Black Mage Guide to Trial of Magians Staves by Ctownwoody

Bear with me, still changing a word document to WIKI guide Notes on BLM Guide to Elemental Staves, or SE Hates You and Here’s the Proof

The essence of this guide is for BLMs trying to work on their elemental damage staves. They cast faster and the nukes land harder, if slightly less accurate. Other jobs, such as SCH or RDM can certainly follow along on this guide, but I wrote it for BLMs since they are the hardest nukers who can get the most out of the staves. For those worried about MACC, there are atmas to compensate for magical accuracy. However, MACC has a ceiling (95%) whereas magical damage does not have such a limit. Step One: Select from the 6 (and one half) Routes There are six and a half staves that you can select from for your staves. The six are fire, thunder, air, earth, water, ice. The half is darkness. Technically, it enhances Drain, Aspir, and, Bio but it is very difficult to complete due to the damage-based kills required, unless you use weaponskills. Also, Sleep, Blind, and non-darkness damage spells would still need the HQ elemental stave. Ice and Thunder are the most common staves that people get, little surprise there, as they are the two most powerful nukes. I would add that Fire and Air need special consideration as well because several of the +2 item/Emperyean Weapon NMs are weak to Fire and Air and are ones especially hard to kill without magic damage(Bukhis and Ulandashi, specifically).

Step Two: Rally Your Forces/Blackmail Your Friends BLMs were not, BST pets and worms aside, were not meant to solo kill much. Additionally, the killing blow of X damage requires that you use a staff weak than your current HQ staff. Having a tank and/or DD along for the ride is an immense help. SMNs can duo the first 5 trials (of 9 involving kills) and other BLMs are, of course, going through what you are as well. Finally, several trials “double-back” by requiring you kill the same family or type of mob as you did on an earlier trial (Vermin/Beetles for thunder, e.g.), so getting (or giving, be generous now) help to someone else on an earlier/later trial is useful for easing the workload.

Step Three: Start the Base Trials The first trial on each staff is the same: treants or sapling in any type of weather. I suggest Grauberg [S] as the best spot, especially if you have a group. Weather there is pretty constant, plenty of treants with a fast respawn, and, when weather isn’t up, harvesting points that can yield very valuable Dried Chigoes. Only downside is the regular chigoes hidden among the bushes that will kill ambush you and kill you. Be warned. The second trial for Fire/Thunder/Air is killing Spiders in fire/thunder/air/light weather. My bad luck aside, Boyhada Tree is renowned for thunder weather. Wajaom and Bhaflau also feature spiders and wind weather, and are easier to reach, but the weather is briefer and more fitful. The second trial for Ice/Earth/Water/Dark is slimes in ice/earth/water/dark weather, and that doesn’t include clots or puddings, sadly. The place I used (x4) was Caedarva Mire. Two sets of 2 slimes, near Nashmau’s north and east exits, which only 1 treant and 3 chigoe between them. Get Water or Dark weather and go nuts.

Step Four: The Weather/Day Paths Now you get to the element-specific trials. These are the group efforts that you can team up with some hard-core DDs, Abyssea groups, etc. Kill-type doesn’t matter, only as long as it on the matching day or during the matching weather. Not all weathers are made equal (I’m looking at your, Fire!), so you might not want to get hung up on finding weather, even though it is worth five times as much as day. The first trial of the two weather/day paths involving any type of mob, and is generally easy, especially with some good pet camps. Find ones with rotating weather effects to give yourself some options (generally, weather should take priority). The second trial is a broad family, such Amorphs, Beasts, etc. These require planning as 75 kills in one day will require helpers (note the plural) or the weather could be problematic. Several trials, if done during a particular day, will give you the opportunity to test out some exotic pet camps. The other alternative is to find an Abyssea party (or make a low-man) and go nuts. Weather patterns are, from hardest to easiest: Fire, Dark, Water, Air, Earth, Thunder, Ice. The middle three are very close and depend on what type of mob you need. Fire is only from Altepa and Elshimo, for purposes of finding mobs, and then rarely. Dark and Ice are the two weather conditions in the Northlands, where there are some great Gigas pet camps that actually make these trials go fast (and Dynamis is 100% dark now). Water is also Caedarva and a few other spots that can make these trials go fast. Air and Thunder are the dominant weather conditions in Vunkerl and Grauberg, where there are, again, some great camps and team up opportunities. Earth is common in a number of zones, including some with pet camps. Of these seven, I only had issues with Fire.

Step Five: The General Pain Begins The next trial for all mage-type staffs will be a trial to kill 150 mobs of a general family with 50 points of the staff’s type of magical damage. This is the last trial that MACC, Avatar Perp., and MAB staves share in common. Also, there is no bonus for weather, so that is a straight 150 kills. This is where the boys become separated from the men, the girls from the women, and the Tarus from the Ewoks. Let’s face it: BLMs don’t solo kill anything but BST pets well. Now, because you only have to do the final blow with the damage, you can use a DD friend to wear down the mobs. In which case, you’ll want a non-dungeon setting as it allows for faster respawns. If operating solo and there’s not a good BST pet camp, I recommend Abyssea. Magic kills give Azure lights, which yields XP (which is no longer a worry for any serious BLM), Cruor, and Time Extensions. You really just need a source of pearlescent lights…which is DDs killing or skilling on specific mobs. A good team-up opportunity. Also, the additional MAB, MACC, and Refresh atmas of Abyssea let you nuke harder and longer with rests. However, mobs will respawn at higher and higher levels, meaning that solo really can’t cut as well as outside, particularly given Abyssea’s time-limit.

Step Six: MAB-only Trials This is where the true pain begins. Four trials per staff of 200, 200, 250, and 250 kills with increasing damage required per kill (900 per staff). You have also gone from general families to specific species, such as Lizards, Spiders, Slimes, etc. These are where identifying either BST pet camps or having a crew comes in handy because 250 kills still takes time, even as fast as 1/minute is still in the 4-5 hour range. Now, the good news. Your staff now has Affinity +1, which makes it equivalent to a NQ staff (Ice Staff aside due to INT and elemental skill). After the first trial, where you are now aiming down the MAB path, your staff will have MAB Affinity +3, which makes it more powerful than the HQ staff, if less accurate. Additionally, the number of kills required per trial means that there are more and more people stuck in your trial, making for increasing team up opportunities.

Atmas: General BLM: MM, The Beyond, The Ultimate, Kirin, Ambition, Full Moon Air: Gales (MACC and MAB), Stormbird (MACC) Fire: Smoldering Sky or Lone Wolf (MAB), Clawed Butterfly (MACC) Thunder: Lion or Blinding Horn (MAB), Stormbird (MACC) Ice: The Beyond Earth: The Claw (MAB, MACC) Dark: Siren Shadows, The Cosmos Water: Noxious Fang (MAB), Tusked Terror (lesser MAB and MACC)

Trial Listing: (This is where I list out the specific trials and recommended camps, giving a solo #1, maybe a solo #2, and Abyssea options.) Considerations in choosing a camp:
 * 1) Level of Target: For all trials, the mob only counts if it gives XP upon death.  Hence, there is a minimum level required.  However, it does not make a ton of sense to target mobs that are IT++ unless absolutely necessary.  Therefore, the target should be mobs that are as close to the minimum required level as possible without going under; nothing wrecks your momentum and your timing than killing a mob that was 1 level too low to give XP (and soak up your MP).
 * 2) Agro: Some types of mobs, such as skeletons/undead or Arcana, will be aggressive every time, and in predictable patterns.  BLMs, especially when soloing, will need to rest often (and, if /rdm, use Convert).  Linking is another factor that cuts both ways.  Mobs that link and form tight groups can be aga’d or aja’d if you have 2 or more BLMs.  Linking mobs can also overwhelm you by linking faster than you can Sleepga and kill.
 * 3) Pacing: This factor is about killing mobs about as fast as they respawn.  It is not about maximizing your killing times (although that never hurts) but about never having a situation where you both have MP to kill with and lack mobs with which to kill.  That being said, killing mobs really fast and having to rest while they respawn is often more desirable than the opposite.  An additional factor to use is whether the mobs can be Aspired.  Evil Weapons (Arcana) can, and should, but require Silence to stop their spells.  On the other hand, Beetles (Vermin) have MP but cast no spells.  In both cases, you can accelerate your pace as a result.
 * 4) Ease of Access: Obviously, camps that are easier to get to and use can be used more readily, shared with less rancor and require much less time commitment to use.  However, barring some truly easy camps, a lot of the better camps do require a bit of travel, often hazardous.  Easy access to camps particularly matters when asking for help from people not currently on the trial in question.  Running to the backend of Mamook stinks; you wouldn’t ask friends to do it unless it was (a) really important and (b) not for a few kills.
 * 5) Scalability: This consideration doubles back to the idea of pacing.  If 1 BLM can kill X/hr at a camp, then 2 BLMs will most likely kill above 2X/hr at the same camp, and 3 would be pressing the camp harder.  Would you be tripping over each other?  Is the camp large enough that not all of you are within XP-range (which is the range for getting credit) for all kills?  Is a larger group more unwieldy, especially when it comes to agro?  These are all questions to ask about certain camps.  This also fits into pacing when teaming up with other jobs on totally different trials.  Will their need for WSs vs. Couerls disrupt your need for killing blows?  A subtle but really important factor as a good team up can make everything better but a bad one leads to acrimony and discord.

The Trials: First Trial: 10 kills of Treant/Saplings in Any Weather (Technically 50 points of kills but a kill in matching weather is worth 5 points, so this trial is always 10 kills). Best Location: Grauberg, south of the Arbiter. Be careful because the saplings will link but are too weak for XP. There are multiple chigoes in area, hidden and will agro sight and sound but do not show up on radar or widescan. The eastern end of the treant range is mostly treants and chigoes, but the western end, closer to the waterfalls, has goblins as well, so I stuck to the western end. I also brought Sickles with me for harvesting as Grauberg is the best source of Dried Chigoes (and hence Dipper Yuly Jugs) in game. Light-Half Trial (Air, Fire, Thunder): 10 kills (same reason as above) of Spiders in Air/Fire/Thunder/Light weather. Best Location(s): Soloers should head to Boyhada Tree for spiders in Thunder weather (check your Trial Log’s almanac function for forecasts). Lots of spiders appearing in pairs, and the weather can last for long stretches. Groups should head to Aht Urghan exits, both Wajaom and Bhaflau for the spiders there. Easier access but weather is more sporadic and faster. It usually pays off to have someone “scout” the location. Dark-Half Trial (Water, Dark, Earth, Ice): 10 kills on slimes in Water/Dark/Earth/Ice weather. Best location(s): I preferred Caedarva Mire, just north/east out of Nashmau or west from the Checkpoint. There is a pond with 2 near it and a few undead frogs in the pond close to Nashmau and another pond guarded by a treant with 2 more slimes nearby. There are also 3 chigoes between the two spots, but 4/10 can be killed very quickly, especially since this is a popular spot. Weather here tends to be constant, usually rain although Gloom (Dark) and Thunder are not uncommon. If you are slamming out multiple staves past this path, I would suggest having Water and Thunder trials set just in case. The second camp is Pashhow Marshlands [S], which has 2 sets of 2 slimes on the eastern edge, but the camps are smaller and require sneak/invis to get between them as well. Rain is frequent here but not other weather, so there’s less to do/kill if you get bored.

Ice Trials:
 * 1) 50 kills, weather/day restriction. Best location: Xarcabard [S].  There are 3-5 Gigas BSTs with Tiger pets around the Campaign Arbiter’s spot here.  A NM does fly overhead and will agro, but Mana Wall + Retrace/Warp will see you away.  Ice weather is almost 24/7 here and the camp is about as easy as anything to get to.  Takes almost no time.
 * 2) 75 kills vs. Amorphs, weather/day restriction. Best location:  Ulegarand Range.  Just inside the zone, in the first tunnel following the right wall, are 3 worms and 2 bats.  The bats will agro, so sneak around them and silence/aspir/nuke the slimes down.  Again, almost constant ice weather makes for an easy time.  It will take about an hour to finish this trial after running here due to 3 mobs with a 5-6 respawn time and occasional breaks in the weather.
 * 3) 150 kills vs. Arcana, 50 ice magic damage killing blow. Best Location: Abyssea – Misereaux Coast.  Two camps by one flux with a Martello and near a gate where BLM can low-man an Iron Giant when bored.  Ice Staves have the best atma(The Beyond) for this type of work.  Spheroids and Clusters can go down fast with multiple nukers but magic agro will be a problem.
 * 4) 200 kills vs. Lizards, 150 ice magic damage killing blow. Best Location: Solo head to Mamook.  On the upper ledge at E-9, there is a blind spot between two patrolling Mamool Jas and above a Bugard.  If you stay back from the edge and in the blind spot, you only have to worry about resists linking stuff below (Mana Wall + Sleepga 2 + Log out if that happens).  Two BSTs with lizard pets roam the camp below, occasionally out of casting range but usually inside it.  A second person might be able to camp on the north side, getting the mobs when they are out of your range.  2 kills every 2 minutes is still 2 hours of time.  Groups, head to Kon Highlands [A], to the SW corner for lots of lizards that neither link nor agro, next to a Martello for restoring MP/HP.  Atmas are hugely important, especially The Beyond (+30 MAB and + 30% ice damage).  I teamed up with a group that was skilling parry/shield on a PLD, so they fed us Pearlescent lights and we fed them Azure lights. At the end, we both had more than 200 minutes on exiting.
 * 5) 200 kills on Bees, 150 ice magic damage killing blow. Best Location:  Wajaom Woodlands has a few camps with 2 hives, with 4-5 bees at each, rapid respawn and the bees are relatively weak.  Pull them together, sleepga, Blizzaga3, sleepga, rest, repeat.  Goes quickly as a group.  Alternatively, Abyssea – La Theine has bees but they agro and have a NM among them that links.
 * 6) 250 kills on Crabs, 250 ice magic damage killing blow. Best Location(s):  Abyssea – Grauberg.  Irregular hills and good spacing make this a great camp.  Team ups are common for people doing quick Dom Ops.
 * 7) 250 kills on Wyverns, 250 ice magic damage killing blow. Best Locations:  Abyssea - Grauberg.  Get a group for this spot or else stay close to the Martello/Flux area to prevent being surrounded.  At the top of the hill, you have good sight lines but can get overwhelmed.
 * 8) 15 Snow Geodes. Too easy.  Enjoy the finished staff.

Thunder Trials
 * 1) 50 kills, day/weather restriction. Best camps are all over, and often a by-product of waiting on other weathers.  Thunder weather is relatively common in Vunkerl Inlet [S] (4 pet camps), Grauberg [S] (helping people on their first trial and/or alternating with another first trial staff), Caedarva Mire (Chigoes are easy kills with 1-2 nukes), Boyhada Tree, and sometimes in Saurmonge Champlagne [S] (great pet camp there).
 * 2) 75 kills vs. Beasts, day/weather restriction. Best Locations: Vunkerl Inlet x3.  There are 3 well-known Gigas’ Tigers camps.  Thunder is common, will last a decent time, might take an hour.  You can also do well on thundersday too.
 * 3) 150 kills vs. Vermin, 50 thunder magic damage killing blow. Best locations:  Saurmonge Champlagne [S], 2 goblin beetles if you exit from the rear of Garlaige Citadel [S].  One is from a ledge that you can’t get back up from, the other is wide-ranging nearby.  Caedarva Mire has some possibility with Chigoes (Grauberg doesn’t really work since the Chigoes are among other mobs that agro), especially while waiting for Darkness-related weather (for another staff).
 * 4) 200 kills vs. Slimes, 150 thunder magic damage killing blow. Best Locations: None.  Usable Locations:  Den of Rancor, deep inside, where there are a few spots with multiple slimes that can be gathered and nuked down.  Long respawn time means you can hunt for a few solos.  Looks like a group thing at best.  Soloers can use Garlaige [S], near the rear entrance for 8 slimes with another 3 nearby.  Team ups happen, but not too common.
 * 5) 200 kills vs. Beetles, 150 thunder magic damage killing blow. Best Location: Saurmonge Champlagne [S], same as Vermin.  2 pets, 1-shot each, you can rotate nukers if you find a central spot to go AFK.
 * 6) 250 kills vs. Funguar, 250 thunder magic damage killing blow. Best locations:  Boyhada Tree.  Lots of them roam the first floor of the tree.  They link but that’s a plus for AoE killing.  Kon Highlands [A] also has a funguar area where you can roam around among non-aggressive mobs, plus these have nice drops.
 * 7) 15 Thunder Geodes. With the Thunder Weather common in many areas, you should have 100 of these by the time you finish.

Fire Trials
 * 1) 50 kills, day/weather restriction. Best Locations:  Abyssea, during fireday.  There are no good fire weather locations, so just kill stuff or save for next abyssea party involving lots of kills.
 * 2) 75 kills vs. Birds, day/weather restriction. Best Location:  Misereaux Coast [A].  There are three types of birds north of Flux #5, or west of Flux #00: bats (agro to sound), colibri (link but have MP) and regular birds (don’t agro, link or have MP).  Get 3-4 friends with good DD jobs and go nuts.  Only real way to do this without a good weather camp.
 * 3) 150 kills vs. Amorphs, 50 fire magic damage killing blow. Best Locations:  Mount Zhayloam, pudding camps.  Fire weather is somewhat rare here but amorphs being killed by magic are common.  Also possible are the two sets of worm camps in Abyssea, in Attowha and La Theine.  Attowha lacks the NM but the worms don’t give azure lights (on purpose) but will be more open for small-man groups.
 * 4) 200 kills vs. Spiders, 150 fire magic damage killing blow. Best Locations: Boyhada Tree, spiders roam around and no trial on spiders until this one specified magic type.  Alternatively, Misereaux Coast [A], near Flux 00 has a group of spiders but mind the NM that has True Sight and Hearing.  That’s a group effort in order to deal with people also camping NM.
 * 5) 200 kills vs. Sheep, 150 fire magic damage killing blow. Best Locations:  Caedarva Mire is the only location outside of Abyssea or instanced zones where Sheep give XP.  Alternatively, La Theine [A] has a spot in the NE corner but beware Ovni, a NM Ufo.  Neither is ideal but what can you do?
 * 6) 250 kills vs. Mandys, 250 fire magic damage killing blow. Best locations:  Boyhada Tree, go up a level from where you camped and roam around with the mandys, watching out for the moved Malboros.  The Mandys do link.  Abyssea in Attowha and Tahrongi both have mandys as well.  Another true grind of a trial.
 * 7) 250 kills vs. Evil Weapons, 250 fire magic damage killing blow. Best Locations:  Ro’Maeve, near entrance, as per the earlier Ice trial.  Hook up with a DD for weakening them.  With your better staff, you can roam more and nuke harder.  Aspir will also speed things up.  In theory, you can also roam around Sky, in the underground areas, if needed.
 * 8) 15 Flame Geodes.

Air Trials
 * 1) 50 kills, day/weather restriction. Best Locations: Grauberg [S], Wajaom Woodlands, Cape Terrigan all tend to have air weather.  You have reason to be in the first two for early trials as well.
 * 2) 75 kills vs. Plantoids, day/weather restriction. Best Locations:  Grauberg [S].  Trees during air weather work well.  Also, Wajaom saplings/treants during the sporadic air weather there.
 * 3) 150 kills vs. Undead, 50 air magic damage killing blow. Best Locations:  The Eldieme Necropolis [S] Skeletons and Hounds in Eldieme are plentiful, EP, and you can roam with a crew.  Attowha [A] has skeletons for killing but that’s not much better unless you have a crew to wear them down (blood agro sucks).
 * 4) 200 kills vs. Rabbits, 150 air magic damage killing blow. Best Locations: Bibiki Bay, Goblin pet camp just inside the “hard” area, where the mob level jumps significantly.  Misereaux [A] and Vunkerl [A] both have good rabbit spots as well, for solo or groups.
 * 5) 200 kills vs. Flies, 150 air magic damage killing blow. Best Locations:  Pashhow Marshlands [A], near the Grauberg [A] zone line.  There’s a gob pet there, bit of a wide range.  Best Abyssea would be La Theine [A], near Flux 4.  Not a dense camp but lots of flies, opposite a small lake from Pixies.  People will farm both for Carbosse pops and fish the lake for a NM/KI or rusty items, so lots of team up opportunities.  Misereaux Coast [A] has flies as well, near Flux #5, but they link and there’s a True Sight NM with significant issues as well.  Not well camped.
 * 6) 250 kills vs. Worms, 250 air magic damage killing blow. Best Locations:  Abyssea camps, really.  At this point, your staff should be powerful enough to do a 3-step kill process in either camp: Sleepga II a group, Airja the group, follow with Sleepga, then Aeroga until dead.  Aspir the slept mobs as you can.  With a good crew and good atmas, this can fly along.
 * 7) 250 kills vs. Skeletons, 250 air magic damage killing blow. Best Locations:  Same as the undead trial, only you have to avoid the hounds, or possibly use the drop-down area with lots of skeletons, as needed.  A rolling crew, above all, with speed this along.

Water Trials
 * 1) 50 kills, day/weather restriction. Best Location:  Caedarva Mire.  I’d get this first or second among darkness-related staves in order to get kills when the weather is rainy.
 * 2) 75 kills vs. Vermin, day/weather restriction. Best Locations:  Caedarva Mire, Chigoes.  Either roam around the lake just outside of Nashmau, 1-shotting chigs as they agro, or do the trio that spawns between the two sets of slimes, or, if you have help, both.  I did some in Saurmonge Champlagne [S] at the beetle camp while finishing a thunder trial as well, but no water weather there (only had <10 left).
 * 3) 150 kills vs. Lizards, 50 water magic damage killing blow. Best Locations:  Mamook, E-9 spot from above.  Or, Kon Highlands [A], as per above as well.
 * 4) 200 kills vs. Skeletons, 150 water magic damage killing blow. Best Locations:  See the Air trials.
 * 5) 200 kills vs. Rabbits, 150 water magic damage killing blow. Best Locations:  See the Air Trials.
 * 6) 250 kills vs. Lizards, 250 water magic damage killing blow. Best Locations:  See above.  Easier in Abyssea due to increased power of staff.
 * 7) 250 kills vs. Manticores, 250 water magic damage killing blow. Best Locations:  CTahrongi [A] does as well.  Nothing particularly strong to recommend about this camp but there really aren’t others.

Earth Trials
 * 1) 50 kills, day/weather restriction. Best Locations:  Weather is most common in Saurmonge Champlagne [S], Eldieme [S], Mount Zhalyom.  I just ground it out on the Saurmonge bst camp on earth day, waiting for weather to hit.
 * 2) 75 kills vs. Arcana, day/weather restriction. Best Location: The Eldieme Necropolis [S].  BSTs have 2 major trials in earth weather/day to kill Arcana, then Bombs/Djinn with their pets.  Offer to help while avoiding the killing blow.  You have less than a third the kills that they do, and any good BST will get 2 axes, so there’ll be plenty of opportunities.
 * 3) 150 kills vs. Plantoids, 50 earth magic damage killing blow. Best Locations: Boyhada Tree, both funguars and sapling counts.  Grauberg [S] also works with trees.  Kon Highlands [A] has three different planetoid camps as well, to let you rotate and keep the mob levels down.
 * 4) 200 kills vs. Cockatrice, 150 earth magic damage killing blow. Best Locations: Meriphataud Mountains [S] has a camp of 6 just SW from Ortzja entrance, across a chasm.  Tahrongi [A] has a good camp in the middle of the zone as well.  These mobs do not appear in a lot of zones.
 * 5) 200 kills vs. Couerls, 150 earth magic damage killing blow. Best Locations: Tahrongi [A] has a good location but outside Abyssea, you can visit Labyrinth of Onzozo for Toramas in the back.
 * 6) War Lynxes might count but not sure
 * 7) 250 kills vs. Pugils, 250 earth magic damage killing blow. Best Locations:  Vunkerl Inlet [S], same place as the crabs, around the central Fortification.  Vunkerl [A], in the NE corner, on the seacoast as well, has a good spot, but avoid the True Hearing NM, which does Knockback Ranged attacks and casts instant Waterjas.
 * 8) 250 kills vs. Magic Pots, 250 earth magic damage killing blow. Best Locations:  Grauberg [A] has a camp where you can operate but the mobs will be tough.  It’s the 250 damage that will be hard.

Dark Trials
 * 1) 50 kills, day/weather restriction. Best Locations: Not really but Beaucedine/Xarcabard [S] both have Gloom on a regular basis, as does Caedarva Mire.  The former two have Gigas BSTs, mobs are EP in the Mire.  Try your best.
 * 2) 75 kills vs. Beasts, day/weather restriction. Best Locations: Beaucedine/Xarcabard [S].  Gigas BST pets.  There’s a safe spot by the Walk of Echoes entrance in Xarcabard and several ramps that are safe in Beaucedine.
 * 3) 150 kills vs. Avians, 50 darkness magic damage killing blow. Your choices, as BLM, for darkness damage, are Drain, unresisted Bio II, or Impact.  Therefore, this will really be a slow solo effort, you need a DD to whittle very very close to dead, or a SMN with a serious Diabolos setup.