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

Has anyone ever tried /THF in super short (~30 second) buffed zergs before over /SAM or /WAR? With capped attack, /WAR is less attractive, with capped haste and accuracy, Hasso is less attractive, and when you can have Soul Enslavement up the whole fight, /SAM's STP is less attractive.

I was in a WoC group last night with 12 people, with the DDs being 4 SMNs and 2 normal DD (no, not optimal, but it was a linkshell event and we took what we had), and in fights that short, I was actually getting an improvement to DPS compared to /SAM by starting off with a Sneak Attack+Soldier's Drink Torcleaver (and then popping Soul Enslavement and fighting like normal). Starting off with a ~85-90k WS instead of a ~50k one is pretty nice when you're only WSing like 6 times before it dies.

Old school option for a lot of DD, issue is with that you miss the chance by having a SA melee hit before you get the ws off. It is an very nice option but then if you also DO not get the kill that fast your DPS drops if it gets bene off or a chance Charmga or Mijin. The old sayins "Slow and steady wins the race" = /sam or /war.
There is always more than 1 way to do a fight, but with what you have context you made the best call I think.

So been playing around with scythe on wkr, not best test subjects but nothing else has much hp and its just for fun. Never before able to break 50k CR on them though, and now can quite often using apoc. So neat little dps for sure from the Ratri on CR.

How has other experience been? I actually want to try this out on some Helms/Woc/Kirin soon if I can ever go DRK to them XD.

Can you share the set you are using with Ratri gear?

Here has my sets

Has anyone ever tried making a proper Shockwave set focused on the additional effect? It'd probably have full Flamma +1, and magic accuracy in most accessory slots.

I'm wondering if packing in as much magic accuracy as you can (without sacrificing accuracy) can actually make it land on things like Omen and Incursion (130+) fodder.

omen fodder it lands fine.

I use a mix of founders/carmine/hq flamma and Mac accessories in my shockwave set which I have used in omen/dyna/lots of places along with infernal scythe,herc slash, guillotine, etc. Another tool in the kit, happy to see them looking at these type of ws's

Anyone know if while dread spikes is up, do mobs that hit you with +dmg gear on, do you drain the original amount or the +dmg amount?

Example
Rabbit hit me for 400 normally, and dread spikes drains back 400
Now, said Rabbit hits me for 400 and my Ratri gear bumps that up 50% to 600. Would my dread spikes drain 400 or 600?

I cant log in atm to test, so I was hoping someone else has or could.

It should would be simple test really just find mob that doesn't have dark/magic resistances. I'm nearly 100% sure of it since I generally use dreads before popping scarlet as a safety net

Posted similar question in omen thread but this is probably better place~ what are some 4 steps for great sword an scythe (cping/killing solo, apoc user/monte+1)

And assuming dagger/scythe/great sword/sword access, is there a 6 step I can do for omen objective? Prefer magic ws but just wanna
contribute in everyway I can. Thanks in advance, have a sc chart but not sure if some just end after a couple steps.

Probably won't matter but I have a bzhagnol and high a stp/multi hit gear lol

Your go-to with Apoc will prob be Cata > CR > Cata. It's a double dark and great for Drain III/AM activation and the like.

This was pulled from Saevel on the SC thread here. They also have magical ws options which is why I pulled it. You will find that the first one listed will melt Apex mobs pretty quick. But credit for actually writing it out goes to Saev.( TY good sir)

Ty too you and saev for that

Great Swords Algol, Nagerling are still the best 75 ones other than Ragnarok, Suzaku's Scythe with synergy augments(115 88+27 max) can go higher damage than augmented ToTM Apoc (112) and it can get 2 haste on it. You really want a 2H weapon since Last Resort can give 25% haste, and the ridiculous smite bonus.

the fay augmented weapons had some decent stats too ~ martial scythe and subduer were other good alternatives. oh and kraken club/ridll + maneater

I still have my subduer and destroyers. Got a lot of mileage out of both of them.

I'm toying with the idea of making an apocalypse, or really just another weapon in general. I already have an AGed ragnarok. Are there enough instances where I could potentially use Apocalypse, that would make it worth spending the time and effort on the weapon? Its a situational weapon and i know that there are those that are in love with it. So I guess what im asking is those of you that have Apocalypse and Rag/Caladbolg, how often do you need Apocalypse?

I dont want to shell out 180 mill for a weapon that I might use for one or two fights.

I just posted on the advanced thread, take a read - maybe it can help you make that personal choice of doing apoc or not.

You don't need apocalypse, nor do you need ragnarok.
Both items reflect different qualities, and at the end of the day should be based on your preference for play style and/or the needs of your groups for events.


Though realistically, if you're playing WAR or DRK in a group setting you're probably being allowed to play whatever you want since your group members are on support/tanks, or there isn't risk of DPS dying before a tank would.

And they fall into two categories.
Raw damage output in a very short period of time: ragnarok
Sometimes useful utility but very situational: apocalypse + soul enslavement/last resort puts a stop to enemy ws's at low% hp (omen bosses)

I have to ask.. Why does everyone use lower level of dark skill over macc in absorb sets? BG Wiki says "It is worth noting that the potency of these spells is not enhanced by Dark Magic Skill." So why not use gear with much higher macc?

Dark Skill = longer duration on abs spells (look at the last 4 pages you would have seen this). Plus the sets you see would be the most potent sets. This is a general unsaid rule of any set, for example "Why does that reso set only have 1150 acc" etc. We normally use posted sets as a base max potency set, sets that have highest skill/str/vit (or what gives best dps) etc depending on its function. From there we hope that one could infer when they need more acc, or in this case macc and adjust their personal gear accordingly. There are just to many gear swaps one could do and to list them would be tedious and boring for any reader.

I do agree though that a "macc set" should probably be posted at some point and I will probably show what I use for high macc on the advanced thread. However with that said the macc set is primarily for enfebling though its technically useful for abs too.

The hard reality though is even with a macc set your still probably getting resisted on 135+ content, which would be the only content of real worry anymore. Second that to the fact you should not really be casting midfight as your dps will tank more than those buffs will help means that none really cares to much. Then add that to the point of the situations where you would need to have abs buffs, you will have fodder around to use it on pre pop is quite common. For example before woc/kirin I will grab one of the surrounding mobs which are lv109~ and wont resist me, which means using max potency/duration. Same goes for ALL helm fights, I never do them at #9 which means I can 100% always have a mob by to be my abs battery, and right before a pop my DS/NV drain3 mob too. If your really on the ball and know how to play you will then pop a revit (assuming you have access to it from npc) and DS/NV again right b4 the pop happens allowing you to engage while casting yet another max abs to go along with your 5+ min dran3.

When you DS/NV your resist rates are minimal and your abs if you use the gear I do, will put you at well over 7 mins. plenty of time for most fights for that super sexy 59 str/vit/acc that also weakens your prey! Doing it this way you have +27 to all stats for 5+ mins, 4500-7k hp (9999 if you burst) for 5+ mins, AND one stat at +59 for 7+ mins. So you can see the situations you actually would use abs you shouldn't be getting resisted anyhow even in a low macc set. Hope this helps! I know its a read haha.

I don't use this set but I put it together for you :D this would be BiS macc gear (I may have overlooked some spot, so point it out please if I have). My Macc set is very similar though, but NQ gear/swaps with similar macc.

ItemSet 351736

+363/413 with lib. Not including macc from skill gains. So Actually if you had the gil to try, I am betting this might even work on higher level mobs. This set would only set you back 1.3 billion gil though at current market prices :D

My macc set is about 65 macc behind this though and I cant land abs spells on high level content, so keep that in mind. I dont have lib 'yet' so add that and your looking at 115 which is a huge deal. So for lib users, it may be feasable and worthwhile... maybe one can chime in? But i still think for the rest of us and how easy to grab a fodder mob is, its just not worth it. You also have to realize you will have very short timers on your abs with this.

This so much. I haven't had the opportunity to really play around in escha/Helms until recently as I don't have access to the revit. still and I am often on cor (lack of support jobs on some or needed as others on a per fight basis). Trying to ensure how others know how drk plays(since this is generally how we did sky wayyyyyyy back, fodder-battery mob) is harder as I know I can easily miss certain things/have a lack of understanding in them(like in multistepping, I am still learning) but my high macc sets I generally only use on ws's for added effects like guilly/infernal/shockwave/herc or solo/doing pulls though there are instances its still handy to have. Approaching non-DM cap on fast cast now which is a personal goal for really no reason lol

yes thats a great point about the status ws's since SE is going to update them possibly this week. That could be a huge deal actually and a good reason to at least be getting aware of your macc options that also work in ws.

Im a few upgrades away from 80 FC, getting so close it kills me! Getting 6 FC on odys feet/body/legs gear can be a pain in the butt for sure and expensive bc its fern stones on pieces you otherwise would never use fern on. I find its quite useful though as I hate jumping out of hasso and with this set so high FC I can kinda of feel like im ok...... On thing though is I notice my FC set has alot less hp (200 or so) than my tp/idle sets so I have opted in low FC slotts to add some HP+ so im not losing 200hp every time I cast something. I think overall for what drks purpose is that this could be more advantageous too.

Took about 6 pages but I did find it.... man I wish info like that could be stickied somewhere.... I normally RTFM before I ask but with so many pages..... I have been doing fights with not really any fodder mobs to grab so I have been doing DS/NV Absorb-Vit and it lands very often. I dont have D3 yet and D2 just doesnt cut the cake without a MB and my shell spams WS without regard for Skillchains. I am a skillchain *** and Love how much I can close on scythe with the other people that I play with. Our Top DD is a Lionheart Run so I dont get to use scythe much as Torcleaver just curb stomps my Cross Reaper.

Even with Lib I havent landed anything but maybe a handful of times on a few mobs, and my 'Macc' set is no different than the one AZ posted minus the HQ pieces besides Carmine

Thanks ballzack for the feeback, I figured that was the case. One thing I was thinking about though, that maybe you or any lib drk could maybe attempt is using that new 90 acc / 90 macc food? I know its expensive, but its for science! My assumption due to RDM friend telling me in the past they have had 500-something macc, if you had a Lib you should be getting very close to that and it would be nice to get a feel for "how much macc" is really needed, not just for things like abs but I will assume SE will give the status based Ws's an inherent +100 macc, meaning you could do it in your current macc set, but without said 200k food. Give it a shot on something like woc/kirin or a helm if you could and post the result. Its possible we arent that 'far' off from being able to use magic on endgame mobs, which honestly could provide to be useful from a pty dps perspective if you manaburn of your darkness SC, then having an abs int will not only boost your dmg but the parties by a bit, could be interesting and maybe a thought of SE since they loaded ratri with so much mcc.

I actually have a few pieces, was gonna use it for Cor on a few things, I can give it a whirl next time we do something though, granted atm I dont know when that'll be besides Ou which we do pretty much every other day lol

With ou's level and easiness/time to be able to cast (cant do much before 95% anyhow rather than 20+ casting!), I think hes an ideal target!

First impressions of Shockwave's additional effect of Sleep is positive. I could sleep in Omen pre-update but there would be some resists, but now it seems totally reliable on Transcended and Sweetwaters.

This is very useful for WARs or DRKs who like to pull lots of mobs while using trusts, as your tank might be slow to get hate on everything. Also, it's an alternative if you don't have a spare BLM or none of the DDs are BLU. It should make those NQ monster floors and card runs easier as you can pull a lot more. Not tried it on Panopts yet .. but I'm about to enter again to try it.

Using a set similar to the magic accuracy one Azagarth posted above, except I'm using Flamma +1s and AF119+2 feet. Sangoma is a decent alternative to Regal if you don't have. Even so, I don't think you need ridiculous amounts of MACC to land sleep easy.

Ya I am trying to figure how to gear best for it. Need acc and macc, since if you miss the ws your obviously not landing that sleep haha. What are your sets looking like?