4.1 Dark Knight Feedback and fixes

[MauvaisOeil]

For DPS, the first task at hand is to alleviate the pernicious potency tax from Actions.

In 3.0 there was that exploit where you could double-dip in DA bonus effects from a singe Dark Arts by double-weaving DA>Ability>SE/PS/etc.

Well, the double-weaving is mandatory now. So to start, make that old bug a feature. Remove the 'consumes Dark Arts' aspect from Dark Mind, Dark Passenger, and Carve and Spit.

There is still the MP management aspect to using these skills (even if DP had a lower cost). There's still a recast timer on all them. So there's still CD + resource alignment and double weave stress to all of the them. That is enough.



If a GCD ability consumes Dark Arts, then Dark Arts should raise that GCD's potency. Power Slash and Abyssal Drain should have their damage increased by Dark Arts same as the other actions. Their utility effects of HP Absorb and Bonus Enmity should be genuine Added Effects gated behind Dark Arts (I would want the same for Souleater's HP absorb).

These changes won't go too far, but its a logical start. This is potential potencies that already exist in the kit, but they're getting pissed away.

The real value isn't just for these present skills either. This establishes a rule for all future Ability/Spell/Weaponskill Dark Arts Effects where there won't be a -140 potency caveat left hidden and unsaid in every DA'able Action's tooltip.

That's irrelevant to the "charge system" DA is, and it's really unappealing. Double weaving is already a problem during Blood Weapon, making it mandatory won't fix the issue except allowing the use of DA/DM before a DA weapon skill, which will still cost 1/3rd of the MP bar and force us to consume an other 3rd for a mandatory TBN to survive a TB. It will "fix" the cost of DA/DM the clunkiest way possible.
On the offensive side, only two other oGCd are here and they are on a 30s and 1min cooldown.

Franky I don't get how people can still call out this bug as "good ol' times" while it was fast fixed and not interesting at all. It allowed a few tricks adding a few potency if you weaved it right, but it's just a weak skill ceiling overall.

[Xenosan]

..Double weaving is already a problem during Blood Weapon, making it mandatory won't fix the issue..

Double weaving DA Abilities is already mandatory, if that wasn't clear enough or quite obvious =/

Well, the double-weaving is mandatory now.

[MauvaisOeil]

Double weaving DA Abilities is already mandatory, if that wasn't clear enough or quite obvious =/

Correction :

Double weaving C&S or DM can be mandatory if you're not about to use hard slash. You will never use Dark Passenger.


Do you see the difference ?

[Xenosan]

The difference is DACS going from +310 a minute to +450, DADM going from -140 to -0, DADP going from -80 per minute to +200 (even with its base cost/gain in the shit state that it is).

There is no strain or affect to the rotation save what already exist - except, hey DADP is viable. If you want to sit on CDs until Hard Slash? You still could, and still benefit (Your DA will carry into Siphon).

[MauvaisOeil]

Still the cklunkiest way to ask for a potency upgrade. DA-DM should be fixed somehow else especially now that TBN exists.

[Chrono_Rising]

They could bump all our oGCD abilities besides dark passenger by 50, boost salted earth to 100 potency ticks, and boost dark passenger by about 60. I think those would be more palettable small changes as far as dps goes. I still really think delirium should do more than extend blood weapon by 8 seconds.

[Mycow8me]

I'm all for delirium changes but adding mitigation to it is pointless cause it would never be used for that purpose... Delirium needs to stay a DPS enhancement but somehow be more useful for what it does.

Soul survivor needs to be our mitigation/HP grab which is technically what it is just a very roundabout way of it that makes it almost useless for single target fights. I'm sure SE could think of a better way to implement this if they tried... or maybe that's giving them too much credit, at one point in time it was used on party members that died lolwut.

[Chrono_Rising]

Yeah I think I would like to go back to my original idea for delirium of just making it a double damage buff for a short duration.

[Xenosan]

...

Regardless of whatever buff/change could be made to DADM, if it doesn't grant a DPS gain to compensate for the lost Dark Arts, then that dynamic relating to TBN hasn't changed.

Those binary utility effects of 3.x Dark Arts do not fit in Stormblood. When it was just DA+(SE/CS) and Scourge was our hardest hitting WS it wasn't so detrimental, but now its DA+(SS/SE/BS/CS); DRK DPS and DA-use is more strongly correlated.

Consider that losing 140 potency is the difference between a Fell Cleave and an Inner Beast.

There's a similar conflict for DAAD; TBN for the same MP cost is doing so much more, and DAAD is more lost DPS. DAAD aught to have a damage boost equal to DAQ, and both need to be closer to Dark Passenger. Coincidently, if DAAD had something close to that it would be in the range of a Steel Cyclone.



There's a bottle neck in Dark Arts. Clearing that up would have a recursive benefit for every skill down the pipe.

If DRK were able to hold multiple DAs at once for DADASE (580pot), DADABS(680pot), etc.... I think how/what possible Delirium buffs do would be pretty straight-forward.

[Chrono_Rising]

One other idea for delirium is to give it a window in which abilities gain their dark arts effects without consuming mp. We could even add a perfect balance effect of removing the combo requirement for a short time to maximize our potency. Make the duration close to 30 seconds and we have something like a dark version of berserk.