[Potemken]

So I'm thinking about being a dark knight. It will be my first adv job. I love the spells and am thinking of being more focused on spell casting. Well not focused, but I would like to throw an absorb, a stun, a drain/drain II, a thunder/thunder II, a bio/bio II, whenever I wanted, those are my fav spells. I was wondering what would be a good sub? I kinda wanted more mp, but blm would just add low tier bad spells i would never use. Warp would be the only reason.

So far I've farmed up Cruel Scythe and Fasting ring to help me out some, during the 20's, and I wanna keep a similar build all the way thru my levels. Buff up my acc and mp. Some int, then str. Maybe Mag Acc?

Any builds you guys know of? Any suggestions other than "Don't.", lol?

[Nuriko]

For PT play, you'd be looking at /WAR /NIN /THF /SAM, I think. Really, your sub generally is going to support the melee side of things, that's where your focus should be. From my understanding (my DRK is only in the mid-20s), the spells you'll make the most use of are drain/aspir and the absorbs, and maybe dread spikes and stun.

Mind you, other subs can be useful at times for things like soloing and special circumstances. I actually went DRK/WHM once, and DRK/BST actually works with FoV and drain to some extent. It was funny asking if I should be soloing T mobs as DRK, though I did die a few times.

[Mhurron]

Absorb and Stun are very good to cast. Drain will keep up your dark skill. In a party DO NOT CAST Bio. Just don't. If your WHM or RDM is not casting Dia, smack them over the head, but don't cast Bio.

Your elemental spells are pretty useless except maybe to magic burst, don't waste your MP casting them frequently.

DRK is a DD job, swinging large weapons, focus your stats primarily there. Your subjobs in parties will be focused that way as well such as WAR or SAM.

[Clever Ninja]

/DNC is a good sub after level 30 for soloing to add on to what Nuriko said. I always seen DRK/WHM in Campaign if you're doing it at lower levels, just because having all those support spells and abilities + extra MP gives some nice survivability.

On using spells, Drain/Aspir/Absorb/Stun are what tend to be ok to cast in a party. Early on before Refresh you'd want to conserve MP as much as possible(as is true for any mage job, like Blue Mage) so it's best to hold off on nuking. If you still want to nuke, then make sure to keep your elemental skill capped, and also have a very good macro set for nuking to cut down on resists.

For equipment, see if you can get a high level friend to help you get a Parade Gorget. It's pretty much a godsend for DRK when you're low on MP. Since you probably won't have a Peacock Charm since it's your first Advanced Job, don't fulltime once you hit 60+, wear a +Accuracy neck slot and just macro it in when your MP is low.

[Feba]

Originally Posted by Potemken

So I'm thinking about being a dark knight.

Don't! I have a friend that decided to play DRK. He's been an idiot ever since.

If you really want to have much of any spell casting, I'd recommend staying away from DRK. Even if you make it technically feasible, like I've seen some DRK/WHMs do, you're going to have a hard time when it comes to group events.

At the least, learn which spells will be useful, and which have negative consequences. As Mhurron mentioned, Bio is the tool that Satan uses to perform his handiwork within Vana'diel. Elemental spells like Thunder will also probably be mostly useless. Maybe if you had an equipment swap for Magic damage, and there was a skillchain to magic burst off, but really, you'd be better off putting that money and effort into your melee gear as a DRK.

[TheGrandMom]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Dark Knights! I love mine to pieces and agree with what people have been telling you.

Thief sub after level 30 only. Samurai sub after level 30 only. Ninja sub only in certain instances before 70, but mainly a sub for after level 70. Otherwise Monk or Warrior for a sub in the lower levels. (Personally I preferred Monk sub over Warrior because people would ask me to tank otherwise and drks do not make good tanks.) I have never tried /dnc so I can't comment on that. I have done /whm in the lower levels when getting a healer was difficult and it worked fine but was only used on a as needed basis.

Unfortunately you won't be using a lot of elemental spells (thunder, blizzard, etc) because after level 20ish our skill in it starts sucking. Your spell will do less damage than swinging your weapon so its best to just hack away and keep to spells like Stun, Drain, Aspir, Absorbs, and Bio (just check with your party and make sure no one minds if you cast Bio).

Just make sure you get Signet before going to exp. This way you usually can rest to regain MP and not lose TP. And racking up Conquest points is always a good thing anyways. Reraise scrolls and Instant Warps are your friends!

Originally Posted by Feba

Don't! I have a friend that decided to play DRK. He's been an idiot ever since.

When did you start playing again Feba?

Originally Posted by Feba

Maybe if you had an equipment swap for Magic damage, and there was a skillchain to magic burst off, but really, you'd be better off putting that money and effort into your melee gear as a DRK.

Do not use staves after level 51. Swapping out your weapon and losing your TP is a huge no-no as a melee. (If you time it right, sometimes you can use your TP, kill the mob, swap out for a dark staff for resting mp, and not lose more than 10-15 TP.)

[Potemken]

Well, I know all the normal cookie cutter stuff. I'm interested in playing the game how I want seeing as I'm the one paying the 15 dollars a month. I can get parties, I have lots of friends. I don't mind solo. I don't mind leveling to sync, and I can start parties. If I'm not /war or /thf, which I will never be, I can still get pts.

I'm looking for more of something like I was talking about, which leads me to this.

/dnc or /blu? I want more mp, and both are decent melee with some cool abilites. Which do you think is better, or any other cooky suggestions, lets say, hypothetically if subjobs didn't matter, and getting pt's was not a problem.

I still will be melee, but its no fun standing, auto attack, macro ws, auto attack... turn around to drop hate, ws blah blah blah....

[Fliegar]

Personally I think you'd be better off as a Blm if you really want to focus on casting that much.

[Mhurron]

Originally Posted by Potemken

Well, I know all the normal cookie cutter stuff. I'm interested in playing the game how I want seeing as I'm the one paying the 15 dollars a month.

Then don't party and you have the freedom to do what you want. Why ask for advice from others if you're 'interested in playing the game how I want.'

[TheGrandMom]

I have to agree with Mhurron, if you knew already what you wanted to do then why ask when you know what answers you are going to get?

And you are right, you do pay to play the game so go play it the way you want. Just don't get all butt hurt when people start telling you to sub something else if you want to party with them. We pay to play the game too and playing it with the subs we think are correct is our version of fun.

[Feba]

Well, I know all the normal cookie cutter stuff. I'm interested in playing the game how I want seeing as I'm the one paying the 15 dollars a month.

The reply to this is almost as old as the remark itself: "It may be your $13, but it's our $65".

If you have friends that are willing to work around your choices, great, have fun experimenting. But by and large, playing the game as a free spirit, without regard to what's effective in the playstyle of the rest of the playerbase will lead to problems for everyone involved. Getting to 75 as a solo magic casting DRK wouldn't do you much good if you're unable to get anyone to help you with things you need once you're there.

At the very least, you should try to go with the flow, and see how you like it. You may find playing another cookie cutter job and having more people to play with and an easier time is more fun than doing what you think you want to. You'll also learn about the game, which makes it easier to go off and do your own thing; I loved the hell out of DRG/BRD at one point, as a solo job, but I highly doubt I would've been able to use it as effectively as I did without having experience from doing cookie-cutter stuff.

[Clever Ninja]

Yea, playing solo do whatever you want(which begs to me why make this topic in the first place <_<) but we're talking about party setups mostly. What you do soloing is your own business, but if you try to join a level 30 xp party as DRK/BLU you'll probably get booted/replaced fast.

/BLU sub is pretty sexy for Stun spam though for mission fights.

[Potemken]

Originally Posted by Fliegar

Personally I think you'd be better off as a Blm if you really want to focus on casting that much.

Blm kinda sucks tho, its all low level spells that are worst then what my main can cast, if not overlapping one. Sure great mp, but the other jas are outdone by sch or smn.

Originally Posted by Mhurron

Then don't party and you have the freedom to do what you want. Why ask for advice from others if you're 'interested in playing the game how I want.'

Listen Mr. Elitist. I was asking in response to what I was talking about. /blu /dnc or other jobs that might be good with a bigger FOCUS ON CASTING. That speaks for its self. Im not asking, and I aslo pointed this out in my first post, for answers like, "Drk is melee, go /war, don't cast". If you had read the op, perhaps you would understand that. And again, I'm still asking, what are peoples view, regardless of "needs" of party and stuff like that. Maybe I will solo. Maybe i will stay in dunes till 75(which has been done by like 4 people on my server) where sub doesn't matter. That has nothing to do with my question. I didnt ask "what should i pick as a sub to maximize xp and get into the best parties and do what everyone else wants me to?" . I've seen your sardonic attitude in alot of posts. And regardless if people worship you here, I'm not new to message boards, or scrubs like yourself. Step off the topic if all you have to say is shit foaming from your mouth. I know we've never spoken, but i've read a hell of alot of your posts, and your just a straight up dickhead.

Originally Posted by TheGrandMom

I have to agree with Mhurron, if you knew already what you wanted to do then why ask when you know what answers you are going to get?

And you are right, you do pay to play the game so go play it the way you want. Just don't get all butt hurt when people start telling you to sub something else if you want to party with them. We pay to play the game too and playing it with the subs we think are correct is our version of fun.

Read the above response....
Also I don't get buttsore, I understand whats accepted and what isn't. Thats why I didn't ask that question. Like I said... 4 years. Im familiar with how things work. We have a whole ls of cooky combos, just for fun. Everyone is doing something similiar, in my sitiuation, this fits.

Originally Posted by Feba

The reply to this is almost as old as the remark itself: "It may be your $13, but it's our $65".

If you have friends that are willing to work around your choices, great, have fun experimenting. But by and large, playing the game as a free spirit, without regard to what's effective in the playstyle of the rest of the playerbase will lead to problems for everyone involved. Getting to 75 as a solo magic casting DRK wouldn't do you much good if you're unable to get anyone to help you with things you need once you're there.

At the very least, you should try to go with the flow, and see how you like it. You may find playing another cookie cutter job and having more people to play with and an easier time is more fun than doing what you think you want to. You'll also learn about the game, which makes it easier to go off and do your own thing; I loved the hell out of DRG/BRD at one point, as a solo job, but I highly doubt I would've been able to use it as effectively as I did without having experience from doing cookie-cutter stuff.

<True Strike>. That was actually a really good comeback. It is everyones money. I certainly wouldn't gimp myself, if I was in an exp party whith people depending on me, especially random people. However this is not the case here. Also feba I'm not new to the game. 4 years. Just my first Adv job. Never played a dark. I can tell you everything about mnk tho. Stuff like drg/brd is what im asking for. No way in hell people would think of that but you loved it. See, I'm looking for something outside the box. Fun, new, inventive. I'm not looking to make the next cookie, nor will I attempt to gimp everyone with it in serious xp pts.


Again, I never asked 'HOW I GET XP PT AS DARK" I know the answer to that, I believe I laid out how I wanted to play my Drk, and asked for some advice. Time for cooky albeit fun suggestions. This top was not meant to turn into a war.


Again, /blu or /dnc. Discuss. Abilities synergy? spell synergy? I really like drain samba with dread spikes (stack?) and absorb and drain spells. Plus I can heal myself. Some good dex stats for acc.

[Clever Ninja]

You brought playing the game how you want and monthly fees, which is what brought up the party questions, because frankly that attitude and excuse has been overdone so much it's caused grief for everybody. If you want to solo or stay in the Dunes to 75, then you could sub whatever the hell you want. I could sub COR in the dunes and it'd be ok. If you're not interested in min/maxing your character, why does it matter what you sub?

And on calling other people a 'scrub', seriously, gtfo right now. You ask us what's a good sub and a good build in a PARTY BASED GAME. The fact that Level Sync(which hasn't even been out for half a year) and people solo doesn't change the fact that for 5+ years it's been a heavily party based game, and is still a party based game. Thus, when people ask for advice, unless you SPECIFICALLY mention a certain situation like soloing, people will mention parties.

But it's ok, do whatever you want. It's your 12.95! That obviously gives you knowledge beyond belief and means you're infallible!

[Mhurron]

If all you ever want to hear are things that reinforce your viewpoint, spare everyone else and simply talk to yourself. You have an LS that does strange combos? Go ask them then.

Oh and by the way, your OP said nothing about focusing on looking like an idiot, it said you wanted to level Dark Knight. Everyone just assumed you meant level it properly to play with others.