The Black Knights

black_knight_enemy_dark_soul
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281 ~
298
281 ~
298
281 ~
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281 ~
298
198~
266
fire-defense-dark-souls lightning-defense-dark-souls poison-resistance-dark-souls toxic-resistance-dark-souls bleed-resistance-dark-souls
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295
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318
B B A
HP 497 ~ 887 (NG+ 1212 - 1393)
Drops 800 - 1800 Souls (NG+ 2400 - 7200)
White Titanite Chunk
Titanite Chunk
Red Titanite Chunk
Blue Titanite Chunk
Black Knight Halberd
Black Knight Greataxe
Black Knight Greatsword
Black Knight Sword
Black Knight Shield

The Black Knights are Mini Bosses in Dark Souls and Dark Souls Remastered. Mini Bosses are hostile creatures that do not respawn after being killed.

 

The Black Knights Information

The once proud Silver Knights of Gwyn, Lord of Cinder now roam around Lordan wielding powerful weapons, the Black Knight Shield and the Black Knight Set. It is said that these knights were burnt black in their fight with Chaos Demons, and this caused them to have high Fire resistance. Few even traveled with Gwyn to the Kiln of the First Flame, who were then burnt to ashes when he linked the First Flame, leaving behind just their spirits that roam the spectral staircase in between the Kiln and the Lordvessel.

 

Drops

  • 800 - 2000 Souls (depending on location)

Axe knight

Great Sword Knight

Halberd Knight

Sword Knight

 

 

Attacks

Sword

  • Stabs / Running Stabs
  • Triple Slash Combos
  • Heavy Slashes
  • Shield Bash

Greatsword

  • 4 Hit Combos combo
  • Spinning underhands
  • Running stab / thrust
  • Uppercut /thrust
  • Forward Thrust
  • Shield Bash

Halberd

  • Single /Double / Running thrusts
  • Spinning Slash
  • Sweep combo
  • Shield Bash
  • Jumping attack

Greataxe

  • Double / Triple Chop Combo
  • Jumping Attack
  • Overhead Slashes
  • Running thrusts
  • Shield Bash

 

 

Strategy

Black Knights have high poise and can deal huge amounts of damage if you simply try to fight them head-on. The best way to deal with them is through Backstabs and Parries as their recover post-attack is relatively slow, making them especially susceptible to such attacks.

The attacks are often predictable so hitting the Parry button as soon as you see their hands move and then following up with a Riposte is a very effective and satisfying way of defeating these Knights. Every attack except for the Shield Bash can be parried.

WATCH OUT for the shield bashes as they can take away A LOT of your stamina and are often followed by a heavy attack or combo. The knights are also most vulnerable right after having completed a combo attack, allowing you to sneak up behind them and perform a Backstab.

 

 

Tips

  • It is often easier to run them off a ledge or bridge than to fight them, especially at lower levels. You still get the drops even if they die by falling off. So just let gravity do the work for you.
  • Ranged attacks are usually the safest way to deal with these knights. Position yourself where they cannot reach you and then unload into them with your bows or firebombs.
  • If you are rocking a heavy build, you should keep your distance as outmaneuvering the knights if not an option for you. Stay at the edge of the Knight's range and strike in between attacks, patiently taking away a bit of his health with each opportunity.
  • Only the Black Knights in the Kiln of the First Flame respawn, the other ones do not respawn even if you rest at a bonfire

 

Locations

Location Health NG+ Souls NG+ Respawn
Undead Burg 497 1212 800 4000 No
Undead Parish 532 1219 800 3200 No
Darkroot Basin 603 1225 1800 7200 No
The Catacombs 710 1299 1200 3600 No
Northern Undead Asylum 745 1304 1200 3600 No
Tomb of Giants 887 1393 1200 2400 No
Kiln of the First Flame 958 1476 2000 4000 Yes
Mini Bosses
Black Hydra  ♦  Black Phantom  ♦  Butcher  ♦  Fang Boar  ♦  Giant Cat  ♦  Giant Rat  ♦  Golden Crystal Golem  ♦  Havel The Rock  ♦  hydra  ♦  Ricard the Archer  ♦  The Berenike Knights  ♦  The Channeler  ♦  Titanite Demon  ♦  Undead Dragon



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    • Anonymous

      I'm a total simp for this armour set and these weapons, i almost always get the sword or shield against the first of these in the burg, my favourite weapon of all dark souls 1 must be the greataxe, love it's moveset and damage, the aesthetic never fails to please my hungry eyes.

      • Anonymous

        I planned to play a tanky character and with no knowledge about the item discovery boosts I got small and big swords in the undead burg in my first gameplay. Which made my husband to huff and puff because he played DS hundred times and never got them before the kiln. So I have no idea what drop logic they have, especially after reading other comments below.

        • Anonymous

          Black Knight Weapon Golden Rules:

          #1 If you want to make a build centered around BK weapons and you kill them with max item discovery they won't drop any weapons at all unless Klin.
          #2 If you want to make a build that can't even use BK weapons and you kill them with no item discovery boost every BK will drop a weapon.

          Deal with it.

          (yea it has to be some intentional trolling in game code srsly)

          • Anonymous

            A good enemy to practice parrying on, their attacks are well-telegraphed and pretty predictable, and learning to parry them makes them way more manageable since they're very difficult if you try fighting them the "normal way" given their immense poise, high aggression, massive damage and the fact they can easily stunlock you or pancake you and send you flying with their stronger attacks if you don't have high poise yourself

            • Anonymous

              I think that there are black knights in the undead asylem because ever since you escaped securityu got really tight and I mean tight

              • Anonymous

                Black knights used to be silver knights but the flame of Izalith burned their armor so then they were black knights reheeheeeheeeeheeeeheeeeeeheeeeeee

                • Anonymous

                  What makes these guys so metal, besides the name and power-spike, is the fact they're just empty armors possessed by their spirits and forever bound to duty.

                  • Anonymous

                    They look like darth vader to me:hits hard,black suit,terrifing face,mostly silent,walking towards enemy with a menancing look

                    • Anonymous

                      Is it even possible to get 2 drops in one kill? Let's say you get the Axe & Shield or the Sword and some armor piece. That would be really lucky.

                      • Anonymous

                        i literally went through the entire game killing every knight before the kiln with max out item find gear. not one black knight weapon feck random drops just put it on a gosh darn merchant.

                        • Anonymous

                          I fatroll and I can backstap them no problem, get as close as possible and keep circling until they leave themselves open, wiki is full of shite with this "keep your distance" casul propaganda.

                          • I killed them all. None of them gave me their weapons. And when i killed a silver knight for the 3rd time i got their shield which is 1% chance to drop. Is this game mocking me? Is this too easy for you?

                            • Anonymous

                              The way how easy it is to backstab all knight type enemies is comical. What's the point of making scary rare enemy which is easier to kill than even skeletons. Such great imposing enemies shouldn't be that easy

                              • >no heal, armor, shield, summon run
                                >aggroed burg bk
                                >realize can't beat with low health, run to burg bonfire to heal and reset bk
                                >mf is chasing me. think it's fine as bonfire will reset him
                                >rest at the bonfire while he is entering the room. no worries, mf will be gone as soon as fadeout
                                >after fadeout, to my utter surprise mf is still there. scream Jesus fing christ
                                >somehow survive the encounter.
                                wtf was that? bug or mechanic?

                                • Anonymous

                                  I have the sword and the ultra greatsword and the greataxe now I am having to think which one I wanna upgrade to the max

                                  • Anonymous

                                    Just shoot the 1 in undead burg once with an arrow then run to that wood structure with the firebomb throwers and spam arrows. It takes a while but at least you get the souls and the drops + your first usefull ring

                                    • Anonymous

                                      I was playing dark souls remastered for 30 and beat a dark knight in undead burg first try and it gave me a black knight sword I was using the schimitar

                                      • Anonymous

                                        Has there been a patch or something? I'm trying to get the halberd from the black knight in the basin with 6 humanity (putting the drop chance just below 40%) and knocking him over the ledge with a back stab, after doing this about 10 times all I've gotten are chunks

                                        • Anonymous

                                          i bloody LOVE this enemies, tough and unwielding. and packing a punch strong as the Anor Londo Sentinels, these things have a deep lore and amazing armor and weapons. all around best enemies in dark souls

                                          • Anonymous

                                            what BK weapon is the best? i really like the swords moveset but the damage offered by the greatsword and greataxe is tempting, although i dont like them as much

                                            • Anonymous

                                              i got to shields in a row, this happend during my shield only run, is it posible the drop chance is afected by what type of wepon you kill it with?

                                              • Anonymous

                                                Wanted to design a build focusing on BK gear mixed with some thorns armor. I went after the axe first and it took a few tries to get. The rest of the BK weapons I got first try with 10 humanity. Felt lucky to have all 4 before Gargoyles. Only miss was the shield.

                                                • Anonymous

                                                  when i was fighting the one in undead burg i got invaded but instead of killing me the invader started attacking the knight instead and left i guess everyone hates the black knights

                                                  • Anonymous

                                                    Oh man I got a good laugh out of a recent co op session in the burg. I wanted the host to get the blue tear stone ring for their journey but I died to the black knight and turned the camera around to see the host fat running away while the knight pursued them at full speed. I wonder how that played out after I was gone. Have a great play through, host that I failed.

                                                    • Anonymous

                                                      I took a 6 months break from the game, and today I came back to it and got all 4 black knight weapons in one run, jesus this game is ****ing amazing

                                                      • Anonymous

                                                        The greataxe knights jumping attack is the most ballsy move in the game. Leaps about 6 metres straight up with no regard for anything and rails your ass into fine dust. My favourite enemy move in the game.

                                                        • Anonymous

                                                          I have made a couple of posts on the "Occult" page trying to see if an Occult weapon actually does extra damage against BKs which I have not been able to verify. Curious if anyone else has tried Occult against BKs or any other enemies that Occult is supposed to help against.

                                                          • Anonymous

                                                            The halberd knight drops blue titanite chunks in the Darkmoon basin and in the Kiln of the first flame, but the one halberd knight in the Tomb of the Giants drops a white titanite chunk. He's often overlooked since he has a bad habit of just falling to his death in the dark when you pass by. Similarly, in the two sword knights in the undead asylum drop red titanite chunks when normally, elsewhere and in the Kiln of the First flame, ultra greatsword knights drop red titanite chunks and sword knights drop ordinary titanite chunks.

                                                            • Anonymous

                                                              I have no idea why, but during my first play through, the black knight at Undead Parish just died and I didn't even do anything to him. I ran down stairs to run away tho, but that's it. Did he clip through the wall when he was chasing? I'll never know, but at least I got his weapon and shield.

                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                When I played the game for the first time and spoke to the undead merchant, I thought the first black knight (who guarded the BTSR) was the terrible goat demon ... Well, he's big, scary and the helmet has horns. I was a very virginal Casul.

                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                  I came back after a year off and in that year I played the **** out of dark souls 3 and the black knight with the UGS in the undead parish destroyed me about 10 times. It’s slower paced yet requires much better dodge timing and if you don’t have the stamina to block attacks you’ll be jam on the floor rather than being guard broken. The original holds its own against the later titles to this day and I love it for that.

                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                    Honestly even though they are some serious mfers, the parry animation for them is so funny. It's like you gave him the world's most powerful slap ever.

                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                      TIP: DO NOT GET INTO A CORNER WHILE FIGHTING THESE GUYS. YOU CANNOT ROLL OUT OF IT AND UNLESS YOU KILL THEM RIGHT THEN AND THERE, YOU'RE DEAD.

                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                        Best way to beat in undead burg is to let the black knight follow you into one of the houses then quickly run out and close the door behind you. The black knight will be locked in the house and you can throw firebombs at him and kill him. Easy as pie.

                                                                        • Anonymous

                                                                          really fun after 3new characters legit speedrunning all bks to for a run with that weapon. 2 days later still got 0 when I kill every fkin bk with 10+ humanity. good joke

                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                            a really cheesy way to deal with them is the black knights is to just double-handed power attack with the ZweiHander, not quite as satisfying as parying but it takes them out in 2-3 hits and staggers them

                                                                            • Anonymous

                                                                              I am at kiln of the first flame and have like three of each black knight weapon except the freaking halberd, the last knight at the fog gate just wont drop it, i have like 8 of them shields tho

                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                Do not keep your distance, this is a bad tip. Parry & Riposte. This is the easiest way and quickest way to deal with MOST enemies in the game especially Gwyn & his Knights.

                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                  if you had parry experience in DS3 , all of black knight and silver knight just a cake for you , their moveset very slow and easy to predict

                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                    Once on my first playthrough of this game i smacked the one in burg did very little dmg and ran all the way back too the bon with him hot on my tail, was able to rest and had a heart attack when he came through the doorway after i reset the enemies and backstabbed me. He is too powerful for the bonfires...

                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                      How doe the drop percentages change if you have humanity and the gold snake ring? Do the weapons become more likely at high humanity or is it a flat 20%?

                                                                                      • Anonymous

                                                                                        They are pretty simple to take out of you can’t put poise them if they hit you I find that low level is best to just become a parry god and Parry everything than to fight head on that’s how I fought all of them until o got the black knight straight sword

                                                                                        • For anyone having a hard time killing these knights in Undead Burg or Undead Asylum I have a solution. Lead the knight to a set of wide stairs. Bring the knight to the top and circle around him so you are below him. Once you are both on the stairs and you are lower them him get close to bait the shield bask attack. The knight will follow with a stab attack that is easily parried and most of the time will not hit you unless you are basically touch him. After the parry walk up even with the knight and riposte then repeat. This only works with sword and shield knights so trying this with a knight using the greatsword or greataxe will probably get you killed.

                                                                                          • Anonymous

                                                                                            i have my own theory about the knights of anor londo i believe the black knights were the elite knights and thats why they were sent to kill demons and the elite have different weapons and armour and the normal (silver knights) have different weapons and armour too by the weapons it seems the silver knight are dex users and the elite knights use strength weapons and i think their shields look different as well

                                                                                            • You don't get the drops. I'm in Remastered v 1.03 Regulation 1.04. I'm in Kiln of the first flame and if I get the black knights near Gwyn to fall to their deaths, I do not get their drops. If I backstab them to death, I do 100% get a drop every time.

                                                                                              • Anonymous

                                                                                                I killed the one in the burg and lucked out because he dropped his shield and I now use that shield even at sl 40

                                                                                                • Anonymous

                                                                                                  My first fight with the one in the Burg back in 20.... (oooh that long ago??) scared me so hard I think a little bit of wee came out...GOOD TIMES!

                                                                                                  • Anonymous

                                                                                                    please to a show vid for me im lost on the undade burg i am looking for all ways crits like an soureser play thru i cant spell goodly

                                                                                                    • Anonymous

                                                                                                      LOL I thought I suck because I got the shield only, but I see now that I only had a 5% chance to get it! WTF

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