Black Desert Online BDO Dark Knight Guide 2022

So Why Should You Pick The Dark Knight As Your Class In Black Desert?

The Dark Knight or the DK is a powerful melee spellcaster hybrid who uses Swift ashes and Powerful dark magic to overwhelm her foes. She’s very glass cannon, but also very high damage and a large amount of AoE spells. She’s also not reliant on strict flowchart combos. So what this means is while most Dark Knight will play fairly similar styles they can mix up their moves, they can play a little differently and not strictly reliant on a fairly flowchart combo, where you hit something you get a crowd control off and then you enter the next of the combo sets, like the Maehwa for instance.

Pre-awakening the dark knight focuses on her blade. She uses her Kriegsmesser and aa number of powerful dashes to jump in and eliminate her foes. Most of her skills in the pre-awakening form you’ll use uses the F key. So before awakening, remember F as your main key. You’ll start with an airstrike to get into combat then there’s like that you will hold F to strike with an unveiled dagger. After a while, you’ll be higher level, where you’ll start using Wheel of Fortune. Other useful skills are obsidian ashes, corrupt ground, and most R&B mouse button skills before you unlock Wheel of Fortune as you don’t unlock your fortune for quite a while(level 24).

Post-awakening is when the DK gets really fun. You now transform into a caster with flashy, colorful and cool looking spells.

As a dark knight, your dashes are very important. To use your normal dash (smoky haze), press forward(W) and shift and you also got a sideways dash(dusk), which you can use by pressing A or D and then shift. You can also chain dusk so you can use it twice. Dusk is very important because that’s how you’re going to regenerate your mana for the most part.

You want every ability in the awakened tree minus the S+LMB and S+RMB ones. Then you only really want Lunacy/Nocturne and maybe Wheel of Fortune/Airstrike in the unawakened tree. You also want every passive in the unawakened tree at the bottom. We will go further into detail later on in this guide about the skills and abilities.

Priority for now is:

• Shift Awakened skills + Twilight Dash
• Passives
• Other awakened skills (Not the S+LMB/RMB ones)
• Nocturne/Lunacy/Other good pre awakened skills
• The Rest

Dark Knight Gear

Which Order Should I Upgrade My Gear As a Dark Knight?

• Your Main-hand to 15.
• Your Off-hand to 15.
• Your accessories to the Basic accessories section.
• Your Armor to 15.
• Your Awakening to 15.
• Your Main-hand to DUO.
• Your Awakening to DUO.
• Your Off-hand to DUO.
• Your Armor to DUO.
• Your Main-hand to TRI.
• Your Awakening to TRI.
• Your Offhand to TRI.
• Start looking for a Kzarka, Dandelion and boss gear.
• Your accessories to the Advanced accessories section
• Tet Kzarka, Tet Dandelion.
• Finishing up accessories. There are many upgrades to push for past this, but after this point, you should have a feel for what to upgrade next.

Dark Knight Combo PvE and PvP Guide

Basic

Intermediate

Advanced

Weapons, Armor, Accessories and Gear Progression

For starters you should go do the questline in order to get the quest gear and random drops. Follow the main storyline. At levels 50 you should be around 94 AP and 120 DP as a goal.

At level 51-56, consider upgrading your weapon to Pri. Also enchance your Oros Ornamental Knot to Pri aswell. Get +15/Pri Hercules helmet, shoes and gloves or the Heve Set, depending on what you prefer. You want a Roaring Magical Armor piece which you get from a quest around lvl 55 (first version of this piece you can upgrade is obtained at level 52, from “Preparing for Mediah” quest) and 3 pieces from these choices:

• Hercules’ Might – 3 piece set bonus will give you +200LT (recommended for new players since you can grind longer with extra weight)
• Strength of Heve – 3 pieces set bonus will give you +300 HP
• Grunil – 3 pieces set bonus will you give you +150HP and +5 AP

At Level 56, Your Gear Should Look Similar To This:

Weapons

For the main hand you can get a Rosar Kriegsmesser. If that is sold out, a Krea Kriegsmesser is two AP less but just as good.

Do not buy a Liverto. This is a noob trap. It has the same repair costs as a Kzarka but with none of the benefits.

For the awakening, you will want a Thorn Tree Vediant.

Do not buy a Light-Swallowing Vediant. This is another noob trap. You can upgrade other things for much cheaper AP vs pouring your silver into a blue grade weapon. If in doubt, always choose the green weapon over the blue. So the 2 options you really only have is the Thorn Tree Vediant, Dandelion or Offin Tett.

I have a Yuria weapon and/or one gem-slot armor (Agerian/Tartias/etc):

The guides or info on the internet suggesting these items are out of date. They are no longer viable because of better stats on newer weapons and/or armor.

I don’t have Hercules’ Might armor — should I switch?

Probably not. The set bonus isn’t super important. If you have any of the 3 armors above there is no reason to switch. In the end, it will be replaced with boss armor.

Off-Hand/Knots

Your first off-hand should be a Oros knot. This is currently the only non-boss AP knot in the game that is viable.

The Nouver knot is the boss version. It provides more AP than the non-boss item and gives you +10% on your resistances.

Other notable knots:

Kutum is a PvE focused off-hand useful for certain end-game grinding.

Saiyer is an accuracy and evasion focused off-hand. Not useful in the current meta except for the occasional evasion player.

At level 56, get the Asula accessories. Enhance your Rosar or Krea to Duo/Tri, Duo/Tri your Thorn Tree Vediant and Duo/Tri your Oros Ornamental Knot. Pri/Duo Your Hercules Set. Subsitute the roaring magical for hercules armor. By completing the Kamasylvia storyline, you’ll get the Grana oath earring and the Anabelief Earring(from kamasylvia 1 and 2). You can get the Ring of Power from Valencia story quest line 1 and Kama 2. To finish, get a TRI Shultz Necklace and a Belt at around level 58.

At Level 58, Your Gear Should Look Similar To This:

Level 59-60

Dark Knight Boss Gear:

• Main Hand Weapon: Kzarka or Offin Tet
• Awakening Weapon: Dandelion
• Offhand: Kutum for PvE, Nouver for PvP
• Armor: Dim Tree Spirit
• Gloves: Bheg Gloves
• Helmet: User’s choice. Some people prefer Giath Helmet. Some people prefer Griffons Helmet. There is no data to suggest one is 100% better over the other. So I would just use whatever you can get your hands on first.
• Shoes: Urugon’s Shoes have been confirmed by tests to be superior over Muskan’s Shoes. If you have Muskan’s, continue using them until you get Urugon’s

Which Accessories Should I Use

• The basic accessories
• Asula’s Necklace [11AP/3DP] – Found at abandoned iron mines
• Asula’s Belt [6AP] – Found at Elric shrine
• Asula’s Ring x2 – [7AP/2DP] – Found at helms post
• Asula’s Earring x2 – [7AP/25HP] – Found at helms post

The advanced accessories

• TRI Shultz belt – [9AP]
• TRI Mark of Shadows [11AP] OR DUO Crescent Rings [11AP]
• TRI Witch Earrings – [11AP] OR DUO Tungrads [11AP]
• DUO/TRI Seraps Necklace [16/20AP]
• Finish:
• TRI Basilisk Belt [14AP]
• TRI Ogre Ring [25AP]
• TRI Crescents [14AP]
• TRI Tungrad Earrings [13AP] OR TET Witch [13AP]

Crystals In Gear For Dark Knight

• Endgame-oriented gems
• Helmet: JIN – Harphia [+50 HP, +20 Evasion] or Ancient Magic Crystal – Agility [+20 Evasion]
• Armor: JIN – Cobelinus [+100HP, +5 DR] or Infinity Evasion [+10% Special Evasion]
• Gloves: JIN – Viper [+20 Accuracy, +1 Attack Speed] or Black Magic Crystal – Valor [+2 Crit] and Black Magic Crystal – Viper [+8 Accuracy, +1 Attack Speed]
• Boots: RBF – Adamantine [+25% Knockdown/Bound resist and 5% Stiff/Stun/Freezing resist], WON – Hystria [+2 Movespeed and +150 Stamina]
• Mainhand: Black Magic Crystal – Precision [+2 Accuracy, +10% ignore all resist] BON – Carmae [ Critical Hit+2, Attack Speed +1, +3 AP ] BON – Addis  [ Critical Hit+2, Cast Speed +1, +3 AP ]
• Offhand: Valtarra Crystal [+150 HP, +5 AP, +3 Kamasylvia damage] Crystal of Infinity – Critical [Additional Critical Hit Damage +1 Level]

Food Buffs For DK

For Leveling Up(PvE):

Simple Cron Meal:  [AP against monsters +13], [Combat EXP +10%], [Skill EXP +5%], [Att/Cast Speed +1], [Movement +2], [Crit Hit +2], [HP +150]

For PvP:

Exquisite Cron Meal: [All AP +8], [All Accuracy +15], [Movement +2], [Crit Hit +2], [All Evasion +15], [HP +150], [All Resistance +4%], [Ignore All Resistance +4%]

For Lifeskilling:

Seafood Cron Meal: [Cook/Alch Time +0.6s], [Life EXP +10%], [Processing Success Rate +10%], [Gathering +2], [Movement +2], [Fishing +2], [Weight +50LT]

Which Stat Should I Prioritize for the DK?

Prioritize Attack Speed and then Critical, since DK’s don’t use casting speed.

Basic Combo For PvE, Post-Awakening(level 56 and up)

Approach a pack

What size is the pack?

big: spirit hunt(W+RMB) into the pack. Twilight Dash(Hold F). If pack is not dead, use Shift E(See) followed by Shift LMB(shattering darkness). Is pack still not dead? Use Spirit legacy(Shift+RMB) until dead.

Small: Spirit hunt(W+RMB) into the pack. Cast Spirit Legacy(Shift+RMB). Is pack not dead? Use Seed(Shift+E), followed by shattering darkness(Shift+LMB). Cast Spirit legacy(Shift+RMB) until the pack is dead.

Skill Build and Skill Add-ons for Dark Knight

Before Level 56

Some skills to consider leveling before awakening to get 56: Kamy Slash, Air Strike, Wheel of Fortune, Corrupt Ground, and the movement skills (Dusk + Smoky Haze). No skill build here since everyone has a different amount of skill points this early on.

Dark Knight Level 56 Skill Build

Dark Knight Level 60 Skill Build

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Rabam’s Enlightenment Skills For Dark Knight

Shadow Strike first and Obsidian Blaze once you have around 1.4k skill points.

DK Addons For PvE

DK Addons For PvP

Dark Knight Skill-Addons PvE and PvP Mixed

If you want something that fits both PvE and PvP, I recommend going this route.

I have no slow on Lunacy or PvP damage increases on other skills as some of you will notice, why?

Because I don’t see slows helping in PvE and PvP damage increases won’t help in PvE at all, meaning I went for some sort of middle ground if possible.

Had I spent my time fully in BDO to PvP, I would go for that 10% attack speed decrease on Lunacy and I would go for PvP damage where I could fit it in, however I don’t spend most of my time on the battlefield hence I won’t have those editions in here and I’m far too cheap and lazy to run back and forth before node wars/duels to change them.

Pre-awakening

Slanted Balance: – Why Slanted? Because it’s a skill you will use, mid combo or to start a combo as you catch someone. Meaning it will land and proc a buff from add-ons, it’s so commonly used that I don’t see any other choice, way easier to apply this add-on than something like Air Strike and Enforcement as it actually needs to hit your enemy in order to trigger.

All Accuracy + 3% for 12 sec – Used for bringing up average damage in PvE and PvP. Especially against evasion builds, every little bit will help.

Attack Speed +7% for 5 sec – Attack Speed is king, in combos or in PvE. Anywhere you can get it means you’ll have a higher success rate of getting off certain skills in rough situations and it helps counteract slows, should you be hit with it.

Wheel of Fortune: – Why? You will throw this skill either mid combo (PvP) or to start one as you bait people in. In PvE it’s also used for DPS meaning it shouldn’t be overlooked. Had Wheel had 100% crit rate, we would be looking at a lot more 2 shots with Wheel + Lunacy.

Critical Hit Rate + 20% for 9 sec. – Wheel of fortune does not have crit itself however it hits like a truck regardless. Anything that will increase that or modif future skills for a small amount of time is helpful. It’ll help your average damage on future skills like: Pervasive Darkness, Enforcement and Slanted Balance as they themselves do not have 100% crit.

Attack Speed +7% for 5 sec – Again, attack Speed is king. Get it and enjoy it. Not it does not stack with Slanted as they are the same “buff” according to the game. However you will not always be using wheel or Slanted in close proximity to one another so 7% will be up for more than just when Slanted lands.

The lunacy of Vedir: – Why? It’s one of our bread and butter skills just like Wheel of Fortune. You will use it. Whether you zone people out with it, you SA trade or your aim is to simply smack someone down with a lazy combo. In PvE, you will also definitely use it to clear packs.

Attack against monsters + 30 for 8 sec – Monster damage is there to bring up your average damage and bring you closer to the one shots for more skills whilst grinding, and if not for one shotting, to make sure that you will have to throw fewer skills on mobs in the long run. For lesser spots it basically means you don’t need to spam Spirit Legacy for the monster damage increase and can save that big dick skill for nuking a pack on its own, whether it’s on Manshaum, Mirumoks, Crescents or Fogans.

Attack Speed 10% for 5 sec – Why I opted for attack speed here is for various uses, whether it’s in node wars where slows hit you quite easily to counteract it or after a combo in skirmishes/duels to just get out should someone survive or if you’re zoning with the skill itself and it hits and procs the attack speed, hell ensues as you have 10% for a few seconds to add more pressure and stack more attack speed. This goes for all add-ons that are NOT the same. Meaning you want to get a different % add-on going to further stack attack speed

Awakening

Shattering Darkness – Why? You will use this whether your enemy is close by, at range or mid combo. And considering your enemy won’t always be blocking, getting the add-ons to trigger is always nice.

Attack Speed +4% for 5 sec – As mentioned above, easily applied in various scenarios and as attack speed is stackable it helps to apply pressure and also counteract slows. I’m just repeating myself at this point….

Inflicts 45 Pain Damage per 3 sec. For 12 sec – As said this skill will be used variously and whether it’s before a close quarter fight or you’re ending a combo with, the damage will start ticking and help deal with your opponent. The damage is not “oh wow” however there will be times where it is just enough. And to be honest, anything that reduces a DP builds healing I like.

Spirit Legacy – Why? You’re gonna be using this skill a lot. Whether you use it to debuff/nuke your enemy in PvP or wish to one shot a pack in PvE or simply debuff it like in Hystria with it’s initial -20 DP on the skill. This skill, will come to use.

Attack against monsters + 25 for 8 sec – As mentioned with lunacy of Vedir it’s to help with average damage and clear speed. One shotting a mob will mean you don’t waste time dealing with it. Monster damage helps with it. However this does NOT stack with Lunacy of Vedir and if you use Lunacy before hand be sure to let Lunacy’s 30 Monster damage run out first as the 25 from Legacy will NOT override the 30 from Luncay. However the 30 from Lunacy will override the 25 from spirit Legacy. Meaning you can throw Lunacy when theres 1-2 seconds left on Legacy’s buff should you so desire.

Attack Speed -4% for 7 sec – To be honest I didn’t fancy the other options, and anything that will mess with potential animation cancels or delay getting grabbed even the slightest is welcome. You will have this go off mid trades or at the end of combos for that hopeful but non-existent down-smash.

Twilight Dash – Probably the most controversial out of them all considering the stamina nerf to the skill. However I opted to not change it as I’m quite fond of still getting the skill to be used in fights and in farming.

Critical Hit Rate +10% for 9 sec – Again this thing about bringing up the average damage. The skill of itself is at 50% crit rate and other skills won’t be landing 100% crits either. This buff will be overwritten by Wheel of Fortunes 20% in the same way Lunacy and Spirit Legacy monster damage interact should they be used within proximity of one another.

Inflicts 60 Burn Damage per 3 sec for 9 sec – Stacks with Shatterings damage over time and considering our longer combo ends with it being there it will help should someone survive your combo or you twilight dash around/through them mid-fight. Hitting Musas and Maewhas especially, however, I left this with the damage over time and not the potential down smash as I want a guaranteed occurrence and not RNG when dealing with something like a Mystic. The fact that they won’t be healing as much is one of the reasons I kept my damage over time.

I hope you enjoyed reading this BDO guide for the Dark Knight, she is a very fun class!