Dark Knight Megathread

[OdinelStarrei]

Where were all these sustain arguments in SB for leveling dungeon PLD or in ShB for leveling DRK?

We're not taking so much damage in casual dungeons that it's unbearable for healers to throw a few GCD heals here and there if a pull lasts too long because no one wants to use AoE. "But healers shouldn't have to GCD heal ever, they don't with WAR!" I really don't think this is a healthy direction to go on, nor a reasonable comparison.

I totally understand why people are having more difficulty in dungeons and why there is so much anger, but I really don't think it's because of DRK's kit specifically. Rather, I think it's a combination of a myriad of factors such as

A. Being in a leveling expansion where stuff typically just hits harder, players are newer/worse than usual/we don't grossly out ilvl everything.

B. Dungeons with DRK in general having a relatively higher skill floor than any other tank to reach BASIC competence from all parties involved, because all of your sustain relies on chaining TBNs with already present mitigation because of it's flat effects and higher focus on killing mobs before they kill you, mistakes/bad play cannot be compensated for as easily.

C. Bloodwhetting is frankly, absurdly unbalanced in casual/midcore content, particularly in dungeons, and particularly because nothing currently does enough damage to one shot or significantly hamper players with mitigation, but without shielding, and won't until the last few savage floors.
The HP recovery scale is not WAR > PLD > GNB >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> DRK. It's WAR >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> PLD > GNB > DRK. It's not even a fair fight between WAR and other tanks in dungeons, and honestly, it hasn't been since Heavensward, if not mid-ARR.

D. People are justifiably mad because the things we really wanted to change didn't, and now it's finally cascading out in a feedback loop further emboldened by years of neglect. This is the crux of everything wrong with DRK, everything else is a symptom. This is why you look torwards Square Enix and ask, why did you let it get to this state? Who is playtesting this? Who is designing this? Who is giving our feedback to development staff? Is ANYONE giving feedback to development staff? (Spoiler: No.)


My standards aren't low, it's just dungeon content, and thus doesn't register very high on how I actually rate a job's effectiveness. I could go record a dungeon run right now with no problems, like I've been doing since I reached 90, and it still wouldn't dissuade anyone because the narrative has already been solidified and "my run was lucky because my team had more than a single braincell between them." Because carrying teams who can't dodge the bright circles on the ground is now the rule and expectation, rather than the exception and outlier.

The problem I have is that the legitimate issues that actively interfere with the job have a high chance to get absolutely buried by memes that blow the entire situation out of proportion, just like the SB DARK ARTS THE DARK ARTS garbage, bereft of all nuance, when the focus needs to be on why Living Dead wasn't changed, why Blood Weapon wasn't changed, why the spells/weaponskill discrepancy still exists, and what things ARE actually improved from Shadowbringers. I'm not going to sit here and take this low-hanging fruit of "my dungeon that already is a complete joke with anyone who can actually use their kit gets even easier because SE heard giving DRK triple Abyssal Drain charges was more important than making Living Dead actually worthwhile to use without voice communications."

[Shin96]

I could go record a dungeon run right now with no problems, like I've been doing since I reached 90, and it still wouldn't dissuade anyone because the narrative has already been solidified and "my run was lucky because my team had more than a single braincell between them." Because carrying teams who can't dodge the bright circles on the ground is now the rule and expectation, rather than the exception and outlier.

The truth is we have so many players of varying skill that the developers just finally decided to remove the factor of responsibility to avoid frustrating outcomes. It was necessary, because as you mentioned, the exception is being able to play well and avoid mechanics and dodge them which many apparently seem to consider luck.

The holy trinity is basically gone by now. The more players you have the less agency you can expect from them. Ultimately, no one is at fault here but the circumstances are there and it hit healers and tanks probably the hardest.