Black Knight's barding

Version 0.28: 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.

the +10 Black Knight's barding

+10 barding

Ponderousness ego
rN+
rPois
Evil

Desirability

It's your choice whether the Black Knight's barding's excellent AC and useful resistances are worth the speed reduction. For palentongas, they could be -- you can still approach enemies quickly by rolling, your aptitudes and abilities lend themselves well to fighting in the thick of things, and the Black Knight's barding provides enough physical defense to make close-quarters combat much safer.

However, not being able to reliably run from regular-speed enemies remains a significant downside. Aim to find solutions to mitigate your suddenly slower-than-average movement speed; Swiftness and/or a potion of haste will let you move faster than average for a time, and blinking remains unaffected. Alternatively, an amulet of the acrobat can give you evasion enough to reposition yourself more safely.

Nagas, meanwhile, already have innate poison resistance but still appreciate all of the other benefits. They're also already slower than average, so their strategy won't be impacted as heavily.

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 and was specifically intended for 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.