How do I optimally spend MP?

Over the course of a fight, you should generally only use Edge of Shadow in these three situations:

• You’re about to overcap MP
• You’re about to run out of Darkside
• You’re in burst, and have damage-increasing buffs

You should also aim to use The Blackest Night before buffs to get a charge of Dark Arts. This can be on auto-attacks, tankbusters, a raidwide, or anything you can. Dark Arts will allow you to get an additional Edge of Shadow in buffs.

You should liberally use The Blackest Night to avoid damage as needed, too. It is always better to move damage out of buffs in order to stay alive.

Can I use all my MP on The Blackest Night (TBN)?

Up to 3 (4 with careful timing) MP spenders per 2 minutes can be TBN without moving any damage out of burst — all three spenders in the odd-numbered minutes, plus one in the even-numbered minute. It is always better to lose damage in buffs in order to stay alive, or to save healer GCDs.

Why don't we use Living Shadow prepull/Should I use Living Shadow during phase transitions?

Using Living Shadow prepull can result in some of its damage coming out before raid buffs. For some phase transitions, you may nevertheless find it useful to use Living Shadow early (up to 6.8s before the enemy becomes targetable), either because buffs are being used immediately when the enemy returns, or because a tight phase timing means that you would lose a usage of Living Shadow by delaying it.

Why don't we use Delirium earlier/prepull?

Using Delirium prepull leads to MP being generated too early, forcing an Edge of Shadow outside of buffs (at the 2 minute and subsequent buff windows). Some fight circumstances may lead to this still being worthwhile, but in general, the later placement of Delirium is better.

Why are the oGCDs in the opener ordered the way that they are?

The opener is laid out to avoid overcapping on MP both in the opener and in future burst windows, and secondarily to maximize the damage you do if the fight ends in the middle of a burst.

What GCD speed(s) should I use?

It’s personal preference. They sim extremely similarly, but they ‘feel’ slightly different. The main differences in ‘feel’ are:

• 2.50: Nothing will clip, and all oGCDs will align perfectly if you keep your GCD rolling. Bursts will have variable amounts of starting Blood.
• 2.46: Carve and Spit will drift slightly to prevent clipping your GCD, but Blood is more consistent, and each burst will have 70 Blood going into it in full uptime.

If in doubt, or if none of that made sense, we recommend 2.50. It will likely be more forgiving if you’re new to the job or have very high ping, as well as simming very slightly better. If you like Dark Knight a lot, then we recommend trying both, and deciding for yourself what’s comfiest for you.

What food should I use?

(Patch 7.2): Mate Cookie (high quality) is the best food for all of our recommended gearsets, and will be very likely best for any other set of gear, too.

How much mitigation will I gain/damage will I lose by focusing on Tenacity?

Every 24-25 points of Tenacity give 0.1% additional damage, and every 13-14 points give 0.1% additional mitigation. For comparison, every 19-20 points of Determination give 0.1% additional damage (and no mitigation). For 7.00 best gear, a full focus on Tenacity gains approximately 6.2% mitigation and loses approximately 0.8% damage compared to the best damage melds.

How does Shadowed Vigil's heal interact with heal-increasing effects, like Rampart?

Vigilant, the buff that provides the delayed heal, will be buffed if the heal-increasing effect is present upon buff application, or in other words, shortly after you press Shadowed Vigil. Applying heal-increasing effects like Rampart after you already have Vigilant will not increase its healing.