How useful are DRKs in endgame activities?Follow

It's the only job I'm interested in taking to 75, currently at 60, but I have heard that DRKs are all but useless in endgame content? Is there any truth to this?

To be DRK only in most (decent) endgame shells you'll need a pretty strong zerg build. (Merc kris, haste gear, HP gear etc) They're far from useless...but I'd say DRK is one of the more difficult jobs to make shine outside of zerg situations.

Lots of people do. I did on occasion, but I had also been playing for quite some time. You don't need a kraken club for a zerg build anyone. M.kris will still outdamage all jobs (other than KC/OC DRK) in the time frame it's used.

The reason I suggested that build would be important to you is because you want to be DRK only. Usually melee jobs aren't in high demand with endgame shells so setting yourself apart helps your chances at being accepted/included in events. I think diversity is what most shells are looking for. Competence along with that diversity is also needed.

Tbh I really wouldn't worry too much about "endgame" at the point you're at. Have fun leveling your job and subjobs, playing with friends, maybe finding another job you enjoy as well. The game becomes much less enjoyable when you worry so much about things like this. Just let it happen.

As the leader of an endgame ls, I'd refer you to the thread in the endgame forum about DD only people. You'll probably be able to get into an entry-level endgame shell no problem but you'll need a mage job as well in the future if you want to get into more advanced endgame.

For almost all situations, DRK is about the same as any other DD job that you're going to want in an event. The only endgame activity drk in particular excels at is of course zerging....and a lower-tier endgame shell probably wont be doing much of that. Anything else it's generally not better or worse and it all depends on your gear/skill etc.
The one thing that does set DRK apart is the Stun spell so learn to love it and become a great stunner.

As far as zerging, there are plenty of budget zerg setups out there that will do you just fine.

Edited, Dec 2nd 2009 12:23am by luxv

Having a backup Sleep can come in sorta handy for things like Limbus, too.

Rune Chopper springs to mind almost instantly.

Just do what pretty much everyone else here as done, level PLD when you are finished lol. So on the few times when your DRK isn't as useful, you have a fall back. Because Siralin is right, there is no shortage of DDs. Even the guys you see running around as BRDs or WHMs to every event have other DD jobs leveled. I'm pretty much stuck on COR to everything, but it will work out in the end since I will get an Adaberk for my Drk. Thankfully this isn't WoW, you aren't chained to one job per character.

If you can find a shell with COR you'll be a great asset for improved Chaos roll, sleep/stun/etc. DRK is more complicated to play than say, bandwagonSAM, but if you take the effort to learn when to use what it's very desirable.

I think drk has a place in end game, and it is not just about zerg. In overall melee ability, most ppl would say SAM is the best for end game, due to 1 hit WS being accurate and Gekko having ratio bonus, and that meditate doesn't give tp to mob. However, as a Drk, if you have very good buff, merit, and food, a scythe build with proper use of Souleater and last resort can be just as good in total output, tho you do give the mob far more tp and you consume more MP for your damage but you have stun, and drain can be decent on certain mobs. Souleater is right up there with Meditate as being some of the top end game damage tools as it adds accuracy and pretty much non-lvl adjusted damage (damage based on your HP regardless of mob lvl, def, etc). Tho as mentioned by others, it requires a bit of work and gears to shine and obviously buff play a large part.

With little buff, you can always use GS and /sam (please don't link GS to /thf) and spam spinning slash. It is the closest Drk can get compare to SAM in low buff situation. The functionality is the same, you depend on an one hit WS with half the ratio bonus of Gekko and less str mod. The good thing is that it does have a higher ftp compare to gekko, and drk does have decent attack bonus which sort of offset the extra ratio bonus of gekko (sam/war with berserk will still have more attack). LR gives you extra TP and WS similar to an ungimp meditate, SE gives you boost to your damage similar to /war berserk that sam get. And you have higher base damage from your weapon etc. I have always been using GS for end game low buff situation so I know that if geared correctly with merit, you can at least be competitive if not the best.

As far as zerg, you don't need to feel like needing kclub, and never let other ppl tell you that you have to have one for zerg. MK does the job. Mathmatically, kclub is only 50% more damage than MK in term of zerg. Occasionally hit 2-8 time is really average at around 3.9 time per round as you only have 2% chance of hitting 8 time while MK is about 1.8 or 1.9 in average depends on your theory of hit distribution. Couple with much lower delay you are looking at about 50% damage difference.

Hope this helps.

Note: RC doesn't work anymore is because overall Haste cap is now 80%. No one knows if there used to be a cap of 95% or not (can't get more than 93.75%), but point is now you can't get higher to 80%, anymore haste will be wasted. Note that this also makes Apoc not what it used to be in term of zerg as Apoc and RC were the only two weapons that allows Drk to hit that 93.75% haste.

Edited, Dec 2nd 2009 4:25pm by pochenlai

take the time, don't suck, and overcome the prejudice. that prejudice is there for a reason though: drk takes a lot of extra effort to stand out.

so don't suck!

Haha, Scholar.

edit: Aw lame. My profile is borked.

edit again: Ding 9k

Edited, Dec 3rd 2009 4:07am by Nilatai

This might be a gigantic woosh but, you can't use both Haste Samba and Blood Weapon so it's rather irrelevant to DRK for the first 30seconds of the zerg. Unless you're implying not-using-BW. In which case, I hope you have a buttload of healers.

Actually, the bit you quoted was about one-handed weapons, but I guess the rest of what I just quoted is functionally a wake-up call. This is why you're a DRK and why I just drink here -- completely forgot about Desperate Blows being two hands onry.

Far as I'm concerned, though, this does give the chopper some limited redeeming value if you don't have a multi-hit weapon, 'cos you're actually able to hit the haste cap (comfortably, I might add) at the expense of having a non-multi-attacking weapon. While I still accept that MK or KC are superior zerg weapons by quite a long shot, it looks to me like Rune Chopper's just gone from "basic entry-level" to "solid entry-level" due to removing single-swing daggers as contenders.

Would I be right, in this case, to assume the hierarchy looks a little like:
K.Club > Bahamut's Zaghnal > M.Kris > Ridill > Fort Axe + Stones > Choppa

Or would I be talking a load of bollocks?

Pure damage output wise (in perfect situation), it is in this order:

K.club < MK < Ridill < BZ < Republic Dagger < Fortitude < Ferrera < Rune Chopper or any weapon really.

Rune chopper has absolutely no zerg value now so please don't use it :/ As of now, you do not need that 9% haste on the axe to reach any kind of haste cap, therefore, you are just using a weapon with B+ rank. You can however benefit from the 9% haste after LR wears. But at that point, it doesn't make a whole lot of difference.

BZ in situations where you find yourself /sam and getting only double march but no madrigal, it is a superior zerg tool than MK or Ridill (I always have it on me and MK). However, in perfect situation where you would get double madrigal and feint and /drg, it becomes as simple as what weapon can pour out the most hits.

Something about Blood Weapon being incompatible with DNC, and Desperate Blows not liking single-handed weapons. I dunno.

Like I said, though, I'm not a DRK, I just drink here. I can't be expected to understand the ins and outs of everything right off the bat.

mmmm, bat soup

Tiredness kills... just woke up, thankfully still in my own bed.
Should I assume, in that case, that it's all about getting Delay on that dagger below the point where the chopper's delay floors out, then?

I realized this about ten minutes later while laying in bed, and sorta already vaguely knew it, it just didn't process last night.

I may also have been thinking that Drain Samba doesn't stack but Haste Samba still does. There isn't anything specific in the Sambas section of the wiki that says they don't.

I gotta stop posting at 2am.

Edit: I'd think I was drunk too, Blitz Ring is Rare.

Edited, Dec 4th 2009 2:02am by Raelix