Here, I want to compare the Arming Sword and the Falchion. In Dark and Darker, players love these two weapons almost equally. But, if you have to compare, which weapon is better? Let’s start off by looking at the stats.
Damage & Movement Speed
In terms of raw damage, the Falchion is a clear winner with a range that sits roughly 35 higher than the Arming Sword across all rarities.
Weapon damage is the only base value that is affected by rarity, so I’m just going to list the Epic Rarity number here for readability.
The Arming Sword does, however, have higher mobility as it has a tad less of an equipped movement speed penalty. This difference of 5 ms is equal to 1.66 movement speed percentage when converted.
So, from just comparing the item panel information, you may see that the Falchion is objectively better as a roughly 35% increase in damage is much more impactful than the 1.66% increase in movement speed, right?
Before we jump to that conclusion, let’s look at some of the hidden stats. Not only do different weapons have different equipped movement speed penalties, they also have different action movement speed penalties or a reduction in movement speed while you are swinging your weapon.
This is where the Arming Sword really feels more mobile as it has an action speed penalty of -25%, as opposed to Falchion’s -30%.
So, the movement advantage of the Arming Sword really is closer to the 6.66% faster. Instead, it’s just 1.66%.
Also Read: How To Easily Beat Cave Troll In Dark And Darker Goblin Caves?
Combo Chain
Now, let’s compare the actual attacks of each weapon.
The Arming Sword has a three-chain combo that is composed of two diagonal slash attacks and is finished with the step. Falchion is also a three chain combo, but is only made up of slashes: the first two being horizontal and the last being more vertical. From this alone, the Arming Sword has an apparent advantage in more narrow spaces.
It’s starting diagonal slash also makes blocking it a bit more difficult, especially for some two-hand weapons. Notably, the long sword as a first arming sword attack runs almost parallel to the length of a long sword block.
Arming Sword also has a faster swing speed at each combo step, meaning the attack will connect faster than the files shown at equal agility. Not only does this make landing attacks a bit easier, it makes returning to the guard pose faster, which leads to more successful blocks.
I added in the combo damage modifier numbers too, even though they’re equal, but I think it’s good information to consider when we compare weapons in the future.
The final points I’m going to touch on are the impact power and on-hit slow effect in which the Falchion does win on both.
Higher impact power means that the Falchion has a bit more stagger when blocked and it takes two fewer hits to break barrels and barriers.
On-hit slow means that the Falchion has greater slow effect when landing hits on your opponent. So, really the movement speed penalty isn’t that bad if you’re continuously chaining your hits.
Summary
In summary, if you prefer more mobility and higher attack speed, go with the Arming Sword. But for higher raw damage output and more cleave, choose the Falchion.
Of course, both weapons are worth buying if you have enough Dark and Darker Gold.
I know it’s not a definitive answer on which one is better. But I will say that I’ve had more success in PVP with the Arming Sword, but faster PVE room clearing times with a Falchion.
