Dark Knight

Introduction

“

The pious Ishgardian clergy guide the flock, and the devout knights protect the weak. Yet even the holiest of men succumb to the darkest of temptations.

None dare to administer justice to these sacrosanct elite residing outside the reach of the law. Who, then, defends the feeble from the transgressions of those meant to guide and protect them?

A valiant few take up arms to defend the downtrodden, and not even the holy priests and knights can escape their judgment. Pariahs in their own land, they are known by many as “dark knights.”

These sentinels bear no shields declaring their allegiance. Instead, their greatswords act as beacons to guide the meek through darkness.

— FinalFantasyXIV.com Dark Knight

Dark Knights are sentinels of justice who allowed darkness to embody their resolve. These dark, yet valiant knights bask in the darkness to empower themselves seeking to deliver justice and protection to the people of Ishgard.

General information

Guild

The Dark Knight's advancement is through an NPC in The Forgotten Knight inn, located in The Pillars (x13, y8). This job starts at level 30.

Unlock

Dark Knight is a job introduced in Heavensward, featuring a dark-themed tank wielding a greatsword. It has a few requirements in order to be unlocked:

• Prerequisite: The player must have purchased the Heavensward expansion, and must have completed all of the Seventh Astral Era Quests up to Before the Dawn in order to unlock the city of Ishgard.
• Quest: Speak to the Ishgardian Citizen in The Pillars (x13.2,y8.8) to obtain the quest A Dark Spectacle.

Equipment

The dark knight is a disciple of war and wears armor "of Fending." They use greatswords as weapons. The following crafting classes can create items that are useful to the dark knight:

• Blacksmith — Greatswords.
• Armorer — Fending armor.
• Goldsmith — Earrings, bracelets, necklaces and rings.

Quests

Quest	Type	Level	Quest Giver	Unlocks	Rewards
Our End		50	Ishgardian Citizen	Dark Knight	1   Soul of the Dark Knight 1   Steel Claymore 1   Steel Cuirass 1   Padded Velveteen Trousers
Ishgardian Justice		30	Fray	Flood of Darkness
The Voice in the Abyss		35	Fray	Blood Weapon
Heroic Reprise		40	Fray	Edge of Darkness
Declaration of Blood		45	Fray
Our Answer		50	Fray	Living Dead A Dark Day's Knight I	1   Dark Knight's Armor Coffer
The Wages of Mercy		50	Unflinching Temple Knight
The Knight and the Maiden Fair		52	Sidurgu Orl	Salted Earth
Kindred Spirits		54	Sidurgu Orl	Plunge
Original Sins		56	Sidurgu Orl	Abyssal Drain
The Flame in the Abyss		58	Sidurgu Orl
Absolution		60	Sidurgu Orl	Carve and Spit A Dark Day's Knight II	1   Chaos Armor Coffer
In Memories We Walked		60	Sidurgu Orl
The Widow and Her Love		63	Sidurgu Orl
The Orphans and the Broken Blade		65	Sidurgu Orl
We Can Never Go Home		68	Myste
Our Compromise		70	Sidurgu Orl	The Blackest Night A Dark Day's Knight III	1   Abyss Armor Coffer
Our Closure		80	Sidurgu Orl	A Dark Day's Knight IV	1   Battledance Materia VII 1   Savage Aim Materia VII 1   Savage Might Materia VII

Actions

PvE actions

Action	Acquired		Level	Type	MP	Casting	Recast	Description
Hard Slash	DRK		1	Weaponskill		Instant	2.5s	Delivers an attack with a potency of 170.
Syphon Strike	DRK		2	Weaponskill		Instant	2.5s	Delivers an attack with a potency of 120.
Unleash	DRK		6	Spell		Instant	2.5s	Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 120 to all nearby enemies.
Grit	DRK		10	Ability		Instant	3s	Significantly increases enmity generation. Effect ends upon reuse.
Unmend	DRK		15	Spell		Instant	2.5s	Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 150.
Souleater	DRK		26	Weaponskill		Instant	2.5s	Delivers an attack with a potency of 120.
Flood of Darkness	DRK	1	30	Ability	3,000	Instant	1s	Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 100 to all enemies in a straight line before you.
Blood Weapon	DRK	1	35	Ability		Instant	60s	Grants 5 stacks of Blood Weapon, each stack increasing Blood Gauge by 10 and restoring MP upon landing weaponskills or spells.
Shadow Wall	DRK		38	Ability		Instant	120s	Reduces damage taken by 30%.
Stalwart Soul	DRK		40	Spell		Instant	2.5s	Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 100 to all nearby enemies.
Edge of Darkness	DRK	1	40	Ability	3,000	Instant	1s	Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 300.
Dark Mind	DRK		45	Ability		Instant	60s	Reduces magic vulnerability by 20%.
Living Dead	DRK	1	50	Ability		Instant	300s	Grants the effect of Living Dead. When HP is reduced to 0 while under the effect of Living Dead, instead of becoming KO'd, your status will change to Walking Dead.
Salted Earth	DRK	1	52	Ability		Instant	90s	Creates a patch of salted earth at your feet, dealing unaspected damage with a potency of 50 to any enemies who enter.
Plunge	DRK	1	54	Ability		Instant	30s	Delivers a jumping attack with a potency of 150.
Abyssal Drain	DRK	1	56	Ability		Instant	60s	Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 150 to target and all enemies nearby it.
Carve and Spit	DRK	1	60	Ability		Instant	60s	Delivers a threefold attack with a potency of 510.
Bloodspiller	DRK		62	Weaponskill		Instant	2.5s	Delivers an attack with a potency of 500.
Quietus	DRK		64	Weaponskill		Instant	2.5s	Delivers an attack with a potency of 200 to all nearby enemies.
Delirium	DRK		68	Ability		Instant	60s	Grants 3 stacks of Delirium, each stack allowing the execution of Quietus or Bloodspiller without Blackblood cost, restoring MP when landing either weaponskill.
The Blackest Night	DRK	1	70	Ability	3,000	Instant	15s	Creates a barrier around target that absorbs damage totaling 25% of target's maximum HP.
Flood of Shadow	DRK		74	Ability	3,000	Instant	1s	Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 160 to all enemies in a straight line before you.
Edge of Shadow	DRK		74	Ability	3,000	Instant	1s	Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 460.
Dark Missionary	DRK		76	Ability		Instant	90s	Reduces magic damage taken by self and nearby party members by 10%.
Living Shadow	DRK		80	Ability		Instant	120s	Conjure a simulacrum of your darkside to fight alongside you.
Oblation	DRK		82	Ability		Instant	60s	Reduces damage taken by a party member or self by 10%.
Salt and Darkness	DRK		86	Ability		Instant	20s	All enemies standing in the corrupted patch of Salted Earth take additional unaspected damage with a potency of 500 for the first enemy, and 50% less for all remaining enemies.
Shadowbringer	DRK		90	Ability		Instant	60s	Deals unaspected damage to all enemies in a straight line before you with a potency of 600 for the first enemy, and 50% less for all remaining enemies.

PvP actions

Action	Acquired		Level	Type	MP	Casting	Recast	Description
Hard Slash (PvP)	DRK		30	Weaponskill		Instant	2.4s	Delivers an attack with a potency of 3000.
Syphon Strike (PvP)	DRK		30	Weaponskill		Instant	2.4s	Delivers an attack with a potency of 4000.
Souleater (PvP)	DRK		30	Weaponskill		Instant	2.4s	Delivers an attack with a potency of 5000.
Quietus (PvP)	DRK		64	Weaponskill		Instant	2.4s	Delivers an attack with a potency of 8,000 to all nearby enemies.
Shadowbringer (PvP)	DRK		30	Instant		Instant	1s	Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 6,000 to all enemies in a straight line before you.
Plunge (PvP)	DRK		30	Ability		Instant	15s	Rushes target and delivers an attack with a potency of 2000.
The Blackest Night (PvP)	DRK		30	Ability		Instant	15s	Creates a barrier around self or target party member that absorbs equivilant to a heal of 8,000 potency.
Salted Earth (PvP)	DRK		30	Ability		Instant	30s	Instantly draws nearby enemies to your side, and creates a patch of salted earth at your feet, dealing unaspected damage over time to any enemies inside.
Bloodspiller (PvP)	DRK		30	Weaponskill		Instant	2.4s	Delivers an attack with a potency of 4000.
Salt and Darkness (PvP)	DRK		30	Ability		Instant	10s	All enemies standing in the corrupted patch of Salted Earth take additional unaspected damage with a potency of 4000.

Common actions (PvP)

Action	Acquired	Level	Type	MP	Casting	Recast	Description
Standard-issue Elixir (PvP)	ANY	30	Ability		4.5s	5s	Restores your HP and MP to maximum. Casting will be interrupted when damage is taken.
Recuperate (PvP)	ANY	30	Ability	2,500	Instant	1s	Restores own HP.
Purify (PvP)	ANY	30	Ability		Instant	30s	Removes Stun, Heavy, Bind, Silence, Half-asleep, Sleep, and Deep Freeze.
Guard (PvP)	ANY	30	Ability		Instant	30s	Reduces damage taken by 90% and grants immunity to Stun, Heavy, Bind, Silence, Half-asleep, Sleep, Deep Freeze, and knockback and draw-in effects.
Sprint (PvP)	ANY	30	Ability		Instant	1.5s	Increases movement speed. Effect ends upon reuse or execution of another action.

Limit Break (PvP)

Action	Acquired	Level	Type	MP	Casting	Recast	Description
Eventide (PvP)	DRK	30	Limit Break		Instant	10s	Delivers an attack to all enemies in a straight line before and behind you.

Tank actions

Action	Acquired	Level	Type	MP	Casting	Recast	Description
Rampart	Tank	8	Ability		Instant	90s	Reduces damage taken by 20%.
Low Blow	Tank	12	Ability		Instant	25s	Stuns target.
Provoke	Tank	15	Ability		Instant	30s	Gesture threateningly, placing yourself at the top of a target's enmity list while gaining additional enmity.
Interject	Tank	18	Ability		Instant	30s	Interrupts the use of a target's action.
Reprisal	Tank	22	Ability		Instant	60s	Reduces damage dealt by nearby enemies by 10%.
Arm's Length	Melee DPS Physical Ranged DPS Tank	32	Ability		Instant	120s	Creates a barrier nullifying most knockback and draw-in effects.
Shirk	Tank	48	Ability		Instant	120s	Diverts 25% of enmity to target party member.

Traits

PvE traits

Trait	Acquired		Level	Effect
Tank Mastery	GLA PLD MRD WAR DRK GNB		1	Reduces damage taken by 20%. Furthermore, grants a bonus to maximum HP is granted based on your vitality attribute, and a bonus to damage dealt based on your strength attribute.
Blackblood	DRK		62	Allows for Blood Gauge accumulation upon the landing of certain actions.
Enhanced Blackblood	DRK		66	Allows for Blood Gauge accumulation upon the landing of any weaponskill or spell while under the effect of Blood Weapon.
Darkside Mastery	DRK		74	Upgrades Flood of Darkness and Edge of Darkness to Flood of Shadow and Edge of Shadow respectively.
Enhanced Plunge	DRK		78	Allows the accumulation of charges for consecutive uses of Plunge.
Enhanced Unmend	DRK		84	Reduces recast time of Plunge by 5 seconds when executing Unmend on most targets.
Melee Mastery	DRK		84	Increases the potency of Hard Slash to 170, Syphon Strike to 120, and Souleater to 120.
Enhanced Living Shadow	DRK		88	Increases the potency of attacks dealt by your simulacrum to 300.
Enhanced Living Shadow II	DRK		90	Upgrades Flood of Shadow executed by your simulacrum to Shadowbringer, which delivers an attack to all enemies in a straight line before it with a potency of 450 for the first enemy, and 25% less for all remaining enemies.

Combos

Performing actions in a certain order increases potency and applies combo bonuses.

=> => = Recovers HP and MP while increasing the Blood Gauge.

=> = Hits multiple enemies while also restoring MP and increasing the Blood Gauge.

Job mechanics

Blood & Darkside Gauge is Dark Knight's Job Gauge.

Blood Gauge in PvE

Upon learning the action Grit, a symbol will appear on the screen indicating when it is in effect. Grit increases enmity gained from using other actions.

Upon learning the trait Blackblood, the symbol which indicates the use of Grit will change to also display the Blood Gauge.

The Blood Gauge displays the amount of Blackblood a dark knight has accumulated, which can be used to execute several actions such as Bloodspiller (acquired at level 62) and Quietus (acquired at level 64).

Simple Mode

Grit (Active)

Darkside Gauge in PvE

Upon learning the action Flood of Darkness, an additional gauge will be displayed, indicating the remaining duration of Darkside.

Darkside increases damage dealt, and its duration can be extended by using actions such as Flood of Darkness and Edge of Darkness (acquired at level 40).

Upon learning the action The Blackest Night, an icon indicating the effect of Dark Arts will be displayed on the Darkside Gauge. Dark Arts is granted when the barrier created by the Blackest Night is completely absorbed. It can then be used to execute Flood of Darkness or Edge of Darkness without MP cost.

Upon learning the action Living Shadow, you can conjure a simulacrum to fight alongside you. Its duration will be displayed alongisde the Darkside Gauge.

Simple Mode

Darkside

Dark Arts

Living Shadow

Blood Gauge in PvP

The Blood Gauge displays the amount of Blackblood a dark knight has accumulated, which can be used to execute Bloodspiller and Quietus.

Simple Mode

Darkside Gauge in PvP

The Darkside Gauge indicates the remaining duration of Darkside. This effect is granted upon executing Edge of Shadow, increasing damage dealt by Bloodspiller and Quietus, and adding an additional effect to Edge of Shadow.

When the barrier created by The Blackest Night is completely absorbed, the Dark Arts effect will be activated. This effect can be consumed instead of MP to execute Edge of Shadow.

Simple Mode

Darkside

Darkarts

Gallery

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  Concept Art

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  Dark Knight Artifact Armor in 4.0 Stormblood.

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  Dark Knight Artifact Armor in 5.0 Shadowbringers.

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  Dark Knight Artifact Armor in 6.0 Endwalker.

See also

• Dark Knight Guide
• Dark Knight Endgame Rotations
• Dark Knight Macros
•   Dark Knight, a Big Fish

External links

• FinalFantasyXIV.com Dark Knight on the official website.

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Jobs