(04-08-2015, 10:50 AM)Warren Castille Wrote: Hm, I should backpedal clarify that I'm taking on the "anti-paladin" concept that always seem the link these two jobs. Traditionally, PLD and DRK wear the same types of gear, do the same types of damage and one channels white magic while the other channels dark magic.
Ah, yes. Lore-wise, the two are not polar opposites of each other (or a "dark" version... again, like the Antipaladin class in DnD which was basically a Paladin for the evil deities), but really... have they ever really been? Bear with me on this one, I may get diatribe-y.
Dark Knights, classically (in a Final Fantasy sense, of course), didn't channel "dark magic" at all from what I can tell. They used their own life energy to bolster their attacks, and this self-inflicted pain was mirrored in the fact that their armor is literally bolted to them. If there's any duality between the two classes, it's "inflicting pain on one's self in order to harm others" against "healing the pain of self and others." That, in my opinion, was basically what Cecil was dealing with in FFIV with his conversion - you can't fight suffering/pain with more suffering/pain, you need to rise above it to truly break the cycle and he just couldn't do that with the skill set he had.
And that's basically what he did. He helped mend rather than break. And it was that - and the strength of the friends he made along the way - that allowed him to use the Crystal to reveal the big bad's true form and then pound him into submission. Which, I suppose goes against the whole healing the pain thing in that guy's case, but it's Final Fantasy and you always have to beat up the boss at the end. ANYWAY.
If you want "swordsmen who use Black Magic," you actually would need to look at Red Mage and, for those who remember FFV, the Mystic Knight. Red Mage, obviously, is your jack-of-all-trades that can do a little of everything but none of it exceptionally well - heals a little, casts some attack magic, smacks things with a sword and wears light armor. The Mystic Knight - also known as the Spellblade - channeled the Black Magics into their weapon to give it elemental properties and couldn't actually cast the spells directly at enemies (unless you set !Black as one of the character's skills!). Oddly enough, though, FFXI's Red Mage more or less inherited this trick as well with the En- spells.
From how I'm seeing things, this is sort of continuing here. The Paladin is still, at its base, what its always been - a guardian class with some healing ability, the whole "holy" aspect just comes from the fact that they protect and heal. There's nothing inherently divine about them - doubly so since healing is done using the elements (or one's personal aether) in Eorzea. Dark Knight, from what we've heard so far, is again using Darkness to perform its abilities... but it's being tweaked some from the whole "harming self to bolster power" aspect. Which, personally, I thought would've made for an interesting tanking mechanic (burn HP for abilities - your HP is suddenly a resource you have to manage even more than before!), but I can understand why they didn't go with it.
I'm reserving my overall opinion on how it turns out until after we actually see DRK in action.
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