The official Dark Knight adjustment and suggestion topic.

would be nice if drk can cast tierIV spells like rdm has. drk is an attacker not the ws master so if it can cast tierIV maybe it will make difference not just auto attackin and ppl can choose to nuke in abyssea, drk has blackmagic spells so why not use it? if this possible that drk can cast tierIV it will be enjoyable to play drk again drk has B elemental skill.

Still the Vast majority of what you are all posting would beyond overpower the job.

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Originally Posted by Renromix

would be nice if drk can cast tierIV spells like rdm has. drk is an attacker not the ws master so if it can cast tierIV maybe it will make difference not just auto attackin and ppl can choose to nuke in abyssea, drk has blackmagic spells so why not use it? if this possible that drk can cast tierIV it will be enjoyable to play drk again drk has B elemental skill.

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Our casting speed generally doesn't make it worth using, not to mention we have limited MAB and INT options on top of our selection of nukes. Dark Knight is best at Dark Magic, leave the nuking to the BLMs.

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Originally Posted by Selzak

What do you think of this interpretation of the stances?

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I'm more inclined towards Zicdeh's version. Making the attack stance behind the mob would make it too much like NIN's Innin ability, and it would create clutter for other DD like THFs and NINs (though rarely NINs) trying to attack from behind. Making it out of breath range frees up the space used by the DD.

This will also sound nitpicky, but the names for them sound like they need to be switched around, too. Insidiousness, which means the intent of working or spreading harmfully in a subtle or stealthy manner, sounds more fitting to an attacker DRK who is looking to bring some major pain to the table without bringing a lot of attention. Also, malevolence means showing an evil influence, something that could intimidate an opponent when encountered on the battlefield head-on.

For the Attack Stance, Crit Hits can be boosted by using Razed Ruins atma in Abyssea, but Ignoring Defense/Evasion when the enemy's not looking at you could be something a DRK could specialize freely in. How often do we come by an ability that's useful and Ignores those stats? Not too often. Though, with the introduction of the Twilight Scythe and its Neutral Damage Type...hmmm. Can't say anything about that one. At least not until Zicdeh pitches in on it.

I'm a rather controversial player, I made a name for myself on Caitsith for MNK/DRG + Footwork build and then DRK/SCH when most wouldn't dare leave /SAM or /NIN. /SCH has been a fun SJ and very useful one @ that. The biggest issue I've seen players talk about is "our magic isn't worth casting because it takes too long to cast" thus decreasing DoT.. which is largely a product for some ppl of /SAM JA (ya i know some people juggle them by removing then casting but its a hassel and imo ruins the fluidity of DRK). SE wanted us to head in the direction of using more magic and /SCH seems to favor this heavily w/ all the Stratagems etc. to enh. our casting. Occult Acumen could use some work on the dark magic side, someone suggested Dark Celerity as a JT (awesome), Spirit Eater would be nice (shared timer w/ SE but uses mp), make drain and aspir spells deal darkness based dmg that converts the dmg dealt into hp/mp (itd still deal dmg to undead but wouldnt take effect) Combat Casting JT, ungimp abs-tp /angryface, Nether Void was a great addition, Blood Weapon needs to be looked @... those would address some of the issues people have w/ magic etc. but /SCH takes heavy advantage of very fast casting esp. for dread spikes but ill leave that alone lol ill get flames enough for just saying DRK/SCH <.<

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Originally Posted by FioryGriever

I'm a rather controversial player, I made a name for myself on Caitsith for MNK/DRG + Footwork build and then DRK/SCH when most wouldn't dare leave /SAM or /NIN. /SCH has been a fun SJ and very useful one @ that. The biggest issue I've seen players talk about is "our magic isn't worth casting because it takes too long to cast" thus decreasing DoT.. which is largely a product for some ppl of /SAM JA (ya i know some people juggle them by removing then casting but its a hassel and imo ruins the fluidity of DRK). SE wanted us to head in the direction of using more magic and /SCH seems to favor this heavily w/ all the Stratagems etc. to enh. our casting. Occult Acumen could use some work on the dark magic side, someone suggested Dark Celerity as a JT (awesome), Spirit Eater would be nice (shared timer w/ SE but uses mp), make drain and aspir spells deal darkness based dmg that converts the dmg dealt into hp/mp (itd still deal dmg to undead but wouldnt take effect) Combat Casting JT, ungimp abs-tp /angryface, Nether Void was a great addition, Blood Weapon needs to be looked @... those would address some of the issues people have w/ magic etc. but /SCH takes heavy advantage of very fast casting esp. for dread spikes but ill leave that alone lol ill get flames enough for just saying DRK/SCH <.<

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I actually kind of like the idea of DRK/SCH, but at the same time, we need to be able to do massive melee damage in a very short amount of time, and /SCH does not help with that. Originally, I was going to make DRK/RDM my main, but then I learned how the game actually worked.

I remember reading about a job ability to inflict Terror on these forums somewhere, and I liked that idea. My suggestion was Bonecrusher (sacrifice HP to kill an enemy instantly), which I posted on another thread. It makes sense, since we're dark knights, to get a job ability like this, especially when summoners got Odin. Now, I get to list the rest of my ideas.

Bonecrusher
Level 86 Job Ability
Duration: Instant
Recast: 10 minutes
Sacrifice 1/3 of max. HP to instantly kill an enemy. Does not work on notorious monsters of any sort, unless the monster's level is at least 40 below yours (i.e., level 90 DRK using Bonecrusher on level 50 or lower NM works).

Summoners got Odin at level 75, and while that requires their two-hour ability Astral Flow, it also deals death in an area of effect. This job ability kills one monster, takes HP to do it (thus fitting the dark knight's theme), and should be a job ability we had before summoners got Odin anyway. I mean, come on, the dark knight is supposed to be the foreboding, intimidating guy in your party that kills things quickly, sacrificing even his/her own life to do it. We deserve a job ability like this.

Eye for an Eye
Level 55 Job Trait
I took this from Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light and its Dark Fencer crown. It increases attack damage as your HP goes down. This would give us a new reason to use Souleater without Blood Weapon, and later, to spam Bonecrusher.

Duskblade
Level 60 Job Ability
Duration: Instant
Recast: 5 minutes
This would be a physical, darkness-elemental attack that does nothing but damage against an undead foe, but against anything else, saps their HP and MP like Drain and Aspir would, just in lesser amounts. It would also ignore the foe's resistance to the darkness element.

Crushing Blow
Level 75 Job Ability
Duration: Instant
Recast: 6 minutes
This would deal a physical attack that's only half as powerful as a regular attack, but it also inflicts Terror 100% of the time. The Terror effect would last anywhere from five seconds to a minute, depending on several dynamics.

Black Sky
Level 99 Dark Magic
Casting Time: 20 seconds
Recast: 2 minutes
MP Cost: 80
Element: Dark
This would be similar to the Meteor spell seen in many Final Fantasy games, but it was taken specifically from Final Fantasy X-2. This deals non-elemental magic damage in ten to fifteen shots to the target monster and everything around it, with a range about equal to that of a spell like Firaga IV. Damage would be directly proportional to the user's dark magic skill, and would not take the target monster's natural magical resistance into effect, though it would count things like a Shell effect on the target. It would not ignore magical defense for the monsters around the target monster; they'd be hit due to just being too close, like if some random Goblin wandered into your Blizzaga III spell's range as you were casting. It runs the risk of extra aggro, and the high MP cost prevents it from being spammed, but imagine something like this against something like Promathia or Shinryu.

Charon
Level 99 Job Ability
Duration: Instant
Recast: 1 minute
The user dies without losing EXP to deal massive darkness-elemental damage to the enemy. I know it sounds like Mijin Gakure, but this damage can't be resisted or reduced in any way, is directly proportional to how much HP you had when you used it (more HP means more damage), and as a result of how it works, it should discourage spamming. I took this one from Final Fantasy X-2, also.

Amok
Scythe Weapon Skill
Scythe Skill: 420
Skillchain Properties: Gravitation/Impaction
Stat Modifiers: STR 40% and INT 40%
Another ability taken from Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, this is a five-hit weapon skill that will deal critical damage with the final hit every time, assuming all five strikes land. It's only available to dark knights, even if other jobs can get the required skill with a scythe. If it's used while the user is wearing full bale armor, the user gains an Aftermath effect that lowers casting time for dark magic, depending on how far along the armor is upgraded and how much TP is put into the weapon skill. For best results, someone wearing a full bale armor +2 set that put 300% TP into Amok would enjoy three minutes of dark magic at half the casting time. This would scale down for people who aren't that far along yet. I think a table would help, so here.

• 100%-199% TP: 45 seconds of Aftermath
• 200%-299% TP: 90 seconds of Aftermath
• 300% TP: 155 seconds of Aftermath
• Each piece of bale armor worn adds 2 seconds to the Aftermath effect's duration.
• Each piece of bale armor +1 worn adds 3 seconds to the Aftermath effect's duration.
• Each piece of bale armor +2 worn adds 5 seconds to the Aftermath effect's duration.
• The Aftermath effect will not activate unless at least one piece of bale armor is worn when the weapon skill is used.

Before people shun this idea, consider how easy it is to get any job's empyrean armor. Upgrading it is the hard part. And I believe we're all pretty darn certain that a dark knight's scythe skill can hit 420 by level 99 pretty easily.

Those are all of my ideas. I hope I did something right. Extending the duration of Blood Weapon and Last Resort were great ideas, and a job trait that makes casting times for dark magic go down was a good one as well. I concentrated mostly on the "deal massive damage, even if it means your life" theme, since that's what a dark knight should be doing in my opinion. That's how the job's worked in every other game, anyway.

Please stop suggesting Tier4 magic and other casting Abilities. Thats all SE has been given us and its why the job has fallen into worthless status. If DRK/SCH is our future then we will have no place in the game.

I'm making adjustments to the first post by removing some ideas that seem to be not as important or considered OP or just worthless.

I removed anything regarding Elemental Magic as well as removing the mini-blood weapon suggestion.

As for tier 4 magic, There are only 2 reasons why I would agree to that:

1) Helping the BLMs find yellow procs. Thing is, all we can do is III and IV. BLMs, RDMs and SCH can do more than that.

2) Nuking a kite-heavy monster. When the monster can run pretty fast and is kited the whole time (Ironclad Smiter comes to mind), I find running around and hitting it with a scythe isn't so quick since it needs to basically stop in place before you get a swing off. This is the only time I'd say throwing magic around would do a little better.

Regardless of these two, it is still very situational and very weak.

Maybe we should be focusing on DoT? I find myself critting for between 350 and 589. I also sub warrior, despite having nearly no natural defense ability compared to....well, Paladins and Ninja. When I think about the damage I do, and how easy it is for me to end up tanking in Abyssea, I've found myself paying way more attention to Attack and Double Attack than anything else.

Back when the cap was 75, and when Samurai sub was just becoming the standard, I'd nearly die in parties after accidentally critting a DA for about 660 damage. Now, in abyssea, I can DA crit for around 1100 damage, and with more haste gear and/or a Bard, not to mention Endark...I get scared of the damage I really do. Still, I'm not very far along in mission status, so I'm only rolling with 9% DA.

I'd like to grab some sort of parser to really see what I do in comparison to dual-wielders who never stop attacking, or Samurai who can WS with absurd frequency. Looking at things this way, I don't see Samurai surpassing us in Abyssea, simply because nobody wants ruby light, and that effectively cuts their heads off unless they have Tachi: Fudo and are going up against NMs/Bosses.

The fact is that non critting jobs have just lost their place as DDs in abyssea. Shoot, most DDs have lost their place in abyssea. While drg and ranger can still put out excellent damage, their usefulness in almost every situation in maw is very limited. So to DRG SAM RNG even COR to some extent and especially DRK oh well... There will be things outside abyssea eventually. Inside abyssea its proc it and drop it, if your job isn't necessary for one of those two things its not going to be favored. Even rdm, while nice to have is losing it's place in the party arrangement.

Inside, leave it to the jobs with either more survivability or better damage in smaller windows.

Things I hoped to see from dark knight were a Dark magic nuke. SE dropped the ball with Impact. Would have been perfect except alas its elemental magic based favoring BLM SCH and even RDM and relying on large levels of m.att.
So call it Demi or something, who gives a crap,
Dark magic Nuke
Short Casting Time
High damage
Medium MP usage (Funny SE, gearing for impact as a galka DRK is a hoot)

"Impetus" for DRK (Not a hard concept)
Attack increases with each successive hit landed.
Duration 3 minutes, recast 5

It's really hard to overcome the low attack speed... No comment. Dark Knight was rarely ideal ever save maybe to enhance chaos roll or in a zerging situation. But it's fun and different and will serve it's purpose outside abyssea again.

lolDL SMN COR BRD DRK DRK DRK

Well i dont think DRK should gain Tier 4 spells, but saying stop giving us casting abilities is basically saying "please remove any magic we have, and while ur @ it combine WAR and SAM into one job /wink" my point was, thats the direction SE itself is wanting to take DRK. /SAM offers a few things that 2h users can take advantage of, tho DRK if forced to focus on its casting abilities would be at a detriment due to the nature of the JA. Meditate is 60 TP every 3 min, a well trained DRK knows how to land abs TP and w/o the cast delay / recast delay from /SAM JA and the increase in both from /SCH plays a big part in acquiring TP in a manor thats befitting the job. Sekkanoki is moot, ud either need to hold ur TP or abs TP @ 100 TP to use it for the "oh wow" factor. while Hasso is great, Seigan+Third Eye actually hurt DRK defence as a whole, tho i spose thats opinionated based on the play style much the same as saying DRK shouldnt cast anything @ all... I used /SCH as a platform for how DRK casting should be, nearly instant casting of Dread Spikes w/ a min and half timer if way better than the 3 min it takes /SAM and thats if you can even get it up (granted you dont cast it B4 u take hate, but then u gamble wasting the spell and MP if u dont take+hold Hate), then you have ABS-Spell, people saying its not worth using them simply because it hurts DoT while it directly increases WS #s and helps the party as a whole by reducing mob stats. by no means am i advicating /SCH over /SAM thats opinion, just stating that SE wants us to use our tools that we were given and not wish we were SAMs or WARs, if they fix abs TP that might help a lil, if they give us a CRIT WS thatd help a bit more (thats if you are only talking abyssea, outside abyssea ur only real threat was spamurai, if you were falling behind that badly to every DD something must have been wrong) but its the nature of our job, i agree we could use something to improve our combat prowess but how long would that last b4 the whiffle bat us because the community gets butt hurt like w/ abs TP