Knowhere
Introduction
Knowhere is the latest War Apex team that was meant to dethrone Gamma and did it successfully. Nova, the Legendary and the leader of this team is only the second character to ever have a Battlefield Effect, this is one of the main reasons why they are so effective against Gamma.
Nova was also the first character to be released through the Trials, which is a spin on Scourges with some key differences.
Team Members
(left to right)
Utility
- Alliance War
- Black Cat Trials
- Cosmic Crucible (Season 4, Stage 3)
After their release, Knowhere quickly became the apex War Team, where they can be effective in either Offense or Defense. Their prowess makes them the best War Offense team that can counter any defenses. On Defense, however, AI is predictable and that can be used to your advantage. So there are a couple of teams that can beat them but that still is not easy and the most effective counter would still be a mirror match.
Knowhere can also be used on Defense in Cosmic Crucible (Season 4, Stage 3) mainly because the room rules are benefiting them. But they don’t pose much of a threat there.
Nova as a Legendary character is great and can be used as a plug-n-play character for Crucible Offense, or in Dark Dimensions. Cosmo could’ve been another good option for DD, but Apocalypse and Ikaris use the same Unique gear piece as Cosmo and they are better picks for DD.
Knowhere is also the marquee team that is used for Black Cat Trials.
Team Placement & Turn Order
Korg is the Protector and should be in a corner. The best character to place next to him is Cosmo since she will apply Offense Down and Bleed to anyone who hits her. That said, her release method didn’t allow people to get a lot of yellow stars for her and she is not currently farmable. With low stars, she will have lower health and can die easily that’s why for now you could place Nova next to Korg. Others can be placed at will, or just use our placement from the infographic above
Turn Order:
- Nova
- Cosmo
- Star-Lord (Annihilation)
- Thor (Infinity War)
- Korg
Iso-8 Classes
- Nova – Striker/Raider
- Cosmo – Healer
- Thor (Infinity War) – Raider
- Star-Lord (Annihilation) – Striker
- Korg – Striker
Nova is a great damage dealer and all his attacks affect multiple targets, so Raider is the sensible choice for him. Striker may be a better option for him because that way he can remove more Positive Effects with his Iso attacks and you should have enough Vulnerable effects from Star-Lord’s abilities.
Cosmo can be anything, really. At first, while she’s still low stars/gear you can have her as a Skirmisher to increase her Focus and help you with those Punch Ups in War. After that you can set her as a Healer, to provide more sustain for the team.
Thor can hit multiple targets with his Special and Ultimate abilities, and both of those will deal a lot of Piercing Damage. Having him as a Raider will only increase that.
Star-Lord (Annihilation) can apply Vulnerable with his Basic attack, as well as his Iso-8 follow-up. That makes him a great pick for Striker. He could also be an effective Raider, since all of his abilities hit multiple targets.
Korg as a Striker will apply Slow more often, and will get Deflect on every Iso attack, Deflect is important for their kits as well as for Korg as a Protector.
Team T4’s
Essential
- Nova – Passive, Ultimate, Special
- Cosmo – Passive, Ultimate
- Thor (Infinity War) – Passive, Special, Ultimate
- Star-Lord (Annihilation) – Passive, Ultimate, Special, Basic
- Korg – Ultimate, Special
Nova’s Passive in War will fill his Speed Bar by +70% if he’s with the full Knowhere team, and it will apple Evade and Safeguard to them on Spawn. It will also prevent Knowhere from getting Trauma while they have Safeguard and Nova is Charged.
Nova’s Ultimate will increase the damage and (in War) apply Safeguard to Knowhere characters, his Special will also (in War) apply Safeguard, and it will also apply Trauma to the primary target for 2 turns (instead of 1).
Both of these abilities are important, especially when facing Apocalypse since he can prevent Safeguard on Spawn but Nova will be the first to take a turn and reapply Safeguard.
Additionally, Nova’s Basic, Special, and Passive abilities can be Awakened. All awakened benefits apply only to War Offense mode, Basic and Special will clear all Barrier from primary and adjacent targets and will prevent Revives. If Nova Force is active (Nova’s Battlefield effect that he applies with his Ultimate), Basic attack will bonus attack the primary target while Special will apply Bleed to primary and adjacent.
Awakened Passive will prevent Cosmic enemies from getting Defense Up if Nova has 2 Charged and 2 or more Knowhere allies.
Cosmo’s Ultimate will generate 1 Ability Energy for all Knowhere allies and apply Safeguard to them and her Passive will apply Offense Down for 2 turns to anyone who attacked her. Additionally, if Cosmo has Deflect, she will lower the Crit Chance of all enemies by 50%.
Thor’s Passive will give him a 50% chance to attack an enemy Protector on any enemy turn and in War this can remove all Charged from them. His Ultimate will get a massive damage increase and will apply Defense Down to all allies for 2 turns. His Special will also get a substantial boost to damage, and will apply Ability Block to the Primary Target.
Star-Lord’s Passive will apply Offense Down to all enemies for 2 turns on Spawn and will increase the Focus of all Knowhere by +50%. His Ultimate will apply Trauma to the primary and adjacent targets if the primary target has Vulnerable, and his Special will clear Immunity from the primary target and the highest damage non-primary target before applying Blind to them, all of the above works only in War. His Basic attack will apply Vulnerable to primary and adjacent targets in any game mode.
Korg’s Ultimate will clear all Positive effects from the primary target (instead of 3), will increase the damage, and in War, it will double the Speed Bar it reduces (30% instead of 15%). His Special will also double the Speed Bar Reduction in War, (20% instead of 10%) and will apply Offense Up to Knowhere allies for 2 turns.
Recommended
- Nova – Basic
- Cosmo – Basic, Special
- Thor (Infinity War) – Basic
- Korg – Passive, Basic
Nova’s Basic will apply Deflect to Knowhere and since all of them gain benefits from having Deflect it’s certainly a good ability to have.
Cosmo’s Special will clear all Positive effects from her Enemies, instead of 3. This can be good in some cases, but clearing 3 will often be enough. Her Basic will also clear 2 Negative effects from self and 2 Positive from the primary target. She will use her Basic often, so it can come in handy.
Thor’s Basic will apply Defense Down to the primary target and get a small damage boost.
Korg’s Passive will apply Defense Up for 2 turns on Spawn (instead of 1) and his Basic will apply Slow to the primary target for 2 turns (instead of 1)
Team Red Stars
Nova is a great character and can be used as a plug-n-play, he’s also a damage dealer and would benefit a lot from high Red Stars, but acquiring those Red Stars will cost a lot of Dark Promotion Credits. At the very least, you should aim to have 5 Red Stars on him. You can obtain 4 from his Trials if you push high enough, and then you’ll only have to buy the 5th Red Star.
Thor (Infinity War) is also a damage dealer but he takes Silver and Gold Promotion Credits. He will benefit from 6 Red Stars, you could even go to 7 if you have spare Gold Credits.
Cosmo is a healer and support character, you want to have at least 5 Red Stars on her so that she removes Positive Effects from her enemies and heals you effectively.
Star-Lord (Annihilation) can stay at the standard 4 Red Stars, the same goes for Korg.
Farming Locations
- Nova – Nova Trials
- Cosmo – Crucible Store
- Korg – Raid Store
- Star-Lord (Annihilation) – Arena Store
- Thor (Infinity War) – Nexus Hard Mode 5-9
On Spawn Buffs
In War:
Team – Safeguard for 1 Turn, Defense Up for 1 Turn, 2 Deflect and 1 Evade
Cosmo – Immunity for 1 Turn
Enemies – Offense Down for 2 Turns
Elsewhere:
Team – Defense Up for 1 Turn and 1 Deflect
Cosmo – Immunity for 1 Turn
Team Mechanics
Knowhere has at least 3 mechanics that make them dangerous, first will be Nova’s Battlefield Effect which increases the sustain of the team and his ability to apply Safeguard often. Every member has a passive effect that triggers when they have Deflect or Minor. Deflect applied to them, those passive effects usually greatly hinder the opposing team. And the ability for their Protector, Korg, to be Revived by a Basic attack from any Knowhere character in War the Revive always happens while in other game modes, it’s a 50% Chance.
Nova
(+30% Max Health for Knowhere, in War they gain another +30%)
Nova’s utility on the team is pretty universal since he can control the battle, sustain the team, and deal tons of damage.
His Special ability will start the fight by applying Stun+Trauma to the primary target, flipping Defense Up and 2 random Positive effects, and also will apply Disrupted and Heal Block to the primary and adjacent targets. Unfortunately, Trauma will be applied only in War, but it will last for 2 turns. In War, this attack also is Unavoidable and will apply Safeguard to the Knowhere team.
This ability is great because in War Nova will fill his own Speed Bar which means he’ll often be the first to take a turn, so early on he can neutralize one target entirely and leave 2 other targets defenseless.
But the most important ability is his Ultimate. It will deal a lot of damage to all enemies and killed targets won’t be able to Revive from this attack, but there’s a lot more to this ability.
It will also:
- Clear all Negative effects from self
- Barrier self and all allies for 10% of Nova’s Max Health
- Apply +1 Deflect to all Knowhere characters
- And will clear all Battlefield Effects from the allied side and will apply Nova Force Battlefield Effect
The last part is very important, especially in War when countering Gamma. Red Hulk always applies his Battlefield Effect to the enemy side and once he does that, Nova can use his Battlefield Effect to overwrite Red Hulk’s and sustain his team. So far those are the only 2 Battlefield Effects in the game.
Nova Force Battlefield effect will:
- On Nova or any ally turn clear 1 Negative effect, apply +1 Deflect (up to a max of 10) and heal for 10% of Max Health
- When Nova or any ally drops below 50% Max Health, heal that character for 50% Max Health, this can only occur once.
- Nova and all allies gain +5 Damage per Deflect applied to them
- This Battlefield Effect lasts until cleared or until the end of the match
A big positive is that this Battlefield Effect is beneficial not only for Nova and the Knowhere team but also for any Nova allies, which makes Nova a great plug-and-play character.
His Basic attack can also be pretty decent since it can deal a good amount of damage to the primary and adjacent targets and will clear 2 Positive effects from them, or 4 in War. And it will apply +1 Deflect to all Knowhere characters.
Plus it will have a 50% Chance to Revive Korg at 10% Max Health (in War it will always Revive Korg)
Nova’s Passive will fill his Speed Bar by +10% and + 15% per each Knowhere member. He can also clear 1 Negative effect and heal 15% of his Max Health on Turn. And, In war, will apply Evade and Safeguard to Knowhere characters on Spawn.
Nova has a small Charged mechanic. The only way for him to get Charged is on Spawn. He gets 1 Charged in all game modes, and 3 Charged in War.
His Charged has 3 benefits:
- When Nova’s below 75% Max Health while Charged, he will heal himself for 50% Max Health and will fill his Speed Bar by +25% and lose 1 Charged.
- Nova gains +1,000% Focus and +4,000% Resistance for each Charged
- In War, while Nova is Charged, Knowhere characters with Safeguard can’t have Trauma applied to them.
Every Knowhere member also has a passive effect tied to Deflect. When Nova has Deflect or Minor Deflect applied to him Knowhere characters will gain +20% Block Amount.
Thor (Infinity War)
(In War, +50% Damage for Knowhere, +100% Focus for Thor (Infinity War) )
Thor’s main focus is dealing damage, he can also control the enemies a little with an Ability Block that he can apply with his Special Ability. If Thor has 2 or more Knowhere allies his Special will also clear all Positive Effects from the primary target. This is a rebound chain attack that will hit a total of 5 targets. It cannot be counterattacked. In War, it’s also unavoidable.
His Ultimate will deal a ton of Piercing Damage to all enemies and apply Defense Down+Offense Down for 2 turns. In War, this will clear all Barrier before attacking. This is a devastating attack that Thor can use on his second turn to finish the fight.
His Basic attack will deal good damage and apply +1 Defense Down, while also clearing 2 Negative effects from himself. And it will have a 50% Chance to Revive Korg at 10% Max Health (in War it will always Revive Korg)
Thor’s Passive will allow him to self-heal for 5% of Max Health and +5% for each non-minion Asgardian, Avenger, or Knowhere ally.
On any enemy turn, he has a 50% chance to attack the enemy Protector for some damage ignoring Taunt. In War, this attack will also clear all Charged.
When he has Deflect or Minor Deflect applied to him, he will lower the Block Chance of all enemies by 50%
In War, Thor gains some other benefits:
- On summoned enemy death, gain 1 Ability Energy
- Fill this character’s Speed Bar by +5% when an Asgardian, Avenger, or Knowhere ally is attacked.
Nova and Thor (Infinity War) serve as two main Damage Dealers. Thor has a bigger damage potential because he deals Piercing Damage with all of his attacks, but in War Nova can close that gap because he’s faster and can fill his own Speed Bar, which means he’ll attack more often than Thor, so overall their output is similar.
Cosmo
(+10% Resistance for Knowhere, another +10% in War)
Cosmo’s Basic attack will clear 2 Negative effects from self and 2 Positive effects from the enemy while also dealing some damage. And it will have a 50% Chance to Revive Korg at 10% Max Health (in War it will always Revive Korg)
Her Special Ability can clear all Positive effects from primary and adjacent targets and deal some damage. It will also clear 2 Bleed and 2 random Negative effects from self and all allies, heal the most injured character for 20% of Cosmo’s Max Health, and apply +1 Deflect to all Knowhere characters.
In War, this attack gets +1,000% Focus and is Unavoidable.
Her Ultimate attack will clear all Negative effects from self and all allies, and clear all Positive effects from all enemies. It will also heal self and all allies for 25% of Cosmo’s Max Health and Barrier them for 10%.
After that, it will fill Cosmo’s Speed Bar by +5% and +5% per Knowhere ally.
In War, this will also apply Safeguard and generate 1 Ability Energy to all Knowhere characters.
Passive Ability will attack any enemy that attacked Cosmo and apply to the Offense Down for 2 turns and Bleed. In War, it will also deal 5% of the attacker’s Max Health as damage. She will also get immunity on Spawn.
While Cosmo has Deflect or Minor Deflect, she will lower the Crit Chance of all enemies by 50%
Star-Lord (Annihilation)
(+50% Focus for Knowhere, additional +50% Focus in War)
Star-Lord’s Basic is rare since it can apply Vulnerable regardless of Iso Class and does that to primary and adjacent targets in any game mode. Important to mention that Vulnerable which is applied through the character kits and not Iso Classes can be Resisted.
I will also have a 50% Chance to Revive Korg at 10% Max Health (in War it will always Revive Korg)
His Special will attack primary and adjacent targets, and apply +2 Vulnerable to them.
It will also apply Blind for 2 turns to the primary target. In War, if Nova is an ally he will clear Immunity from the primary target and the highest-damage non-primary target and apply Blind for 2 turns to them.
In War, this attack is Unavoidable and gets +1,000% Focus.
Star-Lord’s Ultimate will attack primary and adjacent allies and apply 2 Bleed for 2 turns, and Heal Block for 2 turns.
In War, this ability will also apply Trauma to the enemies it hits, if the primary Target has Vulnerable.
His Passive will apply 1 Evade to the most injured ally when himself or a Knowhere ally drops below 50% Max Health. He will also Offense Down for 2 turns to all enemies, but only in War.
If Star-Lord has Deflect or Minor Deflect, all Knowhere characters will gain +50% Accuracy.
Korg
(+30 Armor for Knowhere, in War additional +30% Armor)
Korg has a fairly simple Basic, it will deal damage and apply Slow for 2 turns to the primary target. And apply +2 Deflect to himself.
His Special will attack the primary and adjacent targets and apply Slow for 2 turns to them. If Nova is an ally this attack will deal even more damage. After that it will apply Offense Up for 2 turns and +1 Deflect to all Knowhere characters.
In War, this attack will also reduce Speed Bar on primary and adjacent targets by 20% and is Unavoidable.
Korg’s Ultimate will clear all Positive effects from the target and hit him for decent damage. After that it will call 2 Knowhere allies with the highest damage to attack the target, those allies will gain a small damage boost.
This will also apply Defense Up for 2 turns to all Knowhere characters.
In War, Ultimate gains +100% extra Focus and will reduce the Speed Bar by 30% on the target.
Korg has a classic Protector Passive, that allows him to gain Taunt and Deathproof whenever a Knowhere ally drops below 50% Max Health. He will also apply 2 Deflect and Defense Up for 2 turns to all Knowhere characters on Spawn.
When Korg has Delfect or Minor Deflect he will lower the counterattack chance of all enemies by 100%
In War, Korg will Barrier himself for 5% of his Max Health after each Block.
Combat Tips & Tricks
The most prominent place for Knowhere is the Alliance War. They have some bonuses in Cosmic Crucible (Season 4, Room 3) but those aren’t significant enough to make them dangerous and can usually be easily countered there with Eternals.
In War, Eternals won’t even scratch them. In Fact, one of the only reliable counters for Knowhere in War would be Knowhere themselves. Others that may achieve this task are Gamma, but the trick would be to use Red Hulk’s Ultimate after Nova used his, or Secret Defenders. There are more teams that can counter them on big punch-downs, especially some mixed teams with Apocalypse or Quicksilver.
Once you have all your Nova’s abilities Awakened, countering other Knowhere teams in War will be that much easier.
Other than that, Knowhere are the Apex War team right now and can counter pretty much any Defenses: Gamma, Infestation, New Avengers, Secret Defenders.. you name it. Even variations that have Apocalypse with them aren’t very dangerous for Knowhere since they will reapply Safeguard immediately. But still, beware of awakened Apocalypse because it’s RNG dependent who he will target with his Awakened Basic and Eliminate and avoid big punch-ups in those cases.
One of the trickier fights for Knowhere is versus Gamma. Nova will take the first turn and flip Hulk’s Taunt while also applying Trauma and Stun to him. So you won’t have to worry about Hulk for a while. After that Red Hulk will take his turn, in an ideal scenario he doesn’t hit Star-Lord in that case Star-Lord will be able to apply Blind to Red Hulk, which would mean that Red Hulk’s Ultimate attack will miss. After that you’ll just have to use Nova’s Ultimate to overwrite Red Hulk’s Battlefield Effect and then use Thor’s Ultimate and the enemy team will be in a dire situation or gone altogether (depending on punch-up amount).
It is possible to do big punch-ups with this team if your Knowhere are at 1 million TCP with the essential T4s you could do 300-500k punch-ups. A 1.5 million can do punch-ups up to a million in some extreme cases.
But on all punch-ups you should proceed with caution and be wary of some other circumstances. If Gamma are in the Security room or adjacent to it big punching up is dangerous, because Red Hulk may be able to eliminate a couple of your teammates immediately with his Special attack since your team will have Defense Down.
Another scenario you should be wary of is if Red Hulk uses his Special on Star-Lord and rewinds him. In that case, you will have to pay close attention to Red Hulk’s Charges and avoid hitting him until you get to Star-Lord’s turn and can blind him. But there’s also a danger for She-Hulk’s Passive cleanse to trigger and throw that Blind back at you. Thor with his Passive maxed out should be able to clear Charged from She-Hulk to prevent that from happening, but he only has a 50% chance of triggering his Passive attack so this can still depend on luck. So to avoid unnecessary risks it is best to punch-up no more than 300k, in that case even if something goes wrong Knowhere can still pull off a victory by sheer force.
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