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"Is this dress really necessary? It's a little too bold!"
―Natalie expresses her reservations about the Dark Gown, Epic Battle Fantasy 5

The Dark Gown is a female armor in Epic Battle Fantasy 4 and 5. Its hat counterpart is the Dark Bobble.

Description[]

The Dark Gown is a strapless black dress with detached sleeves, a floor-length skirt, and a pair of thin belts around the middle, one of which has a small white buckle resembling a skull. Natalie's version also has a black collar that covers her neck.

In EBF5, the Dark Gown has been redesigned to be composed of large, feather-like frills that are black around the torso and fade to various shades of purple towards the lower hem. There are long, narrow slits in the front of the dress and the skirt, with the former framed by bright purple frills and exposing the wearer's cleavage and navel; if "Cleavage" is disabled or Anna wears it, the upper slit is covered by a dark purple undershirt. The detached sleeves are shorter than the EBF4 version - only going slightly past the elbow - with dull violet frills along the upper edges.

As its name suggests, the Dark Gown is consistently resistant to Dark, but it's most notable for its tremendous boosts to Magic Attack and Magic Defence.

Epic Battle Fantasy 4[]

The Dark Gown boasts the highest Magic Attack of any female armor and a Magic Defence stat second only to the Pope Dress, but it provides no other stat bonuses. It buffs Magic Attack if its wearer loses more than 50% of her HP in a single blow, but this is unlikely to be a significant effect.

Despite being the epitome of magical offense in female armor, the Dark Gown's Magic Attack is only 5% higher than that of the Red Dress, which has the same Magic Defence and an identical special effect on top of decent Defence and three elemental resistances; the end result is that it has much better bulk for marginally less magical power. On the other hand, the Pope Dress or the White Mage Dress are better Dark-resistant female armors, relegating the Dark Gown to a very small niche when massive magic power and Dark/Death resistance are needed in a single piece of gear.

The Dark Gown grants resistance to Dark, Doom and Instant Death, becoming immune to the latter two at Level 5.

Epic Battle Fantasy 5[]

Normal[]

The Dark Gown has the absolute highest Magic Attack among female armor, and its Magic Defence is only outmatched by the Pope Dress; however, it has no other stats, which makes it a little frail on the physical side of things. As its name suggests, it powers up Dark skills; Natalie will get more use from this, as Anna's best Dark option is the physical Demon Swords. The armor can additionally buff its wearer's Magic Defence when she Defends herself; while hypothetically useful, it's worth noting that since Barrier and other methods of Magic Defence application are typically party-wide skills, this effect will not improve buff coverage like an offensive buff would.

The Dark Gown's best asset is the immense magical power it can grant to Natalie; pairing it with the Obsidian Staff lets her utilize her excellent elemental coverage for an all-out offensive build. However, other armors can provide superior defenses or versatility at the cost of some raw power and earlier availability; in particular, the Santa Skirt trades a bit of Magic Attack and Magic Defence for better overall defensive stats and a slightly more versatile effect. If the party specifically requires massive magical Dark damage, it may be more efficient to let Lance take point with the Shadow Blaster and the Coat of Teeth, freeing up Natalie to use a support build and set up a damage combo.

The Dark Gown grants resistance to Dark, Doom and Instant Death, with the latter two becoming an immunity at Level 5. However, it also has a weakness to Holy that remains constant at all forging levels.

Equip Remix[]

Although it wields catastrophic magic power, the Alt Dark Gown is more notable for its Enchant abilities and Dark immunity. It has the best Magic Attack of any female armor and the second-best Magic Defence (only matched by the Alt Fur Dress and surpassed by the Alt Obsidian Armor), but this comes at the cost of a modest Evade penalty. It boosts both Dark and non-elemental skills, but it can also apply Enchanted on the user when she Defends herself. Because of this, it is as useful in Enchant-based tanking builds as it is in a magical offensive build.

As an "Enchant Tank" armor, the Alt Dark Gown faces competition from the Alt Turtle Gi and the Alt Sami Dress, which lack an elemental weakness while having better defenses (assuming all magical damage is negated) and additional utility effects. The Alt Dark Gown's main advantage over these armors is its high Dark resistance; when fully forged, it is completely immune to Dark, which can be helpful for places like The Rapture. On the other hand, it competes with the Alt Maid Outfit in a magical hyper-offensive build; its support abilities are more limited, but it has slightly more Magic Attack and better synergy with Natalie (especially if she's using the Alt Shooting Star).

The Alt Dark Gown grants resistance to Dark, but is weak to Ice. The Dark resistance becomes an immunity at Level 5, while the Ice weakness remains constant no matter its level.

Epic Battle Fantasy 4[]

The Dark Gown is found in a chest in Graybone Cemetery, outside the Left Tomb. The chest lies among some dead trees, blocked by a battle that appears as a Coal Bat.

EBF4 Arm Dark Gown Dark Gown
A dark-resistant dress. Buffs magic attack when hit by a powerful attack.
Statistics
Stat Bonus Resistance
LV1 LV2 LV3 LV4 LV5 LV1 LV2 LV3 LV4 LV5 LV1 LV2 LV3 LV4 LV5
Stat HP - - - - - Stat MP - - - - - Element Dark 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Stat Attack - - - - - Stat Defence - - - - - Status Death 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Stat Magic 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% Stat Mdef 15% 20% 25% 30% 40% - - - - - -
Stat Accuracy - - - - - Stat Evade - - - - -
Spells & Statuses
Power Chance Modifier
Auto Skill -- --
Bonus Skill -- --
Auto Status -- --
--
Forging Information
Lvl Requirements Lvl Requirements
2 Wool
x 6
-- -- 3 Satin
x 1
-- --
4 Satin
x 2
Bottled Darkness
x 2
-- 5 Dark Rune
x 2
Bottled Darkness
x 3
--

Epic Battle Fantasy 5[]

The Dark Gown is found inside a chest in The Rapture, near the middle of the teleporter maze guarding the Wind Orb. Aside from finding the correct teleporter to reach it, the chest is blocked by spikes that must be lowered by activating a lever, red blocks that require the Winged Boots to cross, and a battle that appears as a Beheaded Fallen.

EBF5 Arm Dark Gown Dark Gown
The clothes of a powerful sorceress.
  • Boosts the damage of dark skills.
  • Level 4: Defending also buffs magic defence by 80%.
Statistics
Stat Bonus Resistance
LV1 LV2 LV3 LV4 LV5 LV1 LV2 LV3 LV4 LV5 LV1 LV2 LV3 LV4 LV5
Stat HP - - - - - - - - - - - EBF5 Element Holy -30% -30% -30% -30% -30%
Stat Attack - - - - - Stat Defence - - - - - EBF5 Element Dark 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Stat Magic 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% Stat Mdef 15% 20% 25% 30% 40% Instant Death & Doom 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Stat Accuracy - - - - - Stat Evade - - - - -
Spells & Statuses
Power Chance Modifier
Auto Skill -- --
Bonus Skill -- --
Auto Status -- --
Defend Status 80% Stat Mdef --
Forging Information
Lvl Requirements Lvl Requirements
2 Jungle Flower
x 1
-- -- 3 Satin
x 2
-- --
4 Satin
x 1
Dark Rune
x 1
-- 5 Dark Matter
x {{{item51number}}}
-- --

Statistics with Equip Remix enabled.

EBF5 Arm Dark Gown Dark Gown
The clothes of a powerful sorceress.
  • Boosts the damage of dark skills.
  • Level 3: Boosts the damage of non-elemental skills.
  • Level 5: Defending gives enchanted status.
Statistics
Stat Bonus Resistance
LV1 LV2 LV3 LV4 LV5 LV1 LV2 LV3 LV4 LV5 LV1 LV2 LV3 LV4 LV5
Stat HP - - - - - - - - - - - EBF5 Element Ice -30% -30% -30% -30% -30%
Stat Attack - - - - - Stat Defence - - - - - EBF5 Element Dark 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Stat Magic 15% 20% 25% 30% 45% Stat Mdef 15% 20% 25% 30% 45% - - - - - -
Stat Accuracy - - - - - Stat Evade -10% -10% -10% -10% -10%
Spells & Statuses
Power Chance Modifier
Auto Skill -- --
Bonus Skill -- --
Auto Status -- --
Defend Status 1x EBF5 Status Enchanted --
Forging Information
Lvl Requirements Lvl Requirements
2 Jungle Flower
x 1
-- -- 3 Satin
x 2
-- --
4 Satin
x 1
Dark Rune
x 1
-- 5 Dark Matter
x {{{item51number}}}
-- --


Trivia[]

  • EBFShop2

    The proto-Dark Gown being worn by a shopkeeper in EBF1

    The EBF4 Dark Gown is based on the dress worn by the proprietor of the second shop in the original Epic Battle Fantasy, although the latter has shorter sleeves with a white bandage wrapped around the right arm, a small silver cross dangling from the collar, and a long black cape that hangs off the left shoulder, covering that arm.
  • The Dark Gown's EBF5 redesign may be inspired by the outfit of Ultimecia, a character from Final Fantasy VIII.
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