DRK .. now slightly more engaging than PLD 2.x

[Shiwayari]

This is not about how good or not good DRK is going to be.
This is about how fun or not fun it is going to be. So..

We get a second bar to manage. Awesome, more things to do! DRK was always a very active job and thats why it was so fun.

However, taking a closer look..



- Delirium combo removed. Hmmmm, ok, I guess I will only Soul Eater now, but at least I still have the occasional Scourge to change it up a litt... wait..

- WHERE IS SOURGE. Overlooking the fact that Scourge was probably the best animation in the game.. cool, DRKs main occupation is now to literally spam 1 2 3 for the whole fight. Hello? Was that not precisely the reason that PLD got a branching combo with Heavensward, because 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 is fucking boring? And no, using the just-as-bad-as-before Power Slash twice a fight does not contribute anything.

Staying positive, at least we got the blood gauge, using those skills must be interesting right? Let's take a look at the tooltips:

Bloodspiller - single target - potency gained with DA: 140 - bonus in Grit > Math/Tldr: no potency lost in Grit, ummm.. cool, so its just some gcd i hit when its up without having to mind if I'm in Grit or not. Not very engaging.
But it can be Dark Arts'd, that's gotta be fun, right? Taking a look at Syphon Strike and Soul Eater:
Syphon Strike - potency gained with DA: 140
Soul Eater - potency gained with DA: 140

. . . so all these gain the same potency from DA. I.e. I don't have to think the slightest about planning ahead to have enough mana ready to use Bloodspiller. Adds absolutely nothing to the jobs engagement. To be blunt, Bloodspiller is almost just Low Blow renamed. Minus the ability to proc. Minus the stun. Is it up (you have 50 blood)? > use it. Done.

And just to spice it up, since this all makes the job SO FUN, we also now can't use Blood Price outside of Grit anymore. Whats this? Even LESS managing of MP since you gain less = spend less?

Simplified so much it is now PLD 2.x with a few more ogcds. Very disappointed. And sad. I will try it, but it doesn't look as fun as it was. Maybe I will try new PLD/WAR. Hopefully it won't be boring enough to quit the game.

One thing SE could do - change the potency gained from DA Bloodspiller so you have to think at least a little more than spam when its up.



Disclaimer: DRK really did not need such a huge dumb down. Raiding was already made easier, players who didn't play very well didn't have a very hard time clearing if they cared. And being very decent at it was never hard, if one actually cared. You just took away half the jobs fun for everyone who cared, and made it so easy now everyone who didn't care can do just as well.
Hint: Chances are noone who didnt care would have cared any less if it wasn't dumbed down so much.
And whoever didn't care about raiding surely did not need gameplay to be even less punishing *cough* in "challenging" dungeons.