Knoll

Default
Attack
Special
Injured

Infantry

Red Tome

Analysis by raelet

Knoll - Darkness Watcher
3-4 Obtainable as a 3 - 4 only 4 Quest Reward Obtainable as a 4 from Quest Reward

Hero Stats

Max Avg Total Stats at Lvl 40

166

HP 43

ATK 37

SPD 32

DEF 19

RES 35

Stat Variations

Level 1 Stat Variation

Weapon

5★

4★

	HP	ATK	SPD	DEF	RES
Low	18 18 20 20	8 20 10 22	7 7 9 9	3 3 5 5	8 8 10 10
Middle	19 19 21 21	9 21 11 23	8 8 10 10	4 4 6 6	9 9 11 11
High	20 20 22 22	10 22 12 24	9 9 11 11	5 5 7 7	10 10 12 12

	HP	ATK	SPD	DEF	RES
Low	17 17 19 19	8 16 10 18	6 6 8 8	2 2 4 4	8 8 10 10
Middle	18 18 20 20	9 17 11 10	7 7 9 2	3 3 5 5	9 9 11 11
High	19 19 21 21	10 18 12 20	8 8 10 10	4 4 6 6	10 10 12 12

Level 40 Stat Variations

Weapon

5★

4★

	HP	ATK	SPD	DEF	RES
Low	40 40 42 42	34 46 36 48	29 29 31 31	16 16 18 18	32 32 34 34
Middle	43 43 45 45	37 49 39 51	32 32 34 34	19 19 21 21	35 35 37 37
High	46 46 48 48	40 52 42 54	35 35 37 37	22 22 24 24	38 38 40 40

	HP	ATK	SPD	DEF	RES
Low	37 37 39 39	32 40 34 42	26 26 28 28	14 14 16 16	30 30 32 32
Middle	40 40 42 42	35 43 37 45	29 29 31 31	17 17 19 19	33 33 35 35
High	43 43 45 45	38 46 40 48	32 32 34 34	20 20 22 22	36 36 38 38

IV Sets

	Key stats worth increasing through nature if possible.
	Complementary stats that matter, but not to the point of picking them over key stats for nature increase.
	Relatively worthless stat that can safely be decreased through nature.

HP	ATK	SPD	DEF	RES
Worst	Best	Best	Worst	Best

Skill Sets

Hey, Give That Back! (Speed Focus)

Build by raelet

Recommended

	Rauðrfox+ (+Spd)	A	Swift Sparrow (2 or 3) Alternate: Atk/Spd Solo (3 or 4)
	Positional Assist	B	Lull Spd/Res 3 Alternate: Null Follow-Up 3
	Moonbow Alternate: Luna	C	Joint Drive Spd Alternate: Res Smoke 3
IVs	+SPD / -DEF	S	Swift Sparrow 2 Alternate: Darting Blow 3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Rauðrfox (+SPD)

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Moonbow / Luna

Passive A: Swift Sparrow / Atk/Spd Solo / Atk/Spd Push

Passive B: Lull Spd/Res / Null Follow-Up

Passive C: Joint Drive Spd / Res Smoke

Sacred Seal: Swift Sparrow / Darting Blow

Thanks to Rauðrfox, Knoll's Speed stat of 32 is barely salvageable with a full investment. While he still won't be outspeeding the fastest units in the game, he can double units in the middling Speed tier with a Boon in Speed, double Swift Sparrow, Joint Drive Spd, and Lull Spd/Res in his B slot, all of which gives him an effective Speed stat of 51, while debuffing his opponent's Speed by 7 and nullifying their Speed-related buffs.
This enables Knoll to play like a faster unit, doubling foes and - more importantly - avoiding doubles in return.
Null Follow-Up offers Knoll some minor insurance against followup denials, and also prevents his opponents from auto-doubling him in turn, and is a safer skill for the current metagame than Lull Spd/Res.
While his Attack was naturally high, this set boosts it much higher and enables Knoll to hit extremely hard.
That being said, all of his investment could be better spent on another character with a better base statline. The only thing Knoll really has going for him at the moment is that you don't have to inherit a red tome, since Rauðrfox is among the best inheritable red tomes in the game.

The Summoner Returns (Budget)

Build by raelet

	Rauðrfox+ (+Spd) Alternate: Rauðrfox+ (+Res)	A	Fury 3 Alternate: Death Blow 3
	Positional Assist	B	Quick Riposte 3 Alternate: Chill Atk 3
	Moonbow	C	Infantry Pulse 3 Alternate: Spd Ploy 3
IVs	+SPD or +ATK / -DEF	S	Distant Def 3 Alternate: Speed +3

Show Explanation/Analysis

Weapon: Rauðrfox (+SPD) or Rauðrfox (+RES)

Assist: Positional Assist

Special: Moonbow / Luna

Passive A: Fury / Death Blow / Life and Death

Passive B: Quick Riposte / Chill Atk

Passive C: Infantry Pulse / Spd Ploy

Sacred Seal: Distant Def / Speed + 3

While Knoll suffers from poor stats, he can be built fairly well on a budget. Fury combined with his default Fox tome grants a 7 point stat swing between him and his foe, which could be enough to outspeed them or speed tie, particularly with a little investment in his tome's refine or a Speed seal.
This also allows him to hit fairly hard, particularly if you opt for Death Blow instead on his A slot.
Quick Riposte is mostly in his B slot as insurance, so that he can retaliate twice if he ties Speed with his foe.
Knoll's high HP stat gives him the ability to be a good Infantry Pulse user for your team, which helps him to support any infantry team.

Strengths

Easy Access to Rauðrfox

While Knoll is disappointing on many levels, he at least offers summoners a f2p access to Rauðrfox, a fantastic inheritable red tome that was previously only seen on Hubert.
This weapon is very flexible and can go on just about every red mage since it offers a free 4 point stat debuff on their opponents.

Better Than the Alternative

Knoll suffers steep competition among red mages when looking at them all. However, when compared to F2P red mages, he fares significantly better than Summer Lorenz, with 4 more BST and better Attack and Resistance.
Whether or not he stacks up to other free red mages, such as Julius, Iago or Gharnef... well, it depends on how much you value their prf tomes and Knoll's barely-salvageable Speed stat.

Weaknesses

Extremely Underwhelming

37 Base Attack is not what it used to be and makes Knoll tied in 7th place for highest Attack stat among red infantry mages at the time of his release - lower than his F2P competition in Iago. His Speed is mediocre and his Resistance, while nice, isn't enough to save him.
Despite being tied with Ewan for the highest base stat total among red infantry mages, Knoll's overall stat distribution is poor, with a heavy investment in HP. Knoll lacks a superboon and so cannot reach the 170 BST bin in order to be competitive in Arena.

Stolen Tome

Knoll fans can be even more annoyed that SM Eirika is using his signature tome, Gleipnir, which has recently gotten a refine. To add insult to injury, Knoll's Rauðrfox seems to be a callback to this tome's refine, as they both have the same effect of reducing foe's stats by -4.

Weapon Skills

Weapons	SP	Rng.	Mt.
Flux Learns by default at 1 ★ Unlocks at 1 ★ Red Tome Users Only	50	2	4
Ruin Learns by default at 3 ★ Unlocks at 2 ★ Red Tome Users Only	100	2	6
Rauðrfox If unit initiates combat, inflicts Atk/Spd/Def/Res-4 on foe during combat. Learns by default at 4 ★ Unlocks at 3 ★ Red Tome Users Only	200	2	8
Rauðrfox+ If unit initiates combat, inflicts Atk/Spd/Def/Res-4 on foe during combat. Learns by default at 5 ★ Unlocks at 5 ★ Red Tome Users Only	300	2	12

Weapon Evolution

Weapon Upgrades

Weapons	HP	SP	Rng.	Mt.
Rauðrfox+ (+Atk) If unit initiates combat, inflicts Atk/Spd/Def/Res-4 on foe during combat.	+2	350	2	13
Rauðrfox+ (+Spd) +2If unit initiates combat, inflicts Atk/Spd/Def/Res-4 on foe during combat.	+2	350	2	12
Rauðrfox+ (+Def) +3 If unit initiates combat, inflicts Atk/Spd/Def/Res-4 on foe during combat.	+2	350	2	12
Rauðrfox+ (+Res) +3 If unit initiates combat, inflicts Atk/Spd/Def/Res-4 on foe during combat.	+2	350	2	13

Special Skills

Special Skills	SP	Turns
New Moon Resolve combat as if foe suffered Def/Res-30% Learns by default at 4 ★ Unlocks at 3 ★ Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.	100	3
Luna Resolve combat as if foe suffered Def/Res-50% Unlocks at 4 ★ Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units.	200	3

Passive Skills

Passive Skills	SP	Slot
Warding Blow 1 Grants Res+2 during combat if unit initiates the attack. Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units. Unlocks at 3 ★	50	A
Mirror Strike 1 If unit initiates combat, grants Atk/Res+2 during combat. Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units. Unlocks at 4 ★	120	A
Mirror Strike 2 If unit initiates combat, grants Atk/Res+4 during combat. Non-inheritable by Staff-wielding units. Unlocks at 5 ★	240	A
Spd Ploy 1 At start of turn, all foes in cardinal directions with Res 1 or more lower than unit suffer Spd-3 until the end of foe's next action. Inheritable by all units. Unlocks at 1 ★	60	C
Spd Ploy 2 At start of turn, all foes in cardinal directions with Res 1 or more lower than unit suffer Spd-4 until the end of foe's next action. Inheritable by all units. Unlocks at 2 ★	120	C
Spd Ploy 3 At start of turn, all foes in cardinal directions with Res 1 or more lower than unit suffer Spd-5 until the end of foe's next action. Inheritable by all units. Unlocks at 4 ★	240	C