How much spellcasting should I do?

[durecellrabbit]

At the moment I don't cast spells much. I use poison for pulling although I also have a crossbow I can use. I cast drain about once every few fights, my dark magic is very low and I'm waiting for Bio before I put a lot of work into lvling it, it get me about 20-25 health back if unresisted. I use my attack spells if I think they can finish off a mob quicker than waiting for someone to hit it, stone does about 18 damage unresisted and my melee does 20-30 depending on whether I use food or not. I've stopped using food for a while, I've died 14 times in the last 2 days and even if the food is cheap it adds up, also when using it I pull hate sometimes for a few hits on me. Is what I'm doing fine or should I cast more or less?

Also when should I rest? I lose tp doing it but no-one wants to skillchain with me so I can use a ws at the end and rest if I'm not pulling. However if I need tp, how much priority does rersting for mp get, I assume spell casting amount might change too so I can melee more?

[Ellipses]

I can't really tell you much about how much and when and all that. I don't have DRK leveled, so I can only say what I like to see from DRKs I've partied with, most as WHM. I like to see my DRKs casting the Absorb spells and hitting the MB. Drain and Aspir, too. I know most of that comes later. At your level, I'd say just... use the magic to even out damage. If you're missing your melee swings a lot in a given fight, cast something to catch up a bit.

On Bio... If someone is going to skill up their Dark Magic in a party I'm in, I'd much rather they spam Drain and Aspir when they're up, even if they've got full HP (Drain still does damage if you have full HP). Or at least work out some sort of timing thing so that Dia is up for most of the fight (Bio at the end, maybe). I can't stand people who just cast Bio without consulting the other mages about it, especially on high-DEF mobs.

[zagex]

I can't give you advice about what to do with skilling up your magic. I didn't have to worry about magic skillups since I played mage jobs mostly.

However in terms of mp, you can craft juices or rest if you're not pulling (and don't have mp). One time I remember some really weird pt where a Drk was pulling and tanking, and used juices to keep mp up (pre 40s). No idea why he was tanking, but I think it was cuz either the main tank sucked or just couldn't keep hate off the Drk.

Spells I didn't see much damage from nukes unless it was bursted, and Drain is unreliable at lower levels, you can get lucky and get 90hp, or unlucky and get 10hp, and this is with capped magic.

Past the low levels, I can't think of a single Drk whose ever rested (not counting downtime, and even then, they don't always rest). A Drk in my ls recently mentioned his Drk magic was kinda low... like lvl 30ish Drk magic skill around lvl 30ish... Once you get Aspir and you start fighting crabs, beetles, anything that has MP, that spell is amazing. You get skillups for Dark Magic, free mp, the works.

However, since you don't always fight things with mp, later on, unless you're using juices, your mp will be dependent on if your bard/rdm give you refresh.

[TheGrandMom]

Since you aren't going to have refresh for a while, you're going to have to rest. I personally don't see a reason for drks to skill up elemental magic so I wouldn't worry about that much. But as for dark magic, yes, this is important to skill up. Elemental magic is rarely used in the later lvls on your drk, its just far too weak to be worth it. Your Absorb spells are by far a more important tool than elemental.

Rest when you can in the lower lvls. In the higher lvls when refresh is available, kindly ask for refresh from the rdm when you are at 1/2 or below mp. It's best to do this in a /t so the rdm isn't put on the spot or embarassed but if you get attitude in return, talk to the pt leader about the issue. If neither of them are cooperative then make sure to tell your pt and your sc partner that the reason you are tp'ing up so slowly is because you have to rest for mp. Tough patoots if it embarasses the rdm at that point. Now if you have a bard in your pt, try to race over to the mages after a fight and grab a ballad. Luckily bards get ballad at 25 so you can start doing that when ever you get a brd in a lower lvl pt. The only problem is getting a brd in a lower lvl pt, not too many out there. LOL

[Icemage]

Step 1: Visit Windurst

Step 2: Join the Cooking Guild

Step 3: Raise Cooking to level 20

Step 4: Visit Kazham and buy lots of pineapples

Step 5: Go out and XP with stacks of Pineapples and Water Crystals and make yourself some pineapple juice to get back MP without resting.


Icemage

[Aeni]

Step 1: Visit Windurst

Step 2: Join the Cooking Guild

Step 3: Raise Cooking to level 20

Step 4: Visit Kazham and buy lots of pineapples

Step 5: Go out and XP with stacks of Pineapples and Water Crystals and make yourself some pineapple juice to get back MP without resting.


Icemage

You forgot to add this step:

Step 3.2: Visit the gobbie in Lower Jueno. Get bag quests. Increase capacity of inventory to about 50. Will cost you about 600K to do so.

[Yagami Kunoichi]

Having the space to do pineapple juice and later drinks as well would be very helpful for a lower level DRK, I'd agree. I'd also agree with ditching elemental magic. We can't even compete with a RDM for that category, so there's no point to it aside from occasionally looking cool. Your Dark Magic, on the other hand, you should always try to keep capped. This is harder if you're a Galka than if you're a Taru, Mithra or Hume. Enfeebling I've let fall very far behind, but it's very useful if you can get it at least somewhat near to cap. If possible, in fights, I almost always try to cast one absorb spell and I'll drain as needed. Aspir... well, make sure you know the mob -has- mana before you attempt to drain it. >.> You look really silly when you aspir for 0 MP.

[Stockyboy]

Yeah, you can MB, or cast bio after every meele hit to get your dark magic skill up, it's seriously worth it when you can drain for over 300 at higher levels.

[DaveTheElf]

the only spell i really used was in garlige citidel (sp) (besides drain and aspir)
and i was subbing BLM for areroga (sp XD)
which would hit for about 130-160, so was worth it
also choke was nice. (thank god for warp -_-)

then when you get the ABS-(stat) spells
i use 2-3 a fight. normally abs-AGI,VIT,STR (in that order)
and some times MND for the MB

[tdh]

Actually, as shocking is it sounds, DRK has a higher rating in Elemental Magic than RDM. DRK has a B+ (Lv.256) and RDM has a C+ (Lv.230). Difference is that to the best of my knowledge DRK gets no Magic Atk Bonus, and not many DRKs bother to carry INT gear with them.

When I 1st leveled DRK, I had a HUGE head start in the magic department. I leveled RDM to Lv.30 to unlock all the advance jobs. So I had cap'd Enfeebling, near cap Elemental Magic, and a "head start" on Dark Magic. As time went on, all of those fell behind. It took a lot of BCNM's for me to catch my Dark Magic up. By Lv.45 I cap'd it, and could pretty easily cap it during EXP. Stun'n all those Gobby Bombs helped out of course.

At the lower levels, if you're a Taru, I'd say Magic Burst. Plenty of MP, and decent INT, outside of that I can't recommend it. I used to do it, but as an Elvaan I couldn't put up a number worth the MP lose, and the TP lose from not swinging my weapon.

At Lv.57, I start ever fight with Absorb-AGI, to helps with party Acc. Even if you're a Taru, I wouldn't cast more than 2 of these a fight. 33MP a pop, and again they're not a quick spell, and you can't build TP while casting. So find a happy medium. Don't over extend your MP, and don't lag behind with your Skillchain Partner. We spend a lot of our careers Skillchaining with jobs who build TP at an insane pace. IF you're casting 2-3 Absorb spells, for 66-99MP, you're going to fall way behind, and may not have MP for Stun when it's needed.

I would say that having Enfeebling Magic cap'd would be very useful. DRK does get Sleep II in the 50's. (I can't remember when exactly. I already had it from RDM. I didn't even know DRK got Sleep II.) If your Enfeebling Magic is cap'd, you may actually have a chance of Sleeping a link. (Believe it or not, I've managed to stick it when a RDM failed in Kuftal Tunnel. /shocked as hell.)

[one_klump]

How much spell casting? not alot. my Drk is lvl 67 right now, and if I am lucky enough to get refresh/ballad, I'll cast either Absorb str/dex/or vit, maybe 2 of them. You would definatly want a bard in the party over a rdm, because he can stack attack songs on you and get an insane attack bonus.

Don't worry about casting elemental spells. ever. You can pull with bio if you want, but poison is faster.

Trust me, in exp parties after lvl 50 or so, if you keep casting absorb spells, your dark magic skill will take care of itself.

[Yagami Kunoichi]

If you stun like you should, your Dark Magic will also generally cap reasonably quickly.

[Ellipses]

I'd just like to reiterate, if you screw up my dia with your bio without discussing it first, I will eat your face. By which I mean I probably won't say anything and will just quietly fume about it, because trying to explain the concept to every single DRK, RDM, and BLM in the game gets really tiresome.

[Murphie]

I'd just like to reiterate, if you screw up my dia with your bio without discussing it first, I will eat your face. By which I mean I probably won't say anything and will just quietly fume about it, because trying to explain the concept to every single DRK, RDM, and BLM in the game gets really tiresome.

:biggrin:

But yeah, seriously. What he said.

[one_klump]

yes, dia > bio in most cases.

if your fighting low def mobs, like mandies, bio is fine.

[Armando]

yes, dia > bio in most cases.

if your fighting low def mobs, like mandies, bio is fine.Bah, Mandies have too much HP. I still prefer Dia on them D:

[wolfjorg]

I usually go thru ABS VIT DEX STR and INt other than that it is the usual stun, or drain. It is up to you how much MP you want to blow through, but don't fuss when the RDM does not refresh you, DRKs are usually last on the totem pole of refresh.

[Hubby]

I have a static party with WHM BRD WAR WAR MNK DRK. I cast quite a bit and carry a few yagudo drinks with me just in case there's no time for a Ballad in between pulls. I usually don't rest, but if I finished off a mob with my WS, I may rest until the next mob is pulled to get 1 or 2 ticks of mp. If you can help it, fight mobs that have MP so that you can Aspir them and never have to worry about resting. There could be a whole other topic on Dia VS. Bio, but yeah, consult the other enfeeblers before you cas Bio. I tend to Bio mobs that are squishy and have a high damage output.

[DrkMateo]

Your not going to need to do a lot of spellcasting, unless you've skilled them up on rdm or blm you shouldn't bother with enfeeb or elemental because honestly, your just not gonna find the time as you progress, you need to make sure your swings count.

Side note: All the elemental spells lower than blizzard in mp cost are fast enough for you MB if you close the sc, cast those if you feel like it. I've skilled up my elemental and on an unresisted MB I could do 200-300 with a Tier II spell if someone else is closing the sc.

Absorbs aren't really that big a deal, cast Abs-str later on when you do drk/thf for SATA spinning slash and it will help with the mods on the ws a bit. Dark magic skill progresses pretty much by itself, if you pull with bio and cast drain after you take a hit and throw out an aspir it will keep your dark magic up to date.

At 37 you get the ever useful Stun, this is drk's most important and best spell, it's what get's us in to endgame stuff most of the time, now this spell has a multitude of uses and a big recast time so you need to pick and choose when to do it. If you see a pld or nin having trouble casting, throw out a stun, if you see the mob suddenly break away from the tank stun immediately, I've saved the lives of many mages with a well placed Stun.

Against certain NM's they are just going to want you to Stun whenever it's up and at the endgame level your gonna be in a Stun cycle with some blm's and other drk's.

Stun > Drain > Aspir > Absorbs > all your other spells.

[Karinya]

Well, I have a slightly different perspective on this because all my magic skills were pre-capped from my RDM and BLM.

I've only taken DRK to 37 so far, but I found that up to that point, I could always do more damage with 100 MP than with 100 TP. A lot more, in fact. Partly through Drain, but also through magic bursts. And that was without any attempt to macro in INT gear.

Of course, if you can rest after you've just used TP, or rely on Aspir and Refresh, that's even better, but don't be afraid to rest any time you need to. TP aren't really a big deal until high levels.

DRK doesn't get any native magic attack bonus, but Moldavite Earring is all jobs. I think there are other DRK usable MAB items too.

[Sabaron]

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Step 3: Raise Cooking to level 20
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Icemage

The cap for pineapple juice is 30, so you'll get a good deal of breaks if you only go to 20--25 recommended. I did Pineapple with DRK and yes, it does rock especially with the near-necessity of skillchain participation for DRK and your desire to continue to cast high-mana spells (Drain/Bio).

[queenuma]

Well, I have a slightly different perspective on this because all my magic skills were pre-capped from my RDM and BLM.

I am in the same boat as you, having everything capped on my rdm so my drk will never have to skill up any magic. :cool:

I'm guessing from the OP's post he's probably still in the dunes/Qufim range if he's hitting for 20-30 a swing and stone does around 18 dmg so Abs spells are out of the equation. There is nothing wrong with alot of spell casting, especially if you're a Taru. You can get away with being drk/blm and macroing in some int gear for spell casts. Magic bursts on skillchains will be your best bet to do some good damage with your elemental spells or if you want to stick an enfeeble for a really long time e.g Poison on Reverberation. If you are MBing you really want to macro in a few pieces of int gear, couple of ermite's rings and a black silk neckerchief should do the trick, just remember to swap them back out after the cast. :P

If you are 2nd in the SC and still want to MB you should stick a cast line into your ws macro. As far as I can remember Slice and Dark Harvest use a wait 3 between ws and spell; Shadow of Death, Nightmare scythe, spinning slash and vorpal scythe use a wait 4; Guillotine, Cross Reaper and Spiral Hell I'm not too sure about.

One extra point to note for later on; if you want to make the absolute most of your MB make sure you use absorb-int and absorb-mnd before the SC as this will increase both your magic damage and lower the mob's magic defence.

[DrkMateo]

One extra point to note for later on; if you want to make the absolute most of your MB make sure you use absorb-int and absorb-mnd before the SC as this will increase both your magic damage and lower the mob's magic defence.

No do NOT do that, the spellcasting time takes way too long, drk MB isn't going to end any fights, the time your casting is time that your NOT swinging and doing damage.

Drk is not a magic-DD, we're a melee DD with some magic to use in certain situations.

Only elemental nukes below Blizzard in mp cost are fast enough to MB off your own SC if you close.

[Aeni]

No do NOT do that, the spellcasting time takes way too long, drk MB isn't going to end any fights, the time your casting is time that your NOT swinging and doing damage.

Drk is not a magic-DD, we're a melee DD with some magic to use in certain situations.

Only elemental nukes below Blizzard in mp cost are fast enough to MB off your own SC if you close.

I agree. There's a lot of misconception on how to play your DRK to fullest potential and this has been muddied by first time meleers/long time magers.

Each Abs take a wallop of a full scythe swing and then some. By the time you're done casting the second Abs spell, the first Abs spell is already worn off (Less than 50% effective) By the time the skillchain forms up and you MB on it, I'm sure the first Abs is pretty close, if not comletely worn off and the second Abs close to 30%. That's a pretty damn lame way of burning 66 mp + mp for MB spell. I don't think a Galka DRK has that much MP period.

Basically, MB works at lower levels, but Tier II spells stop working at 60+ and most of the time, they just get totally resisted without the proper +macc and staff, which I will strangle a DRK if they do that (Swapping in staves for casting)

Abs-TP does not allow you to cast other spells more. It just makes it so that the SAM only has to wait a few swingsfor you to get 100% TP instead of the usual "TP will be ready for the next fight... orz"

[queenuma]

No do NOT do that, the spellcasting time takes way too long, drk MB isn't going to end any fights, the time your casting is time that your NOT swinging and doing damage.

Drk is not a magic-DD, we're a melee DD with some magic to use in certain situations.

Only elemental nukes below Blizzard in mp cost are fast enough to MB off your own SC if you close.

I didn't say you had to do it, just that you could. Abs-mnd works wonders before a skillchain to boost the blm/rdm/smn MBs anyway.