Why is DRK so squishy and how do I stop it?

[ashwich]

I tell you what I think it is. I think it's because I'm used to WATCHING a Paladin. I was leveling a healer from 30-52 with the same Paladin who was really good...and I saw how their HP just didn't budge. So then I go in as a DRK and my HP just gets chunked out. So watching this paladin that just doesn't take hits, really, barely every had any panic moments for pop all CD's mega-heal this guy...and then i get on my DRK and I just see me go from 100 - 50% in two hits I'm like "Why am I so squishy...??"

Sometimes you feel the difference when a healer keeps the tank topped off vs a healer who's dpsing til last possible minute. May or may not be the case for you, but it's a thing.

Oh, for what it's worth. ROH applies STR down debuff. Shouldn't make nearly as much difference on trash though.

[Februs]

Oh, for what it's worth. ROH applies STR down debuff. Shouldn't make nearly as much difference on trash though.

Actually, that does make a pretty big difference, especially on trash.

Pld's low enmity gen practically forces them to rotate RoH to maintain hate on trash mobs, unlike War and Drk who can pop a couple of Overpower/Unleash and be green as grass. A good Pld will make sure that their rotation targets as well, so the RoH debuff gets spread around. At 20 seconds per debuff, roughly 3-4 targets can be inflicted with a physical damage reduction during (varying on skill speed, personal skill, and lost time caused by extending circumstances) on top of blinds caused by Flash and whatever mitigation skills the Pld has active at the moment.

Now, the debuff itself wouldn't normally be all that great because it only effects physical dmg, but the vast majority of trash mob attacks are physical (including auto attacks). Magic wielding enemies are actually quite rare by comparison. In most dungeons, you're roughly looking at about 1 in every 3 enemies who use magic as opposed to physical, and even then, some of them still have a physical auto attacks that can be mitigated. Individually, it's not much, but it adds up pretty quickly and scales with the size of the pull.

[Sarcatica]

Actually, that does make a pretty big difference, especially on trash.

Pld's low enmity gen practically forces them to rotate RoH to maintain hate on trash mobs, unlike War and Drk who can pop a couple of Overpower/Unleash and be green as grass. A good Pld will make sure that their rotation targets as well, so the RoH debuff gets spread around. At 20 seconds per debuff, roughly 3-4 targets can be inflicted with a physical damage reduction during (varying on skill speed, personal skill, and lost time caused by extending circumstances) on top of blinds caused by Flash and whatever mitigation skills the Pld has active at the moment.

Now, the debuff itself wouldn't normally be all that great because it only effects physical dmg, but the vast majority of trash mob attacks are physical (including auto attacks). Magic wielding enemies are actually quite rare by comparison. In most dungeons, you're roughly looking at about 1 in every 3 enemies who use magic as opposed to physical, and even then, some of them still have a physical auto attacks that can be mitigated. Individually, it's not much, but it adds up pretty quickly and scales with the size of the pull.

It's not as terrible as you actually point out. For what it is worth, let's just say that -10% STR = -10% damage taken, I doubt it but for easy calculation put it at 10%.

Let's say total HP is 3k. Each hit will do 300 damage per mob, 3 mobs = 900 damage. -10%STR = 810 damage. 1 cure is enough to top someone to full. It's even more trivial if you use CD since they aren't additive.

TLDR: Rage of Halone is not going to matter that much for fluff damage (autos mostly), difference is if you are getting physical tank buster, then RoH is great to mitigate spike damage.

[ashwich]

well the reason I said it's not a big difference is what Sarcatica said.

Specifically, at lower levels, your health pool is so low, what 10% dmg you reduced won't reflect very well there from a healer PoV.
At higher levels, in most dungeon settings you end up pulling 2-3 packs of mobs anyway. being able to rotate ROH on 3 of them hardly makes a difference given the grand scheme of things. (you can pick which ones you want your str down on, to make a bigger impact however, it is good practice)

[Lyth]

On large trash pulls on DRK, DA DP and DA DD render you nearly invulnerable. Dark Mind trivializes pulls with harder hitting caster mobs like sprites which the other two tanks can sometimes struggle with (remember the Security Command room in Stone Vigil?) During the time in between, the self healing from Abyssal Drain while Blood Price is up is amazing.

You have more AoE moves at your disposal than any other tank, two of which are oGCD, and the other two of which are better than their counterparts on other tanks. Unleash is better than Flash. Abyssal Drain is more versatile than Overpower.

For speed-running, you can sprint between mob sets and primarily use MP moves to hold aggro and dps while your TP recovers. And then there's Plunge. Glorious Plunge.

All three tanks are capable of doing the more challenging content in this game effectively, and each has their strengths and weaknesses. But dungeons and AoE tanking? No tank does it better than DRK. You can't stick to using a few skills and expect to get by, though. You need to make use of your entire toolkit and plan your MP usage in advance.

[Emitans]

Cooldowns and Dark Arts Abyssal Drain really help.

[Jukebox12]

in low lvls its Dark>war>pld who are the most squishiest imo but in higher lvls its War>pld>drk or war>drk>pld depending on the fights. It always depends are on your play style of the tank job and how you manage your Cds even during Trash pulls that only have 3. It is always and I do mean always your play style.... all tanks are equal in some form nor another. I feel people always mislead on things as a tank. but you got to find your own play style with tanks not every job you play will have the same playstyle and not very person is the same tank. One pld can differ another pld and so on. Just find your own playstyle and that will help you out. :P

[Awful]

For me as a drk since it's my main it's the most comfortable tank I tank on (have pld at 60 war at 54 had em both 50 pre hw). And in Brayflox I ran it with a friend while stance dancing I didn't take much dmg at all was chain pulling with a monk and blm. Maybe it was because ilvl sync but my new healer friend had no issue as a sch I personally don't find Drk squishy it's how you play it honestly and knowing what you can get away with.