Issue with TBN

[Suratan]

So what? Every other tank at that point IS getting free mitigation from their equivalents where you'd then have... nothing. Having TBN isn't balanced as a trade-off with damage; it's balanced such that TBN has limited use events, limiting it towards HoS/RI/ShT. But, by fundamental design that limiting mechanism can make it utterly unusable without tankbusters without losing damage, which creates a far larger blow than DRK is balanced around.

Did you pull wall to wall when TBN did not break? If not, you need to make a reason for using TBN.

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I think, TBN is absolutely fine and resembles very good the lore of the DRK. It is all about decision-making with your resource. "Is this worthy enough for making me use this skill?" Or if you want it in the more poetic and edgy way: "Is this threat at hand worthy enough that I need to sacrifice my precious resource and throw myself into DARKNESS?" And if not, just use Shadow Wall or Rampart.

[Shurrikhan]

Did you pull wall to wall when TBN did not break? If not, you need to make a reason for using TBN.

Yes. It has failed to break even in wall-to-wall pulls without CDs or Holy, as I mentioned in my prior post. Most recently, when getting 400 of my tomes in the last day before reset (busy work-week prior), I twice each had it fail to pop as such even in the large pull of miniature plantkin in Akadaemia Anyder and the pull with the Pegasus, Wraith, and Evil Armor.

There are also a few dungeons that have no second area of mobs before their gate -- the Twinning comes most readily to mind, but there are a few other dungeons from prior expansions, too, that do this on occasion.

[WhyAmIHere]

Careful use of TBN separates good DRK's from so-so ones. It takes actual thinking to use properly, and those people are rewarded for it. If you use it like any other mitigation tool, it'll be a DPS loss. Use it smart though, and let the darkness flow.

"there are a lot of enemies hitting me, time to TBN."
"this is a tank buster about to hit me, time to TBN."

so thought intensive.

[Interovegas]

"there are a lot of enemies hitting me, time to TBN."
"this is a tank buster about to hit me, time to TBN."

so thought intensive.

The ability to clear dungeons is not the premier quality most people look for in a class. In high end content the 15 second cooldown of TBN motivates me to learn when to precast TBN in a fight to have it up and ready to soak more busters more often. There is a great cieling to learning the timing for TBN. If you only cast TBN on reaction to a cast bar coming up you are absolutely not mitigating as much as you could.

[Xiaoki]

The ability to clear dungeons is not the premier quality most people look for in a class. In high end content the 15 second cooldown of TBN motivates me to learn when to precast TBN in a fight to have it up and ready to soak more busters more often. There is a great cieling to learning the timing for TBN. If you only cast TBN on reaction to a cast bar coming up you are absolutely not mitigating as much as you could.

In Malikah's Well the second boss, Amphibious Talos, will do a tank buster shortly after he finishes his rotating cone attack then not long after he will do another tank buster.
If you use TBN right when you see the cast bar for the first tank buster or pre-cast it you will have just enough time to use TBN for the second tank buster as well.

Also there are plenty of opportunities to use TBN for bosses other than just tank busters. You just have to look for those opportunities.

Unfortunately, people are not looking because they have a mentality of "TBN and similar cooldowns = tank busters only"

[WhyAmIHere]

The ability to clear dungeons is not the premier quality most people look for in a class. In high end content the 15 second cooldown of TBN motivates me to learn when to precast TBN in a fight to have it up and ready to soak more busters more often. There is a great cieling to learning the timing for TBN. If you only cast TBN on reaction to a cast bar coming up you are absolutely not mitigating as much as you could.

Akin to UCoB if you use Shadow Wall roughly around the 2nd fireball during the first (or second?) baited liquid hells, SW'd mitigate the buster and fall off a second afterwards, leaving it up to use sooner.

Yes little odds and ends of optimization exist, but making TBN out to be this oh so thought demanding thing like it's as involved as HW mana management and SB blood/MP juggling is, in this humble former-DRK mains mind, a lameduck argument to make. DRK has been trimmed down to the marrow at this point in terms of simplicity.

[DemonicNeko]

Part of the fun of playing DRK though is learning when in fights you can break TBN and optimising it's usage. This game is already pandering to casual and bad players too much already, can we please not remove interesting job mechanics?

This is 100% my thoughts. If you see the boss is casting a bar. You know this ability will do like 50% of your hp. You pop TBN. If not. You do not pop TBN. Also if your Dark Side is above 40 seconds. Then you really should not be using Edge of Shadow. Waste of mana. Only time I even use Edge of Shadow when I am above 40 seconds of Dark Side. Is when I have Dark Arts proc. Free dps why not use it. The class is already dumbed down where I have to try to screw up my dps. Like little having to just take my hands off my keyboard to ruin my dps.

[battleshadow66]

This is 100% my thoughts. If you see the boss is casting a bar. You know this ability will do like 50% of your hp. You pop TBN. If not. You do not pop TBN. Also if your Dark Side is above 40 seconds. Then you really should not be using Edge of Shadow. Waste of mana. Only time I even use Edge of Shadow when I am above 40 seconds of Dark Side. Is when I have Dark Arts proc. Free dps why not use it. The class is already dumbed down where I have to try to screw up my dps. Like little having to just take my hands off my keyboard to ruin my dps.

Yeah, except outside of endgame fights, that ability only has real use with trash pulls. The main issue is having DA attach to it, which while is free dps when TBN breaks, shouldn't really be attached to a defensive CD. I'm sure there are better abilities in the DRK toolkit that DAs could be attached to that makes more sense.

As rewarding as it is, it's definitely an odd place to attach a dps proc, on a Defensive CD...

Like maybe Bloodspiller or Quietus could give a proc, but only the unbuffed versions, and maybe put a 15-20 second CD on how often you get them.

[Danelo]

Which other tanks have defensive abilities that cost a DPS resource?

[Crater]

Which other tanks have defensive abilities that cost a DPS resource?

Which other tanks have a defensive ability that can potentially offer 80-100% mitigation on a 15 second cooldown?