Builds / 8 min read
Knight Guide: Paladin Path and Cards
The Knight is one of the seven base classes the Steam store page lists for SpiritVale, and this site's class atlas pairs it with the Paladin specialization. Official patch notes have touched that path repeatedly in the last two months — 0.31.0 documented the Knight and Paladin cards, and 0.33.0 adjusted Paladin skills. This guide keeps those statements separate from community claims so you can tell what the developer has actually published about the class.
What the official sources confirm about the Knight
The Steam store page lists seven base classes — Acolyte, Mage, Summoner, Knight, Warrior, Scout and Rogue — and says players "Unlock unique skill trees and advanced specializations as you grow". Paladin appears in the same listing as one of the eight advanced specializations, alongside Priest, Wizard, Necromancer, Berserker, Gunslinger, Shinobi and Weaver. That is the full extent of the official class description: the store page publishes no skill list, no stat growth table, and no tier ranking, so any claim about the strongest Knight build has to be traced back to a dated patch note or to your own testing.
The 0.33.0 Paladin buff, read precisely
The 0.33.0 Halloween Event notes contain a Paladin section headed "Buff up caster paladin to be better aligned with current power level after last update". Two skills are listed: Grand Cross went from 100% to 125%, and Judgement Blade now Triggers Hit and scales with Multistrike. The entry is deliberately narrow. It states that a caster-leaning Paladin setup was under-performing relative to the previous update and that two named skills were adjusted; it does not claim that the Paladin is now the strongest path, and it does not change the Knight base-class description. Re-read the note before you rebuild around either skill, and record which patch your numbers came from.
Cards the notes document for this path
The 0.31.0 notes are the most concrete official source for Knight-adjacent gear. They list the Knight Card accessory as +10% threat per refine, and the Paladin Card shield as +10% Neutral Resist plus +1% Max Hp per second, with a Weaver Card Combo adding +10% Non-Neutral Resist. The same patch describes the Echo Set (Atk) per-refine bonuses: chest +1 Atk with -1% melee and ranged damage received, legs +1% neutral resist, feet +1% def pierce, and a full-set bonus of +10% atk. Every one of those values is stated per refine, so the worth of a card or set depends on how far it has been refined rather than on the set name alone.
Threat is a party job before it is a card bonus
A threat-per-refine stat only helps if you are actually generating threat. Our threat and party aggro guide, which is built on the official rebalance notes, lists four documented sources of threat — dealing damage, casting a targeted skill, casting near aggressive monsters, and using a threat-generating skill such as Taunt. Two of those are not deliberate, which is why positioning matters as much as the card does. Treat the Knight Card as a refinement-scaled multiplier on a job you are already doing, not as a fix for a pull-discipline problem.
What 0.34.0 changed about defense
PvP Conquest reduced damage by 82.5% and healing by 65% inside PvP, restricted Gladys gear to PvP and GvG modes and maps, and made the last channel of every map PvP and boss enabled. The 0.34.1 follow-up raised PvP level scaling from 100 to 150, mainly affecting HP and MP, and disabled the Swift Intervention Grimoire in PvP. For a front-line class those are large multipliers, and one of the listed casualties is a defensive Grimoire. Survivability that is tuned for a PvE map therefore tells you nothing about PvP performance, and any number you quote should say which of the two environments it came from.
Leveling a Knight without a tier list
The 0.32.0 ranked-map table applies the same EXP multipliers to every base class — x3.00 at S tier down to x1.00 at D — and the over-level bonus of +2% EXP per level, capped at +30%, is also class-agnostic. A Knight therefore levels on the same routes as any other class, and the difference is how quickly your current gear clears a tier, which the official sources do not quantify. Use our leveling guide for the published route maths, then measure your own clear rate instead of copying another class's map choice.
How to compare a Knight or Paladin setup
Write down four things before you commit to a setup: the patch version, whether it targets PvE or PvP, how far the relevant cards and set are refined, and which activity it is meant to solve. A build that quotes a card bonus without a refine count, or a skill figure without a patch label, cannot be compared against the official entries above. When a new patch lands, re-check only the parts that mention the Paladin, the Knight Card, the Echo Set, or PvP balance, because those are the values most likely to have moved.
A second advanced class was announced on 29 October 2026
The developer's 29 October maintenance notice names Dragon Knight as a new advanced class for Knight, arriving with the update that follows the 30 October maintenance window. That touches one assumption this page has carried since the class atlas was written: Knight was paired with a single specialization, Paladin. A second option does not retroactively invalidate the Paladin entries above, because the notice publishes no skill list, no level gate and no statement about how the two relate — whether Dragon Knight is an alternative, a replacement or a further branch is still unpublished. Read the Paladin material as the documented state up to 0.34.2 and treat the new class as announced rather than described. The Dragon Knight page tracks it from the official notice and will gain mechanics only once the patch notes exist.
Frequently asked questions
Is Paladin the advanced class for Knight in SpiritVale?
The Steam store page names Paladin as one of the game's advanced specializations and lists Knight among the seven base classes; this site's class atlas pairs the two. Treat the exact unlock requirements as version-sensitive and confirm them in your own client.
What does the Knight Card do in SpiritVale?
The official 0.31.0 notes list the Knight Card accessory as giving +10% threat per refine, so its value scales with how far it has been refined.
Did SpiritVale buff the Paladin?
Yes. The official 0.33.0 notes describe aligning caster paladin with the current power level and list Grand Cross moving from 100% to 125% and Judgement Blade now triggering Hit and scaling with Multistrike.
Did Knight or Paladin change in 0.34.0?
The 0.34.0 and 0.34.1 notes list no Knight or Paladin skill changes. They change PvP as a whole — damage reduced by 82.5%, healing by 65%, and level scaling raised from 100 to 150 in 0.34.1 — so PvP-relevant performance moved even though the class entries did not.