KAL Online Guides

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Building the Knight

This guide is designed to inform you on all the aspects of becoming a knight. From which equiptment will be ideal for you, how different builds work, and the stats worth investing in. Everything you should ever need to know about being a knight is in here.


Advantages and disadvantages
All knights have inherently higher defence than anybody else in the game, and they also recieve the greatest increase in Hit Points (HP) per points invested in Health than any other class in the game. Coupled with a few free skills such as Protect (more later), this makes them ideal tanks in parties.
However, knights damage pre-level 50 is rather low compared to other classes and unless supplemented with a decent sword, it can cause leveling to drag on, especially in the late level 40's, and gives limited capability of fighting high level mobs.



Stats
This section details the advantages of investing in different stats and what each does. In the end it's up to you to choose how you want your knight to play, I have also added a little extra information on my experiences in italics.

Strength: Strength is the knights Primary statistic. It effects the ammount of damage you do, your On Target Points (OTP ie., your ability to hit) and at later levels, acts as a modifier for certain class specific attacks. It is a highly recommended skill, and although there are alternate builds that do not invest as much into strength, these are rather specialised and up to the individual player on how they want to make their character.

Health: Of all the classes in the game, knights recieve the most HP per point invested in Health than any other class. Investing in Health increases your HP and your non-elemental resistance. Health plays a vital part in any knights life. Pre level 50 your main objective in parties will be to tank damage due to your higher defence and health. Although you will evade attacks and have a chance of blocking with you're shield/sword post level 30, the brunt of your tanking is taken on your health bar. Certainly worthwhile investing in no matter which class change you plan on going to at level 50.

Agility: Agility adds to your OTP, evasion and damage. Although the bonus to damage and OTP is to a much lesser extent than that of Strength, alot of knights choose to invest at least slightly into agility (ussually 48 points) so as to have at least an average evasion, and more importantly, when Strength becomes more expensive at higher levels of investment, it can be cheaper (stats wise) to place points into agility in order to maximise OTP and damage.
SIDE NOTE: as a Commander I did find that investing a little bit more in agility helped immensly when tanking large amounts of mobs, mixed with using Revenges enchanted armour gave a very solid evasion base. There is also a great deal of people that have field evidence suggesting that Agility modifies your chances of blocking with your shield. It is a more common choice for knights these days to invest a little more in this stat, but it's all up to what works for you.

Wisdom: Wisdom increases your Mana Points and Curse Resistance. Despite the training advantage of have a little extra mana, Knights recieve the smallest bonus per point invested in this skill, and compared to the advantages offered by other stats, Wisdom tends to be deemed an unworthy stat to invest in. It is however a means of increasing mana, and if you can justify the points this is what you would invest in. Low mana situations can be better resolved with equiptment changes though, and it is probably better to save valuable Stat points for Strenght, Agility and Health.

Intelligence: Adds to Magical Damage aswell as the different elemental resitences. Like Wisdom, Knights recieve the smallest bonus to damage and resistances than any other classes and this is essentially a mage stat, so should be steered well clear of. If you need more elemental resistance, get equiptment that adds to intelligence, it is cheaper and more easily changeable than statting intelligence.



Skills
This section should be done right the first time in order to save you a hell of a lot of money from having to a buy a Stone of Chance. This part of the guide will explain the individual skills pre-level 50 with a later installment in the guide offering insight on both Commander and Vagabond Swordsman skills.
From the space of level 1-50, it is possible to accumulate 63 skill points (50 from levelling and 13 from quests). I will say this straight out, just because you have the points, doesn't mean you should spend them on skills that you don't need. The following table shows all the skills a knight can acquire up until the level 50 branch off, and the level which you can learn it (For more information on what the skills do exactly, check out the following link, http://www.kalhq.com/strategy/guide/30).






Weapon Mastery: This maxed out gives and extra hit to both your damage and OTP, a must for any knight. It is an easy, no-brainer investment through the opening levels and gives you a little bit more time to get a feel for your character and what other skills you'd like to invest in.
Lightning Slash: The first skill in the Widening Wound skill line, it can soak up alot of points if you invest in it fully and it's fast swing speed, coupled with its high mana cost tends to hurt your mana situation. Becomes better at later levels, and is fun to use early on, but does take a commitment to be worthwhile.
Shield Attack: Free skill, so who can complain. This allows you to hit lower level players (not mobs) and stun them for a short time. I say lower level players because it is level based in effectiveness, which means higher levels tend to be immune to it's effects.
Mockery: A very handy skill when luring. The first grade is free at level 18 and when invested in with a few more skill points can be fantastic for generating agression (more on agression in the "How to Tank" section later)
Provoke: Mockery's bigger meaner brother with a prison record. A non essential skill, but depending on your play style, this skill can be invaluable. Used in conjunction with mockery it can make tanking monsters extremely easy and also has a better range and ability than Mockery. If you choose to use it, invest a single point in it and run it for a while, if you feel you need the extra grades, get them after you've trialed it.
Defense: One of the more essential skills, this gives kngihts the ability to outright block any attack with thier shield. Depending on how much you skill this determines it's effectiveness, but even if you decide to go Vagabond Swordsman at level 50, this skill modifies your Parry ability, so is still extremely usefull.
Critical: Another more essential skill. It more or less does what you think it does, increases the damage you do on critical hits, and your chances of getting them. Refer to the link at the top of this section as to how much it helps you out. Alot of kngihts tend to max this skill in order to maximise the small damage they can put out at lower levels.
Transcendental Blow: A knights first mana effiecient high damage ability. Worth getting because you wont have anything else until level 50. It has an added OTP to the hit so helps when fighting high level mobs. For maximum damage, skill this to it's maximum, although it has a slower charge than any other kngiht attacking skill it is a decent attack and will see you through the game.
Flashing Slash: The combination skill to Transcendental Blow (TB). If you use Flashing Slash on an enemy you will execute TB and then automatically back swing a Flashing Slash. This has a greater chance of hitting than TB and can stun your enemy, although the stun is only useful if this is maxed. A slow charging skill, alot of Vagabond Swordsmen do not use it once they have leveled past 50 since it takes too long to charge with a two handed sword. Commanders find this skill much more usefull but it is an optional skill.
Upward Slash: The second skill in the Widening Wound skill line. You'll need Grade 5 Lightening Slash to get this skill, and works as a combo skill with it. Better damage for the mana investment, can be extrmely dangerous when mixed with Vagabond skills at later levels but tends to eb overlooked due to the skillpoint investment involved.
Portect: Another free skill. This halves the amount of Hostility a party member generates, which is extremely handy when tanking Archers and Mages. (As with Mockery, more explained in "How to Tank").
Increased Concentration: An executable skill that gives you an extra +3 OTP for 15mins, why this was made executable is beyond me, because it's a pain having to cast it all the time. That said, it's once skill point and it is worth it, never say no to more OTP.
Widening Wound: The third skill in this combination line. You need G1 Upwards Slash to take this skill; it has a lower mana drain with the same cool down. This skill hits hard, maxed out gives +200 damage for 20 mana. That said, it is a costly investment and alot of knights cannot justify the investment.

It's a good idea to think ahead on what skills you might like to invest in and plan out on paper how you might spend them. Just keep in mind that at later levels you'll have more skills to invest in and it can be worthwhile stockpiling a few Skill points for when it comes around.

Vagabond and Commander Skills will be detailed here in the near future



Armour
The first 45 levels are quite easy when it comes to armour: Wear the highest grade that you can. Clean Grade 46 armour is far superior to Grade 42, offering higher defence, evasion and absorbtion rate. The effects of wearing it are seen instantly, and it's probably better to take the plunge and ditch the +2 Strength G42 gear to get the G46. Although it does depend on the build you have made for yourself aswell as the stats on your G42 armour the advantages of higher grade armour at this point in the game tend to outweigh those of a statted lower grade.
Grade 46 armour peices are also very cheap for knights when buying it clean, you shouldn't be spending more than 100k per peice on todays market and it should be fairly easy to find in player stalls within Temporary Fort of Guem-Oh Castle, aswell as City of Priest.





Weapons
Knights have a few small drawbacks to them. One of them is the reach of our weapons, not only do we do the least damage, but to even start hurting the monsters that we fight, we need to be up close and personal with it. Which means you tend to take damage the entire life of the mob.
A well chosen weapon for your build and abilities can truly compliment your training ability and make your travels through the game a lot easier. I'll only supply prices for clean weapons as there is such a great variation in prices on enchanted ones that is hard to calculate. If you want to know if you're getting a good deal on a weapon, the best thing to do is shop around a bit and see what else is on offer and for what prices, or ask someone who keeps their eye on the market a little more.


Grade 40 Swords:
There are 3 choices with the G40 weapons, the Red, the White and the Big Sword. You want to start using these weapons as soon as possible. Buying a clean is probably your best option to start with, and then you can either enchant it yourself or sell it later and re-buy an already enchanted one.
Red Hwandoo Big Sword: [Damage: 74~184, OTP 55] This sword has the highest average damage and the lowest OTP. The higher average comes from the fact it can hit harder than any of the other swords, and it also has the potential to hit the softest. Initially this will be a fantastic sword, but at about level 35+ when you start partying in The Dungeon (D1) more, you'll find that hitting purple mobs a difficult task. Another upside to this sword is that it's cheaper to purchase than the other swords, a clean bought sword will set you back around 90k.
White Hwandoo Big Sword: [Damage: 98~139, OTP 67] The white sword is a popular choice due to a minimal loss of damage over the Big Sword, for a fantastic increase in OTP. It is a little bit more expensive than the others in it's Grade for this reason, but on today's market, not by much. A clean White should set you back around 150k.
A nicely encahnted White should get you through to the first level requirement weapons (level 40) and is a very good investment.
Hwandoo SaeHyung Big Sword: [Damage: 104~146, OTP 60] The last sword you can buy from the NPC's in Fort and CoP. This sword is the halfway point between the white and the red. It has the second highest damage average and an OTP that is about halfway between the other two swords. This sword is a decent addition to any knight, it is strong, it hits often and it's cheap. Also its price is unlikely to fluctuate much due to the fact that it has a set NPC price in game. A clean sword can usually be bought from a player store for about 100k, so as usual, avoid buying from the NPC, there is always players who will sell a sword cheaper.


Grade 45 Swords:
There are two swords in this category, the Meagak and the Pattern of Leaf (POL). Every other knights guide I've read has been has absolutely trashed the Meagak. On paper the Meagak might not look as nice, as a lower OTP tends to be frowned up, and it doesn't have the big max damage numbers that the PoL does. However i conducted a test from levels 40-45 using a +10/10/1 Expert PoL and Meagak, and my results on each sword are written within the guide.
Do not rule out the Meagak right away, as it is not a bad sword. It is a common opinion that it is inferior, but it really depends on what kind of damage you like to deal, aswell as what monsters you fight.

Meagak Hwandoo Saehyung Big Sword: [Damage: 124~157, OTP 62, Health 1, HP 150] This sword has a much more reliable damage average than the POL and gives a much higher health boost. It still has a respectable OTP on it, certainly high enough to get you through to the Savage Tribes weapons. But with that said, I found that the Meagak truly shines against anything up to low red monsters and some low purples in D1. Anything much higher than that it's lower OTP can start to bite into your combat performance.
Because of it's lack of fame in game also, it's easy to pick up an Expert Meagak for about 200k, a clean one for about 130k, but likewise, it's a hard sword to resell, so don't rely on its resale price to pay for your G48.
Hwandoo Saehyung Big Sword with Pattern of Leaf: [Damage: 82~209, OTP 68, Agility 1, HP 100, MP 50] The POL is the more popular choice of G45 swords due to its higher OTP and damage average. The POL's damage average is high in the same way the G40 red swords' is, it has a higher damage spread resulting in some swings hitting hard, others hitting soft. Which can be great sometimes, but it lacks the consistency of the Meagak, and that's where it falls short on the lower level monsters.
The POL's main advantage is that it hardly ever misses, so when fighting purples, it really sits on its own little pedestal simply buy hitting more reliably. And seeing as D1 parties will be more popular at this stage, the POL is just as an advisable weapon as the meagak. The POL has more damage oriented stats on it; the MP bonus will give you and extra Transcendental Blow (TB), and its high max damage leaves you open for the ability to do some nastier critical damage than the Meagak. The POL is also more expensive, although due to the large supply of the sword, it keeps clean prices down to around 140-150k, an Expert cashing in at about 250k.


Grade 48 Swords:
The Savage Tribes swords give you 3 choices; the Treasure, Tiger Teeth and Truth swords. The swords from this point onwards can only drop clean, so encahnting them is now expensive, and buying them already renchanted will set you back at the very least 2mil for a decent sword. It is not uncommon for knights to skip this grade altogether in favour of saving for a better G50 weapon. But if you feel you can afford the switch you certainly will apreciated the step up in performance that the G48's offer.

Savage Tribes Treasure Sword: [Damage: 113~195, OTP 68, Strength 1, Health 1, HP 200] The G48 middle sword. It has a damage range and OTP that sits inbetween the two others and gives the best advatange to health. It's damage is respectable and highly reliable, making it an easy sword to switch to. There are also a large range of enchanted ones on the market so it is quite easy to pick up a decent sword and play on through to level 50 with it. A clean should not set you back more than 200k on today's market.
Savage Tribes Tiger Teeth Sword: [Damage: 121~203, OTP 64, Strength 2, HP 150] The high damage weapon of it's Grade. The Tiger Teeth is a sword you want to be sure about before you buy one. The main reason beaing that it does give you a loss of OTP from most swords you'll have used at this point, which can hinder your ability to combat high level monsters. That said, it also has a very impressive damage range that will bring mobs that you can hit reliably down hard. More popular these days because of the Mixing System making any G48 a Tiger Teeth +10% damage it is a fantastic sword if you can maintain a decent OTP while using it.
Savage Tribes Truth Sword: [Damage: 106~188, OTP 72, Strength 1, Agility 1, HP 100, MP 50] The High OTP sword of it's grade. A respactable and reliable damage range, it will hit softer than the other swords in it's grade, but like most high OTP version of weapons, it's advantage is that you'll hit consistently and you can hit higher level mobs more reliably. It is a popular sword, and can help alot in the late level 40's when parties with 50+'s takes you into high level area's. Hard to go wrong with at this point in the game, so a good investment for most knights.


Grade 50 Swords:
I'll say less on these swords; at this stage in the game you should be getting to know what's best for you. Obviously there are 6 swords in each grade from now on, the one handed swords, and the two handed swords. And they all follow a three type system: High damage, Middle Sword, and High OTP.

Golden Treasure Sword: [Damage: 147~187, OTP 72, Strength 1, Health 2, HP 200] THe middle G50 1h sword. It offers the biggest health bonus aswell as boasting a fantastic damage range and a highly reliable OTP. If you're unsure on which sword to use it is an easy choice to go to while you decide as it delivers on all aspects. Cheap to buy both clean and enchanted, a highly enchanted version of the sword will set you back a considerable amount because they are not seen very often. This more or less goes for all the G50 1h's.
Butterfly Shaped Treasure Sword: [Damage: 163~203, OTP 68, Strength 3, HP 150] The high damage sword in the G50 series. This boasts almost the same damage as the G53 Diamond Treasure Sword but offers you it at level 50. It lacks in OTP compared to the other two swords in the grade and you will tend to find a Breakthrough Talisman on it to help minimise that fact. If used with the right build, this sword is fantastic and can really slice through monsters like butter.
Black Golden Treasure Sword: [Damage: 132~172, OTP 76, Strength 1, Health 2, Agility 1, HP 100, MP 50] The high OTP in the grade. The black sword is a rather common choice aswell as the sword the imperial sword for the grade, which can take off the lack of damage it does. It's lower damage is a small dissadvantage over the other two swords in it's grade, but once again, it hits reliably and can really help out when facing high level monsters. It is a popular choice of sword.
Giant Sword: [Damage: 380~440, OTP 72, Strength 3, HP 150] The middle G50 2h. Alot of the knights that own one love them, they hit reliably, they hit hard and it's something that just can't be looked over. Like most middle swords, it's a good choice to go to if you're unsure as to what will work for you.
Revengeful Sword: [Damage: 390~470, OTP 66, Strength 4, HP 100] The high damage on this sword is truly painful. It's lack of OTP makes it unpopular at lower levels without the right equiptment or build, but alot of knights still opt for it simply for the high damage potential that comes with it. This sword can hit hard, there is no doubt about it, and if you can stomach the low OTP on it, it is a worthy choice of weapon.
Butterfly Shaped Giant Sword: [Damage: 330-410, OTP 74, Strength 2, HP 100] The high OTP G50 sword. Faily popular, especially when imperialised. It's advantage of hitting reliably is much more noticable in the 2h format where the swinging speed is alot slower. And if commonly fighting high level monsters this sword can really shine over the others.

By this point you should be looking more into each of the weapons on your own and know what swords in the higher grades you'd like to switch to. Also remember, choose your weapons based on YOUR build and how YOU play the game, it's no use wasting money a weapon you're not going to enjoy using.



How to Tank
I'll begin with the idea of Hostility. Hostility is effectively the system that decides which character a mob attacks. This is determined by more or less by how much damage you do. Whoever does the most damage is considered to be the greatest threat to the mob, and is therefore going to attract the attacks from it.
For example I do 150 damage to a mob, effectively accumulating 150 Hostility from it. As nobody else has done damage to it, I'll be perceived as the biggest threat to the mob and will therefore be attacked. Now an archer comes along and does 200 damage to it, and also 200 Hostility, she has generated more Hostility, and hence, will now be attacked. A simple concept but one you have to understand in order to manipulate it to your advantage.
Now this is where knights start playing with the rules in order to generate more hostility. Portect halves the amount of Hostility a party member generates, this can only be cast on a member of the party and has a slow cool down, so choose wisely on who you don't want to be attracting Hostility. If used correctly, you should be able to keep to members of the party under its effects by recasting it on someone else after it's cooldown is finished. A good rule of thumb is to target it onto the most fragile attacking member of the party.
So how does protect work? Well, to go back to the previous example; this time I've cast Portect on the archer, she still does 200 damage, but this time she only generates 100 Hostility, meaning that I am still considered the larger threat, and will hence continue to be attacked.
It get's better, skills like Mockery and Provoke are designed to generate Hostility. a maxed out Mockery skill instantly generates 800 Hostility towards you (with Provoke doing even more). So now someone has to do over 800 damage simply in order to get the mob to attack them. Let's put these two skills together and add it to our example, but this time we shoot a Mockery at the mob rather than attacking it. The Portected archer now has to deal over 1600 damage in order to be hit. And to top this part off, Provoke and Mockery can be fired off in rapid succession of each other, which makes you a Hostility generating machine (it can be done, but this little combo can eat mana like crazy).
To top it all off, you can also use Transcendental Blow. This effectively generates double Hostility compared to the damage you inflict. So with the single TB hit where you do about 500 damage, for that hit alone, you generate around 1000 Hostility.
It's a good idea to practice these skills as much as you can. It allows you to know how many mobs you can hold at once, and the most mana efficient way of tanking and eliminating a foe. A good tank can make partying life both safer and easier, so it is a valuable skill to master.

There is one basic rule when tanking for a party.
DO NOT LET YOUR HEALER DIE!!! This is the most important rule, because they're your life support, without them healing, your life can become extremely short lived and certainly unpleasant. AS they are healing they wont be generating any Hostility, so it is simple to pull mobs off them should they decide to attack. Mages take the most damage, and can die in a very short amount of time so it's a good idea to just check on your party members every now and then to make sure they're not receiving the hurt from an unsuspecting re-spawn. You may even find there a times when you will have to die in order to keep the rest of the party alive, it's happened to me a few times, but such sacrifices are ussually apreciated and compensated for, making it easier to party, and once again, easier to level.
Also look out for warnings from your party members. Because you're most likely the one choosing the fights from the party, you have to know when to disengage. When you healer gives mana warning, stop luring and fall back to a safe zone before killing the rest of the mobs etc. just the common sense things that are easily forgotten.

Good tanks are in short supply, because they are a harder branch of knight to play. An effective tank can make a hard situation easy, even if all they're doing is giving the healer one party memeber to worry about rather than a few. I hope this guide has been of some help and I wish you all luck in game.

Cheers,
Zafoga