Dark Knight: Guide to Races and Subjob Selection

{| border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="100%"
 * valign="top" width="25%" |


 * valign="top" width="75%"|

Job Overview
Available after completing the Dark Knight Flag Quest. "To strengthen themselves in battle, not only have these outlaw warriors mastered the ways of numerous weapons, but they have also acquired certain black magic spells to torment their enemies."

Strengths

 * Naturally high attack stat from multiple Attack Bonus traits.
 * Souleater ability boosts melee damage output to very high levels.
 * Dark Knights are able to Magic Burst off of their own skillchains.
 * The Absorb line of spells can simultaneously enfeeble the monster to benefit the party and enhance the Dark Knight's offensive power.
 * Stun.
 * Highly proficient in both Scythe and Great Sword weapons. Able to make use of many other weapons such as Great Axe, Sword, and Axe.
 * Basic Proficency with ranged weapons in conjuction with status affecting bolts allow extra support opportunities for Dark Knights.
 * Though specializing in melee combat, can effectively be offensive through magical and ranged attacks as well.
 * Can open and close virtually every skillchain between the two primary A-rated weapons. Skillchain-closing weaponskills have impressive force.  High level Dark Knights when subbed to Thief can close light skillchains with stunning results.

Weaknesses

 * Relatively no defensive capabilties availble. A Dark Knight's offensive abilities leave the Knight dangerously open to attack with virtually no defense.  Dark Knight abilities also generate Enmity and a careless Dark Knight may be killed very easily.
 * Highest delay weapons together with only one accuracy boosting ability, Souleater combined with frequently needed Dark Magic cause Dark Knights to rely on Absorb-TP to keep up with other melee jobs. While subbed with Warrior, TP gain is still competitive without the use of Absorb-TP, however, Dark Knights without a support job of Thief may gain too much hate to live.
 * Skillchain-opening weaponskills at early and mid levels are relatively weak and disappointing.
 * Souleater job ability very dangerous at early levels and not effecient until mid to high levels. When combined with multi hit weapon skills such as Guillotine it is nearly suicide if used wrecklessly. Usually it is best to use this combination towards the end of a fight, many times being the final blow to a monster.
 * Very dependent on high cost equipment.
 * Elemental and Enfeebling magic levels are reletively low. Also, all elemental spells are recieved later than Black Mages. Elemental spells should be used to magic burst to maximize their effectiveness. Usually, most Dark Knights will just ignore these magic skills, as they are nearly useless and just waste MP.
 * Capping Dark Magic skill is difficult early on, because of the lack of Dark Magic skill spells. Drain is available to learn at level 10 (2 levels before a BLM) and should be used often to raise dark magic skill.
 * Unless Dark Magic is capped or nearly capped, Aspir and Drain are generally weak in EXP parties. Black Mages or Red Mages typically also handle the casting of Bio spells in battle, further limiting the practical ways to level Dark Magic.
 * Dark Knight may be required to heal after battles, and are generally assumed to be the last priority of any job with MP during a Red Mage's Refresh order (some Red Mages straight out refuse to give Refresh to Dark Knights!). Because of this, many Dark Knights carry juice drinks or Yagudo drinks to lower the amount of heal time. Using Aspir if a monster has MP also helps keep magic levels stable.
 * }

Hume
Hume Dark Knights have Decent MP pools and HP. Thier balanced stats allow them the ability to Hit decently with a decent hit rate and take hits better then others. Also they can bring more Absorbs to the table which weakens the enemy while enhancing your stats. Their STR and HP(souleater) is average which means they won't do as much damage as an Elvaan or Galka but don't let this put you off as the MP pool will allow you to always get a few absorb spells off where at times Galka or Elvaan could not. Also on a a side note Hume DRKs, like Mithra and Tarutaru, can sub WHM or RDM as a solo option rather than just NIN (which isn't always viable due to have a low MP pool Elvaan and Galka) which will help you in quests and missions and skilling your magic. lastly Hume have the second highest INT meaning their spells will be more likily to not get resisted.

Elvaan
Elvaan Dark Knights have some of the highest STR in the game, which means that they dish out as much damage as possible with each and every hit. However, hitting is the problem with Elvaan, as their very low DEX means they will have to make sure they equip plenty of accuracy gear, and always eat sushi(30+). Because of sushi, the lack of DEX isn't much of a problem; sushi is a %acc boost, so they won't miss too often 60+. Though 10-45 range, the DEX loss is noticeable--after that, it really doesn't matter thanks to sushi. Elvaan also have more base HP and VIT then other races, which means they may survive about one hit longer(compared to Hume) in battle if they pull hate. Thier small MP pools are also something to think about, as DRK helps the party out by de-buffing the enemy with absorb. But, as with Galka, this really isn't a problem later on (40+ for Elvaan). Their low INT may prove a problem as Absorb spells may get resisted.

Tarutaru
Tarutaru make great Dark Knights becuase they have a very good hit rate and a large MP pool. a large MP pool means that they can bring out more absorbs which can not only assist the PT but make up for some of the points that Tarutaru lack. An example would be Absorb-STR which gives a bonus to a taru's Strength so they can do more Damage for a decent amount of time. Tarutaru's lack HP and VIT though so if they pull to much hate off an enemy they won't last long. Basiclly Tarutaru's lack of HP and STR will mean they will never be the highest DDing DRK but there High amount of MP and INT will mean they will always be able to utilise the dark magic a DRK has to offer and also mean they can sub WHM or RDM for better soloing power than NIN pre Utsusemi:Ni

Mithra
Mithra are seen as nearly identical to Hume DRKs, though the extra DEX boost they recieve gives them a bit more accuarcy. Mithra's MP pools are also nice becuase they can pull out a few absorbs and still have enough MP left to do things like Drain or Aspir. Mithra lack Defense and Vitality though so like tarutaru's they wont last very long if they draw too much hate only really a hit less than a elvaan as the HP pool isn't too bad.There STR and HP(souleater) is average which means they won't do as much damage as an elvaan or galka but don't let this put you off as the MP pool will allow you to always get a few absorb spells off where at times Galka or Elvaan could not. Also on a aside note mithra DRKs like Humes and Tarutaru can sub WHM or RDM as a solo option rather than just NIN which will help you in quests and missions.

Galka
Galka also have alot of Strength to bring to the Party. They also have more Dexterity then elvaan(equal to humes) do so they can bring hard hits on a frequent basis. Their small MP pools should be considered though because they wont be able to de-buff the enemy and have MP left over for other things. On a side note endgame(70-75) this isn't considered as much as a problem as the mp equips are easy to get and the spells you commonly use are still the ones you get 31-45 and are only 33MP(absorb spells) which is relativly low at lvls 65+.However Galka have large amounts of VIT so they can take hits that are sent at them when they pull hate even though it will be hardly noticable between the races later on as DRKs equips have low defense but then Galka's high HP allow him to take one or two more hits from an IT 50+. Also as souleater is HP dependent endgame the DMG will be a somewhat higher than the other races while souleater is active which is usally used by Dark knight for weaponskills and there 2hr.

Summary
Elvaan and Galka hit for hit will be the largest DD but they will lack in the magic department.

Humes and Mithra are well rounded and a bit more versitile than the other races.

Tarutaru will never be the best DDing DRK but will land and cast more absorb spells more often so they arn't pushed to the sidelines.

On a final note at the end of the day it is the player makes or breaks a DRK not the race.

Support Job Options
There are a number of subjob choices available to a Dark Knight.

The choices listed here are by no means the only ones available, but tend to be the most widely used.

It is recommended for partys that you use WAR(10-75) THF(30-75 tho is strongly recommned only 66+) SAM(70-75) NIN(75) Other sub jobs are considered unviable and hanv't been proven to be a useful as the job combinations above tho they may have uses out side partys.

Warrior
The standard expected subjob before level 60 and in many situations afterwards (For Example, Merit Parties), a Warrior subjob will greatly enhance a Dark Knight's damage over time, TP gain, and survivability.


 * Provoke - though a Dark Knight's defense is quite low, Provoke is still useful in a pinch and can be used to set up a Thief's SATA weaponskill.
 * Berserk - an obvious attack-boosting ability.
 * Warcry - If timed correctly and used in a perfect pattern, Dark Knight's could have an attack booster every time while the other is on timer. i.e. Use Berserk First, Then Last Resort, Then Warcry, Then Souleater. Warcry can grab hate, be sure to use wisely or be sure that the tank has kept hate already.
 * Double Attack - critical for TP gain.
 * Defender - barely useful at best; should only be used in dangerous situations where the Dark Knight has excessive hate.

Thief
Thief is a widely-expected subjob after the Dark Knight reaches level 60, thanks to its damage amplification and hate control.


 * Sneak Attack - used primarily on weapon skills to create high-damage skillchains.
 * Trick Attack - can be used to transfer weapon skill hate onto a tank, a Dragoon to shed it, or a low-hate member of the party, such as a bard.
 * Flee - obviously useful to escape dangerous situations.

Samurai
Dark Knight benifits from Samurai as a subjob. Samurai offers a boost to Strength and TP. SAM sub also offers the abilities Hasso and Seigan, which can be alternated between at will. At 60 you get Meditate which increases the TP gain of a job that has really slow gain to begin with.


 * Meditate - (lvl 60) 60% TP in a few seconds, which means you can get another weaponskill off. When combined with Absorb TP, DRKs can be a force to be reckoned with. Just be careful with hate control.
 * Hasso - (lvl 50) Hasso gives +5STR at 75, along with +10%Haste and +10acc. The attack boost, along with the haste effect, which helps DRK attack faster with heavy two handed weapons, makes them impressive damage dealers. The -50% recast penalty on spells isn't too much of an issue, since DRKs lack the MP pool to spam thier spells, though having a longer Stun recast timer can hurt on fights where Stuns are needed if you don't have others that can cover for you.
 * Seigan - (lvl 70) For those occasions where DRKs drag excessive hate, Seigan can temporarily keep you from getting hit until the tank can get the target back on him/her. Consider it a version of Utsusemi for two-handed weapon users. The only downside is that Third Eye doesn't block spells, and AoE attacks can ignore it.
 * Store TP - Grants extra TP per hit, further helping a DRKs normally slow TP gain.
 * Zanshin - (lvl 40) Allows a second swing to go off should you miss the target the first time around. While it's not quite Double Attack, it can allow you to land successful hits more often.
 * Third Eye - (lvl 30) Allows the user to dodge a single attack. With Seigan on, the effect stays on longer, and the user can occasionally counterattack

While spike damage may be somewhat less than a DRK/WAR, a DRK/SAM has the advantage of being able to perform WSs more often, for effective damage over time. DRK/SAMs can beat DRK/WARs in overall TP gain, as well as DRK/THFs. Hasso and Seigan can also be switched at will depending on the situation. The recast timer penalty though means less chances to use Stun, so plan accordingly.
 * Notes on playing DRK/SAM

Ninja
A subjob usually only used in the late 60's and 70's. Utsusemi is useful in Dynamis, certain BC battles, and for soloing capabilities. Later levels allows one to Dual Wield axes and gain access to the highly damaging weapon skill Rampage end of the the day a DRK/NIN will never out damage a DRK/WAR DRK/THF or DRK/SAM but it has added safety with Utsusemi.

Dragoon
A relatively new subjob that has gained popularity of late. Useful for its relatively good attack and accuracy bonuses, but also for the ability to Jump and High Jump which, when coupled with a Dark Knight's high attack power, do decent damage in addition to shedding all of the hate a Dark Knight may have acquired from a recent weaponskill.

White Mage/Red Mage

 * Good outside parties for soloing as you have access to cure and debuffs.
 * Also Dia can be used to skill enfeeble magic effciently and fastly.
 * Dispel/Erase can come in handy too as long with the bar spells.

Paladin

 * Useful for soloing and maybe if your in a group that needs healing when doing a quest or skilling because DRK can get refresh equips and PLd grants an extra +1mp/sec and Cure III.


 * With a 3-4mp refresh availble(via DRk equips and PLD auto refresh) to you you could be the difference of a group needing to rest for mp and a group not needing to stop.


 * Also is a awsome combo for soloing undead because of the defense boost/albitys and traits and because all DRKs good spell are inefftive agianst undead you can use Cure III instead.

summury simular to DRK/WHM and DRK/RDm but you trade the enfeebling magic for some defense and a 1 mp refresh

Black Mage
DRK/BLM is a specialized combination. The BLM subjob grants a significant MP boost, has better spell success rates from its higher INT, and introduces with a wider variety of spells. Also this combo will make spells like Drain, Aspir, and Stun a bit more effective. The utility of this combination is very limited.


 * Magic Attack Bonus (DRK20/BLM10) -- The DRK/BLM will receive two of the five upgrades from this BLM job trait to improve the potency of spells.
 * Elemental Seal (DRK30/BLM15) -- Dramatically improves success rate for spells.
 * Conserve MP (DRK40/BLM20) -- Further enhances the ability of a DRK in a magic-dependent situation to dish out a balanced attack.
 * Black Magic Most extra spells you get will be usless as Drk doesn't get a hugh mp pool and making a RDM refrsh you because your doing sub par DMG is eneffiect and you do low DMG with these spells cause DRK won't get access to higher than teir II spells. Other spells like Choke Shock Warp and Escape can be useful outside partys

If you find yourself headed for a situation where foes' physical defense is particularly high, and your DRK will be unusually dependent on magic, DRK/BLM may be considered as a viable alternative but at the end of the day subing /WAR for Berserk would be a but more better option as Berserk will overcome the mobs defense.