Dark Knight 6.0: Wishlist

[ItMe]

I'd also like the male idle pose for female characters as well. The female DRK pose looks boring to me, but I imagine all of these issues are like the least of our worries at the moment.

That's pretty funny. I feel the opposite.
I play a male character and wish I had the female DRK poses because the male ones look boring to me.

[Shin96]

So I did an experiment. Someone had suggest earlier what the class would feel like if you had lower GCD time by melding Skillspeed on your gear. I did that, but I also did this:

I removed Delirium from the toolbar, and living Shadow. I used stun as a replacement as well as Reprisal. Additionally I used food with Skillspeed. Recast time ended up being 2.32s

This has nothing to do with efficiency might I remind you. Only for the playstyle or the feel. Conclusion: It felt pretty good. Delirium is extremely hard on the eyes and Living Shadow is so slow by animation alone, it made somewhat of a difference, especially with Delirium being removed. By being faster I felt a sense of busyness, particularly without the weave spamming of OGCD's. I think moving forward, DRK would greatly benefit by adding haste to Bloodweapon or increase the speed by adding it into their stance.

Aside from that, I felt the 1-2-3 spam is incredibly tedious. Another combo finisher would alleviate if not "fix" this issue to a certain extend. By adding a DoT similiar to Scourge, you could also add a sense of sustenance to the job. Conversely, Edge of Shadow needs to have more of an impact, in my opinion.

TLDR; Delirium needs to go or be reworked. Living Shadow feels too slow in my opinion. Add a new combo finisher to counterbalance the visual deprivation of Souleater combo. Add a DoT to give you a sense of sustenance. Edge of Shadow needs more impact.

[Lyth]

I was just thinking about how to put together some of the ideas in this thread. In particular, how do we:
1) Change the levels at which actions are gained so that the levelling experience works out a bit better
2) Implement a second combo
3) Make the job faster
4) Fix Living Dead
5) Bring in an common theme unifying everything together

My apologies if this is a bit dense, I usually avoid going into minutiae. Total action count is 26 (25 if you exclude Shadowskin), which is only two actions over our current count. I've avoided listing further descriptions if I've left things unchanged.

Darkside: Reduces weaponskill cast time and recast time, spell cast time and recast time, and auto-attack delay by 15%.

Combo 1: (Lower Potency)
Hard Slash Lv.1
Syphon Strike Lv. 4 (Combo from Hard Slash/Unleash)
Souleater Lv. 26 (Combo from Syphon Strike/Spinning Strike/Stalwart Soul)
Combo: Creates a barrier which nullifies damage on player highest on enmity list.

Combo 2: (Higher Potency, reduces Darkside Timer)
Spinning Strike Lv. 30 (Combo from Hard Slash/Unleash)
Combo: Reduces timer on Darkside. Additional Effect: Restores MP.
Power Slash Lv. 72 (Combo from Syphon Strike/Spinning Strike/Stalwart Soul)
Combo: Reduces timer on Darkside. Additional Effect: Increases Blood Gauge.
Additional Effect: Creates a barrier which nullifies damage on player highest on enmity list.

AoE Combo:
Unleash Lv. 6
Stalwart Soul Lv. 35 (Combo from Hard Slash/Unleash)
Combo: Restores MP.
Abyssal Drain Lv. 56 (Combo from Syphon Strike/Spinning Strike/Stalwart Soul)
Combo: Increases Blood Gauge.
Additional Effect: Creates a barrier which nullifies damage on player highest on enmity list.

Comments: This is basically MNK's free-form combo system to allow DRK to have some flexibility as a resource driven, as opposed to rotational job. This also gives your Darkside timer some actual (albeit optional) risk of falling off.

Unmend Lv. 15

Bloodspiller Lv. 62
Quietus Lv. 64

oGCDs:
Edge of Darkness Lv. 30 > Edge of Shadow Lv.74 (Trait)
Flood of Darkness Lv. 30 > Flood of Shadow Lv. 74 (Trait)
Plunge Lv. 54
Delivers a jumping attack. Maximum Charges: 2.
Carve and Spit Lv. 60
Delivers an actual threefold attack. Each individual attack has a potency of 150. Additional Effect: Restores MP.
Delirium Lv.68
Your shadow counterattacks (using the Heavensward Reprisal animation). Whenever your barriers prevent damage, there is a chance to reset this cooldown, up to a maximum of once every 30 seconds. Increases timer on Darkside.

Comments: Delirium rework version 4, this time as a counter-attack. You must be seeing things. Also, let three-fold attacks be three-fold attacks, yeah?

Offensive Cooldowns:
Blood Weapon Lv. 35
Increases Blood Gauge, Darkside timer, and restores MP upon landing the next five weaponskills or spells. Effect does not stack when hitting multiple targets with a single attack.
Living Shadow Lv. 80

Comments: Two offensive cooldown windows, now at 60/120s so that there's no unsyncing issues. I'd personally like DRK to be more sustain orientated anyways.

Defensives:
Shadowskin Lv. 8
Shadowwall Lv. 38
Dark Mind Lv. 45
Creates a barrier around you that absorbs damage totaling 10% of your maximum HP.
Shadowform Lv. 50 (Replaces Living Dead)
If an attack would reduce your HP to less than 1, you are rendered impervious to it. Damage prevented in this way triggers Dread Spikes. Duration: 8 seconds. Recast: 360 seconds.
The Blackest Night Lv. 70
Runic Lv. 76 (Replaces Dark Missionary)
Creates a barrier around you and nearby party members that nullifies magic damage up to 10% of their HP.

Comments: Dark Mind now bridges the defensive gap on not having access to TBN at lower levels. Weaker, but more universal. I don't know what a Dark Missionary is, but we should be using classic FF ability names wherever possible. Shadowform replaces Living Dead as a conditional Hallowed. If implemented this way, you would also have to adjust Superbolide's recast such that it is shorter than this. Did I say Dread Spikes? Never mind that yet.

New:
Shadowstep Lv. 74 (Ability)
Duration 10 seconds, Recast 90 seconds
Teleport 15 yalms backward, leaving behind a simulacrum of yourself in place for the next 10 seconds. Nullifies most knockback and draw-in effects while active. Using this ability a second time swaps your positions (Recast 3 seconds).
Shadowbringer Lv. 80 (Ability)
Multi-hit attack drawing on the vengeful specters of your past. Replaces Living Shadow when Living Shadow is active. Number of strikes proportionate to remaining time on Living Shadow. Living Shadow ends upon use.

Comments: I like mobility actions, what can I say. I'm also a bit obsessed with the idea of getting multi-hit sword attacks like Omnislash and Lionheart in the game as a window finisher. Cecil's Shadowbringer seems to be a good fit. It also gives you the option of cashing in your Living Shadow window early if you have to because of an imminent phase change. Otherwise, it's functionally Confiteor.

Common Actions
Low Blow Lv. 12
Provoke Lv. 15
Interject Lv. 18
Arm’s Length Lv. 32
Hide Presence (Stance) Lv. 48
Removes enmity bonus of Tank Mastery. Effect ends upon reuse.
Shirk Lv. 48

Comments: I just inverted tank stance here. Eliminates issues where people forget to toggle stance after syncing. This also lets you push back stance acquisition until later on, as you only need it once you're doing two tank content.

Traits
Tank Mastery Lv.1
Reduces damage taken by 20% and significantly increases enmity generation. Grants a bonus to maximum HP based on your vitality attribute, and a bonus to damage based on your strength attribute.
Dread Spikes Lv. 30
Whenever your barriers prevent damage, or whenever Shadowform prevents damage, drains HP from attacking enemy and increases your Darkside timer.
Blackblood Lv. 62
Allows for Blood Gauge accumulation upon landing of certain actions or while Blood Weapon is active.
Darkside Mastery Lv. 74
The Power of Friendship Lv. 86
Your shadow gains bonus attacks when Darkside is up. Effect applies to both Delirium and Living Shadow.

Comments: This is where the unifying theme was hiding. Dread Spikes. The last one is just for the Moogles. I had nothing to do with it, I swear.

I'm sure I'm missing something critical here that turns this concept into a dysfunctional mess, but that's how I would do it. Feel free to dissect and scrutinize.

[Danelo]

I wish SE would just admit this last version was functional but lackluster, like almost all of the iterations throughout 4x, compared to HW version and go in the direct of the above build. I know Yoshida is not above saying: this is not really the direction the fans want to go so let’s start from scratch. Let’s try again and take the totality of their feedback into consideration, the theme/spirit of their feedback and detailed ability critiques instead of “no dark arts spam? Problem solved” mentality.

[Siimodo]

What if the DK game play was a DoT style tanking?

Flood of Darkness (Job Quest) Lv 30. Ability Instant 2s 3000MP 10y 10y
Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 200 to all enemies in a straight line before you.
Additional Effect: Corruption
Damage over time: Potency: 50
Bonus Effect: Stacks 5 times
Additional Effect: Grants Darkside, increasing damage dealt by 10%
Duration: 30s
Extends Darkside duration by 30s to a maximum of 60s.
Shares a recast timer with Edge of Darkness.

Edge of Darkness (Job Quest) Lv 40. Ability Instant 2s 3000MP 3y 0y
Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 280.
Additional Effect: Corruption
Damage over time: Potency: 70
Bonus Effect: Stacks 5 times
Additional Effect: Grants Darkside, increasing damage dealt by 10%
Duration: 30s
Extends Darkside duration by 30s to a maximum of 60s.
Shares a recast timer with Flood of Darkness.

Living Dead Lv 50. Ability Instant 300s - 0y 0y
Grants the effect of Living Dead. When HP is reduced to 0 while under the effects of Living Dead, instead of becoming KO’d, your status will change to Walking Dead. While under the effect of Walking Dead, most attacks will not lower your HP below 1. If, before the Walking Dead timer runs out, HP is 100% restored, the effect will fade if 100%. If 100% is not restored, you will be KO’d.
Walking Dead Duration: 10s
Combo Action: Armor of Shadows
Combo Effect: Reduces HP restored by 50%

Salted Earth Lv 52. Ability Instant 35s - 15y 5y
Creates a patch of salted earth, dealing unaspected damage with a potency of 60 to any enemies who enter.
Duration: 15s
Additional Effect: Standing in salted earth grants Armor of Shadows
Duration: 21s

Abyssal Drain Lv. 56 Ability 1.5s Channel / OGC 2.5s 2000 MP 15y 5y
Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 200 to target.
Additional Effect: Restores own HP
Cure Potency: 100
Combo Action: Armor of Shadows
Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 400 to target.
Combo Cure Potency: 200
Combo Effect: Armor of Shadows enhances Abyssal Drain to AoE

Stalwart Soul Lv. 58 Ability Instant 2.5s - 0y 5y
Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 100 to all nearby enemies.
Combo Action: Unleash
Combo Potency: 160

Carve and Spit (Job Quest) Lv 60. Ability Instant 60s 3y 0y
Delivers a threefold attack with a potency of 450.
Additional Effect: Restores MP
Additional Effect: Devour
Devour Bonus: Increases the potency of Carve and Spit by 100 per Corruption consumed.

Bloodspiller Lv 62. Weaponskill Instant 2.5s 3y 0y
Delivers an attack with a potency of 480.
Additional Effect: Corruption
Damage over time: Potency: 120
Duration: 21s
Bonus Effect: Stacks 5 times
Blood Gauge Cost: 50

Quietus Lv 64. Weaponskill Instant 2.5s 0y 5y
Delivers an attack with a potency of 155.
Additional Effect: Corruption
Bonus Effect: Stacks 5 times
Damage over time: Potency: 55
Duration: 21s
Blood Gauge Cost: 50

[AC9Breaker]

People who complain about living dead most likely don't like Indian cuisine because its too spicy in their opinion.

[Lyth]

I certainly wouldn't trust anyone who enjoyed using Living Dead to make curry for me. Not only would they have an awful sense of taste, they'd collapse and die 10 seconds after handling the chilli peppers.

But enough with the side-dishes.

...

This is an excellently thought out post that identifies some counterpoints to my earlier suggestions. Out of respect for the poster's desire for social distancing, I will respond remotely from a different thread. Allow me to cherry-pick the points that I found interesting.

1. There are downsides to increasing DRK's baseline GCD speed through Darkside.
- Uptime becomes more important, and you are punished harder for time off the boss.
- Your window for weaving decreases, making it more difficult, if not impossible to double weave.

Yes. Both of these things are deliberate.

DRK spent both Heavensward and Stormblood as a sustain-focused job at a time when burst was always flat out better for less effort. Now when they've finally started rewarding sustain for the effort involved, we're suddenly burst-focused.

This is also why both my requests for new expansion abilities are focused around improving uptime. Give us more fine control over positioning with a backstep/swap action that doesn't have potency tied to it, and let us come up with clever ways to flip in and out of AoEs. I want to see DRK players dancing in and out of avoidable attacks to claim more precious GCDs while precisely controlling boss movement.

Also remember, with a faster GCD, you're still burning through your oGCDs every bit as quickly. They're just spaced out more consistently. Heavensward was like that as well, which is what I enjoyed about it. It felt smooth.

2. There are animation downsides to speeding up DRK.
- DRK animations take longer to complete than some of the older PLD and WAR animations, even when performed at equivalent GCD speeds.
- At faster GCD speeds, oGCDs truncate the animation, detracting from its impact.

There are different ways you can see this. When you look at 2.x and older animations, they're technically faster. That's because they don't make use of the entire GCD. So when you use Fast Blade, your PLD stares out into space for the next two seconds as if this is a turn-based game (or FFXI).

When you use Hard Slash, you spend the entire GCD mid-animation, with the expectation that your character is going to oGCD backflip out of it into your next GCD. The attacks blend one into another, and at higher speeds you can hardly notice discrepancies.

It's also worth noting that DRK's animations don't really have much in the way of hitstop, so you're never really missing out on that big dramatic moment of impact. This is a Final Fantasy game. The only correct way to use a greatsword is to become a whirlwind of blades. See Omnislash for details.

3. More GCD actions or combo actions results in button bloat.
- Where will the space for these extra actions come from?

Yes. This is deliberate. We're running a button deficit compared to other tanks, especially after Stormblood's role action system decimated our action list. Give it back.

4. DRK could benefit from better resource generation.
- The longer you spend waiting for resources to accrue, the less frequently you can press your oGCD buttons.

I have mixed feelings about this, because there are downsides to being flooded with resources as well. You need to have time to spend it. MP isn't too bad, but I wouldn't mind blood being spent at a faster rate, especially if we move away from an Inner Release style Delirium. Ideally, I'd like to see an interplay between MP and blood, but I figured that anything that was overly complex wouldn't be implemented.

5. Living Dead is a terribly designed action and needs to be reworked. I don't care even if the dev team are passionately convinced otherwise, they need to actually sit down and listen to the playerbase and five years of complaints about the ability. Did 1.x's failures teach them nothing about making good curry?
- Disclaimer: Poster did not actually write this.

Yes, but you should have. Otherwise, interesting read.

[currentlemon]

snip

I really like this. Not just because of how playful and unique DRK would potentially be, but the Souleater combo would help alleviate DRK's low mitigation problems in levelling dungeons before TBN. Great solution! I still want Dark Arts back though.

[AC9Breaker]

Ill say this. Living Dead is a better designed cooldown then Superbolide. Living dead works as advertised. Superbolide still has a chance of tank dying in between hp going to 1 and actual invincibility.

Furthermore, the biggest complaint from healers is, healing is too easy and nothing to do as healers because at endgame you heal for so much more. Regardless, people don't like the full heal requirement from living dead cause its somehow too hard?

I think that the hyperbole of complaints leveled against Living Dead on these boards is unjustified.

[Kabooa]

Living Dead is a better designed cooldown then Superbolide.

Bit like saying that glass toed boots are better designed than inward facing spiked toe boots.