Class deep dive
The Shadow Knight
The Shadow Knight at a glance
| Role | Hybrid: tank, lifetaps, pet, emergency damage |
| Armor | Plate |
| Key stats | Stamina, Intelligence |
| Arrived | Launch class (1999) |
Allakhazam’s class guide sums the shadow knight up as a necromancer and warrior hybrid: an unholy knight with the best aggro control of the tank classes, who heals themselves by draining health from foes, has a weak but useful undead pet, and can devastate a single foe with Harm Touch in an emergency.
Sources: Allakhazam: EQ:Classes (wiki)
What a shadow knight does
Shadow knights are unholy warriors who use fear, pain and disease to attack everything good in the world. They are mainly melee fighters, wearing plate and wielding many kinds of weapons.
They are deadly opponents who use evil spells to slow and cripple enemies. They steal strength and life from their victims and use it to strengthen themselves and their allies. When needed, their Harm Touch does massive damage to a single opponent.
Shadow knights can feign death and fool enemies into ignoring them. Combined with spells that weaken an enemy’s fighting ability, that makes them fearsome.
Their dark powers let them solo for a while, but the official text says their lethal abilities work best with the support of a larger group.
Sources: Library of Erudin: EverQuest Library — The Classes of Norrath (official text) · Allakhazam: EQ:Classes (wiki)
The epic: Innoruuk’s Curse
Epic quests came to EverQuest in September 2000, shortly after The Ruins of Kunark. They were modelled on the paladin’s Fiery Avenger quest: long, multi-step journeys through the highest-level dungeons, usually needing groups to kill powerful creatures. Each ended in a unique weapon with its own model and particle effects. The shadow knight’s reward was the Innoruuk’s Curse, with the effect Soul Consumption.
Who could be one
In the classic era recreated by Project 1999, the shadow knight epic could be used by Human, Erudite, Dark Elf, Troll, Ogre, Gnome, Iksar. The Iksar appear there because they joined with The Ruins of Kunark.
Sources: Project 1999 Wiki: Class Epic Quest List
Titles
After level 50, each class earns titles that show in /who. A shadow knight became a Reaver at 51, a Revenant at 55 and a Grave Lord at 60.
Sources: Project 1999 Wiki: Character Classes and titles
Playing a shadow knight today
The class is still in the game on Daybreak’s live and time-locked progression servers. Project 1999 recreates the Classic, Kunark and Velious eras, so it has the original fourteen classes. See EverQuest Today for where the game stands now.
All class deep dives → The Shaman
Illustrations are original fan art made for this site, not in-game screenshots.