherwise unimpressive base 10% Status Chance, and though the KnellP's Slash bias is quite low, it can still inflict a lot of other procs. Of note, Viral/Corrosive/Heat significantly weaken heavily armoured enemies, and Heat can stack up some very impressive damage-over-time. This is especially true coming from the KnellP's very high DPS.
Still being a single-target weapon however, the KnellP is not notably good against groups. It has no AoE, nor innate Punch-Through. Infinite ammo with Death Knell and a Full-Auto trigger do help, as it effortlessly kills weak enemies, but it does not kill large, spread out groups anywhere near as fast as more popular crowd-clearer weapons.
Beyond its unique bonus when wielded by Harrow, the Knell (Prime) synergises especially well with his abilities. Condemn (1) makes landing headshots much easier, while Thurible (3) and Covenant (4) benefit greatly from landing headshots. The Penance (2) buffs both strengthen the Knell (Prime), and minimise its flaws (primarily its Reload Speed). Harrow's other signature weapon, Scourge (Prime) also works extremely well as its Alternate Fire makes headshots extremely easy to land. This synergy of course extends to any other equipment that either makes headshots easier, or benefits from headshots.
Initial shots from the KnellP are quite accurate, especially when aimed in. Combined with the scope, this makes it one of the easier Secondaries to use at long range. This accuracy degrades with sustained fire after landing headshots.
Ammo concerns are quite unusual. If you land even a single headshot, it (temporarily) becomes a non-issue, and can easily get the kills needed to get ammo back. On the other hand, each missed shot is more significant than for most weapons, partly as the KnellP only has 10 spare ammo. Overall, I don't consider ammo to be a big issue, as all you need is a single headshot to snowball it into a massacre machine.
Overall, the Knell Prime is an unusual Secondary, that if used well is extremely potent. After landing headshots, it deals immense damage with great Status output, easily among the strongest Secondaries in the game. Without its Death Knell buff active however, it is little more than an inconvenient single-shot.
The Knell Prime is very well suited for players who like equipment that reward skill, or run equipment that make headshots easier. If you like either of these, I'd strongly recommend getting a KnellP. For the ordinary Warframe player however, it does not provide the low-effort, still-high-reward of more popular weapons.
Scores
Vs Variants
Competitors
There aren't many other weapons that rely almost entirely on headshots to be good.
The MR11 Dual Toxocyst is probably the most similar, being thoroughly underwhelming before a headshot, then getting +150% Fire Rate, reduced Recoil and no ammo consumption after. Between the two, I'd say that the KnellP is the superior weapon. Its headshot stacks grant additional Status Chance to minimise the difference between the two in that respect, while its Crit is far greater granting far, far higher damage output. The Dual Toxocyst's main advantage is that its 12 Mag Capacity means you don't have to reload after every missed shot.
The MR10 Athodai is also significantly improved from headshot kills, with +100% Fire Rate and no ammo consumption. It also has very good Crit to nearly compete with a buffed KnellP. However, where the KnellP relies entirely on headshots to be useful, the Athodai is still a decent weapon without them. On the other hand, where the KnellP is activated from just headshots, the Athodai specifically requires a headshot kill to activate.
Finally, the MR11 Zymos is another example of a weapon that is much stronger when landing headshots, though in a very different way. Instead of getting a duration-based weapon buff, Zymos headshots are simply far more powerful, explode and launch additional projectiles.
Rivens
Like the Scourge Prime, the Knell Prime has inherited the regular Knell's high 4/5 (1.25) Riven Disposition. I expect it to drop at least a little considering it is much better than the regular Knell, but not a lot. Though the KnellP possesses formidable firepower, it is only unlocked from landing a headshot which is not the playstyle of the typical Warframe player. Even when activated, it still remains a single-target weapon with no innate AoE capabilities.
+Damage/Multishot/Crit Chance/Crit Damage are the standard good stats, though the former is the weakest. +Crit Chance is the best of the four if not running Galv Crosshairs. +Elemental Damage can be useful for saving a mod slot, shifting damage biases or just getting more damage. +Faction Damage can be a strong multiplier especially of damage-over-time procs, most notable against the Grineer. +Fire Rate is a strict DPS increase after landing headshots. +Mag Capacity of high enough value (at least +50%) adds an extra shot to the magazine, which makes missed first shots much more forgiving. Similarly, +Reload Speed also lessens the impact of missed first shots. -Recoil can be useful if you struggle with it, though I'd suggest it is probably better to just have Steady Hands in the Exilus slot if need be. +Punch-Through is a great help against crowds, and increases the chance of any given shot landing a headshot.
-Impact/Puncture/Slash all have value. The former two are larger direct damage losses, but bias damage towards better procs (Slash and whatever is modded on), while the latter reduces chance of a good proc, but has the least effect on direct damage. -Status Chance is not abysmal due to the additive +Status Chance from headshots, but it is certainly not ideal. -Faction Damage to the weaker factions (Infested and Corpus) is often quite manageable, and of course has no impact on other enemies. -Mag Capacity has no effect at most values, though I don't know if having more than -50% does anything strange. -Ammo Max is not an issue if you land headshots at least somewhat reliably. +Recoil can be good if you handle recoil well, or alongside Steady Hands. -Zoom is great for close quarters.
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