Tips and Tricks for a new Shadow Knight

[Sookks]

Looking for some advice on hunting grounds, and gear I should aim for at the lower levels. quest or spots to farm some gold at.

[ScottBerta]

What race are you?

[Sookks]

I am an Iksar level 16 now, currently killing in Kurns Tower, Also started leveling blacksmithing to try and get to banded armor

[Thaak]

Best thing to do is level. Your ability to make money will grow as you hunt in new areas. Giant fort in WW will be solid money for your 20s, until you get the cash for like a Mace of Shadowed Soul/Sarnak Battle Shield and 5ac/55hp rings. Once you're in your 30s you can do the Dreadscale Armor quests, if you don't have other options for gear. And that'll last you til Velious gear, with a few tweaks here and there.

[San'Drax]

Best tip I can give: when soloing, snare mob at 30%, then fear at 25%. The mob won't move and will stop hitting you.

[Sookks]

Awesome, Thanks for the tips. I'm sure they will go a long way

[Loke]

Disease cloud is great for aggro, but it's a DoT, so it can get you into trouble if you have a CC class in group and poor communication. Siphon Strength and other other AC/STR debuffs are good aggro alternatives without the DoT component. Fear kite when solo since SK dps is kind of garbo if you're not a super twink. Bug L60 druids for potg whenever you can since its basically clarity that lasts a long time and will dramatically lower your downtime. Probably best to group as much as you can, and don't be afraid to make groups yourself. Even just duo or trio with a couple others is probably more efficient than SK solo, unless you've got an abundance of fearable mobs, room to kite them, and potg.

[Xulia]

I am an Iksar level 16 now, currently killing in Kurns Tower, Also started leveling blacksmithing to try and get to banded armor

Hey there, Sookks!
You've made a great choice to invest in blacksmithing because you're going to need it for an end-game level quest (https://wiki.project1999.com/Ring_of_Dain_Frostreaver_IV)later should you so choose.

Primarily your focus should be on increasing STR + STA, and being able to make your own banded armor will give you access to the Dreadscale Quests (https://wiki.project1999.com/Dreadscale_Armor) much sooner. The Dreadscale Greaves are very solid and can be worn into your 50's.

Save up your coin from selling vendor trash to buy the following gear:
Atramentous Shield (https://wiki.project1999.com/Atramentous_Shield) This shield has no business being this good and tradeable. But it is, and you want one ASAP.
Noctivagant Blade (https://wiki.project1999.com/Noctivagant_Blade) -OR- Mace of the Shadowed Soul (https://wiki.project1999.com/Mace_of_the_Shadowed_Soul)
Gravebinder (https://wiki.project1999.com/Gravebinder) Fantastic for soloing if you can find one
Djarn's Amethyst Ring (https://wiki.project1999.com/Djarn%27s_Amethyst_Ring) You can either save for this or start grouping at Efreeti in SolB around 50. It's a fantastic camp that SK's can effectively tank.
Silver Chitin Wristband (https://wiki.project1999.com/Silver_Chitin_Wristband) Same thing as above, but in Velketor's Labyrinth.
Black Sapphire Electrum Earring (https://wiki.project1999.com/Black_Sapphire_Electrum_Earring)
Velium Fire Wedding Ring (https://wiki.project1999.com/Velium_Fire_Wedding_Ring)
Black Sapphire Velium Necklace (https://wiki.project1999.com/Black_Sapphire_Velium_Necklace) A solid alternative is the Chipped Velium Amulet (https://wiki.project1999.com/Chipped_Velium_Amulet) from Crystal Caverns. You lose out on the mana and +35HP but if you're strapped for cash it's viable as an alternative.
Silvery Belt of Contention (https://wiki.project1999.com/Silvery_Belt_of_Contention) Once you're 50+, you can start attempting to get your Haste Belt from Plane of Sky (https://wiki.project1999.com/Pegasus-Hide_Belt) which you'll wear for the rest of time unless you replace it with some overpriced god-belt (https://wiki.project1999.com/Spiked_Seahorse_Hide_Belt)
Dire Wolf-Hide Cloak (https://wiki.project1999.com/Dire_Wolf-Hide_Cloak)

So now you're probably wondering how in the name of Cazic are you supposed to afford all that and how do you get that coin? The answer is murder, as it always will be in this game. Specifically the murder of two elves: Ascania Halvbin (https://wiki.project1999.com/Ascania_Halvbin) and Larisa Gelrith (https://wiki.project1999.com/Larisa_Gelrith).

Stay in Kurn's as long as you can, it's simply the best experience per kill that you can find. Once you're around level 27-28, make your way to Butcherblock by way of kindly tipping a druid and politely asking for a SoW + Invis, then run to the docks of Butcherblock and wait for the infamously slow boat to Freeport. This takes you to where the two wood elf lesbians live, they spawn in a little hut on Island 10 in Ocean of Tears (https://wiki.project1999.com/Ocean_of_Tears), they always drop Longswords that sell for 12pp/each, and they are fantastic for farming both coin and xp for lizards like us that don't mind killing elves. Also save their meat for cooking (https://wiki.project1999.com/Smoked_Wood_Elf)later and feed it to unsuspecting Priest classes.

You can farm those two well into 30, at which point you'll want to start looking for groups to tank for as that is the most consistent form of XP and best chance to get gear you can actually use. Good groups for that level range can sometimes be found in the Guk or Sol, usually Classic and some outdoor Kunark zones like Overthere. 30-40 will be a slog, I'm not going to lie to you. But it's also the best time to knock out some of the early Khukri quests towards getting one of the best 1HS IKS SK-only swords in the game: Greenmist (https://wiki.project1999.com/Greenmist).

Once you've ground your way from 30-40, you should be outfitted well enough to take on the hazards of Velious and begin gaining XP and coin by unleashing an unholy vengeance upon Crystal Caverns (https://wiki.project1999.com/Crystal_Caverns), which is hands down the best zone in any game ever made. The Dwarves and Orcs here are dicks, but just kill the Orcs and use the Dwarves as a safe-zone to med/afk. You can stay in Crystal Caverns into your 50's. The geonids are almost perma-camped but the Spiders drop valuable Crystal Silk, and occasionally named Drachnids spawn that drop some decent low/mid-tier gear you can give to alts or newbies.

Consider taking some time around your mid-40's or low 50's to re-visit the Temple of Droga (https://wiki.project1999.com/Temple_of_Droga) and acquire an Idol of the Thorned (https://wiki.project1999.com/Idol_of_the_Thorned) and Earring of Essence (https://wiki.project1999.com/Earring_of_Essence). Both of these items can be used as long as you have them and they're incredibly easy camps for those of us who can DoT, Lifetap, and Melee. Navigating this place will also make you very adept at navigating the maps on the Wiki, which is a skill I highly recommend cultivating. You can also pick up a Circlet of Shadows (https://wiki.project1999.com/Circlet_of_Shadows) here which will become your best friend. If you're fortunate enough to save up the scratch to buy a pre-nerf one, you'll understand exactly why everyone in Middle Earth wanted that ring so damn bad.

Your 50's are your time to explore all the game has to offer, so I can't tell you how to go about those. By that time you'll probably have a good idea of what you want to do and how you want to enjoy the game. Either way, you've made a great choice to play an Iksar ShadowKnight and I wish you all the best of times in your journeys!

[stebbins99]

Great post Xulia! I now want to play my SK alt more!

[Dezlen]

If you plan on soloing at all by fear kiting, a polished obsidian great axe is an amazing tool from 30-50. One proc from this basically ends the fight. It procs all the time, even with SK terrible dex. It sells for 500p or less, and should be your first priority at 30.

Crystal chitin boots and gloves are great pieces of leveling armor, and are both around 500 or less in EC. I'm surprised no one mentioned haste items. Silver chitin hand wraps are super cheap haste gloves for <1000, and should also be a priority.

[Sookks]

Xulia, Thank you for the well written guide for me. This is truly gonna be a huge help. Got my self some goals and places to be now. should be fun. Thank you to everyone else as well for the tips as well I appreciate it all!

[Xulia]

Xulia, Thank you for the well written guide for me. This is truly gonna be a huge help. Got my self some goals and places to be now. should be fun. Thank you to everyone else as well for the tips as well I appreciate it all!

You're very welcome! I usually play from 6:00 PM EST - 11:00 PM EST weeknights but I'm frequently online on the weekends. Feel free to hit me up with any questions you have!