Dark knight

[SyzzleSpark]

Provoking without grit is extremely unwise. And you need to follow up voke, even with grit, with some sort of agro builder which, unless you have a tanking combo in the works already, means more mana. Correctly OTing with DRK takes some planning ahead. While I don't think that's a terrible thing, it sure isn't something warriors have to worry about. They can even restore the needed TP at will. That and their simple to build and use fel cleave, which can instantly be transformed in a heavy agro attack, is why I think warrior OT have it easier than DRK OT. A solution would indeed be more skills available or a tweak to an existing skill for OTing. Such as convalescence like blm or greater mana regeneration from blood weapon or make plunge grant enmity when grit is active. Using an ether before taking back agro is an option, but relying on an item so you can maximise DPS without concern seems uncool.

You seem to be cherry picking what parts of my posts you read and acknowledge and which ones you don't. At least grant the courtesy of reading and comprehending all of it as I'm extending you the same.

I never implied that I would make or advise anyone else to make the incredibly novice-level mistake of not following up voke with some sort of potent enmity CD.

I take risks all the time with co-tanks that I trust. Hell if I DO have Grit on, sometimes I'll follow up voke with something as "weak" as Scourge+(insert oGCD here) and be fine. Hell even an uncomboed Power Slash, like RoH and BB, still carries its enmity modifier for a quick 550 potency of hate (although very inefficient, it can catch you if you screw up).

That said when progressing on a fight or learning anything, you should ALWAYS have an enmity combo in the works, that's a given. WAR isn't exempt from that either. It also absolutely cannot just "restore TP at will". Its a 60s CD that is far more frequently used for its healing effect than TP. And if you're running out of TP on DRK something is wrong because it should take a VERY long time (close to 7 minutes with Blood Weapon).

I fail to see how Fell Cleave is any easier to build or use than Carve and Spit or Souleater. WAR gets stacks simply by moving through its rotation, just like DRK gets MP simply by moving through its rotation.

I greatly condone and encourage DRK's to use ethers where applicable, glad you brought that up. I used to pop them between chain pulls in A6S. Very handy. There's nothing uncool about maximizing your performance in a raid environment. That's half of what you bring to your team - your performance (the other half being what you do to facilitate theirs). Let me ask you this: We all know Xeno, and he spawned a generation of aggressive (or at least, attempting to be aggressive) WAR mains. Why do we shame DRKs or even PLDs that play with this same level of aggression, particularly when they can pull it off, but when WARs do it we cheer and link parses and post screenshots? Hell DRK is so bloody fast paced you're cheating yourself if you're not playing it aggressively IMO. I think the community needs a DRK version of Xeno, frankly.

I'm wondering Drkdays why you don't main WAR honestly. You've said PLD is boring and have many complaints about DRK, some of which you've not revealed to stem from something of an envy for WAR abilities. It seems like WAR being more complex than PLD and less high maintenance than DRK would be a better fit for you.

It's also worth noting that WAR's SS generates more enmity than FC, and that DRK's SpS generates more enmity than either of these.

Speaking of LD, while I like the skill (and in some ways felt it was more useful than the other two equivalents prior to 3.2), I don't like that the difficulty of the check is linked to a primary stat. Being dependent on your healers isn't an issue - you're going down to 1 hp, so I would hope that you would need healer intervention. But it became noticeably more difficult to make the check after the tank stat changes in 3.2, especially during clutch situations, and it's contingent on the difference between healer and tank ilvl. You could say that this is "working as intended", but it would be nice to have an ultimate ability that wasn't at the mercy of stat/gear calculation changes like this.

Yeah, FC hype is still alive and well right down to how much aggro it generates. For posterity, here are some numbers:

Before buffs its 500 potency with no modifier which makes it weaker than Flash for enmity.

With full tilt buffs (zerk, Maim, Deliverance) its still only 500*1.5*1.2*1.05=945 potency of enmity. Butcher's Block is 1540 before buffs, and Power Slash is 1650, again, before buffs.

I'd normally agree with the bit about LD, but so frequently is a Bene saved for it that the increase in HP didn't seem to make a difference honestly. That and healer MND stats (and secondaries in general, with the melds on gear now) have shot through the roof and go some way to compensate. A regen and AST's ED are often an instant relief of WD as well. Whatever MH you have, Eos/Selene is also likely to be spamming Embrace on you as well, also shortening the gap a bit.

Maybe I just can't see the issues with LD because I never use it in dungeons and I have a very good healer with their finger on the button everywhere else. I've just never been exposed to any genuine problem with it.