Dark Arts Adjustment

[Shurrikhan]

That's also just a drop in the bucket to the mass amounts of other changes being implemented. You can read the rest here, if you're interested.

Oh wow, that's... some serious buffing. I definitely prefer the shorter, snappier Carnal Chill for one. For some reason I thought people were still talking about the last set of DRK PvP buffs; I missed this set completely. Agreed that the DA change component is purely QoL. It's nice that it'll no longer ever stick out past the 2nd GCD, even if that change isn't exactly significant either.

I really don't think they're changing anything else (I figure they would have said something by now if they were), but that's not to say they never will (a man can hope).

I'll just stand by my hopes for a significant Grit mana cost reduction and a slightly Dark Arts cost reduction. That and maybe some small buff to DD, DM, and SS (preferably in a way that eases access to otherwise MT-locked skills from OT position or from afar, perhaps with an ally-targetable support element).

Side-note though: That Aetherflow buff seems overkill, just like the SMN overall damage nerf before (as deserved as the burst nerf may have been when combined with their very nice general output). Would really rather it be reduced to 1 stack lost per hit, but One-Ilm Punch able to strip two debuffs on crit, making it a bit more useful on average, even if no longer THE arcanist hard-counter. If ammo is currently removable, then it should get the same treatment.

[Februs]

Oh wow, that's... some serious buffing. I definitely prefer the shorter, snappier Carnal Chill for one. For some reason I thought people were still talking about the last set of DRK PvP buffs; I missed this set completely. Agreed that the DA change component is purely QoL. It's nice that it'll no longer ever stick out past the 2nd GCD, even if that change isn't exactly significant either.

I'm not surprised you missed it. It was only posted yesterday morning. I caught it because I frequent the PvP forums. I actually made that thread, so I feel like I should check up on it from time to time, especially now that Feast is out. Back in the day, SE ignored PvP so hard that it might as well not have existed, but since Feast's release they've (seemingly) taken a much stronger interest in listening to the PvP community and acting on the feedback we've been giving them. It's not often that I see a PvE related change, though; so, I figured that I should share it here for the sake of awareness.

Side-note though: That Aetherflow buff seems overkill, just like the SMN overall damage nerf before (as deserved as the burst nerf may have been when combined with their very nice general output). Would really rather it be reduced to 1 stack lost per hit, but One-Ilm Punch able to strip two debuffs on crit, making it a bit more useful on average, even if no longer THE arcanist hard-counter. If ammo is currently removable, then it should get the same treatment.

I'm not 100% positive about this, since I don't play Sch or Mnk, but I think the primary issue with Aetherflow was that the CD on One-Ilm Punch is too fast for a Sch's to counter, should the Mnk know what they're doing. The timing ensures that a Mnk can easily dis-spell a Sch's aetherflow stacks and have a second One-Ilm punch at the ready as soon as that the Sch builds those stacks back up. In casual 8 vs 8, this is not such a big problem. There's another healer, and the fights are so cluttered that tactics tend to go right out the window. In ranked solo-queue and 4 vs 4, however, it made sch almost unplayable.

Before the changes to the casting interruption threshold, seeing a Sch in your team was almost synonymous with an automatic loss. After they changed the interruption threshold Sch became viable again, but they can still be decimated by an experienced Mnk. They also lack the CC utility to defend themselves against such an attack, unlike Whm's or Astro's who can paper tank or halt enemy advances (hence the nerfs to sleep's duration). A coordinated team can effectively neutralize and eliminate a Sch in under a minute flat. I've actually been in a match recently where I saw it first hand. We had an experienced Mnk in the party who pretty much solo'd the Sch the entire time while the rest of us mopped up the dps. Between that and me throwing up a stun on their pet, the Sch was next to helpless to defend themselves, and their team hardly got any heals at all. It was one of the fastest fights I've ever been in, including the original WD, and it kinda felt dirty ... But a win's a win, right?

[MagiusNecros]

Eh if anything I can see a DASE > DACnS combo going off in OT. Technically already achievable. 3s cooldown just makes it achievable sooner.

[Esp]

I am hoping this isn't the only adjustment they plan to make for DRK. While building MP isn't much of a issue, Dark Arts cooldown reduction won't really change a thing in either defensive or offensive capabilities. I would rather them look over our OT potential and see what adjustments they can do there. I don't see much of a change from being able to activate Dark Arts 2 more seconds eariler, especially if your pre-loading it before your required weaponskill/ability.

[InfiniDragon]

I am hoping this isn't the only adjustment they plan to make for DRK. While building MP isn't much of a issue, Dark Arts cooldown reduction won't really change a thing in either defensive or offensive capabilities. I would rather them look over our OT potential and see what adjustments they can do there. I don't see much of a change from being able to activate Dark Arts 2 more seconds eariler, especially if your pre-loading it before your required weaponskill/ability.

The only real PvE change I can see from this is you may have enough time to fire off constant DAAD, provided you pre-load the first DA and have a ton of MP coming in from Blood Price. Apart from that, unless they're also adjusting the MP cost it won't be a super big change.

[Falar]

At least this will make it easier to pull of DA-CnS DA-SE combos when you have the MP for it. I mean, its possible now if you prep DA early enough but with a lot of stuff going on I mess up the timing a lot.

[Violette]

As noted, this change is an improvement to AOE SUSTAIN in pve mostly.

And it's a SLIGHT improvement to MT situations where you have enough mana that you can sustain your DPS while using boosted DEFENSIVE cooldowns.

For OT and PVE it's not an improvement in OVERALL dps, but allows for centralizing potential burst via DACNS-DASE.

In the end I'd have preferred a decrease in cost as opposed to a cooldown reduction, but you gotta take what you get sometimes.

[Starbirth]

I'd have preferred a decrease in cost as opposed to a cooldown reduction, but you gotta take what you get sometimes.

That's exactly what they should have done. I feel this is just Yoshi trolling.

[Falar]

The only time Carve and Spit should ever be used without DA for the MP gain is when you are pulling trash. When MTing a boss every Carve and Spit should be with DA immediately.

[SpookyGhost]

Pretty sure this is entirely intended to be a PVP specific change but was also added to PVE as they couldn't come up with a way around it and it didn't dramatically shift anything DRK-related in PVE anyway. 3s is good, it means your next DA will be up sooner in the GCD. I always found it a bit frustrating that DA would always come up at the tail end of my GCD and this sort of alleviates that slightly (though it can still happen). DRK also doesn't really need a DPS buff in PVE... it's more than capable of pulling high numbers. Reprisal, DA + DM, and Delirium (with no MNK, and in some cases even with MNK) are very valuable things to bring to the raid if utilized correctly. I think, moving forward, we could see some issues arise with DRK depending on how the raids are made but for now there's really no need for adjustments. Obviously the DRK + PLD thing needs looking into as a viable tanking composition, but that's for another patch (though hopefully sooner rather than later).