Dark Knight starter guide
Dark Knight starter route: role identity, unlock notes, gear basics, and source links for current Final Fantasy XIV job information.
On This Page
- Dark Knight at a glance
- Unlock and early route
- Gear and equipment
- Role basics
- Current-patch caution
Dark Knight at a glance
Dark Knight (DRK) is a Disciple of War job introduced with the Heavensward expansion and unlockable at level 50 with sufficient progression in the Main Scenario Quests. The job starts at level 30 once unlocked. It is a Tank job and does not have a base class.
- Role: Tank
- First Appearance: *Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward* (Patch 3.0)
- Starting Level: 30
- Unlock Level: 50
- Weapon: Greatswords
Unlock and early route
Guild: The job trainer for Dark Knight is initially Fray and later Sidurgu, who is located in Foundation (X:13.3, Y:12.2). Guild: This job starts at level 30. Unlock: Prerequisite: The player must have completed all of the Seventh Astral Era Quests up to Before the Dawn in order to unlock the city of Ishgard. Unlock: Quest: Speak to the Ishgardian Citizen in The Pillars (x13.2,y8.8) to obtain the quest A Dark Spectacle.
- Keep the job quest tracker current while leveling.
- Use the official job guide for the current action list.
- Do not treat opener or rotation advice as final unless it is current-patch reviewed.
Gear and equipment
The dark knight is a disciple of war and wears armor and accessories "of Fending." They use greatswords as weapons.
- Prioritize item level while leveling.
- At endgame, check role gear names and materia priorities against current resources.
Role basics
Dark Knight belongs to the Tank role. Learn the role responsibility first, then refine job-specific optimization after you understand encounter movement and cooldown timing.
- Tanks lead pulls, position enemies, and plan mitigation before incoming damage.
- Healers balance recovery, mitigation, and damage uptime.
- DPS jobs focus on uptime, burst windows, party buffs, and avoiding avoidable damage.
Current-patch caution
Job Gauge: Blood & Darkside Gauge Hard Slash -> Syphon Strike -> Souleater: Recovers HP and MP while increasing the Blood Gauge. Unleash -> Stalwart Soul: Hits multiple enemies while also restoring MP and increasing the Blood Gauge. Scarlet Delirium -> Comeuppance -> Torcleaver: A high-damage combo requiring stacks of Delirium.
- Use the official job guide for live action names, levels, and tooltips.
- Use expert community resources for high-end rotations only after checking their patch date.
- Treat this page as a starter guide and source hub, not a Savage optimization sheet.
Related on TJPedia
Sources
Auto-draft eligible, human review required for volatile guide updates.