Summary
One of the best ways to liven up your gameplay experience across various titles and genres is bypurchasing weapon skins. InValorant, melee and knife skins specifically go all out and stretch the boundaries for what quality cosmetics can look like.
You have the chance for knife skins to appear in your Valorant store daily. The best ones combine sound design, popping color palettes, and intricate animations in ways that set them apart from others in the collection pool. In some situations, the knife is the best weapon for the job.
Updated on July 30, 2025 by Daniyal Sultan Malik:Valorant continues adding knife skins that push the envelope, setting a new standard for future releases. The cosmetic options for your melee are far more than any other weapon in the game, and Riot doesn’t make it easier by introducing new archetypes to the collection, like gauntlets, swords, kunai, and more. This update takes a look at these new skins while also revisiting a few classics.
All knife skins in Valorant are purely cosmetic, meaning that purchasing these skins will offer you no competitive advantage. Even though some of these knife skins transform your melee weapon into a sword or staff, everyone in the game will still have the same melee range and deal the same amount of damage.
22Waveform
Edition: Exclusive
For RGB enthusiasts, the Spectrum Collection has undoubtedly been the go-to choice. The Waveform knife, although expensive,perfectly captures the collection’s vibe and aesthetics, maintaining thatsignature RGB glow and amazing inspect animation. Despite being old at this point, it also features one of the most unique and satisfying pull-out animations in Valorant.
The Waveform’s only minor drawback, aside from its price, is itsalmost unnatural feel. When you attack someone with a giant sword-like melee, you want to feel some substantial feedback. Unfortunately, the knife, similar to the other guns in its collection,acts extremely lightweight, which feels somewhat off-puttingwhen you consider its general shape.
21Arcane Gauntlets
Each item in the Arcane Collection, old and new,goes the extra mile to distinguish itself, and these gauntlets are no different. They are perhaps the only knife skin in the game whichfeels like they would do more damage than your primary weapons.
Theirindustrial look, sound, and animation trump the Magepunk knife skins, and the fact they slide so naturally onto each agent’s character model is so satisfying. Keeping with the Arcane tradition, though,the Arcane Gauntlets don’t have any variants, so it may be a dealbreaker for some.
20Champions 2024 Blade
Apart from the Champions 2022 butterfly knife, prior Champions melee skins have felt somewhat underwhelming — until now. The Champions 2024 Blade sets a new standard,surpassing even the beloved RGX 11Z Pro Bladeas the best sword-like skin in Valorant. Itspull-out and inspection animations are extraordinarily clean, complemented by several unique and well-detailed features.
Like the Champions 2024 Phantom, the blade goes over the top with the iconic Champions glow, making it stand out the way it should. Thespinning gem underneath the blade adds a dynamic aspectno previous Champions knife has. However, the highlight is definitely theheavy, cybernetic sound after each swing that synchronizes the entire package.
19Blade Of Chaos
In the ‘big knife’ category, the only skin to rival and even surpass the Ruined King Blade and Blade of Aemondir is the Blade of Chaos. Not only is it part of a fantastic collection, but it’s alsoone of the few skins with enough detail to justify the price. Essentially an upgraded version of the Crucible fromDoom Eternal, itbrings extra flair to an established concept.
Itspunchy sounds and fluid animations are top-notch, but the main reason you’ll enjoy this skin is the dynamic lightning effect along the blade’s edges, which shifts colors as you move. Plus,every variant maintains the same vibrant aura, ensuring you always have competent alternatives in case you get bored.
18Power Fist
The Power Fist knife skins are three distinctive cosmetics,each with a different video game inspiration. The skin itself is made up of a handheld gaming system that attaches to the user’s fist, complete withdifferent animations depending on which game you selected.
For example, the purple fist is inspired by classic games such as Dance Dance Revolution, while the orange fist draws inspiration from different arcade fighting series. While this skin iscertainly incredible and has a plethora of unique animations for each renditionof the skin, the Power Fist isincredibly expensive, so only purchase this cosmetic if you are sure that you genuinely like it.
17Radiant Crisis 001 Baseball Bat
Perhapsone of the most unique melee weapons in the entire gameis the Radiant Crisis 001 Baseball Bat, as it is decorated with a unique shading gradient thatmakes the weapon look like it came straight out of a comic book. This metal bat is also equipped with unique animations, that decorate the screen with comic book quips whenever you swing the weapon.
Finally, all the Radiant Crisis skins havea unique kill animation that sends the recipient flying into the airin an explosion of comical colors and effects. While thismay not be the most serious skin on the marketplace, you may pick it up whenever the bat pops up in your store.
16Soulstrife Scythe
Edition: Premium
The Soulstrife Scythe is the only scythe available at the Premium tier in Valorant. It immediatelyenters the top ten based on novelty alone, even if it didn’t look as clean as it does. Thecolor scheme and sound effects are the best parts.
This scythe is black and gray; if you’re a sucker for neutral colors, this is the skin for you. On top of its design, theghostly noises it makes when you slash and inspect itsounds as if the scythe is imbued with dark energy and the lives of those it has slain.
15Valorant Go! Vol. 1
The Valorant Go! Vol. 1 knife is thefirst kunai-like skin in the game, earning it a top spot in the pool of melee cosmetics. Because there’s only one type of this skin at this price point in the game, it hasexclusive animations that you won’t find on other knives.
The knife itself is adeep blue color featuring Jett utilizing her Updraft ability. The skin closely represents a kunai but with slight differences. The Valorant Go! Vol. 1 bundle,released in February 2021, is full of cosmetics showcasing afew different agents.
14Ion Karambit
This futuristic karambit gives you the power to summon robots onto the map, fully equipped with utility and rifles. Just kidding, butit does look quite nice. The Ion Karambit made its anticipated debut with therelease of the second Ion collection in October 2022.
The original colorway isprimarily white with black accents. The variants come in green, orange, and blue colorways. You can inspect the knife to spin it around in your hands. It looks incredible, and theattack animations leave behind a satisfying trail of polygonal shapes.
13RGX 11Z Pro Firefly
The RGX 11Z Pro Firefly is the knife skinfrom the second RGX Pro bundle released in April 2022. It’s the successor of the RGX 11Z Pro Blade but shares some of the same characteristics that made thefirst go-around of these skins so successful and captivating.
The Pro Firefly is a butterfly knife withRGB colorways that change and randomize if you inspect itwhile it’s in your hand. At the cost of Radianite Points, this knife skin animation combines its RGB colors, creating amesmerizing rainbow effect all in the palm of your hand.
