The All Range Fighter, Knuckles/Magic Device

Knux MD is one of the MOST VERSATILE build in the game with below average damage.
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Pros of this build:
> All range offensive support
> High speed damage or burst damage adaptability mid-combat
> Not affected by proration.
> High MP Recovery
> Can offer support (Chakra)

Cons of this build:
> Not STR Type, overall damage low (Due to imbalance of stat system rather than the build itself.)
> Going burst mode can leave you wide open if timed incorrectly.
> Your only reliable close range defense is GodHand
> Currently, switching between burst mode and rush mode is risky or costly.

Stat distribution​

STR = 0; //You simply can't afford this and INT at the same time. You need to obtain CRITICAL DAMAGE from equipment.
INT = 100+; For Magic Finale. Finale's damage scales with INT.
VIT = User Dependent; If you want to be crazy, go for the 0 VIT build and end up with 2k HP at lv200+. Just be aware that some regular monsters can hit well above that.
AGI = MAX FOCUS; Your main stat, as well as ASPD being the main thing you need (Or more like motion speed for switching between burst mode and rush mode).
DEX = 0; Personally, I take 100 DEX but to be quite honest, if you must take DEX, take CRT as your personal stat and use the points there for better hit rate. The ATK bonus from DEX is abysmal.

Personal Stat options
TEC: AGI/INT is not an optimal smith build lacking both STR and DEX. It can be used for an alchemist however. TECH is not for smiths contrary to unpopular belief
LUK: For monster hunters or those planning on farming monsters to make their spina.
CRT: For increased hit rate.
MTL: For ailment resistance, in instances where you don't like receiving ailments as much.

For personal stats, in the grand scheme, LUK is useful for characters you will be using a lot, CRT for high difficulty team battles, TEC for crafters, more particularly, equipment stating rather than crafting equipment. MTL is useless for evasion style builds like Knux/MD where ailments almost never land.

Your choice of personal stats are between LUK, CRT and TEC.

Skill trees​

Martial: Mainly for three skills Chariot, Rush and Chakra.
> Chariot is high single instance damage with rapid reuse but high cost. It has a range of 12m and scales with AGI.
> Rush is a multi-hit attack which boosts motion speed for a while. It is close range and the animation time is such that it takes a while to execute, a moderate risk at close range..
> Chakra is your one and best support skill, if you so choose to take it for instances where your damage just isn't necessary. It is used as is on Knux/MD and not placed in a combo with any skill due to absurd cast time.

Shot: Optionally for Quick Draw.
> Quick draw requires 20 skill points to obtain and restores 100 MP for every skill that uses MP with a % chance. Not very useful since you have access to maximizer.

Magic: Mainly for Maximizer and Finale, Optionally for power wave.
> Finale is your main burst damage skill
> Maximizer is your MP recovery skill
> Power wave when maxed allows normal attacks from 10m, useful for targets who have dangerous wave attacks in close range.

Mononofu: Optionally for shukuchi.
>Shukuchi and power wave have a strange interaction between each other. It is not recommended to take the two together, especially if inexperienced with Toram.

Halberd: For ASPD and Motion speed boost, another option is the support skill tree. Halberd is more risky in comparison.
> Quick Aura: Consume HP and boost attack speed.
> God Speed Wield: Boost evasion, motion speed, severely reduce resistances.

Crusher: For Goliath Punch, Godhand and Annihilator.
> Goliath is your main close range rush finisher.
> Godhand is for close range defenses, does not help against fractional attacks.
> Annihilator gives an extreme boost to weapon attack but reduces ailment chance. Useful for focussing on destroying targets over weakening them.

Guard: For Mirage Evasion.
> Mirage Evasion is a required skill for any build using numerous skills with cast times.

Assassin: Optionally for Backstep.
> Back step isn't useful for Knux/MD who have 16 evasion charges. It may be useful as a combo opener/finisher however.

Wizard: Not required.
> None of the skills save for maybe advanced familiar, are particularly helpful. The skill points used to obtain advanced familiar may be used elsewhere for higher skill point efficiency.

Priest: For holy fist and optionally, bless and prayer
> You can obtain a stargem for lv1 holy fist as it is not required in the build and its damage scales with STR instead of AGI.
> Bless is for passive HP recovery, useful considering breathworks has a lengthy down time of 30s.

Hunter: Optionally for Kick skill
> Back step... Kick isn't useful for Knux/MD who have 16 evasion charges. It may be useful as a combo opener/finisher however.

Magic Blade: For Magic Warrior Mastery, Conversion and resonance, optionally for etherflare.
> Ether flare is 1MP so it can work as a combo opener.
> Magic Warrior mastery and conversion and required passives.
> Resonance is useful for your finale combo.

Survival: For raw survival stat boost, optionally for drop boost passive and play dead.
> Do not take the EXP boost passive. It does not help at max level and those skill points are better used elsewhere.

Support: For Quick Motion Aura, Optionally for Brave Aura
> For more team oriented players.
> Aura re--cast is costly but not risky.

Combos​

1) Impact > Chariot (Smite) > Finale (Smite) [5 MP]
* Ranged DPS combo. Uses 5 MP per use but can be recovered easily via maximizer. Use as a prorative opener for finale combo.

2) Sonic Wave > Resonance (Swift) > Impact (Consec) > Finale (Smite) > Breathworks (Consec) [9 MP]
* Ranged burst damage combo useable at 1 MP if HP is near Max and your game is not lagging. Breathworks is useful to restore HP lost from resonance. Follow up this combo by either recharging MP or spamming chariot combo. This combo may leave you open to bosses which counter tumble

3) Ether Flare/Ether Slash > Slide (Consec) > Impact (Consec) > Rush (Smite) > Combination (Swift) [3 MP/4 MP]
* A combo you can use repeatedly without concern for diminishing rush damage. This combo may leave you open to bosses which counter tumble.

4) Slide > Goliath Punch {RELEASE} [Smite] > Combination (Swift) [1 MP]
* Goliath Punch must be charged by using the skill itself.

5) Holy Fist > Godhand (SAVE) > Impact (Smite) [1 MP]
* Defensive combo, useful for setting up Goliath punch combo afterwards. Slide is another skill useful for opener but to maximize goliath punch damage, you need to not have phys proration skills prior. This combo may leave you open to bosses which counter tumble or flinch.

Equipment​

You should try to obtain a tumble effect blocking equipment if possible. Focus on critical stats, ASPD and AGI. ATK, INT and DEX are useless.

 

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I think changing holyfist with something thats castable at range would be better so slide would do its job. Like magic arrow or javelin would be dope. Since it will give more proration for rush itll display more dmg

 

Ether Flare is a nice candidate or maybe even ether slash but there is a problem associated with either skill
1) Ether Flare is slow.
2) Ether Slash has a 2MP cost raising skill combo to 4MP.

I'd say slash works despite it's cost and maybe use holy fist for the God Hand Combo ya?

 

I didnt test the rider kick yet but afaik itll close the distance when u use it in range it'll be good for godhand combo

 

True, but rider kick has a rather... Uncomfortable effect, namely the twirl jump that has no attached i-frames and still leaves you wide open to attack.

I was wondering if recovery should even be included in the build for battles against enemies like maton who have 30 second slows or just take evasion from assassin tree.

Gonna have to retest those things but the combos up above are stable for the build. One which is a close range rush type and the other, ranged burst type.

 

I would rather use rider kick for a long range engagement since the animation sucks(if it has invincibility like the others itll be more useful).
Im planning to use it for my backstab knux but not enuf sp atm

 

LVL1 Reflex from DW skill ? We can buy it from CB without spend SP on it and it's have infinite range, ether flare/magic arrow/javelin have only 8-12m range.
Once you have about 5~6K ASPD, it's motion is almost same like Warcry/Breathwork.

Just sharing my experience, is better to have at least LVL1 recovery,

Knuc-MD have one issues, evasion is the only defensive skill/action to against boss target attack, and for AOE skill only have Chakra/Elegant.
Evasion cant use when get slow/stop ailment(evasion buff is good but require 2mp) ;
Chakra also have MP issues especially when Resonance is used and Mana Charges taking too long time, beside 50% reduction may not enough to survive in high difficulty boss magic skill or rapid shooting;
Elegant have endurance effect ( 1 HP left ), although it's can't use it while we received any ailment but it's will only skill can prevent 1HKO.

if you have enough SP, level 10 recovery is the best because it's return 100 mana. We can use it before boss throw any ailment skill to us that will mess up our tempo with fake 0 mana cost.

 

I should add a section on recommended stargems, reflex is nice to start it and with slide being the follow up, you can basically slide in from anywhere.

Ether flare and ether slash have a 6m range. It stinks because it's like range with no range.

 

Yeah, great to see this build finally being brought up. I started building this one before I met you, so it's nice to see people actually trying hybrid builds.

One : Damage will be low, so don't go for elemental gear. If your Goliath only does 300 K damage, then an extra 40% doesn't help too much, especially with the high cost of elemental gear.

Second : You mentioned lots of skills, and one is probably going to run out of those precious Skill points. I prefer to wait and buy a one time expensive af
(lvl 10 mirage evasion, lvl 1 Backstep, level 10 sneak attack.)

• I'm curious if we can pair the 16 charges of Knux MD light arm with Flashblast to deal damage. I use it on my KnuxMD LUK char, and it does enough damage to clear leftovers from Storm, and that's with reduced ATK.
• I didn't take Chariot, the uselessness of Shellbreak and Heavy Smash outweighed the usefulness of Chariot.
• Besides, at 300 AGI, Rush multiplier has caught upto Chariot, since Rush has better AGI scaling than Chariot.(Rush = 15, Chariot = 15.5)
• Having '3' DPS esque skills (Finale Goliath Rush) already scatters your skill points and strains the combos you can perform. Adding Chariot didn't cut it for me.
• Definitely agree with Ether Flare, it's multiplier isn't dependent on level, so it's free damage with opener.
• Backstep is useful, even with evasion charges, I put in the middle of slightly long combos and it saved my ass multiple times on Venena meteors. I'd recommend putting it on swift after Finale.
• Breathworks + Resonance when you're low on HP but high on MP heals quite a bit~
• If you have low enough Max HP (like, 5000~) then Bloody bite is a better Healing skill than Bless, and if you have high HP, then Bless won't do sh*t, instead go further down the Holy fist line to get Holy light, 25% HP increase and Cap of 1000. However, sub MD gives bonus cap of 10*INT, so there's that.
• Because we are scattering our SP all over, we can't take the 40 point Battle skill package, keep that in mind.

Here's what I have discovered through pain

1. Finale's damage doesn't scale too much with INT, about (x+3000)×17.5 at Max INT for Magic Device.
2. You would need an absurd amount of MATK to successfully Double Finale's damage, that's above 3500~. If you are dedicated to that, then only invest in INT.
3. Instead, try to scale Goliath upto Finale. At very High ATK Goliath catches up and surpasses Finale in raw damage, and we still have critical.
4. Since Finale already has a high constant and multiplier, we shouldn't invest in INT. Because virtually every build takes Imapct level 7, spending 9 more points to get Finale maxed isn't too much of a hassle.
5. The reason why all other physical builds don't go for Finale is Insane MP cost. But KnuxMD won't have that problem. That's why actually maxing Finale even if we don't have a great MATK is a viable choice. Remember, Finale has high constant and multiplier, and with smite the damage is 1.5x.
6. There was no real reason to invest in INT because Finale doesn't gain as much for MD builds. Only reason was MATK, but Finale's high constant handles that.
7. So now we can focus on AGI -> STR. Finale wasn't the focus of KnuxMD at all. It was Maximiser + Evasion + Resonance.
8. MATK won't be less either. With a 250+S toygun (or expensive af 5th anniv), with Annihilatior and Conversion, you get a decent 1739 MATK. Also if you go for Neo Maton sword + two Tuscogs, 18% MATK increase, that's about 1900. Not entirely bad. And if you go for Red steel tonfa, its even higher.

 

I use chariot + Finale in this build for the long range damage but from what you post here, it's understandable about not going for INT and instead going STR.

The reason for multiple dps skills is really for adaptability. At close range you have rapid damage due to rush and goliath and at range, you have slow yet high damage from chariot and finale.

Yes you can opt to focus on close range or long range but the main point here was the adaptability in combat which is useful if not for the low damage.

Nice suggestions however, I'll put in the note on going for STR.

 

I understand where you're coming from.

• Rush is Fast and Melee, lower damage.
• Goliath is Slow and Melee, higher damage.
• Chariot is Fast and Ranged, lower damage (almost same as rush after 300 AGI)
• Finale is Slow and Ranged, higher damage.

It's just, a bit SP expensive, that's all.
Finale = 5+5+5+7+10 (32)
Goliath = 5+10 (15) (20 with GodHand)
Rush = (5+5+5+5+10) (30)
Chariot = Rush - 5 (25)
Maximiser = 10+5+5+10 (30)
Annihilator = 10+5+10 (20)
Resonance = 10 + 10 + 1 (21 - 30)
Chakra = 10+10+10 (30)
That's the core skills here, and they total (32+20+30+25+30+20+30+30) = 217.
Considering you need extra skills like
Backstep (6)
Mirage evasion (15)
Holy fist (1)
Sneak attack (15)
GSW(25)
Recovery (10)
It will be 72 extra, a bit on the higher end, and we leave out skills like Brave Aura and stuff.

Possible solutions :
Stargems for Sneak attack, Mirage and Backstep, (Recovery? We need higher level cap to add these all) saving 36 SP, ditching GSW for Azin's 10,000 ASPD build. Holy first is 1 SP so fine.
Probably ditching Chariot to get 25 SP.
This allows us to be a little more creative in choosing the rest of the builds, like (not all)

• Bloody bite
• Brave Aura
• Elegant poise
• Flashblast?
• War cry?
• Kairiki?
• If going STR, then Spellburst + Element slash? Lol.

 

Hmm, last time I check assassin skills are not available on stargems

 

Due to the two recent buffs, this build could be improved. This hybrid build appears fun while pure physical builds spend 80% of their time recovering MP and self-buffing. Can't wait to see how Enchant Sword works with Knux! Also, for some reason people are saying that the damage of (Knux) Enchanted Sword is low. It's strange that Knux gets more MATK but is weaker than OHS

 

It'd have to be done anew but given that the devs won't change certain flaws with knux, I'm re-evaluating the playstyle by looking over available skills. I'll make a new one later

 

Hmmm what a bunch of sissies lol.

People are expecting too much on a tier 3 knuckle exclusive skill tree to have big pEpE damage, the same as BOW and other weapon class tier 4 dps skills.

If you look it on another perspective, it's already good enough that Goliath can deal almost twice as damage compared to chariot for a TIER 3 skill.

The only problem with that DPS oriented skill tree are:

*The bug on Goliath. It won't work sometimes and

*The high MP cost of the skills.

*God hand can't block fractionals and doesn't work like parry which negates ailments like flinch for example. You can remedy the 400mp cost into 1mp combo like Slide>God Hand(save)>finale(smite) just for the sake of that 60 sec buff multiplier.


It's a fact that Knuckles as a DPS is underwhelming but dang, it's a fresh breathe of air to play the weapon class on my part amidst the META oriented community.

People been talking shit on dark skills pre tier 4 but now, almost every builds use SH like a freakin edglords LOL.

Edit: Goliath is a TIER 2 to be exact like wtf? Tier 2 dealing higher than most tier 3 skill LOL.

 

I figured a use into Goliath by tying it into bloodsucker for HP Regen after dealing some damage to recover HP lost from resonance.

You still get dicked over when the boss drops self centered spike traps tho like VS Crystal Titan where using Goliath Punch is a horrible mistake and mostly Chariot and auto-spell will have to be your main DPS.

 

The point is irrelevant.

• Assassin stab is tier 1, and does more damage with the higher tiers.
• Goliath is the same with Annihilator and Godhand.
• It would have been better if they kept one skill and the succeeding skills would enhance the first skill.

 

That is like every melees problem when it comes to spikes tho and not just Goliath. There's a reason why we get range skills in the first place just for that kind of situation.

* My bad for not being specific. It's a fact that assassin stab deals more damage for its tier THANKS to tier 4 BUT I based my comment earlier on weapon tree section where a tier 2 Goliath deals tons of damage than those other tier 2-3 WEAPON tree damage skills. Still, assassin stab needs to be used by Halberd just to deal higher damage than Goliath.

*Wdym by the same as those 2? If it's tier, nope. Those skills with the exception of Goliath are TIER 3 btw.

*Hmm you do have a point and might agree on that.

Who knows they might buff those tier 1-3 crusher skills when tier 4 is released just like what they did to assassin tree, dark and magic blade.

 

The next problem then becomes mp regen.

Knux/non-MD can only rely on high ampr because decoy shot is terrible for them to use.

Chariot is 5 MP, getting it's cost down and maintaining its power is difficult and may leave you rooted long enough for AoE retaliation.

Toram is a weird game where all your skills self inflict stop ailment. No idea why the devs did that if they want to promote long combos.

 

I mean if we generalize the mp problem, most weapon classes (Melee to be exact) face the same right?

And you already mentioned the solution, investing on ampr stats.

Well on my knucles atm which can switch to sub dagger or md.

I use these combos specially for Goliath casting it at 5m range since I take power wave.

Reflex>Warcry(save)>Breathe work(swift) 1mp and I got a half mp buff at the end to use 3mp Goliath instead of 500mp. Can even be used at the beginning to only have 300mp annihilator. God hand will be 200 mp and floating kick into 1mp.

The smited Goliath goes like this.

Floating kick>Combination (swift)>Goliath (smite)>Finale(smite) 200mp, 100mp when used with breath work buff.

By doing this during Goliath stack, I already regained enough ampr thru autos in order to cast Goliath again.


Just do the usual impact>chariot combo as range dps and do some autos to regain mp back.

Regen combo (md sub) cast at 4-5m range

Ether flare>warcry(save)>back step(swift)>impact(cons)>chariot(bloodsucker). Regen HP with ampr buff from ether.