A good Withered Knight build plays into this classes' strength, which is trying to apply as much burst damage as possible to panic enemies before they can retaliate. The Withered Knight is a slow and fiddly character to use from the selection of Mistfall Hunter classes, so all of its strengths come from trying to kill things as fast as possible before they can get the upper hand. To do that, you'll want to build it all out around the Wither ability, which lets you apply a mark to enemies and then execute them for extra damage. It's all about patience and care - making sure you don't miss and understanding that despite looking like a tank, this Withered Knight can get taken apart very easily.
How to play Withered Knight in Mistfall
The entire point of the Withered Knight is to do damage via a Withered ability. This is powered by light attacks that charge your sword with Judgment after three hits. This Judgment can then be used to add a Withered mark to an enemy, which is then Executed mainly by heavy attacks for extra damage.
If that sounds complicated, then all you're doing is charging your sword with basic attacks. placing that charge on an enemy and then detonating it for extra damage.
Because of this, all your skills and talents should be built around doing that as quickly as possible. For that reason, focus on the Greatsword for this build. The Knight's secondary weapon, the Polearm and Shield, has its uses, especially in a team, but generally doesn't do as much damage, and is more of a defensive playstyle which hampers the 'doing as much damage as you can' tactic you need to lean into. I also find it exacerbates all the Knight's problems, with having attacks that are easy to miss or leave you open.
Best Withered Knight Skills
To get the best out of the Withered Knight you're going to want to access the Greatsword Specialisation from the Weapon specialisation Talents. I'll explain more about that in Talents below but that will basically give you one extra skill for you Greatsword, but take one away from your Polearm. Using that you can then use these three weapon skills:
Greatsword weapon skills
- Radiant Retribution: This is a series of three quick wide slashes that will fully charge your sword with Judgement, ready to apply Wither. You can also use Radiant Retribution Enhancement Talent to increase the distance you can move farward whilew using it. It's a powerful option that can open a fight and charge your sword at the same time.
- Breakthrough charge: This is a two stage attack that starts with a dash, letting you close the distance on an enemy fast. It gives you an element of surprise, as well the ability to close distances fast.
- Parry: Because I'm playing down the Polearm here this will be one of your core defensive moves. This puts you in a defensive posture that will prevent you from taking damage for either five second or five hits. Any time after a parry you can also then trigger a swipe or dash attack to apply Wither to an enemy. It does lock you into a slow, defensive posture so be ready to cancel out of it if you misread a situation or change your mind.
Withered Knight Polearm and Shield weapons skills
Because I'm using the Greatsword Specialisation from the Weapon specialisation Talents you'll only have one weapon skill for your Polearm and Shield. depending on what you want these are the best two options - what you pick depends on if you want something offensive, or something defensive. That said, the Sacred Bulwark is probably the best overall if you're playing in a team.
- Sacred Bulwark: This creates a large magical barrier that blocks attacks and enemies from passing through, so it's great to provide cover for a team. However, while you can fire the barrier forwards for damage and knockback, you're immobile while h9olding it. Making it of limited use on your own.
- Javelin Thrust: This lets you throw your spear at an enemy and then pull yourself to them and apply Wither. It's a good option for increased mobility and traversal and probably the talent you want if you're playing solo. Thorn Guide, which does something similar on the Greatsword, only moves you and applies no damage or affects, which is why this is the better option.
Withered Knight Talents
Obviously there's a lot of Talents to chose from and you can unlock more as you level up but these are the essentials for me to get the class powered up quickly.
- Weapon Specialisation
- Greatsword Specialisation - this will give you a third Greatsword weapon at the expense of a Polearm one.
- Greatsword: Core Archetype
- Crime - This is a critical skill you can't afford to miss out as it prevents a Withered mark being consumed when you Execute it. That means you can keep Executing a Withered enemy. It slightly reduces damage over all but that's offset by the ability to keep laying on burst damage.
- Bad Karma - This unlocks after Crime and lets you apply a series of debuffs when Execute extends Wither's duration. Firstly it'll affect and enemies movement speed, then increase its vulnerability, and finally it case health loss over time. Paired with Crime it increases your damage and affects on the enemy
- Greatsword: Radiant Retribution Enhancement
- Long Range - This increases the displacement range of the Radiant Retribution weapon skill, letting you attack from further away.
There are obviously a lot more Talents you can use but these are the core ones you want to build off. Legacy in the Greatsword: Core Archetype section is good way to claw back health in a fight, for example, while Dominance in the Greatsword: Breakthrough Charge Enhancement section gives you a moment of Super Armor to negate stagger at the end of that attack - useful if you use it to charge into a crowd. Defensive Shift, from Polearm and Shield: Sacred Bulwark Enhancement is also useful if you chose that skill as it gives the ability to move around slightly instead of being locked in place.
Withered Knight affixes and effects
The main thing to focus on in terms of addition to affixes and effects - via Victory wine and gear - is anything that increase your Burst Affix. This increases your damage from Executing Wither, making it vital for this class. Other good options include Valour to increase your attack generally, while Tenacious and Aegis increase your health and defence respectively.
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