Caladbolg Or Apocalypse

I'll start by saying I'm making both of these at some point.
Currently Caladbolg is at the HMP step.
Apoc not started.

Figured I'd ask here before committing to one as both are at a $$ stage.

I currently have Rag 119 AG for a GS but no Scythe.

If you just want damage then calad easy but apoc offers great survivability/utility that you cant get elsewhere apart from prime scythe

Caladbolg first, but good decision to pursue both. Caladbolg is top dps for DRK (even beating prime weapons a lot of the time). Apoc is great but it's something you use occasionally, although it is still great when you do and catastrophe at r15 is fairly solid, especially when making use of DRK's high PDL.

Figured Caladbolg would be first since it's a main weapon to use all around. Just figured I'd ask here before committing the large gil requirements.

If you solo/lowman a lot get Apoc first. So many things you can do on drk with infinite hp/mp that you cannot without Apoc (leaving prime out based on context of the question). Again mostly lowbuff oriented, but do make note of the JA haste aftermath when you AG it.

Otherwise, Calad.

While true, also note that this JA haste does next-to-nothing for you while Last Resort is up (the majority of the time).

You could technically build new TP sets with less equipment haste on them for use while wielding Apoc with AM, but that's nowhere near as helpful as you might think it is.

Hey LR downtime always cut my life into pieces.

It has been reported that it feels like suffocation, no breathing.

..being dark knights it's an established fact that they don't give a fack should they happen to cut themselves bleeding.

Could Maletaru be wrong? Could he be right?

If you're firing WS at 1250 TP, what's the 4-hit about? Is the 4-hit based on any Samurai Roll result, or how does that work exactly?


If you have a Caladbolg, why in the world are you using a Montante for anything?


What? There's no point equipping a good weapon because you (a DD in this scenario) can't even engage a mob before the real men kill it? This is...DRK advice...? As a DRK, you should be 1-shotting every mob in W1 and W2 of dynamis with a single WS (and the auto-attacks leading up to it), not *hoping* you get a WS off to help the real DDs finish the mob they also somehow couldn't 1shot.


Apoc isn't performing well because it's a trash-tier WS for doing damage to enemies. X-hit won't change that at all, as waiting an extra .3 seconds for another attack round is irrelevant. X-hit stopped being relevant like...10+ years ago.


It will definitely keep you alive because there's no chance you'll ever pull hate off any tank with an Apocalypse.


No Odyssey boss will kill a DRK in two seconds in a proper hybrid set, so I'm not really sure what this is about. You don't need to sacrifice your primary weapon slot to stay alive on DRK.

Caladbolg for steamrolling ***, then Apoc when you pull hate lol. Honestly though, I absolutely adored my Apocalypse, it made you a near impossible to kill brick ***house, but you won't be breaking any DPS records with it.

Apoc is gold. So, use gold. You will get all the chicks. Chicks dig gold stuff. You won't want for anything else. You can cheat death and score all the time.

Or use Calad and hulk smash. You get no chicks, but things die. And some just love to see the world burn. You will love Torcleaver more than your closest family and friends.

Interesting...I get 248 TP/swing with Calad while under the actual worst roll of Samurai, a 6. This is with a set I put absolutely no thought into X-hitting for, so I wonder how badly you had to twist yours to hit 250/swing because that seems extremely strange. I have DA on my cape and no special STP gear. My total STP is 30 in the set and with any roll other than a 6, or with crooked cards used on samurai roll, I would be at your 4-hit build with Caladbolg.

Maybe by "roll's power of 1" you meant your COR doesn't have a Rostam, Regal Necklace, or a Barataria Ring?

I remain extremely skeptical of your ideas.

I appreciate the passion and thought that goes behind ideas of wanting to be try stuff off-meta, but sometimes it feels like this 'holier than thou' attitude. Yes, it's easy for DRKs to slap together a simple TP set and simple WS set and absolutely crush it. And there's nothing 'wrong' about that. That doesn't mean the people that use it are braindead or it's wrong to play like that. What weapon people use isn't what determines who's good or bad. Knowing how to use the rest of the DRK kit is what's going to set apart those who have tunnel vision on just hitting a WS macro over and over, and those who understand how to maximize the spells / JAs that DRK has available.

I don't think there's any groundbreaking set or playstyle that is going to dethrone Caladbolg. It is what it is. It's cool for people to experiment with other options and builds, but let's not kid ourselves on what the results are going to be at the end of the day. You can hold TP and while doing so, giving the Caladbolg DRK or other non-savage DDs time to solo a SC and they'll be very grateful for it.

I want to be clear that this is coming from someone that got Apoc as their first relic. I rushed to AG it when I first came back to the game and had a lot of fun soloing / low-manning content while I was building towards endgame gear. I love the weapon, but let's call a spade a spade. Caladbolg is for damage. Apoc is for survivability. Though I can't remember the last time I started a fight with it. I usually only swap to it in an "oh ***" scenario.

I love both of them, I use them pretty evenly. I do low man or dual box quite a bit, so Apoc is perfect for that. I do some events, and Cald is quite a bit more on the high damage WS #'s.

Nothing beats being able to fill you hp and mp bar with a few ws's though.
I am working on upgrading for the final stage, but getting 10,000 JP's is taking a bit, and I don't see doing it the Dyna D way atm. So, it's just a grind - but will be worth it :)

You will be happy with both of the weapons, I am. Sounds like you are closer to finishing Cald, so maybe just finish that? I made Apoc as my first relic and am still happy with my choice.

Just my .02cents.

Caladbog, because its cool. Also, because you can call it Calabdog! Thats surely OP.

So

Excalibur

Or

Sequence?

Get Apoc first. The utility of Apoc obliterates Caladbolg. If you solo a lot it's your go to. The only time Caladbolg will outshine Apoc is in a full buff zerg situation.

I have nearly every DRK weapon (nearly done with aeonic) and I'm almost always using Apoc. I don't really use my Caladbolg much because I find Liberator is better in 99% of situations.

DRK can be used for Kalunga and Mboze, both both are Calad fights (if no prime).

Don't take DRK to Sheol C.

DRK can solo omen Gin, Kin, Fu with pretty much any weapon.

idk what is left.

Do whichever one you want, but one is a Relic and the other Empyrian, different requirements and costs. Calad is gonna see more use but Apoc is very cheap to make.

Apoc is unique/cool, but it isn't particularly useful late game. Calad is boring but it's a must-have late game. I would say the answer depends on where you're at in the game. If you're already tackling Odyssey and Sortie, don't bother with apoc.

Edit: Apoc isn't even particularly unique now that Foenaria exists, either.

Still kinda is, because Catastrophe with Afterglowed Apoc gives 10% ability haste, so you have an option to run with different subjob (mainly /drg) and still almost cap delay when Last Resort is down.

Catastrophe ignores shadows too for the pesky NIN Formors.

Apocalypse also allows you to full time Souleater too. Caladbolg turns Souleater into Mijin Gakure.

Yup it's nice.


Also from what I tested in Ballista, Entropy will as well.

Tested this as a NIN with 7 shadows. DRK had no multi attack during this test. I was basically naked to floor my evasion.

Ended up dead every time with shadows bypassed lmao.

Is it though? Kalunga can be done with Prime Gsword too, maybe mboze too?

Isn't an R15 relic still about 150M?

Assuming no mercing, just buying items:
R15 Caladbolg: 68m + 24m + 38m + 56m = 186m
R15 Apocalypse: 61m + 6m + 10m + 56m = 133m