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.

It's an iffy choice for palentongas. Not being able to reliably run from regular-speed enemies is a significant downside, though one that becomes less relevant as the game progresses. Swiftness and/or a potion of haste will let you move faster than average for a time, and blinking remains unaffected. Palentongas also have unique advantages: 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.

Nagas, meanwhile, are already slower than average and thus aren't impacted nearly as much. While they already have innate poison resistance, the AC and rN+ are still just as relevant as ever.

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.