Now that Dark Arts is gone...

[TheJarvisMan]

...do we know if the existing DRK skills are going to retain the added effects? Obviously, there will be a rework in the potencies of affected skills, but I am wondering if we will retain things like the HP absorb on Abyssal Drain.

I really hope so. Bit of a derail from my topic, but it is odd to me that a class that has historically had so much lifesteal in this game has the worst self-healing of all tanks.

[Kaedan]

It would make sense that the dark arts "buffs" would be rolled into the skills.

From what we can see in the job actions trailer, there is a buff timer similar to NIN's Huton. Starts at 30 seconds and can be increased to 50 seconds with the 4th weaponskill in their new 4 skill combo. It's possible this is the new "Darkside". While that buff is up (the purple DRK face), it enhances your skills. Just a guess.

Also, for 50 blood, you can activate your Living Shadow. Bloodspiller doesn't seem to cost blood now anymore either.

[Chrono_Rising]

Also, for 50 blood, you can activate your Living Shadow. Bloodspiller doesn't seem to cost blood now anymore either.

Think this is an effect of delirium, which I have a feeling was reworked in some way. Won't really know until the 29th.

As for the original post, I hope we keep those hp drain effects make it into Shadowbringers without dark arts as well, but we won't know how things have been reworked, and we can see things not functioning in the way that we knew previously.

I hope that we will still be fast paced with the loss of dark arts, and I hope our HP drain effects make it to the expansion.

[EusisLandale]

It would make sense that the dark arts "buffs" would be rolled into the skills.

From what we can see in the job actions trailer, there is a buff timer similar to NIN's Huton. Starts at 30 seconds and can be increased to 50 seconds with the 4th weaponskill in their new 4 skill combo. It's possible this is the new "Darkside". While that buff is up (the purple DRK face), it enhances your skills. Just a guess.

Also, for 50 blood, you can activate your Living Shadow. Bloodspiller doesn't seem to cost blood now anymore either.

I'm not sure that 4th hit is a weaponskill, let alone part of a combo. You can see the MP drain animation play on each hit of the Souleater combo that comes after Blood Weapon, then nothing during that fourth hit, then the buff drop animation goes off which also hints at Blood Weapon being 10 seconds long now. They also make no attempt to use it the second time they go through the combo, while Fray throws it out immediately after the skill that starts up the new gauge part. And the last nail in the coffin is that it doesn't use the gold flash the weaponskills do, it uses the blue one that goes with spells and abilities.
The Bloodspiller bit, as already noted, might be due to Delirium which also costs nothing now. Incidentally both Bloodspillers and the Carve & Spit after have the MP drain animation on them as well.

[Kaedan]

I'm not sure that 4th hit is a weaponskill, let alone part of a combo. You can see the MP drain animation play on each hit of the Souleater combo that comes after Blood Weapon, then nothing during that fourth hit, then the buff drop animation goes off which also hints at Blood Weapon being 10 seconds long now. They also make no attempt to use it the second time they go through the combo, while Fray throws it out immediately after the skill that starts up the new gauge part. And the last nail in the coffin is that it doesn't use the gold flash the weaponskills do, it uses the blue one that goes with spells and abilities.
The Bloodspiller bit, as already noted, might be due to Delirium which also costs nothing now. Incidentally both Bloodspillers and the Carve & Spit after have the MP drain animation on them as well.

I'm just going off what one of the Media Tour attendees said about DRK having a new 4 skill combo. And the video matched that. I highly doubt they would put a skill that refreshes Darkside (or whatever the pink-purple buff is) as a standalone skill or oGCD.

[Giubba]

I won't hold my breath.

[Kabooa]

This might be the purpose of the Helmet Timer.

Use the MP burst ability, get 30 seconds of "Dark Art bonus effects". Instead of ping ponging MP and Blood, MP may be heavily throttled, and the focus is to both get as much damage into burst windows (Thus spending MP) as possible while maintaining the Helmet Timer.

29th can't get here soon enough.

[Giubba]

This might be the purpose of the Helmet Timer.

Use the MP burst ability, get 30 seconds of "Dark Art bonus effects". Instead of ping ponging MP and Blood, MP may be heavily throttled, and the focus is to both get as much damage into burst windows (Thus spending MP) as possible while maintaining the Helmet Timer.

29th can't get here soon enough.

That's quite plausible I didn't thought about it

[ExLegen]

We can only guess here.
Maybe the new buff we see gives a dark artish buff, or maybe it’s just dark side baked into a maintenance buff.

Given now that we have an AOE combo that generates blood, i see Abyssal Drain being tweaked somehow, in its current form it will be useless. Maybe being ogcd, being stronger, stealing life by default, replacing dark passenger..... who knows? the only thing that is certain is that it has to be tweaked given the aoe changes.

[ExLegen]

I'm just going off what one of the Media Tour attendees said about DRK having a new 4 skill combo. And the video matched that. I highly doubt they would put a skill that refreshes Darkside (or whatever the pink-purple buff is) as a standalone skill or oGCD.

The skill used after soul eater comes in too fast after to be part of a combo. Looks more like a ogcd.