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The purpose of this guide is to give players a background into the Kunoichi (Kuno) class
in Black Desert Online (BDO). The guide will go into the very basics of the game, basics
of each class, and then basics and more advanced aspects of the Kuno class. The
guide will not be perfect, but it will have information, tips, and tricks from my point of
view as a Kuno player. I will try to give as many specific tips, tricks, and combos as
possible, but I won’t be able to cover everything. Take the guide as a set of tools that
you can use to form your own style of gameplay. I will try to keep this guide as free
of text as possible (the first few sections and last few sections will have a lot of text).
There will be gifs, video clips, and references to other sources throughout the guide.
This guide assumes at least basic knowledge of the BDO pvp system (cc’s, etc.).
If you have any suggestions leave them in the Kuno/Ninja discord and/or ask for my
discord handle to pm me. I would like to thank Quenthell, Paiz, Skyforth, Farhan, Zyui,
StrobeWalker, Gavin, Fai, Overlord, Queen, Wolfe, Daunzo, Nikes, CyanPhoenix,
Duke, Rena and a special thanks to Azuline, for their help and suggestions during the
creation of this guide. They also provided some clips and content used in the guide.
Link to Kuno/Ninja discord found here. Link to resources for Kuno and Ninja
players here. Link to a recent Ninja guide here.
Revision History
Date Version Description Contributor/Author
2. Introduction to Kunoichi 5
2.1 Pre-awakening skills 5
2.1.1 Farming 22
2.2 Awakening skills 23
2.2.1 Farming 27
2.3 Rahm’s Enlightenment (TBD) 27
2.4 Skill builds 27
2.5 Skill addons 28
2.6 Basic skill combos and animation cancels 30
2.6.1 Building a combo 33
2.7 Gear and builds 37
2.7.1 Early-game build 37
2.7.2 Mid-game build 38
2.7.3 Late-game builds 38
2.7.4 Other stats 39
However, there is other forms of pvp in BDO. For smaller scale pvp, there is Red Battlefield
(rbf), in which two teams battle and points are gained for each kill (dependent on the amount of
points your slaughtered opponent had). There are multiple duel arenas throughout BDO, with
one in each major city, and a new arena that can be teleported to from anywhere in the game.
These arena are free pvp and respawn, where anyone can fight another player. The newest pvp
feature that has been added in the Arena of Arsha, where 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, and 5v5 fights can
take place.
Besides pvp, there is a wide variety of activities to do in BDO, including: life skilling (fishing,
cooking, trading, etc.), exploring the large map, farming, etc. You will likely never run out of
things to do in BDO, even if you don't enjoy pvp.
Ninja:
● Male
● 2 grapples (one in pre awakening, one in awakening)
● Better lateral mobility; quicker directional changes; etc
● Less intended super armor and frontal guards
● Higher single target damage
● Able to use lower attack power (ap) allowing for easier access to dp/evasion builds
Kuno:
● Female
● 1 grapple (pre awakening)
● More super armor and frontal blocks
● More aoe damage and cc abilities
● Better self heals (not including E buff)
● Easier time farming post awakening; not necessarily a “better” farmer
2. Introduction to Kunoichi
○ This is the basic auto attack for Kuno left mouse button (lmb). It will be useful for
early-game player versus environment (pve) since it restores wp.
○ This is the double jump for Kuno. It can be useful when trying to reach high
places. Uses might include: scaling vertical objects to place cannons, escaping
from enemies, etc.
○ This skill is very important in pvp. It provides +6 ap upon use and switches you
to shortsword (ss) instantly. This skill provides invincibility (i frame) while in
use and stiffens the enemy if you land near them. This can be useful to avoid
damage and/or to initiate in pvp. If you do not skill up D
oppel dummy, and
only skill Block jump, then using block jump will automatically swap you to
shortsword as opposed to keeping chakram out. In my opinion, this is the
better option.
Example of bj stiffen.
○ Useful to get to the next pack of mobs if the mobs are far away and you feel lazy.
Not extremely useful in pvp, but can come in handy occasionally. I have never
found a great use for it in pvp.
○ Extremely important skill all around. I frame during the portion of the step in
which you are invisible ; SA after you reappear towards the end of the animation.
Important to move, reposition, and avoid damage.
○ Useful in situations where you do not travel far enough with ghost step to get out
of harm's way. DOES NOT PROVIDE AN I FRAME OR SUPER ARMOR (SA)
EXCEPT FOR THE PART OF THE ANIMATION WHERE YOU ARE IN THE
AIR. This move can get you killed as you can get cc’d while using it and you
cannot cancel it. However, you can control whether or not you use it by letting go
of the direction key before you use it after ghost stepping.
○ An example of where ninja evasion might be useful: Suppose you are in a fight
and someone is in front of you pelting you with cc. If you try to ghost step
backwards while facing the cc (to block it) then you won’t move very far. You
would need to ghost step a few times to gain distance, but because holding s
activates block on kuno when you take damage, you will be stuck in block and
may die. If you attempt to ghost step backwards and turn your camera to lunar
dash, you may get cc’d. If you ghost step into ninja evasion and then turn to
lunar dash, you may have enough distance between you and the opponent to not
get cc’d and to make a get away.
Ghost step without ninja evasion (let go of the direction key (s) after the ghost step).
Ghost step with the first part of ninja evasion (hold the direction key for a moment after ghost
step).
Ghost step with the full animation of ninja evasion (hold the direction key for the full duration).
○ Provides good filler damage when other important dps skills are on cool down.
Can be used while on cooldown (5 seconds) but stiffens the target if used while
not on cooldown.
○ Extension of Fatal Blow, can only be used with kunai equipped. Can be used
while on cooldown (7 seconds) but stiffens the target if used while not on
cooldown. Good filler damage, but too long of an animation to be useful in pvp.
○ Provides useful WP recovery for pve. Too risky to use in pvp, just stick with wp
pots while pvping.
○ Can only be used with kunai equipped. Important skill for pvp. Quicker than
awakening block and nullifies damage until block runs out.
○ Kunai block behaves a bit strange. Holding block will lock you in place and block
incoming frontal damage and damage slightly to the sides. Kunai block does
have an S-block component, somewhat similar to awakening. If you s-walk
backwards, kunai block will automatically block the first incoming damage and
continue to block the damage if it is constant, until the block is chewed up, or until
the damage stops. If the damage starts again, then s-walk will not automatically
block the new damage. This s-walk block with kunai will “reset” if you get hard
cc’d and the properties described with s-walk will apply again. The following link
provides an example.
○ Provides a +10% down attack damage buff for 10 seconds. Can be used to
animation cancel Shadow Stomp. It is good to use floor sweeping to cancel
shadow stomp while using it to combo for the down attack buff.
○ Can be used as a swap from awakening to pre awakening, but I don't think it's
that useful overall as a quick swap.
○ Not extremely useful, but allows you to throw kunais quicker than standing still.
○ Provides wp recovery on hit; good for pve. Provides a +5% attack speed buff for
10 seconds when used, even if it does not damage anything. Very important to
keep this attack speed buff up during pvp, but be careful as you can get cc’d
during shadow slash.
○ One of the most important pvp skills. Provides an important evasion buff to help
mitigate damage. At max rank the buff has a down time of 4 seconds. Provides
tuns targets contacted by
super armor during the skill animation. S
smokescreen. Smokescreen can be used through a hotkey, but I recommend to
use it through key input as it casts much faster. It can be used with space after
many skills, but I recommend using it after shadow slash, since it can be cast
very quickly so you have a lower chance to get cc’d, since the cast time is so
short.
○ Smokescreen can also be used to animation cancel shadow stomp. It will also
swap from awakening to shortsword if used on hotkey with awakening active.
Smokescreen using space after a shadow slash.
○ Important for mobility. Chains very well from smokescreen using space after
smokescreen. D OES NOT HAVE SUPER ARMOR OR I FRAMES; YOU ARE
VULNERABLE. Used to go invisible to retreat or engage. In my opinion this pre
awakened invisibility is better suited for mobility rather than an engage.
○ Be cautious when using stealth in large scale. If a teammate walks near you and
someone throws a cc at your teammate then you will get cc’d as well.
○ Used during stealth, stuns target if landed. Not extremely useful after awakening
in my opinion.
○ Important to use in certain situations. Prolongs the i frame that grab (E) gives,
which may allow for your cooldowns to come up while you are in the i frame. Can
be chained with ghost step and g
host greeting to get out of a bad situation. Grab
(E) will cc anyone near the target when you hit the ground. Suicide fall will
disable this cc.
○ Grab is a very important skill. It provides an i frame if you miss the grab, so it can
be used to quickly mitigate damage or dodge a cc.
○ Very good gap closer and mobility. Provides i frame if used while off of
cooldown. Can be used during cooldown (9 seconds) but the lunge will only apply
while off of cd. Stiffness will also apply if you hit an enemy with this skill while it
is off of cd.
○ Good dps filler skill along with fatal blow. Provides stiffness on good hit off of cd
but it provides no defensive traits so it is not good to use as an initiation.
○ Very important skill. Very good for mobility. Very good as a float on a stiffened
target (or a non stiffened target). Can be animation canceled with kunai throw,
floor sweeping, and smokescreen. DOES NOT HAVE SUPER ARMOR OR I
FRAME. Be careful if you use this skill for mobility or initiation as you can easily
get cc’d during it.
○ Lag/Desync and terrain can cause you to not move the length of the normal
stomp animation. The distance will still be covered and things in front of you can
be floated, but you will essentially be stationary when you do the animation. This
may happen if you lag, get body blocked by another player, or attempt to stomp
up a lope or into a rock on the ground. I do not know of any way to control this.
○ Flow from shadow stomp. D own Smash. Provides 30 hp recovery per hit. This is
the only pre awakened skill that provides base hp recovery. Can be used with
key input (space) directly after shadow stomp, or through a hotkey for up to 6
seconds after shadow stomp. I have it bound to one of my mouse buttons, but I
use it through key input as well. 200% Pre awakened Black Spirit Skill.
○ Good for clearing large packs of mobs before awakening. I frame throughout the
animation. Stiffens multiple targets. Not necessarily the best skill, but it can be
used somewhat effectively to surprise the enemy, or stall to pot up if need be.
100% pre awakened Black Spirit Skill.
Flash slash 100% used to stiffen mobs and clear the pack.
○ Provides a -45% movement speed slow on the enemy. However, it does not
have any defensive traits and it has a long cast animation so it is risky to use
unless the opponent is on the ground. It may be useful against super mobile
opponents, such as maehwa/musa/dk.
○ LOCK THE SKILL. It provides little damage, has a long animation, and has no
defensive traits.
○ If you do decide to keep it unlocked (which I don’t recommend), it can be useful if
you jump off a ledge : Hold S + F after double jump > Hold space to instantly
stealth when hitting the ground. Do keep in mind that you're only gonna have 15
sec of stealth when used after ground thrust.
● Tendon Cutter (PVP/PVE, hotkey)
○ A very, very important skill. It provides super armor. It stiffens anyone that it
touches. It is also used for mobility and the direction of the skill can be controlled
by turning the camera while using the skill. An in depth explanation of tendon
cutter manipulation can be found here.
Standard tendon cutter without moving the camera.
Controlling the direction of tendon cutter through camera movement.
○ Decent damage filler. Provides super armor, but only during the VERY
BEGINNING of the animation. S tiffens the opponent. Do not use if there is a
chance an opponent will throw a cc at you as you will get cc’d during this. The
animation can be canceled with ghost step if you accidentally use this at an
inopportune time. Unfortunately, the damage does not go through if the animation
is canceled.
○ Two instances where I use this skill is when the opponent is on the ground and I
have no other dps cooldowns up, or if the opponent is medium range away and
they have cc skills on cooldowns. This second instance will stiffen the opponent,
allowing you to start a combo.
Black moonlight canceled with ghost step.
○ LOCK THE SKILL. It provides little damage, has a long animation, and has no
defensive traits.
○ Flash slash 100% BSR is not useful in too many situations. This Z buff gives a
buff of +30 all AP, which is about the equivalent of +8.5 AP. For this reason, try
to absorb the 100% buff as often as possible.
2.1.1 Farming
Farming before awakening is extremely fun and combo based as Kuno does not have much aoe
in her pre awakening kit! There is little innate sustain as well (only 30 hp per hit on shadow
clone). Kuno will farm mobs that are tightly clustered better as opposed to mobs that are spread
about. An example of mobs like this are side rotations at Gahaz bandits or a side rotation at
pirates. A pre-awakening farming video example can be found here. Ideally, Kutum will be the
best pve offhand. Estique will be the next best for all content besides late game dungeons, such
as pila ku, centaurs, or cadry.
2.2 Awakening skills
This section of the guide will go through each awakened skill. It will go through the pros/cons of
the skill, whether it is useful in pve/pvp (or both), how to use it (hotkey/key input), and any other
miscellaneous things about the skill. I will assume you know how the skill works and how to use
it. Mouse movements can be used with some of the awakening skills. Examples can be found
here.
○ Lunar Veil (Q), or the awakening block, can be activated automatically while
walking backwards (holding S) and taking damage. It can manually be used by
pressing Q. However, if you take damage and use awakening block, you can get
stuck in it and this may cause you to inadvertently die. You can cancel this
“stickiness” with ghost step.
○ Extremely important self buff (E) that is used for nuking opponents. A good
scenario is to use E buff before you go invisible and engage on the enemy.
Provides a nice evasion buff, but it will be overridden by smokescreen evasion
buff if you use it while crimson is active.
○ Used with space after most awakening attacks. Adds a bit of damage to combos,
cancels certain animations (such as spin), and stuns the enemy. It is worth
mentioning that a stun will override a stiffness and may mess up the rest of a
combo. A full breakdown of the BDO CC system can be found in the #resources
section of the Kuno/Ninja discord, found here.
○ Not worth investing SP into. The uppercut gives a float that may be useful in
certain situations, but it is risky as it does not provide any defensive traits.
○ The game will automatically max this for you as of the patch on 11/1/17 to NA. It
does not cost any SP.
Chakram training used after Lunar Dash to float an enemy.
○ Do not put any points into this skill at all. It provides little damage, little utility, and
has no defensive traits.
○ This is a very important skill used for mobility and damage/cc. Provides slight wp
recovery on hit. Provide as frontal guard while in use. Provides a +10 DP buff
for 10 seconds when used. Stiffens the enemy on a successful hit. It is
important to note that if something is in your way when you use lunar dash, you
will collide and you dash will be stopped.
○ This is an important skill for both PVP and PVE. It provides super armor on use
while the skill is off of cd (5 seconds). Provides a good filler damage to be used
during combos.
○ Very important skill. Provides super armor on use and f loats the enemy if the
enemy is in range. If delighted travels it’s full distance, it will explode on an
enemy and knock them down through block (this applies to all classes but
warrior). I recommend to spam this skill off of cooldown and to use this if you
need a quick super armor since the animation is quite fast. However, the super
armor lasts until the very end of the animation, so if you need a super armor, let
the skill play out.
○ To be honest, this is one of kuno’s bread and butter skills. It’s one of our main
dps skills. It provides a super armor on use, stiffens the opponent on the
first hit, stuns the opponent on the third hit, and heals for a max of 600 hp.
Be careful when using this early on in a combo if you don’t float or knock down
the enemy after it, however, since it provides both a stiffen and a stun. This plays
into the intricacies of the BDO cc system. This is the 200% BSR rage skill, and it
is REALLY STRONG. If you guild will allow it in large scale, ask your party
members to feed you rage so you can one shot everything.
○ Provides frontal guard and f loats the enemy if the uppercut lands. This is the
awakening 100% BSR. It is quite lackluster with less than 200-210 AP and only
provides super armor. However, it takes a long time to cast and you can easily
get grabbed out of it. I recommend to only use it when the enemy is cc’d. I
generally tend to absorb rage rather than use wheel 100%. Be weary of your
BSR meter, as you may use this by accident and it can get you killed.
○ Wheel of wrath was buffed and has a much faster animation now.
Extremely good improvement; allows for more flexibility. However, this
means it has a shorter frontal block, adjust accordingly.
○ Very good DPS skill. The tooltip says i frame at beginning of animation and super
armor during the attack, but this is sketchy. You may get cc’d at any point of the
animation, which is why I recommend to only use it when the opponent is on the
ground. It does bound the target on a successful hit and provides a -20%
movement and attack speed debuff on the enemy, which give you a nice
advantage. This skill can be used effectively from stealth, but be careful so you
do not danse into any cc.
Danse initiation from stealth.
○ Decent flow. Provides a frontal block, h as a chance to float the enemy, and
provides a +10 ap buff when used. It is an okay filler skill, but has a somewhat
long animation, so be careful if you use it for damage while the opponent is not
cc’d.
○ Level this skill up but keep the pre-awakened concealment on the hotbar. Doing
this will allow you to go into invisibility with either shortsword or chakram out only
using the pre-awakened concealment skill.
○ Taking this will keep chakram out when you use block jump. It gives a +12 ap
buff and applies the same stiffness to an opponent if you land near them.
However, I do not recommend to take this as block jump swapping you to
shortsword is more useful.
○ Provides good damage, gives a frontal guard, and knocks the enemy back.
Even though this skill gives a frontal guard, the area of the guard is very small
and the cast animation is somewhat long, especially if you have few attack speed
buffs up. For this reason, it is easy to get cc’d while using the skill, and I do not
recommend to use it in large scale if there is a chance you will get cc’d. Similarly,
I recommend to use it when the opponent is on the ground or if the opponent has
no mobility skills up in duels.
○ Again, this is one of Kuno’s bread and butter skills. Provides massive aoe stun
and decent damage. It also provides a super armor during the entire animation.
This is a very good opener from stealth.
○ Personally I do not use this skill. I do not keep it locked in case I feel I need it, but
I do not use it regularly. It provides a float on successful hit and provides super
armor during the skill. It is important to note that the range of the float is very
long. An example of the range of wrath can be found here.
○ Very good flow. Has a quick cast animation, provides a frontal guard and
knocks the enemy back. It is generally good to use after every wheel of wrath
as it extends the frontal guard and provides another opportunity to cc the enemy.
The range on the cc is fairly long as well.
2.2.1 Farming
Farming post awakening is drastically quicker and more convenient than pre awakening. You
have enough sustain to relinquish the use of pots. However, you will still want to swap between
pre awakening and awakening if your ap is not high enough to kill the mobs you are farming in
1-2 awakening skills. An example of this can be found here, here, and here. Ideally, Kutum will
be the best pve offhand. Estique will be the next best for all content besides late game
dungeons, such as pila ku, centaurs, or cadry.
(1) Fatal Blow (27 SP) + Floor Sweeping (15 SP) + Fox Claw (15 SP) + Shadow Stomp (28
SP) + Shadow Clone (25 SP) + Tendon Cutter (35 SP) == 145 SP.
(2) Fatal Blow (27 SP) + Floor Sweeping (15 SP) + Heart Aiming (22 SP) + Suicide Fall (20
SP) + Ankle Cutter (25 SP) + Ghost Greeting (20 SP) + Fox Claw (15 SP) + Shadow
Stomp (28 SP) + Shadow Clone (25 SP) + Tendon Cutter (35 SP) + Black Moonlight (27
SP) == 259 SP.
Most of the JIN upgrades added more damage to the respective skill. However, there were a
few other changes to certain skills that I will list below.
1. Another “hit” was added to Suicide Fall. This only applies to the damage portion of the
skill and does not add another chance for the grab to land.
2. Ghost Greeting provides a 5% attack speed buff when it hits an enemy off of cooldown.
This buff does not stack with the 5% Shadow Slash attack speed buff.
3. Flash Slash got an animation speed increase, although it is not a large one and it seems
to not apply to the windup.
5. Shadow Explosion got a super armor. The super armor does not appear to be active
during the windup.
Level 56:
Level 57:
Skill addons should be tailored to your style of play. If you are still in the early phases of the
game where you pve often and rarely pvp, then take addons that will cater to quicker pve.
Some examples of this would be the hp on hit addons for shadow slash, attack speed
addons, and the +20 monster damage half moon slash addon. Addons can be changed at a
later date, repeatedly, for one memory fragment per skill. It is important to note that with
damage over time (DoT) addons that two addons of the same effect (i.e. poison and poison) will
not stack. Some examples of addons are below.
This is an example of my skill addons. I prefer to always have attack speed buffs up, and I
prefer to have evasion and defensive addons as I do not have the highest DP. I do not have half
moon slash as I am level 61 and do not feel the need for the monster damage anymore. The
critical hit rate from ankle cutter and chain crash make up for my lack of crit (I run +4 crit with
Margoria Meal).
This is Paiz’s addons. Paiz takes more of a damage over time (DoT) approach along with his
attack speed approach. A build like this will almost nullify pots for a while.
First I will list some animation cancels. Second I will list some basic combos. The purpose of
this section is not to list every combo that Kuno can execute. Rather, it is to get you to
think about what ccs chain well together, and to think about which skills work in tandem
throughout a combo.
● Shadow Stomp
Shadow stomp is a very important tool at all stages of pvp. Get used to its timing, get
comfortable with using it from kunai throw and floor sweeping (smokescreen if you want as
well).
This is generally the safest, most reliable method of stomp animation cancel. You should rely on
this for most situations, as debuffs such as attack speed and movespeed slows won’t affect you
too much, and it is generally the quickest cancel. However, you should get comfortable with all
three cancels.
○ Smokescreen cancel
The margin of error for this cancel is pretty high, and smokescreen is useful in many other
situations, so don’t get too used to using this cancel. It is mostly for style, anyway ;).
This combo will contain 2 parts (since the gifs are only so long). The full combo will be a
stiffen->float->grab->damage.
Tendon (stiffen) into Stomp (float) followed by some filler damage using fatal blow and a grab.
Grab into a “safe” damage combo. Lunar dash gives a frontal guard and half moon slash gives a
super armor (off of cooldown). This is generally the best damage option after a grab if you need
to nullify damage while you combo.
This is another variation of damage after the grab. Ankle cutter is used to apply the -20 dp
debuff to the opponent and to give me a 7% attack speed buff (which may come in handy since
the shadow stomp buff only lasts 5 seconds). Danse is used for damage and to apply a -20%
move and attack speed debuff to the opponent. Spin is used for damage. This combo has little
protection, so be weary of using it in large scale, or when there is a chance you will be cc’d in
general.
Example 2
Again, this combo will contain two parts. The full combo will be a
stun->stiffen->stun->float->grab->damage.
In the beginning of this combo, I open with chain crash (stun) into spin (stiffen->stun) followed
by delighted blast (float). From here, I will have followed one of the two gifs starting with a grab,
from above, depending on the situation.
Example 3
This combo can contain 1 or 2 parts. The full combo will be : float -> damage or float -> damage
-> grab -> damage. This combo is usable after the patch implemented to NA, on 8/30/17.
This combo should be preceded by a stun or stiffness (maybe using spin or chain crash, for
example. Delighted is then used (for a float) followed by Wheel of wrath and Flow: Indignation (if
you are level 60). After this, if the target is low health and spin is up, finish the target off with
that. If not, swap to shortsword to grab, and then finish the combo using one of the two endings
in Example 1.
Mainhand (best to worst - for early game) : Rosar > Krea > Yuria
Awakening Weapon (best to worst - for early game) : Sonan > Oeki’s >
Dande
Kunai Offhand (best to worst) : Estique > Quitar
Chest (best to worst) : Roaring Magical Armor *Obtained through quests > Heve > Grunil
Remaining armor slots (best to worst) : Heve > Taritas > Grunil
Accessories : Focus on AP accessories. Accuracy is not important in early game, especially in
pve. For example, shultz belt/neck will perform better in early game pve than the ancient set, at
a fraction of the cost. Red coral rings, and blue coral earrings are also good for early game.
New items added into the game (Asula’s belt, necklace, earrings, and rings) are very good for
beginning players. They drop throughout the Mediah region, and they cannot be enhanced or
sold. Grana quest earrings are a good alternative to red coral earrings. One earring can be
obtained per character for completing the Kamasylve 2 quest line.
The main things that will help you clear faster are higher levels, more ap, and learning how to
use your skills properly. You will want to get to level 57/58 or so with this gear and then worry
about starting to get your bheg’s gloves and kzarka. A solid early game build used to farm up to
level 57 or 58 will look like this, where asula accessories can and should be used when you
acquire them, like this build.
Hybrid Gear: More Damage ; More Tank. Your killing power will be fine with either of these
builds as long as you manage your E buff and Z buff well.
Tank Gear: More Damage ; Memevasion #1 ; Memevasion #2 ; Memevasion #3. Your killing
power is vastly decreased with any build besides the “More Damage” build in this tier (Z/E buff
management still important for the “more damage” build). Rocaba gloves and helm are only
viable if you support them with an array of dp/eva accessories. There is no point in gimping your
damage while not going full survival mode.
Consider using elixir of shock, along with margoria meal, to cap out crit. The remaining JIN,
BON, and WON crystals are luxury and do not provide as much as the JIN: Viper, but they are
still best in slot.
Weapon Swapping
The most basic weapon swap is defaulted to the C key. This is the key that I use to weapon
swap (my keybind), and it is the most used weapon swap for me, personally. No matter which
swap you use (unless its an auto swap triggered by a skill), you will always have a forward
guard during the swap. It is important to get comfortable with swapping to and from awakening
and shortsword using basic swap and other swaps. Doing so will allow you to have a frontal
guard on call, allow you to be more mobile and flexible, and allow you to have a
grab/shortsword skills or awakening skills on call at all times.
● Basic swaps
○ Swapping to awakening from short sword with the c key can only be done in two
ways (animations), w/a/d+c, and s+c. Both of these swaps are quick, with s+c as
a more defensive swap, and w/a/d+c as a more offensive swap. It is important
to note that if you only hit c and do not do a quick swap, you will be locked
into a long weapon swap animation.
● Some skills can be “animation canceled” using swap. Moreso, it is just that some skills
lend themselves very well to weapon swapping. This can be particularly useful if you
need to swap quickly to grab someone during a combo chain. I will show some examples
below.
Shadow stomp into a quick swap.
Delighted blast into a quick swap. Particularly useful after a float to do some filler damage into a
grab.
Wheel of wrath into a quick swap. Same concept as Delighted blast, although at level 60, the
Flow: Indignation is quite good, and the quick swap will mimic the quick swap using s+c from
awakened to shortsword.
● Some skills will automatically swap you to the other weapon. This can be useful in some
situations where a quick swap will not work with the skill you used/will need.
Lunar dash used to automatically swap to awakening.
Tendon cutter used to automatically swap to shortsword.
Block jump used to automatically swap to shortsword.
Movement
Movement is another very important aspect of Kuno gameplay. Kuno does not have the best
linear movement over long distances, but rather has good bursts of movement. For this reason,
it is important to practice and master every aspect of movement, along with combos.
Ghost step, Ghost greeting, Smokescreen (for Concealment), Shadow stomp, Tendon cutter,
and Block jump are all important pre awakened movement and mobility abilities. The awakening
kit is less effective for movement, with Lunar dash as the main mobility element. However, be
careful when using Lunar dash, as you will collide with things in front of you and your movement
will be stopped, likely leading to death. Chaining these mobility abilities with weapon swaps will
be the most effective way to move around. Similar to the basic combos section, I will show
individual pieces of movement here, and then I will show what a full movement combo may look
like. It is important to note that during most of these mobility abilities you are not
protected with super armor or i frames. You must be careful when using them for
mobility.
A simple ghost step into ghost greeting. Be careful to let go of shift after the greeting as you
may use ankle cutter by accident.
Ghost step -> ghost greeting -> shadow slash -> smoke -> conceal -> ghost step.
Putting it all together. Video example with voice over explanation can be found here (thanks
Azuline).
How do you make practical use of this? It is unlikely that you will be allowed to use a full mobility
combo like this in combat (especially larger scale), unless you are chasing one person. Instead,
you need to learn to use the bits and pieces separately. You need to figure out when they work,
when they don’t, and how to use them most effectively. Below I will post an example gif of
mobility in action.
This is a combination of skills to survive a sticky situation. I use spin for the super armor,
followed by block jump into a grab and suicide fall to extend the i frame. From the grab I ghost
step before I hit the ground, into a ghost greeting, followed by a shadow slash, another ghost
step and then shadow stomp to gain even more distance from the skirmish, into a quick swap to
awakening (s+c for the more defensive stance).
Grab combos
Combo 1: tendon/moonlight (stiffen) -> stomp/clone (float) -> fatal/fox claw (filler damage)
-> grab -> ankle -> danse -> spin. Probably the highest damage combo on Kuno. Keep this
combo out of large scale unless there is no one else around, since you have a high likelihood of
being cc’d at any point other than the grab and tendon.
Combo 2: tendon/moonlight (stiffen) -> stomp/clone (float) -> fatal/fox claw (filler damage)
-> grab-> lunar -> spin. Good in 1v1s, better in large scale than combo 1 because of the frontal
on lunar, but still not the safest for large scale.
Combo 3: chain crash (stun) -> spin (stiffen into stun) -> delighted/wheel (float) -> w+c
swap -> grab -> end of combo 1 or combo 2. Safer than both combos 1 and 2 up until the
point after grab.
Non-grab combos
Combo 4: tendon/moonlight (stiffen) -> stomp/clone (float) -> s+c swap -> discus. Not as
high of a damage combo, but no grab is needed and it is a bit safer than the others all the way
through.
Combo 5: chain crash (stun) -> spin (stiffen into stun) -> delighted/wheel (float) -> block
jump -> get out. Good for large scale situations where you go in to cc a group of people.
Staying too long will generally get you killed, so be careful with the delighted/wheel, and you
may have to block jump out after the spin. If you do use delighted or wheel, use delighted if you
need a SA (if there is a lot going on around you), and use wheel if you can manage a frontal
guard.
There are certainly more combos and variations of combos, but again, this is just to get you to
think about how certain skills can be used and in what order. It is also to get you think about
the kind of combos that can be used in large scale and the kind that can not.
3.3 Survivability
Survivability is the most important factor in pvp as you will be able to do more alive than dead.
Thankfully, Kuno has very good innate survivability, hindered mostly by her lack of movement
over long distances, and grabs from other players. Her kit lends itself well to do damage and cc
while being protected, at least to an extent. Kuno is very good at getting in and getting out.
Oddly enough, I tend to use stealth more as an engage tool than an escape/survival tool. Just
remember, survival is most important, and you cannot do your job if you are dead. For this
reason, it is unwise to be greedy when opening up on a group in large scale, as you will likely
get grabbed (even if you are in i frame/frontal/sa for the full combo) and die. It is okay to
disengage even if you are close to killing someone but you do not kill them.
In this situation I got greedy. I should have block jumped to get out after wheel of wrath.
However, this is not to say that you can never complete a combo on a group of people. You just
have to assess the situation and use that to determine if you should stop your combo. Below I
will show a gif of a situation where I finish a full combo on a group of people because the
situation was safe.
Here, I was able to assess the situation and I knew that no one was to either side of me or
behind me. I was able to finish cleaning up the group of people.
3.4 Large-scale gameplay
At this point, you should have the tools needed to both survive in large scale, and kill people in
large scale. So, what next? Killing isn’t the only factor in large scale pvp, although it is important
(and fun). Below, I will go over a few different positions that a Kuno can fulfill in large scale
gameplay, along with my experience and tips (limited for some aspects).
Example of base disruption in a node war using discus to stop one side of repairs and spin to
stop the other. I use block jump followed by Lunar to get out afterwards.
3.4.3 Slayer
Slaying in wars is probably the most fun part of large scale, at least in my opinion. Once you get
comfortable with the concepts in this guide (and once you get the gear), you should have no
problem slaying people. Stealth, and the rest of the kit allows Kuno to kill effectively and safely
once you have around 200+ ap, if you manage your Z and E buffs well. It is hard to explain how
to play a slayer role a large scale battle, as these battles usually revolve around what your
guild’s strategy is for a specific war, the gear of the enemies, the makeup of the enemy guilds,
etc. I will provide a good amount of large scale gameplay in section 4.
3.6 Dueling
The most important thing to remember is that no one is magically gifted at dueling. It takes
practice against each class, and lots of it.
3.6.2.1 Warrior
● A kutum will help against warrior due to the ignore resistance (kutum will generally be
good against classes that stack resistances, especially grab resist.).
● The main thing with warrior is that he gets a lot of free stats with his kit. Plain and simply,
if you do not have the ap and accuracy (mainly ap) necessary to kill a warrior, then you
won’t be able to.
● Always keep constant movement; you can play aggressively against warriors. Warriors
are pretty predictable and a lot of their moves are linear. Be careful of the solar flare and
slashing the dead initiations. Using a cc move, such as spin or chain crash, is good
when a warrior engages with solar flare or slashing the dead, as solar has no super
armor, and slashing the dead only has super armor until the smash lands. This is a good
time to cc them.
● Sometimes baiting our their grave digging with a block jump will work and then you can
teleport behind them at the tail end of the grave digging for the grab. Be careful not to
teleport too quickly, as the tail end of grave digging can hit you and you may get
knocked down, or the movespeed and attack speed debuffs may be applied to you.
3.6.2.2 Ranger
● Ranger is a somewhat easy matchup for kuno; play aggressively. Utilize your pre
awakening block if they play defensively. Be weary of their grab. They have very little
super armor and rely on frontal guards. Tendon cutter will get around this guard if you
can use it through the ranger.
● If you can get comfortable with movement and you can use it to reach a ranger, then this
matchup will be okay.
3.6.2.3 Sorceress
● Sorceress is a tough matchup for Kuno if the sorc knows how to chain her i frames well.
If this is the case, your best bet is to try to catch the sorc in a cc, such as Tendon cutter,
chain crash, or spin, while they are moving around as you may catch them in between i
frames.
● Block jump is a good method to get out of a sorc ultimate (ball). It is also a good method
to stiffen the sorc as she violates towards you. A good sorc will never use violation
unless the opponent is cc’d, or the frontal guard will mitigate any damage or cc,
however.
● If a sorc uses Nightmare, try to guess where she will reappear and use spin on that spot.
3.6.2.4 Berserker
● Zerker is a tough matchup. Try to keep constant movement and play defensively. Be
careful of the zerker grab range, as it is quite long. A good zerker will chain sa up to you
and grab you through your own sa. You will have to try to catch the zerker in multiple
combos while keeping your distance when your moves are on cooldown in order to kill
(unless you can one combo the zerker).
● Two of berserker's heals aren't full sa (fearsome tyrant only at the start and Wrath of
Beast only has FG) so these 2 heals can be easily interrupted with CC abilities. Beast
Roar is a full SA on the other hand so you would need to get into melee range to grab.
When a berserker retreats to heal, that's the best time to aggress on him, if you know
which heal they're using you can potentially interrupt it and finish them off before they
have a chance to heal up, so use this as an opportunity. However, if he is able to get
some gap on you, be careful that he doesn’t throw a cc at you while you are chasing
him.
● Discus is a good move to use while a zerker uses Devastation, as you frontal guard the
debuffs and damage and you damage the zerker at the same time.
3.6.2.5 Tamer
● I have limited experience fighting tamer, but what I do know is that block jump is your
friend in this matchup. Try to imagine what the tamer will do next and play aggressively
when the tamer’s pole vault is on cooldown. She has no protection at the tail end of pole
vault, so this is a good time to throw a chain crash down, or to spin, where she will land.
● If you manage to catch the tamer in a cc, try to use a combo of moves that provide
chained super armor to avoid getting cc’d by Heilang. If you use a frontal guard (maybe
a Lunar) then try to make sure Heilang will not hit you from behind, or from the side.
3.6.2.6 Musa
● Musa and Maehwa are a somewhat similar matchup. Keep constant movement and play
defensively. You will not catch a maehwa or musa.
● If the musa goes in for damage or a cc, use a defensive ability with a cc, such as spin, or
chain crash. This matchup becomes much easier when you have better stats, as you will
win the damage trade, even if you do not cc the musa.
3.6.2.7 Maehwa
● Similar to fighting a musa, but Maehwa has more defensive traits on her attacks, so you
have to play even more defensively.
3.6.2.8 Valkyrie
● Constant movement, play aggressively. Valk is somewhat predictable, like Warrior. If the
valk is camping block, rush her and make her stop her block. You are then free to cc or
block jump initiate.
● If the valk casts a ranged move, such as Verdict, she can not move during the cast, so
bait it out with block jump. If the telegraphs a charge up move, use kunai block to
mitigate the damage and grab the valk right after. You can also grab the valk out of her
spells as she is charging them up.
3.6.2.9 Witch
● Witch and Wizard are a somewhat similar matchup, although Wizard is a bit tougher in
my opinion because of the grab. Gauge how the Witch is playing. If aggressively, then
wait for the teleport and engage with a super armor skill that has cc (such as tendon
cutter), or a block jump.
● If the Witch is playing defensively, attempt to approach using super armor skills, such as
tendon cutter. Don’t be afraid to keep your distance if needed.
● Always be careful of Protected Area. If a Witch casts it, kite around and make her chase
you until it’s out.
3.6.2.10 Wizard
● Similar to fighting a Witch. Most Wizards will play aggressively, which leaves them open
to a block jump initiation. Since many of Wizard’s skills have sa or frontal, be careful of
initiating from the front.
● Be careful of the wizard's grab. Generally, do not try to win a super armor trade against a
wizard. You will likely lose the trade.
3.6.2.11 Ninja
● One of Kuno’s harder matchups. Constant movement is important, but you can’t spam
random abilities.You need to keep track of the ninja’s block jump cooldown; DO NOT
use chain crash or discus while the ninja’s block jump is off of cooldown, you will die.
● If the ninja’s block jump is on cooldown, play aggressively (dash at the ninja and throw a
chain crash out, for example).
● Kuno has more super armor than ninja, so abuse it. The only way a ninja should catch
you in a combo is if they somehow manage to grab you. Note: Ninja can abuse
Murderous Intent’s super armor. If a ninja is doing this (he will have a sword-sheathing
animation but he will be in super armor until the sword is fully in the sheath, which takes
a few seconds) then try to grab him. This may be a bait though, so be careful.
3.6.2.12 Kunoichi
● Similar to fighting a ninja. You need to keep track of the Kuno’s block jump cooldown;
DO NOT use chain crash or discus while the Kuno’s block jump is off of cooldown, you
will die.
● If the kuno’s block jump is on cooldown, play aggressively (dash at the kuno and throw a
chain crash out, for example).
● Kuno v. Kuno is essentially a super armor and damage trade battle (unless you can
cleanly catch her). So be careful if you have low dp, as you will lose the trade. Lose
multiple trades before you can heal up, and you die. Be careful of grab.
● The objective of this fight is to get behind the DK. Use the tips in the mobility section to
do so. If you can get behind the DK, throw out a cc.
3.6.2.14 Striker
● Striker is another hard matchup. Thankfully, most of his initiations are predictable. Keep
constant movement and play aggressively if the striker is camping his S block. They
have some holes in their kit where they don’t have super armor, so play it similarly to
fighting a sorc.
● If the striker uses Ferocious Assault towards you, this is a good time to throw out a chain
crash where he will land, as he is cc’able when he lands.
● Be careful of block jumping behind a Striker (especially if he uses a move that summons
Echo Spirit), as the clones can cc you, similar to Tamer’s Heilang.
3.6.2.15 Mystic
● Somewhat similar to striker. Mystic has lower damage but more utility. Be careful of her
spiral cannon. It ignores frontal blocks and some super armors (ghost step). Watch out
for her move speed/attack speed slows.
● Wolf’s Frenzy is an extremely strong skill. It provides an I frame to the mystic and will
track you in any SA or I frame that you do and will likely cc you out of it. It can also stun if
they mystic mouses it behind your frontal. This move will also unstealth you if the mystic
uses it with you in front of her in stealth, even if she does not know you are there.
● Avoid trading damage with a mystic at all costs. She will win every single damage trade.
Similar to fighting a warrior/valk that is a bit easier to cc but has more sustain.
● If they use their fortitude skill they will be invulnerable to damage, even if you interrupt it
with a grab, until they get up. Attempt to interrupt this skill with a grab and back off
afterwards.
● Dragon’s Pit locks the mystic in place and does not provide any defensive traits.
4. Some useful resources (links to Kuno channels,
streams, and gameplay)
My channel:
● His older videos are kuno videos; large scale, small scale; updates to show new Kuno
changes and skills on KR server
Unknown:
Funker:
Daunzo’s channel:
● Kuno Montages
Azuline:
KR Kuno’s Channel;
My Stream:
Paiz’s Stream:
Bisoo’s Stream: