Final Fantasy XIFinal Fantasy News

Welcome to Ruo’s first Epic Guide. Before I begin, I would like to state that this guide is property of MPS. All of the information is hand written, and no secondary sources were used. So if you find this guide on another site, claiming it as their own, remember, you found it here first.

Foreword
If you’re a bit experienced in FFXI, you’re probably aware and maybe even experienced in the main job and sub job combination system. Please keep in mind that I am using the sub job of a black mage. Why, some may ask? I am not a solo, brute, sword toting, mindless tank. I like a combination of magic and melee. Dark Knight and Black Mage combo gives you access to lots over black mage powers. Of these powers includes warp, which teleports the player to his or her home point. You also get escape which warps the player’s group outside of a dungeon and to safety. This sub job also gives good mana regeneration and MP pool.

Keep in mind that you do NOT have to pick black mage as sub job. Since this guide does not include what I did to level my previously main job (Black Mage), it should have no consequence. The ONLY difference is that you have to buy your spells as you level for Dark Knight (Which will now be named DK). No fear though, fellow adventurers, I will be commenting on all new spells I use throughout the course of this guide.

Prerequisites
You must be level 30 to attain the Dark Knight job. DK is considered an advanced profession, and a quest must be done to unlock it. With this in consideration I am assuming that you have a good pocket of Gil already saved up to quickly gear and advance your dear warlock. What you REALLY must have done is at least have done the Chocobo License quest and attained your sub job ability. For your sakes, I won’t make you search for either of these.

Sub Job Quest
You can either do this in Mhaura or Selbina. Since I’m assuming you started in Bastok (Since you love MPS and joined us on unicorn…) I will describe the Selbina quest version. To get there, you must go to South Gustenberg ? North Gustenberg from the WEST passage in south gustenberg ? Cross north gust to highlands ? cross into Valkurm Dunes. From there, you must cross over ½ the map to Selbina. I’m hoping you have a map or a guide to get you there, since describing exactly is too complicated. Speak to Isacio. He is the north-easternmost NPC in town, right next to the ocean. He will ask you to bring 3 things:
Damsel worm – Kill damselflies. They’re all around in the dunes
Magicked Skull – Go to J-6 in dunes at NIGHT. Kill ghouls till it drops
Crab Apron – Kill snippers. They’re also all around

Chocobo Quest
Before you begin, obtain 4 pieces of Gausebit Wildgrass. You can buy those in the AH if you’d like. When I did the quest they charged 1,000gil a pop. When you get that grass, head over to Jeuno. Upper Jeuno to be exact. Speak to Brutus in the Chocobo stables. It’s down some stairs in G-7. He’ll explain how Chocobos are mistreated and tell you a story. When all of that is done, Go over to the giant chicken next to the little girl. TRADE the chocobo a gausebit grass. It will refuse. You MUST repeat this FIVE more times each in-game day. A new day begins when the clock hits 0:00. On the 3rd day the Chocobo will start taking the grass. In the 6th day, after you feed it for the last time, a cut-scene will occur and you will get your license. Grats

The Path to Darkness
By now I am assuming you’re level 30, you have a giant chicken at your disposal, and you have 2 jobs at your beckon. Welcome to Dark Knight, I hope you enjoyed the guide. You can leave now. No I’m serious, it’s over, go. Ok, fine, guess they don’t make users as gullible as they used to be. Let’s get down to business. Arrive in bastok and bind wherever you feel like. But be sure to set your home point here. Go into bastok mines district. There is an area in the district (north east) that is an area of houses that are either on the first or second floor. Get up to the second floor, and cross the bride-like paths. One of the houses contains and NPC named Gumbah. Speak to him. WARNING: You may have to speak to him twice. The first time, he’ll speak about some Galka going in his reincarnation journey. The second he’ll speak about a dark knight. You’ll get a cut-scene and a musketeer will walk in and talk. When all is said and done, go to the Chocobo stables there in the mines district. You MUST have 1 spot open in your inventory. Ride a chicken through south gustenberg to north gust. Travel ALL THE WAY to the extreme north east stretch of land up there. That is where the Palborough mines are located. When you get inside, try to get to the third floor by any means necessary. Either take the elevator or look for ramps. No mob here will attack you except Old Quadavs who con as Easy Pray. When you arrive on the third floor, head over to quadrant H-8. It is an area with a river and a dock. Get on the only floating boat there, and pull the lever. In a few seconds the boat will move and you will load another area. A cut-scene will let you speak to the master dark knight and you will receive a Chaosbringer.

Now your task is to slaughter 100 enemies and harvest 100 souls. For myself, this task would take a while, since I was a black mage I had to switch to my level 1 warrior and kill stuff. No matter what level of a warrior you are, head outside into north gustenberg from the Bastok Port. Now, if you have a second computer, open up notepad and type the number one key 105 times. It should look like:

11111111111111111111111111111

Up to 105. Whenever you kill a mob you press delete once. Why, do you ask, 105 instead of 100? For insurance; you never know what mistake you may have made while counting, forcing you to return. Anyways, if you have no second computer, just get a piece of paper and write down one hundred and five ones. Then as you kill the mobs scratch one out for each soul. This is a nice opportunity to make a few crystals, so don’t hesitate to get a signet casted on you. Once you killed the 105 mobs, head back to town and take a chocobo to marshlands. Now, I must warn you. You MUST have killed 100 mobs. I accidentally killed about 97 or so, and had to go back, kill more, and then return once more. In the marshlands, head to the South East stretch of land. When you zone, one last cut-scene will occur. Congratulations, you’re not a dark knight.

The Beginning
The beginning levels start out easily. Because I have black mage as sub-job I start out with stone as a level 1 spell. Try to pick up bronze set of armor. Since I prefer the scythe over the great sword, I bought a Bronze Zaghnal. It has 14 damage, 480 delay, and can be used as a level 1 dark knight. Kill Giant Hornets, Tunnel Worms, and Ding Bats until level 4 in north gustenberg. After that, head over to the mines district, and venture inside the Zeruhn mines. Inside there you can kill pretty much every mob around (As long as you stay clear of the Korroloka Tunnel).

I’d like to thank the people in the linkshell for the gear donated. Anyways, I’m getting ahead of myself. Pick up Stone scroll at the local vendor. This is your first damage spell. When you reach level 6, you’ll be available to learn the spell “poison”. This is a DoT (Damage over Time) spell. It’s very useful against stronger mobs. Unfortunately it is generally a waste of mana if you know the fight won’t last long. Be sure to pick up this spell at the auction house or vendor. The next big development for the Dark Knight is when he reaches level 7. It’s time for an upgrade. The next set of armor looks sweet as heck. Try to pick up the leather armor set. Defense ranges from 2-7 and is a definite must. After you hit level seven it becomes kind of pointless to fight in the mines. So instead, head back to north gustenberg. From there, go on top of the zegham hill. There is sheep, goblins, bees, and worms up there. Very nice xp. Keep at it until you cap at level 10. By now, you should have harvested an insane amount of crystals. There reached a point where I couldn’t fit anymore in my inventory and I was forced to create a mule. Still, it’s a nice way to make money, because you’re about to need it.

Save up some cash and buy Scale Mail. You’ll be using it for a while and it’s a step up from leather. This armor includes:

Scale Mail – body – 11 defense
Faceguard – head – 5 defense
Scale cuisses – legs – 7 defense
Scale greaves – boots – 3 defense
I decided to pick up Legionnaire’s mittens instead of scale – 3 defense, +3 attack

Now, you may start to feel that zegham hill has become a bit teady. You are faced with a choice. Either head over to Palborough mines or stay on the hill. Either way your XP remains relatively the same. I personally chose to go to the mines. If you take my path, try to remain on the first floor of the mines. If you must, head to the second. No matter what you do, do NOT go to the third floor. You’ll be faced with onyx, greater, veteran, and even old quadavs. Those will kill you quickly. Keep at it until you hit 11.