DRK Adjustments via Manifesto

[Leonlionheart]

Mobs that absorb damage as HP don't absorb damage when hit by the Twilight Scythe. It also bypasses all damage resistance with one exception (it doesn't work on Uragnite's -75% damage received when they are inside their shell) Other than that it ignores all resistance to damage types and general damage resistance and immunity.

Note that this only counts for normal attacks, not WS.

Intriguing. Very intriguing.

Edit: I wonder if Dvalinn will still Spell-> Direct TP if you hit him with it when you otherwise would have cured him, or if he actually has to be cured by your attack. Likewise on NMs where curing them triggers different actions

[Muras]

Well, I finally decided to come and post my thoughts on the current situation surrounding DRK. I post because Camate and the other representatives say they read every forum and thread, and that they pass on information to the devs, and so I'm counting on you guys to pass on what I say, and what everyone else has said about the problems with DRK. Also, sorry Camate (And anyone else who reads this) for the long post but darn it, I have a lot to say.

With that said, I do agree the proposed job abilities for DRK leave much to be desired. Us DRKs love our weapon skills... Be it Torcleaver, Guillotine, Quietus, or even Insurgency. Both the new proposed job abilities seem to encourage the use of the lesser loved WS like Infernal Scythe, or let us not use our weapon skills at all if the Japanese and French versions of the description are correct (0 TP gain). The magic boosting JA isn't nearly as bad since nothing is forcing us to use the magical weapon skills, but the loss of TP for damage really feels like an insult. Regardless of which Empyrean, Relic or Mythic weapon a DRK uses, or anyone on any job for that matter, that player wants to use the weapon they worked hard to get. The WS is the core mechanic of any relic/mythic/empyrean weapon, so to take it away is, to say it politely, not smart.

The devs seem to have some odd concept of what DRK is. I've been playing DRK since the North American PC launch, and never once thought of it as a job that sacrifices something for something else. I even have the original manual still, which the job's description reads as:

“Similar to warriors, dark knights can wield a variety of weapons. However, these outcast knights have taken the path of black magic to turn battles to their favor.”

So I believe the concept was, at least to the original development team, a job that's flexible like a warrior with weapons but uses magic to give them an edge. Not a hint about sacrifice. And like others have mentioned, Warriror itself has more “sacrifice one thing for another” Job Abilities than Dark Knight does. It seems the devs themselves are confused and mistaken, and I hope their description isn't an attempt to redefine the job this late in the game's life.

Right now, I won't talk about some theoretical job abilities that I think would be good for DRK (And I do have them), but I'd rather just talk about the “obvious”, a word that seems to elude the devs when it comes to DRK.

I talk of the magic side of DRK, the side that's supposed to turn battles to their favor. I know a lot of my fellow DRKs probably frowned and groaned when I mentioned that, but that's simply because so many of our spells aren't worth using. There are no game changing things here... Most of DRK's spells are just gimmicks. But a few simple additions to the spell repertoire may change that view.

We got spells like Absorb-CHR that serve no purpose, and for years we have been asking for things like Absorb-ATK, Absorb-DEF, Absorb-M.DEF. I personally was excited when, all those years ago, SE added Absorb-ACC because I thought “Finally, we're getting the next tier of absorbs”. And then nothing.

The absorbs have so much potential it's mind boggling why we haven't been given more of them yet. Give DRK more useful absorbs, and it's usefulness will increase due to the fact that it can now act as an enfeebler and a heavy DD. Our Absorbs are something that can benefit everyone, like BLMs and SCHs with their nukes with something like Absorb-M.DEF. Or perhaps give DRK an absorb that steals physical resistance (Absorb-PHYS) so that all the melee deal more damage (You know, Physical Damage Taken +/-%). Like, +15% damage to the mob, -15% physical damage to the DRK. Not only with the DRK itself love it, but all the other melees will too. Increases our survivability a little too, which would be nice for once.

Other things too, like Absorb-SPD that gives a new status called “Speed Down” (Slow) and “Speed Boost” (Haste) to the mob and DRK respectively. That way it can stack with Slow and Elegy. Or what about a spell that steals an enemy's beneficial effect? You know, strip down an enemy's defenses to make them your own? I mean, Blue Mage has TWO spells that do this very same thing... This is right up DRK's alley, so why don't we have one?

When was the last time anyone said “Let's get a DRK to make this fight easier”, or “how can we make this monster go faster from 'alive' to 'dead'” and think of DRK? I certainly don't remember it, and having these new absorbs could certainly help with that. These ideas are something that benefit DRK itself and it's party indirectly. I know BLMs would love to nuke harder. I know WARs would love to see Ukko's Fury do even more damage. I know NIN and PLD would love to see the mob swing slower and hit less harder, and the WHMs to have an easier time for not having to heal as much. DRK could, potentially, give them that.

There's smaller changes too that'd make a world of difference, like making Dread Spikes have a 0.5 cast time, or last longer than a minute so I can put it up ahead of time. It can be hard to deal with the 3 second (4.5 with hasso) cast time when I'm kinda dying right now. I tend to need those defenses now and not later. What about a fast cast trait too, like BLM's Elemental Celerity but for Dark Magic only instead? I mean, what with all the melee and casting totally not mixing at all and stuff. If you can't let us melee while casting, surely this is the least you can do?

This is all obvious stuff to any DRK. I won't claim that I'm completely right, but I do think the above ideas match Dark Knight better than the mythical creature the devs described in their manifesto. I understand that perhaps DRK isn't meant to be the hardest hitting job in the game. I understand we're not tanks, nor are we WS machines like SAM. But in this team oriented game, I'd like to be useful. The above ideas would make me a bit more useful (And maybe even a little (Hold your breath now) unique?). That's all I want, and I'm pretty sure what anyone on any job wants.

- Muras of Leviathan

[Dauntless]

Pretty much hit the nail on the head. The way the job was originally headed was completely redirected.

[Chriscoffey]

Yeah it is sad as it's current state and probably the worst thing about it is just about every other jobs says we are overpowered with LR update. I would love to show them the difference inside and *hold your breath* OUTSIDE considering i still end my dark's damage with my other melee jobs. I have to admit the above poster put time and thought into exactly what happened to dark knight before the redirect and haste nerf to apocalypse.

[Malacite]

Not as crazy as an instant 2000 damage that costs 100mp.

That works in abyssea.

And doesn't kill you.

And doesn't have a horrible recast time.


Thx.

Right, because we're totally not done with Abyssea or anything.

[Dauntless]

Right, because we're totally not done with Abyssea or anything.

We can only hope...

[Leonlionheart]

Depends on gear. If there is stuff better than Empyrean Weapons and +2, (Hard to beat) then we're done. If not, then we're not even close.

[Korpg]

We still have 95 and 99 stuff to do.

I have a strong feeling that the +3 and (possibly) +4 of emp armor will come from seals and +2 items together, which would make sense (16/20 seals for +3 pieces, 12/18 items for +4 pieces).

[Covenant]

When more people complete the "~down" series of magian trials maybe, SE will look at new absorb spells. I've yet to see other than myself a single player get a def down, Mag def down, etc weapon from magian trials. I'd bet top dollar that this is the break down of magian trails in general. Empryean weapons > multistrike weapons > STR weapons > stat boost > pet weapons and way down the list(1%) are the party minded weapons that drop mobs stats.

As a dark knight, I got the -MEva down one and mages are like, "what was that you just did?". I'm work on Mag def down now and maybe armor down and evasion down later. The magian trials scythe are pretty strong now I think mine are 125 damage? And the process rates are very consistent.

As an aside, just in case you didn't know absorb INT and MINd will maka all sorts of enfeebs and nuke that much more effect even with the decay.

[Malacite]

Depends on gear. If there is stuff better than Empyrean Weapons and +2, (Hard to beat) then we're done. If not, then we're not even close.

I meant in the sense that we're not going to see any more expansions to Abyssea. Little tweaks here & there are to be expected though and obviously it's still going to be very busy even at 99. But it's more or less being moved out of the spotlight for Void Watch or whatever the heck new event SE may have planned for us at 99 (that's assuming there isn't a mass-exodus over their retarded new billing system)