Dragon Knights

Gameplay summary

Dragon Knights are the Party Animals of MapleStory, a balance between damage-dealing warrior and support character. Their skill Hyper Body is up there with the likes of Bless, Heal, and Holy Symbol as one of the most sought-after party skills. Additionally, they have strong mobbing attacks that cause them to deal very high damage against mobs, making them good training partners for Priests, among others. They don't do too well with knockback and have few defensive abilities; therefore, they rely heavily on Priests or exceptional tactics to avoid damage. Their damage on single targets isn't so high over time, and while they can play without a party, they're not usually the preferred class for those who play this way. However, if you like to play socially, with your friends, partying random people, helping others survive boss battles, and so on, this just might be the class for you...

Damage against single targets

Individually, Dragon Knights with Crusher hit the highest average damage per hit on a single target; however, because Crusher is a very slow attack, this results in less total damage over time. Dragon Knights also learn a few other new attacks, the other single-target one being Sacrifice. When maxed, their attacks deal approximately the following damage to a single target:

* Crusher - 170% per hit, 3 hits on the same target (approximately 510% total)
* Fury - 250%
* Sacrifice - 350%, regardless of the monster's wep def

Damage on mobs

Dragon Knights' attacks shine more against mobs than they do against single targets; knockback is still an issue, but their raw damage on most mob sizes is the highest of the warrior classes. Their mob attacks, when maxed out, are the following:

* Crusher - 510% (see above) on up to 3 enemies
* Fury - 250% on up to 6 enemies
* Dragon Roar - 240% on up to 15 enemies

Roar is rarely used because of its casting time and the fact that you become stunned for 2 seconds after using it; however, it's there.

DKs, having two main attacks that are both mob attacks, do the most damage to mobs of 5 and 6 monsters overtime due to range and damage of Fury. Though Crusaders outdamage DKs on mobs of 5-6 monsters, due to range, DKs have a tendency to do better because they can hit more monsters easier. They are also superior in mobs of 2-3 with Buster.

Defensive tactics

Because a Dragon Knight's main small-mob and single-target attack, Crusher, is poor with knockback, they rely strongly on partying Priests to keep themselves from burning potions. However, they have defensive advantages to help. For starters, Fury is a very long ranged attack that can be used to kill mobs while running away from them. Additionally, Sacrifice can be used if necessary to help keep an enemy at bay. Also, using ER to reduce 40% of damage dealt by magic attacks and using long range tactics, the DK receives less damage. Of course, dealing with mobs usually ends up with taking touch damage. So it is debatable on exactly how much it helps.

In parties

Dragon Knights are one of the game's most partied classes because of Hyper Body. This vital skill makes it possible for Archers, Mages, Bandits, and even Hermits to survive most of the strongest enemies' attacks, including those of bosses. Their mobbing skills, especially on both small and large mobs, also makes them desirable training partners, particularly at the game's currently most popular high-level training spot, Himes.

At bosses

See above for the benefits of Hyper Body. Dragon Knights are one of the few classes in the game that can provide vital support skills while still dishing out damage to a boss, even though their damage over time is somewhat less than the other two classes'. They are priceless for their contributions in bomb control. A constant 10k+ damage can save many in Pianus from the devastating 10k+ damage dealt when the blood booms explode. Also, Roar is used in Pap runs to explode the dark stars on the top platforms, thus neutralizing threats that can potentially deal 8k+ damage.

Attack speed/weapon choices

Dragon Knights' weapons lose their 2nd job instability by using forced stab or swing attacks in 3rd job. Spears and Polearms also both have very long reach, but slower attacks. Combined with Buster's slow skill speed, this is why Dragon Knights are outdamaged by the other two classes over time on bosses. However, Polearms are the only warrior weapon in 3rd job capable of hitting Zakum's top arms, which is just one of many benefits from their range.

Spear Users will use Buster to maximize damage output, which does the most damage to mobs of 2-3 monsters overtime. They tend to lvl faster in the early stages of 3rd job as their training spots have more mobs of 2-3 monsters. Polearm Users will use Fury to maximize damage output, which does the 2nd most damage to mobs of 5-6 monsters overtime and has greater KB capabilities than Buster. They tend to lvl faster in the later stages of 3rd job because their mobbing capabilities do well against Gobies and Himes. Hybrid users have the use of both weapons to use both Buster and Fury to their full potential. Unfortunately, it tends to take longer w/o FA in 2nd job, and it sometimes costs more for Hybrids who have two weapons.

Weaknesses

As mentioned above, Dragon Knights have the lowest damage over time on single targets, but since training generally involves fighting mobs and they have Hyper Body for boss parties, they will always be a contribution in parties anyway. Additionally, since the strongest attack for knockback that a DK can use without sacrificing HP is an unbuffed Power Strike, their KB rates are much lower than the other classes, which causes them to generally take more damage from fast-moving enemies. Combined with a lack of Power Guard, this makes it very difficult for DKs to solo, but it can be done. DKs lvl 100+ with ER, HB, and NLC pots combined will eventually spend around the same amount of money on pots if compared to a Sader and WK if they both took the same amount of touch damage (Example: Himes).http://strategywiki.org/wiki/MapleStory/Warrior_Guide