DRK QOL changes for 5.4

[DRKoftheAzure]

I don't play MNK nearly enough nowadays to have a sense of what problems it runs into.

I think the main problems with MNK are "Tornado Kick sucks" followed by "Six-sided Star sucks" and maybe "Enlightenment is useless when Howling Fist was way better for what Enlightenment is trying to do" and this is more of a "me" thing, but Brotherhood should affect all damage dealt and not just physical damage dealt...

The problem with combo systems is that they're very strict about order. The end result is that you can pretty much map out all your button presses for a given fight. There's this strange mentality in this game's playerbase that more combos and more rigid rotations make for more challenging gameplay, which is obviously false. If you can plan out your optimal next 1000 keypresses in advance, then you can train a monkey or clever robot to do the same. The appeal of resource-based jobs is that, when designed well, they should actually challenge your neocortex a bit. We absolutely don't need DRK to play more like PLD or GNB, and really speaking, the main reason to add a second combo is to add a second combo.

A good argument, but considering how most boss fights are scripted anyway(which is it's own debate by itself) the start of the argument is no longer a problem because of the script, and the rest of the argument doesn't follow the script and if you're not following the script and because the script doesn't allow enough deviation based on stats or even min. ilvl(again, another debate by itself), and the only resource based job that is actually well designed is probably Red Mage... and even that has to follow the script for boss fights...

Combos are just your background button presses in-between actual decisions. With DRK, there's only two ways to keep the resource-generation idea alive and have a two combo system. The first is to flip between a resource spending and a resource using combo. Heavensward did this, in a manner of speaking. The second is to flip between an MP generating and a blood generating combo. The second hasn't been tried yet, but it really relies on the amount of blood and MP generated at each step to be equivalent. If one combo generates more equivalent potency than the others, then you're just going to use the one combo.

So... Resource generating combo, and when you have enough 1 the necessary resources for 1 burst combo use it, but if that burst combo also generates another resource for a separate burst combo then you also use it... I could be interpreting that wrong though...

Though this idea does sound like my Dark Arts rework for Edge of Darkness/Shadow, Bloodspiller, Carve and Spit, Dark Passenger, Quietus, and Flood of Darkness/Shadow idea, just very different... I still like it though...

I think job action progression isn't all that important. The levelling system exists to incrementally introduce you to the job so that you don't get overwhelmed with all your actions at once. But with the advent of deep dungeons and skip potions, it's not all that important. There are restrictions, too. TBN has to be forever be introduced at 70, because of that story line. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter. Let's get DRK functioning at its best at max level, and we can worry about the levelling experience afterwards.

Yeah... Then we all remember Blue Mage exists and how THAT has a different progression system...

[Lyth]

...

Bosses do follow scripts, but they can also follow branching ones. Blood price was an example of a resource generating action that had some variability attached. Someone probably could try to spreadsheet out every auto-attack in every single scenario, but that type of math nerd would probably fair much better on a rigid combo based job that follows strict rules. The more variable parameters that you add that have ever so slight changes on resource totals, the more you push things in favour of intuitive, flexible players who can adapt on the fly. And that's historically been DRK's real draw.

My preferred approach for a two combo system would be to sit down and determine the equivalence between MP and Blood. You can use Edge/Flood at any point, and you can use Bloodspiller/Quietus at any point. What's the potency trade-off between these? Let's say that 1 blood = 200 MP when it comes to potency. Now you make two combos:
1: no resources
2: 2000 MP or A: 10 blood
3: 4000 MP or B: 20 blood

Now it doesn't really matter which combo you invest in too much, because both resource dumps are the same. Now for this system to really work, you need to have oGCDs which use resources as well, and ideally give you some of the opposite resource back. So let's say you wanted to use Carve and Spit which is about to come off cooldown, but it costs blood. Use the blood combo next, use Carve and Spit, and maybe use the MP that you get on TBN. Let's say Abyssal Drain is coming off cooldown, but costs MP. Your next combo step should be your MP combo, gain back some blood from Abyssal Drain, and then use Bloodspiller as follow-up. Your decision-making on combos depends on what oGCDs are coming off cooldown and what resource type you need to activate them.

Now if you really want to make things fun, instead of making an action like Delirium simply remove costs, have it increase your resource gains, so that you can Bloodspiller -> gain MP -> Abyssal Drain + Edge of Darkness -> gain blood -> Bloodspiller + Carve and Spit -> gain MP etc. to juggle your two resource meters back and forth. It's the same effect, but you get to use your noggin a bit.

You can also do a resource gaining combo and a higher potency resource spending combo (which is essentially what the old Heavensward DASE vs. Delirium combos were), but that's slightly less interesting to me.

[DRKoftheAzure]

Bosses do follow scripts, but they can also follow branching ones.

I actually learned something new.

Blood price was an example of a resource generating action that had some variability attached.

Whether it was a successful idea or not is up for debate, though the Stormblood version felt bad to use in single target outside of specific scenarios, such as downtime or the beginning of a pull.

Someone probably could try to spreadsheet out every auto-attack in every single scenario, but that type of math nerd would probably fair much better on a rigid combo based job that follows strict rules.

I think I am actually one of those math nerds. lol

The more variable parameters that you add that have ever so slight changes on resource totals, the more you push things in favour of intuitive, flexible players who can adapt on the fly. And that's historically been DRK's real draw.

I'm only familiar with FF4 DRK and Heavensward/Stormblood DRK, and regrettably familiar Shadowbringers DRK... all I know is that I did not like how Syphon Strike was used as an MP dump in Stormblood when it didn't even have a Dark Arts effect attached to it... Power Slash eventually got buffed to where it was less bad to use but because of its Dark Arts effect I actually valued that more than Souleater combo... And Shadowbringer DRK might as well just be a parsing slave along with WAR...

My preferred approach for a two combo system would be to sit down and determine the equivalence between MP and Blood. You can use Edge/Flood at any point, and you can use Bloodspiller/Quietus at any point. What's the potency trade-off between these? Let's say that 1 blood = 200 MP when it comes to potency. Now you make two combos:
1: no resources
2: 2000 MP or A: 10 blood
3: 4000 MP or B: 20 blood

That is actually the basis of my burst combo idea for DRK, but because you would need MP AND Blood Gauge to get to the non-resource button(which for my idea is Carve and Spit for single target and Flood of Darkness for AoE) which is my Dark Arts rework idea comes in.

Now it doesn't really matter which combo you invest in too much, because both resource dumps are the same. Now for this system to really work, you need to have oGCDs which use resources as well, and ideally give you some of the opposite resource back. So let's say you wanted to use Carve and Spit which is about to come off cooldown, but it costs blood. Use the blood combo next, use Carve and Spit, and maybe use the MP that you get on TBN. Let's say Abyssal Drain is coming off cooldown, but costs MP. Your next combo step should be your MP combo, gain back some blood from Abyssal Drain, and then use Bloodspiller as follow-up. Your decision-making on combos depends on what oGCDs are coming off cooldown and what resource type you need to activate them.

Now if you really want to make things fun, instead of making an action like Delirium simply remove costs, have it increase your resource gains, so that you can Bloodspiller -> gain MP -> Abyssal Drain + Edge of Darkness -> gain blood -> Bloodspiller + Carve and Spit -> gain MP etc. to juggle your two resource meters back and forth. It's the same effect, but you get to use your noggin a bit.

If you're just learning how the job works then okay I can see my burst combo idea just being either a level 70 or 80 trait for what you're going for. Good for new players and veterans.... probably...

You can also do a resource gaining combo and a higher potency resource spending combo (which is essentially what the old Heavensward DASE vs. Delirium combos were), but that's slightly less interesting to me.

In Heavensward, Delirium combo was mostly used for DPS AND holding onto Dark Arts buff if needed it for Carve and Spit, Dark Passenger, Dark Mind, or Dark Dance(though in dungeons you would use Dark Arts with Dark Dance first, followed by another Dark Arts with Dark Passenger which i want Dark Passenger to come for the old evasion tanking trick), whereas the GCD portion of the decision making was used for either more enmity for Power Slash, or just a MP dump through Souleater(and if you were main tank and had Grit on more HP recovery on top of the slight DPS gain) and Souleater
MP dumping was probably the source of the Dark Arts spam in going into Stormblood...