Guide to Dark-Knights by Birdman
Introduction:
Dark-knights are one of the most versatile and enjoyable classes in the game. A powerful
class that can serve as an excellent learning experience for newer players, they also
provide great fun and a challenge for veteran players. By playing a dark-knight (DK), a
player gets to experience a good mix of melee abilities along with spells. DKs are also
superb for learning various aspects of PK, from how to run to taking the offensive, and they
can make use of scrolls so that one can identify items that he comes across.
Stats:
Basically, I would suggest that you maximize con, then worry about your int and wis. You'll
want either 17 int (or 23 if you're a drow) so that you can learn things to 75% in two
practices (or in one if you're a drow). Make sure your wisdom is 18 so that you get three
practices per level up. Your remaining points can be divided between strength and dex
according to your preference. On one hand you'll want high strength because you will be able
to do more damage, as well as carry more weight. On the other hand, higher dex means you can
carry a greater number of items in your inventory as well as get hit less often. Remember,
you will start with three training sessions to begin with, and will get an additional train
every five levels, so you can boost up strength and dex somewhat after creation.
Races:
Human: An excellent all-around choice. Humans have the highest Constitution and Strength of
the basic DK races. Dealing damage in a hurry is critical for a DK, so these are rather
important. Humans have no vulnerabilities that people can take advantage of, and can also
wear any equipment that a DK would want without a problem. Also important is that humans
have no experience penalty, meaning it will be easier to gain ranks with them, and they will
have a more favorable PK range. This makes them ideal for beginners. Humans can also become
Demons, Undead, or Vampires.
Drow: Low Strength and Con, but higher mana reserves and better Dexterity. Drow DKs can be
formidable, they just need to have a slightly different approach. They won't deal as much
damage with their weapon, but they can be less conservative with their spells, as running
out of mana is not as much of a danger for a drow. They also learn their skills and spells
quickly when training. The ability to dig into tunnels is fantastic, and autosneak is
helpful if you need to run. The low strength will be a factor in what weapons the drow can
use, and he won't be able to carry around a lot of heavy equipment. Also, drow can't touch
some of the basic re-equip gear for DKs. Their 500 exp penalty, coupled with the 300 exp
penalty that DKs get mean they have one of the largest experience costs in the game and
makes for a PK range that can reach eight levels above them, a situation that can cripple
newer players.
Avian: A fair mix between humans and drow. They have a vulnerability to air damage that
people will be able to take advantage of if they are prepared. Autoflight means that you
won't have to invest in flight scrolls/potions, saving you both money and inventory
space/weight.
Overview of Abilities:
Following is a brief overview of dark-knight abilities. You will not need to master all
abilities; some you may not even want to practice. I will point out which I feel should be
mastered; however, if one were so inclined, he could always master the rest. It wouldn't
hurt, but I don't have the patience for it, and don't feel that it's necessary.
Skills:
- Weapons
A dark-knight can become proficient at all weapon types in the game except for staff. With
prudent weapon selection while you're ranking, you'll be able to master most, if not all
weapons while you rank to 50, assuming you spent the practices necessary to start them at
75% proficiency. Basically, choose your weapons and use them until they're mastered, then
switch to another weapon type. Try not to rank using weapons you've already mastered, and
avoid using exotics. Dual wield when you can to speed up the process. You could also just
train your weapons by lowering your strength and making your fights against easier mobs last
a long time, but I like to do it while ranking.
- Defenses - Parry, Shield Block, Dodge, Two-Handed
Train each of these in a room where you can fight a lot of easy mobs at once. Train parry
with two-handed, then wear only a shield and master shield block, then practice dodge and
master it while using neither weapon nor shield.
- Second Attack, Third Attack, Dual Wield
These are all useful, and will go up in proficiency as you rank.
- Scrolls
A good skill to raise to 75. You can use scrolls to identify items, which is important for
newer players. Scrolls will also grant you abilities such as flight, and it will last longer
than flight from a potion would.
- Wands
There are a fair amount of useful wands out there that will grant a wide variety of useful
abilities. It certainly doesn't hurt to raise this to 75.
- Kick
You can kick your enemies for low damage. You have better things to do. One of the few DK
abilities I never practice.
- Dirt Kicking
An important skill that will blind your opponent briefly. Will master through use while
ranking.
- Disarm
A useful skill any time you're fighting someone who is not wielding a cursed weapon. The
dirt-disarm tactic is key in a lot of fights, especially against melee classes. It is
helpful to master this skill.
- Haggle
You will be buying a lot of scrolls, pills and potions. Practice this to save some money.
- Bash
An important skill, as it keeps your opponent in combat with you. Practice it to 75, then
train it while ranking.
- Trip
An important skill that will keep a non-flying opponent in combat. Not so useful against
small races, but is the bane of a non-flying giant. Practice to 75, then train it while
ranking.
- Shield Disarm
Cursed shields are few and far between, but mastering this skill is tedious and probably not
worth the effort. Practice it to 75%.
- Fast Healing
You gain more HP back on each tick. Raise it to 75.
- Meditation
You gain back more mana per tick. Raise it to 75.
- Lore
A useful skill if you're new to the game, or don't know where to find a lot of items. It
will tell you where an item can be found. Practice it if you want to.
- Cleave
An important skill. It can deal out hefty damage to begin combat, and has a chance of
putting your opponent to sleep. And a sleeping opponent against a DK is at a huge
disadvantage. Mastering this would be a good idea.
- Extort
Functions like haggle, except you get items for free, rather than just at a discount. Good
for saving cash. I like to bring it to 75%.
Spells
- Magic Missile
A fun spell, it starts out pathetic but gets more powerful as you rank. You don't need to
practice it.
- Chill Touch
A good way to drop the strength of your opponent by a small amount. One of the few DK
abilities that I never practice.
- Detect Good
Allows you to see an aura around good-aligned players/mobs. One of the few abilities I never
practice.
- Cure Light
The only true curative spell a dark knight has. Practice it to 75, master it by spamming if
you want to. It doesn't heal a lot of HP with each cast, but it can be a life saver. Don't
cast it in battle. You have better things you could be doing.
- Poison
A nasty malediction that will keep your opponent from regaining HP/Mana/Movement. Practice
it to 75%, train it to mastery if you want.
- Curse
A particularly troublesome spell, as it prevents your opponent from being able to recall.
Master it by casting on a sleeping mob.
- Invisibility
A useful spell, especially at lower ranks when a lot of people haven't stocked up on detect
invis potions or pills yet. Practice it to 75%.
- Protection
One of the spells you'll always want to have up when fighting a good opponent, it reduces
the damage done to you by good players/mobs. Better yet, have it up all the time. Practice
it to 75%.
- Detect Invis
Practice it to 75% and NEVER let yourself be without it. Check 'where' often.
- Lightning Bolt
Zap your enemy with lightning. Not essential; practice it if you are so inclined.
- Veil of Darkness
An extremely underrated spell. It will make it very difficult for your opponent to chase
you, essentially leaving him blind to anything except what's in the room with him. It will
confuse some players, and cause them to panic, which will give you an advantage. Master it
by casting on sleeping mobs.
- Energy Drain
Another underrated spell. The main thing about energy drain is that it saps mana and
movement from your opponent. Practice to 75%, mastering might not be a bad idea.
- Summon
A good spell for convenience... You can go to a far away hidey-hole and summon mobs for eq
or vials or what-have-you. You can also summon things to train on. Summoning players can
sometimes work out in your favor, as some might become confused, and just stare at their
screen, or they might panic, giving you the advantage. Summoning a sleeping opponent to a
different room is also a fun trick. Practice it to 75, master it if you want.
- Silence
This spell ruins a mage's day (not a communer's, though). Land it and be prepared to chase
fast. Master this by casting on a sleeping mob.
- Teleport
A notorious spell that sends you to some other room in the game. Use it only as a last
resort, as you will often get yourself into more trouble by teleporting than you were in to
begin with. Never use it before 50, because taking a mobdeath will leave you with more
experience needed to level. Some rooms you can't teleport out of, such as your guild. Master
it by casting in these safe rooms, or don't practice it at all.
- Dispel Good
This spell does damage to good aligned players/mobs. I generally don't bother practing it,
as there are more useful spells you could be casting.
- Plague
This malediction is a double edged sword. It makes it so your victim won't regenerate hp,
mana, or moves, and also drains their movement. If the victim doesn't get the plague cured,
it will end up doing some nasty damage, as well. Unfortunately, there is a good chance it
will also infect you, which obviously isn't a good thing. Practice it to 75, master it if
you feel like it. Use with caution.
- Unholy Strength
This spell can greatly boost the damage output of a dark-knight, but it will result in
downtime in which you will be vulnerable. Practice to 75, and experiment with it to get
timing down.
- Fireball
One of the DK's staple afflictive spells. It will hit everyone in the room, so watch where
you cast it. Probably not a bad idea to master it.
- Harm
Another staple afflictive spell of the DK. Deals good damage to your target. Practice to 75.
- Iceball
Similar to fireball, except with ice and preatty much unaffected by target saves. A spell
that makes it very easy to re-equip a DK after death. Practice it to 75.
- Charm Person
A critical spell for the DK. Allows him to gain control of a mob for a short time. Practice
it to 75, master it on a sleeping mob if you want to. More on this later.
- Malform Weapon
A critical spell for a dark knight, essential in making the DK a formidable opponent.
Practice it to 75. Don't give up until you figure out its uses. More on this later.
- Soul Transfer
Allows the DK to switch his malformed weapon to a different weapon. Practice to 75.
Equipment:
I prefer to dress my DKs as I would a melee character. So I look to maximize hitroll and
damroll, while adding in a few pieces of save vs. spell gear. A DK is capable of getting
very high hit/dam, so you might want to go all out in that area. Or maybe you will want to
focus more on saves. Experiment to find out what's right for you.
Re-equipping after death with a DK is extremely easy. Red dragons hate the cold, so a dark
knight can make quick work of them with iceball. You don't have to go far from there to get
a couple of nice looking rings, a bandit belt, a tarp or animal hide, dreamseeking cloaks,
titanium bracers, and some vials. This basic set of eq is not bad at all, and you will be
back in a position to get better stuff with it. At higher levels the DK will want to
substitute tainted gear for red dragon as his basic equipment, unless he's a drow (drow
can't wear the tainted stuff).
Inventory:
In your inventory you will want to carry several things...
-
a boat
-
4 or 5 gyvel/red potions
-
a sack containing:
-
a lot of vials
-
more gyvels/red potions
-
potions or scrolls of flight
-
2 or 3 recall potions
-
any other useful potions/pills/wands/scrolls that will do neat things for you, including
but not limited to: armor, bless, stoneskin, flesh armor, or refresh
- a heavy two handed weapon (for cleaving; polearms or axes are great, but a big sword will
do in a pinch)
- alternate weapons (or a shield if you're currently dual wielding); these can also be
stored in your sack
-
a recall potion (for quick access)
-
a black pill of teleport (for those times when you're cursed and need to get away;
remember, only use it as a last resort and only if you're level 50)
Combat Tactics:
Success with a dark-knight, like any class, depends a lot on preparation. A DK needs to hit
his enemies hard and fast; he's not made for a long, drawn out battle. You will have a
window of opportunity where it will be best to strike, and should time your attacks
accordingly. It depends largely on the status of your charmie and unholy strength. You don't
want to go into battle when these spells are about to expire.
As far as actual fighting goes, again, you should experiment. I like DKs because there are
actually a lot of different tactics you can use, depending on who you're fighting. Cleave is
a good opener, or a good closer, but shouldn't be used on classes that have counter. Silence
will ruin a mage's day (not a communer's, mind you). Energy drain is another spell you
should experiment with, as it seems to be rather underused. You have at your disposal some
very painful afflictive spells, or you can go the maledictive route with poison and plague.
Remember to try to land curse to prevent recalls. And veil of darkness will make it very
hard for your opponent to chase you.
Remember to be prepared. If you are ready for a fight and your opponent isn't, then most
likely he will be on the run. Or dead.
Charm Person:
At level 38 you will get the charm person spell. The generic charmie for a dark knight is
the triton watchman. You won't be able to charm him immediately when you get the spell, and
failing to charm him can be deadly if you don't have sanctuary up, so watch out if you're
going to give it a try in the low-mid 40s. There are, of course, better choices for your
charmie, and one choice may be better against certain opponents than against others.
Experiment. See which mobs are hard hitters, which trip or bash or disarm. Remember to
always be aware of when your charm person timer is going to expire, and also remember that
you can order your charmie to sleep before the spell wears off, making it easier to re-charm
him, and avoiding problems that arise if your suddenly independent charmie can detect invis.
Malform Weapon:
Malform weapon is an important ability of dark-knights, one that a player needs to become
familiar with if they want to get the most out of their character. If you get a good grasp
on this spell, and can make it work for you, your tactics will change, and you will have a
much more formidable character. The details of this spell, though, are among the most
closely guarded secrets in the game. You will have to glean its uses from your own
experimentation.
Conclusion:
Hopefully, you can use the information presented as a starting point for a dark-knight. The
intention was not to make a step-by-step guide for a powerful character, but rather to point
people in the right direction. There is obviously more to playing dark-knights than I
explained, but I'll leave it to you to figure out. They are quite fun, though, and in my
opinion, the best class in the game for learning to fight. Good luck, and enjoy.