New DRK is awful. Here’s why and what could be done about it.

[Lyth]

Here's something that's been bothering me.

Every GCD has a potency value. But when that GCD generates resources as well, the "true potency" value is actually a bit higher. MP generated goes towards EoS/FoS. Blood generated goes towards Bloodspiller and Quietus. So if that GCD doesn't happen, you don't just lose the potency, you lose the potency associated with those resources as well.

Single Target:
Hard Slash: 200

Siphon Strike: 300 + 600 MP (1/5 EoS)
= 300 + 500/5
= 400

Souleater: 400 + 20 blood

To make sense of this last one, we need to figure out how much a Bloodspiller is worth. You might say that it's 50 blood for 550 potency. That's true, but it also occurs on the GCD. So to identify the net gain from using a Bloodspiller, you have to remove the opportunity cost of the GCD that it replaces.

Bloodspiller:
Replacing HS:
50 blood = 550 - 200
50 blood = 350

Replacing SS:
50 blood = 550 - 300 - 600 MP
50 blood = 550 - 400
50 blood = 150

Replacing SE:
50 blood = 550 - 400 - 20 blood
50 blood = 150 - 20 blood
70 blood = 150
(70 blood)(50/70) = 150(50/70)
50 blood = 50(150)/70
50 blood = 107

On average across a given combo, Bloodspiller represents a net gain of 202 potency per GCD. That sounds pretty reasonable, especially when you consider the fact that you have a new Bloodspiller every 2-3 combos, while you have a new EoS every 5 combos.

So now we can go back and plug that in to find:
Souleater: 400 + 20 blood
= 481

Let's take a look at AoE. I'm going to use 'n' to indicate the number of mobs present. So if you were fighting three mobs, 150n would be 150 x 3 = 450 potency.

AoE:
Unleash: 150n
Stalwart Soul: 160n + 600 MP (1/5 FoS) + 20 blood
= 160n + 300n/5 + 20 blood
= 220n + 20 blood

We can already see a problem here. Quietus has a potency value of 180n. Without even accounting the potency value of blood, StS has a higher potency value than Quietus. Keep that in the back of your mind for now.

Again, to find out what the value of this blood is, we need to figure out how much a Quietus is worth. Let's get to work.

Quietus:
Replacing Unleash:
50 blood = 180n – 150n
50 blood = 30n

Replacing StS: 180n – 220n – 20 blood
70 blood = -40n
(70 blood)(50/70) = (-40n)(50/70)
50 blood = 50(-40n)/70
50 blood = -28n

On average across an AoE combo, Quietus represents a 2n potency gain. But it actually oscillates between cumulative net gain and loss.

Long story short, Quietus either needs to be at least 40n potency higher, or it needs to restore MP in order to break even with StS. We'll have to see if the devs pick up on this before launch.