Wishing for Dark Knight

[Reynhart]

Hello everyone,

I've seen this topic spawn a lot, since Yoshi-P was "teasing" the DRK as an example for quite some time ago.

Here are my thought of what could be an interesting Dark Knight, evolving from Gladiator, since the closest thing we have from a DRK weapon is still the sword and shield.

A lot of people have said that it's impossible to turn a Tank into a DPS job, and I really think it's false. After all, Scholar proves you can turn a DPS into a competent healer.

I've imagined 5 skills that could, IMO, make DRK a competent DPS and a good asset to any party.

lvl30 : Souleater
Convert some of your max HP into damage bonus and suppress enmity bonuses.
Does not affect auto attack.
Effect ends upon reuse.
MP cost: Depending on level

This would be the basic stance of Dark Knight and what changes it from a tank to a DPS. I'd say 5% of max HP wouldn't be too powerful, but still risky when spamming combos.
The "suppress enmity bonuses" would allow the Dark Knight to use the Rage Of Halone combo to DPS without stealing hate all the time. Enmity from pure damage would still be applied normally.
As for the cost, something similat than Shield and Sword Oath for PLD

lvl35 : Drain
Inflicts magic damage and heals you for the same amount
Potency 100
Cast : 2,5s
MP cost: Depending on level

A litte spell to do some magic damage, but more importantly, something that helps you replenish some of your HP to keep souleater on. Usefull when the healer is busy healing someone else.
For the MP cost, I'd think something close to Raise. The high mp cost is to prevent Drain spamming, so the DRK will have to use Riot Blade several times if he want to cast Drain again.

lvl40: Vorpal Blade
Delivers an attack with a potency of 100
Combo : Riot Blade
Combo Potency : 250
Combo Bonus : Decreases target's magic resistance by 10%

The awaited 3rd part of the Riot Blade combo ! Less powerful than Rage Of Halone, but the added effect would be very interesting for casters. Well, maybe 10% is a bit much...

lvl45 : Dark Flame
Delivers an attack with a potency of 120 to all enemies in a cone before you.
TP Cost 130.

Think Owerpower without the enmity bonus. It'll give the DRK some AoE dmg potential

lvl50: Lifebreak
Delivers an attack to the target.
Potency varies according to the amount of HP lost.
Recast 180s

Themost powerful attack of the Dark Knight, but comes at a great price. I think something along 25% of HP lost converted into damage would'nt be too much while still useful

Basically, the whole idea behind this is "How can I manage my HP to deal a lot of damage ?" DRK would benefit from the high vitality of the Gladiator since its damage bonus would be based on max HP. And all the damage reduction skill from the GLA ? Still useful to lessen the HP lost from monsters since you'll already a lot of them from your skills.

That's a Dark Knight I'd love to see and I've thought far too much about it to not at least getting some feedback from other people. And, who knows, maybe the devs would see something interestin here