A strong contender for most unplayable card in the game right now, at least if we're talking Hard/Expert. The upcoming Finn Edwards (who will have 4 Combat) may be able to use this card, especially since he will be very good at exhausting enemies first (which turns off Retaliate). But for Skids or Jenny, this is 100% unusable on anything but Easy, and even there it's unnecessarily dangerous and I would not recommend it. Obviously, Sefina can't even consider it.

(Update: Finn actually has 3 Combat. So I think this is pretty bad even for him.)

Although consistent +1 damage is one of the most desired traits in a weapon, the fact is that most enemies in this game don't have Retaliate. Given that Knuckleduster lacks a to-hit bonus, and that Rogues have low strength, using this card means subjecting yourself to a ton of unnecessary damage. You can evade and exhaust the enemy first to avoid this, but I really don't recommend this. Evading enemies and then fighting them is incredibly wasteful for any investigator not named Finn. Either just kill them or evade them, but don't waste actions doing both. Rogues have plenty of other weapons to pick over this.

This card continues a very weird trend in the design of Rogues where the class gets cards that don't remotely fit the investigators. Rogue weapons like Knuckleduster, Switchblade, and .41 Derringer all seem designed to work for investigators with really high strength. Except, you know, none of the Rogues actually have that, so Rogues are terrible with their own weapons. (In contrast, Survivor weapons like the Fire Axe and Baseball Bat are much more sensibly designed to work for low-strength investigators, so Survivors are actually good with them.)

Anyway, if you asked me to name the least useful card in the game right now, I think I might pick this one. Although, come to think of it, at least it doesn't cost 4 XP like the Springfield M1903 does. So maybe it's the only second-least useful card in the game. That's something.

It's not as bad as it looks, really.

Let me explain!

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class characters usually rely on maximized hit chances with lots of cash-money and cards committed to ensure success and high-profile results. You don't take a .41 Derringer or any of the other (Non Chicago Typewriter) weapons into a fight check without doing everything to ensure a successful check. If you want to do careless fight checks just 2 above the target then play a instead! attacks are all about doubling up and dealing big and powerful hits where only the fails your attack. On these attacks it really, really doesn't matter if the enemy gets buffed with Retaliate or not, it really doesn't.

Also, Retaliate gets shut off if the enemy is exhausted, in these circumstances Knuckleduster suddenly becomes a cheap shot weapon, Finn Edwards evades all the foes anyway, even if he doesn't immediately need to, quite often you'll find yourself Evading a foe, punching him once, then clearing out, then once that foe gets in your way again down the line he'll have some damage on him and be easier to kill.

Suffice to say that I've really changed my mind about this card after actually trying it. Don't be delusional though, Switchblade is still a far-superior "infinite" weapon.

Gotta say, this card is getting very appealing as a key first weapon in a Leo Anderson deck.

Leo starts with a good Fight value of 4 and will likely have at least one Beat Cop in his deck and hopefully out early, so that's Fight 5. Add a Guard Dog to that for a missed swing and you're doing damage anyway...and have a Survival Knife in the other hand and you're really starting to rock.

With a lot of enemies having a Fight of 2 or 3, even Leo and one Cop will give him a 5 vs. 3 test, and that's easily upped by getting Lone Wolf going with Keen Eye or Physical Training.

And when you get into big bosses, many have Retaliate anyway.

This is an underrated card....cheap as heck and a guaranteed 2 Damage with no ammo drawbacks.