9 Kings: How to Beat Knight Difficulty With King of Nothing

To unlock Lord difficulty and the King of Blood in 9 Kings, you must survive all nine combat years and defeat the final rival ruler on Knight difficulty using the King of Nothing. Because the King of Nothing has no innate faction traits or passive racial synergies, your run relies entirely on disciplined drafting, establishing a safe gold economy before Year 5, and properly staggering your defensive lines against late-game area-of-effect (AoE) attacks.

Draft Priorities by Phase

Without built-in synergies to compensate for weak cards, every pick must address immediate battlefield pressure. Use the following drafting criteria throughout your run:

Run Phase	Primary Priority	Secondary Priority	What to Skip
Years 1–3 (Early Economy)	Low-cost frontline melee blockers	Consistent ranged attackers (Archers)	Situational spells, late-game perks, high-cost units
Years 4–6 (Mid-Game Armor)	Armored frontline tanks and barriers	High-output single-target and magic damage	Inefficient low-tier infantry, unaligned combo cards
Years 7–9 (Boss Burst)	Raw stat upgrades and combat buffs	Layered crowd control and choke barriers	Long-term economy buildings, passive resource perks

Early Years: Economy and Board Stabilization (Years 1–3)

Enemy waves arrive in small groups during the first three years, making this your safest window to build recurring income.

Place Melee Defenders in the Front Row: Deploy low-cost units directly on forward tiles to absorb initial impact and block paths toward the castle gate.
Backline Ranged Support: Place basic ranged units directly behind your blockers to eliminate incoming attackers before they wear down your front line.
Build Protected Income Structures: Place gold-generating buildings safely behind your perimeter. Never place economy buildings on contested front tiles.
Prevent Castle Core Damage: Taking structural chip damage in the first three years severely reduces your margin for error later. Expand outward only when a round ends with surplus gold.

Mid-Game: Fortifying Chokepoints (Years 4–6)

Mid-game waves feature armored troops with wider attack spreads that quickly overrun basic infantry.

Prune Inefficient Drafts: Skip mediocre card offerings. Keeping your deck lean ensures you draw defensive reinforcements and tactical buffs when sudden enemy pushes occur.
Upgrade to Armored Blockers: Replace starting infantry with high-durability tanks and sturdy barriers.
Create Chokepoints: Funnel enemy units into narrow lanes in front of the castle gate so your ranged backline can focus fire on clustered targets.

Late Game: Surviving Boss Waves (Years 7–9)

The final three years pit your board against powerful rival kings equipped with high-damage abilities.

Stagger Unit Formations: Do not arrange your defense in a single horizontal row. Stagger units across multiple rows of depth so that large AoE attacks cannot wipe your entire board in one strike.
Focus the Enemy King: Direct your strongest ranged and magic units to target the opposing ruler the moment they appear.
Liquidate Economy in Year 9: Stop drafting economy cards entirely during the final year. Spend all remaining gold on immediate stat increases, temporary combat buffs, and emergency barriers to keep your frontline intact.

Rewards for Clearing Knight Difficulty

Defeating the rival king at the end of Year 9 completes the run and triggers two permanent account unlocks:

Lord Difficulty: Unlocks the next difficulty tier, introducing tougher campaign modifiers and stronger enemy waves.
King of Blood: Unlocks a new playable ruler centered around health expenditure, sacrifice mechanics, and explosive offensive scaling.