Newbie DRK question

[Fiofio]

I bought a Mercurial Kris for future use in zerging, and I was wondering if this is actually worth using as level 50 DRK/NIN with a 1-H axe, in exp parties? Obviously I have Great Sword, Great Axe and Scythe levelled too.

[Tsuko_Asura]

Nope.

[zard1977]

2Handers are kings in level up parties now so I would say no.

[Ruiner]

Nope.

Use your Great axe.

[Fiofio]

Thanks guys. And yes, Great Axe kicks the crap out of Great Sword and Scythe at the moment >.>

[Tulun]

Maybe.. *maybe* after you get Rampage.. but even then, it's likely Great axe + Sturmwind and subbing war will net you far better dot and dmg...

[Dantrag]

I did Axes when i got rampage and then swapped back after getting guillo. W/e you feel like doing really. Colibri are a joke, get a rng or two with ebows and brd. you won't really care which you use, you'll just end up being depressed for a little while.

[Gustave]

I messed around with Vikingaxe/kris around the 50's at colibri. It was a nice change of pace and a bit amusing watching the nin get eaten by pecking flurries. If you want to play around and your party doesn't mind then have fun with it. GA and scythe will do much more damage tho.

[Indalecia]

Grab a GA and axe belt, /war, enjoy.

[Ruiner]

Grab a GA and axe belt, /war, enjoy.

Enh... Axe Belt is pretty fucking sex from 30-50 but to be honest, I'd probably use a Life Belt over it at 48, and a Swift Belt over that at 50.

[Mega]

Swift Belt isn't worth it until you can break +10% Haste from equipment after Lv72. Life Belt is your best option until then.

[Ruiner]

Swift Belt isn't worth it until you can break +10% Haste from equipment after Lv72. Life Belt is your best option until then.

And you base this off... ? If I'm getting Haste and March, Swift Belt is probably going to win. If I'm only getting Haste, the line begins to blur. With neither, Swift is pretty LOL. However, I definitely disagree with this magical "10% Haste from gear" point at which Swift becomes viable.

[Xerlic]

I have a few questions about DRK and figured I'd post here instead of making a new thread.

1. I know Gaxe until 60 DRK or whenever Guillotine is available. When does GS become viable? 66 when Spinning Slash is available?

2. /SAM is all the rage now, but how realistic is it to use it pre-merit parties? I plan to party with randoms, so I don't expect to be levelling with top notch tanks and other DDs who can bounce hate well. I know when I levelled MNK and WAR, I had to use /NIN from colibris onward.

3. I know I'm really getting ahead of myself, but does anyone know of a comprehensive guide for zerg math? A lot of the info on DRK zerging seems really scattered about in random threads. I'm wondering if I missed a thread or LJ post or something that compiles all of the information. Main reason I'm asking is I have a Ridill and 8 sword merits and was wondering how that compares to MKris and Zaghnal after the cap was increased on Desperate Blows.

[Niiro]

When does GS become viable?

Around 2004

Ba-zing~

Not a DRK but G.sword is a very niche weapon I feel, in exp/merits/misc events Scythe is going to win because of a non-sacrificial 6 hit setup and better WSs, on most HNMs with decent support Scythe is gonna win for the same reasons. Only time I'd see G.sword have it's use is in situations when you're there just to make SCs (Baha, ouryu, etc) or fighting something very hard without proper support such that Guillo potential is ruined, thus making SS your only real option for consistent WS damage

/SAM is all the rage now, but how realistic is it to use it pre-merit parties? I plan to party with randoms, so I don't expect to be levelling with top notch tanks and other DDs who can bounce hate well. I know when I levelled MNK and WAR, I had to use /NIN from colibris onward.

/SAM, in my opinion becomes viable at 60 when you have both Hasso and Med, if you're smart about using Med and when to WS, and to a lesser extent when to 3rd eye, it can compete with or out damage /WAR and help you take less damage at the same time.

However not all exp parties are willing to make the best with what they've got, and sometimes /NIN and roboting your way through the party is the simplest, safest way to go with acceptable efficiency. It all depends on if you've got a solid tank and solid support. After 60 though if you're in 'one of those parties -.-' you're better off just subbing THF over NIN and making the extra hate someone else who is /NINs problem.

[Ruiner]

2. /SAM is all the rage now, but how realistic is it to use it pre-merit parties? I plan to party with randoms, so I don't expect to be levelling with top notch tanks and other DDs who can bounce hate well. I know when I levelled MNK and WAR, I had to use /NIN from colibris onward.

To be honest, if you have top-notch gear, and you're leveling with pickups, you might just want to sub NIN from 24 to 70, when you get Seigan.

As far as weapons go, you might want to go Great Axe 0-55, Axe 56-59, Scythe 60-75. Rampage is still a pretty damn hot Weapon Skill.

[Midnightjade]

Regarding GAxe at low levels, the NM that drops Neckchopper (Acc+5) is never, ever camped on my server. He's either up and wandering around, or shows up within a round or two of repops. Panzer Percival, lottery from the beetles at Jugner J5 or L7.

Anyone wanting this GAxe might want to check on the NM before dropping 40-50k on AH for it. Takes like 5 minutes, and it's really all you need lvls 20-30.

[sleekmotorwurkz]

Rampage can easily outparse sturmwind, and guillo sometimes for that matter. And come on LOL at all the retards saying go DRK/WAR. Yes because in low level parties mages always have TONS of mp to throw around at drks who pull too much hate and have no shadows.

I know its so fashionable these days to jump on the 2 handed weapon bandwagon, but at least from rampage to spinning slash, I would 100% take axe > gaxe, gsword, or scythe. At 75 sure I laugh at people who still use 1 handed weapons for xp (and thats coming from someone who used to use maneater/ridill). But lower level parties /war is not feasable unless you have a powerlevel, and if you wanna use gaxe, at least /nin. Do you want the drk to first voke for sata on the paladin too?

[Indalecia]

Rampage can easily outparse sturmwind, and guillo sometimes for that matter. And come on LOL at all the retards saying go DRK/WAR. Yes because in low level parties mages always have TONS of mp to throw around at drks who pull too much hate and have no shadows.

I know its so fashionable these days to jump on the 2 handed weapon bandwagon, but at least from rampage to spinning slash, I would 100% take axe > gaxe, gsword, or scythe. At 75 sure I laugh at people who still use 1 handed weapons for xp (and thats coming from someone who used to use maneater/ridill). But lower level parties /war is not feasable unless you have a powerlevel, and if you wanna use gaxe, at least /nin. Do you want the drk to first voke for sata on the paladin too?

But Sturmwind is more CONSISTENT. And /war isn't bad so long as you take the Enmity equation to heart early so you can start learning your limits and be an above average drk and not a "HEY GUYZ WATCH THIS DMG, LOLZ" fucking retard that infests the ranks of 75 drks.

[Tan]

I hate that "I DO DMGZ!" mentality... and Taru's shouldn't be allowed to play DRKs, we have this one in our LS and I swear he dies like 8 times every event from AoE or what not.

My personal experience leveling DRK was I actually liked /NIN even from early on and you can actually co-tank decently. I think I even tanked a 5 man party on Colibris at 57 which was fun keeping hate w/ Absorbs and still cranking out solid damage with Rampages. I tried to keep my GA, Axe, Scythe and G.sword capped all the time along the way but it just got to be too much a hassle and I stuck w/ Axe from 40-60 and then did Scythe 60+. OC is really fun with Dual Wield at 64 and 72 too, so that would be something to mess around with also.

[sleekmotorwurkz]

I hate that "I DO DMGZ!" mentality... and Taru's shouldn't be allowed to play DRKs, we have this one in our LS and I swear he dies like 8 times every event from AoE or what not.

Is that any worse then our taru white mages who have 1300 mp but 350 hp? Or the black mages that want the latent on their sorc ring so keep themselves at 400 hp to stay in yellow?

But Sturmwind is more CONSISTENT. And /war isn't bad so long as you take the Enmity equation to heart early so you can start learning your limits and be an above average drk and not a "HEY GUYZ WATCH THIS DMG, LOLZ" fucking retard that infests the ranks of 75 drks.

1. Hey man why do you sub war?
2. To do more damage duh!
1. But youre gonna pull hate...
2. Nah I know when to hold back.
1. So what youre saying is you want to do more damage but youre holding back your damage.

I know how to go full tilt with damage and not have to worry about hate. /nin