Can I play drk like I play pally

[bswpayton]

So I been playing Pally for a while complained about flash , on here a few times, so I just started playing drk recently only level 40. So my question is I see all these rotations and stuff about drk rotation and stuff it seems as tho there isnt really a consistent one to go off of they are all different. So Im thinking well drk is a tank right so isnt my job just to maintain hate and unleash is way better than flash at least to me. So if I just stay in grit and turn on blood price and don't use dark side I can use unleash for a really long time and keep hate. So my question is, is this wrong if so then why is it wrong because dark side drains mp Id rather save for bosses and Im a tank and I thought my job was to hold hate not to out dps. So is it acceptable for pali to do single target damage and hold hate but not ok for a drk or are they forced to maximize dps more so than a pally. I,m seein no issues holding hate at all with drk and wondering if they are expected to do more?

[Instrumentality]

Is this like a genuine question?

[Reaperking386]

Dark Knights do not have as many effective cool downs compared to a Paladin to be an effective main tank. Dark Knights are only situational main tanks when there is a boss who is magic focus or when there is no paladin tanks. You are expected to preform max DPS just like any other tank. Paladin's will have a second AOE around mid 50's to help pull bigger mobs, but the answer to your question is that all tanks are expected to know their rotation and maximize dps to ensure a smooth fight.

[bswpayton]

Is this like a genuine question?

yes it is like I said I dont know , I do dps but I have really seen a need to have darkside up all the time with grit when I hold hate just fine in grit and using unleash I know as I get higher level Id need to use drk arts for some abilities but still the same , I dont see a need to to have darkside up all the time either if Im holding hate, So I guess what Im saying is Id rather play drk as more of a defensive tank than an offensive one and Im wondering if thats a bad thing.

[bswpayton]

Dark Knights do not have as many effective cool downs compared to a Paladin to be an effective main tank. Dark Knights are only situational main tanks when there is a boss who is magic focus or when there is no paladin tanks. You are expected to preform max DPS just like any other tank. Paladin's will have a second AOE around mid 50's to help pull bigger mobs, but the that answer to your question is that all tanks are expected to know their rotation and maximize dps to ensure a smooth fight.

I know about scorn its a 25 second cool down your lucky if you get it off twice per mob pull so you are really just stuck with single target damage. I main a healer and I see know reason why a healer couldnt keep a drk up in grit stance its not that squishy on mob pulls, I do turn off grit and use darkside on bosses and use blood weapon if the healer is doing well. but Im mob pulls I really dont see a need to use darkside or get out of grit.

[AlphaFox]

Darkside should be up 100%, you can drop grit if you have good hate and follow that with a DEF boost to allow you to use blood sword to regain your MP. However if your using Blood Price per pull (which its only a 40sec cooldown) you should never have any issues with MP. During periods of silence or between pulls you can drop it to regain some MP but overall I never drop Darkside, only grit.

[SpiritMuse]

There's really no reason to not have Darkside up all the time. It's a 15% damage increase, which helps you hold aggro all the easier. When you're tanking a group, Blood Price will give you all the mp you need, especially if it's a bigger pull, you'll have all the mp you'll ever need to Unleash as much as you want while it's up, if the pull is big enough you can even easily put Dark Arts + Abyssal Drain for extra damage as well as hp recovery. Then once Blood Price ends you'll have to be more conservative, but you should have built up enough hate that you won't really need to do your aggro combo anymore but can stick to the mp regen combo instead. Then Dark Arts + Soul Drain or Dark Arts + Carve&Spit when you have enough mp.

[Atoli]

Every tank is supposed to deal as much DMG as possible while holding hate.
That isn't just true for DRK/WAR but also for PLD. You don't "see the need" to have Darkside up? Well, what about that 15% DPS increase? That you can keep up infinitely without trouble?
You do realize that's like saying "I don't really see any point in using my 20% DPS increase self-buff on BLM ".

Im a tank and I thought my job was to hold hate not to out dps

That's where the problem lies. Contrary to healer dps, which is just a bonus, tank dps is factored in by SE when designing battles.
If you do not dps to the best of your abilities, you are NOT doing your job well.

[bswpayton]

Darkside should be up 100%, you can drop grit if you have good hate and follow that with a DEF boost to allow you to use blood sword to regain your MP. However if your using Blood Price per pull (which its only a 40sec cooldown) you should never have any issues with MP. During periods of silence or between pulls you can drop it to regain some MP but overall I never drop Darkside, only grit.

But why tho Ive been tanking fine in grit and using darkside when I need it , Just simply using unleash you are doing more damage on multiple targets more so than a pali does and , so its not even an option to play drk as a defensive style tank Im use to using my cool downs and I havent had a problem yet , and I know once you take off grit your even more squishy so your dps will still have to do their jobs. So Im really not following here what the issue would be with being more of a defensive style on mobs and a offensive style on bosses.

[Instrumentality]

yes it is like I said I dont know , I do dps but I have really seen a need to have darkside up all the time with grit when I hold hate just fine in grit and using unleash I know as I get higher level Id need to use drk arts for some abilities but still the same , I dont see a need to to have darkside up all the time either if Im holding hate, So I guess what Im saying is Id rather play drk as more of a defensive tank than an offensive one and Im wondering if thats a bad thing.

The only thing you gain by not keeping Darkside up 100% of the time is that everything you fight takes longer to die.

I tend to think wasting the time of other people in dungeons/raids with me is a bad thing, but that's up to you to decide.