Dark Knight

That sword is not just for show, and the Dark Knight definitely knows how to wield it. More importantly, she knows how to make it go through anything that stands in her way.

The knight's staple ability is this explosion of pain that hits every enemy on the battlefield, and does so slightly faster than her standard physical attack. The downside is the rather disturbing pleasure/pain theme, costing the user one eighth of their maximum HP for the privilege.

With all of her HP going on Darknessing all over the place, it's not fair to rely on the white mages and stockpiled potions all of the time. Drain adds insult to considerable injury by absorbing an enemy's own HP, allowing the Dark Knight to use it to fuel her unusual tastes and finish off the job.

The classic gravity-elemental bomb, tearing through the enemy party's defence and ripping off one quarter of each target's remaining HP. Naturally this becomes less useful as the battle goes on and the HP pool decreases, but as an opening move against a group of enemies it sets the scene rather nicely.

A simple no-damage attack which twists the mind of its target, causing them to lose control and start attacking anyone and anything. A confused enemy may use any skill at its disposal, even white magic, making this the only way of having Gun Mages learn White Wind and Mighty Guard. Confusion wears off after a while or if the victim is physically attacked, so is best used sparingly.

Break attempts to Petrify the target, turning them instantly to stone and shattering them in one fell swoop. This is an effective instant kill against most opponents regardless of HP, while having no effect whatsoever on those immune to rocking out.

An ill wind comes, bringing with it the swirling green clouds of Poison. All members in the enemy party are hit, and while they take no damage from the attack they will be left feeling decidedly under the weather, steadily losing HP for the remainder of the (now much shorter) battle. A nice opening gambit before switching to another dressphere.

A more final and more effective version of Bio, inflicting Doom on a single target. This devastating skill renders the victim's pension plan useless, giving them just a short while before their number literally comes up and they drop dead on the spot. The only defence against Doom is an immunity; Once the timer starts, it cannot be cancelled.

For when you really need something dead right now. Death doesn't worry about such trifiling matters as HP or defence, simply summoning the reaper and bringing a premature halt to further action. Naturally it doesn't work on the toughest of creatures. Spoilsports.

Armageddon in compact form. For the costly sum of 80MP and an incredibly long wait, Black Sky peppers the enemy party with a shower of explosive orbs.

A life for a life. The hollow implosive thud and impressive shock corona signals a rapid decrease in the target's HP, which is all well and good. But when the smoke clears the Dark Knight is nowhere to be found, having removed herself from battle with no hope of revival. The ferryman asks a high price indeed.

The Dark Knight lives for hitpoints, and so should stock up on as many as possible. Being hit with Poison hurts her more than it would any other class, and nullifies the effect of the essential Regen that you remembered to cast at the start of battle. Protect against it with this vital auto-ability.

Completely protects against all forms of Petrification. Turning things to stone is a surprisingly common form of attack, particularly in dangerous areas like the Via Infinito, making this a vital part of any Dark Knight's defensive array.

With the immense power of the black warrior comes the responsibility of not neatly carving your attentive white mage companions in two. Confuseproof protects against such light-headed tomfoolery and, in doing so, protects those around her.

One of the Dark Knight's major malfunctions is her lack of speed, which means it is often useful to quickly switch out to a more active garment. That potentially makes Curse a painful ailment from which to suffer. In practice, however, you'll probably never even see Curse in effect let alone be inspired to protect against it.

Sadly, Deathproof is not immortality as its title would suggest. Instead it protects the knight from the Death status ailment, which a few very powerful enemies use in a no-damage instant kill attack. Incredibly useful against these monsters, worthless otherwise. Does not protect against the knight's own Charon.