DRK Buff?

[MagiusNecros]

We're overdue for some traits. Disappointed that my PLD didn't have any Enmity passives.

They got lazy with Heavensward and decided no traits for anything past 50.

[DBelmont]

Anyway, if you DID get BW in Grit, what would you give DRK to differentiate its OT playstyle from its MT playstyle? Cause at that point, there'd be almost nothing.

I would not personally ask for BW in Grit but I would prefer it if BW swapped you out of Grit and not having the need to walk around the GCD in such a clunky way. Well, they did mention possible changes in tank stances so hopefully this will get addressed/fixed.

[MPNZ]

I just want DRK to be less messy, and remove dark arts and make it's modifiers become active with grit right now. We can add new skills later like giving it a stack that goes up to 20 with Darkside activated, buffs at a certain number of stacks, becomes really drainy at 20 stacks that would also nerf mp regain, and when you hit darkside or spit at 20 stacks would use the skills darkness (AOE) with DS or crushing blow (High damage single-hit skill) with spit that would drain 1/7th of your HP but restore 75% of your MP or something. And, using them would disengage DS. Seriously, DRKs are supposed to have their HP or MP everywhere.

I would also like a DRK minion that would share your race and gender, and spew insults and condescending remarks while being super cute! XD

[Shurrikhan]

Was thinking that was a boss-given (de)buff at first. But if that's a DRK change instead, I am cautiously hyped.

A limited health clone could be awfully nice for avoiding tank-targeted cleaves and whatnot. Would also be pretty awesome if it tracked your movement when using Dark Passenger, or allowed you to swap positions during it, etc. (Separate CD while Shadowskin clone is active)... /drool

And with that in mind, could we get an actual Shadow WALL? And a shared-pool absorption shield via DA-Dark Mind...
...I better stop there before this gets out out of hand.

[SpookyGhost]

Was thinking that was a boss-given (de)buff at first. But if that's a DRK change instead, I am cautiously hyped.

Definitely a boss thing, what with it affecting everyone. Unless DRK, for some reason, got a party-wide thing that let everyone leave a copy of themselves.

I'm not... entirely sure... what this ability would be used for if it did exist, though. Even if it were just a DRK thing that didn't affect anyone else I dunno what you'd do with a photocopy of yourself.

[MagiusNecros]

Pretty sure it's a lame boss mechanic. If it isn't it's a skill that will work similar to the PLD's Divine Veil.

[Shurrikhan]

I like DRK being a job that requires a bit of skill and forethought. If you just give a job all of its tools all the time regardless of situation or role being played with no consequences or hoops/mechanics to jump through... well I dunno. I just think that's stupid. =/ I'd like to be able to spam Geirskogul outside of BoTD on my DRG when I take my weekly jaunt into Void Ark but uhh... I just wouldn't wish a dumbing down of a job like that on those that main it.

Anyway, if you DID get BW in Grit, what would you give DRK to differentiate its OT playstyle from its MT playstyle? Cause at that point, there'd be almost nothing.

They mentioned changes to Oaths and other stancing abilities(?). Maybe Grit itself will be affected too?

I feel like one of the easiest ways to bring out the changes more is to put the two variants (Grit and no-Grit) closer back to back, so that their smaller differences aren't forgotten after taking and/or eventually sitting in either stance.

For instance, if Shield Oath and Grit each gave some benefit (nearly) worth their MP other than merely switching stances, such as a small shielding effect, a debuff-purge, or whatever might be appropriate, the relative cost of that lost GCD and MP would decrease, making stance dancing more lucrative and thereby, in all likelihood, more frequent. Once Grit's not treated as a permanently held eHP standard, nor the lack of it as necessarily requiring adjustment of CDs (it's now worth it to simply put Grit back up instead of having to pop Shadow Wall instead of Shadowskin there), the differences even in just that 20% mitigation should actually stick out more. Alternatively, the MP cost itself could be reduced, or the GCD cost cut in half (functioning a bit like Meditation does on Monks, consuming roughly half a GCD).

Or, looking at differentiation a bit more directly, we could vary the toolkit according to Grit status. Dark Passenger could create or manipulate a said 'Passenger' in Grit or according to damage taken, while remaining simple AoE burst when out of Grit. Blood Weapon itself could give HP per hit and increased life-steal in Grit, and give MP per hit and increased haste while out of Grit. Any of these things would make your toolkit feel adjusted between positions.

(My personal favorite design structure is a pipedream that involves somewhat centering DRK gameplay around resources that the CDs tap into, rather than the CDs themselves being the end all be all, allowing the DRK to generate CD-usable resources or stacks by, say, evasion and magic damage (shadow; usable in Shadow Skin, Shadow Wall, and Shadow Dance), bleeding, lifestealing, and absorbing (blood; usable in Blood Price and Blood Weapon), and parrying and resisting (steel; usable in Grit). But, that's much too complicated for any realistic hope of development.)

Might some of these changes make DRK, already the strongest MT, even stronger? Certainly, but now that SE's finally willing to look at tank balance and seems interested in replacing certain old systems and possibly adding unique flavor, it seems a good time to consider changes that could improve gameplay through internal balance (between the choices viable within a given job) without being too firmly directed by external balance (specific and average strength relative to other jobs in the line-up).

[Shurrikhan]

Definitely a boss thing, what with it affecting everyone. Unless DRK, for some reason, got a party-wide thing that let everyone leave a copy of themselves.

I'm not... entirely sure... what this ability would be used for if it did exist, though. Even if it were just a DRK thing that didn't affect anyone else I dunno what you'd do with a photocopy of yourself.

Ahhh. I couldn't see anyone else in the party well enough to check if they had also suddenly grown a shadow clone. Well, the mundane it is, then. /Disappointment.

Still a nice-looking mechanic though.

[Just for the sake of pondering though, I'd imagine it'd be used to hold the boss in place while you pick up adds, or, if short-lived, to avoid cleaves, etc., if damage is transferred from the shade to you, but the shade itself has no real hitbox (or has a pet-style AoE damage taken reduction). Makes me want to be able to charge it, move it, or place it on an enemy though, to haunt/reaper them...]

[Morzy]

btw i find a bug in a3 months ago thats create clones for all my party and the clones dont do anithing, only stay there.

I've seen this back in Final Coil. I think T12? I barely remember. Just know that we suddenly had 3 healers.