Final Fantasy 14: Complete Guide To Playing Dark Knight

The Beserk-esque Dark Knight job in Final Fantasy 14 is one of the more versatile Tanks in the game due to their ability to imbue their towering greatswords with dark magicks, making them a formidable force on both offense and defense. If they aren't protecting their teammates from potentially fatal attacks, they are usually draining the blood out of their foes with unique skills and actions.

In addition to being incredibly stylistic and foreboding in its appearance, the Dark Knight's armor also provides the highest defensive stats across the board, making them an absolute unit on the battlefield. While they won't blow anyone away with over-the-top flashiness, they will stand their ground and look cool doing so.

Updated December 17, 2024, by Seth Parmer: The last time we edited this Dark Knight guide was right when Dawntrail officially launched, meaning there have been several changes since then, allowing us to revisit this guide, touch up its updated Actions, and even replace the best gear section with the freshest, newest, and current best equipment you can fit your Dark Knight with. Along with how to obtain them!

The Birth Of The Black Swordsman

The vast majority of Jobs in Final Fantasy 14 typically require you to master a Class before obtaining the Soul Crystal needed to access them and level them up.

However, in the case of the Dark Knight, you will only need to reach Level 50 with any other Disciples of War or Magic and must have the city of Ishgard unlocked.

Due to Dark Knight getting introduced with the Heavensward expansion, you can access it as part of the critically acclaimed free trial of Final Fantasy 14.

Requirements

• Reach Level 50 (Disciples of War or Magic)
• Unlock the city of Ishgard
  • Ishgard becomes available upon completing every Seventh Astral Era MSQ through Patch 2.55, ending with "Before the Dawn."

With Level 50 obtained and the city of Ishgard unlocked you are ready to become a Dark Knight! To do so, speak with the Ishgardian Citizen found in The Pillars, Coerthas (X:13.2, Y:8.8), and accept the quest "Our End."

Completing the quest will reward you with the Soul of the Dark Knight and a few gear pieces for the Job, allowing you to start your journey as a Dark Knight!

While we won't cover how to jump from Level 50 to Level 100 with the Dark Knight in this guide, we have that already covered in a separate one found here! Additionally, if you would like a more in-depth walkthrough on how to unlock Dark Knight and all the other Jobs, please check out our guide for that here!

Dark Knight Rotations

Due to the Dark Knight being a Tank Job, you will not have to worry about positional attacks as you will be placed directly in front of the enemy 90 percent of the time.

However, even as the impenetrable wall of the group, you still have access to basic attack rotations and can deal quite a bit of damage from them and your other abilities.

Below covers your basic rotations without any of the Off-GCDs thrown into to mix to avoid overwhelming you with all of the systems, mechanics, and responsibilities that come with a class such as the Dark Knight.

Basic Single-Target Rotation

• Hard Slash > Syphon Strike > Souleater

Basic AoE Rotation

• Unleash > Stalwart Soul

Delirium Rotation

• Scarlet Delirium > Comeuppance > Torcleaver

Dark Knight Off-GCD Actions

While we laid out the basic rotations above, we purposely left out the Off-GCD Actions to prevent any confusion about what they do, when to use them, and how to properly Weave them into your rotation to get the most out of the Dark Knight. You can find the complete list of Off-GCD Actions for the Dark Knight in the table below!

Action	Recast Time	Information
Grit	2s	Gain substantially more Enmity.
Release Grit	1s	Ends the effect of Grit.
Blood Weapon	60s	Gain three stacks of Blood Weapon, increasing Blood Gauge by ten per stack, restoring MP with every landed Weaponskill or Spell for 15s.
Flood of Darkness	1s	Attack with a potency of 300.
Flood of Shadow	1s	Attack with a potency of 160 to all enemies in a straight line.
Edge of Darkness	1s	Attack with a potency of 300 to all enemies in a straight line.
Edge of Shadow	1s	Attack with a potency of 460 to all enemies in a straight line.
The Blackest Night	15s	Create a Barrier around yourself or a target, absorbing 25 percent of incoming damage equal to your or your target's max HP for 7s.
Shadow Wall	120s	Incoming damage is reduced by 30 percent for 15s.
Dark Mind	60s	Makes you 20 percent more resilient to Magic Damage and 10 percent more resilient to Physical Damage for 10s.
Dark Missionary	90s	Incoming Magic Damage is reduced by 10 percent, and incoming Physical Damage is reduced by five percent for yourself and all nearby party members for 15s. In Patch 6.4, the radius has been increased from 15 to 30 yalms.
Living Dead	300s	Casts Living Dead on self for 10s. If you get KOd with Living Dead active, your status will be switched to Walking Dead.
Living Shadow	120s	Summon a simulacrum of your Darkside to battle beside you for 20s, attacking with a potency of 420. You also obtain Scorn for 30s.
Abyssal Drain	60s	Attack with the potency of 240 to all targets in the area, restoring your HP with the Cure Potency of 500.
Delirium	60s	Receive three stacks of Delirium and Blood Weapon, giving you access to Scarlet Delirium and Impalement for 15s.
Oblation	60s	Incoming damage from yourself or a party member is reduced by ten percent for 10s. Can store up to two charges of Oblation.
Salted Earth	90s	Create an AoE of Salted Earth underneath yourself, attacking with the potency of 50 to enemies who enter the area. The affected area lasts for 15s.
Salt and Darkness	20s	Enemies standing within the Salted Earth AoE will receive substantially more damage, with the first target getting attacked with a potency of 500 and the rest receiving 50 percent less.
Shadowbringer	60s	Attack in a straight line with a potency of 600 on the first target and the rest receiving 50 percent less. Can store two charges of Shadowbringer and can only be executed when under the effects of Darkside.
Carve and Spit	60s	Restore MP by performing a threefold attack that has a potency of 540.
Plunge	30s	Perform a jumping attack that has a potency of 150. Can store two charges of Plunge.
Shadowstride	30s	Dash to your target. Can hold a max of two charges at a time.
Shadowed Vigil	120s	Incoming damage is reduced by 40 percent for 15s.

As you can see, there are tons of Off-GCD actions for the Dark Knight job, so let's quickly expand on the more crucial ones you will constantly use when performing your Openers.

• Always use The Blackest Knight and Unmend during the Pre-Pull phase to guarantee Living Shadow gets used early in the encounter.
• Using The Blackest Night during the Pre-Pull phase allows you to stop your MP from overcapping whenever you perform Hard Slash under the effects of Blood Weapon. If The Blackest Night breaks, your MP will be returned to you, allowing you to execute Edge of Shadow at no additional cost.
• Always follow Shadowbringer up with Edge of Shadow to deal enormous damage and extend the duration of Darkside.

If you're curious about what a complete Opener looks like for a Level 100 Dark Knight that highlights the examples mentioned above, then please head to the next section to see two of them!

Best Dark Knight Opener In FFXIV Dawntrail

As touched on briefly in the "Rotations" section, Openers are a much more complex string of actions that blend Off-GCD abilities seamlessly in with your standard GCD ones used in your rotation.

Openers are a critical part of Final Fantasy 14 and will help you get the most out of your Job, and having a well-optimized one will help you and your teammates out in the long run, especially if you're a Tank role, such as the Dark Knight.

The Opener found below is based on a Level 100 Dark Knight. This is your go-to string and the one you will likely use most of the time. Every Off-GCD Action is bolded and in parenthesis, making it easier to comprehend and separate them from your main actions.

Standard Opener

• Pre-Pull: (The Blackest Night) > Unmend
  • Cast The Blackest Night with three seconds remaining on the countdown.
  • Cast Unmend with one second remaining on the countdown.

• (Grade 1 Gemdraught of Strength) > Hard Slash (Edge of Shadow Living Shadow) > Syphon Strike > Souleater (Delirium) > Disesteem (Salted Earth Edge of Shadow) > Scarlet Delirium (Shadowbringer Edge of Shadow) > Comeuppance (Carve and Spit Edge of Shadow) > Torcleaver (Shadowbringer Edge of Shadow) > Bloodspiller (Salt and Darkness)

Best Gear For Dark Knight In FFXIV Dawntrail

Managing your equipment and Materia is a surprisingly overlooked and misunderstood feature of Final Fantasy 14. Specific roles and Jobs will naturally have strong preferences on which stats you need to focus on when slotting in materia, obtaining armor and weapons, etc. Below is an example of a Best in Slot build for a Level 100 Dark Knight!

	Equipment	Materia	Stats	How To Obtain
Weapon	Dark Horse Champion's Greatsword	Heavens' Eye Materia XII Heaven's Eye Materia XII	DMG 146 STR 628 VIT 667 CRT 393 DET 275	Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M4 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x8 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition IV.
Head	Dark Horse Champion's Bandana of Fending	Heaven's Eye Materia XII Heaven's Eye Materia XII	STR 371 VIT 391 CRT 236 DET 165	Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M3 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x4 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition II.
Body	Augmented Quetzalli Mail of Fending	Heavens' Eye Materia XII Heavens' Eye Materia XII	STR 588 VIT 621 CRT 374 TEN 262	Upgraded by giving x1 Surgelight Twine and the corresponding Quetzalli Armor to Theone in Solution Nine (X:8.5, Y:13.6).
Hands	Augmented Quetzalli Gauntlets of Fending	Heaven's Eye Materia XII Heavens' Eye Materia XII	STR 371 VIT 391 CRT 236 SKS 165	Upgraded by giving x1 Surgelight Twine and the corresponding Quetzalli Armor to Theone in Solution Nine (X:8.5, Y:13.6).
Legs	Dark Horse Champion's Breeches of Fending	Savage Aim Materia XII Savage Aim Materia XII	STR 588 VIT 621 CRT 262 DET 374	Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M3 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x4 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition II.
Feet	Augmented Quetzalli Sollerets of Fending	Heavens' Eye Materia XII Heavens' Eye Materia XII	STR 371 VIT 391 CRT 236 DET 165	Upgraded by giving x1 Surgelight Twine and the corresponding Quetzalli Armor to Theone in Solution Nine (X:8.5, Y:13.6).
Earrings	Dark Horse Champion's Earrings of Fending	Savage Might Materia XII Savage Might Materia XII	STR 292 VIT 308 CRT 186 SKS 130	Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M1 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x3 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition I.
Necklace	Dark Horse Champion's Choker of Fending	Heavens' Eye Materia XII Heavens' Eye Materia XII	STR 292 VIT 308 CRT 186 DET 130	Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M1 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x3 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition I.
Bracelets	Augmented Quetzalli Bracelets of Fending	Heavens' Eye Materia XII Heavens' Eye Materia XII	STR 292 VIT 308 CRT 186 DET 130	Upgraded by giving x1 Surgelight Glaze and the corresponding Quetzalli Accessory to Theone in Solution Nine (X:8.5, Y:13.6).
Left Ring	Augmented Quetzalli Ring of Fending	Heavens' Eye Materia XII Savage Aim Materia XII	STR 292 VIT 308 CRT 130 TEN 186	Upgraded by giving x1 Surgelight Glaze and the corresponding Quetzalli Accessory to Theone in Solution Nine (X:8.5, Y:13.6).
Right Ring	Dark Horse Champion's Ring of Fending	Heaven's Eye Materia XII Heaven's Eye Materia XII	STR 292 VIT 308 CRT 186 DET 130	Can drop during AAC Light-heavyweight M1 (Savage) or purchased from Hhihwi in Solution Nine (X:8.7, Y:13.7) for x3 AAC Illustrated: LHW Edition I.

Additionally, as highlighted above, using a Grade 1 Gemdraught of Strengt is another excellent way to extract a bit more juice out of your Dark Knight. For a food buff, Moqueca will give your Dark Knight a significant boost before jumping into the fray.

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