[NeXtadi]

i agree paladins and black mageswould pwn every one except vincent valentine! or cloud! or seph! or kadaj!

[TehRealDinnin]

Originally Posted by T.G. Oskar

It depends on the game, actually.

In the original FFIV (on the SNES era), both could be spoken as roughly equal. Paladin has the spellcasting (not like it actually does anything...), has loads of HP and the ability to reach tops at defense. Dark Knight has the Death sword, the Dark ability, and the annoying fact that he has decent defense but brutal attack power. It's mostly a battle of attrition until the Death effect kicks in, and that's depending on whether Cecil gets his hands on something that prevents Instant Death. In this case, Paladin wins over Dark Knight at the end, while Dark Knight prevails over Paladin at the beginning. That's why you don't fight the Dark Knight, you simply do nothing. The lack of aggression slowly deals him in.

In the GBA remake, the Paladin gets an unfair advantage with the Lightbringer. You see, while the Dark Knight gets his sweet Death Sword very quickly, the Paladin gets his best weapon by besting a trial. But, it's pretty much waiting for which effect kicks in. Death, or Holy? Whomever pulls it first wins.

In the DS re-remake and refurbishing, the Paladin gets yet another unfair advantage. That would be the Protect spell, which makes the already endurable Paladin even more endurable. So, less healing, more hits. The playing field balances with the Decant Abilities, where both can get abilities from other people. Judging by flavor, Paladin gets the Monk's defensive ability, Dark Knight gets Curse and Boost. So, Dark Knight begins with Curse, Paladin gets Protect, Dark Knight begins boosting, Paladin gets one hit, Dark Knight remains with the boost, Paladin uses the Monk's defensive ability, Dark Knight unleashes the triple-damage attack which the Paladin eats like nothing, Paladin heals with Cura, and pretty much rinse and repeat. Until the Death Sword kills Paladin, or the Paladin teaches this guy how to beat people like a turtle.

Hold it...it's not Cura, it's Curaga me thinks. Well, he needs to save his MP, right?

So, judging by the games, the longer it takes the Dark Knight to reach the Paladin, the worse it will fare to him. His Darkness attack is cool, but it takes HP that he desperately needs. Sadly, this game does not have the cool abilities other Dark Knights learn, or else the Dark Knight would end the battle in a heartbeat (you see, using a Darkness attack and then Draining at your leisure seems pretty nice)

So, unless you actually get the battle when the Paladin exits from Ordeals, the Paladin will eventually beat the Dark Knight faster with each passing level. This is considering both classes have the same level, and making some conjectures from other FF games (where the Dark Knight shows remarkable attack power.

The best chance a Dark Knight has to beat the Paladin in this game depends exclusively on how fast he can reach his polar half, or whether he gains the abilities of his other brethren (Drain, Aspire/Syphon/Osmose, some Dark spells, etc.) Otherwise, I must give a vote to my favorite, the Paladin. Note I attempted to do a reasonable analysis of both classes' styles of combat and attempted to do an objective analysis, but if you feel that it's kinda biased, here's a tip:

While I love Paladins as a class, Cecil falls kinda behind from other known Paladins (Agrias, for example; Beatrix is a Warlord/Warlady, who has better White Magic). While Dark Knight Cecil is actually equal or better than some other Dark Knights (Gaffgarion and Leon come to mind).

Very well said. Paladin mainly for me is what I believe will win but thats only if we can give him the Ribbon, if not than its a matter of which one is going to proc first, Holy or Death?

[Heartless Angel]

If equipment existed for higher level Dark Knights (it doesn't because the game doesnt plan for one to exist), and both were at peak stats, Dark Knight would tear paladin a neww asshole. I used a hack to keep Dark Knight with paladin's gear. By the end of the game, Souleater was dealing more damage than Paladin's Cura could ever DREAM of healing off. And really the healing argument isn't exactly strong to begin with. That costs you your turn. you cast Cura! Yay! You've healed up that stab wound! Of course it's his turn now and he plans to stab you again... and you're going to run out of MP eventually...

So yeah, Dark Knight ftw.