Final Fantasy - 5d6cussion

[Wizardcat]

For first-tier spells, I actually think Lock/Twilight and some of the status ailment spells like Sleep, Poison, and Blind work well with a Dark Knight, and they definately fit the role of 'Support'. Those spells also don't require any high INT or CHA stats, although a Dark Knight does kinda want a decent INT stat for all the high-level damage spells. 'Cause, they, 'yknow, hurt and making peoples fall down is always useful.

Although, I think Truce said we are getting a Monk, so we might already be getting a Fighty McFacepuncher tank role. And Red/Blue Mages can do some fighting without our MP, and with our MP, we definately can do some of the heavy-hitting. Also, healing spells never hurt. Well, they hurt zombies, but no one cares about them.

I don't mind either one, but if you do pick a Dark Knight, I think our group is going to be worse than Group 2 in terms of the morally ambiguousness. My character is going to get so corrupted by you guys. 'Course, that might actually be a reason to pick it. :p

[Menarker]

Well, status effects cast by black magic can be resisted quite a bit by some monsters. Krylo suggested weapons that have chance to inflict those status on their own while having skills that make those status nigh-permanent unless cured (and the dark knight skill that further makes it easier to inflict status effects)

EDIT: But yes, when your INT is not the main focus, certain black magic spells like the ones I previously listed are more useful than standard blasting spells. In particular though, at higher levels, you'll want darkness typed spells because the further down you go the allignment scale, the more powerful your dark magic will be.

EDIT: Besides, being "dark" doesn't mean you have to be "Jerkface Babyslapper" and bathe in the blood of your victims... Although if you want to ham it up, you're free to. :3

[POS Industries]

Originally Posted by Wizardcat

My character is going to get so corrupted by you guys. 'Course, that might actually be a reason to pick it. :p

Be careful, though, Wizzie: Moogles are incapable of evil, and if they're affiliation moves too far into shadow, they cease to exist and are therefore removed from the game. So do try not to get yourself too corrupted!

[Wizardcat]

Originally Posted by POS Industries

Be careful, though, Wizzie: Moogles are incapable of evil, and if they're affiliation moves too far into shadow, they cease to exist and are therefore removed from the game. So do try not to get yourself too corrupted!

Yeah, already part of the plan. S'one reason why I'm not taking any of the Blue Mage mutations.

Thinking of such things. Exactly how do the auto alignment changes with the shadow and holy resistances interact with the Chimera's Blood job ability if shadow is chosen to either become weak/immune to, Truce?

[Bard The 5th LW]

Well Group 3 may not be completely abhorrent. Thieves aren't necessarily jerkasses, and Dark Knights aren't always chaotic evil, they have a chance to shift alignments to, Although I would totally love to see a tyke-bomb Dark Knight. Otherwise, Irving seems to be an alright guy.

Although it would be interesting to see the sliding scale through the groups. It would also be neat to see the comparisons in the game, but that might make things get somewhat complicated.

[phil_]

I just don't get why people keep calling us the "morally ambiguous" group. I mean, Bello's just a cute little bard, Jade is a biker (you saying bikers are all bad?), the Galka was dead when Jal got there, cross-dressers always have a heart of gold, and then Vit is obviously on the side of right and good because he's a White Mage.

Plus none of us has been in jail.

[mauve]

...and Dark Knights aren't necessarily chaotic evil...

Maybe not, but my Dark Knight, Elsa, sure as hell is. XD

I think I've got her set up with Poison as her first spell. She's kind of the Anti-Irving.

Hmmmm. Well now I'm really tempted to play the Dark Knight instead. Thanks guys. XD Guess I should go see how complete/accurate her character sheet is.

[Menarker]

A curious choice of spell. Has a potential to be pretty useful against foes with high defence, I give you that. Otherwise, it just seemed odd to choose a spell which entire purpose is to gradually deal damage, which a dark knight could already do by smashing face. :3

But you do have 2 more 1st level spells as you level, so it's not a bad idea really. =P (You can get lock, twilight or blind somewhere down the line).

EDIT: Also, keep in mind that some status spells can truly be useful OUTSIDE of combat. Like sleep on a guard will get a totally different reaction than blind, even though sleep is not very useful during combat (dispelled via hitting them) except for when you're using that time they are sleeping to cast buffs/healing spells amongst yourself.

[mauve]

What would you guys suggest would be a better first spell? I have no idea what I'm doing with this-- I've never played this kind of rp before and I appreciate the help.

EDIT: Thanks, I hadn't considered that.

[Menarker]

EDIT: Found the thing. Putting it in spoiler here, cause it's huge.

Mern and Krylo Dark Knight ConvoMern: I had to think hard for which classes I was going to be, but one class I figured I would never take was DK. Black Magic seems all nice and useful, but there is a bit of a catch. You can't combine your magic and swordfighting effectively. If you're magic, you're using INT and if you're using massive weapons or melee in other words, you're using STR typically. And even if you think you got a good stat balance to use both, You can only use one at a time. So you have to choose whether you're using melee or magic normally. Blaster magic does the same thing as melee magic aside from a few differences such as not-missing, using a different armor system and basically just does the same thing that melee does in a different way (lowering hit points). The other aspects of black magic such as stat lowering or status affliction sound potentially useful (and they can be if you're using blind or something to impede their fighting), but they have a chance to be resisted due to foes rolling a charisma check, or having immunity to it and they aren't that useful against bosses.

Their counterpart, the Paladin main purpose is to deal a bit of damage somewhat, but also have a bit of survivality. Their white magic works better for this because not only do they have heavy armor and shield already, but regen, healing and those protection things boost their main purpose without forcing one or the other that much. Also, because you're typically boosting your own health/status or your team-mates, resistance isn't that much of an issue.

Just my perspective though. Maybe there might be something I missed... but yeah... Monk or Fighter sounds good. Heck, a fighter with Provoke and Skin of Iron will draw monsters away from the casters and negate 25% of the melee hits (assuming that the RNG is in good favor) and that heavy armor will help reduce those hits already to managable levels for the white mage.

Krylo: Not as difficult as it looks.

Name:--
Age:--
Race:Elvaan
Class: DK
Appearance:--
Background:--
Traits: Inhuman Might, Weapon Master

Stats
HP: 21
MP: 20
Attack Bonus: 5
Evasion: 7
ARM: 10
M.ARM: 3

Strength: 9 (27)
Vitality: 7 (25)
Dexterity: 3 (20)
Intelligence: 8 (18)
Charisma: 3 (15)

Job Abilities:
Ability 1: Night Sword
Ability 2: No Mercy
Racial: Blue Blood +2 on any opposed rolls where failure would make the elvaan people look stupid.

Equipment
Right Hand: Claymore, Tier 1, (STR X 1) +2d6
Left Hand:--
Armor: Knight's Armor (10 ARM, 3 M.ARM, +1 Riding)

Items
Gil: 0

Skills: 22
Preferred Weapon Skill:
Massive: 4
Any Other None Zero Skill:
Language: 2 (Common, Elvaan)
Lore (Relics): 3
Riding: 2 + 1 Armor
Vehicles: 2
Heavy Armor: 4
Navigation: 2
Synthesis (Weapon): 3

Spells:
Lock


To put that in perspective, s/he's got a spell that can basically paralyze anyone he wants with a hard enough check to break that s/he'd have trouble with it, can knockback a short range on every hit (YOUR SPELL CASTING IS USELESS) and has better DPS than most of the characters here with the sword. Not to mention the ability to heal with nightsword and cause mass fear whenever s/he wants. Kind of bad evasion, but between the high hp and the 10 ARM, that shouldn't be much of a problem.

Edit: And I could have made that character more powerful but I was going with 'what abilities would freak out the paladin most' as opposed to 'what's most powerful?'

Mern: The stats and such do look promising, but status afflictions don't tend to afflict bosses and such so my statement still stands. If anything, DKs are incredible at dealing with mooks and mid-power monsters (which is still of value to keep the party healthy until you get to the boss) but start to trail off when having to deal with one or two incredible foe. If a DK could combine their INT and STR in some way like with a blade of fire or ice or so, then I probably be very eager to play one.

Krylo: Actually, the only boss in the beastiary that is status proof is Death Gaze. The next closest is Atma Weapon, which is immune to all status effects except stop and poison.

Mern: I'm not talking just about sheer immunity, but the fact that black magic is resisted by CHA and bosses usually tend to have overall very high stats.

Krylo: Oh, yeah, you wouldn't really want to use black magic for that.

You'd get a couple status effects on your sword and get the two abilities... something something that reduces their resist modifier by -2, and blood sword that makes it never wear off.

You'd take things like elemental spikes with black magic, twilight, or sickness, tractor would be good, rasp/osmose, drain, Arise, x-zone, death, and probably scathe as your level five spell.


Anyhow, key factors to keep in mind:
That your character is a melee type with a touch of magic casting. A damn good melee type by the looks of it.
Statuses that stop your opponent's actions also help protect your party because they reduce the potency or number of successful hits against the group, thus requiring less heals and that time saved on healing could be used in killing faster.
Statuses that stop your opponent's actions may also make them them easier targets to kill in the first place. :3

Hence why blind and lock were originally the two spells suggested. Blind makes them unlikely to hit a target and if they can't see you well, they probably can't evade you very much either. Useful also to get evade guards or when hiding/escaping.

Lock keeps a person in one spot, making them easier targets to attack, as well as preventing them from using melee or motion based actions for sure. Good for preventing a person from escaping too (or aiding your own escape)

Twilight is like blind, but effects an area rather than a person. It offers some of the benefits, but also risky because your allies would probably be effected too. Although if your team-mates can learn some AOE attacks, or you use it in an ambush... it may have some merits. :3

The reason why I didn't suggest poison (for the first spell at least) is because you can deal damage already via your weapon or your team-mates and the damage is 10% per round. Most fights might not last that long, the ones that last that long might be against foes that are strong enough to resist/immunity to it, and it doesn't stop them from hurting you or your team-mates. It's still useful, against armored or high defence foes or against a lucky shot against a foe who you rarely have a chance to hit (super high evasion), but if you had to endure 10 turns to kill them via poison, I'm sure that something like blind or lock would probably would help survive the situation.

Just my two cents. Not saying don't get it. I'm just suggesting you might wanna make that your second or third spell. :3