So... I picked up DRK on HW's launch and took it straight to 60. Loved it all the way there, until I hit 60, I did a couple of dungeons and hit some real walls on MP management.
The advice people were giving at the time was spam AOE, pretty much it, I know that has somewhat evolved now ofc. But the problem I found myself having was going into the next pull with pretty much no MP, or and most commonly in Aetherochemical dungeon not having MP to pick up the seemingly endless adds as they have come in mid fight.
Now, admittedly, I dont think I gave DRK enough time for me to get better, but I want too. I WAR'd all the way through 1.0 and ARR but DRK just has that flash that I wanted WAR to have.
Does anyone have any pointers on specifically how to ensure you have MP left after a decent size dungeon pull? A bonus would be a general idea of how many times you find you have to AOE to keep hate and go into syphoning at the start of a pull?
Coming back to DRK
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10-06-2015, 10:58 PMpiksterComing back to DRK
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10-06-2015, 11:18 PMViolette
1. Don't ever turn darkside off.
2. Use blood price.
3. Unleash/Ab drain 2 times. A third l8r if losing enmity.
3. See step 1 and slap yourself if you fail. -
10-06-2015, 11:19 PMMisha_Tameshigiri
Don't spam your AOEs unless you don't like having mana.
Keep it to less than 5 per pull unless your DPS seriously outgears you. Ideally you'd just do 3.
A good benchmark is to keep your MP above 50% by the end of the pull.
You should almost never be using powerslash during trash pulls, by the way. If you have to use the power slash combo more than once.. either your DPS outgears you or you didn't use your AOEs enough. Also skip using Dark Arts during pulls, too. It's mana you can't really spare.
Don't use Abyssal drain unless you're pulling 6+ enemies and can afford to Dark Arts it. The MP cost is not worth the small increase in damage. -
10-06-2015, 11:22 PMDererk
Mp management can be easy on trash pulls.
Using blood price on big pulls means more mp regained cause of the damage your taking but still use a defensive cd.
Save Carve and Spit for mp regain on trash pulls don't darkarts combo it.
Sole survivor good to use when either on the last mob of a pull or anything close and I mean very close to dying I mean like it has 10% left. Not bosses ofcorse.
If you really get desperate for mp take of grit for a bit for blood weapon. I only advise this on boss fights and only till mp is full then put grit back on right away.
I also use darkarts Dark passenger combo on every pull to lower the mobs acc but only do that once you get comfterble with your mp management.
Also if your running to next trash pack its ok to turn Darkside off for a few seconds to get mp bk faster but put it back on on the next pull. -
10-06-2015, 11:22 PMFreyyy
Use Blood Price on cooldown. The more mobs hit you, the more MP you get from it, and you can most of the time basically spam Abyssal Drain during the whole duration of Blood Price and still being almost at full MP after that. When Blood Price is falling off, use Dark Arts + Dark Passenger then Dark Arts + Dark Dance, drop Grit, use Blood Weapon, and start single-targetting. You'll often find yourself that you sustain more MP than necessary, in that case use extra Abyssal Drains to make your next Syphons worth it. Use Sole Survivor on mobs that are about to die. Use Carve & Spit without Dark Arts in AoE, it permits you to do 2 to 3 extra Abyssal Drains compared to if you DA it, it's worth-it damage wise. Don't ever Dark Arts your Abyssal Drains unless your healer really sucks at the point where you need to self-heal like crazy. Don't forget to use Salted Earth, Plunge, Low Blow, Reprisal and Dark Passenger when available.
As for single target, you basically just need to do 1-2 Power Slash combos at the beginning of the fight and you can spend the rest of the fight only using your Syphon Strike combos. Use Power Slash combo only if someone's aggro is getting high. Refresh Scourge as your number 1 priority. Refresh Delirium on magic-hitting enemies if you have no MNK in your party. Do as much DA + Souleater as possible. Always have the MP to DA Carve & Spit when it's available, never use Carve & Spit for MP unless you're AoEing. Use Salted Earth on cooldown. Use Dark Passenger on cooldown. Use Reprisal when possible. Use Plunge on cooldown. Use Low Blow everytime it procs. Use Blood Price on cooldown. If you're feeling good enough to tank out of Grit, use Blood Weapon on cooldown too. Never stay at full MP otherwise you'll happen to waste precious Syphon Strikes. Never get too low on MP either otherwise Darkside will fall off.
AoE threat generation is really high for DRK, but keep spamming Abyssal Drain as much as you can for damage. -
10-06-2015, 11:22 PMpikster
Ok, that makes sense. Thanks for that. Much better than the 3.0 advice I got of,if you don't AOE about 6 times you will fail.
Dark Arts was something I was curious of so im glad you touched on that. Its not worth Arts + Passenger at all on trash pulls? Or just on really large ones? -
10-06-2015, 11:24 PMMisha_Tameshigiri
On large pulls it really doesn't matter what you do.
Once you start tanking 6+ enemies it's nearly impossible to run out of mana. -
10-06-2015, 11:25 PMFreyyyDA + Dark Passenger is worth it with 3 or more mobs. Don't Dark Arts it on single target or just 2 mobs.Quote:
Originally Posted by pikster
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10-06-2015, 11:25 PMpikster
mmmmmk, thanks for all that everyone. Much appreciated :) I shall give it a go tonight and see if I can get back in the swing of it.
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10-07-2015, 12:37 AMSyzygian
Your ability to manage mana in dungeons is largely gated by the size of your pulls. I never pull fewer than 4 mobs which means i can aoe until BP falls (6-7 abyssal drains roughly). If you only pull 2 mobs then yeah, you won't be able to aoe to the job's full potential.
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10-07-2015, 01:08 AMExodus_Kenpachi
Turn off Darkside between pulls, use bloodprice on CD, never Dark Arts power slash anything... Ever... For any reason. Also your highest damaging combo is also linked with your MP siphon so really MP should never be an issue.
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10-07-2015, 02:06 AMSyzygianDAPS is only useless if you have bad dps. Otherwise using it once in an opener can give you a very solid lead, enough to drop Grit for the entirety of some boss fights without worry of losing hate.Quote:
Originally Posted by Exodus_Kenpachi
DRK doesn't really have any tools that are useless. -
10-07-2015, 04:07 AMExodus_KenpachiDark Art'ing power slash only increases the emnity modifier by 1...so yeah for the massive amount of MP it costs... Pretty useless. Additionally a DrK should never be opening on any single target enemy becuase WAR exists... And your raid should have one.Quote:
Originally Posted by Syzygian
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10-07-2015, 04:20 AMSyzygianNah. Because the very next thing you would do is drop grit and pop bw. MP costs on DRK are of minimal concern in your opener. If you're not burning it at least as fast as you're getting it back you could probably be doing better.Quote:
Originally Posted by Exodus_Kenpachi
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10-07-2015, 04:54 AMMisha_Tameshigiri
Even ignoring the MP cost, you could be doing something better with that Dark Arts... like using it on Carve and Spit during your non-Dark Arts power slash combo. Which you should be doing. That 1x increase in enmity is really not worth losing out on getting out your Carve and Spit faster. If you're that desperate for enmity, just use the power slash combo twice.
My opener as DRK:
Prepull Dark Arts > Plunge > Scourge (Salted Earth) > Hard Slash (Carve and Spit) > Spinning Slash (Low Blow, Reprisal if it proc'd) > Power Slash > Dark Arts Souleater Combo -
10-07-2015, 07:30 PM_Pigzig
1. another victim
2. that move that restores mp i forget what it is off cd whenever it come sup
3. blood price i think thats the one on every pull
and just dont overuse
its easier at max level than at low level, i actually have it fall over sometimes at low level cause you dont have some moves -
10-07-2015, 09:07 PMClaire_PendragonLast i heard, its a modifier of .5, not 1.Quote:
Originally Posted by Syzygian
All the Mp should be used on C&S or SE. (as you'll need the DPS in Savage.)
Anything you can do, to get the MP back, is more reason to put it towards DPS.
The extra enmity u get from C&Ss base dmg in DACS is going to nearly equal any threat u add to PS. (it really adds that little) -
10-07-2015, 10:32 PMRocheKatI would guess with GCDs DACS would be more threat than a DAPS.Quote:
Originally Posted by Claire_Pendragon
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10-07-2015, 10:35 PMMartin_ArcainessWhat EXodus, some people will say never turn off Dark side but that's not always the case.Quote:
Originally Posted by Exodus_Kenpachi
During battle, yes don't ever turn off DS but once the the battle is over and you're between pulls then yes turn off DS, it will still drain your MP outside of combat but only by a little, you will still get recover more MP than what DS is draining but turning DS off will let you get more MP back sooner.
As a DRK I rarely if ever use my Aggro combo, I start the Battle by Unleashed then once the mobs are by me 2 Abs drains and you should be ok, if not throw another AD in.
Also just a heads up, even those AB and DP is magic based the damage it does is based on your STR. -
10-12-2015, 04:27 AMAwful
The only time you should ever turn off darkside is if you're in a fight such as Ravana EX where there's lots of downtime. Usually in my runs there's a bard playing ballad and when he's charging allover the map I turn it off gain mana back or when he uses Bloody Fuller then i'll slap it back on. Downtime is the only justifiable answer to turn off Darkside because there's nothing to tank or swing at.
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10-13-2015, 11:33 PMpikster
Hi all,
Just coming back to this to thank all who contributed. Your tips have been really valuable and I am now loving DRK . This will be my main for quite some time.
Thanks again! -
10-14-2015, 12:14 AMMartin_Arcainess
ye welcome. Enjoy Batma I mean DRK \o
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10-14-2015, 01:42 AMyondaimeflash
glad I found this thread lol I was about to post my own on tips for being a Dark Knight came back to the game after taking a break. Thanks for all the tips as well.