what cd's should I prioritize for big pulls?

I know I've probably asked similar questions in the past but it takes a few explanations for some things to sink in with me.

I've gotten my drk to lvl 70 and have been doing okay so far. But I noticed that with the higher end dungeons I struggle with damage mitigation. I know I need to use my heavy cds first and lighter ones second but I'm trying to work out which one is the best and if I should pair any in different situations.

Use The Blackest Night a lot.

Like TBN > Shadow Wall > TBN > Rampart > TBN... Basically keep it on CD, but also try to use it between your stronger cooldowns, so they don't stack. It's not actually bad when they stack, because the shield of TBN is not affected from the negative effect of stacking cooldowns, but you can keep your defense up for longer when you use TBN in between.

I usually pair Anticipation with another cooldown, because it's so weak. Like Anticipation + DA Dark Passenger or Anticipation + Convalescence.

Low Blow is also a mitigation tool. A stunned enemy does 0 damage.


Another thing is the timing. Yes, using the defense skill with the longer cooldown first is usually better, but using Rampart before Shadow Wall can be usefull in dungeons, so Rampart is up again for the next trash pack. Using Shadow Wall first and Rampart second can easier lead to the situation that both are on cooldown when you have to pull the next pack. However, you want to use Shadow Wall first for these really big pulls.

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Originally Posted by Tint

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Okay. so where does awareness fit in? so far I'm getting the idea that the mitiation table goes something like this
1. TBN
2. Shadow Wall
3. Ranpart

and the others I'm not sure about are
? Awareness
? Convalescence
? Reprisal

I didn't realize Dark Passenger was useful as a mitigation tool. I'll start using that then when blood price goes down then I guess.

I like to pair Awareness with Anticipation, as critical hits overwrite parries. They also line up perfectly if you keep both on cooldown. Convalescence you use at the start of a pull for a stronger regen or when you're pretty low so your healer can get you back up easier.
Reprisal isn't super helpful on mass pulls, but it's pretty good on tankbusters or party wide attacks.

I personally use the faster CDs first so I don't have a big length of time with no CD available.

Usually grit > rampart > TBN
5 secs left on rampart > Anticipation > Awareness > convalescence


Using TBN on CD with quietus or DA Abyssal or DA Dark Passenger if u have heaps of MP

I personally DA AD between mitigation cd so that I can spread the cd out even more. I use shadow wall only when everything else is on cd or pulling big mobs with instant cast mini TB.

Your Blood weapon is pretty much a mitigation CD combined with TBN, DA AD and quietus. Just anticipation or convalescence can allow you to tank without the healer having to heal spam.

combine rampart or shadow wall with TBN and keep TBN on coldown, use abyssal drain with DA for the self heals and dark passenger only if you have enough mp to use it with DA, if you are proper geared that would be enough, keep a eye if there is magic casters like the sprites in the burn and rotate dark mind too, if is not enough then add convalescence too but if you are proper geared it would be more that necesary specially if you stay on grit.

Learn the pattern of pulls for the dungeons and assign CD's to them following the general stronger to weaker priority already mentioned.

For the most part most dungeons fit into a pull pattern similar to the following:
Small pull -> Medium pull -> Boss 1 -> Small pull -> Medium pull -> Large pull -> Boss 2 -> Medium pull -> Large pull -> Boss 3
Of course dungeons can and do deviate from the above but it tends to be very close to that, following a basic escalating size/difficulty pattern.

Anyways, back to the point.

Generally, save your stronger defensives for the Medium to Large pulls as they will be wasted on the Small ones. For example I tend to only use Rampart and TBN, or sometimes not even Rampart, on the first pull of a dungeon because I know it is almost always fairly small and will die very quickly and that a bigger pull will follow right after it. The caveat to this is when you get a string of 3 pulls like is often the case leading up to the 2nd boss, it can be a good idea to pop the bigger one on the 1st pull so that it is up again by the 3rd pull which will often be the biggest of the three. In the instance that the 2nd pull is the biggest of the three, obviously save your strongest for that pull since the other two won't be big enough to really need that level of mitigation.

Other stuff such as for the grouping of defensives and the like, this would be my advice:
- As a DRK doing large dungeon pulls, use TBN whenever it's up. Not only is it good for your defense but you need it for resources to fuel your AoE offense.
- Use DA+DP whenever you can towards the beginning of a big pack of mobs, as long as you are not low on MP. It does good AoE damage, provides extra enmity and has an extra layer of defense from the blind effect. While it can be a bit expensive in regards to MP, it provides a ton of benefits.
- Make sure you are popping Blood Price/Weapon towards the beginning of taking on the big pack so that you can maximize the resources coming in which means more fuel to pump out abilities to kill off the pack and keep you alive.
- Plan your usage of Soul Survivor like you would a defensive. The heal and resource boost it provides is incredibly useful in large pulls. I personally tend to try to fit in a Soul Survivor use every other pull, since 120s timer, and try for around the middle of the fight where the incoming damage is still high enough, I've had enough time to burn through my resources and there should be a number of mobs that are close to dead so that the full effect doesn't go to waste.
- If you are worried about your HP being low and it seems like your healer needs some help on the really big pulls use DA with AD for the heals until the incoming damage and healing is under control, then you can go back to just pumping out regular ADs for more damage.
- The weaker defensives such as Conv, Antic, etc. can be lumped together to cumulatively act as a stronger defensive. The cooldown timers for Conv, Aware and Antic all line up together (120/120/60) so they can be popped together and pretty much get treated as one defensive that is approximately along the same strength priority level as Rampart.
- While Reprisal is really more of a "boss focused" defensive, it is still part of your kit and can help lessen incoming damage a smidge in dungeon pulls. It also is an ogcd and on a 60s timer so it can easily be fit in with the Conv+Aware+Antic combo. Just remember that it will be most effective if you are targeting and use it on one of the nastier mobs in the pack. However if you don't use it, not really a big deal.
- Use Low Blow and Interject as much as possible to lock down and interrupt mobs. They not only prevent mobs from doing damage for a bit but they can help prevent you having to run around as much by interrupting those pesky AoEs, you just need to learn which one works on which mobs.

One thing to keep in mind is White Mages. Hold off on using CDs during Holy spam until you see that the stuns aren't working, otherwise you run the risk of just wasting them.

One thing worth adding to above responses is Living Dead. If you know your healer or can communicate with pug one, it's absolutely amazing for huge pulls. Pull eveything, let healer AoE without worrying about you at all and then quickly max you while you proceed with normal cooldowns.