Another Patch another middle finger to DRKs

[Undeadfire]

from FFXI but I doubt as it was a DPS there and not a tank.

Kinda both actually, Drk has always been capable to tank in old FFXI, Apocalypse relic weapon made it an extremely possibility since it's a Health+Haste feeder.

[Sazuzaki]

Man gotta love this thread.

DRK is fine. It doesn't need anything at the moment (aside a rework for a better identity).
No, dungeons are fine with DRK just spam TBN or mitigate better.
No, jobs are not tuned for the content only 1% of the playerbase actually plays, they are tuned for all levels of content.
No, DRK is not an OT is an MT for how much good its mitigation is.
You're just complaining for the sake of complaining (aside of OP which maybe should get better at the job instead of making threads like this) like SAM mains when they aren't top DPS and demand SE that their 12000 potency cooldown be at 24000 potency.
What DRK needs is only a rework for a better identity because as of now it's just a WAR with more oGCDs for me, and worse Fell Cleave but somehow it deals more damage than WAR so I can't really complain. If there'll ever be a rework (please SE) I really hope they keep the "Good mitigation play = More damage" aspect of The Blackest Knight or somehow incorporate some mechanics from FFXI but I doubt as it was a DPS there and not a tank.

I think this is well said. DRK has good numbers and mitigation, but feels pretty bad to play. It doesn't need balance changes, but it does need a future *expansion* rework to make it less similar to WAR.

I'll be honest, I don't know why people were expecting ANY changes to DRK in such a small patch. If DRK is getting anything noteworthy, it won't be mid-expansion unless the job is suffering from a balance perspective.

[Oizen]

This is just so intellectually dishonest.

You get Enhanced Living Shadow II at the same level you get Shadowbringer, and it alters Living Shadow to also get Shadowbringer at the same time. They're not "hard pressed for ideas"; it's just part of learning Shadowbringer. It absolutely makes sense that Living Shadow should gain access to your new capstone ability at the same time you do, and the way to accomplish that is by upgrading it with a trait, because traits are how skills get upgrades.

It's not something that could have been built into Enhanced Living Shadow I. It's not something that could have been built into the initial level 80 version of the skill. It isn't meant to be taken as a standalone class addition apart from Shadowbringer. It's better that it's there than if it weren't.

And it's not like Enhanced Living Shadow I is a slouch of a class addition, given its level 88 counterparts on other tanks. 420 potency every two minutes is a hell of a lot better than WAR getting a third charge on its gapcloser or PLD getting a small heal on Divine Veil, and on balance it's probably more valuable than GNB getting one extra cartridge every two minutes.

There's a case to be made for being salty about Oblation compared to the other tanks' 82 upgrades (not a slam dunk case, but a case). And everyone can clown on Enhanced Unmend for being shitty and useless, because it is, especially compared to what the other tanks get at 84.

But neither Living Shadow trait is offensive in any way. You're just getting mad to enjoy the feeling of having something to be mad about, at that point.

Sorry but potency buff traits don't exactly get me excited to play a class.

At least Oblation does something more with player agency and Enhanced Unmend can potentially give you something. Seeing "Same Ability except More Potency I" and "Same Ability except with more Potency and the AOE is Purple instead of Red II" are pretty boring traits to give back to back.

[Launched]

Sorry but potency buff traits don't exactly get me excited to play a class.

At least Oblation does something more with player agency and Enhanced Unmend can potentially give you something. Seeing "Same Ability except More Potency I" and "Same Ability except with more Potency and the AOE is Purple instead of Red II" are pretty boring traits to give back to back.

OK, but Shadowbringer is the main thing you get at 90. Enhanced Living Shadow II is just a bonus you get to keep your shadow using the same skills as you. The other tanks don't get anything extra on top of their level 90 skills.

Maybe we should ask the devs to remove the trait, that way the DPS gap between DRK and WAR/PLD is slightly lower and DRKs won't have a trait to complain about. Everyone wins.

[RyuDragnier]

OK, but Shadowbringer is the main thing you get at 90. Enhanced Living Shadow II is just a bonus you get to keep your shadow using the same skills as you. The other tanks don't get anything extra on top of their level 90 skills.

Maybe we should ask the devs to remove the trait, that way the DPS gap between DRK and WAR/PLD is slightly lower and DRKs won't have a trait to complain about. Everyone wins.

We need to be pushing them to rework DRK, at least partially.

Dark Mind should have the Addle treatment where it gets half the mitigation as physical mitigation (so it's always usable), or they need to make Oblation learned pre-50 so it'd help DRKs with pre-TBN mitigation, where they suffer the most.

Abyssal Drain needs to be de-linked from Carve and Spit and probably replace Flood as our MP spender (along with a Cure Potency buff) so we have a spammable AoE heal for dungeons, fixing the sustain problems there.

Darkside itself needs to be linked into Blood Gauge somehow other than just need it up, as it's currently forgettable. Maybe lose a set amount of time from Darkside for every use of Bloodspiller/Quietus, with Delirium removing that penalty for those 3 uses.

Shadowbringer also needs to be linked to the kit instead of being a fire and forget oGCD, maybe a finisher for Delirium or a timer added to it where you can only use Shadowbringer while the timer is up.

TBN also needs a bit of a looking at. Maybe remove its MP cost, but attach it to the Darkside timer instead. Using it no longer costs 3K MP, but now removes some time from Darkside, still linking it to your damage without exactly dropping your DPS (unless you use it while your Darkside time is under the amount it removes).