Introduction to Dark Knight

The useless pre-Endwalker guide by nikroulah#1605 (now updated for 6.x and 7.x).

Introduction

Dark Knight (DRK) is one of the four tanks available in Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail. Its rotation features large bursts of damage, accompanied by spikes in actions per minute (APM) and requires managing both MP and a Blood Gauge, putting many hard-hitting attacks into party raid buff windows. It also has access to one of the most powerful single-target mitigation abilities available in The Blackest Night (TBN).

The purpose of this guide is to give an overview of Dark Knight’s abilities and to allow you to hit the ground running when picking up Dark Knight, as well as giving a peek into optimization in high-end content.

Skills and Abilities Overview

Skills and abilities can be found on the this page.

Dark Knight Opener

Goals for DRK openers include:

• Use as many big hits and spend as much MP as possible inside potion and raid buff windows (which typically come up around the third or fourth GCD). This means that most skills will be delayed until this point.
• Get Living Shadow out early enough that its attacks fully fit into buffs. Its long spawn animation and the fact that it updates with buffs in real time means that it is best used before buffs come out, unlike skills that apply damage immediately.
• Use an Edge of Shadow to apply Darkside as early as possible.
• Avoid overcapping on MP.

Standard Opener

Text version:
Prepull The Blackest Night (-3), Unmend (-1) + Potion,
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

The potion used is whatever the current tier’s Strength potion is (as of the time of writing, it is the Grade 1 Gemdraught of Strength HQ).

Opener notes

• Unmend is used to delay the opener slightly to account for raid buff application time. Use it whether or not you are pulling.
• Early use of Disesteem (before the Torcleaver combo) avoids some minor MP overcap.
• At faster speeds (2.47 and faster), weaving the potion late can get an extra Syphon Strike in its window. At slower speeds or higher pings, this may cause clipping or be entirely impossible, and the potion can be used at any point after Unmend (or the equiavalent GCD for later burst windows).

Optional Modifications

• If the prepull TBN will not break, it can be left out for a small MP loss. This does not change the rest of the opener substantially, although the last Edge of Shadow may get pushed one GCD further back.
• Provoke or Shadowstride can be used to pull instead of Unmend, and pulling with Hard Slash is also viable, but each of these options requires adding an extra Hard Slash before Disesteem to ensure that the burst fits into late-applied buffs.
• Using Hard Slash + Potion + Edge of Shadow, Syphon Strike + Living Shadow for the first two GCDs of the opener can be a tiny gain if you can reliably double weave with a potion.

Rotation

Single-Target Rotation

Dark Knight’s rotation follows a simple priority system after the opener. Burst windows after the opener will look much the same as the opener, except that not all bursts will have Salted Earth.

For GCDs:

• Use Disesteem and the Torcleaver combo (Scarlet Delirium, Comeuppance, Torcleaver) when under buffs.
• Use Bloodspiller under raid buffs, or to prevent overcapping on blood.
• Use the Souleater Combo (Hard Slash, Syphon Strike, Souleater) otherwise.

For oGCDs:

• Use Edge of Shadow under raid buffs, or to prevent overcapping on MP.
• Hold both charges of Shadowbringer for 2-minute buffs.
• Use all other damaging/damage-buffing oGCDs (Salted Earth, Delirium, Carve and Spit, etc) on cooldown.

AoE (Multi-Target Rotation)

At levels 94 and higher, DRK switches to using its AoE rotation for 3 or more targets. Below level 94, the Stalwart Soul combo is a slight gain over the Souleater combo on 2 or more targets, but other skills are unchanged. The AoE rotation is another simple priority system, replacing each single-target ability with its AoE counterpart.

For GCDs:

• Replace the Torcleaver combo with Impalement.
• Replace Bloodspiller with Quietus
• Replace Souleater combo GCDs with Stalwart Soul combo GCDs (Unleash, Stalwart Soul)

For oGCDs:

• Replace Edge of Shadow with Flood of Shadow
• Replace Carve and Spit with Abyssal Drain

Pooling Resources for Raid Buffs

Edge of Shadow and Bloodspiller can be delayed without loss, as long as MP and Blood Gauge do not overcap. Dark Knight is thus uniquely able to pool a massive amount of potency for use during party raid buff windows, which typically come every 2 minutes.

Dark Knight generates around 10800 MP per minute, from a combination of Syphon Strike, Carve and Spit, Delirium, and natural MP regen ticks. This translates to 3.6 MP spenders per minute, or 7.2 spenders per 2 minutes. Since at least 2 Edge/Flood of Shadow are needed in the odd minutes to maintain Darkside, this leaves at most 5.2 spenders for every even minute, when buffs come out. Even going into burst at full MP and using the MP generated from Carve and Spit and Delirium, however, we do not reach 15000 MP.

To reach 5 Edge/Flood of Shadow in buffs, we use The Blackest Night (TBN) earlier, outside of buffs, in order to store a Dark Arts, essentially banking 3000 MP for later. With a stored Dark Arts from the previous minute, 9000+ MP, and the MP from Delirium and Carve and Spit, 5 Edge/Flood of Shadow within buffs are possible.

This means that damage-optimal MP spending is as follows:

• 5 Edge of Shadow in each buff window (except the opener, where one Edge of Shadow is used outside of buffs to get Darkside).
• Three MP spenders in odd minutes, where the last one is The Blackest Night, with the Dark Arts from this being held into the next buff window.

Note that the first two MP spenders in odd minutes can freely be The Blackest Night (TBN) as well, with their Dark Arts then being used before the next TBN. Similarly, TBN can be used during buffs without losing damage as long as the Dark Arts it generates can be spent on Edge/Flood of Shadow before the buff window ends.

Similarly, though more simply, entering buffs (when Delirium is pressed) with 70 or less Blood Gauge will ensure that you do not overcap on Blood Gauge. This allows for using 1-2 Bloodspillers during every 2-minute raid buff window, and it is best to have the Blood Gauge as high as possible (up to 70) when entering Delirium.

Rotation Video

Helpful Macros

The Blackest Night (mouseover)

/merror off
/ac "The Blackest Night" <mo>
/ac "The Blackest Night" <mo>
/ac "The Blackest Night" <mo>
/ac "The Blackest Night" <mo>
/ac "The Blackest Night" <mo>
/ac "The Blackest Night" <mo>
/ac "The Blackest Night" <mo>
/ac "The Blackest Night" <mo>
/ac "The Blackest Night" <mo>
/ac "The Blackest Night" <mo>
/ac "The Blackest Night" <mo>
/ac "The Blackest Night" <mo>
/ac "The Blackest Night" <mo>
/micon "The Blackest Night"

Oblation (mouseover)

/merror off
/ac "Oblation" <mo>
/ac "Oblation" <mo>
/ac "Oblation" <mo>
/ac "Oblation" <mo>
/ac "Oblation" <mo>
/ac "Oblation" <mo>
/ac "Oblation" <mo>
/ac "Oblation" <mo>
/ac "Oblation" <mo>
/ac "Oblation" <mo>
/ac "Oblation" <mo>
/ac "Oblation" <mo>
/ac "Oblation" <mo>
/micon "Oblation"

Shirk (assumes cotank is in party slot two)

/merror off
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/ac "Shirk" <2>
/micon "Shirk" 

Why are there so many repeated lines?

FFXIV macros do not queue, so hitting a macro while in animation lock from another action will cause the macro to not go off. Since macros execute lines sequentially at around one line per frame, repeating the /action lines simulates mashing the ability every frame for ~15 frames and gives the macro a semblance of queuing.

Mouseover? <2>?

will attempt to target whatever your mouse cursor is currently hovering over when that macro line is reached, whether it be their physical model or a name on your party list.

<2> targets the second player on your party list, which is the other tank by default in eight-player content.

Stats and Itemization

Before obtaining best-in-slot gear, pick gear and meld according to stat priority on each piece of gear. Best-in-slot sets can be found on the BiS page or in the Balance discord.

Because of stat tiering, it may not always be obvious how two pieces of gear compare. Using a gear calculator tool is recommended — see, for example, xivgearapp.

Note that in any sort of gear calculator, simulations make some assumptions (e.g., a common assumption is that of full uptime, single-target fights). They will still generally give reliable results when used to compare gear with large differences, but, especially when comparing gearsets with different speeds, it is good to be aware of the assumptions being made and whether they apply to your use case.

Highest priority

• Weapon damage (main-hand weapon only)

  • Significantly affects all damage dealt
  • Proportional to item level

• Strength

  • Affects all damage dealt
  • Proportional to item level

• Critical Hit

  • Affects critical chance + critical damage
  • Often naturally capped on BiS gear pieces
  • Priority meld on all gear (unless number turns red when melding)

• Skill Speed

  • Reduces weaponskill recast time
  • Meld only to reach preferred GCD speed (commonly anywhere from 2.40s to 2.50s) (see https://www.akhmorning.com/allagan-studies/stats/speed/ for precise skill speed tiers)

• Direct Hit

  • Affects only direct hit chance
  • Meld remaining slots (filler stat)

• Determination

  • Increases damage dealt
  • Sometimes used in one slot due to stat tiering

• Tenacity

  • Increases damage dealt and reduces damage taken
  • Rarely melded due to weak scaling and minimal mitigation

Lowest priority

Choosing your skill speed

The Dark Knight rotation is functional at almost all skill speeds, although certain speeds keep oGCD abilities better aligned with your GCD. In particular, 2.40 and 2.50 maintain perfect alignment for 60s cooldown oGCDs.

Outside of high-end optimization, choice of skill speed has little impact on the Dark Knight rotation, and can be chosen for comfort. At certain speeds, 90-second cooldowns like Salted Earth must be drifted or clipped while the same is true of 60-second cooldowns at other speeds.

In optimization, each encounter must be considered separately to determine what GCDs are gained or lost by different skill speeds, as well as lining up the GCD with any melee disengages. In general, the slowest speed that doesn’t lose any major GCDs within a phase will be the strongest choice, as much of Dark Knight’s damage does not scale with speed.

Dungeons

Keeping Aggro

Turn on Grit and never turn it off. As long as you keep hitting the mobs, you will have aggro on them. In multi-target situations, use AoE so that you can keep aggro on all mobs.

Pulling Mobs

There are a variety of ways to ensure you pull all of the mobs in a pack quickly and reliably, without stopping on your way to the next pack of mobs:

• Run up to the mobs so they see and run to you and use an AoE combo GCD once they are in range to secure aggro.
• Tab through the mobs and use Unmend while weaving any damaging oGCDs or Provoke.

Try to position the mobs so that they are in a tight clump: this lets you, your DPS, and your healers use their AoE damage more effectively. Pull melee enemies onto ranged enemies so that the ranged enemies are also in the clump. Alternatively, drag mobs around a corner so the ranged enemies are forced to run next to you in order to attack.

Mitigation

Cycle through your mitigation on trash pulls (they hurt more than bosses). Rather than using it all at once, keeping something up at all times can help your healer keep you alive more easily. More powerful mitigation cooldowns like Rampart, Shadow Wall, and Arm’s Length can be paired with weaker ones like Reprisal or Oblation. The Blackest Night is one of your most powerful mitigation tools and can be used liberally (at least once per mob pack) once unlocked.

Living Dead can be extremely strong in dungeons, as a single AoE GCD will often heal you to full after Walking Dead is activated. However, an inexperienced healer may heal too much during Living Dead, preventing Walking Dead from activating. It may help to let your healers know ahead of time where you plan to use Living Dead, to avoid this problem.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use all my MP on The Blackest Night (TBN)?

Up to 3 (4 with careful timing, by using TBN during a buff window) MP spenders per 2 minutes can be TBN without losing any damage — all three spenders in the odd-numbered minutes, plus one in the even-numbered minute. Note that the damage loss from using TBN more than this is smaller than the damage loss from dying! It is always better to lose damage in buffs in order to stay alive, and sometimes even to reduce the amount of healing needed.

Advanced Gameplay

This section assumes that you are comfortable with the entirety of the Dark Knight kit as well as the basic rotation outlined above. If you blindly try to do these optimizations without grasping the fundamentals, it is likely to be detrimental to your play, rather than improve it.

Optimizing Raid Buffs Further

Moving Mana with The Blackest Night:

The standard rotation allows four Edges of Shadow to be used in each raid buff window without any further adjustments. However, since raid buffs windows happen every two minutes, it is beneficial to use The Blackest Night during odd minutes to get Dark Arts afterwards, which allows five Edges of Shadow to be used in the next even-minute buff window without overcapping MP.

List of Raid Buffs

Job	Icon	Name	Effect	Cooldown
NIN		Dokumori	Target takes 5% more damage 20s duration	120s
DRG		Battle Litany	Critical rate increased by 10% 20s duration	120s
MNK		Brotherhood	5% damage increase 20s duration	120s
RPR		Arcane Circle	3% damage increase 20s duration	120s
DNC		Technical Finish	5% damage increase 20s duration	120s
BRD		Battle Voice	Direct hit rate increased by 20% 20s duration	120s
BRD		Radiant Finale	6% damage increase (2% in opener) 20s duration	120s
SMN		Searing Light	3% damage increase 20s duration	120s
RDM		Embolden	5% damage increase 20s duration	120s
PCT		Starry Muse	5% damage increase 20s duration	120s
SCH		Chain Stratagem	+10% critical rate on target 20s duration	120s
AST		Divination	6% damage increase 20s duration	120s
AST	Various	Cards	Target gets 6% damage increase 15s duration	60s

Breaking a pre-pull The Blackest Night on any boss

In some fights, the boss’ auto-attacks are too weak to break The Blackest Night (TBN) used at -3s in the opener. In many cases, you can leave TBN out of the opener with no loss, and just delay the last Edge of Shadow in the opener until you have enough MP.

However, if you want to ensure that you get Dark Arts at the beginning of the fight even for bosses with weak auto-attacks, you can make a separate gear set with lower Vitality to apply your TBN, and switch back to your normal gear set after application. Since TBN’s shield scales with your max HP at the time of cast, this will make the shield smaller, allowing it to break more easily.

This is a very minor DPS gain on average, and so is only recommended for optimization, not for progression.

To do this, do the following:

1. Switch into a gear set with lower Vitality (e.g. your current gear with some of the pieces taken off)
2. Apply TBN to yourself (at -3s)
3. Switch your gear back to the gear you intend to do the fight on
4. Execute your opener like normal

You can still use this technique if you are not the pulling tank, but will need to coordinate the timing of their gearset swap with your use of TBN on them.

Macro

You can use macros to make this gear swap easier. For example, this macro will apply TBN to yourself, and then change gear into gearset 1. This can be used at -3s and presumes you’re already in your lower Vitality gearset.

/merror off
/ac "The Blackest Night"
/gearset change 1
/gearset change 1
/gearset change 1
/gearset change 1
/gearset change 1
/gearset change 1
/gearset change 1
/gearset change 1
/gearset change 1
/gearset change 1
/gearset change 1
/gearset change 1
/micon "The Blackest Night"

Fight-specific optimization

For discussion around fight-specific optimization, please visit the #drk_encounter channel in the Balance discord and view the pins to see any up-to-date information on current encounters.