Introduction

Hi, my name is Kurra. I have played official DN as Gladiator until the 70 cap primarily for PVP. I started here as Dark Avenger because I’ve always liked the agile and destructive essence of the class ever since I tried it on the official server. I also play different classes like Reaper, Mystic Knight, Gladiator etc. In this guide, I will share my understanding of the class with the experience and knowledge I've gained with it throughout my journey on Project Duck DN.

Dark Avenger is an agile, strength class that can utilize [Dark Tumble] (i-frame) in-between skills to manage your position, cancel end lag, and prevent cast interruption.

Skills

Warrior

[Rising Slash]: Your [CM3] enhanced skill. Used to initiate [Fatal Impact] to cut its casting speed by half (not doing so means you have a longer dps downtime while also holding off cooldown skills resulting in dps loss).

[Side Kick]: [Dark Tumble]’s best bud. You'll want to use this with [Dark Tumble] to cancel it and adjust your dash distance for accurate positioning. Check the Tips & Tricks section for more information regarding this skill.

[Breaking Point]: Warrior’s party buff skill that gives you and your party a +10% Attack. Always make sure that everyone has it.

Avenger

[Grave Slash]: Decent damage-dealing ground skill. Pressing LMB on the 1st to 2nd hit has a faster animation as compared to the RMB version but you can use either one. You'll always want to cast the last hit with RMB since it deals more damage (even on smaller targets).

[Dark Stinger]: Gives "All damage +20%" buff and is one of your best damage-dealing ground skills because of its fast animation and low cooldown. Check the Tips & Tricks section for more information regarding this skill.

[Piercing Crescent]: Ideally your 2nd highest damage-dealing skill. Always try to pre-cast 1 charge while the boss is invulnerable for free damage. You'll always want to spend two charges per [Cataclysm] so your high-priority ground skills will be up by the time you land. Holding LMB and then using [Dark Tumble] right after casting [Piercing Crescent] allows you to use your next charge with almost 0 delays.

[Doom Blade]: Decent damage-dealing ground skill.

[Vengeance Storm]: One of your best damage-dealing ground skills. It has an almost instantaneous cast speed making it one of your high-priority skills.

[Avenger’s Fury]: Gives 10 Fury (bubbles). Use this when your Fury gets below 20 on downtime.

[Phase Blade]: Use to initiate [Instant Soul Cutter]. Ideally used after [Piercing Crescent] to cast [Instant Soul Cutter] mid-air.

[Instant Soul Cutter]: Your filler skill after [Piercing Crescent] --> [Phase Blade]. Gives -20% Element Resistance to enemies hit. Check the Tips & Tricks section for more information regarding this skill.

[Soul Cutter]: Least prioritized filler skill because of its low damage and slow animation. Gives -20% Element Resistance debuff to enemies hit.

[Cataclysm]: Use to get you airborne and initiate [Piercing Crescent]. Cancels any ground skills when used (can also be used to dodge stomps if you're not confident enough to time i-frames).

[Recovery]: Gives Super Armor when hit for 6 seconds. Utilize it to safely cast [Rising Slash] to [Fatal Impact] (don’t stress your healer though).

[Shadow Pact]: Buff that gives you a +35% fire attack. Make sure it's always up.

[Death Knell]: Makes you airborne and invulnerable while also dealing damage equal to almost 2 [Fatal Impact] casts. Ideally, you'll want to cast this after using 2 charges of [Piercing Crescent] and while your other skills are on cooldown.

Dark Avenger

[Dark Avenger]: Your only means to transform. Can be used to reduce airtime  since you slam into the ground if cast while airborne (also has I-frame on landing animation).

[Fatal Impact]: Your highest damage-dealing skill. Always cast after [Rising Slash]. If it fails to hit, your DPS will be heavily impacted.

[Dark Tumble]: Dark Avenger’s most OP skill. Can also be used mid-air and allows recasting of [Piercing Crescent] by pressing LMB right after.

Build & Crests

Build

Unified Skill

Final Damage, Max HP% Boost

Crests

  • [Fatal Impact] DMG
  • [Vengeance Storm] DMG
  • [Piercing Crescent] DMG
  • [Doom Blade] DMG
  • [Dark Stinger] DMG
  • [Grave Slash] DMG / [Rising Slash] CDR
  • [Death Knell] CDR
  • [Fatal Impact] +1

※I recommend getting [Rising Slash] CDR first if you just started learning the class so it can go back up quicker in case you get interrupted.

Tips & Tricks

Bubble System

Every critical hit grants you 1 Fury, thus you won’t need to think about your bubbles while in combat. Using [Avenger’s Fury] helps maintain your Fury during downtime.

Skill priority

Your skill priority is as follows:

[Dark Stinger]: Fast animation speed + decent damage + low cooldown + debuff makes this skill on top of the list. Prioritizing the skill allows you to use it twice before going aerial, resulting in higher-end dps.

[Vengeance Storm]: Its cast speed is almost instantaneous making it worth prioritizing more than the other skills.

[Fatal Impact]: Because it deals tons of damage.

[Doom Blade]: It deals decent damage and has faster animation speed than [Grave Slash].

[Grave Slash]: Despite its mediocre damage and slow animation speed, it helps fill your ground time for your 2nd [Dark Stinger].

[Piercing Crescent]: Prioritizing the skills above gives you just enough time to get 2 charges of [Piercing Crescent] (if you do the rotation correctly) for smoother rotation.

[Instant Soul Cutter]: It's your best skill to use as a filler after using [Piercing Crescent].

[Soul Cutter]: Low damage + slow animation speed. Avoid using this if possible unless you absolutely need to debuff something at the moment.

Miscellaneous

Dark Stinger Quick RMB Cancel

You can finish the shoulder bash animation before pressing RMB to deal a bit more damage while helping slow down your pace for a smoother rotation of skills; however, I recommend quick cancellation if [Fatal Impact] is up or against smaller targets to avoid passing through them and missing the last hit.

Phase Blade Animation Cancel

[Instant Soul Cutter] has no cooldown and is only available after using [Phase Blade]. You usually want to cast it after [Phase Blade] finishes teleporting you to the enemy or it will kind of bug out (using normal attack instead etc); however, if [Instant Soul Cutter] hasn't been used for 22.5 seconds, you can cast it quickly without needing to wait for you to teleport with [Phase Blade].

Dark Tumble cancel

Not pressing anything or pressing some skills while using [Dark Tumble] makes your repositioning unpredictable. To avoid this you would like to cancel [Dark Tumble] with [Side Kick]. Pressing RMB while on [Dark Tumble] instantly cancels the tumble with [Side Kick] letting you control your tumbles for accurate repositioning while also allowing you to cast skills more quickly.

Demo:

Adjusting Your “Tempo”

There are currently 3 ways of adjusting the speed of your rotation. [Dark Stinger]’s shoulder bash animation cancel, [Piercing Crescent]’s charge usage count, and [Soul-Cutter]/[Instant Soul Cutter] RMB cancel. Learning when to use each to squeeze in [Fatal Impact] helps a ton in min-maxing your dps.

I-Frames

  • [Tumble]
  • [Dark Tumble]
  • [Fatal Impact]’s crash to landing animation
  • [Dark Avenger]’s landing animation(when used mid-air)
  • [Death Knell]

Rotation

Example Rotation 1: (Optimal)

[Piercing Crescent](pre-cast) > [Dark Stinger] > [Vengeance Storm] > [Rising Slash] > [Fatal Impact] > [Doom Blade] > [Grave Slash] > [Dark Stinger] > [Cataclysm] > [Piercing Crescent]x2 > [Phase Blade] > [Instant Soul Cutter]

Example Rotation 2: (Early elemental resist debuff)

[Piercing Crescent](pre-cast) > [Phase Blade](pre-cast) > [Instant Soul Cutter](prolong with LMB until boss gets hit, then cancel with RMB) > [Dark Stinger] > [Vengeance Storm] > [Rising Slash] > [Fatal Impact] > [Doom Blade] > [Grave Slash] > [Dark Stinger] > [Cataclysm] > [Piercing Crescent]x2 > [Phase Blade] > [Instant Soul Cutter]