(10-12-2015, 03:45 PM)SessionZero Wrote: You don't need a soulstone to be a Dark Knight. Fray's spirit shocks awake your darkside but you don't necessarily need the stone to do such. Besides that, your darkside isn't necessarily the source of Dark Knight powers so much as a side effect. The source of a Dark Knight's power is raw emotion.
It was the interaction of touching the crystal that sparked a connection between you and Fray. However,
(10-12-2015, 03:45 PM)Fray Wrote: "Not so fast. We need to talk about what's happening to you─what's growing within you, before you get carried away. There's a darkness within us all─nothing dangerous, mind. In fact, it's quite healthy. But the crystal changes you─gives you the power to channel it. Do it without proper training, however, and...well...it might hurt. So go ahead─ask me to teach you. Ask me to instruct you in the ways of the dark knights, and I will. I know you're still worried about that screaming woman, so I'll keep this brief. We dark knights don't care one whit for prestige or pedigree. We are free to follow our hearts─to defend the weak and punish the guilty as we see fit. The law of the land? The authority of a name? These are tools cowards use to escape harm. We have no need of shields figurative or literal. Here─my blade is your blade, my soul crystal your crystal. Go on, take them. You'll need them soon enough."
(10-12-2015, 03:45 PM)Fray Wrote: "Well, well, don't you look the part. Ready to harness the darkness within to set the wrong things right. Now, bear in mind that while the darkness gives you strength, that strength comes at cost. That is but one sacrifice, though─and justice demands many. Say a man─a venerable, untouchable man─harms a child in unspeakable ways. He strides through the Hoplon, secure in the knowledge that he is beyond punishment. But for one who cuts down that vile beast as he flaunts his freedom, who knows how many others will suffer? Such was the dilemma faced by a goodly knight long ago. He knew that he would be stripped of his titles and denounced for the deed. The threshold we refuse to cross is a line we drew for ourselves. We fear the consequences, and people suffer for our indecision. Everyone who held that crystal came to conquer that fear, and became who they wanted to be. That knight was the first. Will you be the next? Think on that while we look into the commotion down below."
While I'm not necessarily disagreeing with the aforementioned statement, Fray does give some heavy implications on the necessity of the soul crystal.
(I hate that we're calling them soulstones in a game where crystals are relevant, we're not Warlocks from WoW.)
*Lore Source(s):
(lv. 50) Our End
(lv. 30) Ishgardian Justice
Edit: Fixed typos and added more lore tidbits. Dark Knight has been my favorite class since Leon Lionheart.