I'm starting a new melee oriented character. I've never done the Knights of the Nine quest. Should I try it right away or wait until later in the game? Any benefit either way?

you can level teh loot from it so i would say do it when you feel comfortable, you may want to get a silver weapon first, i think there is ghosts you'll have to fight

The quest rewards level up with you, so you do not have to wait until you are super-high level to get the best versions of it. You do have to fight some ghosts, but they are not the standard ones. These can be harmed by normal weapons.

So grab a silver weapon and go for it eh? Sounds like fun. Thanks guys.

The great thing about KOTN is that the Undercroft stand is a free repairer, recharger and re-leveler of all Crusader relics, so it doesn't really matter if you start it early.

Currently, my Dark Elf blade-mage is using the KOTN as his main quest, rather than the useless MQ that the game presents.
Charging off across Cyrodiil with the knights is way better than hunting down the Mythic Dawn. I find it much more enjoyable as a late game quest. :toughninja:

The only issue of concern is- You can only equip the Relics if your Infamy is 1 or less. If your Infamy ever reaches 2 or more, you must repeat the Pilgrimage to a Wayshrine of every deity. This resets your Infamy to 0, allowing you to use the Relics again.

Can you reach the stat bonus quest reward before you level up to 2, without overleveling your skills too much?

I think of KOTN as a later game quest, but only for RP reasons. I have a little trouble bearing the title Divine Crusader as I consider scrummaging around solving peoples rat problems or recovering their jumbo potatos and such.

I would tend to do any simple fetch and carry type quests first to build experience. After becoming the Divine Crusader, I would tend to want to consider more 'epic' quests such as Pale Pass or possibly recovering all 10 of the Ayleid Ancestors statues and things like that. In fact one could submit that the Divine Crusader and his/her knights are perhaps good candidates to solve the Oblivion Crisis.

Charging through KOTN at first level never quite feels right to me. Of course, it is possible if you so choose.

I would never consider playing the game these days without using an efficient levelled character. It is way better to make a build that stops at 23-25 level and keeps the game managable.
KOTN has a better feel as an end game quest, allowing you to focus on Arena and Fighters Guild with a new character.

My preferred option has been to make a character specifically to do KotN; usually a swordsman type character with specific magical focusings on Restoration and Mysticism (to walk on water )

While occasionally hunting down the relics, I'd generally spend my time doing the minor quests; not guild and none of the major quest. So stuff like the potatoes, Jermaine brothers - all the generally goodly deeds. It just somehow feels right to do that sort of thing if you're going to be a holy knight.

Then I tend to touch the MQ later on in the game, once I'm sufficiently strong enough.

But doing KotN early means you can't train in Restoration, and restoration is a bit problematic to raise...

This is my thoughts on doing the KOTN quest early. It makes doing the thieves guild and Brotherhood of Darkness quests problematic. Not because you can't do it this way--- because the infamy you acquire prevents you from using the relics. If you have no desire to go through the thieves guild or BoD, do KOTN whenever you like. Otherwise, perform the "bad" stuff first.

Just do Thieves Guild first and get the Gray Cowl, then you're free to be a bad guy/gal, just remember when to put it on and when to take it off

Well considering that in vanilla, the enemies are scaled, it would be easier to do it earlier. Also, the crusader relics can be extremely useful to the new character. Example: boots of the crusader. No more surprise deaths from mountain lions at low levels.