Black Knight's barding

Version 0.31: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

A heavy barding made from pitch-black steel and inlaid with plates of black diamond. It once protected the steed of the Black Knight during their reign of terror. Those who wear it become partially undead, gaining some of the benefits without the unfortunate downsides, although the great weight of metal and stone slows the wearer somewhat.

File:New bk barding.png the +10 Black Knight's barding

+10 barding

Ponderousness ego
rN+
rPois
Evil

Desirability

The Black Knight's barding has excellent AC and two resistances, which generally outweighs the downside of slow movement (and is always better than not wearing barding at all).

For Nagas, it's usually a great choice, as they are already slower than usual. Going from 1.4 to 1.5 move delay isn't a big deal in practice; most enemies are still faster than you. It does mean that you'll take slightly more attacks when repositioning, though the AC should more than make up for that.

For Armataurs, it's more iffy, as they go from normal to slow movement. This makes you unable to retreat from 10-speed enemies, a significant downside. In exchange, they appreciate the extra AC, and unlike Nagas, actually benefit from rPois. Armataurs have a special advantage: they can approach enemies quickly due to their rampaging. If all else, Swiftness and/or a potion of haste will let you move faster for a short period of time.

This armour is considered evil and will offend the good gods if you wear it.

History

• Prior to 0.26, this item was known as the Black Knight's horse barding, restricted to just centaurs.
• Prior to 0.15, the Black Knight's horse barding also offered a significant delay to your metabolism, requiring you to eat less often.
• The Black Knight's horse barding was added in 0.10.