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Model Number: CAMS-05 |
Pilot: Mask |
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Cost: 2000 Hp: 580 Transform: O Form Change: △ (Booster) |
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A transformable Mobile Suit designed for use in Space, deployed by the Capital Army. While the mass production Mack Knife uses mono-eye sensors, this model has been redesigned for use by Ace Pilots and has Twin Eye Sensors. It also wears the colors personally chosen by its pilot.
MS Form Ability Summary
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Ranged |
Armament |
Ammo |
DMG |
Notes |
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Main |
Beam Vulcan |
60 |
12 – 119 |
Shared ammo with MA Form. Reloads only when all ammo is expended |
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Charged Main |
Beam Vulcan (Focused) |
– |
120 |
One Shot Down. Charge gauge carries over to MA Form. |
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Charged Melee |
Photon Bomb |
1 per life |
160 ~ 231 |
Missiles with small explosions. Barara’s Assist fires another if active. |
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Sub |
Plasma Claw (Net) |
1 |
14 ~ 140 |
Puts up a net with its claws that stuns target upon hit. |
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Special Shooting |
Grenade Launcher |
2 |
35 ~ 140 |
2/5AC: Fires 4 grenades. |
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45 ~ 126 |
4/6AC: Spins sideway. |
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| 35 ~ 60 |
8AC: Propel forward |
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Special Melee |
Barara’s Mack Knife (Assist) |
100 |
– |
Initial input summons assist that attacks on command. |
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12 ~ 160 |
2/5BC: Fires Beam vulcan. |
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10 ~ 144 |
4/6BC: Fires a thin gerobi. |
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25 ~ 100 |
8BC: Fires 4 missiles. |
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140 ~ 202 |
CSB: Barara fires her own Photon missile in conjunction. |
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Burst Attack |
Plasma claw combo |
– |
281(F)/267(E)/267(S) |
ABC: Melee combo. |
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Full Salvo |
245(F)/245(E)/276(S) |
2ABC: Fires Beam Vulcans, Plasma Claw and missiles. |
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Unique Equipment |
Boosters |
– |
– |
Equipped during Burst, mobility up |
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Melee |
Input |
DMG |
Notes |
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5B |
5BBB |
203 |
Cartwheel down. Input A,8B or BC after the uppercut for the derivatives below. |
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5B(BB)~A |
129~207 |
Ends with Grenade Launcher, good for a quick down on your target. |
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5B(BB)~BC |
225~267 |
Plasma Claw punch, highest possible damage. Zero cut resistance and long animation. |
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8B |
8B |
179 |
Grapple into a multi-hit. Cartwheel down. |
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4B |
4BBB |
170 |
Knocks target away. |
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4B(B)~A |
129~173 |
Ends with Grenade Launcher, good for a quick down on your target. |
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4B(B)~BC |
225~249 |
Plasma Claw punch, highest possible damage. Zero cut resistance and long animation. |
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2B |
2B |
10 |
Anchor that pulls the target to Mack Knife. While slow, it has a long reach and a large hitbox. |
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CC8B |
CC8B~B |
130 |
Rushes towards the target in a barrel roll before meleeing. Has some degree of cut resistance. |
Cancel Routes:
MS Mode:
A: AC, BC
CSA: BC
8AC: A, AB, Any AC, any melee except CC8B
5AC: Main
5B, 4/6B melee string (before last hit): 2B
2B: Main, any AC, all melee except CC8B and 2B
MA Form Ability Summary
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Ranged |
Armament |
Ammo |
DMG |
Notes |
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Main |
Beam Vulcan |
60 |
12 – 119 |
Faster firing speed than MS form. |
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Charged Main |
Beam Vulcan (Focused) |
– |
120 |
Gauge carries over from MS form. |
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Charged Melee |
Photon Bomb |
1 per life |
231 |
Missiles with small explosion radius. Unlike CSA, charge counter does not carry over from either forms. |
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Sub |
Plasma Claw (Focused) |
2 |
120 |
Wide firing angle |
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Special Shooting |
Grenade Launcher |
2 |
120 |
Fires 2 grenades towards the sides. |
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Special Melee |
Barara’s Mack Knife (Assist) |
100 |
– |
Initial input summons assist that attacks on command. |
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12 ~ 160 |
2/5BC: Fires Beam vulcan. |
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10 ~ 144 |
4/6BC: Fires a thin gerobi. |
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25 ~ 100 |
8BC: Fires 4 missiles. |
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140 ~ 202 |
CSB: Barara fires her own Photon missile in conjunction. |
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Unique Equipment |
Boosters |
100 |
– |
Automatically equipped upon transformation, provides general mobility buff. Also equipped during Burst. |
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Melee |
Input |
DMG |
Notes |
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5B |
5B |
100 |
Slash-through. Can side step right after press B to return to MS Form safely. |
Cancel Routes:
MA Mode:
A; AB, AC, BC, B
AB: BC
AC: AB, B
Overview
The Mack Knife is a close-medium range suit that unfortunately is not even good at those very ranges compared to its peers. While its melee damage potential is high, the suit does not have plenty of opportunities to engage in melee. The Mack Knife is also rather dependent on its Assist to be useful and is gimped without it. The suit also has middling melee performance, and is mediocre in the way of self-defense. Couple that with a long Main reload time, stiff movement and very narrow firing angles, a Mack Knife without its assist is just a punching bag waiting to be exploited by higher cost units.
Overall, the Mack Knife is rather lackluster suit. While the individual tools themselves have their own strengths, the whole package does not synergize well with one another, making it awkward to use at times.
MS Form Ability Details
Ranged Weapons
Main: Beam Vulcan
Shares ammo with MS Form, and fires 4 shots per button press, up to a maximum of 12 shots if held. Staggers target on 4 hits tho needs 17 hits total for a Down. While the projectiles itself are tiny, the tracking is respectable and can easily catch unsuspecting opponents unawares. As it has a Beam property, it will be nullified by anti beam measures like ABC mantles.
Furthermore, the Beam Vulcan has a very narrow firing angle so take care not to accidentally Vernier when shooting at your opponents. If you have the Barara assist active, you can mitigate this with a freefall cancel. Lastly, due to its long reload time, ammo management is key when using the Mack Knife as being unable to use the main significantly reduces your ability to lay pressure on the opponent. Because the individual Down capability of this tool alone is low, be sure to utilise the AC and BC tools to quickly Down your target.
Charged Main: Beam Vulcan (Focused)
Fires a pair of beams. While its causes Vernier, it still inherits inertia from previous movement but slow startup. Forced Down only if both beams hit. As a single shot projectile, the general performance is admittedly low, however, as Mack Knife does not really have much variety in terms of ranged options, he will need to rely on this often to mitigate any ammo issues. Charge gauge carries over to MA Form.
Charged Melee: Photon Bomb
Fire 2 missiles consecutively from the peepee hip joint. Since the second shot is fired after a delay, cancelling too early will result in only one missile being fired. While range is short, the missiles have good tracking, do good damage and have a decently sized blast radius. If Barara Assist is active, she will also fire an additional two missiles. By utilising a prior assist command, it is possible to create a crossfire situation when using the Photon Torpedo.
Sub: Plasma Claw (Net)
Stands still and deploys 2 beam walls (5 beams per side) in a V shape forward; stuns target on contact. While the range itself is wide, Mack Knife has a blindspot in the middle and is completely motionless during the duration. Not recommended for catching landings as it relies heavily on the target walking into the net and will not actually hit the target where he lands. While you could land it against some unsuspecting targets, there are better tools in Mack Knife’s suite.
Special Shooting: Grenade Launcher
Fires grenades from legs. Shared ammo with MA Form. Reloads on empty, so use it up quickly if you want to have max ammo before engaging.
This weapon have 3 types of input:
1)2/5AC: Fires 4 grenades at target. Due to the fairly fast startup, this is the most recommended option for hit confirmation. This weapon will not be able to incur Forced Down on its own, but can be used for at short-ranges due to the fairly wide hitbox(es).
2)4/6AC: Spins sideways twice in the direction inputted while firing 4 grenades. While there is no tracking cut, the horizontal movement is enough to evade most incoming shots. Similar to 5AC, this is good for hitconfirming while also offering some degree of cut resistance. While the delay right after this command is short, this command has no cancel routes leading from it.
3)8AC: Fires grenades backwards to propel Mack Knife forward with the force of the recoil. Can cancel into any melee except CC8B after the jump, but does not cut tracking. Can be used to make an approach with minimal boost consumption. The grenades shot to the rear can indeed cause damage and may hit any poor soul that was behind the Mack Knife.
Special Melee: Barara’s Mack Knife (Assist)
Summons Babara’s Mack Knife as Assist which will follow you around. The assist WILL NOT make any move until a subsequent input is made, including CSB and 2ABC. It will also get stuck behind buildings, which in turn could be used as a tactic.
The initial summon causes Vernier, but any subsequent command can be done freely. Exceptions include CSB or 2ABC or an input after a turnaround shot.
This assist has 3 variations:
- 2/5BC: Barara’s Mack Knife fires its Beam Vulcans. Does 162 damage.
Fast startup, does the most damage. As the projectiles themselves are tiny, they can be used to catch a target off-guard. Any target that blocks this will also leave itself vulnerable to the player to loop around it for a follow-up attack. As the assist fires the vulcans from both its arms, the hitbox is fairly large as well. - 4/6BC: Fires two thin gerobi. Does 145 damage
While the gerobis themselves are fairly small, the actual projectile speed is fast making it sutiable for hit confirmation. Furthermore, provided the assist isn’t blocked by any obstacles, can also be used as an off-angle gerobi. Crossfire shenanigans are still applicable and this variation can also be used as a net of sorts to catch your target’s partner. - 8BC: Fires the grenade launchers. Does 108 damage.
Just like the player unit, Barara’s Mack Knife fires off 4 grenades at the target. Unlike the 5AC version, all 4 grenades fly straight at the target. While the startup is fast and has a short cooldown, the projectile speed itself is slow and has little tracking.
Passive: Boosters
Automatically equipped during Burst. Mobility and Boost Efficiency is improved for 20 seconds. In particular, the swivel speed is increased, not only for MA form but in MS form as well. While this does provide a clear buff to the Mack Knife, it is not one that the player has to save for critical moments as the buffs aren’t overly dramatic.
Melee Set
5BBBB: Plasma Claw Combo
4 stage melee combo with the plasma claw. While the performance of the melee is mediocre, you won’t be winning exchanges with higher cost suits with this.
5B(BB)~A: Grenade Launcher Finisher
Melee derivative that ends with a shot from the Grenade Launcher. Forced Down. Can be cancelled into Main after the second stage.
5B(BB)~BC: Charged Punch
*GRABS COLLAR*
Mack Knife grabs the target before executing a charged punch. Does big boy damage but has a long animation and no cut resistance. While it can be cancelled, due to the long animation, err on the side of caution before using this.
8B: Plasma Claw Pierce
Mack Knife pierces the target with the plasma claw before activating the built in beam emitters and slashing outwards. While decent to start combos with or or as a combo part for big damage combos, it offers zero cut resistance.
4BBB: Slash > Slash > X Slash
Combo starter with decent startup and hit box. Relatively high damage but nothing else too exemplary about this. As with the 5B melee string, it can be cancelled into both Grenade Launcher (A) and Charged Punch (BC) derivatives.
2B: Claw Anchor
An anchor move that rees the target towards the payer. While the anchor itself moves slower, this move retains inertia, has a longer range and has a bigger hitbox than the average anchor. Rainbow stepping from the anchor is also possible. Cancelable to any melee except CC8B.
However, the startup itself is slow and comparable to Mack Knife’s CSA, thus not as good as other anchors.
CC8B: Barrel Roll
Mack Knife does a barrel roll before ending it off with two kicks. Due to the motion of this move, it is possible to avoid beam rifle shots entirely by looping around the projectile. However, this only applies to shots that are fired prior to the CC8B input. Shots that are fired while Mack Knife is doing the motion is likely to hit.
The duration of the barrel roll motion is fixed, regardless of actual distance to the target. Due to this fixed duration, it is not recommended to use this to follow up after staggering a target as you might still be stuck doing the barrel animation even after the target has recovered. Use other options for followup and use this to initiate a chase instead.
Burst Attack
Plasma claw combo
ABC: Melee combo that flies high up into the air. Might miss if the target is close to a wall or edge of the battlefield. Very high cut resistance but very long duration. If you’re looking for quick damage, don’t use this. However, the long duration does lend itself well to delaying tactics.
Full Salvo
2ABC: Fires Beam Vulcans, Plasma Claw and missiles in all directions. If Assist is active and not in recovery downtime, Assist will perform the same action. While the startup is fast, Mack Knife is mostly stationary, and despite the barrage, can be nullified with a step. However, it can be absolutely devastating against targets not looking at you.
MA Form Ability Details
Main: Beam Vulcan
Unlike the MS form, this version has a wide firing angle at almost a 180 degree arc and also has faster firing speed than MS form. Shared ammo with MS Form.
Charged Main: Beam Vulcan (Focused)
Transforms back to MS Form, causes Vernier and fires a pair of beams, 60 damage if only 1 beam hit. Charge gauge carries over to/from MS Form. However, as this automatically transforms the Mack Knife, it’s best to release this early before it is fully charged if you have no intention of using this in MA form.
Charged Melee: Photon Bomb
Transforms back to MS and fires 2 missiles that have a small explosion on impact. If Assist is active, Assist will also fire together. Charge gauge is not carried over to/from MS Form.
Sub: Plasma Claw (Focused)
Fires a pair of beams from hands.
Special Shooting: Grenade Launcher
Fires 2 grenades towards the sides from each leg, which will then fly forward in a wide arc
Special Melee: Barara’s Mack Knife (Assist)
Summons Babara’s Mack Knife as Assist which will follow you around. The assist WILL NOT make any move until a subsequent input is made, including CSB and 2ABC. It will also get stuck behind buildings, which in turn could be used as a tactic.
The initial summon causes Vernier, but any subsequent command can be done freely. Exceptions include CSB or 2ABC or an input after a turnaround shot.
This assist has 3 variations:
- 2/5BC: Barara’s Mack Knife fires its Beam Vulcans. Does 162 damage.
Fast startup, does the most damage. As the projectiles themselves are tiny, they can be used to catch a target off-guard. Any target that blocks this will also leave itself vulnerable to the player to loop around it for a follow-up attack. As the assist fires the vulcans from both its arms, the hitbox is fairly large as well. - 4/6BC: Fires two thin gerobi. Does 145 damage
While the gerobis themselves are fairly small, the actual projectile speed is fast making it sutiable for hit confirmation. Furthermore, provided the assist isn’t blocked by any obstacles, can also be used as an off-angle gerobi. Crossfire shenanigans are still applicable and this variation can also be used as a net of sorts to catch your target’s partner. - 8BC: Fires the grenade launchers. Does 108 damage.
Just like the player unit, Barara’s Mack Knife fires off 4 grenades at the target. Unlike the 5AC version, all 4 grenades fly straight at the target. While the startup is fast and has a short cooldown, the projectile speed itself is slow and has little tracking.
Mask’s unit will do a summoning animation (does not cause vernier) during the initial BC, but additional commands using BC while the Assist is active will not cause vernier since Mask is in MA form anyway. Takes about 4 seconds less to reload during Burst.
Passive: Boosters
Automatically equipped during Burst. Mobility and Boost Efficiency is improved for 20 seconds. In particular, the swivel speed is increased, not only for MA form but in MS form as well. While this does provide a clear buff to the Mack Knife, it is not one that the player has to save for critical moments as the buffs aren’t overly dramatic.
Strategies
- Proper ammo management is key. The Mack Knife has plenty of weaknesses and its long Main reload time being one of them. Always ensure you have something to fire while your main is reloading. Even if CSA is mediocre at best, shooting something is better than nothing.
- Mack Knife has no business trying to engage in melee and its ranged options are hampered by its dependency on its assist. Pick your shots well and reserve your melee engagements to self-defense or in really desperate situations.
- When your assist is active, try to exploit it to create crossfire situations. Force an enemy to block evade your shots while at the same time utilizing the Assist to hit the target in his blind spot or vice versa.
- Keep close to your partner! A Mack Knife caught alone is usually easy pickings.