Dark Sword
| Dark Sword | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Weapon |
| Type | Sword |
| Level | 9 |
| Damage | 30-45 |
| Crit Chance | 4% |
| Stats | Speed (−5); Crit. Chance (+2); Weight (+5) |
| Location | Haunted Skull drop |
The Dark Sword is the game's lifesteal weapon. It arrives already enchanted with Vampiric, which returns a slice of health whenever it kills something, so a long trip underground stops being a race against the health bar. The sword comes off Haunted Skulls, the floating skulls that drift about the Quarry Mine and the dungeon floors of the Mines, and nothing sells it. Everything else about it is extreme: 30 to 45 damage, the slowest swing of any sword at five points of speed lost, and the heaviest hit in the class. The description calls the glow vampire energy, which is unusually direct for a game that normally keeps its horror at arm's length.
Location
Haunted Skulls are the only source. The surest place to find them is the Quarry Mine, the single cave at the north end of the Quarry, reached across a bridge that has to be repaired through the Community Center before anyone can get there. Skulls also turn up on the infested floors of the Mines once the Quarry has been opened.
The Quarry Mine behaves unlike the Mines or the Skull Cavern: it stays exactly as the farmer left it until the day ends, so it cannot be farmed by walking out and back in. One visit a day, in other words, and the sword is a slim chance on each skull killed. Those same skulls drop things nothing else in the game does, including the Magic Rock Candy that only they carry, so the hunt is rarely wasted even when the sword does not appear.
The far end of the Quarry Mine needs a gold pickaxe to go further, and the statue standing there holds the Golden Scythe, which is reason enough for most farms to make the trip at least once.
Stats
The speed penalty is the first thing a farmer notices. Five points is the worst in the game, and the swing feels more like a club's than a sword's, with a long gap after every hit. Players who dislike the Dark Sword almost always dislike it for this reason.
Everything else pays that back. Damage of 30 to 45 is strong for a weapon found rather than bought. The critical chance is lifted above the common baseline, and five points of weight throw monsters further than any other sword manages, which is what stops the slow swing becoming fatal: a monster that has just been launched three tiles away is not biting while the sword recovers.
The Vampiric enchantment is the real stat. Health comes back on kills rather than on hits, so the sword rewards finishing monsters off rather than wading into a crowd, and it works best on floors packed with weak enemies instead of one tough one.
Notes
The enchantment can be swapped at the Forge, and whether to do so is the sword's main talking point. Crusader adds half again as much damage against Skeletons, Ghosts, Mummies and Void Spirits, which is tempting given where the sword is found. Most farmers keep Vampiric, since no other weapon offers it as standard and a slow blade benefits most from healing.
Emerald is the gem that fixes the real problem. Three forges of it claw back most of the lost speed and leave a weapon that still hits for forty and still throws monsters across the room.
Blocking is more valuable here than on any other sword. The recovery after a swing is so long that the alternate attack gives that dead time a purpose: the guard absorbs a hit, scratches the attacker and swats flying monsters away. For a farmer committed to the slow, patient style the Dark Sword demands, the block is half the weapon.
All Swords
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
| Name | Image | Type | Level | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bone Sword | 
|
Sword | 5 | 20-30 |
| Claymore | 
|
Sword | 5 | 20-32 |
| Cutlass | 
|
Sword | 3 | 9-17 |
| Dark Sword | 
|
Sword | 9 | 30-45 |
| Dragontooth Cutlass | 
|
Sword | 13 | 75-90 |
| Dwarf Sword | 
|
Sword | 13 | 65-75 |
| Forest Sword | 
|
Sword | 3 | 8-18 |
| Galaxy Sword | 
|
Sword | 13 | 60-80 |
| Haley's Iron | 
|
Sword | 6 | 30-45 |
| Holy Blade | 
|
Sword | 7 | 20-27 |
| Infinity Blade | 
|
Sword | 17 | 80-100 |
| Insect Head | 
|
Sword | 6 | 20-30 |
| Iron Edge | 
|
Sword | 3 | 12-25 |
| Lava Katana | 
|
Sword | 10 | 55-64 |
| Leah's Whittler | 
|
Sword | 6 | 30-45 |
| Meowmere | 
|
Sword | 4 | 20-20 |
| Neptune's Glaive | 
|
Sword | 5 | 18-35 |
| Obsidian Edge | 
|
Sword | 6 | 30-45 |
| Ossified Blade | 
|
Sword | 6 | 26-42 |
| Pirate's Sword | 
|
Sword | 2 | 8-14 |
| Rapier | 
|
Sword | 4 | 15-25 |
| Rusty Sword | 
|
Sword | 1 | 2-5 |
| Silver Saber | 
|
Sword | 2 | 8-15 |
| Steel Falchion | 
|
Sword | 8 | 28-46 |
| Steel Smallsword | 
|
Sword | 1 | 4-8 |
| Tempered Broadsword | 
|
Sword | 7 | 29-44 |
| Templar's Blade | 
|
Sword | 5 | 22-29 |
| Wooden Blade | 
|
Sword | 1 | 3-7 |
| Yeti Tooth | 
|
Sword | 7 | 26-42 |