DRK in Aby

[Rafien]

Does anyone have a good gear setup for DRK's playing in Aby. I noticed how incredibly weak DRK's are there. I'm watching THF, NIN, and MNK put up 1000-2000 damage vs my 200.

Also, why can every DD tank mobs but if DRK gets hate once, we're dead. Does anyone know if the updates will fix DRK's becoming top tier damage dealers again?

[Tamoa]

Does anyone have a good gear setup for DRK's playing in Aby. I noticed how incredibly weak DRK's are there. I'm watching THF, NIN, and MNK put up 1000-2000 damage vs my 200.

Also, why can every DD tank mobs but if DRK gets hate once, we're dead. Does anyone know if the updates will fix DRK's becoming top tier damage dealers again?

Lack of crit based ws is at least one of the reasons why drk is weak in abyssea - much like sam. That being said, I don't see why a drk can't tank (not any and all nms mind you), if you sub sam for seigan/TE and have a -MDT and -PDT set and a healer obviously. Problem is, a mnk, nin or war will rip hate from you very fast due to their damage output. But weak? I don't know, I have done 4k+ Guillotines without souleater - on exp mobs (La Theine frogs) mind you, but that's still waaaay better than your average exp alliance DD.

[SpankWustler]

Does anyone have a good gear setup for DRK's playing in Aby. I noticed how incredibly weak DRK's are there. I'm watching THF, NIN, and MNK put up 1000-2000 damage vs my 200.

Also, why can every DD tank mobs but if DRK gets hate once, we're dead. Does anyone know if the updates will fix DRK's becoming top tier damage dealers again?

I can't provide a specific equipment set-up, other than to say go for 25% haste in equipment and make friends with Last Resort. Last Resort is an awesome bro and it will wing-man for you every time. Well, assuming the trashy college bar is referring to Vana'diel and the freshmen so drunk that they've technically already said no are actually monsters in Abyssea. You get the idea, though! Last Resort is awesome!

1000-2000 isn't so good in and of itself, unless you're talking really difficult Notorious Monsters. I'm pretty sure that my averages are higher than that on Blue Mage with general purpose Atmas and Beast Master with not-so-good equipment and Atma choices that took my pet into account.

If you're averaging 200 on weapon skills, I'd say the problem is some combination of lack of food, poor Atma choice, or not having a weapon skill set rather than simply a mediocre equipment set. I'm not trying to be a jerk when I say this, but 200 is a melee hit in Abyssea.

Assuming you're using Guillotine, I have no ideas which atma to recommend since the weapon skill benefits from neither TP bonus nor critical hit bonuses. My tentative guess is Atma of the Voracious Violet/Strong Arm (depending on if the regain from VV affects hits to 100 TP), Atma of the Razed Ruin solely for benefits to your melee phase, and Atma of the Apocalypse.

I have no jobs similar to Dark Knight, so I've never done the math about equipment nor have I memorized another party's math. Sorry that I can not be more help.

I will encourage you by saying this, though. Any melee can be a beast within Abyssea. Certain melee are BETTER and BEST, beyond all doubt, but any melee can perform well enough to kill anything within a completely reasonable timeframe. So if you really enjoy Dark Knight, keep at it.

As for the dying thing, that's pretty much fixed the same way by all jobs. A White Mage with a brain and a -Magic Damage Taken set for stuff that would kill you faster than Cure V would un-kill you. Monk and Ninja have a lead in defenses, but almost any melee can survive in Abyssea. So, again, don't get down and keep at it!

[Zatias]

If you have a Caladbolg, sub MNK and use Gnarled Horn on one of your atmas. Even without an empyrean, it's a viable sub if you expect to tank/pull hate. It's quite fun to play, seeing mobs kill themselves on 500 damage counters.

I do this often, DRK/MNK with atmas Gnarled Horn, Mounted Champion, and Razed Ruins. It's an odd combo but it certainly works solo.

In a party, I suggest taking out Mounted Champion for a real damage atma such as Violet.

[scaevola]

If you have a Caladbolg, sub MNK and use Gnarled Horn on one of your atmas. Even without an empyrean, it's a viable sub if you expect to tank/pull hate. It's quite fun to play, seeing mobs kill themselves on 500 damage counters.

I do this often, DRK/MNK with atmas Gnarled Horn, Mounted Champion, and Razed Ruins. It's an odd combo but it certainly works solo.

In a party, I suggest taking out Mounted Champion for a real damage atma such as Violet.

Wouldn't Mounted Champion contribute quite a bit to damage since Torcleaver has a heavy VIT mod and you'll probably be fSTR/att capped on everything anyway? I ask this in total ignorance of how DRK may be different from any other two-handed DD.

I DO know enough about DRK to say Caladbolg/Espafut +2 is arguably more important to it than Empyreans are to pretty much any other job, though.

[Zatias]

Wouldn't Mounted Champion contribute quite a bit to damage since Torcleaver has a heavy VIT mod and you'll probably be fSTR/att capped on everything anyway? I ask this in total ignorance of how DRK may be different from any other two-handed DD.

Yeah it would, but I was keeping in mind that not everyone is a Caladbolg DRK.

Also, regain and double attack is better for DoT alone. You will be meleeing more than weaponskilling XD

[scaevola]

Fair enough; I'm mostly interested in the idea of MC being a standard atma for DRK to somewhat offset a desire to take a ton of damage to fuel Scarlet Delerium.

DRK/MNK already looks like it's got a lot of synergy, since as you say DRK counters harder than pretty much any job in the game and the defense reductions on Last Resort and Counterstance add up to not really mean anything anyway.

Again, I know very little about DRK beyond Napkincraft.

[Siiri]

I don't claim to be the best drk, but it is a job I enjoy a lot. I have seen some great damage by drks, but of course in Abyssea they lack the flashy crit hit weaponskills. Despite this, make sure you still get Razed Ruins, because the crit in your melee DOT will be outstanding. Pair it with a triple attack atma like A%O or Apoc and watch the 1k crits. I have seen our main drk crit for 800+ 3 times in a row. As for 3rd atma, it is situational to me. I have never tried drk/mnk, but I have heard great things about it as stated in the thread. VV is good to help with x-hit builds and there are probably 3 or 4 other solid choices for 3rd atma.

Since you talked about gear here is some ideas for tp sets. Not 100% sure on ws sets, still building mine. Gear haste is 25.6% or just round up to 26%, you should be shooting for that. In addition with a /sam sub you should be aware of your x-hit build. (How much store tp you have which helps you lower the amount of swings to get to 100tp)

TP SET
Head- Bale Head +2/Zelus tiara
Neck- bale gorget
Body- Bale Body +2
Hands- Bale Hands +2
waist- Goading belt/speed belt/n. sash (if swift belt is best you got wear it while you work on goading, drks without haste belt are not good)
Legs-Calmecac Trousers/ Ace's hose
Feet- Homam/ Ace's
Rings- Rajas for sure on one-the other probably blitz if not haste capped-or hoard if going for lower x-hit build
Earrings Brutal always- 2nd could be Bale or Aesir or Centaurus or maybe I am missing something
Back- Atheling Mantle


WS set- i probably need suggestions myself here
Head-Twilight
Body-Twilight
hands-heca/heafoc/bale +2
Neck-elemental gorget
waist-either elemental waist that corresponds to weaponskill or something with a lot of strength and attack
legs- Bale legs +2
feet- Bale feet +2/heca maybe still
Rings-Raja / Strength ring

I am sure other drks may have better ideas, but these are stuff that isn't too bad to get. As for weapons, I would work on Caladbolg, its not a bad trial at all. I am still working on it but its pretty easy just a question of putting aside a bit of time. If you don't have that yet, I would consider woeborn scythe, or twilight scythe. WOE would be nice as well, and I hear redemption, while not a great weapon per se, still has the ODD and a great x-hit build.

I have heard 2 drks in my linkshell complain about their damage in abyssea. The first, upon further examination was using a lvl 73 death scythe. The 2nd, who was primarily a mage, and whose drk I never saw really except once, which was on the blue gartr gimp thread. He was wearing a tamas ring and had like 10% haste. I was hoping to help him, but he started a break like the day after he showed up on the BG thread. I don't think they were related though.

Sorry this is long winded, hoped it gave another perspective for you struggling with drk. It isn't an easy bandwagon job, but I think its a lot of fun.

[Leonlionheart]

I'll give you a few atma setups, and optimal TP setup with a good starter WS setup.

Atma:
RR/SS/Apoc: Honestly you have capped Haste most of the time, something most jobs can't get with just 2 people supporting them. Your auto-attack damage is something you should be looking at. This atma set is the best possible white damage setup there is.

RR/VV/Apoc: This focuses on weaponskill frequency and white damage mix. Losing SS is hard, since it also adds Souleater damage from HP. However, if you can make up for all that white damage with more powerful WS's, go for it.

VV(or some kind of VIT atma for Torcleaver?)/GC(Griffon Claw)/AO(Alpha and Omega): This focuses solely on WS damage. I don't suggest this to anyone since it's DPS is soooo poor. It's mostly for the situations where you're sitting around 90% of the time and get to come in to WS occasionally. I can't think of many applications for this atma off the top of my head; maybe doing Rani/Raja legit?

Basic TP Gear, 6hit Kriegsmesser (Best non-ToM, Relic GS if my memory serves me right):
Kriegsmesser/Rose strap/x/White Tathlum
AF3+2/AF3/AF3/Brutal
AF3+2/AF3+2/Rajas/Blitz
Tactical Mantle/Goading/Camlecac/Ace's Leggings

Caladbolg, 7hit:
Cala/Pole Grip/x/Bomb Core
AF3+2/AF3/AF3/Brutal
AF3+2/AF3+2/Rajas/Blitz
Atheling Mantle/Goading/Camlecac/Ace's Leggings

GS WS, Kriegsmesser
Krieg/Rose/x/Bomb Core
Twlight/Ire Torque +1 or Gorget/AF3/Brutal
Grim(+1)/Heafoc/Rajas/Pyrosoul
Atheling/Beir Belt +1 or Elebelt/AF3+2/Hecatomb Leggings +1(Aug: STR+3~4) or AF3+2

GS WS, Caladbolg
Cala/Pole/x/Bomb Core
Twilight/Apathy Gorget/AF3 or Terra's Pearl/Brutal
Ares's Cuirass/Ares's Gauntlets or Versa Mufflers(Aug: VIT+5) or Adaman(HQ, Aug: VIT+5~)/Terrasoul/Spiral Ring
Atheling Mantle/Elebelt or Angunius(Depending on buffs) or Warwolf/Jingang Hose or AF3+2(Depending on buffs)/Jingang Greaves

Well, that's what I can come up with and what I am shooting for/using.

[Mirage]

Does anyone have a good gear setup for DRK's playing in Aby. I noticed how incredibly weak DRK's are there. I'm watching THF, NIN, and MNK put up 1000-2000 damage vs my 200.

Also, why can every DD tank mobs but if DRK gets hate once, we're dead. Does anyone know if the updates will fix DRK's becoming top tier damage dealers again?

Well, if you're WSing for 200, it sounds like something is definitely wrong. You should probably post your gear sets, tell us which atmas you are using, as well as what kind of weapon and weapon skills you are using, as well as the combat skill you have in each of those weapons. That would make it easier for us to help you out. I mean, I hit for more than 200 damage with a greatsword on pld75, using spinning slash and/or ground strike.

Also, war drops like a fly when getting hate too, unless you carry PDT gear that you swap into. This could be done on drk as well.