The Definitive Dark Knight Guide

[Zyph]

I disagree with opening with a Souleater combo, as the people I run with will often start unloading their max DPS in their openers and not having that Power Slash could spell disaster.

Very often I find that doing Unmend + Plunge results in the leap from Plunge happening but the skill not actually going off. I don't know what the issue is. But if it's currently unreliable like that then I'd say don't use them in tandem.

I do think that Dark Arts should be popped first before engaging, because even if you only get one out of combat MP regen tick that still helps, and running out of time to use up Dark Arts isn't an issue since Carve and Spit is used so early.

So ideally my opener would be:

Dark Arts -> Plunge -> Scourge -> Low Blow -> Hard Slash -> Carve and Spit -> Spinning Slash -> Dark Arts -> Power Slash -> Salted Earth


Now a couple questions:

Dark Passenger. When should I use this? Should I incorporate it into my oGCD rotation only when I have high MP? Should I only use on groups? It seems like a skill I would NEVER want to augment, since as an MT it reduces parry procs and Blood Price hits and as an OT that Dark Arts MP should be used on better things.

Carve and Spit. I haven't reached 60 yet (damn dayjob) so I haven't played with it, but to me it seems like for main tanking it would almost be better to not use it with Dark Arts outside of the opener and rather save it until you need emergency MP? It does okay damage for being oGCD but on a 60 sec cooldown it would really suck to be out of MP for whatever reason and lamenting that you squandered an MP regen move in order to push that deeps brah. I dunno, maybe as people get more comfortable with MP management and start to really know fights and who they're running with, etc, then sure go ahead and incorporate it into your oGCD rotation, but I feel like in content pushing/PUG scenarios it might be better served as an emergency fallback? Obviously augmenting it would be something you'd probably only want to do as an OT, since augmented Souleater is probably more useful for MTs.

[HidingYoshis]

Now a couple questions:

Dark Passenger.

Carve and Spit.

For Dark Passenger: I'd say outside of opener, in single target, use it when you have enough MP that it isn't going to disrupt anything. If it causes your Darkside to fall off, it wasn't worth it. But the damage it deals is pretty good.

In mass pulling situations, I do suggest using Dark Arts on it for the blind and burst damage/threat. The blind on that many targets will increase your survivability far more than parrying will, and it also leaves Dark Dance up for afterwards.

For Carve and Spit: Never use it for MP. Always use Dark Arts. Its mana generation is.. Less than phenomenal, and at 100 base potency it's not really doing much for you. It's your highest potency skill in the game, and will hit the hardest. I'm hitting nearly 2k crits with it, and my gear (as you can see on my profile) is less than stellar at the moment.

[Zyph]

In mass pulling situations, I do suggest using Dark Arts on it for the blind and burst damage/threat. The blind on that many targets will increase your survivability far more than parrying will, and it also leaves Dark Dance up for afterwards.

Yeah, I dunno, maybe in between Blood Price cooldowns if I still have leftover MP. I kinda thrive off Blood Price though in large pulls, wouldn't want to waste it.

For Carve and Spit: Never use it for MP. Always use Dark Arts. ... It's your highest potency skill in the game, and will hit the hardest.

Gotcha. I see I was totally off base with my assumption on how to use it. I suppose that on a minute cooldown if you don't have the MP for a Dark Arts by the time it's up again then you should just go home.

[HidingYoshis]

Keep in mind that Sole Survivor is a good skill. Now that the tooltip is fixed, there are no misconceptions.

It reduces downtime and helps in those big pulls. A massive chunk of your MP returns and would really help facilitate using Dark Passenger.

A 20% return to your HP and MP is huge, and it's very reliable unlike Mercy Stroke. Certainly turned from one of my least favorite skills (when we initially saw the effect) into one of my favorites (when we learned the real effect)

It's meh at raiding, but not everything has to be great for raiding. Wish they would replace Abyssal Drain with another cooldown or make Reprisal reliable.

[Zyph]

A 20% return to your HP and MP is huge, and it's very reliable unlike Mercy Stroke. Certainly turned into one of my least favorite skills (when we initially saw the effect) into one of my favorites (when we learned the real effect)

I'm still salty that we can't also put it on party members.

Would have had so much fun trolling.