DRK QOL changes for 5.4

[Gorondu]

All the tanks are like that currently.\
PLD requiescat window = 4x holy spirit + confiteor
DRK Delirium window: Bloodspiller 5x
WAR inner release window: 5x fell cleave
GNB (?) I haven't leveled it to 80.

Many of the tanks were homogenized in various ways, and that is why people are dissatisfied.
The differences now are only in a handful of abilities.

GNB does not have that.

[Quor]

I just want BW to get the Bunshin treatment; give it 5 charges that last a total of 15s. Plenty of time to use all 5 without having to worry about server ticks occasionally screwing you over.

[Hazama999]

Looking through this thread... man, I miss HW's DRK. Mained the job all the way to ShB and dropped it for En Avant... I mean, dancer.
This is purely from the perspective of someone who doesn't do savage raiding and completely anecdotal but it feels like it's been on a steady decline with regards to its identity since it was first introduced. Back then it felt... distinct, not unlike how GNB feels, although tbh DRK felt even better. I actually liked how darkside constantly drained your MP. As much as I think Living Dead sucks as an invuln compared to the other tanks' invulns, it actually has a bit of flavor to it... and that's what I feel it lacks nowadays.

As a former DRK main, I, too, lost my shit during the ability reveal trailer when I saw us summon Fray... but when it got time to take the new DRK for a drive, the novelty wore off way too quickly as I found myself spamming Bloodspiller between oGCDs.

As an aside, I think SE has yet to strike gold twice when it comes to coming up with a tank melee ability that feels as good to do as Fell Cleave. There's a certain something to its animation that makes you go "mmmm!! yeah!" as your axe rips through your target. Bloodspiller, by comparison, feels flaccid and bland, no matter how many twirls you do with that greatsowrd or how many "darkness lazors" appear.

[ADVSS]

Looking through this thread... man, I miss HW's DRK. Mained the job all the way to ShB and dropped it for En Avant... I mean, dancer.
This is purely from the perspective of someone who doesn't do savage raiding and completely anecdotal but it feels like it's been on a steady decline with regards to its identity since it was first introduced. Back then it felt... distinct, not unlike how GNB feels, although tbh DRK felt even better. I actually liked how darkside constantly drained your MP. As much as I think Living Dead sucks as an invuln compared to the other tanks' invulns, it actually has a bit of flavor to it... and that's what I feel it lacks nowadays.

As a former DRK main, I, too, lost my shit during the ability reveal trailer when I saw us summon Fray... but when it got time to take the new DRK for a drive, the novelty wore off way too quickly as I found myself spamming Bloodspiller between oGCDs.

As an aside, I think SE has yet to strike gold twice when it comes to coming up with a tank melee ability that feels as good to do as Fell Cleave. There's a certain something to its animation that makes you go "mmmm!! yeah!" as your axe rips through your target. Bloodspiller, by comparison, feels flaccid and bland, no matter how many twirls you do with that greatsowrd or how many "darkness lazors" appear.

Feel the same way about watching the reveal then picking it up at ShB launch. I really dont know why every tank has to have Fell Cleave honest;y, There are other ways of doing burst windows without repeating the same move over and over again. There could be some things that are related to the job, that could be worked into the window or something. You could make any move feel as rewarding as fell cleave if it was on a long cool down and blasted like 2000 potency instead of.... well you get the idea. The only move DRK felt great spamming back to back was abyssal drain....yeah they couldnt do that one under delirium

[Seraphor]

I miss the utility DRK had with AoE pulls, specifically the Abyssal Drain spam, but I do not miss Dark Arts one bit.

I don't think DRK needs all that much work tbh, I think it just needs a burst window that's more interesting than Bloodpsiller spam, something else to sustain itself like a HP absorb with Blood Weapon along with MP or reducing the CD on Abyssal Drain or maybe charges of Abyssal Drain, and a buff or rework of Living Dead.

[ADVSS]

I miss the utility DRK had with AoE pulls, specifically the Abyssal Drain spam, but I do not miss Dark Arts one bit.

I don't think DRK needs all that much work tbh, I think it just needs a burst window that's more interesting than Bloodpsiller spam, something else to sustain itself like a HP absorb with Blood Weapon along with MP or reducing the CD on Abyssal Drain or maybe charges of Abyssal Drain, and a buff or rework of Living Dead.

Yeah, its behind in the damage dept but not by any mile, or leap. Perhaps its time for blood price to come back? or add abyssal to the delirium list. Honestly i could care less about it being dead last in damage, if it has the highest hp sustain or something. Both Living skills need some sort of work. Heck maybe i can sacrifice Fray to not die from living dead. Both skills almost have the same duration anyway

[Whatzituyah]

That gives me an idea. What if Sole Survivor readded and was adjusted so when the enemy in question was killed then it would heal you by a certain percentage to make it easier to get out of Living Dead? Of course that wouldn't help during bosses but it helps and still keep Dark Knight as unique as possible from other tanks.

[Lyth]

There's a Live Letter Q+A thread going on at the moment about proposed UI improvements. Living Dead could do with some UI support, at bare minimum:
Thread

I think the broader problem for most Living Dead ability suggestions is that DRK isn't currently built around a self-healing theme. It doesn't matter if you reduce healing requirements from 100% of max health to 75%/50%/25% etc. of max health, the end result is still the same. The Sole Survivor idea has similar limitations. If you want to put a heal or die requirement on an invuln, put it on one that thematically is built around self-healing. WAR is pretty much designed for this kind of ability. The most unique thing about DRK at the moment is TBN. So build an invuln around shields - i.e. HP cannot go below 1, any damage that would have killed you gets converted into a shield up of up to 50% of max HP. Alternatively, do a reverse Superbollide: After hitting 1 HP, become invulnerable, and you get healed up for a fraction of incoming damage. Dread Spikes. Either way, Living Dead doesn't fit with DRK's present design, and needs to be revised.

On a side note - now that every tank has a raidwide defense clone, why does Reprisal need to be a role action? Wouldn't it make sense to just bring back Reprisal as a DRK specific ability (with adjustments to recast, obviously), instead of giving DRK and GNB identical raidwide defensives under different names?

[ADVSS]

There's a Live Letter Q+A thread going on at the moment about proposed UI improvements. Living Dead could do with some UI support, at bare minimum:
Thread

I think the broader problem for most Living Dead ability suggestions is that DRK isn't currently built around a self-healing theme. It doesn't matter if you reduce healing requirements from 100% of max health to 75%/50%/25% etc. of max health, the end result is still the same. The Sole Survivor idea has similar limitations. If you want to put a heal or die requirement on an invuln, put it on one that thematically is built around self-healing. WAR is pretty much designed for this kind of ability. The most unique thing about DRK at the moment is TBN. So build an invuln around shields - i.e. HP cannot go below 1, any damage that would have killed you gets converted into a shield up of up to 50% of max HP. Alternatively, do a reverse Superbollide: After hitting 1 HP, become invulnerable, and you get healed up for a fraction of incoming damage. Dread Spikes. Either way, Living Dead doesn't fit with DRK's present design, and needs to be revised.

On a side note - now that every tank has a raidwide defense clone, why does Reprisal need to be a role action? Wouldn't it make sense to just bring back Reprisal as a DRK specific ability (with adjustments to recast, obviously), instead of giving DRK and GNB identical raidwide defensives under different names?

Absolutely, though reprisal was never my favorite OG skill, but would take what can get. Guys you should at least "like" the comment on the thread Lyth posted, otherwise it wont get addressed.

[Xiaoki]

Absolutely, though reprisal was never my favorite OG skill, but would take what can get. Guys you should at least "like" the comment on the thread Lyth posted, otherwise it wont get addressed.

Why? Theres no point in "liking posts to get things addressed". Yoshi-P and the developers are very much aware that the players are unhappy with Living Dead. During the Shadowbringers media tour Yoshi-P was asked directly if Living Dead was being fixed and he brushed it off.

Really, the only way to balance the invulnerabilities would be to either make them all the exact same or get rid of them(hopefully).

So, any ideas from the peanut gallery on how to balance them is a waste of time and effort.