Introduce a Second Combo to DRK and change the animation of some abilities

[ThorinG]

Hi,

i got this idea (check title) while i watched the video of removed DRK abilities with teary eyes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXMTLM19JZw), why not reutilize some of the old DRK removed skills and reintroduce them, here are my thoughts:

Attack Combos:

for Single Target:

.Combo 1: Soul Eater Combo
Same as the one we have now, but Syphon strike restores more MP, and Soul eater grants a buff that restores minor amount of HP with every attack

.Combo 2: Power Slash Combo
HW Scourge -> HW Delirium -> Power slash
pure high Damage combo, where each attack reduces Darkside Timer by 5 seconds, and if Darkside is not active then each attack consumes 3% of remaining HP.

For Aoe:

Combo 1: Stalwart Soul
same as the one we have, but restores more MP.

Combo 2: Tar Pit
Unleash -> Tar Pit
High damage combo, consumes Darkside, if DS is depleted then consumes HP.


also:

. Re-add Blood Price: consumes a small percentage of HP and restore a large portion of MP.

. Re-add Soul survivor: let it be the single target equivalent to Abyssal Drain, and let Carve and Spit be its own attack on 30 Sec which restores MP.

. Change Delirium's ability Animation: replace it with (HW Darkside) animation.

. Change Shadow Bringer's ability Animation: Replace it with Dark Passenger animation.

. Remove Flood of Shadow: let Edge of shadow be an aoe attack on target, similar to PLD's Expiacion.


let me know what you think guys.

[Rithy255]

Introduce a second combo on most tanks would be a step of the right direction.

[Reginald_Cain]

Introduce a second combo on most tanks would be a step of the right direction.

healers getting a combo at all would be nice too XD

[Rithy255]

healers getting a combo at all would be nice too XD

No healers do not need a combo.

Look at casters they don't have combo gameplay, what could healers have, procs, high mp costing spells that make you manage your mp and to actually heal, I'm in favour of adding more damage buttons to healers but combos would be very weird on them.

[Azurarok]

No healers do not need a combo.

Look at casters they don't have combo gameplay, what could healers have, procs, high mp costing spells that make you manage your mp and to actually heal, I'm in favour of adding more damage buttons to healers but combos would be very weird on them.

Been wondering, by combo you mean 1-2-3 combos, right? Do you count having multiple dots as those as well?

[Voryn]

It’s hard to believe that spending health for damage would be an option nowadays for PvE. It feels like the devs don’t want to allow us to troll our healers, even if 3% per GCD doesn’t sound like much. If it was a more significant amount that would ideally deter us from abusing it, it’s still something that’s someone else’s problem to deal with rather than our own problem. Maybe someone who has been playing the game for a while can comment on how things were back when Dragoon had Blood for Blood?

I also wonder how the combos would work with the mana economy and the burst phases - would it we be worth it to use Edge to get more Darkside to do another Power Slash combo at the expense of not having that Edge be during buffs? If so, would there be any point to putting Edge in buffs unless we really have “extra” ones? It might be something interesting to think about during the filler phase, at the expense of having less button pressing in the burst windows.

I’d definitely generally appreciate more happening in the filler phase than just the 1 2 3 and Bloodspiller, so a second combo or a branching combo would be nice if it works out.

[Oizen]

I agree but adjustments would be needed to the MP economy.
As it stands DRK is VERY reliant on Siphon Strike for MP, and DT MP nerfs have already made the MP timing on this incredibly tight. I don't think Sole Survivor or Blood price would make up the difference.

[Mikey_R]

In my pinion, the 2 combos conflict with one another. On the one hand, you have the combo that produces all resources and the other is just damage, with no resource gain.

So the first question is, where should the potency lie for the Power Slash combo in relation to the Souleater combo? It isn't just a case of making it stronger, as the Souleater combo provides MP and Blood for Darkside and more importantly, Bloodspiller.

We also run into issues with the Darkside timer itself. Just looking at Souleater and the natural regen, they give enough MP for 1 Edge every 37.5 seconds and 45 seconds respectively, it is these 2 in tandem that allow you to stay MP positive and allow you to use Edge/Flood to keep the timer going, add in a combo that reduces the timer by 15 seconds each time, I guarantee you end up with issues keeping it active. I know you have said allow Syphon Strike to give back more MP, but without knowing how much, it is going to be hard to judge.

Then there is the case of the added effect to Souleater, how much healing is 'a minor amount'. I've said it many many times in the past, but trying to balance HP restoration on a tank is incredibly difficult, it is one of the main complaints that healers have in how their role feels useless. But it almost seems like it was meant to counter the HP cost of the Power Slash combo/Blood Price. So, how much were you envisioning?

Although, talking of HP cost, that is a minefield. It is either going to be a fixed cost, which means it gets relatively cheaper as you gear up, or, it is a % of your HP, which makes it harder to heal you from a lower geared healer (remembering it has to be viable in all content with a variety of healers with a variety of skill/gear levels). We can say the HP absorb from Souleater would counteract that, but then wouldn't that make the HP regen really strong, to the point that healers feel worthless?

So, the 2 combos seem to conflict with each other, rather than complement each other, the MP issue and Darkside timer are concerns and a worry over HP restoration being too strong. It just seems like you wanted to add a combo to the game, but not really thought about how to properly implement it, so you end up with a mess of ideas that don't necessarily work together.

[Tsiron]

honestly they could outright replace the existing combo and I would not mourn it for a single moment, it's always looked terrible to me...