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Artwork by BobaRainSenHime-chan
Hi, I am Hekaiyo (Pocator/Argenta in-game) and I am a veteran Lunar Knight. I have cleared Dark Banquet as a LK, am currently rank #1 overall in 1v1 Ladder, and have played for several months in cDN and tDN. This guide will give you the basics of how Lunar Knights play in 93cap, and what to expect and look out for.
Lv93 cap and the advent of Awakening skills have caused Lunar Knights to have a major paradigm shift in gameplay. Because of this, and the multiple outdated sections in my old guide, I have decided to re-write this guide from scratch. I have archived the old guide, and it can still be found here.
Overview:
Come 93cap, Lunar Knights are once again top-tier DPS. They can guarantee a high, consistent DPS along with a sizable burst for DPS checks, and constant CritRes and Damage debuffs to boot. Currently, Lunar Knight gameplay revolves around using your skills in as efficient a way as possible. There are so many abilities worth using that you should never have nothing to do; in fact, often times you will be overwhelmed by the sheer number of attacks you need to get out. Thus, action speed buffs and animation cancels will be your best friend.
Lv93 New Changes:
Lunar Knights are quite different in 93cap. The most noticeable change is the replacement of the old 1.4:1 MAtk:Int passive with a +50% Int bubbles system. This is in essence a nerf to our field damage range, but skill percentages have been buffed across the board, evening it out. In particular, Half Moon Slash and Cyclone have become very strong. This change also means we no longer instantly cap in raids, meaning our damage can be buffed much more in parties.
The Awakenings are very useful, and core to your new playstyle. Smash X hits like several trucks, and the passives all add a lot of utility and damage. As such, Moon Blade Dance is no longer 50% of your dps; the spread is much more balanced between Smash X, Half Moon Slash, Cyclone, and Moon Blade Dance. Your skill rotations and priorities will have to adapt to these new abilities in order to maximize your dps.
Skill Build and Breakdown
This will only be a skeleton build, with only skills I consider absolutely necessary. As long as you have at least this, you can't really screw up too hard. You should spend the rest of your SP to fit your own playstyle.
PVE: (https://dnskillsim.herokuapp.com/na/...-0-00-----0--0)
PVP: (https://dnskillsim.herokuapp.com/sea...----0-----0---)
Skill breakdowns
Tumble, Aerial Evade, Dash, HP Bolster, Surprise Attack
PvE & PvP: Evades are crucial to staying alive. HP Bolster for more hp is a must
Impact Wave
PvE: Useless.
PvP: lv6 is decent for lift, but it’s slow and low SA break
Destructive Swing
PvE: A great skill at lv6 because it gives you i-frame and airtime for stomps
PvP: Lv6 is an important skill for its iFrame ability. Keep in mind that while it has a high SA break, it’s own SA is low
Rising Slash
PvE: Useless
PvP: lv6 is a must for added slash
Brush Off
PvE & PvP: Removing debuffs in addition to making you stand up. This is a very useful utility skill
Attuned Mind
PvE & PvP: Unsure if needed, take for safety. PvP probably needs it more than PvE does.
Moon Light Splitter
PvE: Core DPS skill. Cast constantly. Generates bubbles.
PvP: A great all-around skill, does amazing damage and has very high SA break, flinches.
Cyclone
PvE: Core DPS skill. Best consistent DPS. Cast constantly. Generates bubbles.
PvP: Keeps opponents in place for setup.
Crescent Cleave
PvE: Core DPS skill. Has been buffed significantly, and is on-par with MBD in terms of sheer damage.
PvP: Amazing damage if you hit it focused. Can use unfocused version to create a wall and back your opponent off
Half Moon Slash
PvE: Core DPS skill. High fast burst damage. Huge AOE. If you miss this then consider playing a different game.
PvP: Hard to dodge, does great damage, and is relatively comboable
Blade Storm
PvE: High burst fire-and-forget DPS
PvP: Launches opponent into the air, last beam does a lot of damage and drags opponent. Easy to hit
Triple Slash
PvE: Useful for pushing
PvP: Great utility, high SA break, delayable for catching evades
Forward Thrust
PvE: Emergency i-frame
PvP: Evade ability and engaging tool. High SA break
Hacking Stance
PvE & PvP: Useless. Can use as an additional lift in PvP but it's buggy and usually not worth it
Line Drive
PvE: Situational skill for mobility
PvP: Amazing engaging tool and does crazy damage if used in a corner
Infinity Edge
PvE: Emergency i-frame that lasts for a very long period of time.
PvP: Useless.
Luring Slice
PvE: Level to max for Awakening
PvP: Keep at lv1, because debuff does not scale
Courageous Shout
PvE & PvP: Max for longer damage steroid. No longer increases Superarmor
Dash Slash & Combo
PvE: Useless
PvP: Good SA break skill, combos into Eclipse Awkn
Aerial Combo:
PvE: Limited use as a long iframe. Good for giving more airtime to avoid stomps
PvP: Good engaging skill, but be aware iframe starts after you land
Active Parry
PvE: Very fun ability to use. Very high board damage. iFrame during cast
PvP: Very strong SAb and damage. Ridiculously high utility
Passive Parry
Removed
Parry Stance
Removed
Counter Slash
Removed
Eclipse
PvE: Core DPS skill. Very fast, can cancel from anything. Pulls monsters.
PvP: Fast and high SA-Break
Counter Cross
PvE: Recovery skill
PvP: High SA break and incredibly good damage
Moon Blade Dance
PvE: Core DPS skill. Cast off cooldown. Useful to avoid stomps and restore Smash X Cooldown
PvP: Very high damage, but beams push enemies and is hard to aim. Use in cyclone or to avoid attacks
Flash Stance
PvE: Filler skill and amazing mobbing skill. DPS itself is not that great
PvP: Free damage skill. Guaranteed at least 10k damage
Flash Stance INS
Removed. Rest in peace.
Eclipse Awakening:
PvE: Fantastic fast and damaging skill. Free burst of damage.
PvP: Most OP skill in the game. Free engage and catch.
Luring Slice Awakening:
PvE: Decent damage, low cooldown provides constant debuff
PvP:High SA-Break and lifts, but is cameralocked. Situational.
Cyclone Slash Awakening:
PvE: Even better constant DPS. Cast off-cooldown.
PvP: Free catch when opponent wastes evade. Amazing suction effect.
Moon Light Splitter Awakening:
PvE: Generates bubbles. Very high potential of damage, but requires positioning or large mobs.
PvP: Generates bubbles and lifts. Situational.
Moon Blader:
PvE: Mediocre damage, but amazing filler due to its ability to reduce Smash X's cooldown
PvP: Amazing damage, hard to combo. High cooldown.
Smash X:
PvE: Core DPS skill. Insane burst damage, about equal to a full cast of ulti. Try to reduce Cooldown as much as possible through MBD and Moon Blader
PvP: High cooldown renders it less useful. Decent damage, large but short-ranged AOE.
NOTE: HORIZONTAL RANGE IS VERY SHORT. YOU WILL MISS THIS SOMETIMES, AND YOU WILL FEEL RETARDED.
MBD EX?
<UPDATE> After a recent change, MBD EX only costs 20 bubbles to use. down from 30! This is a large enough change to warrant always taking the EX.
MLS Awkn?
Now that MBD EX is essentially mandatory, MLS Awkn is as well, in order to generate enough bubbles to feed MBD EX.
Playstyle:
You want to get off the following abilities as often as possible, in order of importance:
Brave > Smash X
MBD
Luring Slice > HMS Ins
Cyclone
Eclipse
Crescent Cleave
MLS
All the while also using Moon Blader when any short openings appear, or when otherwise not DPSing. All of these abilities have very very low cooldowns, and managing your cooldowns and rotations will make or break your DPS.
You should be using Luring Slice > HMS Ins often enough that the Luring Slice debuff is permanently applied. Cyclone should similarly be always on the field; its duration is now equal to its cooldown. These two abilities should be constantly used.
You should make sure Brave is up for Smash X before using it; it is your highest burst.
Canceling the recovery animations of attacks will significantly improve your DPS. For example, Smash X has a sizable ending lag that can be eliminated by casting Eclipse Awkn. You can also insert an attack between Luring Slice and HMS Ins, in order to animation cancel via Instant.
Be aware that Smash X is not tumble-cancelable. You must exercise caution when casting Smash X, or risk being caught in a dangerous situation. You can Eclipse, Parry, or Brush Off out of Smash X in emergencies.
I hesitate to call these "Combos," but there are certain combinations of skills that make you slightly more efficient. For example, you can cancel the end animation of Smash X with any ability (I like to do Smash X > MLS), but the end animation of HMS Ins can only be tumbled, so save Eclipse for canceling HMS instead of Smash X. In the end, however, the best indicator of how well you are DPSing is how often your skills are on cooldown. The more percentage of the time your skills are on CD, the better your dps is, as long as you aren't just straight up missing everything.
Gearing:
Wear like int stuff and really big swords. I'll update later maybe, but gearing is really straightforward now.
If you want techs, MBD is a must, and CC, HMS, Eclipse, MLS, and Cyclone are all options.
Plates are MBD Damage, and 3 out of the following: Eclipse dmg, MLS dmg, Cyclone dmg, CC dmg, Ult dmg
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