What is the best runner shell at using knife attacks?

I was debating this with a friend and we couldn't come up with a clear answer, would love to get some opinions from the community as to which runner shell is the most effective at going for knife kills. My thoughts are (in no particular order):

 

Assassin:

- Invisibility lets you get the jump on enemies. - Ult combined with invisibility in smoke gives you a huge advantage in knife fights. - However has no mobility enhancement, making it difficult to close the gap. - Gold core that gives increased melee damage out of invisibility is funny, but too rare to use regularly.

 

Destroyer:

- Riot shield, thrusters and super sprint let you close the gap easily, although thruster burns up a lot of heat and you might not have enough left to actually melee attack. - Melee enhancing core is blue and can be obtained regularly from the armory. - High base melee stat.

 

Vandal:

- Fastest sprint speed, can close the gap easily. - Enhanced slide can help gap close, although the delay after using it before you can attack is annoying. It's great for escaping after knifing your target though! - Best heat management ensures you can both close the gap AND have enough heat to stab away. - Double jump lets you close the gap vertically as well as horizontally. - Arm cannon can soften up targets before you push.

 

Sentinel:

- Highest base melee stat at 20, although this is kinda negligible when factoring in cradle and implant bonuses. - Scanner helps you locate enemies in melee range, even in smoke. - Snare mines can leave enemies helpless. - Ult can give you some confidence in knowing you won't get naded as you push, and combined with snare mines can force enemies to come to you.

 

Thief:

- Grappling hook grants incredible mobility, although it is very loud and difficult to control, I personally find it too unreliable to use for melee combat as it disables you for too long. For this reason the core that hacks targets on melee attack after grappling is kinda meh to me. - Visor lets you locate targets in smoke. - Greed is Good is a green tier core that enhances slide distance and sprint speed when backpack is full, great for mobility and easy to acquire.

 

Triage and Recon don't really have anything to bolster melee capability, although I guess you could argue that Recon ult lets you know exactly where enemies are so you can sprint in for the knife, and heat drone stops enemies from knifing back.