Dark Knights Damages

[Brandford]

Hi, this is my first post here and my english is not very good so I will try to do my best

ok here is my question.

what is the most damage a drk (for example lvl 72-75) without merits can do with scythe and great sword??

and drk -vs- others DD jobs in a party, they do the same damage, more or less??

Im asking this because im a Drk lvl 72 and for my lvl I think I have a good gear. but I notice my ws are not to strong. The only ws I do a lot of damage is Spiral Hell and is with 300tp and using /thf as subjob and sneak attack.

and vs others DD jobs if I use /sam my damage is poor.

for example, My Gullotines are 200 to 800 max to a IT.

and my Spirall Hell 650 with /sam,..with /thf is 1200 to 2100 (with 300tp and Sneak Attack)

maybe I doing something wrong. Well this is my gear set up.

Body=Hauberk
Head=Optical hat
Hands=Black Gadlings
Legs=Black Cuisses
Feet=Back Sollerets
Rings= Sniper's Ring + Moliones’s Ring
Earring=Assault + Fowling
Back= Amemet mantle+1
Waist=Life belt
Neck=Chivalrous Chain
Ammo=Bomb Core
Weapon= Moliones’s Stickle or Balmung Sword
SubWeapon=Axe Grip

and when I going to WS I usualy change my gear

Body=Plastron
Head=Chaos Burgeonet
Rings= Ruby Ring + Moliones’s Ring
Waist=Wolf belt


Thanks for any help

[Sirenna]

Well my looooooooooooooooooong time friend, I know nothing about drk lol, but I know the damage your able to do is much more than the one I can do, lol.

Just wanted to welcome to the forum, nice to have you here.

BIENVENIDO AMIGO!!!

[Nataka]

Not an expert but here's what I know:

One thing that is hard to wrap one's head around is that the DD classes hit their peak in different situations. In a situation where a DRK and another DD are either on equal footing, advantaged, or disadvantaged, the numbers will probably be very similar with variances according to gear and personal skill.

No DD that doesn't have a pet is more gimped than the other's currently AFAIK, but said damage can go up and down depending on the situation and this is true for all classes. So pick what class has your favorite weapon and mechanics and stick with that, you'll be wielding them for a long time. If you just pick your class based on what has the largest damage in one particular instance then you're going to burn yourself out if you dont actually like anything but that aspect.

[Celeal]

IMHO, you should factor in *time* when evaluating your damage output, like Damage over time, frequency of WS, Haste, etc. Play-style is another factor too, like how much damage output you can achieve without being MP sink or getting yourself killed, etc.

[Brayden]

Welcome to the forums. Here is some advice I would offer, though its been a while since I wasn’t 75 + capped merits.

1) You really shout not be /thf for merit parties. The idea of spike dmg is long outdated in terms of what other options are currently available to you. Also waiting for 300% TP is another huge waste of your damage potential. Going by your rough #s given, you could put out x2 Spiral Hell's with /sam for aprox 650 each, or wait for x1 with /thf for lets just say 1200. In an exp party, faster killing is the way of the wise. The more WSs you can pull out in combination with that of your other party members the faster they die.

2) For sake of argument, lets just say you should be using /sam when exping. The job traits you get from /sam greatly outweigh those of /thf. The increased accuracy and speed of atk from hasso alone are worth it, then add in the defensive traits of seigan and third eye, the less often appreciated zanshin and the ever popular meditate, and you have quite an arsenal to work with. As /thf you are too dependent on just 1 job ability: sneak attack. For exp situations it’s not the better choice.

3) Also, I highly suggest you leave Spiral Hell out of the equation. As you have noticed by your # output, that WS really only shines when you are at 300% tp. Your goal should be to get 100% TP as fast as you can, then use a WS: preferably Guillotine or Cross reaper, whichever you prefer. In a few lvls you will be in "merit party" setups and you will really be expected to kill things very quickly. One of my favorite quotes from another drk a long time ago about going drk/sam was along the lines of "with proper gear and food a drk can be a fucking wood chipper in merit parties". The idea being that you will be tossing out WSs so quickly that even if your dmg isn’t as great as say /war or /thf the total amount you will be spewing forth in the few hours your merit party lasts, outweighs all other options.

4) As for a quick look at your gear, some changes I would make (especially if you do decide to go /sam and hence will be using guillotine and CR more) would be to lose the black hands and feet and use thick instead. Though you will lose some of that raw str/atk, you will gain precious acc points. Also ditch your axe grip and get a pole strap. Though 2% DA is small, when it does proc it will bring you that much close to 100% all the quicker. I believe it does more for your DoT than the +3 str the axe grips gives. Lastly, since you probably don’t have a swift belt, substitute the life belt for say a potent belt. Life belt is a nice piece and all but something always makes me go 'wtf' when is see one. If you really like it, keep it, but defiantly try to work towards a swift belt.

Anyhow, I didn’t really review all of what I just wrote to see if its coherent, so basic summary:

- /thf in exp, no! /sam, yes! Benefits of /sam are just too nice

- frequency of WSs are much more important than big # WSs. Granted, you don’t want piss poor results, but waiting for 300% TP in a exp party = no!

- Boost your acc gear some, connecting every hit with 2h weapons is key, each miss should have you grinding your teeth. Eventually, though I didn’t go into it here, work towards a haste setup when you hit 75. Your first goal should be to try and get at least 10% in gear, if its less it wont do you much good.

If I can be of any further help, please feel free to post questions. I will offer what advice I can