Teriklar's Guide to Cavaliers

The two men sit atop their steeds facing each other, decked out in full armor and holding their lances. Their shields bear different crests, indicating that these are rivals about to duel. One man, then the other kicks his horse into motion toward the enemy and levels his lance, galloping at full speed.

Determined not to lose, the injured man gets back to his feet and starts to remove the knife, but before he can get it out his opponent rushes him, and with several quick moves has the injured man on the ground, pinned with another knife at his throat. He takes the right glove of the man and releases his hold, then tends to the wound in the man's leg.

Cavaliers are a sort of noble fighter, not so brutal like barbarians and not the holy warrior type that makes up the orders of paladins. They fight with honor, but at the same time will fight to win because reputation is the most important characteristic of this class of individuals.

Equestrian skill is a must for any cavalier worth his salt, since a horse is not only a great asset to battle but also a sign of wealth and power. Cavaliers tend to give off an air of great confidence, or great ego, depending on the person, but for great reason. They are strong because social order dictates it to be so, and because fighting brings them the respect they seek.

Cavalier Proficiencies

Proficiency Name	School	Complexity
BASH	Combat	35%
DODGE	Defense	30%
ENHANCED DAMAGE	Combat	45%
EXOTIC	Weapon	50%
FAST HEALING	Technical	20%
HALBERD	Weapon	9%
HAND TO HAND	Combat	1%
LANCE	Weapon	1%
MACE	Weapon	1%
MAGICAL ITEMS	Mystical	5%
PARRY	Defense	15%
PIKE	Weapon	8%
POLEARM	Weapon	25%
RIDING	Technical	5%
SCAN	Technical	40%
SECOND ATTACK	Combat	35%
SHIELD BLOCK	Defense	25%
SPEAR	Weapon	5%
SWORD	Weapon	1%
THIRD ATTACK	Combat	55%
THROWING KNIFE	Weapon	16%

Almost all of the non-weapon skills are essential for a cavalier to be strong, and all of these will be discussed below.

Weapons

The most common weapon in the world is the sword. Many a man has lived and died by the sword. This will be a valuable weapon to take with you, not only for its reliability but also because swords are a mark of distinction in the upper classes. There are a wide variety of swords to be found, and among the other weapons they are relatively cheap and easy to obtain. You'll find it pretty easy to master this weapon with little effort.

Spears are somewhat stronger than swords and are more accurate, being lighter and easier to wield. However, due to this light weight and speed, they tend to break down very easily, so spear wielders will spend a lot of money repairing or replacing their weapon. They are not quite as easy to come by as swords either, so the cost of mastering and using this weapon will be quite high, but you're paying for better quality.

Lances are the mark of a cavalier. Every cavalier has some knowledge in the use of a lance, the weapon of knights round the world. The only weapon that can compare to its power is the axe, and when a skilled rider wields a lance in battle the result is deadly. Lances are difficult to come by, so it will likely take a long time to master the use of this weapon. The downfall to this weapon is for all its power, it can only be wielded when on a mount, which makes the weapon useless in indoor areas where you can't go while mounted.

The other weapons are not very useful in terms of power or availability, so don't be too worried about practicing them.

Defenses

Cavaliers get three different defense types, parrying, dodging, and shield block. Parrying is a weak defense to use for two reasons. First, parrying only works against armed opponents, so if whoever you're fighting is using their fists you can't use parry to stop them. Second, your success in parrying depends on both the skill you have in your weapon and the skill has in their weapon, meaning you have to put a lot of work into making parry an effective defense.

Shield blocking is a much better alternative to parrying as a means of defending against armed opponents. Similar to parry, shield block is less effective against unarmed opponents, and when used as your defense, your shield will wear down over time due to usage. However, shield block doesn't have the wide requirements like parry to be used effectively, and as an added bonus, shield blocking can stop offensive spells like fireballs and lightning bolts, as well as breath attacks from dragons and other creatures even if they're unarmed. When it comes to fighting players this defense is very useful since you don't find many players who will dare to fight unarmed.

Dodging, funnily enough, is the most complex of the three defenses a cavalier can learn, and overall it is useful in more situations than shield blocking. You can dodge anyone, whether or not they are armed, which is best used against mobs since a majority of the mobs in the world are not armed. It has an advantage over acrobatics, another defense available in other classes and similar to dodge, because acrobatics cannot be used while mounted. Most adventurers use this defense and it is advised to master this one early.

Second and Third Attack

The mark of the fighter classes is their prowess in fighting. As a fighter, it is imperative to hit as many times if not more than your opponent. There is not a whole lot to say about these skills; if you do not train any other skills while a cavalier, train these skills as they will add the most to your combat ability. They take a long time to master, but the effort pays off. It's important to note that most of the upper level warriors are masters of these skills, so if you expect to keep in the running you had best hone these skills.

Enhanced Damage

The next distinguishing mark of fighters is not only their ability to hit often but their ability to hit harder than the rest. This ability is represented in the enhanced damage skill, which is your chance of causing extra damage to an opponent with each hit beyond what your weapon is capable of doing. While the increase in damage is rather small, this increase makes a greater difference in longer fights, such as those with other players or tough mobs. After second and third attacks, this skill is next on the "must practice" list, and do this soon: enhanced damage takes a very long time to master, so the sooner you get it up to 75% the sooner you can get to work in bettering yourself.

Fast Healing

This skill represents your physical well-being and constitution. It improves the rate of recovery in hit points in all situations, which is very useful if you don't have any healing spells or even if you're in the middle of a fight. Fast healing is a very useful skill to train in, but realize that it must be practiced to 100% in order to be effective. It can make the difference in long fights, but it's not the most important of your skills to practice. Save this one for learning after riding.

Riding

The proficiency that sets cavaliers apart from the rest of the fighting world, riding represents your overall skill in using a horse, both in movement and in combat. In terms of movement, a higher riding skill means you won't exhaust your mount as easily since you are better able to handle it. In terms of combat, a master of riding gets doubled accuracy to his attacks, which is a big bonus for lance wielders because lances are not the most accurate of weapons to begin with. Advanced riders also get a significant increase to their shield blocking ability. Obviously those cavaliers who wish to perfect their lance and shield blocking skills would be well advised to train their riding skill and grab a mount.

Bash

This is another useful skill to have once you've spent time taking care of all the other major fighting skills. Bashing involves smashing someone over the head with a shield, or in the case of minotaurs, with just your hoof. It's a powerful attack, often doing as much damage as two or three weapon strikes. The drawback to bash is that it causes about a half-second of lag before the next command will execute, and it costs 250 stamina points to use if it successfully hits. You also lose your defense for the next round. This skill works best in no-magic situations or when your opponent is close to death, since it does some quick extra damage and the drain in stamina won't cause you to tire out later in the fight.

For someone just starting out in the cavalier profession, the following is an advised path to take for training your skills.

1. Sword
2. Dodge
3. Second Attack
4. Third Attack
5. Enhanced Damage
6. Riding
7. Lance
8. Fast Healing
9. Shield Block
10. Bash

Depending on how often you come across lances and mounts, you may find it more beneficial to train riding before enhanced damage or third attack, but the limits on being able to take mounts into different areas makes it unadvisable to train too early on. Riding is more of a supplement to other skills and should be treated as such in the order of training.

Being a Cavalier

The main focus of a cavalier is endurance and strength. Their primary attribute is their vitality, a very important one to improve early in the game since vitality governs your increase in hit points as you gain levels. Train this up as soon as possible or else look for equipment that can put this up. Next in importance behind vitality is strength, which will allow you to hit harder during fights. Strength also determines your gain in stamina, which is good for lance wielders and bashers (lance uses 3 stamina a hit instead of the 2 for other weapons). Agility will also help once you've gotten the first two attributes trained, giving you even better accuracy and improving your defense

As advised before, you're best off starting with swords and getting proficient with them as you learn the ropes. There are a plethora of swords in the world, especially in the first class. Keep your eye out for thunder cutlasses, vorpal blades, rusty sabers, antique longswords, crimson longswords, and polished white longswords. They're all pretty common to find but might not be found on auction because of their low levels. Ask around to see if people can help you find these weapons. Once you're a sword master, work on lances and spears.

As a cavalier, there's not a lot of thought process needed to effectively play as one. All of their skills directly affect combat in some form or another, so all you need to focus on is perfecting these skills. If you take care of the skills mentioned above, you will be more than prepared for any challenge before you. The only real difference between cavaliers and other fighter types is the use of lances and their riding skill. Other skills such as second and third attack are absolutely essential to survival as you become more experienced. Just about everyone you will meet that has been a fighter at some point in their travels will have the basic fighting skills practiced to some degree if not mastered.

Equipping Yourself

Cavaliers are known to have massive endurance, and so you will want to work towards high levels of hit points and stamina, both of which will give you a greater ability to dominate hand to hand combat. Some items such as crimson cloaks, malachite boots, wrist protectors, buffalo skin leggings, and the elusive ring of fortitude all help in achieving higher vitality, and armor such as giant's platemail and dwarven girdles will give you higher strength. Golden arm and leg plates are also great for both strength and vitality, but these both cause your agility to suffer. When you're just starting out in Lasler, you would be well advised to purchase all the equipment available in the armor store. As you gain some levels of experience, you would be wise to get your hands on ebony equipment from the samurai duck in Rune Forest or the obsidian armor in Lowangen.

There aren't many magical items a cavalier needs to survive. You might want a sand ring or crystal heart pendant to see potential enemies who have invisibility spells on them. A ring of shielding from Winterborne Mansion will bestow the shield spell on you, which will improve the effectiveness of your armor. If you can afford them, try to get a beautiful amulet made of white marble, which will give you greater hit points as well as a small boost to your armor. Keep an eye out for a ring of bleached bone or a beautiful silk scarf, as these items give you the haste spell which is good for a bonus to accuracy as well as an extra attack each attack round.

When it comes to weapons, you can't lose with swords. As explained above, you can use spears or lances but understand the rarity of these weapons compared to swords, as well as the limitations for lances. Having said that, some swords you should look for are listed above, but here they are again. You'll want to look for obsidian thunder cutlasses at first, then move up to ebony dai-katanas, rusty sabers, antique longswords, crimson longswords, and then polished white longswords at the top of your class. As far as spears are concerned, you should watch for mountain spears, sand spears, dark spears, and spears of terror. Lances will be hard to come by but you should keep an eye out for them anyway. The lowest are wooden practice lances, then progressing upwards in level to Arabian lances, green lion lances, and then the lance of fortune, jousting lances, and then Lucifer's lance. You will want to use lances as much as possible, since it's your strongest weapon available. However, you need to remember that lances can't be used without a mount, so you need a suitable secondary weapon.

There is a wealth of equipment, especially at lower levels, that will bestow different bonuses to your stats and attributes, so your best bet is to keep looking for equipment that is your level. Use the above guidelines for when there are a few possible choices at your level of experience, and don't hesitate to ask other players or guides for advice or information on equipment. The Materia Magica website also has a database with nearly every piece of equipment available, so it might do you some good to browse through it and find some equipment suited for you.

Fighting NPCs

You're going to defeat a lot of creatures in order to gain experience and advance in your profession. Especially early in your travels, you'll find that the mobs (mobiles, or non player characters) will just attack normally against you. There won't be a lot of decision making involved in defeating these mobs. Most will be unarmed so your best choice for defense will be dodge, but in the case of armed mobs, spell casters, or mobs with breath attacks, you should use shield block for added protection. You should take advantage of your riding proficiency as much as possible. The only real skill you can actively use against mobs is your bash skill, since all of the other combat skills work of their own accord. You should practice all of these combat skills as soon as possible so you can work on improving your skills to perfection through usage.

Fighting Players

As mentioned before, there isn't much you can actively do in a fight to defeat players. With the exception of bash, you're stuck with sitting back and just letting the fight unfold. If you're looking to kill other players, you should first spend time killing mobs to master your skills, since that's all you can really do to improve your combat abilities. If you're really hell bent on killing players, spend some time perfecting your magical items skill and stock up on items like mirrors of oversight, staffs of life, or crystal balls. You can use these items in a fight to recover lost hit points, which can make the difference between life and death in a player killing situation. You could even get a couple magic wands to use on other players as another means of dealing damage. Your primary means of defeating players should be by mastering your combat skills through use, since these skills will be useful as long as you continue to adventure.

Class Combinations

Cavaliers are a very general class like the barbarian class, so they fit in with any mix. There really isn't any way to go wrong with class choices with cavalier as your first class. Here are a few combinations to consider.

Priest:
By going cavalier, you pretty much have to take priest as your cleric class. Priest has the all important cure blind spell, as well as cure critical, a very useful recovery spell to use in combat since you can cast the spell between combat rounds. Priests get poison, plague, and curse, which are very powerful spells for player killing and normal mob killing.

Druid:
If you choose druid as your cleric class, you're forced to choose monk for your mage class in order to get the cure blind spell, and monk is thought by many to be a weak mage classes. Druid is a powerful class, but you would be better to be a paladin and get your healing spells that way and still be able to choose a stronger mage class.

Rogue:
You'll continue to add to your brute force by choosing rogue class, since rogue is primarily fighting. The thief classes both add a bit more stealth and surprise to your style of play, but rogue makes you more of an assassin, giving you more powerful throwing skills, snares, and even the ability to fight in the dark.

Bard:
Bard has some of the stealth of rogues with sneaking and hiding and sneaking, but all similarities end there. Bards can play songs when holding a musical instrument, which produce effects similar to magical spells. It's an easy way to gain several magic spells for the cost of one skill.

Roleplaying

For all intents and purposes, a cavalier is a knight in appearance and mannerism. While they're not rough and uncivilized like barbarians, they're also not the holy and righteous warrior type that paladins are. The attitude of a cavalier can range from egotistical to charming, depending on the reputation the cavalier seeks to establish. In the end, a cavalier only seeks personal glory, but the methods vary from person to person. Some will try to draw attention through proof of bravery and strength, others prefer to gain reputation through charitable acts.

It's up to you how you decide to gain a reputation for yourself. It's easy to walk around and act tough and cocky, but you'll just annoy people and make enemies very easily. When you're starting out, you should work towards getting a good reputation for yourself as being an honorable figure even if you want to be the arrogant knight. It's too easy to create a bad reputation and very difficult to rebuild it if you start out on the wrong foot. Save the showboating and ego for when you can really back it up. The other reason to keep the ego down is because you'll need to make allies in your travels so that later in your adventuring you have people to back you up in times of need.

Cavaliers are a strong starting class for new and old players alike. They are very strong fighters and don't really require much thought to take advantage of their talents. The only real work needed to make a powerful cavalier is the time spent working toward mastery of the different skills. It's really hard to go wrong as a cavalier as long as you focus on the right skills, and that's the whole point of this guide. That is all, adventurer…good luck in your travels.