Royal Knight

A Royal Knight in the Stygian Study.

The Royal Knight is the strongest variant of the Soldier that can be encountered only as a Commander or in NG+. It attacks either with a huge sword swing or by sending void wave projectiles.

## Behaviour

The Royal Knight is a slow-walking melee/ranged hybrid enemy. It usually try to close in on the player, walking towards them if they're at medium range or farther. It can attack with a sword swing or by throwing void waves forward, preferring the former if the player is close, and relying on the latter if they're too far.

Although slow and easy to dodge, the Royal Knight should not be taken lightly as it boasts the highest hp and damage of any enemy.

It cannot fall off edges on its own, has a great resistance to knockback and will get hurt by spikes & environmental damage (water/clouds) if it fall into them.

## Attacks

While in close range, the Royal Knight will use its Sword Swing attack a lot more frequently. In medium range, it will only use its Void Waves.

### Sword Swing

The Royal Knight swings its sword forward in a huge descending arc, while sliding forward a lot, covering a huge area including above itself.

Although not too hard to notice and dodge, pay attention as the attack's range is huge and **can reach you behind walls**.

A Royal Knight's sword swing
### Void Wave

The Royal Knight holds its sword in front of them for a second, then hit the floor launching **two void waves** forward in quick succession.

These void projectiles travel horizontally and **can pass through walls**.

The waves are Large Projectiles that can be countered by a few spells and talents, like the  Bastion talent or
 Wind Wall
.

Because they're made of void, they can also be **safely dashed through** if the player has  Pallas' Void Bell, causing it them disappear.

Because the waves are **spaced**, pay attention when jumping above or dashing through them and make sure to avoid/cancel both.

A Royal Knight's void wave attack
## Location

Initially, Royal Knights can only appear as Commanders.

Once you reach NG+1, they can appear as regular enemies through the use of burdens:

* each level of the  Burden of Evolution enabled adds a 10% chance for a Champion in The Stygian Study and The Sun Tower to instead spawn as a Royal Knight
* enabling both the  Burden of Evolution and the  Burden of Agartha’s Royal Guard adds a 10% chance for a Champion in Citadel Agartha (evolved from a Soldier) to turn into a Royal Knight.

## Trivia

* The Royal Knight family are the only enemy in the game to react (with a chest bump) when the player bumps into them.
* Void Beast Murmur is internally considered to be the T4 of this family despite bearing no resemblance to a walking Sword Knight.

 Name in the game files | SwordKnight\_Expert

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