Dark Knight Megathread

[baklava151]

It was kind of fun reading through some old HW threads when I guess DRK's biggest issue was its lack of OT capabilities. Guess that was WAR's spot while PLD and DRK duked it out for MT. Also the fact that even used to be a conversation is pretty wild

Funnily enough there were also a few threads asking what DRK's identity was compared to PLD and WAR lol.

[Shin96]

Funnily enough there were also a few threads asking what DRK's identity was compared to PLD and WAR lol.

When a job exchanges its identity to be accessible without assessing the risks of potentially losing its framework then you get DRK. Only the original designer knows what makes this job enjoyable not a different job designer.

Think they should take a good look of what was right about HW DRK and combine that with their current design philosophy. It's not going to be overly overwhelming I believe.

[Archwizard]

Think they should take a good look of what was right about HW DRK and combine that with their current design philosophy. It's not going to be overly overwhelming I believe.

Aaand personally I think they should be free to consider something not constrained by either precedented philosophy.
The current design philosophy is an oversimplified version of WAR, created as a result of the devs' own dissatisfaction with the complexity and direction of HW DRK -- in other words, both have flaws, and the best choice isn't necessarily a middle ground between the iterations, because after all DRK already existed in that middle ground for Stormblood and Shadowbringers. Limiting themselves only to a sliding scale between the past and present stifles potential creativity that the job desperately needs right now.

Now I'm not saying "scrap the job and start all over" -- they can reuse assets and familiar skills that already exist as they find the openings for them to their hearts' content. The 1-2-3 combo and staple tools like Grit and Shadow Wall aren't going anywhere.
But the priority shouldn't be on "HW did X better and Y worse" or "EW did Y better and X worse", it should be on "What makes DRK a choice for a tank in the first place?" and "What should DRK be able to do that no other tank could do the same or better?"

Yoshi-P said he wants DRK to feel like a magical tank. Alright. So where's the magic?
Because right now that's only reflected in "spell" tags that don't benefit from skill speed, and some unaspected damage here and there.
Oh, and Dark Mind. Talk about impractical identity tools.
Turn off the spell effects and you've got Cloud Strife sans melee LBs, not a particularly magical job.