Dark Knight: Guide by Raenryong/Weapons

Weapons
Dark Knight, like Warrior is able to use many different kinds of weapons. Also like Warrior, many are simply not practical for general usage.

Note: All weapons are being discussed for general usage, although I may reference more specific uses (zerging notably); this will be discussed in detail later.

Scythe
Weapon Grade: A+ Notable Weaponskills: Guillotine, Spiral Hell
 * Advantages
 * A+ skill means you will require less accuracy on gear at higher levels, freeing up more slots for Haste and Attack. Two items, Abyssal Earring and Justice Torque both increase Scythe skill, allowing you to reach 304 Scythe skill.
 * Very high DMG leads to high individual hit damage
 * Scythes are generally very easily-accessible; top-end ones tend not to be difficult to get or rare/ex (the exception being the Perdu Sickle).
 * Guillotine is an excellent weaponskill for stacking with Souleater for huge damage due to its multi-hit properties.
 * Highest DoT of all Dark Knight weapons.
 * Disadvantages
 * High delay means that a missed swing is very detrimental for TP gain, moreso than missing with a lower delay weapon would be.
 * Scythe weaponskills are very poor until Guillotine, which means that from 3-59 your weaponskill damage is sorely lacking compared to other DDs.

Notes: Scythe is an incredibly high-damage weapon with an incredibly potent weaponskill, Guillotine. Spiral Hell is very potent when using the Thief subjob. Some Dark Knights favour Scythe, some favour Great Sword; each has their own advantages and disadvantages and both are very capable.

Great Sword
Weapon Grade: A- Notable Weaponskills: Spinning Slash, Ground Strike
 * Advantages
 * A- skill is very solid and allows a fair bit of substitution of accuracy gear for Haste and Attack equipment.
 * High DMG whilst still retaining a fairly low delay
 * Disadvantages
 * High delay means that a missed swing is very detrimental for TP gain, moreso than missing with a lower delay weapon would be.
 * The top-end Great Swords, Subduer and Algol are both difficult to obtain.
 * Great Sword weaponskills are fairly poor until Sickle Moon, which means that from 3-59 your weaponskill damage is lacking compared to other DDs. Sickle Moon is not as good as Guillotine, but is a fairly good alternative if you prefer Great Swords. It is at 66 with Spinning Slash that Great Sword weaponskills become formidable.
 * Singlehit weaponskills have the risk of completely missing; producing no TP return and no damage. This is also true of multihit weaponskills, but far less likely.

Notes: Great Sword is a powerful weapon type for Dark Knight, although slightly lacking in accuracy compared to Scythe. Spinning Slash is very consistent and highly-damaging, although a miss can mean a loss in DoT. Ground Strike is very fearsome at 300% TP and with the Thief subjob, in fact both of the principle weaponskills of Great Sword stack with Sneak Attack fearsomely. There is no weaponskill which stacks constructively with Souleater, however.

Great Axe
Weapon Grade: B- Notable Weaponskills: Sturmwind, Steel Cyclone
 * Advantages
 * Sturmwind is an incredibly powerful weaponskill for Dark Knight pre-Guillotine levels.
 * Axe Belt is a piece of equipment which, at early levels and with Warrior as subjob, makes Great Axe have comparable skill with Scythe, while boasting greater weaponskills.
 * Rune Chopper is an incredibly potent zerging weapon.
 * Disadvantages
 * B- skill means that you will have to sacrifice some Haste and Attack for Accuracy gear, producing less DoT in the long run.
 * High delay means that a missed swing is very detrimental for TP gain, moreso than missing with a lower delay weapon would be.
 * No access to Raging Rush limits the long-term practical use of this weapon type.
 * The top-end Great Axe, Byakko's Axe is slightly difficult to obtain, though shouldn't be too hard.

Notes: The best weapon a Dark Knight can use until level 50, although it is not practical to do so since Scythe and/or Great Sword are very likely to become underlevelled. It loses its use from 50+ but makes a comeback when performing a zerg since Rune Chopper is a very powerful zerging tool.

Axe
Weapon Grade: B- Notable Weaponskills: Rampage
 * Advantages
 * Rampage is a fearsome weaponskill and available at level 57; no other weaponskill compares at this level. It is still inferior to other weaponskills like Guillotine for Dark Knight however.
 * Rampage is an excellent weaponskill for stacking with Souleater for huge damage due to its multi-hit properties.
 * Disadvantages
 * B- skill means that you will have to sacrifice some Haste and Attack for Accuracy gear, producing less DoT in the long run.
 * It is only worthwhile to Dual Wield single handed weapons, which involves using the Ninja subjob, a defensive subjob for Dark Knight, sacrificing further attack.
 * Top-end Axes are fairly expensive.
 * B- skill means that Rampage damage will be wildly inconsistent and unreliable at higher levels.

Notes: Tempting although it may seem, do not Dual Wield on Dark Knight seriously. You do not have the skill ranks that Warrior does to make this viable.

Sword
Weapon Grade: B- Notable Weaponskills: Vorpal Blade
 * Advantages
 * If you have a Ridill, it is possible to offhand it and build TP very quickly, leading to rapid weaponskills.
 * Vorpal Blade is an excellent weaponskill for stacking with Souleater for huge damage due to its multi-hit properties.
 * Disadvantages
 * B- skill means that you will have to sacrifice some Haste and Attack for Accuracy gear, producing less DoT in the long run.
 * It is only worthwhile to Dual Wield single handed weapons, which involves using the Ninja subjob, a defensive subjob for Dark Knight, sacrificing further attack.
 * Ridill, the top-end Sword Dark Knight can use is incredibly difficult to obtain and highly sought after.
 * B- skill means that Vorpal Blade damage will be wildly inconsistent and unreliable at higher levels.

Notes: Tempting although it may seem, do not Dual Wield on Dark Knight seriously. You do not have the skill ranks that Warrior does to make this viable. Ridill can bring the power of your Dual Wielding up a notch, but the DoT will still be far inferior to using a Scythe or Great Sword.

Dagger
Weapon Grade: C Notable Weaponskills: None
 * Advantages
 * Fast attacking speed stacks well with Souleater, producing very rapid and powerful damage. Mercurial Kris is the ideal weapon for this task.
 * Disadvantages
 * C skill means that you will not be able to sacrifice Accuracy gear, producing far less DoT in the long run.
 * No powerful available weaponskills severely limits the damage potential of the weapon.
 * Mercurial Kris is very expensive, meaning that Dagger is only a viable option for a privileged few.
 * It is only worthwhile to Dual Wield single handed weapons, which involves using the Ninja subjob, a defensive subjob for Dark Knight, sacrificing further attack.

Notes: Purely a zerg tool.

Club
Weapon Grade: C- Notable Weaponskills: None
 * Advantages
 * Only useful with the fabled Kraken Club: the very weapon which characterises a Dark Knight zerg.
 * Disadvantages
 * C- skill means that you will not be able to sacrifice Accuracy gear, producing far less DoT in the long run.
 * Kraken Club is amongst the most expensive of all items, meaning that Club is only a viable weapon choice for a privileged few.
 * It is only worthwhile to Dual Wield single handed weapons, which involves using the Ninja subjob, a defensive subjob for Dark Knight, sacrificing further attack.

Notes: Purely a zerg tool.

Marksmanship
Weapon Grade: E Notable Weaponskills: None
 * Advantages
 * Acid Bolts are good to reduce enemy defense in the early levels.
 * Marksmanship can be used to pull enemies; although it is not necessary to have it skilled to do so, if you land an Acid Bolt whilst pulling, you reduce the enemy's defense and do a bit of damage where you wouldn't have normally.
 * Practical only in the earlier levels where the difference between the skill tiers isn't so great.
 * Disadvantages
 * E skill means that you will have to stack a full accuracy set and eat food which strongly compliments the weapon type. This is incredibly impractical for maintaining high damage output.
 * Items such as Bomb Core occupy the Ammo slot, meaning Marksmanship cannot be used at the same time as having one equipped, whereas the items such as Bomb Core are more beneficial.
 * Dark Knight cannot use any top-tier Marksmanship weapons.

Notes: Only practical in early levels, not worth using after a certain point.