The Definitive Dark Knight Guide

[Docfiord_Fowling]

Expansion 3.0 Patch Notes : http://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/lodest...98c204c6199e5a

THE BEST quickstart tanking guides. Credit to /u/kayemm36 on Reddit for this : http://i.imgur.com/smNx1ZX.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/PEnLMF9.jpg


Table of Contents

1. The Basics

• Terminology
• Abbreviations
• Stats

2. Abilities

• Combo Makers
• Defensive Cooldowns
• Enmity Generators
• MP Generators
• Off GCDs
• Stances
• Cross Class

3. Tanking Guide

• The Combos
• Single Target Tanking
• AoE Tanking
• Managing your MP
• Openers
• Cooldowns

4. Theorycrafting

THE BASICS

Terminology:

• Mob : An enemy, typically mobile
• Pull : To establish Enmity
• Enmity: Also known as "aggro" or "hate", this is how much of the enemy's attention you have. Your job as a tank is to take the hits. If the tank doesn't have aggro on a mob, chances are, you aren't doing your job!
• AoE : Area of effect. From enemies, these are typically telegraphed as red/orange circles, cones, and lines on the ground. This can also refer to an ally's ability that may not be telegraphed (like a Medica)
• Line of Sight (LoS) : To break the visual field of view your enemy has of you. For example, you can pull a ranged enemy, then walk around a corner. This will cause the enemy to come closer in order to re-establish visibility.

Abbreviations:

• Dark Arts (DA)
• Hard Slash (HS)
• Spinning Slash (SS)
• Power Slash (PS)
• Syphon Strike (SyS)
• Souleater (SE)
• Delirium (DL)
• Scourge (SC)
• Blood Price (BP)
• Blood Weapon (BW)
• Darkside (DS)

Stats

VITALITY (VIT) : Refers to how many Hit Points (HP) you have. This is your health and if it reaches zero, you die.
STRENGTH (STR) : Refers to how hard you hit. The more of this you have, the more damage you do and the more aggro you can generate.

PARRY : Effects the rate at which you deflect damage with your weapon.
CRIT : Effects how frequently your attacks "crit" as well as how hard they hit.
DETERMINATION : Effects how hard your auto-attacks and DoTs hit.
SKILL SPEED : Lowers your GCD time so you can attack faster. Also effects potency of DoTs.

So what do I look for in gear? Dervy's latest stat weights (as of patch 3.2) show us the following weights for DRK:

Strength: 1.000
Vitality: 1.000
Weapon Damage: 22.010
DET: 0.309
CRT: 0.368
SS: 0.259

Wait - stat weights? What are those? Stat weights are a way of comparing how much damage a sub stat will provide in relation to a main stat. In our case, STR/VIT are our main stats and have a value of 1. If I had a piece of gear that has 46 Crit on it, I can calculate that it is equivalent to 16.928 STR/VIT! Don't feel like doing math? Fear not, Ariyala's final Fantasy XIV Toolkit has a build in stat-weight calculator. Simply navigate to "Bis Solver" at the top of the page and click the "Show Weights" button.



So, with this information, we can see that you should gear your tank in the following order. Also note, tanks should take the defensive properties into account when gearing. This is why the left side should be upgraded before any of the right side UNLESS you need accuracy!

1. Weapon
2. Body, Legs
3. Head, Hands, and Feet
4. Waist
5. Accessories

/u/EnflameSalamandor has kindly taken the time to compile the accuracy caps for Alexander into a quick reference chart.



ABILITIES

Combo Makers

• Hard Slash (70 TP) - Delivers an attack with a potency of 150.
• Spinning Slash (60 TP) - Delivers an attack with a potency of 100. Additional Effect: Increased enmity. Combo Action: Hard Slash Combo Potency: 220
• Power Slash (60 TP) - Delivers an attack with a potency of 100. Additional Effect: Increased enmity. Combo Action: Spinning Slash Combo Potency: 300. Dark Arts Combo Effect: Increased enmity. Dark Arts fades upon execution.
• Syphon Strike (60 TP) - Delivers an attack with a potency of 100. Combo Action: Hard Slash Combo Potency: 250. Combo Bonus: Restores MP
• Souleater (60 TP) - Delivers an attack with a potency of 100. Combo Action: Syphon Strike Combo Potency: 260. Dark Arts Potency: 240. Dark Arts Combo Potency: 400. Grit Effect: Absorbs 100, 50% of damage dealt as HP. Dark Arts fades upon execution.
• Delirium (60 TP) - Delivers an attack with a potency of 100. Combo Action: Syphon Strike Combo Potency: 280. Combo Bonus: Reduces target's INT by 10%. Duration: 20s. Effect does not stack with Dragon Kick.
  *Delirium CANNOT overwrite Dragon Kick, even if it has less time remaining.
  Scourge (60 TP) - Delivers an attack with a potency of 100. Additional Effect: Damage over time. Potency: 40 Duration: 30s

Defensive Cooldowns

• Shadowskin (90 sec) - Reduces damage taken by 20%. Duration: 20s
• Shadow Wall (180 sec) - Reduces damage taken by 30%. Duration: 10s
• Dark Dance (60 sec) - Increases parry rate by 30%. Can only be executed while succumbing to the Darkside.Duration: 20s. Dark Arts Effect: Evasion increased by 20%. Dark Arts fades upon execution.
• Dark Mind (60 sec) - Reduces magic vulnerability by 15%. Can only be used when succumbing to the Darkside. Duration: 10s. Dark Arts Effect: Increases magic vulnerability reduction to 30%. Dark Arts fades upon execution.
• Living Dead (300 sec) - Grants the effect of Living Dead. When HP is reduced to 0 while under the effect of Living Dead, instead of becoming KO'd, your status will change to Walking Dead. Living Dead Duration: 10s. 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% is not restored, you will be KO'd. Walking Dead Duration: 10s

Enmity Generators

• Unmend - Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 150. Additional Effect: Increased enmity. Additional Effect: 30% chance that next Unleash will cost no MP Duration: 15s
• Unleash - Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 100 to all nearby enemies. Additional Effect: Increased enmity
• Abyssal Drain - Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 120 to target and enemies near it. Additional Effect: Increased enmity. Dark Arts Effect: Absorbs 100% of damage dealt as HP. Dark Arts fades upon execution.

MP Generators

• Blood Weapon - Increases attack speed by 10% and converts physical damage dealt into MP. Duration: 15s. Cannot be used while under the effect of Grit. Affinity DRK
• Blood Price - Restores partial MP when damage is taken. Duration: 15s
• Sole Survivor - Marks target with the status Another Victim. If that target should be KO'd in battle, 20% of your maximum HP and MP will be restored. Duration: 15s
• Carve and Spit - Delivers a threefold attack with a potency of 100. Also restores MP if used while not under the effect of Dark Arts. Dark Arts Potency: 450. Dark Arts fades upon execution.

Off GCDs

• Low Blow - Delivers an attack with a potency of 100. Additional Effect: Stun Duration: 5s (PvP 3s). Additional Effect: 30% chance that next parry will reset the recast timer
• Reprisal - Delivers an attack with a potency of 210. Can only be used immediately after parrying an attack. Additional Effect: Lowers target's damage dealt by 10%. Duration: 20s
• Dark Passenger - Deals unaspected damage with a potency of 150 to all enemies in a straight line before you. Can only be used when succumbing to the Darkside. Dark Arts Potency: 250. Dark Arts Effect: Blind Duration: 15s. Dark Arts fades upon execution.
• Salted Earth - Creates a patch of salted earth, dealing unaspected damage with a potency of 75 to any enemies who enter. Duration: 21s
• Plunge - Delivers a jumping attack with a potency of 200. Cannot be executed while bound.
• Dark Arts - Attune with the darkness within you, increasing the potency of several actions. Can only be used when succumbing to the Darkside. Effect fades if Darkside is canceled. Duration 10 seconds.

Stances

• Darkside - MP is slowly drained while increasing damage dealt by 15%. MP refreshing statuses have no effect. Effect ends upon reuse.
• Grit - Reduces damage received by 20%, while lowering damage dealt by 20% and increasing enmity. Also increases chance to hit by 5%. Effect ends upon reuse.

Cross Class

• Provoke - Gesture threateningly, maximizing enmity in target.
• Convalescence - Increases HP recovery via healing magic by 20% for self. Duration: 20s
• Bloodbath - Converts 25% of physical damage dealt into HP. Duration: 30s
• Mercy Stroke - Delivers an attack with a potency of 200. Can only be executed when target's HP is below 20%. If delivered as the killing blow, up to 20% of your maximum HP will be restored.
  
• Foresight - Increases defense by 20%. Duration: 20s
  OR
• Awareness - Nullifies chance of suffering critical damage. Duration: 25s

TANKING GUIDE
The Combos
Dark Knight has a lot of micro-managing to be done. A good portion of their tanking abilities utilize your MP, and with Dark Side constantly draining away, MP management is crucial. DRKs have three branching combos similar to WARs described below :

Enmity Generation : Hard Slash > Spinning Slash > Power Slash
Healing/DPS : Hard Slash > Syphon Strike > Souleater
Debuff/MP Recovery : Hard Slash > Syphon Strike > Delirium

DRKs have very high aggro generation with Dark Arts which means they have to use their enmity rotation rarely and worry more about managing their resources. Your job as a tank is to maintain aggro and stay alive. This is done by either mitigating the damage in advance through cooldowns such as Shadowskin or via self healing (Souleater). Lucky for us, our highest potency rotation replenishes our HP. Let's look at the potencies of each rotation:

Hard Slash (150)
Spinning Slash (220)
Power Slash (300)
Syphon Strike (250)
Souleater (260, DA 400)
Delirium (280)

Souleater Darkside: 660 potency
Power Slash Combo : 670 potency
Delirium rotation : 680 potency
Souleater Dark Arts: 800 potency

The DA/SE combo brings MP replenishment, HP replenishment, and 800 potency to the table and is your highest potency per GCD DPS rotation.
The DE rotation is your second highest DPS rotation at 680 potency. This should be used if you need to replenish some MP and/or if you need to keep the -10% INT buff up
The PS combo is your weakest, but is necessary for aggro.


Single Target Tanking

Part of tanking is enmity/aggro management. Based on your gear and party composition, your openers might differ. I will describe a few openers below and the benefits/disadvantages of each. /u/GammaErra over on Reddit has a good spreadsheet outlining the enmity multipliers associated with DRK. Check it out here:
DRK Enmity Tables

Once aggro has been established, it is all about maintaining it and doing as much DPS as COMFORTABLY possible. Tank DPS is a team effort between the tanks and healers. Doing things like dropping Grit should be discussed in advance with your team. High DPS is nice, but it is third on your list of responsibilities.

Openers
As previously mentioned, your gear and party composition will play a large part in what openers you are able to do.
/u/TaalKheru has created a very handy DRK Guide. It gives a very quick rundown of some basics and a few advanced openers. I'll include his rotations below, but be sure to also check his guide out.

/u/TaalKheru's Openers

Main Tank with Grit Opener:


Off Tank with NIN Opener


Off Tank without NIN opener

All of /u/TaalKheru's openers lead into dropping Grit. These rotations were designed Pre-STR nerf/VIT Buff and were much easier to hold aggro with. Since then, aggro has been much more difficult to hold and will likely change your rotations later in the fight. A very basic DRK rotation after the opener will look like the following:

Scourge > Souleater Combo > Delirium Combo > Souleater combo > Delirium Combo (repeat)

This should keep your MP at a fairly stable level. Again, depending on the fight and your available MP, you might be able to preform two Souleater combos for every one Delirium combo. You should follow the MP Priority system listed below.


Priorities

Tanking

• Do I have sufficient aggro? If not, Power Slash. Am I really behind? Dark Arts it.
• Is Scourge up? Reapply if necessary
• Do I need to recoup MP? Chill out with a few DE rotations to maintain DPS and get some MP back
• Do I need to re-apply Delirium?

MP Priorities
MP for single targets should be spent in the following order of priority. If you have sufficient MP, feel free to combine them.

1. Dark Arts Carve & Spit
2. Dark Passenger
3. Dark Arts Souleater

Off GCD Priorities


The ONLY time you should expend MP on a Dark Arts Dark Passenger for a single target is if you are replenishing MP faster than you can spend it!

AoE TANKING

Unleash : 100 unaspected damage, enmity generation
Abyssal Drain : Deals 120 damage to single target and those around it, enmity generation. DA combo absorbs 100% of damage as HP
Dark Passenger : Deals 150 damage in a straight line, DA combo adds 15s Blind and raises potency to 250
Salted Earth: Deals 75 AoE damage for 21s = 525 potency

• Abyssal Drain's healing ability only becomes more powerful than a DA/SE combo if there are 4 or more enemies.
• Dark Passenger is always a DPS gain when there are two or more adds and should be used whenever it is up regardless if it has Dark Arts on it or not.

So, when do I spam AoE moves? We'll take the potency of each single target rotation, then divide it by the number of GCDs (3) to find it's potency per GCD value (ppGCD).

Dark Arts Souleater Combo : 800 potency over 3 GCDs = 267 ppGCD
Delirium Combo : 680 potency over 3 GCDs = 227 ppGCD
Unleash = 100 ppGCD
Abyssal Drain = 120 ppGCD

With this information, we can see that the break point for AoE vs Single target rotations is three enemies!

Managing your MP

Abilities

• Syphon Strike - Your most frequent form of incoming MP is Syphon Strike. This is in 2 out of 3 of your normal rotations and is part of your most potent rotation.
• Blood Price - Blood Price should be popped whenever it is off cooldown. More MP = more mitigation, healing, and damage
• Blood Weapon - Blood Weapon is only available out of Grit and absorbs the damage you deal as MP while increasing your attack speed by 10%. Insanely good.
• Sole Survivor - Restores 20% of you HP and MP if the target dies before the debuff runs out. This is great to use as you are finishing up a pack of enemies to ensure you have enough MP for the next. Otherwise, use it in the middle of tanking a pack for some quick replenishment.
• Carve and Spit - Restores a decent amount of MP, especially when you are in a pinch. When paired with Dark Arts, it becomes a 450 potency attack. Always Dark Arts this.

TL : DR Tips :

• Try not to dip below 20% of your total MP at any given time during progression. This leaves you with enough MP for an emergency move.
• Leave yourself enough MP between pulls. I always try to end on at least half of my MP. This is usually enough for an Unmend and Unleash to grab the pack. Then I stabilize with some Syphon Strike combos.
• Burn that MP! Blood Price is god mode for your MP on large packs. Spamming Abyssal Drain generates stupid amounts of aggro and can be a decent self heal in a pinch if paired with Dark Arts. See the AoE section above for details.