Want to be a dark knight and solo

[Miroslav]

I just started a paladin not so long ago, but then something came to mind that made me reconsider. I'm thinking right now that it would be kind of cool to play a dark knight and stick to the right role. But being evil where almost everyone else is good would be challenging. I wouldn't want to play such a character and fight along with a paladin in a party.

So, is it possible to play a dark knight and gain most of the experience solo? Will there always be easy targets with 36 experience a kill, or will I be forced to look for a group at some point? If soloing is possible, which sub-job should I pick? I'm thinking white mage or red mage. Also, if you forget about beastmasters, where does dark knight stand in terms of soloing abilities? I've seen a post where it was described nicely how a dark knight competes in damage-dealing with other classes at different levels, and I would really appreciate it if anyone could do the same for the job's solo strength.

[shock~moredheL]

do u really want to spend all day and only get 2k exp?
RP is great but...thats going a bit overboard.

[NSix]

whats "RP"? Soloing as a DRK sounds interesting

[Socrates]

rp = role play

[shock~moredheL]

RP = Roleplaying. He said "stick to the right role" also, "being evil where almost everyone else is good would be challenging."

So basicly anybody who is a "lawful" job to his eyes he wants to stay away from.

[albert lee]

RP= role playing. and soloing... ugh. 2 reason's for soloing, doing missions or quests/ farming. soloing in this game is not meant to be with anything besides a bst for xp. yes you can solo and get 36-12 xp, but then you would have to heal.. with a whm sub, you can go awhile and probably heal every 3 battles or so.. but without, you would have to heal after everybattle. is it worth it just to be unique? i dun think so... it's actually very fun to play with a group and interact. and no one RP's in this game... it's just weird. well i guess there might be a few people who roleplay, but i never met any of them. drk not viable solo'er. BST is the only soloer that actually gets good xp.

*edit
dont forget eventually at lvl 40, it takes 6700 to lvl so... not a very good picture. i'm guessing it would take a good year to get that much xp soloing.. lol

[Miroslav]

Are dark knights better soloers than paladins at least? =) They are not as heavily armoured, but the damage is much greater. Also, I just looked up the spells and saw that Sleep is available. Is it of any use, or does it get resisted most of the time?

I'm just trying to find something different here. By the time I got to 30 with a red mage, things started to look boring. Don't know, maybe it changes later.

[albert lee]

rdm's don't get really fun till lvl 42, convert at 40, refresh at 42 ^^. it's all about gear man. drk and pld are able to wear the same gear. almost everything a pld can wear a drk can wear. the diff is, drk gets several attack boots, and pld gets several def boosts. the reason why people think drk's take way too much dmg is the fact that they use equip/skills that take away there def. with out using these equip/skills the def would not be bad, but not as good as a pld.

*edit

no one solos till 40+.. well atleast no one i've heard of, so i cant really answer that question. trust me.. don't solo... it'll just make you mad and frustrated.

[Varo]

Miroslav, it is still possible to roleplay while grouping with others. I do it from time to time to liven up the dead party (usually after midnight). I poke fun and laugh at the Paladins attacks and his sence of protecting others, of course being good mannered as well. You do not have to be so evil to where you avoid everything that is good. It can be tricky but it can be done.

This may be a bad example but Vegeta from Dragonball Z comes too mind. You don't have to be quite as arrogant and unwanting as him but the way he seemed to always be around people could be copied here. But remember to not cross the line. As I said, playing an evil character is tricky, but it can be done nonetheless.

[Ashlok]

Hey Miroslav,

I think you have the wrong idea of what a dark knight really is in this game. I believe you are confusing a Dark Knight with the Shadow Knight of EQ. Yes, in EQ Shadow Knights were evil, the exact opposite of a Paladin. In FFXI terms, a Dark Knight is not evil, they merely derive there strength from different sources then a Paladin. A Paladin gets strength from Passion, Honour, etc., while a Dark Knight gets his powers from hate, anguish, etc. They all fight towards a common goal, to defeat the Shadow Lord, and so there are no "evil" jobs in this game. So by not grouping with people, and not working towards a common goal, you would actually be going against the RP in this game.

Just my 2 gil.

[Awntawn]

Originally posted by Ashlok
Hey Miroslav,

I think you have the wrong idea of what a dark knight really is in this game. I believe you are confusing a Dark Knight with the Shadow Knight of EQ. Yes, in EQ Shadow Knights were evil, the exact opposite of a Paladin. In FFXI terms, a Dark Knight is not evil, they merely derive there strength from different sources then a Paladin. A Paladin gets strength from Passion, Honour, etc., while a Dark Knight gets his powers from hate, anguish, etc. They all fight towards a common goal, to defeat the Shadow Lord, and so there are no "evil" jobs in this game. So by not grouping with people, and not working towards a common goal, you would actually be going against the RP in this game.

Just my 2 gil.

Exactly. There's never an evil laugh; just a really deep *SIGH*

[shock~moredheL]

lol I had the same idea that dark knights were evil since my friends were talking about how they can heal dark knights and do dmg to them in old ff games.

[Star8urst]

DRKs can do some soloing. As long as you combat skills are maxed, and you pick the right opponents, it can be done. At level 30 I uses to solo Dancing weapon in Qufim. They were DC and some Even. By using your Arcane Circle and you passive Arcana Killer you have build in paralyze. I think a RDM or WHM sub is also a must for soloing. I had RDM, so I also used slow/paralyze/dia for debuffs and drain and aspir to keep my HP and MP up. Cure II between drains when HP gets low. The fights are challanging but doable. Also Weapon Bash is great agains some of their weapon skills or to stun them before you cast drain.

Against non arcana monsters it's more difficult, stick to easy prey that gives off 25-35 exp. I had to kill a DC Malboro to get to the stone monument the other day and would not have won without Blood Weapon. So the 50 exp is not worth the hassle (it was in this case, but not normaly).

Also try fight monsters that you can Aspir from, makes a huge difference. Best ones are crab type mobs (clippers, etc), for some reason they have mana to drain. Agains these mobs you can go on for quite a while with just drain aspir and heals. Some orcs also have mana (neckchoppers, cursemaker etc) so they are good too. Funny enough goblins do not have mana, even the ones that cast spells (leechers) so avoid them if you can.

So for best exp solo fight arcana monsters, DRKs are arcana killers, if you can't find those, fight any crabs that give 25-36 exp. You will be better off than in most pick up groups, however in a good group you can get 150-200+ a kill with little to no downtime and no risk. But gettting that good group is the trick.

And last, there is a big difference in EQ SK and FF DRK lore wise. DRK are not realy evil as Ashlok said, so if you RP, just be a dark character, kinda like "Angel" from the TV series.

[Miroslav]

Thank you for the reply, Starburst, it really helps. So which sub, do you think, would be better, white mage or red mage? Dark knights have a C in weakening magic, so it should be more than enough against easy targets and decent challenges, but then both jobs have about the same debuffs.

Also, I just finished the quest and got to 6 so far, I'm thinking that healing power will be horrible. Will it be more effective to use drain?

P.S. Not sure why everyone assumes I played eq and was a shadow knight, but I actually did have a 65 sk =)

[Star8urst]

I personally preffer RDM, but I don't see why you can't use WHM. Healing power is kinda lacking until you can use Cure II. With WHM you get it a little faster, 26/13 sv 28/14 as far as I remember (Could be 22/11 as well). However at higher levels you get EN spells as well which help too with damage output.

I also noticed that my enfeeble is pretty high with my RDM sub, but I don't realy rely on enfeeble much anyway. I nice to start with paralyze and slow for an extra edge, but most of the mana is spent on drain heals and aspir. As long as you have a sub that gives you heal spells (WHM/RDM) and extra mana, you're good.

Drain is very effective. Not only it can heal you quite a bit (i have drained over 100 HP already, average of 70 or so) it also damages the mob you are fighting. If the recast was not so long (1 minute) I could kill DC mobs just melee and drain chained. Add Aspir and you can kill mobs with their own mana. Do not underestimate Drain and Apir, your Dark Magic should always be capped. But because of recast time, Drain alone can not keep you alive agains DC mobs, you will need Cure II. And with easi mobs you need it to reduce downtime. Remember mp/hp ratio of cure spells is quite good, up to 1:3.5, so being able to cure yourself is important when soloing.

At the moment I'm killing Poison Leeches in Buburimu Peninsula for a ruby. I can usualy kill 4 or 5 before I need to rest using only drain (I sub thief for treasure hunter, sneak attack). But I need to space myself so drain can refresh. If I had my RDM sub I could kill a lot faster using drain and cure.

I think that DRK are good as soloing, definately good at farming stuff with no downtime (as long as there are some mobs with mana to drain).