Am I missing something about DRK?

[Allyrion]

Dark passenger is twice as efficient mana wise as dark arts...

I will look into toggling darkside, but its mana cost means you'll have to be at least a couple mana ticks in to make up for it, not to mention lowered damage, obviously.

If you're comparing to DA-SE. It's more efficient on Carve and Split for damage and mana is more useful on the CDs.
I guess you can save mana by doing a Dark Passenger instead of a DA-SE in some cases, if you don't care about the heal.

But you just can't sustain using it in combination with the usual DA.
My mana for just potency is already going to Carve and Split, I feel like the rest should be doing something for survival.

I'd only advocate Darkside toggling during things like phase changes.
Ideally, you shouldn't have to take it off where you'd actually lose much damage.
And yea, it does take a few mana ticks to get mana positive but it doesn't take that much when you've got the reduced in-combat regen.

[Kleys]

Don't use Dark Passenger on single target. It's really not worth the mana.

Don't listen that guy.

[Freyyy]

Right now I'm tanking A1 savage as DRK with my static. I use 3 STR accessories and 2 VIT. I have about 15k HP, and I tank it out of Grit most of the time. I only activate it for the huge 25k tank buster (hypercompressed plasma) which I have no issue at all dealing with, I take even less damage than my PLD friend because I can stack DA+Dark Mind with the other defensive CDs. I'm also doing an average of 950 sustained DPS before having to activate Grit and without any downtime. I am NOT a burden to my healers as they say on this boss I take even less damage than my PLD friend (he also tanks in DPS stance most of the time like me).

Just to say that DRK is totally fine in both defense and offense sides, the only thing it really lacks is raid utility and TP-management tools. It also has some abilities which are kind of underwhelming ATM like Sole Survivor, Reprisal and Dark Dance. Even Shadow Wall I would consider underwhelming since Vengeance gives the same mitigation + a counter effect with 60 sec less CD. But this is the kind of things I think SE may rebalance sometimes in the future, I'm not worrying too much about that. DRK is not 2.0 WAR, it is currently a really good tank. Just a bit underwhelming in some aspects. Like if you were comparing pre-HW DRG with MNK and NIN. They were completely capable of good performance, just not as useful as the other two. It will be balanced, I'm pretty sure of it.

So... Yeah, if you feel like you're squishy and doing meh damage, you're most likely doing something wrong as it is not part of the issues the DRK currently has.

[Faytte]

All the magic busters are making me want to retire my shield and just go with a great sword or an axe. Given paladins 'pay' for their 'defensive specialty' by doing the least damage, its kind of pointless if most of the key mechanics are then ignoring said shield.

[Kaedan94]

It just feels kinda boring spamming soul devourer.

I KNOW to use the syphon combo. If you guys read my posts, I use it exclusively. The problem is this still nets you roughly 2 dark arts a minute...kinda poopy.

Huh? o.O

No, that's wrong. Even without taking into account any of the MP regain options, you can DA every 4 GCDs (10 seconds) with an effective net loss of MP of zero (Syphon Strike gives half a DA). Take into account Blood Price and C&S, and you can get even more.

I would say that in the average minute, I've used DA at least 4-5 times. And if I'm tanking multiple mobs, I probably use DA more like 6-8 times a minute.

PS, do you guys spam delirium or go soul devourer? Soul is less potency but gives you healing. Do you notice the healing at all?

The problem is there is no correct answer to this. It all depends on the situation. But I actually rarely ever use Delirium. If there's no MNK in the group, I'll use it to keep the debuff up, but most times there's no use for it. The potency is slightly higher on the combo (20), but the healing from Soul Eater, even if it isn't DA, is generally more beneficial. If I'm nearly topped out on HP and not using a DA, then I might use Delirium.

But since I'm usually able to DA every 1.5 combos, it's generally better to use Soul Eater.

[SyncWeaver720]

Umm, I might be late to the party but I think I can help. Now the video is like 20min long, I would skip to getting started in the descriptions, but it has a grasp on the tips and tricks I use for a pretty good Dark Knight. I'm sure it can help you understand some things about the new TANK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLhCsg5FcQM

[Allyrion]

Huh? o.O

No, that's wrong. Even without taking into account any of the MP regain options, you can DA every 4 GCDs (10 seconds) with an effective net loss of MP of zero (Syphon Strike gives half a DA). Take into account Blood Price and C&S, and you can get even more.I would say that in the average minute, I've used DA at least 4-5 times. And if I'm tanking multiple mobs, I probably use DA more like 6-8 times a minute.

The problem is there is no correct answer to this. It all depends on the situation. But I actually rarely ever use Delirium. If there's no MNK in the group, I'll use it to keep the debuff up, but most times there's no use for it. The potency is slightly higher on the combo (20), but the healing from Soul Eater, even if it isn't DA, is generally more beneficial. If I'm nearly topped out on HP and not using a DA, then I might use Delirium.

But since I'm usually able to DA every 1.5 combos, it's generally better to use Soul Eater.

You're not counting Darkside. One of your syphons every 20s is paying for the drain, not rather than refunding a DA.
It's still roughly 3-4 a minute. Possibly more with Blood Price, but many Bosses have fairly spaced out attacks.
Sole Survivor can bump it up in most fights, and Carve and Split if you want to sacrifice the potency of that.

I agree it's definitely more than 2 a minute, but you can't talk about mana management without accounting for Darkside.
I also remember Dark Arts feeling more expensive while leveling.
I'm not sure how mana scales while levelling in this game. I do know your mana pool grows a lot post 50, but if it's all % based it wouldn't matter.

[Freyyy]

Umm, I might be late to the party but I think I can help. Now the video is like 20min long, I would skip to getting started in the descriptions, but it has a grasp on the tips and tricks I use for a pretty good Dark Knight. I'm sure it can help you understand some things about the new TANK.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLhCsg5FcQM

Quite a bit of bullshit at the beginning. DRK doesn't have a lower defense, the 3 tanks have the exact same DEF/MDEF values. Without any CDs, they are exactly the same in terms of tankiness with only PLD having a slight advantage with the shield for physical damage and the WAR requiring something like 4% more healing than the other two which is easily compensated with self-heals.

[Kaedan]

You're not counting Darkside. One of your syphons every 20s is paying for the drain, not rather than refunding a DA.
It's still roughly 3-4 a minute. Possibly more with Blood Price, but many Bosses have fairly spaced out attacks.
Sole Survivor can bump it up in most fights, and Carve and Split if you want to sacrifice the potency of that.

I agree it's definitely more than 2 a minute, but you can't talk about mana management without accounting for Darkside.
I also remember Dark Arts feeling more expensive while leveling.
I'm not sure how mana scales while levelling in this game. I do know your mana pool grows a lot post 50, but if it's all % based it wouldn't matter.

When I mentioned 4-5 times at least, and 6-8 times if tanking a trash pack, that's with Darkside on. I never turn Darkside off.

[Dracosavarian]

Others have given their advice, so, bear in mind what they have to say as well as what I am about to.

Right now, I am about halfway to 56. I will definitely state that compared to my Paladin, I have felt a lot more squishy on my Drk. And this is with full Vit gear on, and all stats pumped into Strength.

First of all, until you have full grasp of when and where to use Dark Arts, don't spam it. Use it sparingly. Get a comfort level with it first. To me, at my level, with a little over 3k mana, it feels like just using a single Dark Arts infused Soul Eater chews up close to 1000 mana.

That may not necessarily be the case, but seeing it drop that much hurts. A lot.

So, bearing that in mind, first of all go in with the mindset when you are starting that you should treat Dark Arts as the following: A use it when you need it type of ability.

Use it sparingly. Don't spam it. When I open in Dungeons and start to pull, one of the first things I do is activate a Dark Arts infused Dark Dance. For me, the dodge percentage in addition to Foresight, and Blood Weapon, has helped my opening mitigation dramatically.

Then, pull with Unmend, Hit unleash when the mobs are around you, scourge your primary target, and use Power slash combo. When Dark Dance Drops, activate Blood Price to help recover Mana. Then rotate between Soul Eater Combo and Delirium Combo as necessary.

By going one Rotation of Souleater > Delirium > Soul Eater > Delirium, you should have plenty of mana by that point to do what you need to do for another Dark Arts infused attack. Whether that be Dark Passenger to Blind the mobs, or to fuel Dark Mind for the buff, or Dark Arts for the increased 20% Dodge (Which I do find btw helps immensely. Your Mileage may vary)

The key is moderation. Don't spam it. The more you use this method, and get used to when you are in your comfort zone to activate it, the better you will do. And that really is the key to matters. Learning your comfort zone.

Eventually, when and where to use Dark Arts with your abilities will start to become second nature. To be honest, you shouldn't be firing it off every chance you get anyways, unless you are off tanking to begin with and have grit turned off. Then, Dark Arts is free for Spam central as Blood Weapon helps immensely with maintaining your mana as much as you will use it.

But while in Grit, be judgmental at all times for when it is appropriate to use it. If you are at 25% mana, you are already in the danger zone. Try to keep your mp hovering around the 40-50% range. Always pop blood price to help with mana whenever it is up. Especially when surrounded by multiple mobs. Only use Blood Price in Conjunction with a Non Dark Arts fueled Dark Dance, as the misses do nothing for your MP if you dodge hits.

Another thing: Though MP does not vary due to Str gear from Syphon Strike at all, since it is always a flat percentage, I would definitely look into some Str Accessories for your right side pieces of gear.

2-3 Pieces should help you significantly. The Damage will help increase the potency of your Soul Eater combos, especially when used in conjunction with Dark Arts. Thus less MP wasted per Combo overall. Yes, it won't be a huge amount when you have multiple mobs wailing on you. But it will help some. And it will also help ease pressure on the healer some as well.

Moderation is key. Find your balance at first. Don't go crazy with it. Go a few dungeons if you can as practice with a group where you can use Dark Arts with some of your abilities, and try to resist firing it off every chance you get. Get that comfort level, to where you begin to learn how and when it is appropriate to fire it off while in Grit.

Once you gain that comfort level, and become more familiar with how it taxes your Mana, you can start to push it and stretch out a bit, tweak your rotations into something that works for you that won't seem like you are bottoming out every five seconds.

Another thing to keep in mind is that at times it is appropriate to turn darkside off. Long phases during trials or bosses where your MP would just be drained away for example, is a key time to turn it off and then back on.

Hope this helps.