DRK Tips?

I’m currently leveling DRK (74) and I’m having a surprising amount of fun with it. I know it can use some buffs in the healing department but I love the story, aesthetics, and TBN feels good (though I know the job overall needs help).

The main ability I’m not sure I’m using correctly is Dark Mind. I assume it’s meant for tank busters? Also assuming most tank busters are magical? In boss fights pre-70 I usually pair Reprisal with Shadow Wall or Rampart for busters. Post-70 I use TBN and maybe Reprisal. Mind you I’m not a tank main, and I typically ask the healer after the first boss in each dungeon if I’m doing okay or going too slow/fast. I’ve been that healer and I always wanna double check.

Any tips for Dark Mind? Or really anything else DRK specific?

Dark Mind is only good against magic damage, and not every tank buster is magic based so unfortunately it takes a bit of memorization to properly utilize when this skill is applicable or not.

In general, I would just use TBN on a buster and if you feel like you need more, TBN + Rampart stack really well for taking big hits. Shadowwall also works though I kinda treat this as a back-up TBN incase you need it and its on CD or your out of mana. Then once you've gotten a hang of what damage is what from a boss, you can start replacing Rampart with Dark Mind if its applicable.

In content before 70, Shadow Wall will be your go to for busters.
Repraisal is better used on teamwide attacks as it will mitigate damage for your entire team, and later on you'll get an ability called Dark Missonary(lv 76) which pairs really well with it.

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Originally Posted by Marxel

The main ability I’m not sure I’m using correctly is Dark Mind. I assume it’s meant for tank busters? Also assuming most tank busters are magical? In boss fights pre-70 I usually pair Reprisal with Shadow Wall or Rampart for busters. Post-70 I use TBN and maybe Reprisal.

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Reprisal on raid wides. There really isn't any busters when you out gear content, only Savage/Ultimate continue the aesthetic till a new Savage tier is out except Ultimate. Use for free value, or save them for the mass pulls.

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Originally Posted by Marxel

Mind you I’m not a tank main, and I typically ask the healer after the first boss in each dungeon if I’m doing okay or going too slow/fast. I’ve been that healer and I always wanna double check.

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If you're doing Wall pulls, then you're doing fine, no reason to ask Healers what they think. There's no "playstyle" in 14, bunch of nonsense, it's perform what is required.

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Originally Posted by Marxel

Any tips for Dark Mind? Or really anything else DRK specific?

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This is something you need to learn on every Mob/Boss. ACT/FFLOGs can tell you every targets formulas, really isn't much to tell you other than that, use for value.

A good thing is that so many tank busters are magic based that more often then not using dark mind is a good choice.

Through the battle log in chat, it usually says if an attack is magic based or not. Dark Mind is on a 60 second CD, so this makes it REALLY good for things like auto attacks or busters.

Dark Mind is honestly underrated, but it's useless in W2W pulls in dungeons most of the time. You can ignore it in dungeons unless there's a couple of adds you know are using magic attacks.

Overall, use it mainly on magical tank busters or auto attacks. Other than that, it's pretty niche.

Something important to keep in mind is that you want TBN to break. If you suspect combining it with another mitigation will prevent this, don't. Even if that mitigation is only reprisal. The majority of dungeon bosses hit like a wet noodle even with their tankbusters, so you'll want to eat most of those using TBN alone, maybe stacked with Oblation in the expert dungeons if your gear isn't great or if you've picked up a vuln stack or two. Or, y'know, Dark Mind instead of Oblation in the event the tankbuster is magic damage.

Cooldown spacing is important, too. For trash pulls TBN is best used as both your first mitigation tool and as a stopgap between standard mitigation CDs. It's fine to use Oblation alongside it on trash, of course. In fact, Oblation is so lackluster that about its only worthwhile use is found in augmenting TBN.

As for Dark Mind: Others have already mostly covered it, I see. About the only thing I would add is that you would be well served researching bosses as you go to make certain you know what is magic damage and what isn't. The difference isn't always immediately apparent based on effects; some things that look magical aren't, and some things that look physical aren't.

Oh, and Arm's Length is your friend. The slow it applies to enemies should never be underestimated. The slow component won't work on most bosses, but for trash mobs it's a godsend. You can use it on pulls if you mistime your sprint and need to get away from one pack while you run to another, or you can use it once all the mobs are grouped up and simply laugh as their attacks slow to a crawl. A lot of people for some reason just don't use this cooldown despite how useful it is. You can also use it to negate knockback and draw-in mechanics during boss fights. Very helpful.