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

[sonatahi]

If Spinning Slash/Power Slash was changed to be more useful than just gaining emnity, DRK would be less of a mainly single combo job without having to re-add a third combo. Otherwise, Spinning Slash and Power Slash is very underutilized, especially with the addition of emnity controlling cross class roles, and almost useless when taking on a role of an off-tank.

[Decederes]

If Spinning Slash/Power Slash was changed to be more useful than just gaining emnity, DRK would be less of a mainly single combo job without having to re-add a third combo. Otherwise, Spinning Slash and Power Slash is very underutilized, especially with the addition of emnity controlling cross class roles, and almost useless when taking on a role of an off-tank.

Exactly. Two years to take note that DRK's in raid groups using NIN -never- use Power Slash. It may as well had been off my bar for the last two years. Now you add NIN hate control to tanks, and change nothing on Power Slash combo at all? it's a one combo job then. Give me a small, mini Scourge DoT on it to force me to mix it up every 2-3 rotations. We're stuck with one combo. Two years to get it right... and they dropped the ball with quite a few jobs. I expected better, honestly.

[Sweetgrass]

This is the average kneejerk reaction to a class getting actually meaningful mechanics, in exchange for losing some brainless "keep this on CD" damage buttons.

Was pressing Low Blow every time it lit up, very cerebral? Did pressing Scourge any time the timer on it dropped to around 3 seconds, really shine a light in your life? Was seeing the icon for Mercy Stroke glow, like a little glimpse of paradise?

I'll take skills that eat MP for a Blood-restoring shield, a Blood-fueled hit that's unaffected by our tank stance, and an MP restoring, effect extending, Blood-consuming cooldown that gives us almost infinite Blood/MP for the duration, instead of off GCD mashing any day, speaking as one of the top 50 DRKs pre-echo on my main and alt, thank you.

[Zojha]

This is the average kneejerk reaction to a class getting actually meaningful mechanics, in exchange for losing some brainless "keep this on CD" damage buttons.

Thereby implying the new mechanics will not be just as brainless.

To me, it looks like Quietus and Bloodspiller are brainless blood gauge dumps (AoE/Single target respectively) and blackest night another OGCD you want to use whenever you can to build gauge for the dumps. And instead of keeping track of Delirium, you just use it every third blood price/weapon now.

I don't see any meaningful mechanics from the tooltips provided truth be told. I just see a simplified rotation and a mindless additional resource system on top.

[AlbaTheGrey]

Words cannot describe how disappointed I am by the changes made to DRK. It is hands down the most fun I've ever had tanking in an MMO and I've been a career tank since Lineage II: Chronicle 4. That's almost 12 years! It is literally the highest praise I can give a class in an MMO. Like you OP, I'll give it a shot but if DRK is as boring as it looks like it's going to be there will be 1 less tank in Stormblood because I'm not going back to PLD or WAR.

[Falar]

Words cannot describe how disappointed I am by the changes made to DRK. It is hands down the most fun I've ever had tanking in an MMO and I've been a career tank since Lineage II: Chronicle 4. That's almost 12 years! It is literally the highest praise I can give a class in an MMO. Like you OP, I'll give it a shot but if DRK is as boring as it looks like it's going to be there will be 1 less tank in Stormblood because I'm not going back to PLD or WAR.

Dark Knight was also the most fun I ever had tanking too. For the first time ever, I mained a tank.

[Shurrikhan]

Dark Knight was also the most fun I ever had tanking too. For the first time ever, I mained a tank.

I've tanked in every MMO I've played for queue times and therefore kept one geared even if not necessarily maining it, and DRK was definitely the most fun I'd had apart from *maybe* very brief periods of WoW Prot Warrior tanking, but that may largely just be from being severely undergeared and on a class that scaled every well with incoming damage as to make things that should be impossible merely strenuously difficult, provided enough intelligence, awareness, and speed. As far as sheerly enjoyable button flow goes, though, DRK had even that beat.

[Donaria]

Yo op please come on bro you can do better than a half hearted ultimatum of "we shall see if its good or not" I feel you on the changes tho. Sometimes I feel we over react like children here in NA forums, these new changes make drk more viable in the OT roll, to just do raw dmg and still provide some utility if not currently tanking. DRK now gets what pld had in the form of stone skin but now it is a native skill. I'm a drg and a pld main we still need/want you all here, a white knight and a black knight theme is so fucking badass now with all these changes feel like that will be the best combo. So please look forward to it.

[Jim_Berry]

I'm ok with it. I play my tanks "simple" anyway; never really cared for high dps.

[Nivarea]

I can agree with the sentiment.

While I'm still waiting to play DRK 4.0, and will probably still main it, I'm affraid that the dumbing down might be too much. I felt in love with the DRK playstyle, the fact that it's a busy job, harder to play at the beginning, very button mashy if you want to play it with optimization in mind. And I love greatswords, that's a plus I guess.

Losing one combo is a something (even if the potency of Souleater became the same of old Delirium), losing Scourge is heartbreaking, and losing oGCDs to weave makes me affraid that the button mashy playstyle I grew to love may disappear, the identity of DRK with it. Gating Blood Price behind Grit seems really punishing too for MP management. While I really love what they're going for with Blackest Night, I'm not sold yet on the remaining of the 4.0 toolset. The buffs on the Paladin seems really crazy too, he needed it, but it seems to be, maybe, a bit too much in consideration of DRK and WAR. But let's not be all gloom and doom, all the changes are not bad. Darkside not draining MP, just stopping their regeneration is good, and if japanese description of Sole Survivor is right, it will become a really good skill with utility for raid.

I will play the three tanks in Stormblood to see if my expectations and fears are real or not. Still salty (earth?) about losing scourge tho.