Is it me, or is DRK really isn't that super great, nor super bad.

[BadRNG]

It's oGCD, not sure why you are comparing it to GCD skills. It's not meant to be the big combo finisher. Soul Eater with Dark Arts is 400 and more comparable.

[Pinkie_Pie]

Yah, I can see alot of people falling off the DRK train after like a month time once people start raiding and notice it really isn't *that* good compare to a warrior or paladin :P

[JustARTificial]

Not sure why everyone is a complete downer but I love it. If no one wants the Darkness then I will use it all. =D

[saber_alter]

at least it's a lot less bland in paladin...

toggling off grit to quickly activate Blood weapon does help as well.

[Arkenne]

hmm? Something isnt very clear about Carve and Spit. It says to be a Three Folded Attack with a potency of 100 if not under Dark Arts. 450 otherwise.

But NIN new skill at 60 says the same, three folded attack, an attack that hits 3 times, each with a 100 potency... does this mean that Carve and Spit is a 450x3 strike under Dark Arts? Or that while not under Dark Arts its 100x3 but with Dark Arts is 450 total?

[saber_alter]

hmm? Something isnt very clear about Carve and Spit. It says to be a Three Folded Attack with a potency of 100 if not under Dark Arts. 450 otherwise.

But NIN new skill at 60 says the same, three folded attack, an attack that hits 3 times, each with a 100 potency... does this mean that Carve and Spit is a 450x3 strike under Dark Arts? Or that while not under Dark Arts its 100x3 but with Dark Arts is 450 total?

Delivers a threefold attack with a potency of 100. Also restores MP if used while not under the effect of Dark Arts.
Dark Arts Potency: 450
Dark Arts fades upon execution.

taken from http://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Dark_Knight

seems that under dark arts, it doesn't recover mp, but is a threefold 450 potency attack.

[Timat]

taken from http://ffxiv.consolegameswiki.com/wiki/Dark_Knight

seems that under dark arts, it doesn't recover mp, but is a threefold 450 potency attack.

450 for EACH hit or total?

[Mokara]

45 DRK pitching in: In regards to Dark Arts and it's massive MP consumption, it seems that people try to maintain Darkside at all times, for that little bit of extra damage? It is my understanding that Darkside, like Dart Arts, is a buff you switch on when needed.

I am doing the following when not utilizing my enmity combo:

1. Go HAM and deplete mana with Darkside/Dark Arts, turn off Darkside when very low on MP
2. 2x Syphon Strike combo without Darkside
3. Activate Darkside again and you can utilize two Dark Arts Souleaters (your MP will have regenerated half it's bar), rinse repeat.
*naturally, save MP for Unleash when required*

During Darkside downtime you can also benefit from MP regen provided by party.
I have also chosen to forsake Dark Passenger, too costly (I prefer more uptime on hard hitting Souleaters for HP regain).

Look, we all have no idea yet what is optimal or not at this stage, but I like playing this way so far. MP restore happens at such a snails pace when constantly trying to keep Darkside up that you're better off just turning the buff off for a few rotations.

[Verdan]

It sounds like it's working exactly as it should then, being a middleground between the defensive mitigation tank of the Paladin and the offensive soak tank of the Warrior, while playing in a unique MP-focused style.

[BlueThunder]

snip.

The thing is that you need to be succumbing to Darkside in order to use Dark Dance and Dark Mind, and to even further optimize their use, pop Dark Arts before using them. That's a lot of MP drain, almost loosing half of it with only 1 GCD and little way to recovery it unless you are in a trash pull and and are using Blood Price.

Of course, I think nobody has yet hit level 60 and is raiding ofcourse, but so far, the tools for getting MP back while tanking are very limited and almost not very reliable.

If there is troubles with DRKs MP when tanking, the easy solution will be enabling Blood Weapon to be used when in Grit Stance.