The Dark Knight is one of the advanced job classes in Final Fantasy XI. This is a list of job abilities and traits of the class.
Job Traits[]
Attack Bonus[]
Attack Bonus provides an increase to the the Dark Knight's Attack, with each new level of the trait adding more than the previous.
There are multiple levels available:
- Attack Bonus I - available at level 10
- Attack Bonus II - available at level 30
- Attack Bonus III - available at level 50
- Attack Bonus IV - available at level 70
- Attack Bonus V - available at level 76
- Attack Bonus VI - available at level 83
- Attack Bonus VII - available at level 91
- Attack Bonus VIII - available at level 99
Desperate Blows[]
Desperate Blows reduces the delay of physical melee attacks for the Dark Knight while they are under the effects of Last Resort. The delay reduction can be increased by adding Merit Points to the ability; with a -2% delay increase per upgrade.
Resist Paralyze[]
This set of traits gives the Dark Knight a resistance to the Paralyze status, reducing the chance that the Dark Knight will be afflicted, as well as a increasing the chance the duration of the effect will be reduced if they are afflicted. Each new level of this trait increases the Dark Knight's resistance.
There are multiple levels available:
- Resist Paralyze I - available at level 20
- Resist Paralyze II - available at level 40
- Resist Paralyze III - available at level 60
- Resist Paralyze IV - available at level 75
Arcana Killer[]
This trait, available at level 25, causes Intimidation in members of the Arcana monster family while the Dark Knight has established enmity with them. This Intimidation effect works similarly to Paralysis, causing a chance for that enemy's spells and attacks to be temporarily interrupted, although it has no effect on enemy job abilities or Weapon Skills.
Occult Acumen[]
Occult Acumen is a trait initially gained at level 45. It provides a TP bonus to the Dark Knight when casting spells. The amount gained is equal to a percentage of the MP spent, with higher levels of the trait increasing the percentage of gain. Only spells that deal direct damage to a target will provide a TP bonus.
There are multiple levels available:
- Occult Acumen I - available at level 45
- Occult Acumen II - available at level 58
- Occult Acumen III - available at level 71
- Occult Acumen IV - available at level 84
- Occult Acumen V - available at level 97
Stalwart Soul[]
Stalwart Soul is a trait initially gained at level 45. It reduces the amount of HP consumed when using Soul Eater by 20% initially, without affecting the damage increase. Each new level of this trait decreases the amount of HP consumed by 10%, up to a maximum of 50%.
There are multiple levels available:
- Stalwart Soul I - available at level 45
- Stalwart Soul II - available at level 60
- Stalwart Soul III - available at level 75
- Stalwart Soul IV - available at level 90
Muted Soul[]
Muted Soul is a Merit trait. It reduces the enmity caused when Soul Eater is used. The enmity reduction can be increased by adding more Merit Points to this trait, with a -10 reduction to enmity per upgrade.
Critical Attack Bonus[]
Critical Attack Bonus is a trait that increases the effectiveness of critical hits, increasing the damage done by critical hits by a certain percentage.
There are multiple levels available:
- Critical Attack Bonus I - available at level 85
- Critical Attack Bonus II - available at level 95
Tactical Parry[]
Tactical Parry is a trait that awards TP when the Dark Knight successfully parries an attack with their weapon.
There are multiple levels available:
- Tactical Parry I - available at level 88
- Tactical Parry II - available at level 98
Job abilities[]
Blood Weapon[]
Blood Weapon is the Dark Knight special job ability. As with all initial special job abilities, it is usable from level 1. The ability, when activated, will give the Dark Knight a 30 second special ability status effect. It has a recast of 1 hour.
While in affect, every successful melee landed hit by the Dark Knight will convert a significant amount of the damage done into HP as a "Drain" effect. Certain types of enemies can reduce the amount gained, or completely eliminate it, such as members of the Undead family. Blood Weapon also does not increase the damage done, and has no effect on accuracy.
Arcane Circle[]
Arcane Circle is an ability available at Level 5. The ability will grant all nearby allies protection and a bonus to attacks versus arcane type creatures, as well as a chance to intimidate them for a period of 30 seconds. It is usable once every 10 minutes. Arcana include Bombs, Golems, Magic Pots, Jars, Evil Weapons, and Mimics.
Equipment Enhancement[]
- Chaos Sollerets
- Chaotic Earring
- Nyx Gorget
Last Resort[]
Last Resort is an ability available at level 15 and is usable once every 5 minutes. The ability will increase a Dark Knight's Attack characteristic by 15% while it will decrease their Defense characteristic by 15% as well for a duration of 3 minutes.
It creates a considerable amount of enmity when activated, and it is likely to draw the attention of any creatures the party might be fighting, so some caution before use is recommended. Generally, this means that Last Resort is only used by Dark Knights just before using a Weapon skill.
Weapon Bash[]
Weapon Bash is an ability gained once the player reaches level 20. The ability can be used once every 3 minutes. When used, the Dark Knight will use their weapon to strike the enemy. It does a small amount of Blunt damage; however, its true application is its ability to Stun a creature and interrupt a special ability activation or spell casting. Since an update in 2007, the chance of Stun being inflicted is near 100%. This ability creates a large amount of enmity.
Soul Eater[]
Soul Eater is an ability available at level 30. The ability can be used once every 6 minutes and lasts for a period of 1 minute or until the player removes the effect manually. While active, each hit inflicted by the Dark Knight will decrease the Dark Knight's HP by 10%. This loss of HP is converted directly into damage against another creature. Soul Eater also has a moderate effect on the Dark Knight's accuracy.
If used with a support or Support Job, the player will still lose 10% of their life per hit, but will only transfer about 5% of that into damage to the enemy.
Although Soul Eater is not affected by Defense or Vitality, it is affected by resistance to physical attack. Creatures weak to physical damage will take more damage than 10% of the Dark Knight's HP, while creatures with high resistance to physical damage, such as Flan, will take less, with flan taking about half the normal amount.
Ability-enhancing Equipment[]
- Gloom Breastplate
- Chaos Burgeonet
- Sable Cuisses
All three items are assumed to increase the percentage of converted HP to damage to 12% rather than 10%, and do not stack with each other.
Consume Mana[]
Consume Mana is an ability available at level 55. The ability can be used once every minute, and lasts for a minute or until the player lands a successful melee attack, whichever occurs first. When activated, the Dark Knight will gain an effect that converts their current MP into extra damage for the next successful attack. It consumes all of the Dark Knight's MP for this purpose, although nothing is consumed until the Dark Knight successfully strikes a target.
Dark Seal[]
Dark Seal is a merit ability. It boosts the Accuracy of the next Dark magic spell the Dark Knight casts. The spell accuracy gained depends on the number or Merit Points spent to enhance the ability. It has a duration of 1 minute, or until the Dark Knight casts a spell (regardless of if the spell is classified as Dark Magic or not) and has a recast of 5 minutes.
Diabolic Eye[]
Diabolic Eye is a merit ability that grants the Dark Knight an increase in accuracy at the expense of max HP. When activated, it consumes 15% of the Dark Knight's max HP for an attack accuracy bonus. The amount of accuracy gained depends on the number of Merit Points spent to enhance the ability(a 5% accuracy bonus per upgrade), and has a duration of 3 minutes, with a recast time of 5 minutes.
Nether Void[]
Nether Void is an ability obtained at level 78. It increases the absorption of the next dark magic spell by about 50%. It has a duration of 1 minute or until the Dark Knight casts a spell (regardless of if the spell is classified as Dark Magic or not) and has a recast time of 5 minutes.
Arcane Crest[]
Arcane Crest is an ability obtained at level 87. It afflicts a targeted Arcana type enemy with lowered accuracy, evasion, magic accuracy, magic evasion, and TP gain for the next 3 minutes. It has a recast time of 5 minutes.
Scarlet Delirium[]
Scarlet Delirium is an ability obtained at level 95. It has a duration of 1 minute 30 seconds and a recast time of 3 minutes. When activated it afflicts the user with a unique defensive effect that states "Damage you take is being channeled into enhanced attack and magic attack". During this time, any damage the Dark Knight takes begins being funneled into an attack and magic attack boost. After taking damage, the effect is changed to an offensive one that states "Attack and magic are enhanced". While the offensive effect is active, any boost obtained by the defensive effect is applied.
Soul Enslavement[]
Soul Enslavement is an ability obtained at level 96. It is the "SP 2", or second special job ability for the Dark Knight job. When activated, for the next 30 seconds successful melee attacks made by the Dark Knight absorb the target's TP. It seems to behave similarly to Blood Weapon, with similar rules and restrictions, only absorbing TP instead of HP. It has a recast time of 1 hour.