Understand Killing Blow
Useful when…
- Use on a melee weapon when heavy attacks are an important part of your combat approach.
- Rank it for a larger heavy-attack damage bonus and faster heavy-attack wind up.
Heavy-attack effects
At rank 0, Killing Blow gives +20% melee damage on heavy attack and +10% heavy-attack wind-up speed. At rank 3, those values are +80% and +40%; at rank 5, +120% and +60%. Both listed bonuses apply to heavy attacks.
Slot and investment
This is an Uncommon standard melee mod with Madurai polarity, 6 base drain, and maximum rank 5. It occupies a standard slot. The supplied rank steps cost 20 Endo and 966 Credits from rank 0 to 1, 80 and 3,864 from rank 2 to 3, and 320 and 15,456 from rank 4 to 5. The later listed step costs increase substantially, so weigh the additional heavy-attack bonuses against the drain and fusion cost.
Related melee options
Amalgam Organ Shatter and Melee Elementalist each list +60% heavy-attack wind-up speed alongside a different additional effect: critical damage or status damage, respectively. Berserker Fury instead grants attack speed on melee kills, stacking up to twice. These effects serve different build priorities and do not make Killing Blow's heavy-attack damage bonus interchangeable.
Listed sources
The listed sources include multiple Seeker types and other named enemies; Lt Lech Kril is shown at 22.92%, while other listed sources have different chances. The provided details also list Duviri/Endless Normal Tiers 1 and 3 at 0.67%.
Limitations and tradeoffs
- The listed damage bonus is limited to heavy attacks.
- Higher ranks increase the bonuses but require more fusion resources and mod capacity.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Do not count its damage bonus on ordinary melee attacks; the text specifies heavy attacks.
- Do not overlook the sharp increase in the listed cost for the rank 4 to 5 step.