RDM/DRK solo

[hongman]

Previously I thought /DRK was only for CS Stun scenarios, but I have recently seen/heard about RDM/DRK solo over /NIN.

What are the Pros and Cons of this?

All I can think of is:-

Pros

Attack +

Souleater, Last Resort

Stun

Vorpal?

Cons

Still no decent way to migitating damage from hard hitting Mobs, bar SS and Phalanx.

Am I missing anything, or is /DRK only useable against certain types of mobs? /NIN I understand, we can mitigate 100% damage with SS to help but even the lower end mobs hit RDMs quite hard, so I struggle to see how the ATK+ from /DRK helps an RDM in surviving.

[Taskmage]

Re: RDM/DRK solo

We're already pretty good at surviving though. Pro/Shell 4, Phalanx, and Stoneskin in combination with debuffs are more than sufficient to tank most mobs up to EM. In cases where you don't need utsusemi to survive (most of the time, imo) the bonuses you named plus Drain and Aspir make kills go faster.

It breaks down like this as I see it.

• If you're fighting something that attacks multiple times a round, can drop stoneskin in 5 rounds or less, or is a beast or undead mob, sub blu.
• Else if you're fighting something that can drop stoneskin in 5 rounds or less, sub nin.
• Else if you're fighting something where mp conservation is a concern, sub blm.
• Else if you're fighting something with a drop rate you're concerned about, sub thf.
• Else if you're fighting something where kill speed is more important, sub drk.
• Else if mob's attack rate, attack speed and hit points aren't a concern, and drop rate and kill speed can't be improved, sub whatever you want.

So for drk to be the best sub in a solo/melee situation, you'd have to be fighting something you wouldn't have any trouble surviving, but don't care about the drop rate either. Pretty niche. Some examples might be playing support/melee in PFC Mamool Ja assault, soloing/duoing Colibri for skill or limits, duo farming with a thf, or killing placeholders for an NM you're planning to call for help on anyway.

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: RDM/DRK solo

Well, /DRK is also good for handling monsters with annoying but takes-a-while to activate special attacks, thanks to Stun. Aspir and Drain may be helpful as well. RDM makes /DRK's Souleater less dangerous with Stoneskin, too. (I think?)

[Aeni]

Re: RDM/DRK solo

You know, some of you might be looking too hard into this. Here's several scenarios in which anyone can base their assumptions off of...

1. RDM/DRK was waiting for his Sky LS to get on and was farming simple stuff.

2. Had just left an O-Hat run (stun rotation) and was just grinding stuff for fun or too lazy to change sub...

3. Was fooling around with different combinations for Ballista.

4. Does not have NIN to 37 yet (Maybe not even at 12 yet for gimpy U:Ichi)

et cetera. Maybe the best piece of advice I can give here? Send the player a /tell unless they can't speak your language.

[Callisto]

Re: RDM/DRK solo

I personally use RDM/DRK about 90% of the time, it's my favorite sub. I use it both for xp and solo, for solo unless I'm fighting something that hits much harder than SS + Phalanx can handle, I don't bother with /NIN.

The Pros:

Attack Bonus
Vorpal Blade(/drool)
Last Resort
Souleater(stacks very nicely with Vorpal)
Resist Paralyze(extremely underrated, it helps more than you think it would, especially solo)
Arcana Killer(the same)
Absorb Spells(also very underrated, Abs-MND for debuffing and Abs-Vit right before you do a WS are both very nice)
Stun(duh)
Drain/Aspir
Higher STR/VIT boost than mage subs, helps for solo
Still gives a moderate INT boost

The Cons:

A decent chunk of MP less than /blm
No sleepga
No -na utility spells
Less INT/MND than BLM/WHM subs

I've set up my gear/macros very specifically so that I can easily perform all RDM functions while meleeing, in merit parties(especially Colibri) I generally act as puller and can still pull out the old ESword and do some respectable damage, usually about half of what a dedicated DD does(and I can Refresh!).

I recommend /DRK as much as anything, but like Taskmage stated different subs are for different functions, I have DRK/WHM/BLM/NIN/THF/WAR/BRD and have reasons to use all of them depending on what I'm doing. I'd recommend leveling anything that you'd think might be a decent sub(even /DRG w/ Joyeuse is plausible!) and try them all out.

It would take me too long to explain why I like /DRK the most, but I will say that my survivability as /DRK is higher than as any other sub IMO, I've had a much easier time escaping tight jams as /DRK than anything else.

[hongman]

Re: RDM/DRK solo

Thanks

I pretty much figured all of this, just wondered ifI had missed something the DRK sub offered I was not aware of, or certain strategies/techniques even.

How does the attack boost (and factored in JAs like SoulEater, WS Vorpal...) compare with DPS over /NIN and /DRK?

Just thinking, does /DRK make THAT much difference over /NIN wth DW bonues and Suppa? Of course assuming same gear/equip. Same for /WAR Double Attack- ?

Opinions?

[Taskmage]

Re: RDM/DRK solo

It's a pretty complex question and you'd really just have to parse it out. There's a lot of variables and depending on the situation you might not always come up with the same answer. How good is your pDIF vs the mob you're fighting before attack bonuses or Berserk? How much hp do you have to feed Souleater? Do you have Joyeuse and/or Justice sword, remembering that DA trait won't proc if the weapon's effect does and that dual wielding a double attack weapon with a single attack weapon actually reduces your normal melee DPS vs single wielding?

Again, the choice is situational, and the differences are subtle enough that most mages probably just fall back on personal preference. Like Callisto, I don't use /nin unless utsusemi is necessary for survival, so if I pick a sub for a melee strategy it's usually drk.

[hongman]

Re: RDM/DRK solo

Thanks TM, very well answered.

Guess Ill have to get back to grinding my DRK sub to try it out!

[Callisto]

Re: RDM/DRK solo

It's a pretty complex question and you'd really just have to parse it out. There's a lot of variables and depending on the situation you might not always come up with the same answer. How good is your pDIF vs the mob you're fighting before attack bonuses or Berserk? How much hp do you have to feed Souleater? Do you have Joyeuse and/or Justice sword, remembering that DA trait won't proc if the weapon's effect does and that dual wielding a double attack weapon with a single attack weapon actually reduces your normal melee DPS vs single wielding?

I did forget to mention that I think that it is kind of race dependant as well. I'm an Elvaan, in my personal opinion RDM/DRK works the best as Elv or Hume, but many Tarus and Galka don't have the same results that I do while trying to solo as /DRK.

[hongman]

Re: RDM/DRK solo

Im Elvaan as well, so ignore all the other races xD

On the other hand, a few slight changes in equip could probably sort out racial differences.

[Malacite]

Re: RDM/DRK solo

Just curious, how does /DRK help you kill faster over say /BLM or /WAR?

[Callisto]

Re: RDM/DRK solo

The bulk of it is in flat out melee damage. The difference is extremely noticeable. Against a DC~ mob I usually hit for about 45~ a pop as /BLM, and about 75 per on /DRK, added with Vorpal Blade averaging easily double the damage that Savage does.

Relative to /WAR, the melee damage end is about the same, but /DRK gives MP, INT, higher ATK/STR, several useful spells, and some nice JAs/JTs.

[tdh]

Re: RDM/DRK solo

As much as I like DRK, in most instances if I were to sub a melee job, I'm usually more inclined to go /WAR.

As a RDM who sub'd BLM all the way to Lv.75 & DRK75 - I'm addicted to Drain and Aspir. But when it comes down to it, WAR provides higher DEF providing more mileage to Stoneskin, Defender if needed, Berserk if desired, and Vorpal Blade. RDM melee soloing is about out living your prey, not destroying the mob. So the added DEF I've found to be very useful. I used /WAR to solo T Steelshells in the Tree to finally cap my Sword & Dagger skills. I tried doing the same thing as /BLM and could do it, but ran through much more MP than I did with WAR.

I think some people just assume you have to have /NIN to do any sort of soloing as RDM, and I fear too many people use it as a crutch. I've done a pretty decent amount of soloing as /BLM having no problem at all, while others express troubles as /NIN.

If I were for some reason to find myself meleeing in an EXP party, I'd go /DRK, but I think /WAR has greater benefit in a solo situation.

These are my opinions, but follow Taskmage's list of deciding your sub. A lot of great points in there.

[hongman]

Re: RDM/DRK solo

Well, I got my DRK to 32 and decided to have a play with /DRK in CN while levelling my neglected NPC.

It was fun. Hits were for 100-120 a piece, Vorpal doing 400-700 (still very random numbers which I found odd), Souleater + LR + Vorpal pushed that to 943 top on Crawlers.

Damn tho, SoulEater is dangerous without a healer. Lucky I could heal myself, if I were pure melee I would of had to turn around I think >.>

Why are numbers on my Savage Blade and Vorpal so random?

1.) TW Mobs
2.) Acc shouldnt be a prob - 250 Sword skill and +~30acc + sushi
3.) Can Ws's be resisted?!

[Callisto]

Re: RDM/DRK solo

Vorpal will be random because it is a 4-hit critical-hit type WS. In order to do full damage, all 4 hits need to land, and land as crits. It is possible for 1 or more of the 4 to not be a critical hit, or to miss altogether.

Also, for Souleater, the effect will stack on each hit individually, however I think for effects like Sneak Attack, it will only stack on the first hit of the 4.