Knighthood Orders are more than just groups of mere knights; they are military organizations that include some of the most versatile and powerful units in the game. In addition, most Orders start with a chapter in one of the cities, some even with two, though some Orders require the player to found a Chapter before being able to be join. Each order has unique units with different strengths and weaknesses that provide a boon to any army.
- Fiefs with a Knighthood order's chapter will periodically spawn patrols (and less often small warbands), as well as periodically adding Knights and Sergeants to the garrison. The rate at which these are added is daily and the troops given is randomized (50% chance for each to give troops, if successful, 1-3 of each). One day you may be given 1 single knight, whilst the next one, 2 knights and 2 sergeants. The fief will stop producing knights and sergeants if there are 33 of the former or 53 of the latter. The lord that owns the fief with an order will have some order knights and sergeants in his party.
- If you have a knighthood order under your banner, it's a good idea to transfer their numbers to your party and then to another fief you control. Therefore, you can recruit the troops in their main fief, and you can stockpile them in the other, building up a larger group of them than the spawn rate will allow.
- Finally, every faction will give its lords a few knights from their respective factional order.
Lords (including the player when he becomes one) can found their own Custom Knighthood Order. This allows the player to have their own personalized troops, as he can decide on gender, name, equipment and stats for both the Knight and Sergeant.
Joining
You may only join one order at a time. To join a Knighthood Order, you must have at least 500 renown, neutral or positive relations with that Order, and a specific amount of honor, depending on the order (values listed in the Order's table below). Once you meet these requirements, go to a city or castle where a chapter of the Order in question exists and speak to the knight there. You will then take part in an arena-style trial of arms against three of its knights, with your own equipment. You may join any order, regardless of gender. It is recommended not to improve the knights of the order you want to join before joining them, as this will make the trial harder.
If you win, you will be accepted as a member of that Order and be bestowed the title of Retainer, the lowest rank. However, if you meet certain requirements upon joining, you will start on a higher rank:
- If your Renown is 2000 or higher, you will start as Sergeant (you will be given Sergeant's Armor Set immediately), else you will start as Retainer
- If you are a Lord or your renown is at least 4000, you will start as Squire (you will be given Sergeant's Armor Set immediately)
- If you are a Monarch, you will start as a Knight (you will skip getting Sergeant's Armor Set, but you will get Knight's. You can still buy Sergeant's Armor Set if you really want it (check last section on this page))
Ranks
Rank |
Requirements (RP stands for Rank Points) |
Rewards |
---|---|---|
Retainer | 0 RP | - |
Sergeant | 30 RP | Sergeant's Armor Set |
Squire | 60 RP | - |
Knight | 100 RP | Knight's Armor Set, Shield and Mount |
Knight Commander | 150 RP | Reinforced Knight's Armor Set, Thick Shield and Spirited Mount |
Constable | 220 RP | Lordly Knight's Armor Set, Reinforced Shield and Champion Mount |
Grandmaster | 300 RP + Completion of the quest The Order Grandmaster | Order Stronghold and Achievement (Order Grandmaster (+1 Persuasion)) |
The mount will only be given if the KO has a mount (example: joining the Immortals won't get you any mount). Most knights and sergeants have various sets of armor, you will get the one the knight you're talking with has upon promotion. If you don't want the one he/she shows, search for a different one |
Note: Armor Set stands for Boots, Gloves/Gauntlets, Body Armor and Helmet.
Since 3.9.5, the Order of the Griffon has two new armor sets they give out in this process; the regular Griffon Plate Harness for Knight and Knight Commander, a Lordly set of Griffon Captain Armor at the rank of Constable, and finally the Griffon Grandmaster Armor once you reach that titular rank. The Griffons are the only order in the game with the extra armor sets provided at the elite ranks.
Completing Knighthood Order Quests for your Knighthood Order will earn you rank points, and when you reach the sufficient amount required to advance to the next rank, you may speak to your Order's Knight to be promoted. Founding a chapter of the order you joined will give you 24 rank points immediately. Handing Heretic Writings and Snake Cult Rituals will give you 3 rank points for each book. You can see your actual rank points in the "Reports" tab.
Orders Starting Fiefs and Honor required to join
Order Chapters created at the start of every game | ||
---|---|---|
Knighthood Order |
Honor required
to join |
Starting Location |
D'Shar Windriders | 10 | Torbah, Nal Tar (20%) |
Empire Immortals | 10 | Janos, Ethos (10%) |
Valkyries Sisterhood | 10 | Javiksholm |
Order of Eventide | 5 | Singal |
Order of the Clarion Call | 10 | Laria |
Order of the Dawn | 20 | Valonbray |
Order of the Dragon | 15 | Rane, Ravenstern (30%) |
Order of the Ebony Gauntlet | 5 | Avendor (30%) |
Order of the Falcon | 15 | Falcondark Castle (50%) |
Order of the Griffon | 20 | Must be founded |
Order of the Lion | 10 | Sarleon, Marleons (10%) |
Order of the Phoenix | 15 | Either Calendain Castle, Maras Caslte or |
Order of the Radiant Cross | 20 | Ethos (80%) |
Order of the Raven Spear | 5 | Poinsbruk, Avendor (15%) |
Order of the Shadow Legion | 10 | Cez |
Order of the Shadow Wolves | 10 | Either Savador Castle, Oregar Castle or |
Order of the Scorpion Assassins | 5 | Ishkoman |
Order of the Silvermist Rangers | 20 | Senderfall (30%) |
Order of the Kraken Cultists | 15 | Windholm |
The % displays the chance a knighthood order to start with a chapter in that city. If no % is shown, a chapter will always be in the city at the start of a game. For example, Empire Immortals will always have a chapter in Janos and may or may not also have another one in Ethos. If the player wants to join the Silvermist Rangers, Ebony Gauntlet, Radiant Cross or Falcon, in an early stage, it is suggested that they restart the game until they show up, else, the player will have to wait until they own a castle/city and found the order (pay denars and a Qualis Gem).
To easily know which orders exist and where they are in a game, you have two options:
- Notes > Game Concepts > Reference: Knighthood Orders (all will be shown)
- See the info of a castle/city. If it has an Order Chapter, it will say which Order is.
While you are able to quit your Order (if you are not already Grandmaster), doing so will lower your relations with all the other Orders by 5, drop your relation with the current Order to zero, and you will lose 12 honor. You are not allowed to join a KO you resigned.
Your Own Chapter
Knighthood Orders may be built in castles or towns you own and are independent of other construction projects. Building a chapter costs denars and requires a certain amount of honor; you will also need one of the following:
- a certain companion
- the personal ownership of a certain city
- to have a determined culture
- a Qualis Gem.
You also must have wary (-10) or better relations with the Knighthood Order. If your relation with the Knighthood Order drops too low, the next time you speak with your steward he will inform you they have left your fief (-20 relations or under).
Upon creating a chapter, you will lose 20 relationship points with two minor factions that are the main rivals of the order, but gain 10 relationship points with the Order. But when you dismantle an order, you will drop those 10 relation points with that order, without gaining any relation points with the order's rivals.
Getting Your Own Knights
Once you have founded a chapter, you can now upgrade, i.e. induct noble units into Knights and Sergeants of the order using Prestige, which is based on how much Renown you have earned over time (at a 1-to-1 conversion rate). The amount of Prestige required to upgrade is based on the amount of Honor you have, starting at a maximized value of 45 per knight and 35 per sergeant (regardless of the multipliers below), which can potentially get lowered to a minimum of 10 per knight and 4 per sergeant. Each order has different units required to turn into their specialized units.
Prestige Prices
Honor is the only factor that affects the prestige cost to upgrade units, and the milestones of the formula behind it are as follows:
Prestige Cost | ||
---|---|---|
Honor |
For Knight (with prestige cost x1.0) |
For Sergeant (with prestige cost x1.0) |
Lower than 0 | 45 | 35 |
0 | 42 | 35 |
50 | 38 | 35 |
100 | 33 | 28 |
150 | 28 | 20 |
200 | 23 | 12 |
250 | 19 | 4 |
300 | 14 | 4 |
350 or higher | 10 | 4 |
Note: these values will change depending on the multiplier each troop has (check previous table), up to the maximum of 45 prestige per knight and 35 prestige per sergeant. For intermediate honor values, the prestige cost continues with the scaling.
Upgrading Quality of Knights
When you speak to your steward, you can also improve the quality of your Knights. Each upgrade will increase both strength and the agility of the Order knights by 2 and all weapon proficiencies by 20. The first upgrade costs 10000 denars and 30 prestige. Each subsequent upgrade increases by 2x for gold and 1.5x for prestige. Sergeants will be unaffected.
Other lords who also use the knights of the order you upgraded will also gain the benefit of them being upgraded.
You can also upgrade your Custom Knighthood Order, the prices are the same as for the other orders.
Buying the equipment of any Order
Since 3.9.0, the player can buy full set of armor from the Knight or Sergeant in the castle or any Order (CKO is excluded). To enable this option, it is required at least 1200 renown, 30 honor and either 30 relations with the Order OR be the Order's Grandmaster (if player is Grandmaster, an additional 10% discount will be automatically applied). Prices depends on relation with the order, being cheaper the higher relation, but even with max (100) relations, items are 27% more expensive than in shop (with max (14) trade as well).
When you meet the 3 requirements, talk to the Knight or Sergeant of the desired order, and he will give you the set of equipment they have equipped. You will be sold a pack consisting of his helmet, armor, boots, gloves, shield (if any) and horse (if any).