Dark Knight
Dark Knight Guide
TBD
Dark Knight is the self-mitigation behemoth, providing near immeasurable mitigation potential. Especially so when faced with magic damage, which is a majority of the damage you face. This guide provides an in-depth view on one of the FINAL FANTASY XIV tanks, Dark Knight.
Gearing
Updated for 6.05
Meld Priority
Openers
Credit to Athunin for the images
Dark Knight has a few different options for openers, including some not listed below, due to varying fights calling for different openers to align with phase timings or downtime mechanics.
Double Weave (Standard)
Red box indicates GCDs in
Blue box indicates GCDs inside
Using a 5th GCD
3rd GCD Delirium Opener
Red box indicates GCDs in
Blue box indicates GCDs inside
Purple box indicates GCDs in both
This opener provides decent raid buff alignment and serves as a general-purpose opener that aligns well on many fights.
The order of some oGCDs can be changed to better align with the raid buff composition of your group.
Single Weave (High-Ping) Opener
Red box indicates GCDs in
Blue box indicates GCDs inside
Still offers some raid buff alignment, but noticeably less due to forcing only single weaves.
Only use this opener if you’ve exhausted all other options (VPN, adjusting SkS, etc.) and still cannot double-weave and get 5 GCDs inside
Other Openers
Unmend Opener
Should only be used if the boss requires specific positioning at the beginning. Delays Everything by a GCD which can cause buff and phase alignment issues. Generally is better to just have the other tank pull and then take back aggro after finishing our opener in cases where this is needed.
Opener Notes
Use pre-pull
Swapping first
Opener FAQs
For general use, pick one of the General-purpose openers. Please just don’t use the single-weave opener unless you absolutely need to use it..
No. In this case you’d want to double-weave normally for everything except under
Ground targets can take practice to double weave. You can try using a macro to help execute it more reliably! A macro for it and other useful DRK macros can be found here: https://pastebin.com/uDSjskZm
We use pre-pull TBN to prevent the MP overcap from the natural MP tick and from BW Hard slash. This lets us save an edge for raid buffs.
Don’t use it then, instead just deal with the ~600-800mp overcap and get your 5th edge in at your 60s burst or a few GCDs later.
FAQs & Resources
Taking the edge off of learning the job
Mitigation Cheatsheet
Click to enlarge
Depends on the BiS set you go with, check the links above.
However high quality Chicken Fettuccine and Smoked Chicken are good options. If you need the skill speed, use Fettuccine.
- 1015 for 2.43 GCD – A bit tight
- 1117 for 2.42 GCD
- 1218 for 2.41 GCD
- 1320 for 2.40 GCD
- 1421 for 2.39 GCD
- 1523 for 2.38 GCD – Lenient
Your goal is hitting 5 GCDs in Blood Weapon or Delirium.
Check the Allagan Studies website for all stat tiers.
First, you should make sure you’re hitting Delrium and Blood Weapon towards the end of your GCD cooldown. Just get as much SkS as you need to make 5 GCDs in Blood Weapon and hit your desired GCD. The higher your ping is, the more you should meld. Note that Blood Weapon is actually a tighter window than Delirium due to Delirium having an extra second. (Thanks SE)
Make sure that you never overcap MP. Use TBN as much as you want to. Just keep in mind to use your Dark Arts proc.
When doing prog, ensure that you leave at least 3k MP at all times to be able to use TBN. Otherwise Spend EoS in raid buffs that affect Magic Dmg as well
Baseline is:
2+ targets = Unleash+Stalwart (+Flood of Shadow)
3+ targets = Quietus
*Living shadow also uses AoE skills. Make sure to use it on cd as long as you abuse its full duration. Read the guides for more information.
No, you should be using them on CD unless downtime will make you lose several GCDs in them.
Holding them for buffs will cost you uses over a fight which is a MAJOR loss and should only ever be considered if the boss will die before you get another use.
See the pastebin link for all the macros! This includes Salted Earth, TBN, Shirk and Sprint.
Having both a <t> macro and <me> macro for Salted Earth makes it easier to use. You’ll sometimes still want to manually place it in case the boss jumps or there’s multiple enemies.
Log Analysis
xivanalysis is a fantastic site for an overview of your endgame encounter performance.
HUD Layout Examples
Controller
Keyboard
