Not complete noob but, newbie as far as DRK is conerned.

Yesterday I'm running The Vault and first I pull a bunch of mobs, while healer is AFK. Not my fault but am swiftly informed I cannot pull without healer. The healer also a 70 DRK quickly informs me that I suck because I am not popping the correct CD's, I ask what he means and request that he inform me what he'd like to see change and he kicks me from party right before reaching the final boss.

SE needs to totally make it easier to report this type of behavior from a PS4.

Now I am at lvl 58 on my DRK I believe ilvl 132. The skills are stacking up and I am currently trying to find a good Crossbar rotation utilizing the full 32 slot WHTB setting. I'm currently clear on holding agro for single and multi target pulls. I'm kinda clear on CD's however I feel lacking in DPS and Dark Arts usage which I've understood is a big deal.

ANY help is appreciated.

I'm by no means any kind of expert for tank roles in general, but I found a thread that might be useful: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/341614-An-In-Depth-look-at-Dark-Knight-Lvl-70-Raiding-Guide/

The guide in it seems to focus mostly on the high-level endgame raiding, but I imagine that looking at that and reading through the thread and seeing other players' input might give you a better idea of what you should try aiming for. Unfortunately, a lot of it is lost on me but hopefully that helps a bit. Also, I'm really sorry you got stuck with such an uncooperative group. Some people just don't have any patience for anyone who doesn't meet their own personal standards, and instead of taking time to give advice they go and act like that, and frankly it's awful. Fortunately I'm finding for every group like that there's also another group that's more supportive and will make sure they offer as much knowledge as they can and let things proceed at a reasonable pace. I hope if you decide to stick with DRK that your experience with it gets a lot better!

Hey there,

I'm very sorry to hear about your vault run; hopefully it won't sour your experience with dark knight or tank role in general. I main a healer whose tank job of choice is dark knight, so perhaps I could offer you some insights on this matter:


1. It is a good habit to check your healer's gears (and glaze over the party composition) at the start of the dungeon. This would allow you to gauge group capacity and set the pace accordingly. I do agree that pulling a bunch of mobs when the healer is AFK is ill-advised, so make sure everyone is ready before pulling anything. In your scenario, it was unfortunate your healer was being petty instead of picked up the pace. But yeah, in the future, try to avoid pulling before everyone is ready.

2. As dark knights, we unfortunately don't have as many mitigations as the other two jobs. Start off with shadow wall and see if you'd need to pop up rampart afterwards. If you only have 2 or 3 mobs by the end of shadow wall, I'd refrain from using rampart and use lesser ones such as anticipation or dark mind (if magic) instead. Oh btw, shadow wall + rampart does NOT equal 50% mitigation because these have diminished returns. Having said that, it's better to rotate these CDs instead of popping them all up at the same time.

3. You have no problem holding aggro, but I'll mention it just in case, since it also relates to DPS. When you're holding 3+ enemies, I'd suggest keeping grit on. Otherwise, the risk of losing aggro is pretty high and put pressure on your healer. Don't worry though, since your -20% penalty is somewhat offset by healer DPS, who now has more leeway thanks to you. When you have less than 2 (or 3), feel free to get off grit and pop blood weapon to boost your DPS. In this case, make sure to rotate attacking enemies to keep aggro on all of em.

4. Now the DPS. Generally speaking, Souleater, Dark Passenger, Abyssal Drain, and Carve & Spit (lv 60) are prime candidates for Dark Arts. The juicy part is when to use what. At the start of any pull, DA Dark Passenger is recommended as it gives blind debuff. When you're doing big pulls, DA Abyssal Drain is your best friend. DA Souleater and DA Carve & Spit are your burst attacks, so use these whenever possible. DA Souleater syncs pretty well, since you'd have MP from syphon strike beforehand. Throw in plunge every now and then, since it's essentially a freebie. You'll have more and DRK mechanics will truly develop after lv 60, but that's for another time. For now, try to use these skills with DA in these situations whenever possible. I think it'll come to you naturally after awhile, so practice makes perfect as they say.

As for raiding, Crimson provided a solid guide for you to peruse. Might want to check it out if you're interested in raiding as DRK.

Oh I'm also on PS4 and utilize full 32 slots (gets too inconvenient if using more than 2 crossbars, imo). I'd recommend putting all CDs in the same crossbar and all skills in the other, so you'd only need to switch bar every now and then. It works beautifully for me, hopefully you'll find what's good for you as well! Good luck and don't let these pineapples deter your interest in DRK.


Cheers,
Felix

Thanks to the both of you. I really appreciate the help. Very useful information from the both of you. :)