Yeah, I really think that the 8.0 identity work for jobs is going to be a make or break moment for Dark Knight. It needs big changes, and if they don't do something drastic by then it's going to be a real problem.

Choice is good!

Krile got the short end for sure

Could've been me lmao

Definitely more unique! I think it would struggle in balance, but it definitely could work.

Never know what'll happen with the sweep in 8.0 I guess

It would be super fun to play a sort of "blood tank" version of Dark Knight for sure!

A very good list!

A bold statement. Brave even.

I think utilizing HP as a resource could be really cool, but I feel like they would struggle to make the balance exist where it would reliably tank content and deal with those mechanics simultaneously. If DRK was a DPS however, that would be a super fun gimmick to explore.

@@sharlayanforum Oh for sure it would be a nightmare to balance and I wouldn't want to be a part of the team trying to do it. It's more of long shot idea to both create some changes on the class to make it fun and functional while still appeasing those who want to maintain its uniqueness from other tanks and overall job identity.

Yeah, that was more of an example than an actual hard set scenario. The point is that same.

I think there's still space to give DRK it's own transformation! My guess is they probably considered this and then went with Living Shadow instead, and the idea got repurposed into Reaper.

And that's okay! I enjoy a lot of things that I think could also be better.

While I understand the sentiment, a job designed like HW Dark Knight in todays landscape would go over like a lead balloon. I think there's definitely a balance that can be struck between the design of old DRK and new DRK, and that the solutio is probably in the middle somewhere. It's important to be realistic, but I appreciate the passion!

@@user-on5dl9hc2z 🍤

Yeah, I played a lot of DRK when it came out in 3.0, so I have fond memories of being able to Dark Art an Abyssal Drain and get stupid value from it.

@sharlayanforum YES exactly And Abyssal Drain radius is so unique, especially back then, ranged aoe GCD on a tank. Well now PLD burst window, ranged aoe giant magic sword combo is exactly that lol.

Glad to see I wasn't too far off from a list of someone who plays it way more than I do!

TBN breaking into Shadowbringer would create more problems, You'll find people using TBN WAY more frequently to keep getting SHB procs making TBN a Damage cooldown rather than a defensive. Having a "Defensive" Cooldown also be a Huge DPS buff is too much. I would be happy with the rest of the list tho.

@@ExodistPR Yeah, I think they either need to go all the way on TBN being an offensive ability or all the way in on it being defensive. Having this weird conditional formatting on it where its half-baked on either just doesn't work.

That's fine if you feel that way, and I'm sure you're not alone! Just know the majority of people disagree with you and think that DRK needs some changes.

@@sharlayanforum I don't think you understand. I've been playing FFXIV since 1.0. I've watched the game get turned into what it is due to cry babies who can't put in effort. Is this job too hard? Please make it simple! Is there too many buttons? Please simplify! Is this not to your liking? Please change! I'm getting sick of it. If you like Warrior's kits, Paladin's kits, Gun Breaker's kits... Then go play those damn jobs. There are dark knights who stuck with the job through thick and thin, we don't want to be like other tanks. In fact, the shittier Drk is, the more it'll weed out garbage tanks. Go play the easier tanks. There is so much catering to the masses, that game is turning into a joke. It kinda already has, if you played DT. What a shitty MSQ. Look I'll meet you half way. Some skills can be reworked. But I don't want Drk to be like other tanks. This homogenization crap they are focusing on is making the game boring AF.

​@aksh7811 what you don't understand is, current DRK literally has nothing going for it. You have to try even harder than other tanks to stay alive at the mercy of dogshit healers. If other tanks have a bad healer, they use their OP self heal on short CD. DRK's version doesn't heal, just a paper thin shield for dungeon mobs that cost dmg resource of their MP for no reason. TBN contradicts itself, refund free dark dmg ability if shield breaks but use too strong of mitigation ability and it doesn't. You've played since 1.0, have you forgot how good 3.x and especially 4.x DRK was? Salted Earth use to give Blood Gauge per tick, Abyssal Drain was a GCD with dark Arts would heal more then current warrior, Sole Survivor on a killed enemy would heal your HP/MP, being hit with Blood Price would restore MP, you actually had to manage your MP as darkside dps stance drained. Unlike now, just save 3k MP for TBN, burn the rest. 5.x onward ruined DRK removing all those unique skills. its been basic glass cannon brain dead lesser warrior beatstick since 2019.

@aksh7811 I get it. I've played since ARR Early Access. I've seen the changes and seen things come and go too, man. What I think you don't understand is that if FFXIV was designed now, in 2024, like it was in 2014, the game would be dead. The design of old jobs was needlessly obtuse and friction filled because they were working with things that they had from 1.0, which was basically "How annoying can we make this" the game. If content was designed like 2.0 or 3.0 today, people would not do it. If jobs were designed like 2.0 or 3.0 today, people would not play them. What is good for you, as an individual players enjoyment, is often not going to be in line with what is good for the games health as an entirety. We either accept that fact, and find ways to enjoy the game, or we move on to a different game. FF is more successful now than it has ever been, and I can guarantee you that isn't because people are clamoring for Tank and DPS stance dancing again.

@@sharlayanforum I admit that the game is more popular now than it has ever been. And yeah the game is better than the trash that was 1.0. I just believe that quantity does not equal quality. FFXI is prime example of quality. It was never really mainstream. In fact it was never "popular." It was a hidden gem. But I guess you're correct. More people play FFXIV and the developers try to cater to everyone. Sadly people like me are not on that list. FFXI met the same fate. To attract new players, or to please the casual players, a lot of QoL mechanics were introduced. The game has become a single player game for the most part. These are no longer MMOs. How much do you converse with anyone in the game. I bet barely. It's either "hi" or "o/". Discord killed any other interaction. And if there is any, it's degenerate garbage that I can't relate to. Perhaps I'm too old for a theme park MMO like FFXIV. Don't get me wrong... I still like the game. And maybe some day, they'll remake FFXI like it used to be in its prime. I'm not calling you wrong. I understand your point of view. I just don't like it. Anyways. Good talk.

I'd love to see some kind of version of Soul Survivor come back. It was such a cool mechanic that has just never been utilized in any way shape or form after it was cut.

TBN rework would be good. Clone being permanent make it sort of meaningless though.

Yeah, I think having it restore health or give a life steal effect while in it would also work well, but both at the same time may be a bit strong. Having the immediate heal tied to Salt and Darkness and a regen/increased heal on Salted Earth feels like a good balance.

lmaooooo True!

Absolutely. TBN could use a rework for sure, but I have a feeling it won't get it. It sucks that DRK is the only tank that is actively punished for not getting full value out of its main mitigation. It's a cool way for players to express their skill on the job, but like I described in the video, sometimes you just get a situation where it's literally impossible to get full value and you just get bent over instead and lose an entire Flood/Edge. It sucks.

That would certainly be the easy solution. I would frankly not be upset if a standard invuln was just a role action and all the tanks got a big, longer cooldown mitigation spell to compensate.

That mindset, to standardize roles action traits across the board, is what leads to videos like this. Not every class should play the same. They all need to have something they suck at and moments where they shine.

@redmecka304 I think that some things in the game should be standardized across the board, while other things are left as unique expression. Something as important and varied as a invulnerability skill isn't the place for a job to be worse at something than another, because it just leads to situations like we have now, where LD is a joke compared to the other Invulns, even HG which has a cooldown that is asinine compared to the others, and is the only invulnerable that someone can literally just troll you out of value on and force you to die anyway

I wish they kept their tank stances being different minus the dmg debuff. War gave more HP and heal action buff. Drk only tank could have both tank stance and dps stance on same time. PLD sadly it's stances sucked, just shield oath basic dmg reduction while it's sword oath buffed only auto-attack dmg meh lol.

​@@sharlayanforum kinda disagree with this take about the invulns personally. The invulns having varying levels of effectiveness based on their mechs being different is simply a way to get across the personality of a class. Much in the same way as how classes unique mechanics, mobility tools, support tools and such do so. Invulns are extremely important for a tank job yes, but likewise having big damage in some form is important for a dps job. Are we to then argue that dps jobs should all have skills that are the same so theres better balance between dps? (the answer here is a resounding "no" by the way, for reasons which I think are obvious). Personally I'd prefer classes were unbalanced such that a meta arose for high end raiding (as long as all classes can clear), but classes at least kept their individuality and the core tools that made them fun to play for different reasons. Top end raiders will top end raid, and no matter how much homogeonization you do, there will be a "meta" comp and they will insist people bring those classes. The reality is that outside savage raids and beyond, which make up such a small portion of the game, things like how much dps a class is capable of putting out or how good a tanks invuln is isn't that important, it's certainly not making or breaking dungeons in the way that failing mechanics can make or break them. But no, we will continue to get people who will run ahead of tanks and pull camps back to tanks if their pace isn't to the individuals liking, or people complaining that a dungeon takes 30 minutes instead of 20 (heaven forbid!). And because of these people, square will get the message that super high optimisation is all people care about. So we shall get homogeoniaed classes, extremely scripted fights, dps checks that propagate this extreme dps obsession, every class shall be the same, and we shall all have to be content with this. Nevermind the fact that astros old card mechanics were more enjoyable, or dark knights old mechanics were more enjoyable, or nevermind that we lost a unique permanent pet class in the form of summoner when some people like that, or... (you get the idea, I could go on and on and on about all the good things we've had over the years get axed, because at some point balance out-prioritised having fun).

I've been the guy in that clip before, lol. It can be extremely brutal.

Did they not use mits? If I had a buck for everytime a tank tried a large pull but didn't use any mits, I could BUY Square Enix. . . What you described is not a "Dark Knight" thing. . . it's a "Bad Tank" thing.

@hockey1973 You can be the best DRK in the world, if a multi-target fight drags on long enough, you will simply just run out of resources and cooldowns to hit. Especially coming straight out of a boss where you've probably hit some of those skills already and are sitting on half of a kit.

Did that as PLD, its not any less brutal. Those birds are just evil

those birds do magic damage, so they probably didn't use dark mind.

Yep teaching us about trade felt insulting, the whole MSQ felt like a kid's morning show and the final zone, I was like yh lets just turn off this place, these people are just digital avatars, felt nothing when the whole zone died. Worst MSQ ever! I rather DT be one big Hildibrand quest!

Glad I could help!

Sorry to see you go!

Basically you just rip Dualblade stuff in the opener and then after that, pretty much on cooldown.

@@sharlayanforum I did a fev daily roulettes and I think I know what you mean, thanks! One more question tho but it might be stupid, sorry. Everytime Death Rattle or Last Lash is available I'm still "locked" in animation of the previous attack. If I press the combo finisher then that "previous attack" will be interrupted? Or do I have to wait till the animation is over and theeen press the combo finisher, even tho it's available ~1-2 sec before.

Nope! Hitting an OGCD almost never interrupts an attack, even if the animation is still going. In FF, alot of times the animations of an attacks are longer than the actual calculation of the attack itself. This is what people are referring to when they talk about "snapshots" in the game. The server basically registers that you used the last hit of your combo the second you press the button, and registers the damage it deals basically immediately, even though the animation is still going, thus the damage is "snapshotted" before the animation actually ends. There are some attacks, though, that snapshot later than others. These are usually really big hits, and not basic combos, however. An example on Viper is Ouroboros, which snapshots pretty late into the animation, and you can actually drift the damage outside of Buffs even if you press it before the Buffs expire in really tight timings.

@@sharlayanforum Awesome, thank you so much! ♥

It was definitely very odd to me that everyone acted like Valigarmanda being released was going to be like some Avengers level threat but the whole time it's released it just... does nothing? Like there's zero consequences to this flying apocalypse being set free lmao.

I've mentioned this in other comments, but I'll mention it again; When I said I started skipping cutscenes, that doesn't mean I skipped every single cutscene from that point forward. I went back and watched all the cutscenes I skipped afterward. Yes, Sphene wanted to protect her people. But her "people" aren't real. They're code in a simulation. They are literally simulacrums, and she's willing to murder and harvest the souls of real living people to keep her memories alive. She is pure evil. Period. Evil done with good intentions for ones own self-interest does not make it any less evil. I agree that Wuk Lamat could have become Sphene under different circumstances, but it's a shame that the story literally does nothing with that realization, never ponders what that might look like, and never gives either character any room to see things from a different perspective. Sphene was always going to harvest souls. Wuk was always going to stop her.

Thanks for the feedback! I'll probably do some character images whenever I mention them in the next one.

Truuuueeeee brother

Thank you so much! Stay tuned for more guides, this is my (unnecessarily difficult for myself) standard style!

No hate here! I think that WoTG in a vacuum is one of the more interesting a well paced stories in FFXI, it just suffered a lot from the timing of its release and the way that they released it.

I find that the gameplay isn't really any different, personally! I get managing the debuff is fun for a lot of people, but I think that it being there or not really only changes how often you use Reaving Fangs in a window.