The Bottom Feeders: Moves You Never Use and Why.

[Syzygian]

This is pretty well exactly how I translated it in Pld terms lol. Like I said, figuring out which moves are good together and how to use them isn't the problem... my actual problem is fitting them all into easily accessible spaces on my hotbar, while keeping up all of the OGCD moves so that I can use them on CD. I know there will be people out there who disagree with me, but compared to the other 2 Tanks Drk has been by far the most challenging for me to set up efficiently on my Ps4 hotbar because of all the damn OGCD moves. I find there are so many things that I want to keep an eye on at all times that I don't have enough space to work with as I would like.

Look at it as an opportunity to get better. I am on PS4 as well and I am a fucking hotbar ninja now, thanks to maining DRK.

[Atoli]

Three fights at cap that don't reward it don't mean it somehow suddenly isn't viable or preferable for the vast majority of content in the game.

Except that none of the fights below cap benefit from having a turtle tank either...o.ô
It's always been either "far from dangerous so leave it to the healer" or "so deadly that it can't be survived no matter how tank-y you are unless you use LD/HG/the WAR's one who's English name I forgot".
What's the benefit of being a turtling tank if your survivability is not higher than one who is solely focused on dealing dmg? All you'd do is slow the fight down.

[Februs]

Look at it as an opportunity to get better. I am on PS4 as well and I am a fucking hotbar ninja now, thanks to maining DRK.

Always do. War and Drg, actually, were the first jobs that really taught me how to work a hotbar well, and I've been pretty good at it so far (I found duplicate positioning on the hotbar for moves I want to keep an eye on at all times is the key, in most cases), but Drk has been a bit more challenging because of the sheer number of OGCD's I want to make sure I can see all the time. I think I've got it pretty well nailed down so far (I'm pretty smooth at using it now), but I'm still not 100%. Kind of feels like it needs a bit more tweaking to really get it to shine...

[Reynhart]

Except that none of the fights below cap benefit from having a turtle tank either...o.ô

I think the only reason PLD was believed to be THE main tank only came from the 2.0 WAR stigma. A persistant "hunch" that WAR was squisher.
Exactly like lolDRG which origin is even not in this game.
WAR was able to tank anything as good as PLD, and always offered more damage.

People only realize that now.

[Februs]

I think the only reason PLD was believed to be THE main tank only came from the 2.0 WAR stigma. A persistant "hunch" that WAR was squisher.
Exactly like lolDRG which origin is even not in this game.
WAR was able to tank anything as good as PLD, and always offered more damage.

People only realize that now.

I think it also had to do with the nature of their CD's.

Because Warriors typically take bigger hits and then heal back the difference, a lot of healers felt more comfortable healing the one and done CD's of Pld. This is an attitude that I still see today. I actually had a run of A1 S a while back where the healer specifically requested the other tank to run as Drk or Pld instead of War because healing War was "scary" by comparison. To be fair, I kind of see where they are coming from, because I always felt squishier as a War than I did as a Pld way back when I was leveling it. It wasn't until I got more comfortable with the job that I felt less vulnerable. Though, that still did not prevent Pld from being the preferred choice for the MT back in the coil days, because they could time their CD's down to the second for Tank Buster mitigation, whereas War's had to manage Wrath stacks and be more more on the ball with their rotation... I guess it was more of a lazy, QoL, thing that just kind of got picked up and run with.

[Syzygian]

Always do. War and Drg, actually, were the first jobs that really taught me how to work a hotbar well, and I've been pretty good at it so far (I found duplicate positioning on the hotbar for moves I want to keep an eye on at all times is the key, in most cases), but Drk has been a bit more challenging because of the sheer number of OGCD's I want to make sure I can see all the time. I think I've got it pretty well nailed down so far (I'm pretty smooth at using it now), but I'm still not 100%. Kind of feels like it needs a bit more tweaking to really get it to shine...

The vertical/horizontal hotbars are almost a necessity for DRK. They really help.







Yes I took these on my phone. Don't you judge me.

[Reynhart]

Though, that still did not prevent Pld from being the preferred choice for the MT back in the coil days, because they could time their CD's down to the second for Tank Buster mitigation, whereas War's had to manage Wrath stacks and be more more on the ball with their rotation

Point approved !
Bad WARs are squisher than bad PLD.

Not really the job's fault, though

Point is, it would be much more interesting if we could have really different kind of tanks. This way, those who want to play "turtle" could chose PLD and those who want to play agressively would chose WAR...and we need a third type for DRK.

[Iagainsti]

I think the only reason PLD was believed to be THE main tank only came from the 2.0 WAR stigma. A persistant "hunch" that WAR was squisher.
Exactly like lolDRG which origin is even not in this game.
WAR was able to tank anything as good as PLD, and always offered more damage.

People only realize that now.

Naw Amigo, Hood Swipe was Un-survivable without the i90 chest as a 2.0 Warrior, so you either had to wait 4 weeks to get your myth helm/chest or you were lucky enough to have friends craft you Hippogryph leather gear and take you as a dps(like myself and my team) into T1 and get you the chest. 2.1 brought the change to Inner Beast and Defiance needed.

LolDRG originated from Penta thrust crutch DRGs in FFXI; but is relatable to FFXIV(Youtube any Titan ex wipes, and you'll definitely see a DRG diving backwards off the platform)

[Freyyy]

because I always felt squishier as a War than I did as a Pld way back when I was leveling it.

That's funny because it has always been the contrary to me. I always felt tankier as WAR than PLD, especially when levelling (tanking stance 10 levels earlier than PLD, incredible self-healing on AoE, Inner Beast and Storm's Path both before level 40 too). I levelled WAR in 2.1 tho. Didn't experience the 2.0 WAR myself, was originally PLD even if my starting class was MRD. Then, when I hit 50 with my WAR back in the 2.1 days, I didn't want to play PLD anymore. Even for MTing stuff, I always wanted to go on WAR because I was always feeling much much tankier in every single situation (while having a blast playing it). I have MTed every single 2.X fights as both WAR and PLD, and in every single one of them I was feeling tankier on WAR, even on T13 (IB for every Flare Breath, IB + big CD for every Flatten, PLD couldn't achieve anything near that level of mitigation). In 3.0, I feel even tankier than before on WAR with the addition of Equilibrium and Raw Intuition, but on PLD it feels like it didn't change at all except on fights like Thordan EX or A2S. On DRK I feel as tanky as on WAR, just a little bit less when taking heavy physical damage. WAR has always felt like the tankiest for me. It's not a new thing at all. People are just starting to realize this now because a third tank has been added to the game and literally kicked out PLD, WAR remaining because of tools he already had from two years before the expac.

[Giantbane]

I'm pretty sure Dark passenger has actually been proved to be an inefficient use of Dark Arts. So that's another good example. The Hp gain on DA-Soul Eater is better for mitigation than the blind, especially since you are multiplying your Mp destruction by using DA and DP at the same time. It's better to pop DP on CD and use Soul Eater for mitigation. DP is still a dps gain, mind you, so I wouldn't say the move itself is a bottom feeder... but the additional effect caused by Dark Arts certainly fits the bill.

Inside dungeons when pulling a group:

Blood Price + whatever mitigation cooldown is ready (usually shadowskin) > at ~5s left on blood price hit dark arts and don't use any dark arts related moves > ~4s ish later dark arts boosted dark dance for 20% dodge > dark arts + dark passenger to blind the whole group > focus on MP regen (C&S, siphon combos, sole survivor, whatever).

While the group is blinded and you have a buffed dark dance active, your healer can go nuts on damage because you won't be hit much.


I mean, I still think it's a real waste that both of these dark arts boosted abilities are pretty much useless outside of dungeon trash, but they're good for what they are.