Dark Knight Megathread

[Keagian]

These are the changes I would make that would fit with the current 2min rotation, return them to their higher APM, and also make DRK feel different enough from the other tanks.

First I would lower Blood Weapon/Delirum and Abyssal Drain/Carve and Spit to 30s.

Then, remove the second stock of Shadowbringer as well as lowering its CD to 40s along with Salted Earth.

Lastly, lower Living Shadow's CD to 60s and move the majority of its damage to Disesteem.

These changes would help with its sustain in dungeons and fix its MP issues in between its bursts for boss fights, trials, ex trials, and possibly savage.

DRK would be able to do W2W pulls with its full kit like the other tanks minus GNB with its Lionheart Combo being 120s, as DRK had to restrain itself during W2Ws so that it'll have its full burst ready for every boss or enter them with some of its kit on CD. Living Shadow and Shadowbringers could only be used on the first pack and Salted Earth's weird 90s CD made it annoying to use and didn't fit into the 2min rotation that well. You either full burst with Shadowbringers on the first W2W or only used one stock so you can using another Shadowbringer for the second pack so that you'd have your full burst available for the boss, the other three tanks don't have this issue as they can blow everything with each W2W pull with the only thing screwing up their CD's is if packs died too quickly.

Having Abyssal Drain at 30s would mean you have a safety net in case the pack hasn't been dealt with and both the Tank and Healer has burned through their CD's. You won't have the sustain of a WAR but it'll at least be able to help keep you alive for each pull.

DRK's full burst combo is one of the highlights of the job, even with the cluster of CD's it just throws out every 2mins and that identity should remain in tact but shouldn't be the only thing that defines the job. DRK only having the occasional Edge and Bloodspiller to break up their 123 as they wait for their burst window can feel very monotonous.

With the changes I've mentioned, DRK would have something to look forward to every 30-60s with a big 2min burst window.

Their full rotation would be the full 2min burst.

Followed by Delirum and Carve and Spit at 30s.

Next they have Shadowbringers and Salted Earth at 40s.

Then Living Shadow as well as Delirum and Carve and Spit at 60s.

With Shadowbringers and Salted Earth returning at the 80s mark.

Into Delirum and Carve and Spit at 90s.

Lastly they return to the full 2min burst.

Personally, I find the above rotation to be more engaging than what we have currently and would break the 2mins of pressing 123 with the occasional Edge and Bloodspiller.

[KizuBriko]

Dark Mind and Oblation should be rolled into the same skill.
Abyssal Drain should be decoupled from carve and split possibly reduced to 40s.
Soul Eater should give 20 gauge.

[Reinhardt_Azureheim]

Dark Mind and Oblation should be rolled into the same skill.

...thank you but no? Can we stop suggesting this shit? Dark Mind definitely needs something like the Addle rework or behaving similar to Camouflage's effect, but Oblation has no business being merged with Dark Mind.

I MUCH prefer the flexibility of having it as a separate defensive CD layer rather than a cursed amalgamation of fused-CD reworks.

[KizuBriko]

...thank you but no? Can we stop suggesting this shit? Dark Mind definitely needs something like the Addle rework or behaving similar to Camouflage's effect, but Oblation has no business being merged with Dark Mind.

I MUCH prefer the flexibility of having it as a separate defensive CD layer rather than a cursed amalgamation of fused-CD reworks.

Rather the dark mind effect be added to oblation than be forgotten most of the time.

[Reinhardt_Azureheim]

Rather the dark mind effect be added to oblation than be forgotten most of the time.

You don't need to tack DM to Oblation to make it "not forgotten". All you need is Dark Mind having half of the magical mitigation also working as physical.

Dark Mind
Reduces magical vulnerability by 20% and physical vulnerability by 10%.

Works as a 2nd Reprisal for the sake of dungeon pulls, is not dead in predominantly physical fights, still retains the niche of having short recast time and Oblation stays as a flexible and shareable cooldown that isn't broken (like some ppl suggesting to merge Dark Mind into it).

It's not that friggin complicated.

[Derio]

AD was put with CS the same reason that plunge was removed. To reduce the button presses during burst. What needed to happen is AD should have been placed on a 30/40s timer with no damage attached to it to make it better in dungeons.

Disesteem doesnt feel impactful for being a lvl 100 skill so it needs to get its potency increased. If they dont increase the blood weapon stacks with delirium then they need to increase the MP generation or increase siphon strike base mp generation.

I dont expect them to touch Dark Mind.

[Kaixern]

Maybe instead Dark Mind could be used prior to Dark missionary in order to boost it a bit when it comes to magical resist?
Like WAR does it with shake it off, boosting it with other defensive abilities

(While it could be nice for the "synergy" part of the abilities, it would not be good on the case of "making DRK similar to WAR", so take what i say with a grain/bucket of salt)

[GoatOfWar]

Maybe instead Dark Mind could be used prior to Dark missionary in order to boost it a bit when it comes to magical resist?
Like WAR does it with shake it off, boosting it with other defensive abilities

(While it could be nice for the "synergy" part of the abilities, it would not be good on the case of "making DRK similar to WAR", so take what i say with a grain/bucket of salt)

If all tanks will do the same dps, i think popping TBN should buff your next Dark mind or Dark Missionary.
Granting a 10% shield on the next use.

[Seraphiime]

what do ya'll think of giving DRK Soul Survivor and Mercy stroke back? DRK seems to have a sustain kit that needs a little more thought behind just popping "heal me now button" i think these would fit pretty well?

also why does Fray have shadow stride? feels bad when he dashes in and does no dmg

i like the idea of halving a lot of its cooldowns halved like Abyssal and salted earth (salted earth having an effect like abyssal drain would be nice, its only 50 potency regens at that point but still nice)

[Shurrikhan]

Some nitpicks:

(While it could be nice for the "synergy" part of the abilities, it would not be good on the case of "making DRK similar to WAR", so take what i say with a grain/bucket of salt)

I'd recommend always considering "synergy" from the opposite side of its coin: "codependence", which above a quickly-reached threshold tends to result in "bundling" and "inseparability".

If you don't want to have to use Dark Mind on CD, or only half as often, just to ensure that it can be popped before each Dark Missionary, don't allow it to significantly buff Dark Missionary in any situation where the lives or GCD heals spared by Dark Missionary will be noticeably greater than those that can be spared by Dark Mind.

Tl;dr: You can do that, but it requires a tight control on the "synergy"'s relative power in content for it not to worsen the experience, especially if the change gets at all balanced around.

what do ya'll think of giving DRK Soul Survivor and Mercy stroke back?

I think it'd be unappealing bloat.

DRK seems to have a sustain kit that needs a little more thought behind just popping "heal me now button"

Fair enough, but Soul Survivor wasn't far from that, as it would still heal after its duration ended regardless of enemy death and Mercy Stroke was a shot in the dark whose accelerated access required party coordination rather than being something actually even remotely within your control.

Some other options may work, but not these two. Even passive healing-on-kill and/or greater healing from heal-on-attack skills against critical (below 20% HP) enemies would be preferable, I suspect, as you'd still have a bit more flavor and/or reason for CD-holding (added complexity) without added bloat.