5.3 patch complete note. Yes just keept upgrade WAR and forget about DRK

[OdinelStarrei]

Reading through this thread a week after patch is interesting. WAR changes are pretty comfy, not gonna lie. I really expected +5 seconds to Eye and Eye application on Mythril Tempest. Making it into Darkside-lite was not on the radar for me. But it's QoL adjustments people were asking for, and it is the only major change any tank has gotten at all, so I'll take it where I can get it.

Apologies if I'm guilty of the "DRK complaint" wave that has become to take root as of late, I try to make my posts more constructive than angry. Unlike other jobs, DRK has been through so many reworks and adjustments over the years on top of fundamental tank role changes, I'm pretty sure everyone who has or is playing it has an ideal version of the job that they want to push for. Since our identity isn't speed tank anymore, there's a lot of division and fracturing of mindsets, and it makes it hard to form a coherent, consistent message outside of "Wow, I hate this!"

I've made a significant effort as of 5.3 to hate DRK less, because it's honestly incredibly exhausting hating on your main job for a such a long period of time, particularly when there's not too much battle content to learn. But I DID have some really incredible reclears this week that captured what I really like about DRK, that being mana stockpiling and burst dumping. Let me try to explain.

DRK's skill floor is insanely low. You can feasibly no-brain the job and perform adequately in a majority of content. I personally did not like this, because I like being engaged with the game at all times, regardless of content level. What I got during 5.3 progression learning parties, and my one of a kind pug team this week, were teams that actually used raid buffs correctly, on-time, and I could TRUST them to use them on time. As a result, I was SIGNIFICANTLY less bored than usual. On progression content, I was focused on finding out what attacks would break TBN for that one Dark Arts I needed for burst dumping each minute, 3rd GCD vs 5th GCD Delirium, optimal Dark Missionary placements, etc etc. Which leads me to believe a lot of recent malaise I was feeling (like unsub from game level) was due to content becoming VERY stale after, what, six months?

On farm content, while I still had the "123" spam after burst complaint, I was laser-focused on getting as many natural Bloodspillers in raid buffs as possible instead of just no-braining Blood until 20 seconds before LS like I usually do. I had a RDM, so Plunges need to wait for Embolden. I had an AST, DNC, and SCH so Edges every two minutes needed to wait for both Technical and Divination buffs and Chain Stratagem before dumping with as many BS as possible. BRD Battle Voice every 3 minutes, so that's another spot I needed to make sure I had mana for, at least the mana and blood from Blood Weapon should be dumped there. Brotherhood lined up with Delirium like it always does, no brain that. And this was while doing the standard E8S song and dance. I was GREATLY rewarded by feeling really in-tune with my kit, and despite having a near wipe during Icelit Dragonsong due to DPS greed, no add buff, and a party-wide damage down, I would still consider it my personal best since the start of the tier in terms of actual job performance. This of course doesn't absolve the complaints I have, Blood Weapon/Delirium, kit interactivity, all those things we've been talking about before. Maybe I just tried for once instead of shrugging my shoulders and saying "whatever"?

Which brings me to a few questions I'd like to ask.

For those people who still play DRK, do you play it in a static environment that coordinates buffs well? When I was checking all the buff timers and trying to maximize my personal output doing them, there were a few times where I was getting a LITTLE overwhelmed, and that hasn't happened on DRK in over a year now. I was really enjoying myself this week.

And if you're playing DRK, do you feel more engaged with it in Ultimate or newer content in comparison to things you have on farm? The answer is obviously "yes", but I'm trying to come at it from a more broad perspective. Is Ultimate or newer content the only way to truly feel something while tanking on DRK after reaching what feels like a personal skill ceiling? I could feasibly do Living Liquid in pugs for weeks if it meant I wouldn't be constantly complaining about how HW/SB DRK were better.