In Game of Thrones: Kingsroad, you can weave standard attacks and heavy strikes into a flurry of combos. While these are primarily designed to batter your foes, strategic investment into masteries allows you to trigger class-specific boons or even recover health.

However, playstyles and animations vary wildly between classes, meaning there is no one-size-fits-all approach to combos or masteries. Let’s look at the Knight, a class that dances between the two-handed Greatsword and Dual Blades.

Knights should stick to the first heavy strike combo.

For both the Greatsword and Dual Blades, the first combo is the clear winner. The Dual Blades' first combo is arguably the most user-friendly set in the game; it boasts minimal recovery time, letting you stack damage quickly while keeping you agile enough to counter incoming threats. The Greatsword's first combo is a bit more sluggish, sure, but it hits like a truck and provides a superior base for Rage recovery.

Early game: Invest in 'Valor' and 'Chivalry' masteries.

A Knight’s life changes once they learn 'Inspire'. Before that point, finding a reliable way to enter the 'Fighting Spirit' state is a chore, so you must stack 'Valor' through combos. Therefore, pouring points into Valor and Fighting Spirit-related masteries is the way to go.

The keys here are 'Valor' and 'Chivalry'. 'Valor' unlocks at Heavy Strike Combo level 5, granting you one stack of Valor every time a strike lands. 'Chivalry', available at level 25, adds another stack on the final hit of a combo.

I recommend grabbing both early. Since your Fighting Spirit buffs benefit your active skills, timing is everything—trigger these effects just before unleashing your heavy hitters. The best rhythm? Fight with the Dual Blades' first combo for convenience, swap to the Greatsword to trigger your Fighting Spirit, and then dump your active skills to enjoy a 20% reduction in Rage consumption and a 25% boost in skill damage.

A word of caution: only invest one level into 'Valor' and 'Chivalry'. Once you acquire 'Inspire' with the (Enhanced) engraving, you won't need to stack Valor via combos anymore. In fact, having those masteries trigger later on can actually disrupt your combat flow, so treat them as early-game training wheels.

Late game: Shift to 'Ignition' and 'Explosion' masteries.

As mentioned, once 'Inspire' is in your repertoire, 'Valor' and 'Chivalry' lose their value. Your new best friends are 'Ignition' and 'Explosion'. Both focus on cranking up combo damage and playing around the 'Burn' status effect.

'Ignition' grants a 50% chance to Burn your target. This debuff ticks away at their health every second, and its power scales with your mastery level. Think of it as the trigger for the 'Explosion' mastery.

'Explosion' boosts your combo damage against burning enemies. This applies to burns from 'Ignition' as well as those inflicted by your 'Ignite' skill. Just don’t expect it to stack damage exponentially if you apply two burns at once—it doesn't work that way.

'Rage' and 'Heavy Attack' are dealer's choice.

'Rage' and 'Heavy Attack' are second-tier masteries that unlock at Heavy Strike Combo level 10. Both offer a way to prevent enemies from reacting to your combos, but 'Heavy Attack' leans into raw damage, while 'Rage' is strictly for resource recovery.

While most players opt for 'Heavy Attack' to pump up their numbers, picking up 'Rage' isn't a bad call if you’re constantly dry on resources. Just avoid using 'Rage' with the Greatsword combo; it only triggers when you’re already in a 'Fighting Spirit' state—at which point you should be spamming skills, not basic combos. Conversely, the Dual Blades' version triggers whenever you strike a burning enemy, making it far more versatile.