(Don't) Fear The Reaper: A Dark Knight Guide

Wouldn't Apoc allow you to ramp up white damage after drain 3 using Souleater and Cata spam to stay high? 6k to 9k HP would be a safe zone for Souleater to do its thing. It creates Darkness for future drains to keep max HP high.

It's a Schah parse, not unity or escha-Zitah mob.
The 2-3% difference refers to 200+k dmg, not a melee round.
I should remember to sshot more...

WS DMG is a bigger contributer to total dmg.I think sacrificing the use of Cross Reaper or Insurgency for Catastrophe would be more deterimental towards total dps in this situation. Also those seconds lost casting would hurt even more in a fight that only lasts 1-2 minutes. On something like Schah casting might be benefitial, but spamming catastrophe or even occassional using it to top your HP would be a great drop in maximum dps.

I don't have Apoc so I don't know how much Cata does vs. those two. But you'd also get 20% double damage on first melee hit. With 500 extra damage on melee from Souleater that'd be like 2500 extra every 4 hits before WS. Cata's that far behind those WSes?

And I'd think it's worth toying with the idea of an occasional Drain III vs being in a hybrid DT set for longer and the benefits downsides to each. You'd want to do either at times because a dead DD isn't doing anything for the parse.

In regards of the person that posted prime's videos about the parses and stuff, those were pre-smite bur right now the latest parses we had, he won like 7-3 on a buffed situation using his war, on hus drk would be the same because it has even more attack.

Well I stand corrected on DRK and WAR vs Blu.

Might want to review the drk thread, a while back I posted a quick screenshot of when I jumped on apoc drk and ran up 3k+ dps with trash scythe sets in ambuscade.
Apoc has it's place, it is still behind Redemption and Anguta, doesn't compete with greatsword. But a double coloda blu would have trouble staying ahead of a decked out apoc drk. Not to mention the massive hp a drain 3 drk gets, the ability to skillchain endlessly, and with cata, you can run souleater with 7k hp. That is a lot of dps. Cross Reaper is capable of hitting more than 30k a swing and with as fast as scythe can build tp it isn't a stretch, you just need the right sets.

Sadly there are no updates spreedsheets that I know of. I dont have the want/time either to produce one.

I have a very competitive blu/thf/cor etc too so I know what their dmg potential is. I use to use blu alot when it was bandwagoned and I was newer. Then I started to get a better drk and it started to deal what my blu did, so my ls wanting better chaos rolls for all the dds kept me coming drk. That alone boosted alliance dps which was nice for the blu and cors :D. Nowdays I am only losing a parse if I am lazy/off day or some bs mechanics happen like para proc on a JA or something, terror/stunned/amensia etc. I also do not play with slouch DD's. Our blus have BiS gear same with thfs etc, even our masa sams and lionheart runs are top geared. None have beat my dmg output except the Run on WoC bc he resists every stun. There has been no job that has made me say "I wonder if I should lv that job to have better dps".

Now wih that said the difference between top end DD's isnt so big that you are pigeonholed into one. I still regularly use different DD's for a change of scenery, etc and pull good enough numbers to kill stuff. I actually find cor savage spam very fun because I know I will lose, but I like to see how much I can close that gap (im competitive).

In Omen though its just stupid silly how far ahead my drk is on bosses. Drk is just King there for melee DD hands down. That arcane killer is just silly powerful, and add that to the fact I run around with 4500+ hp the whole run, means alot. Normally mid lv bosses im at 6k and can eat stuff a normally DD would be one shot by, Gorger-Quad/Craver-throat stab/tinker-pain sync. None of these are very scrayy with an on the ball whm. And honestly I have been using apoc A LOT now in omen. I can pull very respectable numbers off cata and CR isnt doing bad either. I am actually quite surprised at its dps, and yes I beat your avg alamce/sequence tiz/almace blus even with scythe so there goes your colada argument. CR wil still do 40k dmg at 3k tp, its not like its a horrible ws. cata will do in mid teens, etc. With anguta as I posted in my drk thread, I feel it could be a powerhouse - i need to make one to test.

as for survivability.... war has awesome -50dt DD setups so that is a non issue one a smart war. DRK has ability to have 4500-9999 hp all the time nearly any event.

So, I spent a little time out in apex today working on apoc tp sets and cross reaper builds.

I am able to run 22% haste (still cap with at least 34% magic haste, not hard to get), 31% DA, 3hit apoc build. Went with trust buffs and a human cor for sam roll to make my 3hit build work (couldn't get it without the human cor) My trust consisted of joachim, koru, and quatilda, needless to say I had evoker roll and mages ballad often. I think the best buffs I got out of it all was human sam roll and haste 2 as koru seemed to forget rdm gets dia 3.

Anyway, after tweaking my Cross Reaper sets back and forth for a while I ended up blending Str with WSdmg% From that and loltrust buffs, I was able to hold consistant 24k ws avg on apex crabs. Timing my ws properly with trust buffs I was also able to hold over 2k dps.

I think tomorrow I might try to get a few real people to buff me and see what I can do with apoc. As I said months ago, people seriously underestimated Apoc for a long time. Honestly I think it is because nobody has really worked on scythe builds and everyone has been stuck on the rag/reso only. Now that we have more people running drk in various ways we are seeing drk has impressive dps with other weapons.

I am in the process of getting caladbolg to 119 AG, just being lazy on the hmp, furthermore I have started empy scythe, I really want to play around with that +35 str/mnd and that 50% deal triple dmg. After tweaking my sets today I, more so than the past, believe scythe has a serious hidden potential not many people have explored since reso came out.

Yes with the ability to much easier maintain a 3-hit (ws+2hit) build even on apoc it could really have some great revival. I am currently prepping for this too and have done some testing today haha. in terms of stp for those wanting to play around you need (for apoc 513 delay) 60 during ws, and 150 for tp phase. You can wiggle these around too based off what you use but I am finding top end CR sets maintain NO stp.

What it really boils down to is the need for a cor, for a 3hit you really need to have 60 stp from the cor. Its not unrealistic to get 60 stp from a cor now. The base for a cor+ring = 60 on a lucky 11, on a sam bonus 2 (lucky 52+10) or a crooked 2/10 will also work. If your cor has the new +7 roll neck then that opens up even more options. In most scenarios I can roll a lucky sams roll or crooked it nearly full time, so there is little excuse if you coordinate with your cor.

I made a post on the advanced drk forum too about anguta, it makes 3-hit setups with a cor just crazy easy to do, as in replace your apoc in your 4hit set and your done basically.

Hey guys!

Looking to build a high-acc set and have some questions about the set in the guide.

It suggests using Carmine, but since the feet doesn't have any base accuracy I feel that the set bonus goes to waste. Am I wrong or is there something I'm not seeing?

What kind of acc sets do you guys use?

17.5-21 ACC from B Path, depending on NQ/HQ. 20-50 additional from set bonus.

So let's see here.

B path
Carmine mask +1
DEX 37
ACC 50

Carmine Cuisses
DEX 12
ACC 37

Carmine Greaves
DEX 28
acc 12

Set bonus +30 ACC

total
DEX 77
ACC 129


My normal TP set
argosy celata +1
dex 42
acc 50

Odyssean cuisses
acc 43

Flamma gambieras
DEX 30
acc 37

Total
dex 72
acc 130

Trading my normal TP set with these carmine pieces would give me slightly higher DEX vs slightly lower acc.

On the side I would lose DA and STP

ChangeLog (3/22/2017):

• Added Banner Titles for each section, so it looks less like Walls of Text and more like a guide.

• Edited Details in Chapter IV, Section "Merit Points and Merit Groups."

• Edited a crucial detail about Fallen +1 set.

• Currently sifting through the Advanced DRK thread to post top-end gear sets.

Just a heads up, those are my actual sets XD, they arent the best. However they are very top end I feel, and something I bet most drks can aspire to get (I am an avg player time wise I feel).

This is not to start a fight, but argosy+1 body I have a chance to get for a decent price. I just feel im throwing money away though since I got af+3, has anyone been able to spreedsheet or do anything to close that unknown? I know we had talked about it earlier but it went into a ***on ppl hypothesizing, but at that point we didnt understand Utu grip dex effect, and all the extras that have come out since like set bonuses, regal ring etc. I am leaning that it would be top dps, but by so little I may be better off buying dark matter and hoping for a crazy DM augs lmao. Its purely a reso piece anyhow anymore, something I use less daily.

IDK what your total stats look like but I'll assume around 675 base damage with Rag, fSTR, STR mod and DEX mod with capped cRatio. You lose 1-2 base damage from rounding from DEX, no big deal, will only be a difference of about 11 damage in the end. The STR will be the same so the only real difference is DA vs the WSD. Just going to assume 2K TP, since Savagery and Moonshade puts you pretty close and there is always the potential for overflow, but 2K because I'm lazy. Also ignoring the 3% QA so I can just use a quick binomial. Figuring around 70% DA with fighter's and Argosy so 65% for Ign. +3. With 100% hit rate:

(5201+4408*4)*.1225+(5201+4408*5)*.455+(5201+4408*6)*.4225 = 28563.4

(4760+4408*4)*.09+(4760+4408*5)*.42+(4760+4408*6)*.49 = 28563.2

The first one is Ign. +3, just a quick write up to show you how close they are.

So with af+3 having greater acc, theres just is not a reason anymore for argosy+1 from what I gather, makes sense to me lol. I am bad with math, but now alot richer.

Ok so I recently returned and I'm seeing other darks hitting like a truck for like 20 or 30k....I hit for like 7k reso lol. I got no job points and gear from delve bosses. Is job points what makes that kind of dmg difference? I know I don't got all 119 gear but geez.

Also see sams hitting mad hard. Which is easy to gear now days, sam or drk?

sam or drk? its drk forms.... not really the best place to post that. But yes both are good, i prefer drk bc I can you know... do everything a sam can and then some.

So you 7k reso is of a few things. A- your missing hits, check your acc. B - your under geared by a lot. C - yes JP make a big difference but moreso your buffs. Just keep at it all of those points are easily fixed with time/work.

I prefer drk as well for the solo and utility. I think it solo a lot better then sam. But sam ws spam is fun too lol. Both of mine are gearedto about the same lvl. That's why I asked which is easyer to gear now days.

Any job you want to excel at will require lots of time and effort into gearing. DRK may take a bit more due to the addition of magic sets for FC/Absorbs/Dreads/etc. It all depends on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go.

It's all a matter of preference at this point of the game. Both jobs will be equally time-consuming to gear.

As for Weaponskills:

• If you're doing Skillchains, use Torcleaver. /SAM you can self-SC light to push out some heavy burst damage. It has a higher fTP mod than Resolution does at 1000-1500 TP, so use that to your advantage as well.

• If you're doing raw damage, build up to between 1750~2000 TP to push out bigger Reso numbers. Not only does this increase your average dps, but you'll be more consistent. (I'd also recommend doing this when you've got BRD/COR buffs.)

Yeah that's kinda how I'm doing it but I'm not pulling that many in dyna valk. Am I in the wrong zone? Also I never get a white proc on nms and I follow the ja proc times

Checked back a decent amount of pages and haven't seen anyone post a spreadsheet. Has there been one that's been updated recently for DRK?

Nope, none for years...

Someone had expressed working on one, but I haven't seen anything else about it. Nightfyre also said he might come up with a spreadsheet when I asked about it, but didn't have any immediate plans at the time. I would personally take on the task, but I the only experience I have with dps spreadsheets is using one. I would gladly host a collaborative effort, however.

Also, I know I said I was scanning the gear sets in the advanced DRK guide, but I'm almost finished with getting my DRK caught up on gear, so I'll get around to making updates to the guide soon.

Just need the Flamma+1 Body and Legs, and I'll worry about Valorous/Argosy/Carmine later on.

Just skip those flamma and devote your time elsewhere. Both are inferior to other easy to obtain gear. The time you would have to spend to farm up that amount of gallantry is just silly high.