Dark Knight (Final Fantasy XI)

Dark Knight is one of the advanced jobs available for players to unlock upon obtaining level 30 in Final Fantasy XI.
Dark Knights are granted access to a unique line of Absorb spells. They temporarily siphon, or take away an ability from an enemy and add it to their own. These absorbed abilities consist of all the 7 major stats; Strength, Vitality, Dexterity, Agility, Mind, Intelligence and Charisma. Recently, they also gained the ability to Absorb an enemies TP. Although limited to only 1st and 2nd tier Black Magic spells, Dark Knights are given access to vital spells like Drain and Aspir.
Dark Knights excel at heavy physical damage, when combined with debilitating magical attacks to hamper and weaken an enemy, Dark Knights make formidable damage dealers within a party. Though they can wear heavy armor, Dark Knights are generally quick to die if attacked while utilizing job abilities such as Last Resort or Soul Eater which sacrifices defense for a greater boost to attack.
==Becoming a Dark Knight==
The quest for Dark Knight involves traveling to Bastok and walking to Palborough Mines. Within the mines, which are controlled by Quadav, the player must find a boat and take an underground river to see Zeid, the most notable and famous Galka Dark Knight and champion of Bastok.
Zeid grants the player the Greatsword Chaosbringer with which he must slay 100 creatures. It is only after performing this time consuming quest that a character earns the right to play as a Dark Knight, and after killing 100 more enemies they can obtain the Greatsword Deathbringer.
Dark Knights hold the best weapon rating in Scythe, are excellent wielders of Great Swords and formidable users of Great Axes and single-handed axes and swords.
==Abilities==
For a more in-depth description, see the Dark Knight abilities page
===Job abilities===
{|class="half-width FFXI article-table" style="text-align:center"	
Level 	Name
1 	Blood Weapon
5 	Arcane Circle
15 	Last Resort
20 	Weapon Bash
30 	Soul Eater
55 	Consume Mana
75Merit	Dark Seal
75Merit	Diabolic Eye
78 	Nether Void
87 	Arcane Crest
95 	Scarlet Delirium
96 	Soul Enslavement
===Spell List===
{|class="article-table FFXI" style="text-align:center"	
Level	Spell
5 	Stone
6 	Poison
10 	Drain
11 	Water
15 	Bio
17 	Aero
20 	Aspir
20 	Bind
23 	Fire
26 	Poisonga
29 	Blizzard
===Skill Ratings===
{|class="half-width FFXI article-table" style="text-align:center"	 	 	 	 	 	
Combat Skill	Rank	Caps by Level	Caps by Level	Caps by Level	Caps by Level	Caps by Level
Combat Skill	Rank	1 	37 	45 	75 	99
Scythe 	A+ 	6 	123 	138 	301 	424
Great Sword 	A- 	6 	123 	138 	294 	417
Axe 	B- 	5 	118 	132 	265 	388
Great Axe 	B- 	5 	118 	132 	265 	388
Sword 	B- 	5 	118 	132 	265 	388
Dagger 	C 	5 	114 	128 	250 	373
Club 	C- 	5 	114 	128 	245 	368
Marksmanship	E 	4 	101 	114 	215 	300
Evasion 	C 	5 	114 	128 	250 	373
Parrying 	E 	4 	101 	114 	215 	300
==Gameplay==
===Strengths===
*Dark Knights bring unique set of status ailments they can inflict on enemies with "Absorb" spells.
*Dark Knights can potentially gain TP very quickly while depriving enemies of their own.
*Dark Knights make great use of their early access to the spell Stun and are used often in Burning Circle battles.
*Best job for Excavation Duty Assault.
===Weaknesses===
*Dark Knight abilities generate a large amount of enmity, therefore the player has to refrain from going all-out.
*Dark Knights, despite wearing heavier armor, tend to end up with low defense through use of abilities and are KO'd easily.
*Due to Scythes having a very high delay, a Dark Knight needs to stack a lot of accuracy boosting equipment to make every hit count.
*May have a difficult time to find exp parties.
*Dark Knight Kraken Club + Soul Eater zerg strategy requires lots of money and healers.
==Support Jobs==
===Thief===
Thief is a very popular support job for Dark Knights to assist in increasing spike damage. Using Sneak Attack and Trick Attack allows a Dark Knight to drastically increase weapon skill damage. It is often used in combination with Last Resort and on occasion, though typically not successfully, with Soul Eater.
===Warrior===
Warrior is the most popular and widely accepted support job for Dark Knights for increasing damage over time. Berserk allows them to increase damage with each hit. Physical statistics from warrior also provides a slight advantage particularly in terms of Strength.
===Samurai===
Samurai has recently been given a boost due to a version update that added the ability Hasso and Seigan. In particular, Hasso provides a faster attack speed, Strength, and Accuracy bonus while using two handed weapons. Since most Dark Knights use either a Great Sword or a Scythe, this is an attractive feature for Samurai as a support job.
===Ninja===
In many high level events such as Dynamis or Einherjar, Dark Knights gain protection from many devastating or crippling enemy TP attacks with use of Utsusemi. Due to a version update, many more Dark Knights sub Samurai.
===Dancer===
Similar to other melee-oriented jobs, Dancer is an ideal sub for soloing due to the healing abilities based on TP it provides.
==Other appearances==
===Final Fantasy Trading Card Game===
Dark Knight appears on a card.
DarkKnight XI TCG.png|Trading card.
DarkKnight2 XI TCG.png|Trading card.
==Gallery==
Dark Knight FFXI Ikeda Icon.png|Promotional artwork of the Dark Knight by Yuzuki Ikeda.
Mithra DRK (FFXI).png|A Mithra Dark Knight wearing Artifact Armor.
==Etymology==
Category:Jobs in Final Fantasy XI