the 2016 Frontline tier list

[Praesul]

Whoever says DRK doesn't do as much damage as WAR in Seal Rock has NO idea what they're talking about. They have some of the best 2 - 3 GCD burst in the game, mainly because most of it can be prepped BEFORE you even engage. Darkside is up all the time, it's DRK's maim equivalent that doesn't require 2 GCD's to activate, you can prep dark arts Carve and Spit, pop Blood Weapon too for even faster GCDs. Now plunge low blow, hard slash + fullswing carve & spite, Syphon strike + dark passenger.

Dead. It's also available more often than berserk since C&S has a shorter cooldown. Not only that, but DRK has some of the strongest debuffs for pvp, an aoe heavy and aoe damage reduction that can be traited to be 20% reduced damage in an aoe around your target. Pop Living dead, plunge into an entire alliance and aoe heavy the fuck out of them and watch as they purify it just to be tri-binded or slept right after or vice versa (sleep first to bait out the purify, then plunge + aoe heavy). Have fun running out of the caster LBs with that. They're also the only tank that can stop capping with ranged aoe that requires no cast time.


Don't get me wrong, WAR and PLD are both very strong in their own ways and I play all 3, but saying DRK is the weakest is because most DRKs in seal rock are loldrks that leave grit on or just don't have enough experience with the job in general, and give the job a bad reputation.

[UlricCraft]

DRKS are good

People Purify heavy? Nobody does that.

Darkside: +15% damage
Carve: 450 potency

Maim: +20% damage
Deliverance: +5% damage
Deliverance 5 stack: +10% Crit
Internal Release: +10% Crit
Berserk: +50% attack power
Fell Cleave: 500 Potency

OK. DRK does as much damage. I don't know what I'm talking about.

[Praesul]

People Purify heavy? Nobody does that.

Darkside: +15% damage
Carve: 450 potency

Maim: +20% damage
Deliverance: +5% damage
Deliverance 5 stack: +10% Crit
Internal Release: +10% Crit
Berserk: +50% attack power
Fell Cleave: 500 Potency

OK. DRK does as much damage. I don't know what I'm talking about.

Lol, what an objective and factual comparison, thank you for your input. Let's just look at damage buffs and not include the offensive off GCDs that DRK can weave into it's opening burst. Because reasons.

Darkside up, Blood weapon and Dark arts prepped beforehand, Unmend 150 (ranged, cast before plunge to get the GCD rolling, GCD will be up by the time plunge + low blow finishes) plunge 220 potency + low blow 100 potency, hard slash 150, C&S 450, syphon strike 220, dark passenger 250. 1770 potency within 3 GCDs when taking into account Darkside.

WAR will have heavy swing 150, Maim 190, brutal swing 100, fell cleave 500 (not neccessarily in that order) + Berserk and IR buffing their damage.

That's 1530 potency within 3 GCDs with a higher crit chance. (this is taking into account Berserk being up for all the attacks, but maim not being up for heavy swing and maim since you need to prep it WITH those GCDs). Both tanks have access to Full Swing which should be traited so i'm not including that into the calculation.

So that's extremely similar levels of burst, and yet you think DRK does no damage? Yeah, right.


And again, my point wasn't that DRK is the best, or that WAR is shit, because I think all 3 tanks are very good. People just have no idea how much damage DRK can output when played correctly.

[Kyani]

And again, my point wasn't that DRK is the best, or that WAR is shit, because I think all 3 tanks are very good. People just have no idea how much damage DRK can output when played correctly.

DRK brings damage, but it's really in a two-horse race - I would never replace the first few Paladins with a Warrior or Dark Knight, and Warrior's defensive utility is fantastic, especially for self-preservation. You more or less have to be an exceptional DRK to meet the offensive potential of a decent WAR, but you're still missing a huge part of what makes Warrior amazing and not bringing a whole lot in exchange.

[CeveArthu]

DRKs are basically monks with more health, their burst isnt bad mind you but you cant really compare it to a WAR or DRG

also popping living dead before you engage is kinda retarded because you are assuming they will burst you down in the buff time, instead of just waiting to react with it

[Praesul]

DRKs are basically monks with more health, their burst isnt bad mind you but you cant really compare it to a WAR or DRG

also popping living dead before you engage is kinda retarded because you are assuming they will burst you down in the buff time, instead of just waiting to react with it

When you have an entire alliance of trigger happy people, they do NOT check buff bars. If you plunge into an entire group like that, they will blow absolutely everything to kill you. I also rarely do this, it's really risky and funny, but when it works it gives your alliance time to shit all over the enemy or run away.

[xxczx]

I think like 1 out of 10 people play DRK to the maximum, it just isn't a class "to be scared of"

[CeveArthu]

I think like 1 out of 10 people play DRK to the maximum, it just isn't a class "to be scared of"

to be fair that goes for all classes

[xxczx]

to be fair that goes for all classes

Yeah I agree but some classes are easier to play than other classes. SMN is your basic 1-2-3, WAR is Fell Cleave and hope for the best, etc.

[Cidel]

Personally, I think one of those visual grid tier charts (the ones where the y axis is "Top" to "Low" tier and the x axis is "Has Faults" to "Well-Rounded," with some variations) would be a little bit more interesting to make since there are jobs with varying degrees of strengths and benefits (a SMN may be strong, but it is in no way "well-rounded").

but-

snip

I think that's an accurate break-down of the healers in a 72-man setting.