Introduction
- Regular Attack
- Physical Damage
- Position
- Ranged
Blacknight is a Tactician Vanguard who stands out by providing crowd control through the sleep effect. Her tactical point summon, Slumberfoot, is able to attack sleeping enemies by default, which allows her to chip away at enemies that are inflicted with Sleep regardless of the source. She can also consistently provide this support thanks to her good SP costs, and her kit is easy and intuitive to use.
Operator Stats
- Health
- 1625
- Attack Power
- 502
- Defense
- 133
- Attack Speed
- 1 sec
- Arts Resistance
- 0%
- Block
- 1
- Redeploy Time
- 70 sec
- DP Cost
- 14
- Range
Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 X1 active cell active cell active cell active cell X2 operator cell active cell active cell active cell X3 active cell active cell active cell active cell
Strengths
- Sleep crowd control utility with good uptime that works even while summon is respawning
- Good initial SP and costs makes her skills faster to use than other vanguards
- Kit is intuitive to use, being able to use skills for purely for DP without wasting their effects
Weaknesses
- Very few operators are able to attack sleeping enemies, so in most teams it will serve primarily for stalling without much damage dealt
- Low DPH against enemies not blocked by Slumberfoot naturally means her damage output drops sharply when it is respawning or she happens to target other enemies
Talents
Nightwalker
Can summon a Slumberfoot to assist in combat from a Tactical Point; The Slumberfoot will automatically respawn 15s after being defeated
Summon Stats
- Health
- 2582
- Attack Power
- 474
- Defense
- 308
- Attack Speed
- 1.27 sec
- Arts Resistance
- 20%
- Block
- 0
- Redeploy Time
- 10 sec
- DP Cost
- 0
- Range
Y1 Y2 Y3 X1 empty cell active cell empty cell X2 active cell operator cell active cell X3 empty cell active cell empty cell
Slumberfoot has a fairly low DEF stat, but makes up for it with a decent ATK stat and fairly high HP. Slumberfoot may struggle against mid-armored enemies with its overall low ATK, but as Blacknight’s skills are able to buff its ATK or change the damage type to Arts, it doesn't end up being too bad in practice.
Skills
Drowsy
Per Second RecoveryManual Trigger- Initial SP
- 17
- SP Cost
- 25
- Duration
- 10 sec
Immediately gains 11 DP. The Slumberfoot falls asleep and recovers 14% Max HP every second; Upon receiving damage, the Slumberfoot wakes up, gaining ATK +55% and ASPD +55% for 10 seconds
A skill focusing on keeping Slumberfoot alive during downtime and giving it a burst of damage once in combat. One of the skill’s strengths is its good SP costs including initial SP, as well as how intuitive it is to use. The SP lockout on Blacknight is separate from the buff duration for Slumberfoot, meaning the skill can be repeatedly used for the DP without wasting Slumberfoot’s ATK and ASPD buff. Many vanguards have skill effects and utilities that players may be hesitant to cast for DP in case they need them later. This skill is designed to avoid that downside by allowing players to use it at will without wasting the buff. You are able to use it ahead of time and even potentially charge the next use before Slumberfoot has even woken up to attack, allowing it to have higher effective uptime when it is needed.
Skill Mastery
- Recommended Rank
- None
- Priority
- --
While the skill itself isn’t bad and could benefit from masteries especially in terms of DP production, the skill isn’t generally recommended over the utility of her S2. Other Vanguards are going to perform better while also being cheaper if your aim is to have them be effective for combat.
Peaceful Slumber
Per Second RecoveryManual Trigger- Initial SP
- 10
- SP Cost
- 16
- Duration
- 0 sec
Immediately gains 4 DP and all ground enemies around the Tactical Point are put to Sleep for 6 seconds; For the next 6 seconds, the Slumberfoot uses AoE Arts attacks that deal 210% damage against Sleeping enemies
Can store 2 charges
This skill is the core of Blacknight’s utility, and similarly intuitive to use. It has a fairly low SP cost, great initial SP, and good sleep uptime that allow it to be effective both as a helidrop and throughout a level. The damage change for Slumberfoot allows it to no longer worry about its low ATK against mid-def enemies, and the multiplier is very nice against the enemies that will be put to sleep. Akin to how S1 is designed in a way to allow players to use the skill for DP without feeling its utility is wasted, this skill can hold charges. It allows you to save the skill and use it at will without hurting her overall DP production too much. Its capability to hold charges is also very good as it makes it much easier to chain Sleep together which, together with other sleep-inducing operators, can lead to very high sleep uptime against enemies.
Slumberfoot placement can also be very aggressive if you do not care for its damage output. As the sleep is still inflicted on enemies around the tactical point even if Slumberfoot is respawning, if your aim is simply for the crowd control utility you can place it wherever you want without worrying about keeping it alive.
Skill Mastery
- Recommended Rank
- Mastery 3
- Priority
- Low
The skill functions well even at SL7 especially as it already has some of the best initial SP among vanguards at that level, even compared against vanguards that have full masteries. The main point of upgrading the skill is the improvement in its sleep uptime, as M2 improves its SP cost and M3 increases its duration. The additional damage multiplier adds up nicely throughout the sleep duration, but the utility remains its main draw. If that is what you are aiming for with Blacknight, then masteries are something worthwhile to consider at some point.
Synergy
Sleep-Inducing Operators
Blacknight’s specialty is Sleep and thus she works very well with other operators that can complement her. Kafka is an extremely effective option with little downtime similarly to Blacknight, and they can cover each other very well. Blemishine is similar, and with some planned placement can work together with Slumberfoot to keep a sleep chain active as Blemishine is able to attack enemies put to sleep by Slumberfoot to charge her own skill. Iris Is able to inflict sleep, but also relies on said effect to give her time to build charges for a burst, which Blacknight is able to help with consistently. Erato is an operator that has a kit built around dealing more damage to sleeping enemies, but her main damage skill lacks the ability to inflict sleep, which Blacknight can help cover for.
They can even be used individually with Blacknight, or used in a sleep-focused team if you’d like and can all complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses very well. Keeping the available sleep options in mind when thinking of using Blacknight is something that can come in handy in situations where you may need it.
Bagpipe
An obvious synergy, though less significant than with some other operators as Blacknight already has good initial SP. With Bagpipe, Blacknight is capable of an instant S2 usage and is also the longest hard-CC helidrop available among Vanguards. It’s something that players can make use of early in a map or even later in a stage where an emergency crowd control to buy time may be necessary.