[JoetheAwesome]

I've leveled WHM to 30 and BLM to 20 but this is my first melee class I picked up. I absolutely loved it in the first 10 levels killing everything almost instantly. Right now my DRK is level 29 and I was wondering what gear should I have and what essential gear I should be gettting soon.

Also, I tend to have a huge problem with accuracy. I miss a lot. I have been using crab sushi and it helps, Jack'O'Lanterns have also been a huge help. I notice that I usually tend to outdamage everyone per hit (except SAMs) and my weaponskills usually deal about 88-120damage(shadow of death). I hit the mob around 20-45 per strike. Are these numbers normal for a drk?

Also, I hate leveling WAR. Could I get away leveling THF for subjob?

Here is my gear:
Main: Scythe (level 18 version)
Range: Morion Tathlum
Head: Leggionaire's Cap
Body: Beetle Harness
Ears: Beetle Earrings x2
Hands: Leggionaire's Mittens
Ring 1: Bastokan Ring
Ring 2: Courage Ring
Waist: Friar's Rope (Gimped, but that's because there aren't thany many other good belts yet so I might as well just use my whm gear lol)
Back: Traveler's Mantle(took me forever camping this)
Legs: Beetle Subligar
Feet: Beeetle shoes or whatever they are called.
Neck: Spike or fang Necklace(the HQ one)

And if I'm pulling I usullay tke out the Morion tathlum and replace it with Leggionaire's crossbow and level 1 bolts.

[Armando]

If you don't die, Marinara Pizza is the solution to your Accuracy woes.

And no you can't get away with not having /WAR. Any particular reason why you like DRK and tolerate THF but not WAR?

[JoetheAwesome]

I've never died in an exp party. I usually pull some hate but the tank can usually pull it off before it gets me in the yellow and a Drain can quickly heal the HP I lost. =] Looked up Marinara Pizza and man that's a really good food item. And it's just as expensive as jack'o'lanterns so it not as outrageous like Sole sushi (22k a stack ._. ).

I dunno I just don't like WAR for some reason. I think I just don't like Axe or Great Axe weapons. I'm also not a big fan of tanking.

Plus leveling THF would finally give me an excuse to get it to 15 for Treasure Hunter.

Edit: Oh well I'll just level WAR. It's not really that I hate it, I just keep wishing I was playing DRK instead.

[Karinya]

Oh man, you should never tell Armando you don't like great axes. He'll be telling you about Shield Break for the next week. :D

Seriously though, great axes and shield break really are awesome. Although I can understand why a new player wouldn't like tanking - you probably have some trouble keeping your gear up-to-date for one thing - it really won't take you that long to get it to 37 and after you pass 25 or so you won't be expected to tank as much on WAR anyway.

You should level both war and thf as subs though IMO. They're both useful in different situations (although thf doesn't really start to shine until DRK60/THF30). If you have a good enough tank that you can berserk without pulling hate, you can really do a lot of damage with it, but you should also remember that if you do a little more damage and take a lot more damage, it's not worth it - you're slowing the party down more than you're helping. Let the tank tank, even if you have to hold back your damage to do it.

Gear gets more difficult to keep up with as you level up, and melee jobs are the most demanding gear-wise. Nobody hits every swing, and until level 75 + merits you shouldn't really expect to hit 95% either, but accuracy is important to improve as much as you practically can. Any slot where you can't get accuracy, get attack, and if you can't get either of those, get STR or DEX. (Once you get to levels where there's a serious amount of haste available and reaching the acc cap is practically possible you have to take a more balanced approach to gear, but up to at least 60 or so that simple rule should be good.)

[Durahansolo]

Originally Posted by JoetheAwesome

I dunno I just don't like WAR for some reason. I think I just don't like Axe or Great Axe weapons.

You do know that DRK can use Axe and Great Axe too, right? They just don't cap as high as Scythe or Great Sword do. My DRK is only 22 but I plan to take it to 75. I already have Axe and Great Axe leveled from taking WAR to 75, so I'll probably be having some fun with those after I get some weapon merits. Great Sword is leveled to about the skill cap of a level 40 DRK since I started the game using Great Sword instead of Great Axe @_@. I remember seeing a DRK in this party I was in carring 2x Axe, Great Axe, Scythe, and Great Sword, and he was putting out epic damage with all of them even at level 30. I'm pretty sure he was /THF.

Originally Posted by JoetheAwesome

Plus leveling THF would finally give me an excuse to get it to 15 for Treasure Hunter.

THF might be a better sub at around 60 when you can Trick Attack. I'm sure alot of people probably use /THF at 30 when they get Sneak Attack, but in that same breath I'm also pretty sure there will be a bunch of parties that will want you to sub NIN at that level -_-. By 70 you'll probably want to have SAM, DNC, WAR, NIN, and THF all leveled to 37.

[IfritnoItazura]

There are some gears which should be upgraded now, and you have some major expenses coming up as you level closer to 40.

Originally Posted by JoetheAwesome

Main: Scythe (level 18 version)

Scythes
Great Swords

Look at the DPS column. Generally, get the best DPS rated weapons you can afford/obtain. At least one Scythe, and one Great Sword.

Spend some time in FoV to make sure neither weapon's skill falls too far behind.

Originally Posted by JoetheAwesome

Head: Leggionaire's Cap
Hands: Leggionaire's Mittens
Body: Beetle Harness
Legs: Beetle Subligar
Feet: Beeetle shoes or whatever they are called.

Try to get a bit more defense, at least in Body slot.
Lv.24: Iron Chainmail Set
Lv.30: Centurion's Scale Mail Set

Try to get these:
Lv.30: Royal Squire's Mufflers
Lv.25: Republic Subligar

Originally Posted by JoetheAwesome

Range: Morion Tathlum
Ears: Beetle Earrings x2
Ring 1: Bastokan Ring
Ring 2: Courage Ring

Should really start working on gil for
Lv.40: Woodsman Ring

Two Woodsman's would be good, but if gil is really tight, alternatives are:
Lv.34: Venerer Ring
Lv.49: Ecphoria Rin
(You can only have one of each; both are Rare, IIRC.)

Originally Posted by JoetheAwesome

Waist: Friar's Rope (Gimped, but that's because there aren't thany many other good belts yet so I might as well just use my whm gear lol)

Lv.18 Brave Belt
Lv.40 Tilt Belt
Lv.48 Life Belt

Originally Posted by JoetheAwesome

And if I'm pulling I usullay tke out the Morion tathlum and replace it with Leggionaire's crossbow and level 1 bolts.

Acid Bolt--in case you actually hit the target.

This is a bit over-simplified, but your priorities in gear for now should be roughly:

1. Weapon.
2. Accuracy.
3. Attack.
4. STR, DEX.
5. Defense.

Don't need HQ in most slots, but do make intelligent decisions on where to make the big investments. NQ weapons are fine, but keep them updated. Accuracy+5 ring, though, can last to Lv.75--100k gil is not a bad price given its longevity. If that's out of reach for you, at least get the Lv.34 Acc+3 and the Lv.49 Acc+4 rings.

Accuracy+10 Peacock Charm, of course, isn't as good of a value at ~2 million; go ahead and ignore anyone who says you must have it.

* * *

Make some gil. How to make money as a newbie

Play with this site: FFXIGEAR.com
It tells you what your gear/food do numerically; very handy for comparing gears and food choices.

[Armando]

When you realize how much kick-assery the job can unleash so early in the game, WAR will start to grow on you. Spam Shield Break and carry Acid Bolts, use Berserk when not tanking, cancel it if you need to hold hate off someone else (or better yet, cancel it out using Defender if you're high enough) and you'll be golden. You'll have to take MNK to 18, but it's a braindead easy job to level, and it's a good soloer.

Regarding the ring slots, if you can afford them, Mighty Rings or Vision Rings are sex on a silver band.

Also Sole Sushi is overpriced. People pay that much because they think 5 STR will give them a huge leap in performance. Squid Sushi lacks the STR but has the same Accuracy (which is ultimately what matters in the sushi) for much less. But Marinara Pizza will serve you better, being a two-hander user.

[Sekighara]

Also watch your WSs modifers. At your level they are str and mnd. So spike necklace hurts because the WS ends up of having a 0 for a modifer. It isn't really important at the lower levels, but I have a tiger stole that I macro in when using those just because I like my ws dsmg to be higher then my normal swings.

I used a brave belt when I could equip it but I have dex rings and macro in my courage rings and Phlegethon's Trousers. But you might not notice the -1 dex and agi. I usually don't I just try to avoid negatives.

Now don't fall into the illusion that the tank can always protect you. You will have to watch your self and keep track of what is going on around you. You might have seen the little tag about using last resort before mob arrives as well as soul eater but sometimes you might be tempted to pop them. That is natural you want to use what you have. If you do make sure if is useful and not showing off. Keep track of the tanks timer for voke and later on flash. space out your activation on job abilites and spells. There will be a time where you pop both Berserk + last resort if you do it enough you will get you decked in the face by the mob if hate is decaying so expect that and if your life is low and you think that one hit can kill you don't do it. Lastly if you want to stack those abilites wait for the mob to be on low life not half life. Not until much higher will you be breaking deadly numbers that could drop a mob from half to dead, and even then those are rare and usually with another big damage spike from someone else.

Now I am not sure how party friendly you are, but remember your moves pull hate. If the WHM is pulling hate and you /war you have voke so if the tank just used it you can use it, you are less squishy until higher up and even then depending on stoneskin is up or not you might still be. Same goes for when the tank takes alot of damage you have to make the decision. Alot of drks don't and that is ok they are not sub tanks they are dd, I do and I will voke to stop the PLD or NIN from dropping and a backliner from getting destroyed. The reason I bring this up is because if you pop your skills one after another you will pull hate if you were hitting the mob, it is useful for saving someone vital to the party. But if you do this your defense drops and later on soul eater will be counter productive to you taking hits. So what you want to do is kill them early. If you don't know how to do that consult your setitng for the selector command or button. On compact setting it is the F key.

Well enjoy your experience, hope you enjoy dark knight. I do.

[JoetheAwesome]

Wow guys. Just have to say thanks for all the input! Much appreciated. =]

@Karinya I guess I'll have to start picking up Great Axe for my WAR soon then lol. I can't argue with all the good points you just made. =P

@Durahan Well I have no probelm getting all the other jobs to 37, but is NIN really a big gilsink like I've heard? I don't mind taking the time questing for the scrolls (I quested Aspir and Drain for my drk) but I hear the tools get really expensive.

@Ifrit Those rings are a lot cheaper than what I was expecting. Well I usually make about 20k 1-2hrs fishing for Moat Carp and I can probably be a little faster farming Crane Flys for Gausebit Grass now that I'm almost 30. I know I'm a little outdated but I hardly get hit in party so I was just waiting 'til I hit 30 then reusing the gear to level WAR. Plus all the Scythes after 18 are pretty expensive and don't add as much attack until a level 27 scythe where it adds ice damage. But I decided to just hold out 'til level 30 where the attack is much greater.

@Armando Well, I haven't used Berserk yet since I get it at level 30 but I think I'll be liking /war a lot more when I start using it. I know one of my ls mates bought me a stack of sole sushi (I now owe him 22k lol) and I haven't seen a difference between that or Crab Sushi/Jack'o'Lanterns which are a lot less.

@Sekighara I looked up my WSs on wiki and none of them so far don't use MND modifiers but the next ws I'll be getting will be using one(Nitemare Scythe). Should I use a macro and swap it out for another piece of gear? The only +MND necklace i have is a Justice Badge lol.

[Malacite]

You're also going to want to raise SAM and DNC for sub jobs (and NIN for the odd occasion) for parties and soloing. DRK/SAM can be a real beast with Hasso (until you have Desperate Blows maxed out) from level 60+.

Also it's only fair to warn you that of all the melee DD jobs, DRK is by far the most expensive. You're going to be spending a good chunk on dark magic and optimizing your damage potential so I hope you're ready for that.

[Durahansolo]

Originally Posted by JoetheAwesome

@Durahan Well I have no probelm getting all the other jobs to 37, but is NIN really a big gilsink like I've heard? I don't mind taking the time questing for the scrolls (I quested Aspir and Drain for my drk) but I hear the tools get really expensive.

Nin is a bit of a gil sink especially if you are still early in the game, but if you can pull in 20k an hour you could at least pay for a stack of Shihei toolbags. I'm pretty sure there are some level 75 nins that got by on just buying Shihei and nothing else lol. That isn't the right way to play the job, but that is how it goes. I'm pretty sure I got to 37 with just Shihei and Kurayami? also Tonko. I didn't have enough gil to elemental wheel, so I basically did what I could.

Originally Posted by JoetheAwesome

@Armando Well, I haven't used Berserk yet since I get it at level 30 but I think I'll be liking /war a lot more when I start using it. I know one of my ls mates bought me a stack of sole sushi (I now owe him 22k lol) and I haven't seen a difference between that or Crab Sushi/Jack'o'Lanterns which are a lot less.

You'd probably notice a bigger difference the higher you go. Save the sole sushi until you get 40+. These are all the same gear except where otherwise specified. Accuracy is assuming that you have scythe capped at that level.

@30

FFXIGEAR.com Accuracy 122 Empty Stomach

FFXIGEAR.com Accuracy 137 Crab Sushi

FFXIGEAR.com Accuracy 134 Jack-O Lantern

FFXIGEAR.com Accuracy 146 Sole Sushi

@40

FFXIGEAR.com 158 Empty Stomach

FFXIGEAR.com 173 Jack-O Lantern

FFXIGEAR.com 178 Crab Sushi

FFXIGEAR.com 187 Sole Sushi

FFXIGEAR.com 195 With Sole Sushi and Woodsman Rings Instead of Balance Rings.

I used to use Bream Sushi when I couldn't afford Sole and it would've been 197 Accuracy.

I'm not sure how accurate the Jack-O Lantern reading is because i think ffxiclopedia has it listed as +10 instead of 10% so it may actually be lower.

[Armando]

@Armando Well, I haven't used Berserk yet since I get it at level 30 but I think I'll be liking /war a lot more when I start using it. I know one of my ls mates bought me a stack of sole sushi (I now owe him 22k lol) and I haven't seen a difference between that or Crab Sushi/Jack'o'Lanterns which are a lot less.

That's because sushi gives a %. Right now your total Accuracy is such that if you were to take 15% of it, it wouldn't be much higher than 15-20. Jacks give a flat 10. At higher levels, when you have more total Accuracy from skill, DEX, and equipment, Sushi will start to add 30-50.

Using Acc food at low levels isn't very efficient unless it's Marinara Pizza, because it also gives a large dose of Attack.

[Durahansolo]

Originally Posted by Armando

Using Acc food at low levels isn't very efficient unless it's Marinara Pizza, because it also gives a large dose of Attack.

Meant to add Marinara Pizza but I was speeding through with copy and paste XD.

@30 FFXIGEAR.com Accuracy 134 Attack +32

@40 FFXIGEAR.com Accuracy 173 Attack +39 (181 with Woodsman Ring Swap)

Hopefully I counted that correctly @_@.

[Aylmer]

I prefer rice dumplings at low lvls for att, str, and acc. As far as a waist peice how about a Barbarian's Belt?

[IfritnoItazura]

Originally Posted by Aylmer

I prefer rice dumplings at low lvls for att, str, and acc.

Gear up a Lv.30 DRK on FFXIGEAR.com and see what Rice Dumpling does vs. what Marinara Pizza does for yourself.

Originally Posted by Aylmer

As far as a waist peice how about a Barbarian's Belt?

That's fine until Lv.40. (I would use Brave Belt myself, but the difference is small enough.)