Darkside and Your First Job Quest: Ishgardian Justice
Go ahead and switch over to Dark Knight and begin following the steps for Isghardian Justice. You won’t have to go far and the Lowborn Crone that you are looking for is clearly marked on the map. Fray has some choice words for the corrupt Temple Knights and is counting on you to help dish out justice.
Follow the steps for the quest (everything is clearly marked on the map and is easy to find) until you meet the Pernicious Temple Knight to begin an instanced battle.
Now this one can be tricky and you’re going to need everything at your disposal to pull it off successfully. FFXIV Dark Knights don’t have any native curing or healing abilities until you unlock Souleater at level 38. Luckily, Fray will be there to take care of the curing for you. However, Fray doesn’t cure as fast as you would like usually, so the onus is on you to get the job done. Finally, it is important to keep in mind that you are the tank in this scenario, not Fray. Make sure to use Unleash to keep all of the enemies on you, and off of Fray. Fray has more health than your average healer but won’t be able to hold out forever.
The first group of enemies are easy, so clear them quickly, making sure to avoid their AoE attacks at all costs, and three flames will appear. When you touch these flames, you will get a stacking buff that will increase your damage dealt and reduce the damage you take. However, you can only handle about two stacks at a time, otherwise you will be killed. Grab two and then move onto the next group of enemies.
There is a White Mage enemy, Ishgardian Chirugeon, that should be taken down first. Hit it with your Hard Slash combo and then use Low Bow to stun its Cure. It should be dead before it ever gets a chance to try and Cure again. With the White Mage out of the way, you should be able to quickly dispatch of the other enemies. Again, just be sure to avoid their AoE attacks as getting nailed by them will reduce your HP to a point where Fray has a hard time keeping up. If your darkness stack levels are low, replenish them by hitting the flames before moving on. Just be careful not to grab too much.
Move into the final room and employ the same strategy used above. Kill the Ishgardian Chirugeon first, then clear the other adds, and finally the boss knight, Pernicious Temple Knight. More adds will spawn while you’re fighting him. Move off the Pernicious Temple Knight when they appear, take out the Ishgardian Chirugeon first, then the others, then back onto the Pernicious Temple Knight. Keep the pressure on by using your DoT attack Scourge while mixing in Reprisal when you can and you should be able to take out the Pernicious Temple Knight in no time.
Once you’ve defeated the Pernicious Temple Knight, you’ve all but completed the quest and will have unlocked Darkside, an important ability that we will get to shortly. Your next quest is at level 35 and will be given by Fray where you first met.
With all of that out of the way, let’s talk strategy going into your first dungeon as a Dark Knight.
