Introduction

DRK is a flexible class, and so specific encounters may benefit from alternate openers. Encounter-specific opener information may be found in the drk_encounter channel of the Balance discord, or on fight-specific guides, where applicable.

This section will list general-purpose DRK openers, which will work well for most situations, and provide an overview of how openers are chosen. For more nuance, understanding, and detail about why some encounters might prefer a different opener, you may also want to read the opener variation section in the advanced guide.

Opener Design Goals

• Use as many big hits and spend as much MP as possible inside potion and raid buff windows (which typically come up around the third or fourth GCD). This means that most skills will be delayed until this point.
• Get Living Shadow out early enough that its attacks fully fit into buffs. Its long spawn animation and the fact that it updates with buffs in real time means that it is best used before buffs come out, unlike skills that apply damage immediately.
• Use an Edge of Shadow to apply Darkside as early as possible.
• Avoid overcapping on MP.

Tanks currently use Grade 3 Gemdraughts of Strength.
Note that Strength affects both physical and magical skills for tanks.

Standard Opener

Unmend is used to delay the opener slightly to account for raid buff application time, as well as to start our GCD rolling as early as possible. Use it whether or not you are pulling.

Optional Modifications

• If the prepull TBN will not break, it can be left out for a small MP loss, delaying the last Edge of Shadow slightly. Use it as soon as you can without clipping your GCD.
• Shadowstride can be used to pull instead of Unmend, and pulling with Hard Slash is also viable if the boss starts in melee range, but each of these options requires adding an extra Hard Slash before Disesteem to ensure that the burst fits into late-applied buffs. However, if you are the pulling tank, this can make positioning harder. There is more detail on this opener and its benefits and potential drawbacks in a section in the advanced guide, and we’d recommend only using this opener if you’re aware of the trade-offs.
• If you cannot fit the Edge of Shadow before Hard Slash without clipping due to, for example, the boss being far away, move it to after Hard Slash. I.e., Unmend -> Potion -> Hard Slash -> Edge of Shadow -> Living Shadow.

Rotation After The Opener

The rotation after the opener Dark Knight’s rotation detail is listed in the rotation section of the basic guide.