Vampire Knives

The Vampire Knives can be found in Crimson Chests in the Dungeon. Using it fires between 4 and 8 fast moving knife projectiles (average just under 5 projectiles). Knives 5-8 have 50%, 25%, 12.5%, and 6.25% chance to be thrown respectively.

In spite of their ranged nature, they are considered Melee Weapons. Unlike most other projectiles, the knives thrown from this weapon do not give way to gravity, but will instead simply start to spin, their damage reduced severely, and will dissipate a short time after initially being thrown. If you hit an enemy with one of the knives, you will get healed.

As of 1.2.0.3, the Vampire Knives have been reduced in effectiveness but are still generally considered one of the best melee weapons in the game.

Tips

 * You can increase the range at which the knives begin to spin by increasing melee attack speed.
 * This weapon is especially effective against bosses. With proper preparation, it is virtually impossible to die.
 * Armor that boosts melee power also effectively boosts defense - by increasing damage output, healing will be increased as well.
 * Using Flasks (especially the Flask of Ichor, which reduces enemy defense) greatly increases the effectiveness of this weapon.
 * For more fun, try to use Frost Armor with Magma Stone/Fire Gauntlets, and Flask of Cursed Flames all together.

Trivia

 * The Vampire Knives may alternately be a reference either to Dio Brando, a knife-throwing vampire who could stop time, or Sakuya Izayoi from Touhou Project. Sakuya serves a vampire, and can infinitely throw, recover, and re-throw the same knives thanks to stopping time, and the weapon's knives are fired in a wave pattern similar to Sakuya's knife-throwing pattern. Sakuya herself references Dio Brando through many abilities that are similar in name and function, so a reference to either can be interpreted as a reference to the other.