Knight advanced tactics

Will try and get some more youtube videos out eventually but at the moment a lot of them are just massive files that take ages to work with so when I can be bothered.

Bomb tactics:

Time is all that matters
Controlling when and where the bomb will explode is simply a matter of time. The bomb timer can be changed server to server but usually it is a standard (noone bothers to change it) it's about 4 seconds. If you know this then cooking the bomb for a particular time before throwing is essential. Beginners can practice by counting in their heads or aloud before throwing the bomb. Once you practice this a lot (try in an empty server or map generation) then you can do it without the counting as it comes naturally.

No it's yours!
For anyone who doesn't know, you can pick up an enemy bomb with E. Use F as standard to then throw the bomb. Be aware of exactly how long the timer has run down.

Grenade!
Bombs can be thrown mega distances. The idea is simple, just press f, run, jump out into the air and press f again at the very top of your jump. The further out over the edge you go (if there is one) the better, and good bomb throwers will be able to return to the spot they were standing on (without falling down a cliff) usually letting the bomb timer run down for 1 second is preferable as it will usually explode after one bounce. Though this does depend on distance of lob.

Multi-kill
Something as simple as this is often forgotten by knights. You only get one bomb, unless you're planning on suiciding or you're near an outpost. Use it effectively! That is, use it to kill multiple enemies most of the time. The best way to do this is to park up near a pit that belongs to you and shield at the top. Wait for a certain amount of enemies to collect in the pit, then throw your bomb down for maximum efficiency. However, if you plan on being aggressive and can't wait, simply use your bomb only when you see enemies clumped together rather than specifically waiting for them to clump. This is only a guideline. If you're in a serious predicament you should still use your bomb (such as destroying outposts or in stalemates)

Stop bomb
If an enemy knight is coming towards you and you don't want to deal with him in melee, press f and jump and run backwards. If the enemy is dumb he will usually follow you, probably expecting you to throw the bomb past him. At a certain point (2-3 seconds into the bomb timer) stop and very quickly jump up completely vertical and press f. This will send the bomb up in the air straight. Most people don't expect this and run past you only to get killed by the bomb coming down exploding behind them. It's really satisfying to pull off and if you can pull it off it confers little danger to you. Why? You're constantly moving, so you can dodge projectiles, you don't have to engage in slightly random melee combat, and usually the enemies own bombs will not reach you because you're running backwards.

Delicate killer
Don't forget that using F to throw your bomb will always give it a certain amount of momentum. So if you want to throw your bomb into a pit right next to you which is only 2 blocks wide, using F will not work, the bomb will fly right over the pit. Press F then E in order to delicately drop the bomb in front of you. This will bounce a few squares before it loses momentum, so you can do this about 2 squares from the pit. Very useful for murder holes.

THINK!
Too many times I have not thought about where the enemy bomb or my own bomb will end up, leading to disastrous results. If your enemy throws a bomb down at you from the top of a cliff, it will keep bouncing down the cliff and become harmless. If you follow the bomb down because you think it will go off early, you'll die with it. Always watch when the knight releases the bomb. Does he cook it? Does he run back and forward to use momentum? Also remember that your shield usually needs to be up at least 1 second before the bomb goes off. This is to allow for lag, as sometimes on your screen it is going off later but in the client it is going off earlier. Don't take any chances. As for your own bombs, if you have time to prepare and think about how much momentum you want in your throw, use the time then proceed.

Tell me what you think and feel free to add some of your own before I talk about some more.

 

Awesome points for someone who has never played knight much, like myself. I do have a question though. When an enemy throws a bomb and you pick it up with E and then throw it back, does it become your bomb and damages them? Kinda like Pyro reflecting rockets and grenades in TF2?

 

Yeah I believe it does. There hasn't been many times i've managed to utilise throwing bombs back. Most of the time its to save your outpost. I don't think i've got a kill with it before. But just saving yourself is reason enough to use it.

 

yes it becomes a red bomb on pickup, thats why a good tip is to press on a op under atack E just to pickup the bomb and u'll surely take some enemys with u aside that the overpost survives. :P

 

Good thread! [imsopro]However there wasn't anything I hadn't known, but this for sure will be helpful for any newb ;)[/imsopro] Anyone add it to the wiki?

 

How do knights do that one move where they can insta-gib someone by using their shield in a certain way?

 

Never heard of that. Please explain? :)

 

Shield tactics:

Time to think

Give yourself breathing space by using your shield in this way against a knight: If he comes at you from the front, shield front, from above, shield up (he'll stand on top of your shield) and from behind just turn with the shield behind. He'll never be able to get to you with normal stabs. If he uses a charge attack, jump back as usual. This gives you time to wait for reinforcements or wait for the perfect moment to strike when the enemies guard is down. (It helps me anyway)

Helping ha-err, shield
A basic one, use your shield up and people can jump on top of it. However, most people don't know that you can jump and shield up while your friend is still in the air to push them up a bit further. This can be used to get them just that little bit higher than your usual stepping stone. Another thing to add is if a knight does this for you, or you simply need to help someone up a 4 block high cliff, shield up (that's right UP) on the edge of the cliff and you can help your teammate up.

Impregnable
If an enemy is using a bomb against you in a narrow corridor and you want to shield it off. Examples of when is: you don't want to damage the tunnel or the surrounding area by throwing the bomb back, OR the enemy cooks the bomb enough so that you have no time to throw it back. Basically shield BEHIND you the moment the bomb flies past you. If you shield while moving back there's a chance you might get hit. Once you've shielded the blast immediately put your shield back in front facing the knight so that he has to charge to hit you again.

Bye bye
Use your shield to push an enemy.. into a pit. It's really not that hard, but you rarely see people utilising this simple but effective tactic.

The extra stone block
Stand at the top of a pit and shield. The only way an enemy is getting over you is with ladders or to dig under you. They will not be able to jump the pit unless they get some decent height. This also works at the top of your castle as an overhang to stop knights.

Patience..
An enemy knight you just can't seem to stab to death? No worries. Find a narrow corridor with a dead end the enemy wants to go through and wait somewhere near it. Don't be too conspicuous as some knights catch on. They should go in the narrow corridor and start digging. Immediately rush in behind them and shield. Now that they are trapped, cook a bomb AS you advance. If you do it when you're next to the knight he will charge attack and try and kill you. Cook the bomb for about 3.5 seconds if you can, it will explode right as it leaves your sprite, instantly killing the enemy. This involves many facets of patience, waiting for the enemy and cooking your bomb enough. As an added bonus, any archers or builders you trap like this are simply dead meat, though with builders you can stab them to death if you're quick enough.

Midair shield
A lot of the time you're fighting knights, which is why most of these tactics are tailored to knights. But when fighting an archer you're definitely going to need to use your shield a lot. Get used to jumping off a cliff with your shield out in midair. Archers WILL try to shoot you on the way down. Adjust your shield from horizontal to above or below depending on the archers relative position to you.

EDIT: Who can forget this classic tactic.. Well you shouldn't after I tell you it.

My invincible archer
The reason why it's a team game is because shielding in front of your archer whose fighting another archer works so well. Do it do it DO IT. It's so useful and your team will love you for it.

 

Knights can stun... or it might be lag. No idea how it works but hey... it's there.

 

Neat: Throwing bomb back does damage to enemies. Managed to get triple kill yesterday with it :P

 

All the more reason to pick up and throw then. Though you really do rarely get a chance to use it as everyones cooking their bombs these days.

 

When you shield down you can fall on spikes and you don't ger hurt (when the spikes are on the ground of course). That's quite usefull. You can let yourself fall into a trap and disarm it so other players who don't play knight or don't know the trick don't get hurt. And you can beginn to dig past the enemy's tower.