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 exposing the wearer's cleavage and navel (although Anna's version downplays this by covering the upper slit with a dark purple undershirt, this also applies to Natalie if the Cleavage option's disabled) and being framed by bright purple frills 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 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 emphasizes its wearer's magic power, greatly raising their Magic Attack and Magic Defence while providing no other stat bonuses. It buffs Magic Attack when hit for >50% of maximum health in EBF4, though this unlikely to be a significant effect.
The Dark Gown is the absolute offensive magic gear, boasting the highest Magic Attack in the game and great Magic Defence second only to the Pope Dress. However, it is worth noting that its Magic Attack is only 5% higher than that of the Red Dress, which has the same Magic Defence and notable amounts of Defence. To add insult to injury, the Red Dress even has three elemental resistances, giving effectively great bulk for marginally less magical power. Ultimately, the best reason to use Dark Gown is for its mix of magical offensive power and Dark resistance; however, it is generally better to use the Red Dress for magical offense and either the Pope Dress or the White Mage Dress for Dark resistance.
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 is functionally identical to its EBF4 appearance, with great Magic Attack and Magic Defence but no other stats to show for it. However, it does have an interesting asset in that it can buff Magic Defence when defending. 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. Instead, the player should focus on the great offenses this outfit can afford Natalie. Alternatively, the Bubble Dress and other armors can provide superior defenses at the cost of some raw power.
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
The Alt Dark Gown wields magical power enough to compress the fabric of time, but it is more notable for its Enchant abilities and Dark immunity. It has titanic Magic Attack and Magic Defence, although 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, which lacks an elemental weakness while having better defenses (assuming all magical damage is negated) and a stat-buffing ability. Aside from being available for different characters, the Alt Dark Gown's main advantage over the Alt Turtle Gi is its high Dark resistance; when fully forged, it is completely immune to Dark, which can be helpful for places like The Rapture.
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.
