Dark Knight FAQ v.1.1
Author: Ninjakid69
FFXI: Chaosbringer, lvl 33DRK, server: Ragnarok
email: N/A as I no longer have the time to answer game-related emails.
Foreward:
This faq is for those interested in the paths of darkness. What does the path
of darkness entail? Heavy Damage, some nice black magic, etc. Dark Knights
Won't do the damage that rangers can, or Black mages for that matter. But if
you want a job that can dish out good damage without the upkeep needed for
ranger or the expensive spells of black mage, dark knight may be for you.I
wrote this guide because I wanted to inform all about my favorite class (DRK).
I will try to base all my ideas on facts and knowledge, so please no flames.
Yes I know Samurais can gain tp faster than drks, and DRG's get pentrathrust
faster than DRK's get guillotine. DRK's are still an awesome class.
Legal mumbo jumbo:
This is my faq. You are welcome to read it, save it on your computer, but you
must not steal it and pass it off as your own work. I will allow you to host
the faq if you tell me about it.
Table of contents:
1a) Questions
2a) Dark Knight Quest
3a) Job Abilities and Job Traits
4a) Spell List
5a) Strategy and Party set-ups
6a) Great subs and Bad subs
7a) Equipment
8a) Level Strategies
9a) revisions list
10a) Thank You Section
1a) Questions:
Is Dark knight a good tank?
-No, No, and No. According to the FFXI official guide (which isn't that great)
it has the same growth in VIT as DRG and samurai, but this does not mean it
can tank like either, mostly because of Last Resort (which lowers defense and
raises offense) or souleater (which eats HP to raise damage). Any party that
relies on DRK to be a main tank will have a harder time exping. And even if
DRKs didnt use the skills, does not mean that the VIT of DRKs, SAMs, and DRGs
make it a very strong tank. Think about paladins and warriors, and ninjas with
blink. A lot of people might think Dark Knight can be decent tank, and it can,
but you would sacrifice the use of Soul Eater, Last resort, etc. If you
absolutely LOVE to tank, pick galka race for Dark Knight.
Is Dark Knight the most damaging?
-Nope. IT is one of the most damaging classes, and will be very deadly once it
aquires guillotine, but not as damaging as Ranger or BLM. DRGs may dish out
more damage because of the wyvern (DRG) + pentathrust. I hear sams can do
more damage than DRKs can, but I really don't see how. A samurai can unleash
tp, meditate, unleash tp, but it won't do the damage that a dark knight can
using souleater.Experienced players tell me that DRGS will be doing more
damage than DRKs because DRGS aquire pentrathrust before guillotine. However,
with soul eater, we will be respectable,and with guillotine,we will be doing
more damage than even pentathrust. Although this is not a "which job is
better FAQ," my lst version misguided a lot of players into thinking that
dark knight is overrated and weak. I am going to flat out say it, when all
melee jobs are stripped of their skills (timer is not up), darks do the most
damage hit for hit. Also, its a common misconception that we are worthless
without guillotine...How so? DRG don't get pentathrust until their late 40s,
SAM weapon skills don't get any better, etc. I absolutely think Sams and DRG
are great jobs (one chains renkeis, other has good Weapon Skills, extra
wyvern damage, breath attacks), but I don't know why people see Dark Knight
as the only "Sucks till later" class when a lot of advanced jobs don't get
better until later levels.
IF dark Knight isnt the most damaging, isnt that the point? why should I care?
-Low upkeep, scythes are way cheaper than other job weapons, Soul Eater lvl 30
skill (I do 90+dmg to an Incredibly tough mob each hit while other heavy
melee do 20-30)
How hard is the DRK quest?
-very easy. I will go in detail on how to acquire dark knight in a moment.
What is the best race for DRK?
- the guide says to pick mithra, I asked my linkshell and they said no way.
Pick Elvann or Galka for most damage and health, pick hume and mithra for ok
damage and decent black magic, and tarus for Great black magic, accuracy and
pure shock factor.I am personally a hume because it is more accurate than
Elvann and Galka. I really suggest you don't pick Taru LOL
So I have a class that can Hit for UBER damage and can Nuke for Uber damage!
this job makes all melee jobs and BLM jobs obsolete! oh yeah!
-No. As I already said, this is a job that deals good damage for the cost
efficient in mind. And you will never, ever nuke like a black mage, even if
your magic skills are capped. The Dark Knights magic is not used to nuke, but
to be an addition to the physical damage. You can still magic burst with your
dark, so the magic is still useful. Leave real nuking to the nukers, BLM.
It is the Drain-stat spells that set our magic apart from caster jobs.
Imagine draining Agility, or strength and adding it to your own.
2a) Dark Knight Quest:
You must be at least lvl 30 in any job. I suggest leveling Warrior or Thief
to 30 so that you could sub it until dark knight gets to lvl 60. Unless you
want to level BLM to 30, change to Dark knight, lvl warrior or thf sub to lvl
30...see my reasoning?
quest- Talk to gumbah in the bastok mines region, hes on the second floor.You
will know you are in the right area if you are near the Weapon shop icon
on the map.
Talk to him until you get the cutscene. With your level 30, head to palborough
mines and take the elevator (I highly suggest buying the map in bastok
market). Take the boat near H-8,and you will go into a cutscene with dark
knight Zeid. He will give you the Chaosbringer,a very bad but looking sword
which you must then vanquish 100 enemies with. Change to warrior, kill 100
weak mobs (you must keep count, the game doesnt keep count for you.)
Then ride a chocobo (change back to your lvl 30 job) to the southeast corner
of Pashow marshes and into Beadeaux to get into a cutscene with Zeid.
Now you can change into Dark Knight! Enjoy!
3a) Job Abilities and Job Traits
Job Abilities:
Blood Weapon lvl 1, interval 2hours, duration 30 seconds
-Drains your targets HP during melee attacks
notes on blood weapon*
- In my opinion Dark Knights get shafted on the 2-hour. It sounds really good
at first,but do not rely on it to save your party. The best time to use this
2-hour is if you have 50% health and you know the mob is decimating your
party.Do not wait till you have 10 health because you will die before even
hitting and draining the mob's health.
*update- Blood Weapon is useful when you get last resort, soul eater, berserk
(if subbing Warrior). You will drain a lot more HP using these skills
(Thank you Kessen 99 for pointing that out)
Arcane Circle lvl 5, interval 5 min, duration 3 min
-Raises party defense vs. arcana
note*
-Good to use against the monster family bombs, evil weapons, cardians, and
Elementals. If I left out any arcana, let me know
Last Resort lvl 15, interval 5 min, duration 30 seconds
-enhances attacks but lowers defense
notes*
-What no one will tell you is that last resort has a built-in provoke. And it
doesnt lastas long as berserk. If you have a warrior sub, use berserk
instead. I'm not sure if last resort and berserk stack, but I heard that they
don't
update*
Kessen 99 confirms that last resort does stack with berserk. Also best used
before a weapon skill to maximize damage. (Thanks again Kessen99).
Do not use last resort until the tank has
drawn enough aggro, unless you want to draw aggro.
Weapon Bash lvl 20, interval 5 min, duration none
-Delivers an attack that stuns the monster (you need a two-handed weapon)
note*
-Best used when you can predict the monster will do a special attack, like
goblin bomb.It almost will never stun incredibly toughs. Also, at lvl 33
I am doing 11 damage (yes I know, disapointing). This is not a damage
dealing move, but one that interrupts the enemy.
Souleater lvl 30 interval 6 min, duration 1 min
-Consumes HP to enhance attacks
note*
-Finally a great job ability! This attack blows away last resort and berserk,
and can be stacked with either. Last resort and berserk will do an extra 5
dmg or so, Soul eater will do an extra 50 (at my level). This attack is HP
dependant, so the more HP you have, the more damage it will do. It does not
draw aggro until you hit the mob for 100 damage each hit =).Use only if you
have a white mage you can trust (also, for bad pt's using this move is not
good, you will mostly be red health or die.
Job Traits:
Attack Bonus, lvl 10
Resist Paralyze, lvl 20
Arcana Killer, lvl 25
Attack Bonus, lvl 30
Resist Paralyze, lvl 40
Attack Bonus, lvl 50
-well at least Darks get good job traits. Each attack bonus raises a lot of
attack.
4a) Spell List
-Here are all the Black Magic spells a Dark Knight can get
| Spell name | level | MP | Element | Type |
------------------------------------------------
| Stone | 5 | 9 | Earth | Elemental|
| Poison | 6 | 5 | Water | Enfeeb |
| Drain | 10 | 21 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Water | 11 | 13 | Water | Elemntal |
| Bio | 15 | 22 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Aero | 17 | 18 | Wind | Elemental|
| Aspir | 20 | 10 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Bind | 20 | 8 | Ice | Enfeeb |
| Fire | 23 | 24 | Fire | Elemental|
| Poisonga| 26 | 44 | Water | Enfeeb |
| Blizzard| 29 | 30 | Ice | Elemental|
| Sleep | 30 | 19 | Darkness| Enfeeb |
| Abs-MND | 31 | 33 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Tractor | 32 | 26 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Abs-CHR | 33 | 33 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Abs-VIT | 35 | 33 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Thunder | 35 | 37 | Lightnng| Elemental|
| Abs-AGI | 37 | 33 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Abs-INT | 39 | 33 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Bio II | 40 | 66 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Abs-DEX | 41 | 33 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Stone II| 42 | 43 | Earth | Elemental|
| Abs-STR | 43 | 33 | Darkness| Darkness |
| PoisonII| 46 | 38 | Water | Enfeeb |
| WaterII | 48 | 51 | Water | Elemental|
| Aero II | 54 | 64 | Wind | Elemental|
| Fire II | 60 | 73 | Fire | Elemental|
| BlizzardII| 66 | 83 | Ice | Elemental|
| PoisongaII| 66 | 112| Water | Enfeeb |
------------------------------------------------
Author: Ninjakid69
FFXI: Chaosbringer, lvl 33DRK, server: Ragnarok
email: N/A as I no longer have the time to answer game-related emails.
Foreward:
This faq is for those interested in the paths of darkness. What does the path
of darkness entail? Heavy Damage, some nice black magic, etc. Dark Knights
Won't do the damage that rangers can, or Black mages for that matter. But if
you want a job that can dish out good damage without the upkeep needed for
ranger or the expensive spells of black mage, dark knight may be for you.I
wrote this guide because I wanted to inform all about my favorite class (DRK).
I will try to base all my ideas on facts and knowledge, so please no flames.
Yes I know Samurais can gain tp faster than drks, and DRG's get pentrathrust
faster than DRK's get guillotine. DRK's are still an awesome class.
Legal mumbo jumbo:
This is my faq. You are welcome to read it, save it on your computer, but you
must not steal it and pass it off as your own work. I will allow you to host
the faq if you tell me about it.
Table of contents:
1a) Questions
2a) Dark Knight Quest
3a) Job Abilities and Job Traits
4a) Spell List
5a) Strategy and Party set-ups
6a) Great subs and Bad subs
7a) Equipment
8a) Level Strategies
9a) revisions list
10a) Thank You Section
1a) Questions:
Is Dark knight a good tank?
-No, No, and No. According to the FFXI official guide (which isn't that great)
it has the same growth in VIT as DRG and samurai, but this does not mean it
can tank like either, mostly because of Last Resort (which lowers defense and
raises offense) or souleater (which eats HP to raise damage). Any party that
relies on DRK to be a main tank will have a harder time exping. And even if
DRKs didnt use the skills, does not mean that the VIT of DRKs, SAMs, and DRGs
make it a very strong tank. Think about paladins and warriors, and ninjas with
blink. A lot of people might think Dark Knight can be decent tank, and it can,
but you would sacrifice the use of Soul Eater, Last resort, etc. If you
absolutely LOVE to tank, pick galka race for Dark Knight.
Is Dark Knight the most damaging?
-Nope. IT is one of the most damaging classes, and will be very deadly once it
aquires guillotine, but not as damaging as Ranger or BLM. DRGs may dish out
more damage because of the wyvern (DRG) + pentathrust. I hear sams can do
more damage than DRKs can, but I really don't see how. A samurai can unleash
tp, meditate, unleash tp, but it won't do the damage that a dark knight can
using souleater.Experienced players tell me that DRGS will be doing more
damage than DRKs because DRGS aquire pentrathrust before guillotine. However,
with soul eater, we will be respectable,and with guillotine,we will be doing
more damage than even pentathrust. Although this is not a "which job is
better FAQ," my lst version misguided a lot of players into thinking that
dark knight is overrated and weak. I am going to flat out say it, when all
melee jobs are stripped of their skills (timer is not up), darks do the most
damage hit for hit. Also, its a common misconception that we are worthless
without guillotine...How so? DRG don't get pentathrust until their late 40s,
SAM weapon skills don't get any better, etc. I absolutely think Sams and DRG
are great jobs (one chains renkeis, other has good Weapon Skills, extra
wyvern damage, breath attacks), but I don't know why people see Dark Knight
as the only "Sucks till later" class when a lot of advanced jobs don't get
better until later levels.
IF dark Knight isnt the most damaging, isnt that the point? why should I care?
-Low upkeep, scythes are way cheaper than other job weapons, Soul Eater lvl 30
skill (I do 90+dmg to an Incredibly tough mob each hit while other heavy
melee do 20-30)
How hard is the DRK quest?
-very easy. I will go in detail on how to acquire dark knight in a moment.
What is the best race for DRK?
- the guide says to pick mithra, I asked my linkshell and they said no way.
Pick Elvann or Galka for most damage and health, pick hume and mithra for ok
damage and decent black magic, and tarus for Great black magic, accuracy and
pure shock factor.I am personally a hume because it is more accurate than
Elvann and Galka. I really suggest you don't pick Taru LOL
So I have a class that can Hit for UBER damage and can Nuke for Uber damage!
this job makes all melee jobs and BLM jobs obsolete! oh yeah!
-No. As I already said, this is a job that deals good damage for the cost
efficient in mind. And you will never, ever nuke like a black mage, even if
your magic skills are capped. The Dark Knights magic is not used to nuke, but
to be an addition to the physical damage. You can still magic burst with your
dark, so the magic is still useful. Leave real nuking to the nukers, BLM.
It is the Drain-stat spells that set our magic apart from caster jobs.
Imagine draining Agility, or strength and adding it to your own.
2a) Dark Knight Quest:
You must be at least lvl 30 in any job. I suggest leveling Warrior or Thief
to 30 so that you could sub it until dark knight gets to lvl 60. Unless you
want to level BLM to 30, change to Dark knight, lvl warrior or thf sub to lvl
30...see my reasoning?
quest- Talk to gumbah in the bastok mines region, hes on the second floor.You
will know you are in the right area if you are near the Weapon shop icon
on the map.
Talk to him until you get the cutscene. With your level 30, head to palborough
mines and take the elevator (I highly suggest buying the map in bastok
market). Take the boat near H-8,and you will go into a cutscene with dark
knight Zeid. He will give you the Chaosbringer,a very bad but looking sword
which you must then vanquish 100 enemies with. Change to warrior, kill 100
weak mobs (you must keep count, the game doesnt keep count for you.)
Then ride a chocobo (change back to your lvl 30 job) to the southeast corner
of Pashow marshes and into Beadeaux to get into a cutscene with Zeid.
Now you can change into Dark Knight! Enjoy!
3a) Job Abilities and Job Traits
Job Abilities:
Blood Weapon lvl 1, interval 2hours, duration 30 seconds
-Drains your targets HP during melee attacks
notes on blood weapon*
- In my opinion Dark Knights get shafted on the 2-hour. It sounds really good
at first,but do not rely on it to save your party. The best time to use this
2-hour is if you have 50% health and you know the mob is decimating your
party.Do not wait till you have 10 health because you will die before even
hitting and draining the mob's health.
*update- Blood Weapon is useful when you get last resort, soul eater, berserk
(if subbing Warrior). You will drain a lot more HP using these skills
(Thank you Kessen 99 for pointing that out)
Arcane Circle lvl 5, interval 5 min, duration 3 min
-Raises party defense vs. arcana
note*
-Good to use against the monster family bombs, evil weapons, cardians, and
Elementals. If I left out any arcana, let me know
Last Resort lvl 15, interval 5 min, duration 30 seconds
-enhances attacks but lowers defense
notes*
-What no one will tell you is that last resort has a built-in provoke. And it
doesnt lastas long as berserk. If you have a warrior sub, use berserk
instead. I'm not sure if last resort and berserk stack, but I heard that they
don't
update*
Kessen 99 confirms that last resort does stack with berserk. Also best used
before a weapon skill to maximize damage. (Thanks again Kessen99).
Do not use last resort until the tank has
drawn enough aggro, unless you want to draw aggro.
Weapon Bash lvl 20, interval 5 min, duration none
-Delivers an attack that stuns the monster (you need a two-handed weapon)
note*
-Best used when you can predict the monster will do a special attack, like
goblin bomb.It almost will never stun incredibly toughs. Also, at lvl 33
I am doing 11 damage (yes I know, disapointing). This is not a damage
dealing move, but one that interrupts the enemy.
Souleater lvl 30 interval 6 min, duration 1 min
-Consumes HP to enhance attacks
note*
-Finally a great job ability! This attack blows away last resort and berserk,
and can be stacked with either. Last resort and berserk will do an extra 5
dmg or so, Soul eater will do an extra 50 (at my level). This attack is HP
dependant, so the more HP you have, the more damage it will do. It does not
draw aggro until you hit the mob for 100 damage each hit =).Use only if you
have a white mage you can trust (also, for bad pt's using this move is not
good, you will mostly be red health or die.
Job Traits:
Attack Bonus, lvl 10
Resist Paralyze, lvl 20
Arcana Killer, lvl 25
Attack Bonus, lvl 30
Resist Paralyze, lvl 40
Attack Bonus, lvl 50
-well at least Darks get good job traits. Each attack bonus raises a lot of
attack.
4a) Spell List
-Here are all the Black Magic spells a Dark Knight can get
| Spell name | level | MP | Element | Type |
------------------------------------------------
| Stone | 5 | 9 | Earth | Elemental|
| Poison | 6 | 5 | Water | Enfeeb |
| Drain | 10 | 21 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Water | 11 | 13 | Water | Elemntal |
| Bio | 15 | 22 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Aero | 17 | 18 | Wind | Elemental|
| Aspir | 20 | 10 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Bind | 20 | 8 | Ice | Enfeeb |
| Fire | 23 | 24 | Fire | Elemental|
| Poisonga| 26 | 44 | Water | Enfeeb |
| Blizzard| 29 | 30 | Ice | Elemental|
| Sleep | 30 | 19 | Darkness| Enfeeb |
| Abs-MND | 31 | 33 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Tractor | 32 | 26 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Abs-CHR | 33 | 33 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Abs-VIT | 35 | 33 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Thunder | 35 | 37 | Lightnng| Elemental|
| Abs-AGI | 37 | 33 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Abs-INT | 39 | 33 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Bio II | 40 | 66 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Abs-DEX | 41 | 33 | Darkness| Darkness |
| Stone II| 42 | 43 | Earth | Elemental|
| Abs-STR | 43 | 33 | Darkness| Darkness |
| PoisonII| 46 | 38 | Water | Enfeeb |
| WaterII | 48 | 51 | Water | Elemental|
| Aero II | 54 | 64 | Wind | Elemental|
| Fire II | 60 | 73 | Fire | Elemental|
| BlizzardII| 66 | 83 | Ice | Elemental|
| PoisongaII| 66 | 112| Water | Enfeeb |
------------------------------------------------