Black knights are some of the fiercest and strongest enemies that the Ashen One can encounter in the deadly world of Dark Soul 3. These charred warriors in darkened armor are all that remain of Lord Gwyn's elite forces that sought to slay the powerful demons born from the Old Chaos.
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Though this was not the end of their baptism by fire, as the very strongest followed their lord into the Kiln of the First Flame and turned as black as coal after all embers had been snuffed out. However, these nearly peerless knights still wander the world, attacking any and all who they come across including the player or literally any other being, including dark spirits.
Gamers can attain the power of the black knights by finding and using their weapons. There are 5 in total, each with great strengths that can be ideal for melee-oriented builds. After gaining some insight into their stats and traits, one can use any of them to great effect in both PvE or PvP combat.
Easily forgotten when most discuss the black knight weapons, the Black Knight Shield is arguably the best medium shield in the game. Before even considering using it, the player must have at least 18 Strength in order to hold up this heavy metal mass that is 7.5 weight. However, if one meets this requirement, this shield offers 100% damage reduction to physical damage for great general usability and a significant 85% damage reduction to fire, making it exceptionally handy against demons and other foes who belch or throw flames.
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The Black Knight Shield also has remarkably high stability at 60, meaning that the amount of stamina used to block attacks is a fair deal less than many other medium shields; this level of stability is usually unseen except on greatshields. Its skill is the main hand's weapon skill, which allows it to be combined with any offensive armament and have innate synergy. It can even be a mighty weapon itself if one is doing a shield-only playthrough, for despite its low D-tier scaling with Strength, it deals strike damage and at +5 it attains 198 physical attack.
Despite being referred to as merely a "sword", this is actually a greatsword. This charred blade is unique among both greatswords and its black knight weapon brethren, for in addition to dealing a bonus of 20% damage to all true demons, like all black knight weapons, the Black Knight Sword has the Perseverance weapon skill, which is usually only seen on the heftier hammers. This grants the wield the ability to poise through many attacks with relative ease, and since it also does increased poise damage with its strong attacks, it can stagger or stun foes much larger than its wielder or even those using bigger and heavier weapons.
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Those are qualities that fit extremely well with the lore, as the black knights were renowned for taking on, and slaying, chaos demons that vastly outsized them. The Black Knight Sword has many versatile slashing attacks that are great for both usages against multiple foes and singular targets, though also has a thrusting move as the 2nd attack in its one-handed strong attack combo that can be great to gain a counterattack hit or reach foes who think they are out of range. At the max upgrade level of +5, this greatsword obtains 302 physical attack and C-tier scaling in Strength as well as D-tier scaling in Dexterity, making it a decent weapon for quality builds.
As the halberd in the game with the highest base damage, the Black Knight Glaive can be a deadly weapon, even when left unupgraded. However, if one is choosing this as their main weapon, maxing it out to +5 will yield 278 physical attack along with D-tier scaling in Strength and C-tier in Dexterity, making this another solid choice for a quality build.
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It can be a bit tricky to use this weapon since it only does maximum damage when one strikes their foe with the bladed portion, meaning that spacing is even more vital in all battles. However, the Black Knight Glaive has remarkable tracking on its strong attacks, granting the player the ability to even adjust while in the middle of an attack and with their feet in the air. The weapon skill, Spin Sweep, unleashes a fierce horizontal slash that can be followed up with an overhand slam that can wreck both the health and poise of adversaries.
This greatsword is actually an ultra greatsword and possesses traits that make it one of the deadliest both among other ultra greatswords and black knight weapons. There are few other weapons, even among those that possess hyper armor, that can smack foes around as the Black Knight Greatsword can. Its most powerful regular maneuver is its two-handed charged strong attack that can unleash an upward slash that can obliterate almost anything in its path, though its light attacks are nothing to laugh at either, as these relatively fast sweeping movements can be incredibly versatile in all situations.
The weapon skill, Stomp, performs a similar assault to the charged two-handed strong attack, though with immensely more poise health and can send targets literally flying. After reaching the final upgrade at +5, this monstrous blade gains 322 physical attack along with D-tier scaling in Dexterity and a notable B-tier scaling with Strength.
There are very few weapons that can match the Black Knight Greataxe in terms of raw power. It can ragdoll foes with its strong attacks by sending them skyward or smashing them face-first into the ground. Of all the greataxes in the game, it has the most unique moveset. In addition to being able to toss enemies about as if they were paper bags, its jumping attack not only cleaves foes with huge damage but also has a small area of effect around the place the axe blade impacts that can stun targets who aren't even directly hit.
Its Warcry skill is interesting and devastating in equal parts, as it turns the strong attacks of this weapon into a chain of surprisingly fast slashing lunges that can both close distance quickly and take massive chunks out of the target's health bar. At +5, the Black Knight Greataxe achieves D-tier scaling in Dexterity, C-tier scaling in Strength, and a colossal 350 physical attack; one of the highest physical attack stats in the entire game.