Dark Knight: Guide to Races and Subjob Selection

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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 freqeuntly needed Dark Magic cause Dark Knights to be the slowest TP builders of melee jobs. While subbed with Warrior, TP gain is still competitive,however, Dark Knights with a support job of Thief are the slowest TP building melee charecters.
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * Capping Dark Magic skill is difficult. Many spells have a high MP cost and very high cast time compared to most other 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.
 * Absorb- stat spells have a very long cast time, during that time a Dark knight cannot attack. This lowers a Dark knights ability to get TP in battle. However, Absorb spells also use dark magic skill and can aid in capping your skill.  They should be used often.
 * 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. Because of this, many Dark Knights carry juice drinks or Yagudo drinks to lower the amount of heal time.
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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.

Elvaan
Elvaan Dark Knight's 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, becuase of thier very low DEX it makes it hard for them to hit anything. Elvaan also have more base HP and VIT then some other jobs which means they can survive longer in battle if they pull to much hate. Thier small MP pools are also something to think about as DRK helps the party out by de-buffing the enemy with absorb.

Tarutaru
Tarutaru make good Dark Knights becuase they have a decent 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 a taru lacks. 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.

Mithra
Mithra have the highest accuracy in the game so they make great Dark Knight's. They deal Damage in small amounts but they hit more often then most other Dark Knights do so the damage evens out. 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.

Galka
Galka also have alot of Strength to bring to the Party. They also have more Dexterity then elvaan do so they can bring hard hits on a frequent basis. Their small MP pools should be considered though becuase they wont be able to de-buff the enemy and have MP left over for other things. however Galka have large amounts of VIT so they can take hits that are sent at them when they pull hate.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Samurai
Dark Knight benifits from Samurai as a subjob. Samurai is already an effective Damage Dealer so combining it with another Damage dealer is a good choice. Samurai offers a boost to Strength and TP. Until 60 Samurai doesnt have much to offer exept Resist Blind which helps when you are fighting enemies with Area of Effect blind. it also gives Store TP which is only 1 extra TP, but that still helps in the long run. at 60 you get Meditate which allows a great TP bonus so you can pull out a Weapon Skill right when you need it most.