Dark Knight Guide — Endwalker 6.3
Dark Knight is a tank job in Final Fantasy XIV that have harnessed and utilise the power of darkness to become paragons of justice, using their greatswords to protect the people of Ishgard. This job can only be played after reaching Ishgard, the main city of the Heavensward expansion, and completing a short questline in the city after reaching Level 50.
What is Dark Knight's playstyle?
Dark Knight is a greatsword-swinging tank job with a focus on resource management, burst damage, and proper application of frequent, short-duration defensive cooldowns.
Offensively, Dark Knight gameplay involves building and spending both Mana and Blood while managing a suite of high-value offensive cooldowns. A skilled Dark Knight player can plan ahead to combine their resource dumps for party buffs to bring out unparalleled burst damage from the tank role.
On the defensive side, Dark Knight's strengths are flexibility and support.
While 
The Blackest Night alone doesn't match the strength of
the other tanks' new short-cooldown mitigation skills in Endwalker, it can be
used nearly twice as often, and 
Oblation is an entirely new
tool for Dark Knight players to throw into the mix for themselves or for other
party members. 
Dark Mind also provides high value against
the very frequent magic damage encountered in trials and raids, with a shorter
cooldown than any comparable skill.
This flexibility, along with its stylish aesthetic, make Dark Knight a popular pick both for casual play and hardcore progression.
Dark Knight Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
Highly flexible personal and supportive mitigation with 
The Blackest Night and 
Oblation.- Especially good mitigation versus magical damage with
Dark Mind. - Extremely high burst damage that shines in fights with short phases or in parties with strong raidbuffs.
- Flexible, resource management-based gameplay.
Weaknesses
Very busy burst windows that involve a lot of high-ping-unfriendly weaving.- No party-wide mitigation in lower-level content.
- Little self-healing outside of dungeons.
How do you unlock Dark Knight?
To unlock Dark Knight, you must reach at least level 50 on any Disciple of War or Magic and finish the final story quest of A Realm Reborn, "Before the Dawn." Upon entering Ishgard, accept the quest "Our End" from an NPC called "Ishgardian Citizen" in The Pillars (X: 13.2, Y: 8.8) to start the Dark Knight job questline.
Dark Knight Gauges
At lower levels, the Blood Gauge consists only of the small icon to the left,
which indicates whether 
Grit is currently active. On
reaching level 62 and unlocking the 
Blackblood trait, the
gauge expands to display how much Blood you have accumulated. Blood is gained
through combo GCDs 
Souleater and
Stalwart Soul, and by all GCD actions while
Blood Weapon is active. Blood can be spent on
Bloodspiller for single-target damage,
Quietus for AoE, and on 
Living Shadow
whenever it is available.
The Darkside Gauge shows the remaining duration of your
Darkside buff, which is gained by using
Flood of Darkness and 
Edge of Darkness or
their upgraded forms 
Flood of Shadow and
Edge of Shadow. Using up the entire shield granted by
The Blackest Night causes the small, sword-shaped element to
light up to indicate a free usage of your next Darkside generator. The final
component of the gauge is a red version of the main Darkside Gauge, which
appears when Living Shadow is summoned and tracks the remaining duration.
Dark Knight Video Resources
If you would prefer to watch a video that provides an overview of Dark Knight, feel free to give the video below a watch. The video was provided by Julia Care, a member of the community on The Balance Discord server.
Dark Knight Actions
| Action Name |
|
|
Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 Hard Slash
Lv. 1
|
|
|
Delivers an attack with a potency of 170. |
 Syphon Strike
Lv. 2
|
|
|
Delivers an attack with a potency of 120. Combo Action: Hard Slash Combo Potency: 260 Combo Bonus: Restores MP |
 Unleash
Lv. 6
|
|
|
Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 120 to all nearby enemies. |
 Grit
Lv. 10
|
|
|
Significantly increases enmity generation. Effect ends upon reuse. |
 Release Grit
Lv. 10
|
|
|
Cancels the effect of Grit. |
 Unmend
Lv. 15
|
|
|
Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 150. Additional Effect: Increased enmity Additional Effect: Reduces the recast time of Plunge by 5 seconds |
 Souleater
Lv. 26
|
|
|
Delivers an attack with a potency of 120. Combo Action: Syphon Strike Combo Potency: 340 Combo Bonus: Restores own HP Cure Potency: 300 Combo Bonus: Increases Blood Gauge by 20 |
 Flood of Darkness
Lv. 30
|
|
|
MP Cost: 3000.0 Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 100 to all enemies in a straight line before you. Additional Effect: Grants Darkside, increasing damage dealt by 10% Duration: 30s Extends Darkside duration by 30s to a maximum of 60s. Shares a recast timer with Edge of Darkness. |
 Blood Weapon
Lv. 35
|
|
|
Grants 5 stacks of Blood Weapon, each stack increasing Blood Gauge by 10 and restoring MP upon landing weaponskills or spells. Duration: 15s Effect does not stack when hitting multiple targets with a single attack. |
 Shadow Wall
Lv. 38
|
|
|
Reduces damage taken by 30%. Duration: 15s |
 Edge of Darkness
Lv. 40
|
|
|
MP Cost: 3000.0 Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 300. Additional Effect: Grants Darkside, increasing damage dealt by 10% Duration: 30s Extends Darkside duration by 30s to a maximum of 60s. Shares a recast timer with Flood of Darkness. |
 Stalwart Soul
Lv. 40
|
|
|
Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 100 to all nearby enemies. Combo Action: Unleash Combo Potency: 140 Combo Bonus: Restores MP Combo Bonus: Increases Blood Gauge by 20 |
 Dark Mind
Lv. 45
|
|
|
Reduces magic vulnerability by 20%. Duration: 10s |
 Living Dead
Lv. 50
|
|
|
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. Living Dead Duration: 10s Additional Effect: Restores HP with each weaponskill successfully delivered or spell cast Cure Potency: 1500 While under the effect of Walking Dead, most attacks will not lower your HP below 1. If, before the Walking Dead timer runs out, an amount of HP totaling your maximum HP is restored, the effect will change to Undead Rebirth. If this amount is not restored, you will be KO'd. Walking Dead Duration: 10s While under the effect of Undead Rebirth, most attacks will not lower your HP below 1. Undead Rebirth Duration: Time remaining on Walking Dead |
 Salted Earth
Lv. 52
|
|
|
Creates a patch of salted earth at your feet, dealing unaspected damage with a potency of 50 to any enemies who enter. Duration: 15s ※Action changes to Salt and Darkness upon execution. |
 Plunge
Lv. 54
|
|
|
Delivers a jumping attack with a potency of 150. Maximum Charges: 2 Cannot be executed while bound. |
 Abyssal Drain
Lv. 56
|
|
|
Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 240 to target and all enemies nearby it. Additional Effect: Restores own HP Cure Potency: 200 Additional Effect: Restores MP Shares a recast timer with Carve and Spit. |
 Carve and Spit
Lv. 60
|
|
|
Delivers a threefold attack with a potency of 510. Additional Effect: Restores MP Shares a recast timer with Abyssal Drain. |
 Bloodspiller
Lv. 62
|
|
|
Delivers an attack with a potency of 500. Blood Gauge Cost: 50 |
 Quietus
Lv. 64
|
|
|
Delivers an attack with a potency of 200 to all nearby enemies. Blood Gauge Cost: 50 |
 Delirium
Lv. 68
|
|
|
Grants 3 stacks of Delirium, each stack allowing the execution of Quietus or Bloodspiller without Blackblood cost, restoring MP when landing either weaponskill. Duration: 15s |
 The Blackest Night
Lv. 70
|
|
|
MP Cost: 3000.0 Creates a barrier around self or target party member that absorbs damage totaling 25% of target's maximum HP. Duration: 7s Grants Dark Arts when barrier is completely absorbed. Dark Arts Effect: Consume Dark Arts instead of MP to execute Edge of Shadow or Flood of Shadow |
 Edge of Shadow
Lv. 74
|
|
|
MP Cost: 3000.0 Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 460. Additional Effect: Grants Darkside, increasing damage dealt by 10% Duration: 30s Extends Darkside duration by 30s to a maximum of 60s. Shares a recast timer with Flood of Shadow. |
 Flood of Shadow
Lv. 74
|
|
|
MP Cost: 3000.0 Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 160 to all enemies in a straight line before you. Additional Effect: Grants Darkside, increasing damage dealt by 10% Duration: 30s Extends Darkside duration by 30s to a maximum of 60s. Shares a recast timer with Edge of Shadow. |
 Dark Missionary
Lv. 76
|
|
|
Reduces magic damage taken by self and nearby party members by 10%. Duration: 15s |
 Living Shadow
Lv. 80
|
|
|
Conjure a simulacrum of your darkside to fight alongside you. Simulacrum Attack Potency: 350 Duration: 20s Blood Gauge Cost: 50 Additional Effect: Simulacrum is able to execute Shadowbringer, delivering an attack to all enemies in a straight line before it with a potency of 500 for the first enemy, and 25% less for all remaining enemies. |
 Oblation
Lv. 82
|
|
|
Reduces damage taken by a party member or self by 10%. Duration: 10s Maximum Charges: 2 |
 Salt and Darkness
Lv. 86
|
|
|
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. ※This action cannot be assigned to a hotbar. |
 Shadowbringer
Lv. 90
|
|
|
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. Maximum Charges: 2 Can only be executed while under the effect of Darkside. |
Role Actions
| Action Name |
|
|
Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
 Rampart
Lv. 8
|
|
|
Reduces damage taken by 20%. Duration: 20s |
 Low Blow
Lv. 12
|
|
|
Stuns target. Duration: 5s |
 Provoke
Lv. 15
|
|
|
Gesture threateningly, placing yourself at the top of a target's enmity list while gaining additional enmity. |
 Interject
Lv. 18
|
|
|
Interrupts the use of a target's action. |
 Reprisal
Lv. 22
|
|
|
Reduces damage dealt by nearby enemies by 10%. Duration: 10s |
 Arm's Length
Lv. 32
|
|
|
Creates a barrier nullifying most knockback and draw-in effects. Duration: 6s Additional Effect: Slow +20% when barrier is struck Duration: 15s |
 Shirk
Lv. 48
|
|
|
Diverts 25% of enmity to target party member. |
Dark Knight Traits
| Action Name | Acquired | Effect |
|---|---|---|
 Tank Mastery |
Lv. 1 |
Reduces damage taken by 20%. Furthermore, grants a bonus to maximum HP based on your vitality attribute, and a bonus to damage dealt based on your strength attribute. |
 Blackblood |
Lv. 62 |
Allows for Blood Gauge accumulation upon the landing of certain actions. |
 Enhanced Blackblood |
Lv. 66 |
Allows for Blood Gauge accumulation upon the landing of any weaponskill or spell while under the effect of Blood Weapon. |
 Darkside Mastery |
Lv. 74 |
Upgrades Flood of Darkness and Edge of Darkness to Flood of Shadow and Edge of Shadow respectively. |
 Enhanced Plunge |
Lv. 78 |
Allows the accumulation of charges for consecutive uses of Plunge. Maximum Charges: 2 |
 Enhanced Unmend |
Lv. 84 |
Reduces recast time of Plunge by 5 seconds when executing Unmend on most targets. |
 Melee Mastery |
Lv. 84 |
Increases the potency of Hard Slash to 170, Syphon Strike to 120, and Souleater to 120. |
 Enhanced Living Shadow |
Lv. 88 |
Increases the potency of attacks dealt by your simulacrum to 350. |
 Enhanced Living Shadow II |
Lv. 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 500 for the first enemy, and 25% less for all remaining enemies. |
Dark Knight Lore
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.”
Changelog
- 13 Jan. 2023 (FAQ page): Updated for Patch 6.3.
- 13 Jan. 2023 (Leveling page): Updated for Patch 6.3.
- 13 Jan. 2023 (this page): Updated for Patch 6.3.
- 13 Jan. 2023 (rotation page): Updated for Patch 6.3.
- 13 Jan. 2023 (gear page): Updated for Patch 6.3.
- 13 Jan. 2023 (how to improve page): Updated for Patch 6.3.
- 13 Jan. 2023 (melding page): Updated for Patch 6.3.
- 28 Aug. 2022 (how to improve page): Updated for Patch 6.2.
- 28 Aug. 2022 (FAQ page): Updated for Patch 6.2.
- 28 Aug. 2022 (melding page): Updated for Patch 6.2.
- 28 Aug. 2022 (rotation page): Updated for Patch 6.2.
- 28 Aug. 2022 (Leveling page): Updated for Patch 6.2.
- 28 Aug. 2022 (gear page): Updated for Patch 6.2.
- 28 Aug. 2022 (this page): Updated for Patch 6.2.
- 20 Apr. 2022 (how to improve page): Updated for Patch 6.1
- 20 Apr. 2022 (this page): Updated for Patch 6.1.
- 20 Apr. 2022 (FAQ page): Updated for Patch 6.1.
- 20 Apr. 2022 (gear page): Updated for Patch 6.1.
- 20 Apr. 2022 (melding page): Updated for Patch 6.1
- 20 Apr. 2022 (rotation page): Updated for Patch 6.1.
- 20 Apr. 2022 (Asphodelos page): Updated for Patch 6.1
- 31 Mar. 2022 (Leveling page): Guide added.
- 16 Feb. 2022 (gear page): Updated with Savage gear.
- 16 Feb. 2022 (this page): Guide added.
- 16 Feb. 2022 (rotation page): Updated for Endwalker.
- 14 Dec. 2021 (gear page): Edited to reflect Patch 6.0 adjustments.
- 27 Nov. 2021 (rotation page): Guide added.
- 27 Nov. 2021 (FAQ page): Guide added.
- 27 Nov. 2021 (gear page): Guide added.
- 27 Nov. 2021 (how to improve page): Guide added.
- 27 Nov. 2021 (melding page): Guide added.
- 02 Apr. 2021 (Asphodelos page): Guide added.
Guides from Other Classes
This guide is written by A Pile of Cats, a Dark Knight enthusiast since he started playing during Sigmascape and mentor on the Balance. He enjoys progging, optimizing, and instructing others on the job, and has multiple early tier clears and top parses under his belt.
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