DRK Equips 10-20

[musenko]

Heya started lvlin DRK as i think i will use as a Sub for RDM later on, got it to lvl 10 now wondering what kind of equips to use, sythes G.swords etc and then wot armor is best used.
thanks any recommendations will be appreciated as havent focused on Melee jobs too much.
Thanks
<(*_*)>

[Evilisgood]

When my DRK was this level back in the day I leveled up both G.Sword and Scythe. I kept running into parties that wanted either or, so keep both leveled will help maximize you pt invites if you throw in your search comment you have both leveled.

As for armor I went with Scale at 10, Bone+1 at 16, Beetle+1 at 21, Iron I think at 24 then Centurions Mail at 30 till 37.

Rings and earing you wanna go attack earings bone or beetle as they become available.

Rings your gonna need DEX and STR. You can either carry two sets of rings or single rings worn together. I believe you will wear warriors belt most of the time after the leather belt but not sure its been awhile.

You can also carry mage gear to swap as need to MB or enfeebs but at those levels it doesn't help much.

And as always Sole Sushi FTW.

Hope at least some of my rambling helped. GL!!!:thumbsup:

[Murphie]

I maintain the right to laugh at people using sushi at level 10.

[Aeolus]

Yea use a meat based dish. Atk+ ftw.

[Evilisgood]

Yeah my bad, not thinking apparently. Feel free to point and laugh.../sigh

[Tyros]

If you are looking simply to have it as a subjob for your RDM, then Great Sword is your best bet simply because of Power Slash. But if you could level both (Be hard to cap them both) I would recommend it.

For gear, there really aren't many stat+ gears for drk yet. Strong def gear is good, Bone+1 and eventually Beetle+1 earrings. I also recommend Legionnaire's Mittens (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Legionnaire%27s_Mittens) for your hand slot as they will last you until lv. 30 and Ryl. Sq. Mufflers.

If you have the cash, pick up a Mighty Ring (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Mighty_Ring) and a Vision Ring (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Vision_Ring). They are enchanted items and will only give the attack + and Accuracy + if you continue wearing them after they are used, but they are hands down the best rings for that level. On my server, they cost around 25k for the pair.

As for food, I recommend attack food until you hit the mid 30's.

Roast Mutton (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Roast_Mutton) 3 hr food until you hit 111 base attack.

Dhalmel Steak (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Dhalmel_Steak) 3 hr food until you hit 180 base attack.

Rice Dumpling (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Rice_Dumpling) 30 minute food with both attack and accuracy that will last you until 225 base attack.

And if you are REALLY hard up for accuracy, use a Jack-o'-Lantern (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/Jack-o%27-Lantern) for the +10 acc.

There is no reason you should use sushi in subjob levels.

[Lunaryn]

Yeah. Jack-o'-lantern or Rice Dumpling if you really need Acc, but in my experience +Acc without +DEX isn't going to help much and tends to lower your weapon skillup rate, or at least did mine... That was a bit higher level, though.

The best weapon you can use at this level by far is still Deathbringer, if you have it or can bear killing another 100 mobs with Chaosbringer for the quest to get it. The raw DPS may not look that great, but the +Atk on it makes a big difference. I plowed through mobs with this weapon until the upper teens.

As for Scythe, Cruel Scythe seems to be preferred, though I got by with the Legionnaire's Scythe.

At 20, you'll want to upgrade to Scythe, and at 18 you can move on to Braveheart for GSword. In the 30s you'll be looking at Mercenary Captain's Scythe and probably either Demonic Sword or Barbarian's Sword (this weapon is the main thing that calls for considering an Acc boost this low since it carries an Acc penalty. Rice Dumpling should do the trick if you don't happen to have +Acc gear to throw at it).

[musenko]

heya thanks for the help, i went with Sythe as id never used one lol, i already had some legionaires mitts so made good use of those, put on me bounding boots an got a crossbow with blind bolts, an put rings etc in invent an headed to valk
will let ya know how i get on
tnxy:)

[Malacite]

Don't listen to the sushi whores. Sushi should never be used pre-30's (even higher in the case of some jobs)


Here's some really good low level foods for your DRK:


Attack Food: http://ffxi.somepage.com/itemdb/3722

Accuracy Food: http://ffxi.somepage.com/itemdb/3893


As for rings, I'd have to go with +STR. Two Handed weapons require a lot more STR than 1 handers, and it'll boost your WS damage. +4 DEX and lv 14 isn't really going to do a whole lot for anyone other than THF.


For weapon choice, keep both Scythe and Great Sword capped, and always have a crossbow handy just in case. DRK's rating isn't so good, but if you can land an acid bolt it'll really help the damage (the only time I'd recommend sushi @ lower levels since DRK's marksmanship rating is pretty poor). Or you can just keep regular bolts (5-7 gil each from NPC I believe) for pulling.

When choosing your scythes and great swords always go for the highest base damage. DRK is all about big, damaging swings and weapon skills so you should play to your strengths (within reason of course; 20k for a +1 weapon with 1-2 more base damage isn't really worth it)


One last thing; Once you hit 20, if you can, sub RNG. The +10 accuracy boost is amazing for DRK levels 20-29.

[IfritnoItazura]

Two Handed weapons require a lot more STR than 1 handers
... Why do do you say that? :huh:

Edit:
One last thing; Once you hit 20, if you can, sub RNG. The +10 accuracy boost is amazing for DRK levels 20-29.

Accuracy Bonus is nice, but not exactly amazing. (Yes, I've tried it.) I'd also recommend considering DRK/WHM during and even after Valkurm Dunes levels, depending on party.

[Taskmage]

I highly advocate whm sub at least until level 20, possibly until level 30. In Valkurm, Drain is situationally awesome but usually meh, and the other 57 seconds out of a minute you have nothing to do with your mp. I found I was very rarely sorry I didn't have provoke from /war, but very often relieved that I did have cure from /whm, especially in the dunes with newb healers.

Imo, trying to keep both scythe and great sword capped is more trouble than it's worth. They're very slow weapons and it's hard enough to keep only one capped. I'd recommend going with great sword for a couple reasons. It has better skillchain options early on than scythe, opening Distortion with Power Slash or closing it with Hard Slash, and doing decent damage with either. Also, Braveheart at level 18 is cheap, faster than other great swords, has +5 accuracy built in, and stays good for several levels.

[Murphie]

My drain was kickass during those levels. But my dark skill is rather leveled already. Really, I didn't have any problems with /WAR.

I capped Scythe, Great Sword and Great Axe while soloing in the dunes. It's not really so difficult. You just have to keep at it.

[Malacite]

I capped Scythe, Great Sword and Great Axe while soloing in the dunes. It's not really so difficult. You just have to keep at it.

It gets harder and harder as you go up though. If your WAR is high enough, I strongly recommend trying to cap one or the other in advance (greatsword is easier)

Admitidly (sp? damn spellcheck on my browser won't work) greatsword is the more versatile choice. And I was considering WHM sub btw, I just personally find that /RNG helps more (from 20+) with your primary role. (DD) DRK is one of the few DD classes that can get away with subbing early on so try and have fun with it I guess.

[musenko]

Heya thanks for the advice again after seeing the first couple of posts i decided to head to dangruf an try an solo cap me sythe skill i also subbed RNG because i wanted to lvl me marksmanship as well as i want to lvl RNG some more soon, as far as food went i took some Jerky, took some Juice as well but didnt make much use of it.

[Murphie]

It gets harder and harder as you go up though. If your WAR is high enough, I strongly recommend trying to cap one or the other in advance (greatsword is easier)

Admitidly (sp? damn spellcheck on my browser won't work) greatsword is the more versatile choice. And I was considering WHM sub btw, I just personally find that /RNG helps more (from 20+) with your primary role. (DD) DRK is one of the few DD classes that can get away with subbing early on so try and have fun with it I guess.Yes, but this thread is about the dunes levels. And honestly, if you keep them all within a few points of each other, it doesn't take long at all to cap in an exp party. It just requires that you keep track of where you are on each weapon and don't let one slip way behind.

I would never advise someone to focus on one weapon. One of the first things I look for in a DRK that I'm inviting is the ability to use at least both a Scythe and Great Sword. If they can also use a Great Axe, all the better. If they only have one? I look elsewhere.

[IfritnoItazura]

And honestly, if you keep them all within a few points of each other, it doesn't take long at all to cap in an exp party. It just requires that you keep track of where you are on each weapon and don't let one slip way behind.

I kept switching back and forth between Great Sword and Scythe, and by tail end of Lv.40 neither one was capped. (Scythe was more than 5 or 6 skill behind, since I had quite a few parties which needed me to open Distortion. Gotta love those old fashioned JP players; I mean, Skillchains! Wow! :cool: )

So, I hauled my DRK40 to a Tail Feather farming party in Rivern Site #01A. I managed to cap both for exp Lv.40, but I dinged Lv.42 in the process, so both remained uncapped for my current level. :wasted:

That makes me two (exp) levels behind on those skills...

I would never advise someone to focus on one weapon.
I don't know... If a person has no intention of leveling beyond 37 or 40, both weapons are yawners on WS damage. In that case, as long as the DRK can open and close Distortion for BLM to MB, why should I care if he has Scythe or not?

[Murphie]

Because maybe you're not only doing distortion.

[Taskmage]

True that scythe can open Fragmentation, but it's much less common to find a strong closer for that pre-37. I mean it's great when you can, Frag > Aeroga in Garliage is killer, but all you've really got at that level is Sturmwind and Piercing Arrow, and most wars are /nin axe junkies nowadays even before Rampage. If I was going to advise only using one of the two, which I am, it would be for the one that can participate in the most common skillchain.

Up through Valkurm, yeah, it wasn't really too much trouble to keep both capped, but starting at Qufim and especially after hitting Yuhtunga I found it impossible to keep both skills capped in exp, and soloing things high enough level to give you skillups at that point is really hard. From Yhoator on I used scythe onry and my skill usually capped only a mob or two before I leveled up again.

For a career drk or for a job with A skills in faster weapons I'd be totally with you. One should at least make an attempt to keep both skills near the cap. But for someone who's just planning to use it as a subjob, I don't feel it's worth the effort to keep both of these glacially slow-skilling weapons capped.

[Tyros]

True that scythe can open Fragmentation, but it's much less common to find a strong closer for that pre-37.

That's the beauty of using Great Sword in early levels. Frostbite and Freezebite can both open Fragmentation in the same way that Shadow of Death and Dark Harvest can.

[Taskmage]

Oh, {True Strike}. So the only thing scythe has over gsd skillchain-wise in those levels is the ability to close Gravitiation 33-37, which ... ick.

[Murphie]

Honestly, I'm just anal-retentive about having multiple weapon options. For the average player just leveling it as a sub, Great Sword is fine. For someone who is a career DRK, leveling both is advised.

[Malacite]

The other thing to keep in mind is you also have all those magic skills to keep capped too, which makes things such a bitch @. @

I strongly advise levelling BLM or RDM on the side to keep your magic skills up, and use WAR to cap your other weapon (be it scythe or G.Sword)