Thread: DRK QOL changes for 5.4

Originally Posted by Lyth

The 'dark energy' has always been a part of the job. It's that classic fantasy 'Gish' appeal of weaving between sword and spell. The problem is that the pacing is off. The five second windups going into big hits is a WAR thing. What made Heavensward DRK so appealing was that it was an endless onslaught of bladework and dark magic.

From a thematic perspective, DRK is about punishing injustice. Again, HW did that through counterattacks (Low Blow and Reprisal resets, as well as Blood Price). More recent iterations just rely on TBN as a punishment mechanic. It needs to be a job-wide theme. When mobs hit you or a teammate that you're protecting, you hit them back harder and faster.

Something like Shelltron, but maybe closer to a small blood price wouldnt hurt, itd make things more proactive, and give you more of an attention span when tanking besides 4 5 4 5 4 5 4 5. 123 123 123

Originally Posted by Valknut

I the big issues I have with DRK, is that the DRK job quests are very well done, give it a very clear theme of being something, Frey is such a great class teacher. It just doesn't get fleshed out, it doesn't really drive home the part your supposed to play. It sure doesn't leave you thinking " I'm a tank, that fights injustice! in Black armor instead of White!" Like Frey is not a good person, be it your inner demon or what have you.

In HW the abilities and play style really made me think Guts from Berserk. I was flipping around doing some serious swings with a trained arm, unlike the wild swings of a Warrior/Marauder. I was perfectly happy with Guts plus flavor.
Thing is "Dark energy" In HW was such a minor part of the job, and now its center stage, and it all feels like garbage. I don't want to be EMO the edge knight. I want to be a seasoned Fighter with some utility magic like Abyssal drain and the majority of our AOE.

Story wise, i got no complaints. Most people are justifying the pre 50 job quests though, when beyond the one little 80 quest, as pretty much resolved. That being said, Fray/Esteem being an Egi, as opposed to just being a summoner trance mode, makes very little since to me. Sure call on your inner darkness for more power, but for gods sake dont just make it pop out like a shadow double, Give us more powerful abilities, like SMN in a trance state, preferably the phoenix trance state. Outside of that, its whatever. Its 2.0 paladin gameplay, with a 2nd hit on flash to me. Its a tank, and it tanks. As good as a tank can tank. At some point they will have to add/design DRK as a job, and not just your basic role. It has become the WHM of tanks. Its a tank, that tanks. And its really good at being a tank. And that is all 5.x DRK is, it isnt a job, its a role.

Can we finally just be honest with ourselves about current DRK, whose biggest gimmick is upkeeping a damage buff at the cost of an extremely heavy, but very managable MP(second resource) cost.
For that gimmick to exist, its damage has to be better. Hands down. If SE cant figure out Living Dead, or give it to a tank that can actually handle the drawbacks, among other problems DRK face, the biggest factor(keeping a damage buff up) should at least be aknowledged by the job itself. SE doesnt want to do that? Then design DRK to be more than a shell of a role. period. I mean what good is the illusion of a damage buff that has to be kept up, if it keeps you dead last in comparison to the other jobs in the role that do not have to maintain a dps buff, let alone have more to offer in any situation than DRK beyond its Stoneskin ability, which again...2.0 PLD *cough cough*

Originally Posted by WhyAmIHere

First thing that'd need to happen is the expansion-tradition of redesigning Delirium.

LMAO you're not wrong

Originally Posted by Hazama999

Bloodspiller, though? You swing your sword around and then slam it on the ground, actually lifting yourself up while you do it... Yet for some reason this doesn't really convey what should be a viscerally-satisfying animation. Maybe it's the random-ass "darkness beam" that pops up alongside it?

Either way, I'm just tired of "now you can spam X or Y skill at no cost!" design. It's boring to me. I think Lyth summarized it pretty well up there. Reason I loved HW's version of DRK is that it was an endless onslaught of bladework and dark magic, but it felt like there was variety to it? Idk. I'm sorry. I realize that I'm not explaining myself very well but yeah, I am... not very happy with the current iteration of DRK.

Edit: I also miss 3.0's version of Darkside. I LIKED having to maintain my MP up.

I actually get what you're saying. I havent been able to figure it out myself. The animation is rather quick but also can cut into you being able to spam it, sometimes. Its flashy and should be cool, but it feels exctremely unsatisfying. Of course...this is even more when you have someone on WAR do Fell cleaves next to you. and compare the numbers. Either way, its just not as satisfying. Sounds flat or like something that should be a SAM sound effect, and just..either too flashy or too long. I did think just making it Braver would be nicer, but spamming it 5 times would probably ruin that as well.

Originally Posted by Agner

My honest opinion for part of this is due to not only that, but Fell Cleave's damage hits with the animation, whereas Bloodspiller's damage (and part of the hitting sound effect) happens as the animation is still winding up, then the actual attack crashes down. I don't know if I'd call it a subtle difference, but it's definitely been a bothersome thing to me personally for some time—and I dunno the actual logistics on changing that sort of thing. I remember talking about this before but it was probably on discord and not forums.

I feel like we've gotten to a point where all of the skills look good in a vacuum, but watching them work in conjunction with each other it sometimes looks like a visually inconsistent mess. It just sort of feels like the character is flailing in the weirdest directions possible. There are fighting styles that could be described like that kind of loosely and would look cool, but it'd have to look more... intentional, I guess. My main point is that it just feels animated very randomly.

THIS exactly this, the damage just pops out at contact with the button press, but then the animation lock appears, as noticed. Dunno why or what makes the difference with FC, but that is certainly one of them for sure. Recently hit 80 on PLD, and Atonement makes me just wonder about Blood Spiller entirely. 550 pot plus 400mp regain with 3 stacks/uses immediately after 1 full combo, vs 600 potency for 50 blood(3 consecutive soul eater combo's without BW) Know the general argument is to not compare the tanks to what they have/dont have but its kind of hard to ignore things that differ esp for tanks that both rely on MP for their damage. IDK I feel like that wouldve been nicer for those filler gaps than what we have atm after blowing all cd or something similar.