Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Recommended Build
3. Equipment
4. Skills
   1. Mercenary
      1. Skills to get
      2. Optional Skills
      3. Skills not to get
   2. Knight
      1. Skills to get
      2. Optional Skills
5. Closing Comments
6. History

1. Introduction
It seems to be general consensus that in order to make a good 1v1 Knight, you need to have godly equipment and/or be filthy rich. I’m making this guide because I don’t believe this to be the case. One can make a very effective 1v1 Knight character without needing much penya at all.

2. Recommended Build
Str: xxx
Sta: 25-30
Dex: 46-50

This build assumes that you will be using a one-handed sword as a Mercenary, and a two-handed sword as a Knight, optionally using a Dretra with a Shield from 60-75. The main characteristic of this build is to have high enough Hit Rate and Crit Rate to do decent damage, without wasting too many stat points. As a young Mercenary, you will want to raise your Dex to 33 relatively quickly. Pang buffs will give you Dex+7, and at 38 Dex, there is a sword speed break, and at 40, your Crit Rate will increase from 3% to 4%. Before level 60, I recommend raising Dex to 46-50. This will give you much needed hit rate after you become a Knight, as well as being the ideal range for most equipment choices.

At level 90, we will want to reach the Dex speed break at 91 (reduces to 90 Dex at level 92). With help from max Cannonball (which every RM should have by this point), and Angel Big Sword’s Dex+10, this speed break is not difficult to reach at all. This is also around the point that you’ll be receiving Geburah Tiphreth (attack+150, a.speed+25%) regularly, so this is when we’ll be switching our Re(s)corn set (a.speed+20%, hp+15%) for our War(s)pon set (crit+15%, hit+15%).

With the addtition of Weapon Piercing in v12, I no longer recommend raising Dex any higher than 50. Instead, one should pierce their A Big Sword with three Electric B cards (giving Dex+12, Crit+3%). The reason for this is simple: the Crit+3% that Electric cards give you is far more beneficial than the Crit Damage+3% that Fire cards would. Whether you add more base Dex to your build, or you get them from piercings, your stats come out to the same. For further piercings beyond 3/3, one should use Fire cards. I personally use 48 base Dex, which lands exactly on 90 buffed Dex with 3/3 Electric B piercings.

15-60 Level by Level
This question is asked a lot on the forums, so I’ve decided to include it here. These are my recommended builds level by level. I obtained these builds by using Jon’s Character simulator and finding the optimal build each level. It’s not always possible to have the optimal build, because the values for Str and Dex tend to jump back and forth a bit, but these builds are a close as possible while sticking to a linear progression.

Level 15: Str: 43; Sta: 15; Dex: 15
With Beginner Buffs: Str: 50; Sta: 29; Dex: 22
Starting with a good base Str will speed up the first few levels significantly. From this point, add nothing but Dex until your Dex reaches 33 (40 with Beginner Buffs). Set Protection at level 5, the minimum needed to unlock your other self-buffs.

Level 20: Str: 43; Sta: 15; Dex: 25
With Beginner Buffs: Str: 50; Sta: 29; Dex: 32
Still adding Dex at this point. Set your Empower Weapon at level 9, which is the highest you can while still being able to max Blazing Sword and Sword Mastery as soon as they are available. I also recommend doing the Mia quest, which can be obtained from JeongHwa, directly across from the Magic store in Saint Morning. Rewards from this are a lot of exp, and a Gore+3 necklace.

Level 25: Str: 45; Sta: 15; Dex: 33
With Beginner Buffs: Str: 52; Sta: 29; Dex: 40
By this point, you’ve finally reached 40 Dex, and can enjoy your additional Attack Speed, Hit Rate, and Crit Rate. Max Blazing Sword at this point. Not only will this give you higher Attack, but higher Hit Rate as well.

Level 30: Str: 50; Sta: 20; Dex: 33
With Beginner Buffs: Str: 57; Sta: 34; Dex: 40
Now’s a good time to start adding a little Sta. Max Sword Mastery, and now you have your two most important self-buffs mastered. Also, do the Red Bang quest, which you can get from Luda (the vagrant armor merchant in Flaris). Hold off on the last part until you are at least level 40 though. Rewards of this quest are a decent amount of exp, around 375k penya, and an Entanale Sword, which is the best sword you can use for quite a while. I recommend buying a second Entanale from another player, then elementing one of your swords with Wind+3, and the other with Fire+3. With just these two swords, you can easily get to level 45 while always having elemental advantage. In conjunction with Empower Weapon, this will add a lot of damage (nearly as much as Sword Mastery). Continue to add points to Empower Weapon as you level up.

Level 45: Str: 65; Sta: 25; Dex: 43
With Beginner Buffs: Str: 72; Sta: 39; Dex: 50
15 levels have gone by, and in the process we’ve added 10 Dex, 5 Sta, and 15 Str. Empower Weapon should be maxed by this point. My recommendation now would be to get Pan Barrier to level 10, so that you can start adding points to Sneaker (but don’t max it… level 19 has a higher success rate). There’s a number of good quests available at this point. The Bone Bowl quest, the Playscript quest, and the Ivillis Dungeon quest. The Bone Bowl quest you should be able to do quite easily solo at level 44. For the Playscript quest, you will need kill a number of Steam Walkers, which are level 53. If you want to attempt it solo, I would recommend elementing a level 43 suit to either Water+3, or Earth+3 (as Small Steam Walkers are Fire, and normal Steam Walkers are Electric). The first few parts of the Ivillis Dungeon quest are also easily done solo, but the last part requires you to kill 4 Ivillis Guardians, which have as many HP as a giant, and hit just as hard. I would recommend bringing an Assist friend to help you. By the time you finish these quests, you should be level 48 or 49, depending on how many Steam Walkers you had to kill.

I’d also like to address equipment at this point. If you can afford it, I would highly recommend getting a Sword of Silver Sword, which adds Attack Speed+5%, and Hit Rate+10%. One of these might cost between 3m and 5m, depending on your server. If you have extra funds, you might also consider getting the level 45 set (Stitch/Pangrill), which adds HP+10% and Attack Speed+20%. Very nice to have, but not too necessary, especially if you’re always leveling with an FS. If you’re short on funds, just save your money for the Re(s)corn set at level 60.

Level 48: Str: 71; Sta: 25; Dex: 43
With Beginner Buffs: Str: 78; Sta: 39; Dex: 50
Stop leveling now. No seriously, take a break and Plug hunt for a week or two. Mercenaries are one of the best Plug hunters, and you have the perfect build for it, so you may as well take advantage of that fact. Find yourself a Red Scroll party (s2 or s3 would probably be the best place to look), and hunt Normal and Captain Rockepellers, both of which can drop Plug+9s. After you’ve sold your first few, you should be able to buy a clean Stitch/Panggril set, Demol+12s and Vigor+9s, which will speed things up a lot. I would recommend continuing to Plug hunt until you have at least 200m in funds. You might also consider saving a set for yourself, if you plan to AoE part time. If you find yourself getting bored, just pretend that there is no other place to level from 48-50. Worked for me.

Level 60: Str: 92; Sta: 25; Dex: 46
Finally level 60! Round off your Dex at ~46, a little more Sta for flavor, and the rest into Str. Go do your job change quest. Done? Good. Before you continue leveling, there’s a couple more quests you should do: the second part of the Red Bang quest, and the Emerald Mantis quest. Doing both these will give you about 180% exp; nearly two whole levels. And they’re easy too.

If you wish to have more Sta in your build, continue adding Sta after level 60 in a similar progression. One could also use this pattern for a 33-40 Dex Blade build, simply by not adding any more Dex after level 25 (and adding Str instead).

Alternative Builds
No Sta
Str: xxx
Sta: 15
Dex: 46-50

This is the same build as the recommended build, only without any base Sta. If you are seriously considering going with a full Str build, this is the build I would recommend instead. However, I would advise against it, unless you can afford at least a War(s)pon +8 set by level 90. The reason being that without it, your Def and HP will be considerably lower than the recommended build. I do believe this to be the optimal 1v1 Knight build though, as it will always out-perform full Str, no matter what equipment you are using. As an example, a level 90 character, using a War(s)pon set and A Big Sword, with full RM buffs against Forgotten Princes (level 97):

Full Str:
War(s)pon +6, Rage 1: Hit Rate 96%, Seconds Per Kill 8.124
War(s)pon +8, Rage 3: Hit Rate 96%, Seconds Per Kill 7.983
War(s)pon +10, Rage 7: Hit Rate 96%, Seconds Per Kill 7.725

Alternative Build:
War(s)pon +6, Rage 6: Hit Rate 96%, Seconds Per Kill 7.765
War(s)pon +8, Rage 8: Hit Rate 96%, Seconds Per Kill 7.623
War(s)pon +10, Rage 10: Hit Rate 96%, Seconds Per Kill 7.485

//TODO: Replace broken links with charsim codes

In the above examples, the level of Rage was adjusted to produce optimal killing speed. Typically, this means to level Rage as high as possible while maintaining max Hit Rate (96%). Note that the Seconds Per Kill are actually much higher than they should be, because the character simulator does not take Sword Cross into account. What we observe is that with Identical equipment, this build outshines full Str, not only due to a higher attack speed, but also due to being able to utilize a higher level of Rage. However, as stated earlier, without a high +’d set, this build will have significantly less Def and HP than the recommended build of 25-30 Sta.

Here again, with v12 Piercings, it’s a good idea to cap at 46-50 Dex, and to pierce your A Big Sword with three Electric Bs. Or, if you have a lot of funds, you could even go as low as 33 Dex, and pierce seven times (or 40 Dex piercing five times), but that’s a rather tall order for a lot of players.

High Sta (Hybrid)
Str: xxx
Sta: 35-40
Dex: 46-50

Once again, same build as the recommended build, only with more Sta. For pure 1v1, you don’t need this much Sta; 25-30 is more than sufficient. The idea behind this build is to take the largest advantage you can from the level jumps in Azria. For 1v1s, the optimal level range is 5-6 levels below what you are fighting. Any lower than this, and the damage reduction will slow down your exp rate, and any higher than this, the level difference starts to do the same. For AoEs, the optimal level range is 1-4 levels below what you are fighting. Note that these ranges are completely disjoint… why not do both? This is my current build and playstyle. When I first move to a new area in Azria, I 1v1 for 2-3 levels, and then AoE for 3-4 levels, before moving on to the next spawn.

Can Knights really AoE effectively with such low Sta?
See for yourself: AoEing at level 101 with a 35 Sta build

Note my completely crap gear at the end.

Builds I Recommend Against
Full Str
For this build, just as for a Blade Full Str build, you do need to be rich.

• Without a very highly +’d set, your Hit Rate will be noticably below max
• Even with a +10 set, you will not be able to use max Rage effectively (Rage 7 is the highest you could go without losing hit rate, Rage 4 if you’re using Axes)

If you really, really want to use this build, use Axes, not Swords (the optimal build for two-handed Axes is actually 20 Dex, rest Str). Levels 60-75 will be hard due to low Hit rate. You might consider using a Dretra and a nicely awakened Shield for these levels. If your Re(s)corn set is at least +8, continue using that, otherwise use War(s)pon right away at level 75 (+4 minimum) with an H Ambi Axe. At level 90, your War(s)pon will need to be at least +8 in order to use A Ambi Axe (this will allow Rage level 1, with a +10 Set you could use Rage level 4). Although this build isn’t actually all that bad, it’s not as good as a Sword Dex build, has lower Crit damage (although higher Crit rate after level 90), and it’s a lot more expensive by necessity. 

High Dex (71-91)
It’s a waste of stat points, pure and simple. Reaching the second speed break early is simply not worth the sacrifice of Attack that one would have gotten by putting these points into Str instead. Even the creator of the current guide which recommends this build says that he plans to restat at level 92 to lower Dex. Because this is a Low-Cash guide, we’d like to avoid having to restat if at all possible. Going with 71 Dex isn’t all that bad, however; whenever you have max Cannonball you will be able to reach the second speed break. You also will be able to use Rage one or two levels higher than if you only had 50 Dex. If you don’t mind restatting at level 90/92, it’s a good option, I suppose. The only problem with this, is that you’re assuming you’ll always have max Cannonball, which, before level 75ish, is hardly a given. Using two Arek rings until level 90 would probably be a better, and cheaper way to go.

3. Equipment
This is my recommended equipment for various level stages, keeping in accordance with the Low-Cash theme. Obviously, if you have better equipment than listed, feel free to use it.

At Level 60
Weapon: G Big Sword +3, Element of Choice +3 (no higher)
Armor: Re(s)corn +3/+4, Attack +8%/+12%
Jewelry: Gore +3, Vigors +3 – +9, Plugs/Demols
Buffed Stats: Attack Speed 82%, Crit Rate 7%

A Re(s)corn set is manditory. Without it, your attack speed will be so slow, that even Elementors could put you to shame (well, maybe not that bad, but pretty close). You’ll also want to upgrade to at least +3, or +4 if you can afford it for the extra hit rate. Attack piercings are not manditory right away, but this is the set we’ll be using until level 90, so there’s no sense in waiting.

G Big Swords are so cheap, that people are practically giving them away. You can upgrade higher than +3 if you like, but keep in mind that we’ll be ditching this sword at level 75, and resale value is zero. Always element your weapon to +3, but no higher. Re-elementing to +3 100 times is about the same cost as elementing to +5. Not really worth it, in my opinion.

Gore +3 is fine. Anything higher than this is just a waste of cash. Buy Vigor+9s and Demol+12s as soon as you can afford them (if you stopped to Plug hunt at level 48, this shouldn’t be a problem). If you can’t afford Demol+12s at this point, just go with a couple Plugs.

Level 60 Alternative
Weapon: Dretra +3 or higher, Element of Choice +3 (no higher)
Shield: High Str and/or Crit awakens
Armor: Re(s)corn +3/+4, Attack +8%/+12%
Jewelry: Gore +3, Vigors +3 – +9, Plugs/Demols
Buffed Stats: Attack Speed 96%, Crit Rate 7%

Here replacing the GBS with a Dretra and Shield. I have personally tried both options on two different Knights (one used solely GBS, and the other Solely Dretra w/ Shield), and I can confirm that using a Dretra is definitely the better of the two options. Dretras are significantly more expensive than GBS, but they also have a good resale value, so you should have no trouble getting your money back. Depending on how good your shield is, you might even consider using this setup all the way to level 90.

At Level 75
Weapon: H Big Sword +3 – +6, Element of Choice +3 (or Water +5)
Armor: Re(s)corn +3/+4, Attack +8%/+12%
Jewelry: Gore +3, Vigors +3 – +9, Plugs/Demols
Buffed Stats: Attack Speed 92%, Crit Rate 7%

Only change here is H Big Sword, an excellent weapon with Attack Speed+10% and Hit+15%. Don’t be tempted to switch to War(s)pon at this point. The extra Hit and Crit rate is nice, but for the time being, we still need the Attack Speed from Re(s)corn. Once again, always element your weapon, but after you move to Pinkies, you may consider elementing Water a bit higher. If you decide to go to Azria instead, Mutant Augus are also Fire, so it’s a good move either way. Continue to upgrade your jewelry to higher Vigors and Demols as you get the chance.

Level 75 Alternative
Weapon: Lusaka’s Sword, Element of Choice +3 (no higher)
Shield: High Str and/or Crit awakens
Armor: Re(s)corn +3/+4, Attack +8%/+12%
Jewelry: Gore +3, Vigors +3 – +9, Plugs/Demols
Buffed Stats: Attack Speed 100%, Crit Rate 16%

If you want to continue along the alternative route, Lusaka’s Sword is an excellent way to go; if I were to make a new 1v1 Knight, this is probably what I would do. It is a rather expensive weapon, and you won’t ever be able to sell it, so I would most likely advise using it until you change to Bloody Sword at 110. At 75, this setup will far out-perform an HBS, and at 90, the DPS will be similar to using an ABS+10, depending on shield awakenings. Continue using Re(s)corn until you regularly have a partner with GT available, at around level ~90, at which point one should switch to using War(s)pon.

At Level 90
Weapon: A Big Sword +6 or higher, Element of Choice +3 or higher
Armor: War(s)pon +3 – +10, Attack +12% – +28%
Jewelry: Gore +3, Vigors +9, Demols +12
Buffed Stats: Attack Speed 91%, Crit Rate 24%, Crit Damage +35%

This is our end set. As you can afford it, you’ll want to upgrade your War(s)pon suit as high as you can, eventually reaching +10 if possible so that you can use max Rage is all its glory. With a +6 set, you should be able to use Rage 6 while still maintaining max hit rate. You could actually get by with a +3 or +4 Set at this point, but you’d be limited to using Rage level 2, and Rage level 3 respectively. This would result in 80 and 60 less Attack than using a +6 Set, which is significant, but not really all that big of a deal in my honest opinion.

One thing you might notice is that we never quite reach 100% attack speed. We come close, we think about, but we never quite get there. At 105 we have the option to use an LG Big Sword, with a.speed+18%. Although 100% attack speed is nice and all, I don’t think that it’s worth the loss of our additional crit damage. Also, the base attack isn’t all that much higher than A Big Sword’s anyway. Perhaps the best way to achieve 100% attack speed as a 1v1 Knight is to buy a whole ton of clean War(s)pon Guantlets, and just spam awakening them until you get at least Attack Speed+9%. You might also be able to get a lucky Attack Speed awaken on your A Big Sword, War(s)pon Suit, or a Pet (Crit, Crit Damage, Str, or Attack awakens are obviously very desirable as well).

Another very good option is to replace either your War(s)pon Suit or Gaunts with a high Crit awaken (I personally use Stitch Gaunts with Crit+11%), which is a great way to boost your Crit rate. Keep in mind, however, that without your fourth piece, you’ll be losing the Hit+15% bonus. This means you’ll need to either upgrade your Set a bit higher, or keep your Rage a bit lower.

At Level 110+
Weapon: One-hand Bloody Sword +9 or higher, Element of Choice +3 or higher
Shield: High Crit and/or Crit Damage Awakens
Armor: War(s)pon +3 – +10, Attack +12% – +28%
Jewelry: Gore +3, Vigors +9, Demols +12
Buffed Stats: Attack Speed 100%, Crit Rate 40%, Crit Damage +40%

I recommend switching to a one-handed Bloody Sword at 110. There are a few disadvantages to doing this; you will have lower max damage, no Sword Cross, and you’ll look like a Mercenary. But there are a lot of advantages which over-weigh these. One-handed Swords attack much, much faster than their two-handed counterparts: 20% faster by my measurements (172 attacks/min vs. 144 attacks/min). You also get 20% extra Crit rate, more Adoch, and the ability to use a Shield to boost your Crit rate even more. With piercings and awakens, 70% Crit rate or more shouldn’t be all that hard to obtain. You’ll also be able to reach 100% Attack Speed without needing any awakens. The worst result is the loss of Sword Cross, but when leveling with an RM (who isn’t afk…), they should be using Holy Cross, which doesn’t stack with Sword Cross anyway, so the loss at later levels is quite minimal.

4. Skills
a. Mercenary Skills

i. Skills to get

Blazing Sword
The Hit+10% that this skill gives is invaluable. The Attack+50 isn’t bad either. This is the first skill that you’ll want to max.

Sword Mastery
Attack+100, just like adding an extra Demol. Get it, max it, love it.

Empower Weapon
This skill adds a lot of elemental damage, even when only using +3 elementing. When you start using a two handed weapon, the damage increase is even more. This is the third skill you’ll want to max.

Sneaker
Stops your enemy dead in its tracks. Sneaker is a skill that turns most "oh [I Have a Potty Mouth]" situations into "not a big deal." Also very useful for pvp. I recommend setting it to level 19**.

Slash / Keenwheel
Sadly, these Mercenary skills are the highest DPS a Knight can muster with skill damage. As such, these are useful skills for pvp. If you’re using a GBS, you might also consider using them to start each battle up to level 75, before you have increased attack speed and hit rate from H Big Sword. Slash + 2x Keenwheel more or less amounts to 8 hits that never miss.

Pan Barrier
This is your anti-Bowjester bug spray. For the moment, it doesn’t reflect yoyo attacks, but hopefully that might change with v12 (Edit: As of v13, it hasn’t <_<). Max it if you like to pvp, or in particular if you have a Bowjester problem.

ii. Optional Skills

Smite Axe / Axe Mastery
Getting these skills will give you a little more variety, in that you’ll also be able to use Axes effectively. You can also not get the Axe-only Knight skills without leveling these a little. Not really necessary though, unless you plan to AoE as well.

iii. Skills not to get

Protection
Although this skill might be kind of useful as a Mercenary, as a Knight, you’ll need to switch in a shield just to activate it, and the Def+20 that it gives is more or less just a waste of a buff slot. You will, of course, need to put 5 levels into this to unlock your other self-buffs, however.

Any other Attack Skill
Compared to Slash and Keenwheel, most Mercenary attack skills pale in comparison, and are not worth spending points on.

** I need a ruling on whether to max Sneaker or not. I have two characters with Sneaker, one level 19, and one maxed. I’m still of the opinion that level 19 has a higher success rate, even in v11, although I’ve heard conflicting reports.

b. Knight Skills

i. Skills to get

Rage
This is the Knight class’ most distinguishing skill, and is the single most powerful Attack buff in the game. AoE Knights will max this skill as soon as they can for more skill damage. However, as a 1v1 Knight, I cannot stress enough the importance of NOT leveling this skill too quickly. At level 65, you should get Rage level 1, and it will sit there for quite a while. As you get better equipment, and a higher +’d set, you should slowly level Rage, but no higher than to maintain max hit rate.

ii. Optional Skills

Power Stump
If you want to try your hand at AoE, you might consider getting this skill. Get yourself a set of Plugs and give it a go (however, I wouldn’t recommend using Re(s)corn… wait until you have your War(s)pon set). Why not use Sword AoE? I can say from experience that Sword AoE with a low Sta build does not work very well at all… the stun from Power Stump increases your tanking ability by a large margin. Also, Power Stump doesn’t require a target. Earth Divider does, which becomes a problem at the end of the AoE, as Sword Cross will cause many mobs to die earlier than the rest (which clears your current target, meaning it interrupts your action slot, and you’ll need to select a new target).

Guard
Not only do Knights get the most powerful Attack buff in the game, they also get the highest Defense skill. When mastered, Guard will exchange 100 Attack for 400 Defense. It’s hard to overstate exactly how much Def+400 actually is. That’s like wearing 4 extra Plug+9s. It’s the amount of Defense you get from 200 additional Sta. If your base Defense is 1200, that’s like adding 33% more Def – more than four 7% cards. If you plan to AoE on the side, this skill is a must.

Charge
Charge is a fun arena skill; it’s like an upgraded version of Guillotine. It has a similar range, does more damage, and attacks surprisingly fast, especially when action slotted. I find it particularly useful against ‘suicide asalers’; Sneaker them down, and Charge, Charge, Charge.

Pain Reflection
Although this skill is much more useful for AoE Knights, once you have Rage to level 4, a 1v1 Knight can also benefit from this skill.

5. Closing Comments
Although other 1v1 Knight guides do exist, in places I find the information they provide to be unstructured, misleading, and perhaps even harmful, particularly regarding a 1v1 Knight’s primary asset, Rage. The purpose of this guide is to demonstrate that one can create a 1v1 Knight character without having to spend a fortune. I particularly hope to encourage those who may have been discouraged by other guides which claim that a +10 set is a manditory requirement.

Credits go to aria_sama.