Dark Knight Megathread

[Shurrikhan]

Just quoting this as reference to what I am generally talking to and not a direct response to the quoted bit itself.

I honestly think that DRK for the most part feels bad defensively because the incoming damage pattern is very "spikey", at least from my experience leveling DRK via dungeon runs and doing wall to wall pulls.

That still seems largely a player issue? I've got all but DRK leveled on my Tank/Maiming alt (DRK should be there, too, tonight), and DRK on this DPS alt, and I can manage my CDs such that the timing of damage taken between DRK and anything but WAR look very, very similar. It's a bit more complex to pull that off, but not by much. Cycling through every tank, I in no way feel fragile on DRK compared to anything but WAR. More entertaining, defensively, than the other tanks? Sure. Weaker than most to any significant degree? Nah.

That's not to say I wouldn't be open to Oblation feeling like it really does something, of course. I just have no significant issues healing DRKs or getting through pulls on DRKs unless they are more than likely a bad tank on any tank. (Only unique bit is them popping TBN too early or late, given my opening Holy spam.)

However, despite liking TBN and not wanting it to change, I do feel overall changes to DRKs' defensive capabilities should happen, just that the changes should happen elsewhere.

Preferably I want to see Oblation better utilized to do interesting and fun things by giving it conditional effects depending on what other defensive abilities it is paired with.
I had previously suggested having Oblation pop TBNs' shield, giving a Dark Arts when that happens, and then throwing up another potentially slightly stronger shield in addition to the base % mitigation basically turning the combo of TBN and then Oblation into a sort of "Super TBN".

That's fair. A nitpick, though, on the "Super TBN" idea: two-stage empowered abilities that quickly come to feel like the "normal" effect will often tend to seem more like 'clunk' than 'power'. Arguably, the only reason DA-DD didn't suffer that issue was because the anti-synergy of DA-DD (losing effective parry chance and therefore Reprisal responsiveness and Low Blow reset procs) made it a deliberate choice. To have only one TBN per minute, on average, feel like a "full" TBN could end up feeling more "convoluted" and, if obliging the Oblation purge TBN only at the last possible moment, "finnicky" than "powerful".

For the love of all that is holy, please change the limp Souleater combo animations. If you're going to give us only ONE combo, make them at least feel like they hit hard. Scourge -> Old Delirium -> Power Slash feels very hefty, and works pretty well with current animations. Literally just change the animations and change the Interject animation if Dark Knight is going to be stuck with it. Jumpyspinnyslash eater is not cool.

This, so much this. Hell, I'd love to see Interject changed regardless. "I need to as instantly as possible bash my enemy's face to stop what they're casting. Let me do a slow-mo spinning strike that maximizes the time it takes for me to... tap my target on the shoulder..." I mean, we had the godsend that was GLD's Fracture animation (instantly hilt-bash to the face before ruthlessly stabbing down through the neck) or even DRK's Skull Sunder (just a hard, no-fuss downward slash with a resounding thwang of greatsword to helm) and we chose... Delirium as the interrupt animation?

[Agner]

Joke is honestly on me, because Hard Slash is listed alongside Dark Force, Unleash, and Living Dead in the Encyclopedia Eorzea. Whoops, can't be changed due to lore like Living Dead! lol. (You know, it's not like we're the Warriors of Light or something and could develop/improve our own wild techniques... Doubt the Sultansworn are out there flinging around giant magical swords from a distance.)

[Shurrikhan]

Joke is honestly on me, because Hard Slash is listed alongside Dark Force, Unleash, and Living Dead in the Encyclopedia Eorzea. Whoops, can't be changed due to lore like Living Dead! lol. (You know, it's not like we're the Warriors of Light or something and could develop/improve our own wild techniques... Doubt the Sultansworn are out there flinging around giant magical swords from a distance.)

Might discourage a retcon, but that's what traits are for, no? Hard Slash still exists... back there at lower levels; it's just been upgraded.

[Lyth]

I thought that Salt and Darkness was somewhat interesting, until I saw what they did with Doton and Hollow Nozuchi. But having the damage from your ground target AoE effectively 'combo' off of certain actions performed when its active was probably considered to be too involved for a tank job or something.

I'm starting to see why they do animation upgrades every so often, and I do think that it's worthwhile, especially now that they've figured out hitstop with Reaper.

[Baxcel]

I thought that Salt and Darkness was somewhat interesting, until I saw what they did with Doton and Hollow Nozuchi. But having the damage from your ground target AoE effectively 'combo' off of certain actions performed when its active was probably considered to be too involved for a tank job or something.

I'm starting to see why they do animation upgrades every so often, and I do think that it's worthwhile, especially now that they've figured out hitstop with Reaper.

Honestly it's kinda a slap to the face for DRK players.. here you go DRKs.. you don't need to aim Salted Earth anymore to make it easier on you guys.. then they turn around and fix ground targeting for all the other jobs instead of just doing the same lol

I've said it before and I'll say it once again.. Bloodwhetting should of been our recovery skill.. DRKs whole role was around building blood and empowering ourselves with it for damage and sustain.. giving DRK that one skill would of fixed so much for their lacking in self-sustain.. it would fix living dead on single target like a raidboss but it would of fixed the dungeon problem.

Also Living Shadow and RPR void fusion.. anyone else think that should of been DRKs lv80 ability? Our lv70 job story was literally coming to terms with ourselves and welcoming the different sides of ourself into us.. you know visualized by the actual fractioning of our soul stones.. an yet our lv80 was to push that darkness out of ourselves.. the infusing of RPR would of been much more in line with our job story an growth.

[Agner]

Might discourage a retcon, but that's what traits are for, no?

Hey now, I'll take even a bare animation upgrade trait over Enhanced Unmend! Bahaha.

especially now that they've figured out hitstop with Reaper.

Absolutely wild how good visual and sound effects with the right timing makes a job feel that much better to do things on. Reaper is particularly simple to play, but it feels great to do almost anything on it and is satisfying! Dark Knight just has none of that. The only weight in the sound and animations is the weight of sadness.

And yeah Baxcel, there are definitely many a DRK that feel rather shafted by Living Shadow's lack of... well, anything. It sure does good, uh... damage over time! But that's it. No real satisfaction to using it unless you dig watching numbers rise, I guess.

[Mesarthim]

Zero changes in patch notes. Earth is about to be getting saltier.

But hey at least DoTs wont kill you in walking dead now.

[RyuDragnier]

I expected nothing and I'm still disappointed.

[OdinelStarrei]

I'm going to get meme'd to death in static tonight good lord.

Welp, see you guys in 6.1!

I have to do another tier with Blood Weapon and Living Dead, oh my god, someone please help us

[Kabooa]

I'm going to get meme'd to death in static tonight good lord.

Welp, see you guys in 6.1!

I have to do another tier with Blood Weapon and Living Dead, oh my god, someone please help us

Just get 1.8 GCD so you can get 6 blood weapon hits in, show them who's boss.