Table of Contents
If you need help with the Mercenary class, we have the AoE Mercenary guide to assist you
Introduction
Are you looking to play an AoE Knight but aren’t sure how to get started? This guide is for you. Before we dive in, here are a few important points to consider:
This guide is tailored for a free-to-play experience, meaning it assumes you don’t have access to consumables, top-tier equipment, or a high-level Ringmaster with perfect buffs constantly supporting you. You can still use consumables if you have them, but we’re focusing on what to do without relying on them.
An AoE Knight is a classic AoE class that requires a Ringmaster for healing. This is crucial because, as an AoE Knight, you’ll be constantly taking damage and can’t effectively use hit-and-run tactics. Without a Ringmaster to heal you, you’ll be able to tank fewer monsters and your overall effectiveness will drop significantly. So, having a dedicated Ringmaster (either your own or another player) is almost essential for this guide to work.
Stat Points “H”
Let’s start with stat points. Essentially, you have two main options, though there’s really only one optimal choice. However, there is a more free-to-play friendly.
Full STR Knight is always possible. However, adding some STA can make things easier.
Even unbuffed, Knight gets lot of HP. A Knight doesn’t necessarily need STA; eventually, most Knights realize they can go full STR. Of course, you need to be a bit more cautious with your equipment, but it’s doable.
If you’re free-to-play and struggling a bit, you can allocate some points into STA. We would recommend a maximum of 50 STA. It’s not extreme, but you need to remember that high AoE damage is crucial, otherwise leveling will take much longer.
Skill ”K”
Mercenary Skills
When it comes to skill points, We’ll only focus on the skills that are absolutely essential for an AoE Knight. Here’s what you need to know:
First, the Mastery Skills are crucial. As you can see, I haven’t invested in the sword skills because I don’t use a sword in my setup. I’ll touch on that later, but for now, these four mastery skills are the ones that matter.
Guillotine can be interesting, but we’ll cover that in more detail later. Apart from that, most of the Mercenary skills aren’t relevant for us. Empower Weapon is one you can max out, though it’s not strictly necessary. For the most part, you can ignore the other Mercenary skills.
Knight Skills
- Pain Dealer: The situation is similar with the Knight Most of them aren’t necessary, but Pain Dealer is useful if you plan on fighting bosses or doing dungeons. It increases your damage against bosses for 15 seconds, which can be handy for giant hunting or dungeon runs. However, if you’re not focused on these activities, you may not use it as often.
- Guard: Is an important skill when you’re leveling against monsters that are too strong and you feel like you might die. It lasts for 20 seconds and has a one-minute cooldown, making it perfect to use once per AoE cycle. You should use this skill only when absolutely necessary, as it decreases your attack power by 25% but reduces incoming damage by 40%. This is a significant reduction, making it one of the best skills in the game for survival.
Use Guard when you feel like you’re at risk of dying, but don’t activate it prematurely. If you find that your healer or food isn’t keeping up, then activate it to ensure you survive. Be quick, though, as you don’t want to die while trying to cast it.
- Power Stomp: Is essential at level 65 as it’s your primary AoE skill. It scales with STR and has a 15% chance to stun enemies, which is extremely useful. AoE skills that can stun are generally the best, and Power Stomp is no exception. It’s your go-to skill for AoE damage.
- Rage: Is the counterpart to Guard, and it’s interesting that it’s the next skill in the tree. Rage increases your attack power by 15%, but also increases incoming damage by 10%. It’s a bit tricky to use. While it boosts your damage significantly, you need to be cautious and ensure you can still survive with the increased damage taken. If you’re fighting monsters that are only a level or two above you, Rage can be very effective. However, if you’re struggling to survive, it’s best to avoid activating it.
- Pain Reflection: Scales with STA, so if you’re heavily invested in STR, the duration might be shorter. This skill reflects some of the damage you take back onto the monsters, slightly increasing your overall damage output. However, the reflected damage is usually too low to make a huge difference. Still, it’s worth using, as every bit of damage helps.
- Call of Fury: Is another interesting skill, though not essential. It’s more of a quality-of-life skill that helps with pulling It has a range of 5, allowing you to pull multiple monsters from a distance without having to run up to them. This can be useful in certain situations where monsters are close together. The skill has a 5-second cooldown, which is somewhat long for pulling, but it can be handy when you want to pull multiple monsters without closing the gap immediately. We’ll see this in action later during the playstyle demonstration.
Cloak
When it comes to selecting a cloak, your choice is straightforward: either the +8 STR cloak (Cloak of Strength) or the +8 STA cloak (Cloak of Endurance). If you’re focusing on STR, especially in the early stages, we highly recommend starting with the STA cloak. Your general approach is to maximize damage through stats while focusing on full defense with your equipment. This allows you to find a balance and adjust as needed. As a free-to-play player, this method ensures you’re well-rounded. So, go for STA at the beginning and switch to STR once you’re more established or if you’re already well-equipped.
Pet
Regarding pets, you have several options. You can choose an HP pet Nightmare, a defense pet Hippogriff, or even a Tiger for more STR. However, we’d suggest you forget about damage pets for now because they offer minimal damage boosts unless they are high-tier STR pets, which can be expensive. Medium to low-tier pets provide little value in terms of damage, and it’s more efficient to invest in building up your HP through your pet. HP pets generally offer the best value. While HP pets are often more expensive when well-leveled, you can find many mediocre ones at a reasonable price that still provide a good HP boost. Our recommendation would be to go for Nightmare.
Now, why is the Hippogriff still a viable choice? First, it’s one of the most affordable pets in the game. Second, it has one of the best grace effects, reducing incoming damage, similar to the Guard skill. When combined with Guard, a Hippogriff can make you almost invincible for 20 seconds. Both Guard and the pet’s grace effect last for 20 seconds, and together, they can make you nearly untouchable during that time. Although this is a costly option, it’s an extremely powerful combination. Our main recommendation remains Nightmare, but Hippogriff is definitely worth considering due to its grace effect.
Jewelry
As for jewelry, If you’re going full STR, We’d recommend starting with Stam Ring +7, or Stam +8 if you can find it. Alternatively, for more damage, you could opt for Strente +1, which is very affordable at around 1 million. Stam Ring +7 might be a bit harder to find, but they’re still quite cheap.
For Earrings, I’d suggest using two Penzeru +1. We’d recommend two Penzerus +1 over Speedos +1. Speedo +1 only offer 6% block rate, which isn’t much, especially when Penzerus+1 provides 150 defense. That amount of defense is crucial early on, making a significant difference in the damage you take. Since you likely won’t have a high block rate early on, the extra 6% block rate from Speedos +1 is negligible. It’s better to focus on defense, which plays a more significant role against regular monsters. So, Penzerus +1 is the way to. For necklaces, an HP necklace is ideal; Like a Pep +1, but a Puran Necklace would also work great.
Essential Assist/Ringmaster Buffs for AoE Knight
Prioritizing buffs can be a bit subjective since everyone has their preferences, but here’s what we recommend. The most important buffs are Quick Step and Haste, especially since you’ll often use auto-attacks for pulling. Generally, using auto-attacks at 100% attack speed (or as close as possible) is faster. However, it depends on the situation. Even if you don’t strictly need it, it’s not a bad idea to have it. If you’re pulling mostly with skills, Haste may not be necessary, but I find it useful for speed.
Another crucial buff is Mental Sign, which increases the duration and power of your buffs. Always buff Mental Sign first before other buffs. Buff Mental Sign and then reapply it, making all buffs higher (every 25INT there is a buff boost). This difference is significant, so maxing Mental Sign and using it twice before buffing is key.
You’ll also need Heap Up, of course. In our opinion, Cats Reflex is more important than Patience, though opinions may differ. If you disagree, prioritize according to your needs, but we would place Cats Reflex and Patience on the same level of importance. Both are crucial. After that, Beef Up comes next. Beef Up increases your damage, which is important, but surviving should be your first priority. If you’re tanking monsters, surviving is essential—no amount of damage will matter if you can’t stay alive. So, prioritize Beef Up only after securing your survival. Cannon Ball is extremely unimportant in this scenario, and Accuracy is the least important buff. Cannonball isn’t bad, but I would put it at the very end, just above accuracy.
Set Upgrades
When it comes to set upgrades. Based on experience, upgrading your set to +5 or +6 is more than sufficient up to level 105. There’s no need to push your level 50 or 75 set to +8 unless you can easily afford it or find a set that meets your expectations. Investing heavily in upgrades at this stage might be unnecessary and could lead to wasted resources. If you can manage it, go ahead, but +5 or +6 is definitely enough. Three sockets Volcano Card 4% (HP+4%) would suffice—four sockets are simply better. After reaching level 105, you should aim for four sockets if possible and maybe use Attack Lighting sockets. Its used by a lot of players.
Sets
When it comes to choosing sets for your character, the process is straightforward, but it’s important to consider a few factors based on your playstyle and the enemies you’re facing.
Clockworks’ Shamutra/Shaentra (Level 50-53)
The Shamutra/Shaentra Set is an excellent starting point due to its insane defense against all monsters, except those with wind attributes. Unfortunately, wind monsters are an exception and deal more damage as the set doesn’t provide defense against them. Against all other elements, however, you’ll find that enemies hit you like “babies,” barely scratching you.
Beyond the defensive capabilities, the set doesn’t offer particularly useful stats for an AoE build, such as FP hit rate, or attack speed, which aren’t priorities for AoE players. However, due to its exceptional defense, this Set is your best bet until level 75.
Warpon/Warspon Set (Level 75)
At level 75, it’s generally recommended to switch to the Warpon/Warspon Set. While the Shamutra/Shaentra Set offers better damage mitigation, the Warpon/Warspon Set provides a 10% skill damage boost, which is crucial since AoE builds aim to deal significant damage to multiple enemies simultaneously. AoE doesn’t mean tanking—it means killing multiple monsters at once. While you need a decent defense to survive, your primary goal is to maximize damage output.
The Warpon/Warspon Set is a balanced choice, offering both damage and defense. If you’re struggling with survival, you can continue using the CW Set until your Warpon/Warspon is upgraded sufficiently (+5 or +6) and socketed. However, for most players, the Warpon/Warspon will provide a better mix of offensive and defensive stats.
Knighert/Knighz Set (Level 105)
When you reach level 105, you have the option to switch to the Knighert/Knighz Set. This set offers additional block rate +10%, defense +7%, and critical resistance +10%, making it a strong defensive option.
If you decide to switch to the Knighert/Knighz Set, make sure it’s upgraded to at least +8 with four sockets. Without these upgrades, the Knighert/Knighz Set may not provide a significant improvement over the Shamutra/Shaentra Set. The Knighert/Knighz Set is ideal for those who need more defense without sacrificing too much damage output.
Cruentus/Cruentra Set (Level 120)
At level 120, the Cruentus/Cruenta Set becomes an absolute must-have. This set provides PvE damage reduction +15%, PvE damage +15%, 25% HP rate, block rate +10% and Skill Damage +5%. It’s widely used by AoE Knights. There’s no debate—this set is essential for any serious AoE build.
Bileire/Bilari Set (Level 150)
The Bileire/Bilari Set, available at level 150, is essentially an upgraded version of the Cruentus/Cruentra Set. This set provides PvE damage reduction +20%, PvE damage +20%, 30% HP rate, block rate +10%, Skill Damage +10%, and Critical resistance +10%. It’s relatively affordable, as it drops from normal monsters on the Coral Island. This an excellent choice for high-level AoE players, offering improved stats for both offense and defense.
Set Sockets
When it comes to socketing your sets, the choice between HP and Attack depends on your immediate needs.
- HP Sockets: Early in the game, especially if you’re focused survivability, prioritizing HP is often the better choice. This ensures that you can withstand more damage and survive longer in battles.
- Attack Sockets: As you progress and switch to high-tier sets like Cruentus/Cruentra Se or Bileire/Bilari, you might find yourself naturally tanky due to the set bonuses, your jewelry, and buffs. At this point, you can afford to socket for Attack to increase your AE damage output, as you’ll have enough HP to survive without the extra boost.
Elemental Upgrades
Regarding weapon upgrades the element doesn’t really matter. When pulling monsters, you may occasionally use an auto-attack, but upgrading the element beyond +1 for just one auto-attack is pretty pointless. It makes almost no difference. While auto-attacks do deal decent damage, the additional damage from elemental upgrades is negligible. If you want to use an element, stick with +1 and switch it according to the monsters you’re facing. There’s no need to upgrade the element higher than +1, and for AoE attacks like Power Stomp, the element is entirely irrelevant.
Weapon Sockets
You have more options than other classes in this regard. STA (Land Card) is an option, STR (Fire Card) is an option, and skill damage (Volt Card) is another possibility. The cost-effectiveness of these cards is generally pretty good, though prices may change in the future. The choice depends on what you need at the moment. If you have enough HP, focus on damage. If you have enough damage but lack HP, then focus on HP. It’s all about balancing based on your current needs. As for the decision between STA or skill damage, we can’t give a definitive answer. Personally, we’d lean towards STA, though skill damage cards are usually the budget option. So, choose whichever seems more affordable to you. Otherwise, stick with STR.
Weapons
Now, let’s discuss weapons, which are a crucial part of your build. Power Stomp (with Scroll of Weapon Bonus) is the skill awakening you should aim for. You want as high a Power Stomp percentage as possible like near 23%.
Early-Game Weapons
For an AoE Knight, the choice of weapons is relatively simple, especially at lower levels. Initially, you don’t have much choice—two-handed weapons are highly recommended, if not essential. While technically you could use a different setup, two-handed weapons significantly enhance Power Stomp, making them superior.
At the beginning, your primary option is usually the Big Axe. For instance, the Guardian Big Axe offers STR +7 and HP +10%, both of which are desirable stats. This weapon is a solid choice early on.
At level 75, you should switch to the Historic Big Axe, which provides HP +18% and Block +7%. These stats are perfect for an AoE Knight, offering both survivability and defense.
You might also consider the Iblis Big Axe, but it’s more expensive and rarer than the Historic Big Axe and only offers skill damage without any defensive stats. Since our strategy relies on a balance between damage and defense, the Iblis Big Axe doesn’t fit well into this approach.
Mid-Game Weapons (105+)
At level 105, you have several weapon options. I recommend the Mythical Silver Big Axe, which grants 25% HP, 20 STR, and 10% Block Rate. This weapon is a top-tier choice at this level, offering all the stats you need to be a formidable tank.
High-Level Weapons (120+ and 150+)
At level 120, the weapon choices become more complex, as there are several viable options, all of which make sense depending on your build.
- Bloody Obsidian Slayer: This weapon offers Block Rate+12%, STA+20, HP+30%, making it ideal if you want to maximize your defense. Block Rate is incredibly important—reaching the maximum Block Rate cap (75%) can make a noticeable difference in your survivability. If you don’t have enough Block Rate from other sources like Speedos, this weapon is likely your best choice. With a high Block Rate, the difference between 65% and 75% is significant and can be the deciding factor in whether you survive tough encounters.
- Bloody Obsidian Executioner: This weapon provides a reduction in incoming damage of 8%., HP+30%, and STA+20. While the incoming damage reduction is also a valuable stat, we generally rate Block Rate higher because it has a more immediate impact on your survival. However, if you can achieve the maximum Block Rate without the Slayer, the Executioner becomes a better choice due to its damage reduction. This makes you nearly invincible when combined with proper healing.
At level 150, the same principles apply. The Lusaka’s Heavy Sword provides Block Rate, while the Lusaka’s Heavy Axe reduces incoming damage. As with the 120 weapons, the choice between these two depends on whether you can reach the Block Rate cap without the additional Block.
AoE Knight Playstyle
Pulling Monsters: Strategies and Techniques
One of the first things we want to mention is the different ways to pull monsters. Typically, you’ll face attack speed issues because you’re full STR with almost no DEX, and using two-handed weapons, especially big axes, can make it difficult to reach 100% attack speed.
Here’s the main thing: when fighting single monsters, relying on auto-attacks is generally faster than using skills. For instance, if you use Power Stomp, it might seem efficient, but the time spent on skill animation usually makes it slower compared to just auto-attacking. However, if you’re dealing with groups of monsters, skills like Power Stomp become more effective. You can pull multiple monsters at once with one Power Stomp, which is faster than attacking them one by one.
Skill Utilization
Another important skill is Guillotine, a ranged Mercenary skill. It’s useful for pulling a monster from a distance without needing to run up to it. However, keep in mind that the skill’s animation is quite long, so it might not always be faster than just auto-attacking. It’s a handy skill when a monster is positioned awkwardly, but not necessarily the best way to pull in all situations.
A more efficient way to pull groups of monsters is by using Call of Fury. Unlike Power Stomp, which requires you to be in the middle of the monster group, Call of Fury can pull monsters from a semi-ranged position. This makes it a faster option when dealing with groups. However, since Call of Fury has a relatively short cooldown of about 5 seconds, you might find yourself using it more often than Power Stomp.
When it comes to choosing which skills to use, it’s really up to personal preference and your specific playstyle. Experiment with different skills and decide which ones work best for you. If you find that Guillotine is the most efficient skill for pulling, then go with that. If Power Stomp or Call of Fury works better for you, then use those.
Dealing with High Damage
Rage increases the damage you take from monsters. This, combined with wearing lower-level gear and having an elemental disadvantage, means you’re taking more damage than usual. With better gear, like the Shamutra/Shaentra Set, this wouldn’t be as much of an issue due to the increased resistances.
At level 125, you get easily 22,000 HP with gear that isn’t particularly optimized. This means a knight can be a tanky AoE class, even with a heavy STR investment.
Using Guard Effectively
Lastly, let’s talk about Guard, a skill we mentioned earlier. If you find yourself taking too much damage, Guard can reduce incoming damage by 40%. For example, if you activate Guard while taking 1,000 damage per hit, that damage drops to around 600. It’s a significant reduction and can be a game-changer in tough situations. However, it’s important to note that while Guard reduces the damage you take (40%), it also reduces the damage you deal (Attack -25%). Still, makes Guard a powerful defensive tool without severely compromising your offensive capabilities.
Guard should be used as a safety net rather than something you rely on constantly. If you’re in a situation where you’ve pulled too many mobs or your healer disconnects, using Guard can save your life. However, it’s not ideal to play in a way where you’re constantly on the brink of death without Guard. It’s better to use it strategically when things go wrong.
Source: The Guide was originally explained by Spielestyler in his YouTube video in German.
