Darkside (Final Fantasy IX)

Darkside
(暗黒剣, Ankokuken?, lit. Dark Sword)
Availability
Obtained	Blood Sword
Character(s)	Steiner
AP	30
Classification
Skillset	Swd Art
Effect	Sacrifice own health to damage one enemy
Element	Shadow
Specifications
Other cost	12.5% of Steiner's max HP
Power	140% of normal Attack
Related pages
Recurring appearance	Dark Sword (ability)

Reduces your HP to cause Shadow damage to the enemy.

Description

Darkside is a Swd Art in Final Fantasy IX used by Steiner to damage one enemy with Shadow-elemental damage at the cost of some of his own HP. Darkside is one of the few Shadow-elemental attacks in the player's disposal, and the first to become available.

Obtained

Darkside is learned for 30 AP from the Blood Sword, obtained for giving Queen Stella four Stellazzio coins. This can be done when Adelbert Steiner and Princess Garnet first visit Treno with Marcus, however, Steiner will not be in the party much until after the party has the Blue Narciss. Blood Sword can also be stolen from Tiamat in the final dungeon.

Mechanics

Darkside does 140% of Steiner's normal Attack as Shadow damage to one target, ignoring Steiner's Mini and the target's Protect. Damage is calculated as follows:

$Base=[(Attack+14)/10]-EnemyPhysicalDefense$

$Bonus = Strength + RndMOD ([(Level + Strength) / 8] + 1)$

$Damage = Base \times Bonus$

Damage can be enhanced by 50% using equipment that boost Shadow damage: Demon's Mail and Gold Choker. Wearing both simultaneously does not stack the effect. If the enemy is weak to Shadow, the damage is further doubled. If the enemy resists Shadow, the damage is halved. If the enemy is immune to Shadow, Darkside does no damage, and if the enemy absorbs Shadow, they are healed rather than damaged.

Steiner loses 12.5% of his maximum health when using Darkside. Darkside is unaffected by row placement.

Use

Darkside is a good strong attack for Steiner that does the rare Shadow-elemental damage, together with Dagger's ultimate eidolon Ark and Vivi's ultimate Black Magic spell Doomsday. Steiner's Darkside is available much earlier than the other two. After Vivi learns Doomsday, Steiner can use Doomsday Sword instead to deal supreme Shadow damage to one enemy; though this does not cost him HP, it will cost MP.

Darkside is the only MP-free Sword Art. It uses Steiner's weapon stats and Strength and Level to calculate damage against the enemy's Defense, but is Shadow-elemental and 40% stronger. Darkside is best when enhanced with Shadow-boosting equipment, and when used against Shadow-weak enemies. Steiner benefits from Auto-Potion or Auto-Regen to replenish the health he loses with Darkside. After Auto-Regen becomes available, Darkside is more freely usable and can replace Steiner's normal Attack if boosted with Demon's Mail or Gold Choker, though his normal attack is still better if stacked with Killer and MP Attack, and also benefiting from Add Status. Darkside's benefit over enhanced Attack is that Steiner could be placed in the back row.

Darkside could be used if Steiner equips a weapon whose element the enemy will absorb, as Darkside will override the weapon's own element with Shadow. Darkside can be used to deliberately bring Steiner's health down for Minus Strike. It could also be good against Ozma after completing the friendly monsters sidequest that removes Ozma's Shadow resistance, as Darkside does full damage even if Steiner has Mini. Amarant's Curse may make a target weak to Shadow, empowering Steiner's Darkside.

Darkside becomes less lucrative when Steiner learns his best skills and Vivi learns his best magic. Even if the enemy is weak to Shadow, and Steiner wears Shadow-boosting equipment, Shock will still outdamage Darkside as long as Steiner is not under Mini. His other Sword Arts use MP, but by lategame the player will likely have Ethers and Tents to spare, and Amarant has Chakra for a free top up.

Origin

Darkness-attuned sword abilities that sap the user's health are the signature trait of Dark Knights, most famously Cecil Harvey from Final Fantasy IV with Darkness. These types of abilities have gone by various names, however. Though Steiner's ability in English is named after the Darkside ability from Final Fantasy VIII that behaved similarly, the Darkside in Final Fantasy IX is actually a wholly separate ability in Japanese: "Dark Sword", which debuted in Final Fantasy IX as Steiner's ability, and has since appeared in couple other games as well.