Introduced in Build 65, the Knight was implemented in the game to be the most resilient class, with incredibly high Defense and low Speed. Like the Warrior, he was equipped with a sword, a shield, and heavy armor. The shield originally did nothing but provide a DEF boost. In Build 96, the Knight was given access to the MP and Wisdom stats with which to use the newly implemented shield bash ability. Build 97 gave Warrior his own unique ability, making the shield exclusive to the Knight. In Build 113, his base DEF stat cap was nerfed slightly, to the cap it stands today. In that same build, the Knight’s graphics were altered slightly to reflect his use of the shield.
Today, the Knight is commonly thought of as one of the strongest classes in the game, owed to the fact he can possess the highest natural defense stat of all classes. Knight is a short range attacker, relying on his high defense stat and his equipment to make it easier to get close to enemies. The Knight also possesses strong burst damage with his shield, to compensate for the lack of being able to buff his own DPS with the sword. To unlock Knight, reach level 20 with Warrior. You can find his stat gains, caps, and averages here.
The most exceptional stat Knight possesses is a defense cap of 40, and this DEF cap is exclusive to the Knight. Knight’s higher natural DEF stat allows him to tank heavy damage that would make even a Warrior flee to safety. In addition, like the Warrior, he has a high vitality cap of 75 and shares the highest health capacity of 675 (average) and 770 (cap) before additional bonuses. The former provides Knight with high health regen even without a pet, and his health capacity gives him superb survivability with the combination of his high DEF. However, his other stats are not particularly noteworthy; his attack, speed, dexterity, and wisdom all cap at 50. Knight’s stats and equipment make him one of (if not the) most resilient classes in the game. Keep in mind, DEF will only block up to 90% damage of any single shot. This means that each shot will still do at least 10% of its damage. A high DEF does not equal invincibility.
The Knight’s weapon of choice is the sword. Swords provide high damage output, but have a very short range. The Knight’s high defense and stunning ability makes sword range much less problematic for Knight than it would be for Warrior or Paladin. You may want to refer to this guide for a more comprehensive comparison of all the practical swords available.
The Sword of Acclaim (Acclaim), Sword of Splendor (Splendor) and Sword of Majesty (Majesty) are the main weapons for the Knight. They provide very high damage output at the cost of a 3.5 tile range. These swords should be the go-to weapons for high damage output at a reasonable range. The Sword of Splendor and Sword of Majesty, dropping from endgame bosses (Void Entity and Oryx 3), provide a bit higher DPS than the Acclaim, but are extremely rare due to the difficulty in acquiring it. Majesty is also soulbound, meaning you can only acquire it by fighting Oryx the Mad God 3 himself.
The Crystal Sword (CSword) has its nice uses for the Knight. The extra range of 4.5 tiles allows the Knight to hit an enemy without getting too close to it, which can be useful when the Knight is unable to use his shield. The Crystal Sword is great against dungeon bosses in certain phases, and can be used for mob control. This should be considered for the Knight’s arsenal as well, as it has several practical uses, although its DPS is much lower than that of a tiered sword. This sword can be dropped by the Crystal Prisoner.
The Demon Blade (DBlade) from Archdemon Malphas is an awesome sword on the Knight. This should be your main weapon if you’re concerned about damage per second. Although each individual shot is weaker than the CSword, it fires two shots spread out at a 40° angle. This sword can outdamage most other swords if you can get both shots to hit. But its dual shot nature means that it will be more affected by enemy defense than other swords. While its “true” range is only 1.37 tiles, Knight is the best equipped class for getting close to enemies and is thus the ideal class to use this sword. This sword can be found in the Abyss of Demons.
The Ancient Stone Sword (A.S.S.) is an in-between of tiered swords and the CSword. It does the second most damage of any sword, has a lower rate of fire, and has a range of 4 tiles, longer than tiered swords but lower than CSword. The Stone Sword does not do more DPS than the Acclaim does in most situations. However, it still has a great utility by quickly dealing damage to a boss, with a few high-power shots, and rushing back. It is therefore best to use this sword when a boss has several enemies surrounding them dealing high damage, or if it is almost impossible to stay near a boss without taking a lot of damage. While this sword works very well for a Warrior, the same can not be said for the Knight; Knights usually have a high enough defense and have the ability to stun enemies, making the extra half-tile range afforded by the A.S.S. less advantageous. On the other hand, the sword is powerful enough to sometimes kill certain smaller enemies in a single hit that would otherwise survive a hit from a tiered sword. This sword is dropped by the Stone Guardians.
The Pirate King’s Cutlass is dropped by Jon Bilgewater. It boasts a higher rate of fire and high projectile speed as well as a SPD boost, in exchange for a small DEF reduction and lowered base damage. The Cutlass is strong on Knight, outdamaging the Acclaim until 93 DEF and the Splendor until 70 DEF. Note, however, that along with the range being reduced to 3.3 tiles, the kiting range of this sword is also hampered because the projectile speed is significantly increased. The -2 DEF penalty is of little concern for Knight in particular, given his high natural DEF.
The Pixie-Enchanted Sword (Pixie) is very similar to the DBlade. It fires a narrow spread of four pink bolts with a true range of 1.87 tiles, slightly longer than the DBlade. In addition, with a maximum range of 4.55 tiles, the Pixie has the longest range of all swords. This sword is extremely effective at killing crowded enemies and the range helps it to clear a lot of enemies at a certain distance; it is also a great weapon for killing gods in the godlands. It is also more powerful than the Demon Blade against enemies up to 3 defense. However, because this sword fires four shots, it is more affected by enemy DEF than other swords; the Demon Blade will very quickly become more powerful as DEF adds up. A tiered Sword would be more preferable for DPS against enemies with above 40 DEF. This sword pairs very well with the Shield of Ogmur.
The Sword of the Colossus (Colo Sword) is a unique sword acquired as a rare drop from the Marble Colossus. This sword has a 4.5 tile range and an extremely high base damage, outdamaging all tiered swords and many other untiered swords with few exceptions. However, the shots of the sword curve outwards and inwards before truing up at the end of the range. This makes it much more difficult to hit shots in the middle of its range; the shots may simply move around the enemy if you aim directly toward them. This sword takes time to master, but its high DPS and longer range over a tiered sword makes mastering it worthwhile.
Oryx’s Greatsword (Greatsword) is a unique sword that is dropped by Oryx 2. The Greatsword is part of a new ST set for Knight - the Oryx’s Battle Attires set. This is currently the only sword with the ability to armor pierce enemies, meaning it will do the same amount of damage regardless of enemy defense. However, it has a range of only 2.8 tiles, making it risky to use on any class except for the Knight. On a Knight, this sword will outdamage all other swords at 77 DEF.
Divinity, dropping from Oryx the Mad God 3, is (currently) the only sword that can hit multiple targets. Divinity also shoots out a series of Exalted Beams (each beam firing after 1 second) that ignores the defense of targets at the end of its range, dealing high damage. The sword also boasts a range of 4 tiles, which is higher than tiered swords. While the sword has a lower rate of fire of 60%, the highly damaging Exalted Beams compensate for this. Divinity also consistently beats out the Sword of Majesty, making it a straight upgrade to tiered swords.
When you use the Knight’s special ability, a wide shield slash bursts in the direction you aim. Anything hit by this will take damage and be stunned. The shield goes through obstacles and hits multiple enemies, and greatly boosts your Defense when worn. Tiered shields have a range of 3.2 tiles, so you need to be well within the range of a tiered sword in order for the shield bash to reach.
The shield can be used in two different ways. One way is using the damage to take out weaker enemies, and another is using the stun against stronger enemies. Higher tiered shields do more damage than lower tiers, but the stun duration is a consistent 3 seconds on all tiers. If a group of highland god minions come at you, one swipe of a Mithril Shield should be able to heavily damage them if not kill them outright. When a group of gods come at you from 2 directions, the shield can help you deal with them easily. By stunning one group of enemies, you can deal with a much smaller group of offensive gods. Stunning bosses is never a bad idea. However, stronger enemies may require knights to chainstun them. Having magic potions in your inventory is recommended, and so is having a decent magic healing pet.
Take note that not all enemies can be stunned. Please take this into caution and don’t stay too close to these enemies when using the shield.
As a shield’s tier increases, the stun damage increases and the DEF bonus is also increased. However, the mana cost is also higher. Stunning is the most important aspect of the shield; remember that the stun from the shield can go through trees, rocks, and even other enemies. Time your use of the shield carefully so you can keep an enemy stunned!
The Colossus Shield and the Shield of Orcish Reglia are the highest tiered shields. They deal the sixth and fourth most damage, respectively, and give a high Defense boost of 12 and 14 plus some extra HP and MP. They have a reasonable mana cost of 100 so you can use the shield almost three times without having to flee. This is all the time you and your group will need to do heavy damage to most bosses and events.
The Snakeskin Shield costs 100 MP, but deals lower damage than the Mithril Shield, and has a slightly narrower width of attack. What is unique is that it only gives a Defense boost of 7, but adds a Speed boost of 3, which is useful for knights who want a little extra SPD, or whose high DEF stats already reduce enemy shots to the minimum damage. This shield can be found in the Snake Pit.
The Shield of Ogmur (Ogmur) is perhaps the most peculiar shield of all. It is dropped rarely by the Lord of the Lost Lands. It deals the second most damage of any shield (second only to Champion’s Bastion), gives the second biggest passive DEF boost of 14, and an HP boost of 60. The attack costs 100 MP, the same as the Mith/Colo shields. The catch is that the shield doesn’t stun enemies, but it will reduce enemy DEF to 0 for 4 seconds instead. While the stun is the main aspect of the shield, this is particularly useful to Knights who use the Defense and HP boost, and/or want their group to deal extra damage to the enemy instead of stunning them. This shield is very useful if there is another Knight that can already reliably chainstun an enemy or boss. It is recommended to carry a shield that can stun, in addition to the Ogmur; a shot from Ogmur followed by a shot from Colo can deal tons of damage to any enemy, and it is useful to be able to stun and armor break enemies. The Shield of Ogmur is recommended on immune to stun enemies or moderate to high DEF such as Lord Ruthven, Oryx, or the Stone Guardians. It also goes well with the Pixie Enchanted Sword to deal the full catastrophic damage without suffering extreme DPS loss due to enemy DEF. Remember to be even more careful when using this shield than any other, since it lacks the stun. The Ogmur is an exceptionally rare item due to its status as a drop from an event boss.
The Spiteful Scutum (Scutum) is a rare drop from Janus the Doorwarden. This shield offers an extra second of stun, a slightly longer range that matches tiered swords, and armor piercing shots that do the same damage to enemies regardless of their defense. However, its actual damage is weaker than that of the Golden Shield, and it only fires two shots compared to the Mithril Shield’s 5 shots, requiring the user to aim the stun more precisely. This shield also gives a DEF boost of 10 as well as smaller stat boosts of +2 to ATT and SPD. This shield is ideal for Knights who prioritize stunning above damage, but beware: it has a cooldown of 1.5 seconds between uses.
The Shield of Flowing Clarity (Clarity) used to be a limited availability shield from the Decaract, the final boss of the seasonal event dungeon Mad God Mayhem, but was then added as a drop from the Fountain Spirit, meaning that it is no longer a limited availability item. This shield provides the best passive DEF boost of all shields, at +17. This shield, like most untiered shields, lacks the ability to stun enemies. However, the shots will slow enemies for 4 seconds. The ability to slow enemies provides Knight with another practical (if rare) use. However, the +17 DEF boost is somewhat gimmicky when other shields are not that far behind in terms of DEF boosts.
The Champion’s Bastion (Bastion) is the ST shield for Knight. It has the highest burst damage of any shield in the game. However, its stun duration is much shorter, at 1.5 seconds. This shield does have another use: it boosts the user’s DEF by 15 for 2.5 seconds, which pairs nicely with the entire ST set but is gimmicky when paired with other equips that provide high DEF. Because of its very short stun duration, it is very costly or even impossible to chainstun with this shield, but it is slightly less costly to sustain the DEF boost. This shield is rarely dropped by Oryx 2.
The Brutal Buckler (Buckler) shield can do insane damage, gives +4 ATT, and a slightly longer range, at the cost of no stun, very high MP cost, and must be used at above 80% HP, making it slightly hard to use at its full potential. This shield should only be used when stun is not needed or the boss is immune to stun. To acquire this shield you must trade in 30 Shards of the Intern to the Tinkerer.
Oryx’s Escutcheon (Escutcheon) acts different from other shields. Instead of shooting out shots that stun enemies, the Escutcheon sends out a series of 3 consecutive exalted beams, dealing a high amount of damage that and ignores the defense of targets. The beams act as a sort of AOE attack similar to that of the Assassin’s poison, although more quickly and at reduced range. The shield also gives a nice +7 SPD and +10 DEF, which further boosts the Knight’s survivability. The Exalted Beams still stun, albeit for a shorter length then most other shields at 1.2 seconds per beam. This shield could be considered an alternative to the Brutal Buckler, as its AOE attack still hits multiple targets and ignores enemies’ defense. The Escutcheon however also drops from Oryx the Mad God 3, a very difficult endgame boss fitting for such a powerful shield. Oryx’s Escutcheon should be used mostly to deal damage and not for stunning, due to it’s shorter stun time.
The Crystal Shield (CShield), dropping from the Crystal Worm Mother, is a powerful shield in the right hands, as it gives invunlerability, similar to the Seal of Blasphemous Prayer. However, this comes with a high mp cost of 75 mp per second, and a -30 SPD debuff when you hold down the ability key and let go of the ability key respectively, which cripples the Knight’s mobility. You also cannot recover MP while invulnerable, meaning that you cannot abuse Magic Potions or the Magic Heal Pet Ability in order to gain permanent invulnerability. This means you must take time to refill your MP in between usages. Note that you only get the second -30 SPD debuff when you let go of the ability key or swap shields, so you can hold down the ability key until you get to a comfortable place where you can let go of the key and recieve the debuff. Another thing to note is that while you are invulnerable to most damage, you are not immune to status effects. This includes Quiet, which will instantly remove invulnerability, meaning that you must avoid quieting attacks at all costs. Other status effects to avoid when using the Crystal Shield are Paralyze, which can leave you amidst many shots after losing the invulnerability if the Paralyze lasts long enough, and Bleeding, which still slowly drains you of your HP. The Crystal Shield also does not stun, meaning that it should purely be used as a swapout for invulnerability. Overall, this shield is powerful for staying invulnerable if used properly.
Knight is one of four classes to wear heavy armor, along with Warrior, Paladin, and Samurai. The heavy armor helps Knight greatly by further boosting his already high DEF. This high DEF allows Knight to shrug off damage from most swarm attacks and proceed to attack a boss directly. Many other armors available lack in defense but provide other benefits to compensate for this lack of defense. Unlike other heavy armor classes, Knight can afford to wear armor that lacks in defense, should they desire more DPS or HP capacity, owed to his naturally high DEF cap and the boost provided by his shield. Wearing armor that provides more defense than a tiered armor is unnecessary on a Knight, and you would likely be sacrificing the opportunity to better your survivability and/or DPS.
However high your DEF stat is, as said before, you will only block up to 90% of damage from any one shot, so a high DEF stat does not equal invincibility! That is why you should consider equipment that boosts your HP if your DEF stat is already very high, especially on a Knight.
The Acropolis Armor and Dominion Armor are the best tradable tiered heavy armors. They provide Knight with a substantial boost to his DEF stat, but provides no additional stat bonuses nor penalties. The Annihilation Armor is a small upgrade, providing +28 DEF, but is soulbound and can only be acquired by fighting in The Shatters or Oryx Sanctuary.
The Resurrected Warrior’s Armor is a rare armor that is most effective on Knights. The Resurrected Warrior’s Armor, often referred to as Resu, gives a paltry 17 Defense as opposed to 24 from the Acrop, but the Knight’s high DEF cap makes this loss less of an issue. Instead, Resu gives 150MP, meaning you will be able to use at least one extra stun. This means the Knight can deal damage safer and quicker than before. The +15 wis stat contributes to this, allowing for slightly quicker MP regeneration.
The Breastplate of New Life is a very rare but useful heavy armor that is dropped by the Marble Colossus. It provides a DEF bonus of only +14, but it provides a massive +160 to HP. Knight’s already high DEF cap makes him arguably the best class to use this armor, as he will be able to benefit from the HP boost with little downside. However, this is a very rare drop from an endgame-level boss, so be sure to not lose it.
Mercy’s Bane is an ST armor that is part of the aforementioned Oryx’s Battle Attires set. This armor provides a very low defense boost of +10, but it makes up for this by providing the wearer with bonuses of +7 to Attack and Dexterity, giving the wearer a DPS boost to a degree unmatched by any other armor. This armor is best worn by a Knight, since his higher DEF cap compensates for the lack of DEF from this armor.
The Gladiator Guard (GladGuard), dropping from Oryx the Mad God 3, is a straight upgrade to the Mercy’s Bane. While GladGuard loses both 2 ATT and 2 DEX, it compensates with an extra 10 DEF and 7 SPD, boasting roughly the same offensive stats as Mercy’s while also adding more survivability to the Knight. The 7 SPD especially helps with Knight’s low base 50 SPD. This armor is a solid choice for knight if you want survivability along with offense.
Knight is a class that has a high amount of defense, but he lacks statistically in his offensive stats compared to other classes. You should wear a ring that either boosts your offensive capabilities or your health capacity.
The tiered health rings are the best rings to use if you want to maximize your survivability as a Knight. The Ring of Exalted Health (ExaHP) and Ring of Unbound Health (UBHP) will boost your HP by 140 and 180, respectively. If you happen to have a Ring of Decades (Deca), the boost of +190 HP will let you fare a bit better than the UBHP; combine the Decades ring with the aforementioned Breastplate of New Life and Shield of Ogmur, and you will have a massive HP capacity of 1180, the highest HP capacity achievable without temporary boosts!
Wearing a tiered defense ring is not recommended on a Knight. As a class that can have well over 70 DEF even without a ring, a tiered DEF ring will do little to aid the Knight. Too high a DEF stat is less advantageous than it would be to simply wear an HP ring instead, because 70 DEF or more will already reduce the majority of the attacks Knight will sustain to very managable levels. This said, a DEF ring is simply not justifiable on a maxed Knight.
The Knight is, along with the Priest, one of the best users of the Sourcestone. With enough natural defense to spare, the Sourcestone, providing +110 HP, +110 MP, and +6 SPD, will boost the Knight’s survivability but more importantly allow for a greatly increased number of stuns (especially with strong Magic Heal) while also improving the Knight’s poor mobility. The additional mana allows for the Knight to use the strong damage of the shield as a secondary weapon rather than only as a disabling tool. This ring can also be used alongside the Breastplate of New Life for even more HP capacity.
The Forgotten Crown and the Magical Lodestone are great rings for boosting general DPS stats. The Forgotten Crown in particular may be a more beneficial choise, as the Knight already has high DEF, so getting more DEF from the Magical Lodestone won’t help as much. Although, the small SPD boost from the magical Lodestone is nice for increasing mobility.
The Exalted God’s Horn, while not a popular choice for melee classes due to them tanking more damage, the Knight’s high DEF and HP, along with the additional +140 HP and +5 DEF, can help him maintain the HP threshold of 90% for the +10 DEX boost from the horn, enabling him more DPS.
The Chancellor’s Cranium is a more popular choice for Knight. With its moderate +3 DEX, +6 DEF, and +120 HP boosts, it can help add to the Knight’s survivability. However, its true synergy with Knight comes with its proc that activates a highly damaging head given that the wearer tanks high damaging shots. This is excellent for the Knight as the class not only tanks a lot of shots, but can benefit from the DEF and especially the HP boosts from Cranium.
Knight’s high DEF cap makes him stand out by being able to take high-damage shots more safely. His high VIT and HP capacities maximize his chances of taking even less damage indirectly. In addition, Knight’s heavy armor affords him maximum survivability. For these reasons, the Knight is thought as the most resilient class, and should be at the front lines of the battlefield to take the heavy damage first.
Knight is capable of possessing the highest natural defense of all classes; with a Keychain Cutlass(+3), Shield of Flowing Clarity (+17), Candy-Coated Armor (+30), and a Ring of Unbound Defense (+10), Knight can possess 100 DEF without any temporary boosts. However, equipping your Knight for this high a DEF stat is very gimmicky; as said before, you should consider boosting your health capacity instead, as this will give you better odds at survival than simply having high DEF, in most circumstances.
With the potential to have very high DEF and an equally outstanding HP capacity, the Knight is one of the few classes that can tank Septavius’ ring nova and survive, and he is also the only class to be capable of that without the armored status effect (keep in mind that this is a dangerous and unnecessary feat to attempt and is only really performed to show off).
The Knight’s primary weakness is his short attack range, although his ability to stun enemies makes range less of an issue than for Warrior or Paladin. A fresh Knight has identical average stats to a fresh Warrior, and is relatively resilient and strong due to his equipment. However, other classes like Archer and Necromancer might fare better at farming stat potions because they have a long enough attack range to keep their distance from enemies, despite lacking in damage compared to a Knight. Like Warrior, a Knight should only be used to farm stat potions if the user is skilled and comfortable with the attack range. On the other hand, Knight’s stuns will ease a lot of the trouble in farming potions.
Knights are the bulkiest class of all, and wield powerful swords that can deal high damage. While his DPS lags behind many other classes against low defense enemies, he recovers his advantage against high defense enemies. Unfortunately, along with the Warrior, they share the lowest Speed and 2nd lowest Dexterity stats in the game. Also, the Knight lacks a healing ability. Bringing HP pots and MP pots with you is a good idea for a makeshift trip to the Nexus, and if you happen to have a healing pet, it will make things a lot easier and faster paced.
The Knight also benefits from Vital Combat as his high DEF requires more damage for the Combat Trigger and his 75 VIT makes the Combat Duration last for 3.4 seconds.
Because they have such high Defense and HP, Knights should always be at the front of the fight to tank hits for the more fragile classes. While one shot from a blue skull won’t hurt a maxed Defense Knight, unmaxed classes and mid-range fighters like the Huntress or the Assassin will suffer more greatly from the same attacks. When at full health, always consider the option of rushing to the boss and stunning it for damage. Make sure to watch out for the amount of minions protecting the boss, the terrain you are on, and of course if the boss itself is about to fire upon you.
Knights appreciate boosts from Warriors and Paladins, as he himself lacks this ability. Attack and Dexterity boosts help maximize the damage that he can do. Usually, experienced players will follow Knights when they rush. When in a large group, one stun will buy enough time to do heavy damage to bosses.
If the group is good enough or if there is another Knight around, using the Shield of Ogmur will increase the damage output on the target, making it faster to kill, thus increasing your group survival rate.
However good you may be at strafing and dodging, you are not invincible. Remember to dodge shots when you can, and be especially careful in dungeons where enemies can inflict armor-break. Never try to go in to stun a boss without full health and full magic points.
Knights are known for being able to rush through a crowd of minions without taking much damage. However, when going to attack a boss, always keep an eye on your health. While you are destroying the Cube God or Skull Shrine, their minions are still free to attack you, and their damage will add up quickly, minimal as it may be. The amount of minions might be high enough that they’ll fire a lot of shots onto a Knight before he has a chance to react to it. Choose your time to attack wisely, so that you can better survive as you swoop in to attack.
The most effective way to take out Cube Gods or Skull Shrines is to stun them and launch a barrage of sword hits. Unfortunately, getting close enough to stun can be tricky. The best time to charge at a boss is right after they use their attack. This is because their attacks have a cooldown before they can attack again. When you stun the boss, never think that you are safe from damage.
Once you use your shield, make sure you keep track of time. Each stun only lasts for 3 or 4 seconds depending on the shield you use. If you can’t land another stun before the last one expires, try to escape a half second before the stun expires, because that way, you can get away without being hit by the boss’s counterattack. If you don’t leave before the stun ends, because you are so close to the boss, you’ll take a shotgun to the face. If you have the slightest thought that you may have missed your stun, back away so that you don’t get hit by an attack when the enemy recovers from the stun. Better safe than dead!
Also remember when rushing into a Cube God or Skull Shrine to watch your HP and strafe left to right. If done correctly, the Cube or Skull will try to predict your movement but actually fire behind itself. One thing to do is never get over confident and never stop moving.
The Knight is a simple and straightforward character to use, who has plenty of defense to back himself up, and can deal truckloads of damage at a safe position after using his shield. For players who want a bulky character who leads the offensive, the Knight is a perfect choice for you.
