Dark Knight Class Guide

Introduction

The Dark Knight class uses a two-handed Kriegsmesser as their primary weapon and an Ornamental Knot as their secondary weapon (same offhand as Berserker). At level 56, the Dark Knight unlocks their awakening weapon which is a Vediant glove and allows her to use three swords with magic. The Dark Knight class uses melee range to slash at their enemies as well as dark magical mid-ranged spells. She is often compared to the Sorceress class because of her dark magic and playstyle. They have very high mobility and plenty of AoE with fast clear speed, as well as high burst damage once awakened. But they do have low defenses and can be somewhat of a glass cannon. The class relies heavily on on their protected skills (forward guards and Super Armor) and kiting, whilst trading damage at close range.

Awakening VS Succession

Dark Knight Succession and Awakening can be unlocked after level 56 after speaking to the Black Spirit and completing the Awakening and Succession quests under the suggestions tab.

• The Awakening will unlock a completely new skill tree, which will be your primary skills from now on. The skills in the pre-awakening are mostly utility skills, and your main damage dealers will be your Awakening skills.
• The Succession skill kit enhances your Kriegsmesser skills instead and only has a few awakening skills.

Your awakening weapon still affects your succession damage and vice versa. For example, if you are using the Succession kit, then 30% of your Awakening AP is still applied to the damage of Succession skills, as well as the additional item stats on the awakening weapon, such as Human/Species Damage and Accuracy.

Awakening and Succession are both fairly equal in PVE and both have advantages/disadvantages for PVP that makes it hard to say which is better. I recommend playing both and deciding which you prefer.

Skill Builds

Since the skill point update in late 2022, you can obtain all skills for approximately 1,000 skill points. Focus on your main skills first, then level the passives. The Weight Training skill should be leveled last since it only gives you weight limit increase.

Protected Skills

It is important to read through your skills to understand which skills have protection and crowd control effects. Read through your skills carefully to get familiar with what each skill does. You can also filter the different effects in the Skill Window (K).

Locked Skills

To lock a skill, press the lock icon on the top of each skill icon in the skill window (K).

These are the skills I recommend locking to help prevent messing up combos during PVP.

• Evasion

• Scarring Slash
• Spirit Satiation
• Sudden Attack
• Darkness Burst (if you have not completed Magnus)
• Hidden Strike (optional)
• Trap of Vedir (awakening only – put on hotbar instead)
• Flow: Spirit Blaze

Skill Enhancement (Rabam) Skills

Skill Enhancement skills can be obtained in the Skill Window (K) under the “Skill Enhancement” tab at the top. At levels 56, 57, and 58, you will have 2 different options to choose between. These skills have no skill points cost, but you have to have other skills leveled up to be able to take them.

Level 56 – [SHIFT + X]

• Shadow Strike – Requires [Luncay of Vedir] and [Shadow Bullet II]
  • (Preferred Choice)
• Wrath of Vedir – Requires [Luncay of Vedir] and [Corrupt Ground V]

I would recommend trying out both of these skills and testing which you prefer. Shadow Strike is a quick skill with ranged DPS and also has the edge over Wrath of Vedir due to it being cancellable.

Level 57 – [SHIFT + Z]

• Obsidian Blaze – Requires [Wheel of Fortune V] and [Obsidian Ashes V]
  • (Preferred Choice)
• Unveiled Fate – Requires [Wheel of Fortune V] and [Unveiled Dagger III]

Both of these skills are quite lackluster but Obsidian Blaze is a slightly better choice out of the two skills because of it’s super armor. Unveiled Fate can leave you vulnerable and it’s much safer and faster to just use the combo: Unveiled Dagger into Wheel of Fortune

Level 58 – [Quickslot Only]

• Balanced Strike – Requires [Slanted Balance III] and [Airstrike III]
  • (Preferred Choice)
• Slanted Slash – Requires [Slanted Balance III] and [Kamasylvia Slash IV]

The recommended choice is Balanced Strike because it is basically an extra Airstrike and can be canceled with Dusk. You can also cast it from Awakening. Although Slanted Slash has a forward guard, it is only on the first hit, while the CC of the skill is on the 2nd hit, so it is unprotected and vulnerable if you want to use it fully.

Skill Add-ons

Below are some examples of PVE skill add-ons you can take.

If you would like example skill add-ons for other scenarios, please refer to the Class Discord and its resources.

I recommend experimenting with your add-ons and figuring out what is best for you because it really depends on your personal preference and how you play your class. If you’re simply not sure what to take then you can blindly follow the examples below and they will still be effective.

You can also check our Skill Add-on guide for a complete list of Skill Add-ons.

Weapons

Armor

For your armor, you will make a choice between Damage Reduction or Evasion gear. I recommend reading our guide about the two different DP stats if you want to learn what the two different stats do.

Generally, you are recommended to build Damage Reduction on Dark Knight.

Accessories

There are various different accessories in the game. At first, just focus on using the accessories that give you the highest AP in each slot.

There are also “free” accessories that all new players should get:

Accessory	How to obtain
Tuvala Accessories	Tuvala accessories are starter accessories obtained from the Season Server. Try to push up your accessories to PEN if possible, but if you don’t have much time to play Season, then focus on your Weapons and Armor first.
PEN Capotia Necklace	You can obtain a FREE PEN Capotia Accessory from the Season Servers Special Reward. For your first season, it is recommended to get the PEN Capotia Necklace because it gives the most AP. You then want to create another Season character in the next season to get the PEN Capotia Belt, and finally the PEN Capotia Ring or Earring.
PEN Ring of Crescent Guardian	You can obtain a PEN Ring of Crescent Guardian by completing Jetina’s PEN Accessory quests. These are daily quests that take a minimum of 45 days to complete. Every new and returning player should complete these as early as possible for a highly discounted PEN accessory.

Common Starter PVE accessories:

• TET Black Distortion Earrings
• TET Basilisk’s Belt (or PEN Capotia Belt)
• TET Ring of Crescent Guardian
• TET Ogre Ring/Laytenn’s Necklace (or PEN Capotia Necklace).

Crystals

Below is an example starter Crystal build for PVE. Some of the crystals are expensive. You can obtain the Rebellious Crystal by completing the main story questline. For more example crystal builds, including an end-game PVE crystal build, and PVP Crystal builds, check our Crystal Preset Guide.

This is an example PVP Build for Dark Knights using Damage Reduction Armors and going full Human Damage (glass cannon). For more example crystal builds, check our Crystal Preset Guide or the Class Discord.

Artifacts and Lightstones

There are few different viable choices for both Artifacts and Lightstone combos. Dark Knight is the “Magic Damage” type so you want to go for Magic Accuracy and Magic Damage for offensive artifacts.

For PVE Lighstones there are a few different options to min-max. For certain spots, you may want to use Species damage combos (eg. The Wild: Demihumans, The Wild: Kamaslyvia, The Wild: Humans). Species damage combos perform better if you are reaching the monster AP caps at a certain zone.

A more generic PVE combo is listed below that is recommended for your class and will work at any spot.

You can also find more information about Artifacts and Lightstones, and how to obtain them, in our guide. We also have a list of Best in slot Artifacts and Lightstones.

Useful Links/Credits

I highly recommend checking out the Dark Knight Class Discord for resources about your class. The class discords always have the most up-to-date information and tons of experienced players that can help with questions or gearing advice. I would like to give a shoutout to the Staff and Experienced players in the Dark Knight discord for all their hard work gathering resources. You can find some of their own guides below. I honestly cannot recommend enough to join the discord.

Useful links to check out:

• Official Dark Knight Forums
• Awakening DK Movement Guide by JStep
• DK Combos Guide by Harshsin
• Dark Knight Beginner Guide by Jonlaw98
• Succession DK Guide by NotTheWorst
• Awakening DK Guide by NotTheWorst
• Succession DK Addons and Combos by TEST

PVP Montage Videos:

• Awakening DK PVP by Rochix
• Awakening DK PVP by HuaHed
• Awakening DK PVP by Casterial
• Awakening DK Arena of Solare PVP by Magnetu
• Succession DK PVP by 송문
• Succession DK PVP by Rdsdpcnc
• Succession DK PVP by EmillianaBanana

Credits Disclaimer: Since there are now 26 BDO classes, it is impossible for me to keep class guides fully maintained. My main class is Ranger and I don’t claim to be the best in any class. Therefore, I use resources and recommendations from the Class discords since (as all other players would agree) this is the best source. I also ask for advice from friends who are more experienced in the class. Where possible, I credit specific players for information such as Add-ons, and combos. However, sometimes there is no player mentioned as the original sharer. If there are any issues with credit or you would like certain information removed/changed, please reach out to me!