Souleater + Consume Mana

Two DRK job abilities I seem to neglect these days, one more than the other, are Souleater and Consume Mana.

Sure, pairing Souleater + Blood Weapon has always been fun, but what if Blood Weapon isn't available? Is it worth the JA delay of popping it for one WS and then canceling? I used to do this all the time, and then I stopped because it felt like an inconvenience. It didn't look like I was gaining enough. Yet, being able to get HP as high as we can now, are people popping Souleater and leaving it on for a while?

As for Consume Mana, I have always hated this move. It never got in to my playstyle for a moment, even as a Scythe user. And again, it just felt like the JA delay was more of a hindrance. Do people only use this with Entropy? And if so, why? I only use this WS to get my MP back, or as part of a SC, and it just feels like a waste of a move. Is it just me?

the dmg increase of SE these days isnt really as much as it used to be, that said with all the stalwart soul DRK gets its hardly as costly these days as back when it was 10%/swing and all of drks best WS' were multi-hit

CM i just plainly forget exists oftentimes if you dont need the MP and have some manner of refresh i guess its worth it for a WS, or it triggers a low mp latent but not aware of any current gear that would apply

I use SE often with apoc, never use it without, though yes techincally it can increase your dps if you are alive.

CM I do use also, but not to often and only when entropy is part of my sc. There are a few multi steps when you can use entropy.

The good thing is not using either isnt a real dps change anyhow. The bad thing is we have 2 wasted ja's at this point that SE needs to address (beef up)

Souleater: The chunks of hp don't matter too much when you have over 5k hp. Let alone 9999. Kind of funny to see red hp at 3k. Nice to use with torcleaver.

Consume Mana: I try to work it into my routine. Especially if I'm using a scythe. Any other weapon then it'll depend on the situation. Always nice to have that little bit of extra damage. Usually I forget about. I mainly use a great sword.

Do we even know if Consume Mana works for all hits of the WS and not just first? making it kinda low boost for Entropy?

dont think anyone assumed it did, just that entropy bypasses the mp drain

What a point to use it, if you assume it works for 1st hit only tho? Damage you lose with JA ability delay is higher than you get from ability. Kinda pointless.

Lets assume you have 1000MP (Im guessing but it doesn't really matter that much). So you get 100 base damage. Entropy has like base of 600 damage? So thats 16% increase on one hit and on avg you have like 5hits with Entropy (more with Liberator AM3). So that gives us 3.2% increase in total WS damage in exchange for 1 sec delay. Totally not worth it, if it works that way.

I agree, it's a shoddy ability and not worth the draw back, fact it might not even be worth the ja delay makes it even moreso. Always thought it should have just been MP souleater, or simply 1:1 the dmg:mp and have it be a worse SA/TA, as is the tradeoff of having all your MP taken doesnt justify itself

It just needs more potency to be worth using. 1 DMG per 10 MP is pretty crappy when we have like 800-900 MP at most outside of Escha and we WS in like 600 DMG between ilvl weapons and huge stat mods.

Just make it a flat +1% damage on your next weaponskill per 5 MP, and while it'd still be situational, it'd actually be useful when you can afford to kill your MP bar.

Thanks guys, this is good confirmation that I'm not missing out by forgetting these. I could work Souleater in more, but only with high hp, and preferably while not being targeted.

Only time I use souleater is to generate enmity when starting a fight where I'm tanking or pulling adds off a tank (and then clicking it off). Stun / Absorb spells work as well however.

Souleater is only worth using with Blood Weapon unless you want to annoy your busy healer... The damage gain and small acc boost is laughable in 2022. To be fair, it's still a good tool for grabbing hate.

Consume Mana is only worth using if you have a Drepanum. It will cap the skillchain bonus (50%) on the scythe when it zeros out your mp. Entropy back your mp when you need it for something (like Dread, Drain, etc.)

Unfortunately, you are correct in your assumption that these are very lackluster job abilities.

I was eyeing Consume Mana for RUN/DRK or PLD/DRK but I am far too lazy to get either up to max mastery levels to test it anytime soon. I'm sure it's not great, but both jobs have several ways to regain MP.

PLD has a much better damage to MP set. I'm sure boredom will overcome laziness eventually. Definitely don't think this is a good idea, but if you're /DRK anyways you might as well try to get some use out of it.