This May Be The BEST Story In FFXIV

[@velvetomen]

The author of the Dark Knight questlines, Ishikawa, is very much celebrated in the ffxiv community. She's also the lead writer for the Shadowbringers MSQ so something to look forward to once you finish all that the free trial has to offer!

[@katarh]

Yep! She also did the Steppe storylines in Stormblood, if I remember right.

[@Aurelyn]

Looking forward to CD experiencing Shadowbringers, and of course all the high points on the way there.

[@cekefun]

And the whole 3.1 story!

[@xiaocheng6643]

She also wrote the rogue questline, Crystal Tower and had a hand Coils of Bahamut, if I remember correctly

[@eredkaiser]

​@@xiaocheng6643also the 1-50 alch quests.

[@Rushifell]

Widely accepted as the best job story in the game up to now.

[@CaffeinatedDad]

I seriously understand why... lol

[@SapphireDragon357]

Glory be to Ishikawa! \o/

[@GhostCry100]

You either stop at ARR or become a walking advertisement for ffxiv

[@faeb.9618]

i absolutely fucking love the drk questline. it's not about being edgy and killing things left and right for the hell of it, it's about love. it's about loving people and the world so much you're willing to throw yourself into the darkness just to save them. it's about loving yourself enough to know to save yourself. i did the lv80 quest last week and i was just fucking bawling by the end of it, there genuinely is no better quest and no better theme for a job especially looking at msq

[@KyouTGD]

Fray spends the whole time angry with you for being a self-sacrificing hero, and everyone else for not learning from the mistakes they keep needing you to rescue them from. He asks why you keep helping the people who don't deserve your effort, and your answer is "because it's the right thing to do."

[@quinnbell2388]

Frey: "Aren't you tired of being *nice?*" WoL: "Yes, I'm tired. I just saved this continent, and what thanks do I get? Called a Queenkiller by some and a Heretic by others. So yes, I'm tired, and there's quite a few people I'd very much like to personally deliver what coming to them. But for everyone else, folks just getting on with their lives, who could have done what I've done? So I'll keep *being nice.* And when my strength gives out, when my bones break, when my lungs scream, and when my heart seizes, I'll keep going. Because if I can't, if I won't, then who... else... will? Frey: "Good answer." WoL: Learns Living Dead

[@TheDapperDragon]

My favorite thing is the journel of these quests. Frey starts writing them for you, talking to you

[@88Zuke]

and best of all the journal entires change if you read them withouth the DRK jobstone equipped

[@DigitsRPG]

Also if you watch the NPC when Fray is addressing them and they react to them, It's you talking to them and they are taken aback because as the "Hero" that's not how you're supposed to respond.

[@evandavis5223]

You'll notice the NPCs never address Fray, only you.

[@Voiced]

Another thing! The Dark Knight quest journal entries change depending on if you are the Dark aknight Class currently or not. Trying reading all the journal entries, and then switch to Dark Knight and read them again. You'll see a massive difference

[@llKirosll]

good to know, I'll be checking on that

[@TheKeyblader133]

What are you talking about? I am reading through them as I type this and nothing is standing out as special. Nothing so major that it jumps out after trying to read each questlog twice

[@Fiarlia]

@@TheKeyblader133 Only one that changes is the last one (Lv. 80; "Our Closure"). You do need to close and reopen the journal as well when you switch jobs.

[@Kazman2007]

Everyone is raving about Shadowbringers also being written by Ishikawa, but it’s worth mentioning she also wrote the Rogue quest line (But not Ninja). I recommend giving that a go!

[@gateauxq4604]

Oh ok. Was wondering why she would have written all that goofiness with the ninja families. The rogue quest was fantastic too, I live them all speaking.

[@Tesskr95]

There are some clues to the big twist, including fray claiming to have fought Leviathan, which is odd, because the only person in recent memory to have fought that primal is you (and 3-7 of your buddies), and you certainly didn't see fray there. The quest log for the 30-50 dark knight quests also do some funny things if you read them back, with differences between if you read them as dark knight or another class if I remember correctly.

[@hkoizumi3134]

If you like that, you're gonna love shadowbringer.

[@larskoenig6021]

i mean who tf doesnt absolutly loved and loves shb, ew makes it even better!

[@poeticthief]

Oh, yes. FFXIV tends to hide A LOT of really good stories behind optional side quests. There's a good reason why people recommend doing the raid tiers of each expansion.

[@seekittycat]

I was super confused about this quest and followed the storyline because of the mystery. Then I remembered I was a chronic people pleaser and forget to take care of myself all the time. I DO get mad at BS actually and sometimes getting mad is valuing yourself.

[@Kazman2007]

You are going to LOVE Shadowbringers.

[@Armydillo62o]

WE GOT HIM BOYS

[@kncotton85]

If Fray's costume/ glamour is of interest to you, it's available to tanks, Dragoon & Reaper via the crafted Lv60 Adamantite Fending & Maiming gear.

[@medekhgui]

Love the DRK quests, but personally i think the scholar questline is underrated. Samurai was also incredible.

[@FireLordVahn]

Can never look at a tonberry the same way again!

[@TheKeyblader133]

I only recently did the SCH quests while leveling it up along side smn, and it took it's place beside DRK as one of my favorite job questlines the game has to offer. Some jobs have some nice arcs but so far of the ones ive finished, DRK and SCH have some of the most satisfying and complete arcs for me.

[@TheValiantBob]

One thing you should do when you get free time is actually go back and read the journal quest logs for the dark knight quests. They're unique in that instead of just being fairly generic quest descriptions like everything else, they're actually written from Fray's POV, and they're *really* good.

[@bladethewolfartist7095]

Frey being our resentment is so cool. His is our anger and our resentment and drk keeps building through each expansion on you as the WoL and your own complex emotions.

[@evandavis5223]

The first rule of Knight Club is you don't talk about Knight Club.

[@acehealer4212]

I have been interested in FFXIV for a while, so I went into the 30-50 Dark Knight quests with some spoilers, but even I was surprised at some points. I also got a tip to read the quest journal text - I usually ignore the journal, but some of the Warrior of Light's honest thoughts are. Harsh. But Fray was really spitting here 4:29. I really like these quests. I see why they're so popular.

[@MoogleMog]

Fun fact: the writter for this Quest Was made in charge of the Shadowbringers story. Here's my advice I say to newcomers for when they should enter shadowbringers..........you wont be ready for Shadobringers...no one ever is. (yeah s**t gets real in that expantion)

[@larskoenig6021]

other mmo´s doesnt have the guts to create this kind of "slow in a good way" content. a usual wow-player would skip it because it would be "pointless"

[@isturma]

It's my favorite job questline, and I think you'll be even more in love with it as you finish the HW and SB questlines - as a dad, I think you're in for a rough time. One thing someone had to tell me about, go into your completed quest log and read it as a different class, then switch to DRK and reas it again. Enjoy!

[@TheMNWolf]

The Red Mage storyline is also very good. They really nailed the writing in Heavensward. Dancer, on the other hand... I don't know if I would spend too much attention to that one. I'm never getting those hours of my life back.

[@Keira_Blackstone]

dancer doesn't bother me. it's pretty middle of the road imo. Paladin, however, is my most hated questline in the entire game.

[@8BitCerberus]

I rather enjoyed DNC, but it may be because I didn’t really pick it up until I was in Endwalker, and the DNC plot seemed to resonate well. Also did the EW role quests with DNC and they very much seem to be made for DNC or at least you/the player can get more out of it.

[@BlueKitsune83]

Watching you go through this quest line was amazing. Seeing your brain break a little as we pointed and smiled. Also....fishing and Manderville dancing.

[@Tolly7249]

Yeah, Dark Knight is some of the best storytelling in the game and Ishikawa takes over lead for Shadowbringers and it SHOWS. You're in for a whole ton of future trauma :D

[@parnash]

Honestly, this is a quest line one should DEFINITELY play twice, because of how good it is, and, well. Other reasons.

[@AzureRoxe]

There's a reason why Shadowbringers' story is loved so much, it was written by the same writer as the DRK questline. Bit ironic cause the job opposite of DRK [the Paladin story] is considered the WORSE by far, to the point even the writers went back to making it more Gladiator focused and THAT was liked far more.

[@quinnbell2388]

Like you said, I love (narratively) how you can't unlock DRK until after ARR. I completely agree with the decision to change that the new classes moving forward, but I think it legitimately makes DRK better because it is one of the lowest points in the WoL's story.

[@Draugheim]

"May be the best story in ffxiv" - Havent even finished heavensward msq 😂 Sure, its a good short story, but you got 4 expansions worth of story to go lol. And they are (for the most part) praised, and rightfully so.

[@bleh491]

It’s been a few years since I did the HW of the DRK quest line but if I remember correctly, at the end of the quest, everyone grows concerned about your mental well-being bc whenever you return to ishgard to chat with Fray, your actually talking to a corpse.

[@陳威麟-q7o]

DRK quest line is really S tier. When you think you have invested emotionally in your WoL already, it pushed much further. After you finally realized you as whole, both light and darkness, and accept it, your WoL developed to another level and gain their forever reliable companion. Next 10 levels are equally good, that another DRK character comes to you and explore the nature of the decipline further during an unexpected event. And these time, its your turn to reveal the human nature to your dear colleage. Nice.

[@elgatochurro]

Batman is garbage compared to the original The Shadow is dark justice, Batman is for kids

[@Coaltergeist]

You know what the best part is? The person who wrote this questline was responsible for writing the story for some of the newer expansions. Yeah it's awesome

[@gothicshark]

DRK has the best writer in FFXIV to thank, she's also the one to write something expansion related. Ironically I think Ninja has the most fun story, and Darkknight has the best written story. By far Paladin is the worst. I think all the crafting and gathering stories were better than Paladin.

[@venabre]

Now that you've done Dark Knight it's time to pretend Paladin's job quests don't exist

[@knifecat1080]

another interesting note is when playing as a female character some NPCs will use she/her pronouns for Fray in the later quests (i think 45 and 50)

[@saymoncardoso656]

Ishikawa may have got some inspiration from fight club

[@alyssaphillips1744]

the 50-60 dark knight quest line was extremely emotional, I look forward to your take on that

[@futtbuckerson7394]

It’s probably the best Job quest-line n that’s one reason She’s the writer of the last two, and best stories in the ARR-EW arc

[@dazzlemasseur]

I feel like caffeinated dad has. Really nice approach to the game and a very profound point of view into the game. I hope he makes it as a ffxiv streamer.

[@meriwidget3474]

This game taught me to do side quests lol. Not all of the side content is good.. but some of it is amazing, especially later in the game, when the really found their stride.

[@castoputa]

This was the soprano clearing her throat, buckle up!

[@GhostCry100]

Now that stormblood is in the free trial, you should try samurai out. Their story is really good aswell !

[@valkyriebait136]

Best quests in the game. And also the closest the WoL ever gets to therapy.

[@khaosterminator]

just wait until you get to the end of the Dark Knight story :)

[@ursulcx299]

Its not the best story in ff14 because her writer went on to become the main writer for MSQ and she gave us the masterpieces that were Shadowbringer and Endwalker. But it was by a wide wide miles the best class quest. No contest. Only Red mage and Gunbreaker can come close. Theresa lot of good class quest in ff14 but DRK is jsut amazing and people would jsut recommend doing those quest even if the class isnt interesting to you because of how good it is.

[@HMNNO]

Its the best story! Better then anything else even in the future. It won't get better then this.

[@charlettmoon2693]

See, my initial look at my character was "Why do I have to do it? Because I *can* and the Echo is a rare thing that not a lot of people could have." If you were there, standing in front of a problem, would you just leave and say "Nah, someone else can do it"? Of course not, because a hero stands up and does what they have to at that moment. When looking at this, I was angry at my dark half, or it felt like I was placating and chastising the *child* in me for crying that "wahhh I have to do adulting!" Because what, am I just going to walk away from all this terrible stuff? Especially *after* seeing Raubahn's arm get cut off and Nanamo's assassination? Now is the *best* time to just stop helping people? It felt absolutely silly to think that I would want to *stop* being a hero now. However, the 50-60 quest was very fun and fit with my Warrior of Light a lot more. And honestly, looking at Fray/Esteem other half of me *as* the crying child who doesn't understand she has to grow up... it still worked, so at the end of the day, 30-50 was still *good,* it's just funny that you can see different sides of it.

[@nahnah390]

Essentially, a lot of darkness in this questline is anger, love and sorrow. All emotions that have reasons to exist. But you can't run on them alone, much less let them guide your life. At the same time, you shouldn't ignore them. They're important emotions, we need them to be human. Yeah it IS bullshit that so many people take advantage of you, it IS bullshit that some people are so ungrateful when you risk your life for them. But you do it anyway, not because you have no will or spine, but because if you didn't do it, other people might die in your place. But the level 80 questline shows, you're still the warrior of light... someone driving you to that outburst isn't going to get ignored by everyone.

[@Dewkeeper]

You describe the WOLs problems as if they were an office job. Don't you think your tune would be a bit different if helping all these people involved almost dying and getting the crap beat out of you day in and day out?

[@charlettmoon2693]

@@nahnah390 I agree. I guess I'm saying that in a vacuum, this doesn't always work for some players who aren't the "Wait, how come *I* have to kill Ifrit for the third time in a row!?" but I do think that later on, for the 51-80 questline, it really does feel good overall. Just giving an idea for why this doesn't *always* work in a vacuum, that's all :)

[@charlettmoon2693]

@@Dewkeeper I think the problem is that Fray's whole pissy act during the 30-50 questline *IS* actually "But you shouldn't *have* to move this thing from point A to point B! How come *WE* have to do it!?" So yeah, office job. Even if you're talking about the Primals, the other slight problem is that I main a healer, so going into this with the knowledge that no matter how many broken bones I get, I can get them gone instantly really doesn't help sell the fact that my WoL is facing impossible problems. Sure, she MIGHT run into something that even she can't outheal, but at the end of the day, once again, if she doesn't do it, who will? And will that other mythical other Echo person be here *right in time* to stop the very thing that she could be possibly walking away from? It's almost criminal to just say "Nah, I ain't even going to try," especially since the game straight up shows that the WoL volunteered for this when Momodi told us not to join the Scions, because they get into some shady and dangerous shiz, and they walked into it despite knowing the risks. Either way, I still think it's good storytelling, just that all the stars aligned for *my* character to scoff at the crybaby she apparently birthed from her ego.

[@azul86]

Just a personal note... While I know that a lot of helmets/headwear can look cool in game, I personally avoid wearing that which conceals my face - especially in cutscenes. There are a lot of subtleties in the eyes that can be missed when wearing helmets. And in stories like the DRK, seeing the annoyance or frustration in my own character's face really makes an impact on how the story feels.

[@FireLordVahn]

Hes committed to the helmet for better or worse lmao

[@Foxpawed]

7:28 *pointing at the screen* Look Gary, there I am! (I was also the paladin on our all-tank leveling dungeon run) Also, 9:06 originally you did only unlock jobs in this game by leveling two different sub-jobs! It was well before I started playing but you had to be both an archer and something else to get bard, and so on.

[@Emacspirate]

Dark knight class story is great and my favorite tank class to play. I know warrior is stronger/more meta but DK is so cool.

[@CaffeinatedDad]

Drk has such a feeling to it. After the emotional trauma it only really seemed fitting lol

[@TheGeekShow]

When we say this game is worth playing for the story, we don't just mean the MSQ :) Also, Natsuko Ishikawa is arguably one of the most talented writers working in video games at the moment.

[@ygnizemcenia6059]

DRK and SAM are my favorite job quests specially their ending at lv80.

[@alloounou6900]

Glad you enjoyed the questline. Dark Knight has been my main for Endwalker. From a gameplay perspective, the class is very engaging with a high skill ceiling.

[@redlunatic2224]

Do keep the ball rolling! It goes up to 70 with a couple more twists, so there's no rush to it, but it's also a fitting job for Shadowbringers, so I'd recommend keeping the greatsword for the long ride. :)

[@akf_ua]

We told you mate! 😏🤌🏼 Now wait till you go through the Samurai job quests… And the Shadowbringers MSQ and role quests… EDIT: …and finish the DRK story after Heavensward going into Stormblood

[@IKMcGwee]

Everyone's favorite is Dark Knight class quests. I don't really like playing as one, it's ok, but worth leveling just for the story!

[@vilemk69z98]

The Dark Knight Job Quests is like the story if FIGHT CLUB!!!

[@EnzoVinZ]

Oh this is just icing on the cake. There's another good side story in Stormblood and in Shadowbringer. I can't really say if there's one in Endwalker, though.

[@EnzoVinZ]

Oh never mind, I just remember, there is one in Endwalker -- a very powerful one too.

[@jaesaces]

One very neat thing when doing DRK quests is to read the quest log as you go. There might be a little more commentary than normal. :)

[@sovest555]

Simply put, the Dark Knight storyline is basically just therapy.

[@RoyalCrustle]

Absolutely my favorite job in XIV.

[@MrCarlWax]

May Be*

[@CaffeinatedDad]

Much appreciated!

[@MrCarlWax]

@@CaffeinatedDad ♥

[@sennaka]

Where is the vid of him running through this? I need to watch it!

[@OyanaMorake]

Live on his youtube channel, just check the live section.

[@CaffeinatedDad]

I remember the ending saying literally "wtf?!?!"

[@StoicPJ]

Existential crisis GO!

[@CaffeinatedDad]

Seriously the game just keeps throwing them at me lol

[@krissb.2553]

It gives a "Fight Club" vibe ;)

[@ChandraMagic]

It's interesting to see how other people view the Dark Knight questline. I won't deny it wasn't a bad story, but it fell flat for me. Mostly, for a couple of reasions. A) By the level 40 quest I knew exactly where the questline was going. I've read enough fantasy/magic fiction that the storybeats were really obvious to me. 2) While I have nothing written down; in my head, the way Fray acted was dissonant with my own thoughts on how my characters thoughts and feelings, even subconcisously, were. Yes, Fray was supposed to be my characters dark impulses, but, uh, in my head, my character indulged those perhaps a bit too much anyway, so...yeah iii) I had just finished Azim Steppe (I had started FFXIV back in, uh, 4.2, when there was no one doing the MSG at the time) and was completely not impressed with the MSG, which yes, meant that I wasn't impressed with ishikawa (who did the MSG writing in the Azim Steppe). So yeah, while I will readily agree that it's a good story, I'm probably never going to agree that it's the best story in FFXIV. There are others that felt way more meaningful to me. Anyway, as i said at the beginning, it's always interesting to see how people react to the Dark Knight storyline.

[@CarlosHernandez-kn8sl]

He is playing the game, he still has to play Shadowbringer for example, you are the one who must understand that for now, for what he have played is "The Best Story in FFXIV...for now"

[@ChandraMagic]

@@CarlosHernandez-kn8sl Ah, I wasn't actually aiming that at Coffee Dad specifically; it was a general 'everyone says it's the best story' thing. That said, I can see how it was taken as such. You are the one that should realize that I realize he is still playing the game.

[@Angarato86]

idk how far you are in your journey. but ill tell you this. the woman that wrote this questline is the one who writes the story from stormblood patches till endwalker. and yes she is that good. also wait till you see the rest of the dark knight story....

[@FolliAF]

Does the game require hours on end to be able tonget anything done? Thats why reason why i loved gw2, but im really not into it lately and dunno if i need something new or if im just burnt out on gaming.

[@chicchicboom]

well, it's an MMOrpg game. kinda by definition its going to take a long time to get anywhere because they're designed to be a second world/another life - kinda also depends on what you mean by "done". the first game (A Realm Reborn) is kind of a long, relaxing bath - just go with it, talk to all the people and do all the things and try all the job classes until you find the one you were born to play and don't sweat the urge to "get anywhere". its a wildly different game than GW2, heavily focused on characters and story. And... free to play for hundreds of hours, you've got nothing to lose but time.

[@FolliAF]

@@chicchicboom thanks for the response. I've always played mmos it's just with a 3 almost 4 yr old and another on the way, time is limited. Maybe only have about an hour or so at a time.