Dark Knight Advice

[Aerandir]

I'm a 34 drk/war

Ok, I"m a bit confused about when to use Soul Eater, and what to use it with.

I've been told that I should use Last Resort, Berserk, and Soul Eater all at once, towards the end of the battle in order to finish of the mob, and increase the chances of a chain.

I've also been told that I should use Soul Eater and Last Resort, without Berserk right before I engage the mob being pulled. That way I don't get autmatic hate by casting Soul Eater. I've found that even if I do cast before engaging, after I hit the mob once with 100+ dmg I gain the hate anyway.

Lastly, I've been told to only use them seperately so that I won't ever gain hate, and will always have one ready when needed.

I think the first set up makes more sense, although it can sometimes back firing causing the healer to use way more mp than he really should have to.

Your advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[etchdog2000]

Personally what I did at that level is experiment. I would not recommend using all at the same (drastically increases chance of death)

Last resort... stack it with WS.
berserk.... I basically use it whenever its up.
Souleater.... that is the tough one I usually start out using it at the end of the fight , say at 1/4 life first time around. I would then test the tank and use it sooner and sooner untill i felt i was pulling too much hate and knock it down a notch.

Typically I use it on Chain 1-2 and Chain 4-5 depending on the party. There are times I dont use it at all due to a bad party or a sub par tank. Its really a use your best judgement deal.

Welp thats my take on it.

 

[Gagne]

I wouldnt recomend stacking last resort with souleater. You are already lossing HP with souleater, plus possibly getting hate. Last resort also vokes the mob, so you are just asking for trouble if you stack them.

Experimentaion is good though. whatever makes it fun and effective for you is best.

 

[Aerandir]

Experimentaion is good though. whatever makes it fun and effective for you is best.

I guess that all depends on the party I'm in. Some people don't mind waiting for the dark to be raised, and get over being weakened, but most do. They don't want to hear " Oops, I guess that wasn't the best thing to do at the time" more than once...lol.

thx for the advice guys, It should really help me out. As much as I love dealing close to 200 dmg a hit, I just don't think it is very benficial to the party.

 

[Mistaya]

don't stack berserk and last resort.

Last resort wears off pretty fast, berserk lasts for a couple minutes. What I reccommend is simple. Alternate which is up, you should never have to cancel either of them and will have a good damage booster each mob. With only zerk or only LR your def is not awful, drk has very nice base def really.

mob 1 berserk at the start.

mob 2 last resort before weapon skill.

mob 3 berserk may or may not be up, but use it when it is.

mob 4 LR-> WS.

Souleater, with warrior sub, use sparingly. Stacking the 3 is almost instant suicide. If it might not kill the mob, just don't do it. Until Trick attack I seldom used souleater unles I had a good pld who would Cover me. Use it to wipe off the last 1/4 of the chain5 mob to keep the chain. It makes more sense to lose chain5 though than to wait 5 mins for weakness. >_<; I also reccommend a macro for souleater to alert the healer because it's likely you will need some attention. Mine is: "Souleater! HP:<hpp> and falling!" hehe. (But if you put call0-3 in it i will hunt you down and kill you.)

My 2g.

EDIT:

In emergency situations, such as a link where you have to kill your mob quickly, stack SE with Blood weapon. BW will keep your HP flat even through the SE. One way to make our stellar 2hour useful :roll:

 

[Ronith]

don't stack berserk and last resort.

Last resort wears off pretty fast, berserk lasts for a couple minutes. What I reccommend is simple. Alternate which is up, you should never have to cancel either of them and will have a good damage booster each mob. With only zerk or only LR your def is not awful, drk has very nice base def really.

mob 1 berserk at the start.

mob 2 last resort before weapon skill.

mob 3 berserk may or may not be up, but use it when it is.

mob 4 LR-> WS.

Souleater, with warrior sub, use sparingly. Stacking the 3 is almost instant suicide. If it might not kill the mob, just don't do it. Until Trick attack I seldom used souleater unles I had a good pld who would Cover me. Use it to wipe off the last 1/4 of the chain5 mob to keep the chain. It makes more sense to lose chain5 though than to wait 5 mins for weakness. >_<; I also reccommend a macro for souleater to alert the healer because it's likely you will need some attention. Mine is: "Souleater! HP:<hpp> and falling!" hehe. (But if you put call0-3 in it i will hunt you down and kill you.)

My 2g.

EDIT:

In emergency situations, such as a link where you have to kill your mob quickly, stack SE with Blood weapon. BW will keep your HP flat even through the SE. One way to make our stellar 2hour useful :roll:

basically what she said... >_>

cept' you didnt mention one thing on the EDIT: >_> what if you wanna stack em all...or with /WAR you could always...

Berserk > Last Resort > Souleater > WS = most likely the mobs' death...or if the tank isnt good yours >_> lol

but with /THF you could always LR > SE > Guillotine(post60) for some great dmg but keep in mind you're gaining ALOT of hate >< make sure TA lands or you will die lol (the mob get's pissed when he get's hit for 800-1000 dmg >_> )

Good luck Aer ^^

 

[Raivyn]

ok lemme think about this a sec

I've found a good formula that I personally use. This formula is based on a chain 5 party - but you can use it even if your pt is getting on chain 3 just by using abilities in conjunction with WS in an effiecient way.

Ok, my general format is this (keep in mind I am a lvl 68 drk and it may not be prudent for you to use abs spells every fight like this)

a (*) indicates a footnote

first mob in chain
Do not buff, use absorb-STR before you ws, after you already have 100tp, this will give your ws some nice dmg and make for a good sc.(*)

second mob in chain (Chain #1! monster)
when you are at or close to 100tp and ready for SC use both Berserk and Last Resort. Crank off your ws and make use of attack bonuses by hitting mob. (**)

third mob (Chain #2!)
No buffs, maybe abs str or vit

fourth mob (Chain #3!)
No buffs, maybe abs str or vit

fifth mob (Chain #4! monster)
Berserk and Last Resort will be ready at this point, use them together right before you WS for your SC (***).

sixth mob (Chain #5! monster)
Best and most efficient time for souleater. Wait till you have 100tp, then use Souleater right before you WS for the SC. If monster is close to death or if you do not have hate, do not cancel Souleater. It is a very valuable tool.

If shit ever hits the fan use blood weapon, dying fuckin blows XD If you can use blood weapon in conjunction with Souleater do it, as it practically doubles your damage from souleater and gives you + hp.

(*) At lower levels I would suggest abs-VIT, as that will increase the amount of damage for the entire skillchain, not just the damage you do.

(**) Don't worry too much about casting unless you are outpacing your SC partner. Last Resort doesn't last very long so make use of it while it's on

(***) I forgot why I put three stars here :-[ but if I remember I will come back and post here.

Hope that helps!

 

[Aerandir]

Thanks again guys...

I was under the impression that the JAs do not word with WPs for us drks. Based on your posts I'm going to have to discount that.

I'm only 34 right now, so I don't have absorb spells, but I plan on using this as a guide once I do.

Right now I'm lvling thf so that I can farm to get better gear. Right now I have +10 dex and +5 accu, which is good for my lvl, but I want to get the RES boots to add to that.

Any other gear you guys can think of off hand for my lvl?

I'm willing to farm as long as it takes to ensure I have the best gear possible.

 

[Raivyn]

Thanks again guys...

I was under the impression that the JAs do not word with WPs for us drks. Based on your posts I'm going to have to discount that.

I'm only 34 right now, so I don't have absorb spells, but I plan on using this as a guide once I do.

Right now I'm lvling thf so that I can farm to get better gear. Right now I have +10 dex and +5 accu, which is good for my lvl, but I want to get the RES boots to add to that.

Any other gear you guys can think of off hand for my lvl?

I'm willing to farm as long as it takes to ensure I have the best gear possible.

What race are you? Hume/elvaan/mithra/taru/galka?

I'm elvaan and we're known for our acc problems, and so is the dark knight job.

Anything with acc+ or dex+ is good for your level, as there is not a lot of acc+ gear out there.

Only thing I can remember off hand is royal squire's mufflers - acc+2 gloves.

Also at level 34 there is a ring which I still use. When I bought it it was 130k - not sure of the price atm. This ring is the 'Venerer Ring' and it gives acc+3.

Rule of thumb is that 2acc = 1dex (in terms of ability to hit the monster)

If you are having accuracy problems I recommend using Sole Sushi - a stack of these is now about 40k and that hurts...

Another food worth considering is Rice Dumplings. About 10k a stack, they give acc+5 and attk+% (can't remember the +% of attk but it was significant).

If you are poor like I was use mithkabobs. :lol:

All our JA stack with WS's - you may not notice it too much with the scythe ws's early on but it adds a bit extra.

Um... keep your GS leveled and you Scythe leveled - they are both very useful.

 

[Raivyn]

Thanks again guys...

I was under the impression that the JAs do not word with WPs for us drks. Based on your posts I'm going to have to discount that.

I'm only 34 right now, so I don't have absorb spells, but I plan on using this as a guide once I do.

Right now I'm lvling thf so that I can farm to get better gear. Right now I have +10 dex and +5 accu, which is good for my lvl, but I want to get the RES boots to add to that.

Any other gear you guys can think of off hand for my lvl?

I'm willing to farm as long as it takes to ensure I have the best gear possible.

What race are you? Hume/elvaan/mithra/taru/galka?

I'm elvaan and we're known for our acc problems, and so is the dark knight job.

Anything with acc+ or dex+ is good for your level, as there is not a lot of acc+ gear out there.

Only thing I can remember off hand is royal squire's mufflers - acc+2 gloves.

Also at level 34 there is a ring which I still use. When I bought it it was 130k - not sure of the price atm. This ring is the 'Venerer Ring' and it gives acc+3.

Rule of thumb is that 2acc = 1dex (in terms of ability to hit the monster)

If you are having accuracy problems I recommend using Sole Sushi - a stack of these is now about 40k and that hurts...

Another food worth considering is Rice Dumplings. About 10k a stack, they give acc+5 and attk+% (can't remember the +% of attk but it was significant).

If you are poor like I was use mithkabobs. :lol:

All our JA stack with WS's - you may not notice it too much with the scythe ws's early on but it adds a bit extra.

Um... keep your GS leveled and your Scythe leveled - they are both very useful.

 

[Nevil]

For SE it basically boils down to what type of pt you have and how well the tank can hold hate.

There are also some creative ways to use LR and SE. Every time I'm the trick parter I always convice the pt to do this. OK when the mob first comes in to camp, do everything normal (Voke> SATA on tank > Tanks vokes> etc.). Now when you are at 70 or 80 TP, and are about the hit the SC (usually Power Slash/Vorpal Scythe > Viper Bite), tell the THF to get behind the tank instead of you. Use Souleater now. After a few hits you should have built up enough hate. When you reach 100 TP, use LR + WS. This will usually turn the mob towards you. Now the THF just uses SATA + Viper Bite and turns the mob right back to the tank.

Note: It is very important that the tank does nothing during those few seconds between your WS and the THF's WS. If he provokes before the THF can hit his Viper Bite, he will pull hate from you and mess up the SC. What you're basically trying to do is ride just above the hate line.