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Shadow Knight
September 16, 2026 at 03:15 PM
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The Shadow Knight is a plate-wearing tank that hits harder than the Paladin and mitigates less than the Fighter. The official archetype phrase is Antihero Monster Hunter. The class is being moved away from necromancy and toward the monster hunter fantasy, and its own class page states it plainly: thematically distinct from the Necromancer, no pets, no death magic, and the undead are just another monster to them.
Field | Detail |
|---|---|
Archetype | Antihero Monster Hunter |
Roles | Tank, Melee DPS |
Playable races | |
Armor and weapons | Plate armor. Prefers a two-handed weapon and is capable of using a shield if needed. Earlier class documentation, written before the 2026 rework began, describes shadow knights as able to wield all weapon types. |
Rework status | No detailed rework published as of September 16 2026. The class page describes intended direction only |
Trait | Detail |
|---|---|
Damage against mitigation | Has higher damage output than the Paladin, but less pure mitigation than the Fighter. |
Drains | Uses life and strength drains, which can be distributed to themselves or the party. |
Casting under pressure | Casts fast, short-ranged abilities suitable for tanking under pressure. |
Monster lore | Can collect monster-hunting abilities from past encounters. |
Not a Necromancer | No pets, no death magic. The undead are just another monster. |
There is a tension in the surviving documentation worth flagging. The older class writeup describes shadow knight magic as draining and leeching spells as well as spells that shape shadows. The current class page keeps the drains but explicitly drops death magic. Where the two disagree, the current page is the one to trust.
The Shadow Knight is open to Deep Dwarf, Deep Elf, Goblin, Human, Ogre and Troll.
That list covers the full designed race roster. Deep Dwarf and Troll are designed but are not among the races playable at Early Access launch on October 1 2026, so the practical choice at launch is the remainder of the list.
As of September 16 2026 no detailed ability rework has been published for the Shadow Knight. It is one of five classes without one, alongside the Bard, Enchanter, Necromancer and Ranger. What follows is stated intent from the class page.
Direction | Stated intent |
|---|---|
Monster lore system | Named as the biggest addition. Collectable abilities learned from specific monsters give the Shadow Knight a customization layer that rewards experience and planning. |
Knight abilities | Gains the same fast-casting short-range abilities as the other knight classes. |
Less necromancy | Necromantic lore and strictly undead theming are being reduced. |
No dedicated pets | Dedicated pets are going away, in line with the roster-wide pet consolidation. |
Less generic magical utility | Generic magical utility is being cut back. |
The monster lore system is the most distinctive thing announced for any of the five classes without a published rework, because it is a progression layer rather than a rebalance. No ability list, acquisition method or level schedule for it had been published as of September 2026.
The Shadow Knight is one of the three knight classes, and the knight changes published through the Paladin and Inquisitor reworks are stated as applying to all of them: Deflect, Weapon Shield and Focused Concentration are removed, Kick is replaced with a shield-based interrupt, and all knights gain fast-casting short-range abilities. The Shadow Knight's own version of the shield interrupt has not been detailed.
The Shadow Knight is not one of the seven true caster classes, so it does not receive cantrips. Because the spellbook is an equipped item that drops on death, a hybrid caster without cantrips has a harder time recovering from a bad pull than a Cleric or Wizard does. See Death Penalty.
As a tank it sits at the damage end of the three, which suits a group that already has healing and wants its tank contributing to the kill. See Classes, Combat, Grouping and Items and Equipment.
