วีดีโอ

Dark knight needs a total ground up rework on the scale of SMN. The job as it is today is nothing like its original version in HW. Not just skill wise but also in identity. I mained DRK when it came out because it was edgy and cool and has awesome visuals. Dark Arts just scratched that itch of power fantasy. Like you were sacrificing blood and life for power, same with stance dancing. DRK these days is just so lost compared to other jobs it's painfully obvious.

*hears dark missionary explanation* Actually, that’s a good point. Another example I can think of (which I don’t know if it was said since I stopped after the white mage example) is Black Mage getting Umbral Soul. A level 76 ability that suddenly got dropped to level 35 (which means it was a move introduced halfway through Shadowbringers but recently has been dropped down to now be one of the first spells one can learn upon changing to the black mage class). Not to say Dark Knight needs to have this move or anything else be like one of the first moves you learn when starting the class, but one ability or two can be made available at lower levels to make the class feel more engaging. I do enjoy dark knight, but lately I do feel like it has been lagging behind other tanks for me.

This video inspired me to become a penta too, even made it before DT

ty honestly seeing a tank perspective for pf is helping quite a bit

None of this would happen if they simply choose to make DRK a dps :^)

Just the harlequin is insane

Well played!

i came back to this game after a year , got burned out from eureka and i found out something is missing as i am pressing things on muscle memory and something felt off later i saw bluod weapon missing and plunge doesnt work. Also it suck because its the only class i played that i was confident on and now i cant even survive somehow (also capped at lvl 70 because ftp)

it seems fine to me i THINK its just elitests complaining. they honestly complain about literally everything so i don't take what they say seriously and just tell them to just go back to wow

Former dark knight one-trick here. I'm making progress into gunbreaker now as I just feel like DRK is missing everything. I will say that, at least visually, it has more *oomph* in its kit, but that's where it ends. Compared to every other tank, it feels like it's missing its niche. Also would have loved to get into Ultimates with it, but I cannot imagine losing well over half my kit and sustain over it.

I don't understand why they can't improve dark missionary. 90 second cooldown for 10% magic mitigation is really lacking compared to other tanks 90 second, with the exception of gunbreaker I think (not sure, I don't play gunbreaker). either add in 10% phys as well, turn it into a group wide TBN, or put a regen component on it as well, something.

GG! these videos have been really helpful for me as a first time PF tank

you made dark look fine. 8.0 drk better feel like your playing as cecil.

I just want Plunge back It’s so frustrating that they removed so many damaging gap closers that looked cool. The new ones don’t fuckin cook like at all for me from a pure aesthetical value

Dark Knight GCD rotation is just boring and no one else cares enough about it to fix it, and no else cares enough to address it as well...

i play DRK since storm blood and sincerly it feels better in dawntrail also because new big damage and no plunge damage so you can free use it as you want but the sustain of the class is hecking low i always feels like dying also DRK was always too kinda the samurai in the middle of the tanks easy to play good damage but it ends there if the new savage didnt had so many downtimes i would probably playing gunbreaker if i wanted the damage and it was the best friendly mit

if they just decoupled carve and abyssal drain like it was in shb drk would immediately feel like 50% better

The most cool part of playing DRK is being driven to madness having to press 1 2 3 over and over until your psyche breaks. Very flavorful!

Is that zeno in the thumbnail since you'll knew he'll steal the video? 😄

Zorral ja watched naruto just until after jiraiya met pain and went BRILLIANT!

Hello Mr. Dark Knight Main. I am but a humble healer coming in with my suggestion. Since you think DRK is getting a rework in 8.0, I think any change made to DRK throughout DT should be small and easy to implement. It seems the main concerns are: 1) The lack of mana generated due to the BW change. 2) Less damage in burst and less weaving in both one minute and two minute with the loss of BW and Plunge 3) Self sustain, especially in fights with physical autos and raidwides. My solution to this is simple: Delete Abyssal Drain from the game. Add 500 cure potency to Carve and Spit, lower the cooldown to 30 seconds, and give it two charges. This way you have the option of holding them for 1m and 2m bursts (or space them for healing before a 1 minute) it gives you mana back you were previously missing, and gives sustain that you are lacking. 1000p of healing per minute is nothing compared to WAR's equilibrium, but this is a relatively minor adjustment which addresses most concerns you have. I would love to hear your feedback.

I switched away from DRK because it isnt as exciting as before, it feels weak, especially in dungeons. I still love DRK, its the first thig i level up, and its the only tank i raid with because i feel comfortable with it, but needs rework, all the other jobs feel new except DRK and healers

At the very least adding a 30s ogcd would solve some gameplay issues. Every other tank has them, I don’t care if it’s homogenization, Dark Knight should have one too. Maybe even one additional 1 minute gcd too. In terms of busy- ness, I believe Dark Knight should sit between Paladin and Gunbreaker.

Coming here from Xeno's reaction, very long time Dark Knight player that swapped off the job and even the role when Endwalker launched. A lot of the things I loved about Dark Knight were absolutely gutted in EW and it's continued since then. DRK used to have the best 2 target (which felt so good in TEA) and it losing that niche really did rub me the wrong way back then. On top of this, the devs saying they didn't know Blood Weapon was a problem when it was on a timer (they did fix that in EW after saying that). Having to choose between damage and saving someone always felt bad when the other tanks really didnt have to, especially when EW released and essentially HoC, Resolve, and Bloodwhetting could all 'sort of' do what TBN could do without sacrificing damage. Adding all these things up with the fact slowly over the years DRK became more and more about facerolling the entire keyboard for your ogcd in any order you want, effectively dealing the same damage I realized the job direction was not really what I wanted anymore. It had other minor issues that were never addressed, such as skill speed not affecting your spells (I know paladin has this issue too), its very low recovery despite being the job that is thematically known for sacrificing but gaining a ton of hp, and I eventually fell off so hard I put the entire role down for difficult content. No hate to anyone that loves this job in any way now but for me at least compared to the other tanks, it's entirely lost all of the niche that I loved about the job, the biggest being best 2 target damage and helping with recovery for the party when something goes wrong in a meaningful way.

Man until the job gets a full rework I'd love if they cut delirium to 30 seconds and put living shadow at 1 min, lower potencies and what not just let me click more buttons.

Plunges animation just felt better

DRK was the tank I played when I tanked even though I didn't decide to main tank until Dawntrail. I still like dark knight. Took it through story without much issue. I do see the problem of DRK not having enough self-sustain. I was under the impression from the way DRK played in the past that it was a edgy/broody mana-using warrior. I kinda wish they went more in that direction. bring back dark arts, but make it a buff that works like bloodwhetting on warrior where you heal yourself with weapon skill use. Honestly, self-sustain and moving skills to earlier levels to make lower level content feel better is all they have to do imo. I enjoy the job pretty much as is, just wish I had self-sustain

Your point about DM is like, really good and it is weird that they don't give it at a lower level. Tengetsu, SAM's new Third Eye upgrade in DT, is given at level 82 and is available in the 90 ults and is an insanely strong DPS self mit tool. There's really no reason DM shouldn't be available at 70.

I've mained DRK ever since it dropped alongside GNB ever since that dropped, and as I've been playing DRK compared to playing GNB through this expac I found myself asking out loud "the fuck are we even doing" whenever I'm on DRK, and that's coming from someone who's a casual. I love DRK to death, but iunno man. Shit ain't it.

What’s the piano that plays during closing thoughts?

tldr nobody plays DRK because they removed Plunge

As just a "casual" player (the highest level content I've done are the two most recent extremes) and relative newbie to the game (player of about 8ish months, so I started in EW), out of all of the jobs I've tried, DRK drew me in the most, first by the great job quest and then by the gameplay, which I just found satisfying. The best I could put it with my limited knowledge was "it feels much smoother, but also kind of emptier now". Blood Weapon always felt like busywork and as much as I loved the animation of Plunge, it makes no sense for gap closers to have damage, but in turn removing them took away buttons you used fairly frequently, so I really think the "empty" complaint brought up in many places resonates with me the most. (At some point I also just got really fed up with Living Dead killing you because it felt like none of the other tanks had this issue. And turns out this is indeed the case! And you, in fact, get nothing substantial for it, either. It's just worse. And that's really annoying to know.) I still very much enjoy it on my part, but it feels like there is something missing, a bunch of room for more stuff. For example, I feel like Plunge should've been split into the gap closer AND perhaps another attack button, which would give a little more meaningful stuff to do, but I also don't know how it would fit together with everything else. I love the new Bloodspiller variations and Disesteem, but the latter is also a two minute. The less "substantial" DPS is truly what jumped out to me cause as mostly a dungeon runner I do find TBN procs really satisfying, so I at least want them to keep that aspect. I've also seen the "this is more unique" sentiment around for stuff that sounds just "worse" and I'm not sure I agree with that, either. Maybe, for example, instead of removing the death aspect for Living Dead, you make it more substantial or give it specifically an effect? Finally, my thing with the "busy opener" complaint is that the players playing on lower levels aren't really affected by it much. You don't actually *need* to optimise for most content. It's a fun bonus. I absolutely stumbled through DT's EXs. But all of the players are going to feel if the rest of the rotation isn't as "substantial". At the same time, from what I gather, Summoner is one of the most played jobs and it is also played by a lot of players because it is simple, which also seems like an aspect they consider when designing jobs. Accessibility, right? But in this case as much as I still do enjoy the job, it just feels less fun to me than it was. Viper is super simple, but feels more complete than DRK to me, for example. Again, this is from soneone who doesn't know the game as much and mostly plays lower level content. Loved your video, particularly you being honest and direct about your personal opinion.

I'm not smart enough to figure out a replacement/improvement for the mana system, instead I'll point to what I think the main issue with drk design has always been, it SHOULD be the tank that heals itself by damaging the enemy. It even has a combo action that does, but compared to War, it doesnt even come close...and that's the issue, War came first and took that design as a means of standing out from Pld, so now Drk's mitigation kit feels anemic, and it always has. People said for the longest that TBN was the best defensive mit, but it was inexorably tied to the clunky mana management design, and thats largely all we've had. I mean TBN is rly good for tankbusters sure, and it's reliable on dungeon pulls, but even then you get back to mana. I don't personally hate DRK as is, it's serviceable. But yeah, there's really nothing they can do for QoL (except reduce shadowed vigil CD) until they design mana/tbn usage

I like warrior because ungabunga brain smooth but i really hope they make dark knight better for you and more fun to play

they should give continuation to bloodspillers : )))))))))))))

I started playing DRK in ShB since second savage tier, from the moment they released tooltips for 7.0 I knew I wasn't as happy with how they handled 7.0 DRK. I said this to my friends, I love DRK, I love the job, but I am trying other tanks and will keep practicing on them because the feeling of "griefing" due these small hicups it's so apparent now. I am on my way to play PLD just for how the tier was made in regards magical DMG, and even then makes me sad because I'm hella one trick and I wish I didn't feel the need to. People can argue and say "Play whatever you want" because technically you can, but when you play a support job and situations like the ones you mention like the one on UWU where you only sit there and watch or when you can't use TBN as much without griefing your mana for 2 mins, it feels bad... and that shouldn't be a thing. PS. TBN is a 2019 skill, pls change.

What if they just doubled the MP regained from blood weapon? I don't play DRK so I don't know if that would push into overcap range but it would be a very simple solution to fix the Blood Weapon change. As an aside, my proposed TBN change would be: Combine with Oblation, 25s, no mana. Normal TBN shield, normal Oblation mit. If the shield breaks, CD -10s. If it expires without the shield breaking, heal for the same amount of remaining shields.

Dark knight when the healer goes down: "Objective: Survive" Halo Reach reference for those that don't know.

I'm a fresh DRK (but already a long term raider) and I have to say that apart from the mitigation (no sustain compared to other tanks, TBN consuming MP) I really like this class in the form it has now. I find it very enjoyable to play with it, although I know that most don't like how this class looks in DT.

It's not relevant content but as someone going through alex mine it's even worse in level 60 compared to other tanks. No TBN. No gauge at all. EVERY other tank has its short cooldown at this level. EVERY other tank has some kind of 2m burst.

yesir

I wont ever stop playing DRK. Not ever. Theres no state they can put it in to ever make me change. And i 100% agree with everything said. of course. I want my job to be better.

tbn is fine darkmind is fine dark missionary is fine oblation is fine rotation is not fine mana is not fine LD is rarely not fine

I don't think you can compare high ogcd usage of a dps and a tank back to back. reason - tanks with to many ogcd's will become pressured with them and sometimes forcing drifts or just being off tank isntead of main tank. Purely because too many off globals, especially double weaves. Makes it harder to get any personal mits out before a big hit on you. and with major mechanics usually occuring around 2m often enough (and 1m), increasing that level of business on tanks can become problematic. Think old gnb, where it would mostly OT not MT purely because of how many ogcd's were causing issues in getting defensives going in some scenarios. Even on my viper i need to be very careful where I use certain skills if I'm also feinting that part of the fight. Especially if they want feint to cover 2 mechanics and I can't move it more than a gcd of space to fit it in that specific time.

God it's so insane to me that they changed BW like and DIDN'T ADJUST THE MANA REGEN TO ACCOUNT FOR IT!?!?!? LIKE THAT'S STEP FUCKING ONE!?

Comically good musical taste my liege

Tanking has always been my off role, I mainly play melee, but I do still do EX and Savage as tank when I feel like a change. DRK has always been my favorite tank, but think I agree with nearly every point you make. I think the biggest issue to me is that they've slowly removed the business and complexity of the job over multiple expansions, culminating in a situation where, as you highlighted, you spend nearly 2 minutes at a time pressing 123. It's just not interesting. What I don't want to see is them turn the job into a 1 minute job like every other tank. I like it having really big burst on the 2 minute windows, I think it's a defining trait of the job, especially with the current 2 minute buff window that they seem to be sticking with. That doesn't, however, mean that they should make the 1 minute windows meaningless, which is what it feels like they've done. I would love to see them make 2 minor changes: 1) a simple number change, make Delirium combo give 1000 mana per hit instead of 600. Net neutral, keeps it 3 charges and 3 hits, but gain the same mana back as Blood Weapon at 5 charges. 2) Make Delirium combo give a charge of Dark Arts after each hit, giving you 3 free Edge of Shadow's every minute. It would give you the continuation feeling of other jobs without making a huge change to the job and it also means banking a ton of mana and not being able to burn some for TBN doesn't feel so bad. Oh, and make Carve and Spit not share CD with Abyssal Drain please. They serve two different purposes, why do I have to choose one or the other just because you don't want me weaving it for minor gains in single target? As for TBN, I do feel like it needs something, but I don't know what. I think a regen after it breaks, unless it's a really powerful one, doesn't really do much. Maybe an Excog if it breaks might be neat? I've seen a lot of arguments to remove it's mana cost, but then you literally have no reason to manage mana at all, and then you have two resource gauges that are useless. As a melee player, seeing SAM get basically a better version of Oblation, on a shorter CD, just seems weird (their melee personal defensive choices in EW and DT have been weird choices and I would kill to have Tengetsu on every melee job). Maybe make Oblation have a short regen on it like Tengetsu? Then maybe TBN doesn't need anything? Maybe some combination, regen on Oblation, Excog on TBN break? This is where my biggest hang up on how to change it would be without a major overhaul. I think the damage rotation section though is an easy fix with a few minor tweaks.

Aren't your points about losing damage on plunge and less mana income just completely invalidated since the adps is the highest? Devs clearly thought about it and balanced base potencies and other jobs around the changes.

I love DRK forever will.

Dude