Darksword

Darksword
Visual effect of Acheron's Grief
Trade values
Item class	Long Sword
Buy value	24200
Sell value	18150
Statistics boosts
Attack Boost	210
Unleash effect
Effect name	Acheron's Grief
Unleash rate	35%
Extra damage	76
Side effect	May inflict the target with Venom

A Darksword is a Cursed Artifact Longsword-class weapon available in Golden Sun: The Lost Age and Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. It is forged from Dark Matter, and it has the highest base attack rating of any weapon in the series.

Basic Description

The Lost Age

Being a Longsword-class weapon, the Darksword can be equipped on warrior-style Adepts, namely Felix, Piers, Isaac, and Garet. Its buy value is 24,200 coins and its sell value is 18,150.

The Darksword increases the wielder's base Attack rating by 210 points, which is the highest base Attack increase afforded by a piece of equipment in the Golden Sun series. It is a cursed item, which means that if an Adept equips it, he will be inflicted with an equipment curse which causes him to be physically unable to unequip it without assistance from a healer at a Sanctum. Also, if he is not equipped with the Cleric's Ring then when in battle there is a chance he may be immobilized, unable to do anything whenever he attempts a battle command. Its Unleash effect is Acheron's Grief, with the standard base activation rate of 35%, which is a physical attack with an additional 76 points of damage added, and then the resulting damage is either increased or decreased based on how the user's Venus power measures against the target's Venus resistance. In addition, the effect may inflict the Venom status condition on the target.

Dark Dawn

Like other weapons, the Darksword returns in Dark Dawn, and is again, one of the possible items than can be created from Dark Matter. The only difference between this sword and the one in The Lost Age is that there are now several unleashes that can be randomly activated during an attack. They are:

• Mortal Danger: A Venus-based unleash that adds 28 damage to normal Attack, and has a chance to instantly down its target.

• Spiral Assault: A Jupiter-based unleash that multiplies Attack by 1.3, and can hit two adjacent enemies.

• Sky Diver: A Jupiter-based unleash that adds 66 damage, and can stun the enemy.

• Acheron's Grief: A Venus-based unleash that adds 76 damage, and can inflict Venom as well.

Due to the unleash of those several powers, the darksword loses a lot of power in Dark Dawn. However, if you wish to use the psynergy Quick Strike you can get via at least the Samurai (or Ronin) class, you can still circumvent that power loss and use that sword to it's best abilities.

Analysis

The Lost Age

There is no denying that a Darksword is a strong weapon, granted. It has the highest attack rating of all weapons, and its Unleash effect is stronger and more potentially desirable than any weapon that comes before it thanks to its chance to inflict the powerful Venom status condition. However, weapons like the Sol Blade and Excalibur, although weaker in overall strength, can multiply damage done using their unleashes, which can allow them to deal more damage than the Darksword, which just adds damage instead of multiplying. Despite this, the Darksword is still favorable if a unit who can use it has the Cleric's Ring transferred over from the previous game so its curse does not affect combat, or if any warrior adept is a Necromage, so they can inflict maximum damage with Call Dullahan. Should you seek to use the Darksword without being a Necromage, it is ideal to equip it on the Venus adept without the Sol Blade, so they can inflict more damage with the Venus-based unleash than Garet or Piers could.

Dark Dawn

Three of the four weapons (Sol Blade, Excalibur, and Tisiphone Edge) that were so powerful in The Lost Age due to their unleashes lost some of that consistency in Dark Dawn, due to the new system of unleashes bestowing a few more unleashes for each weapon. Although the Darksword also receives two less powerful unleashes as well, it is still a notoriously powerful sword, though it still has to compete with the Levatine for Tyrell, since Matthew will probably be wielding the Sol Blade. However, it is still ideal for using the psynergy with multipliers from the Ninja or Samurai class series. Also, the weapon is still cursed, so the wielder should still have a Cleric's Ring equipped for consistency.

Etymology

In Greek Myth, the river Acheron ("stream of woe") was believed to be a branch of the underworld river Styx over which Charon ferried the newly dead souls across into Hades.

Extended Gallery

Acheron's Grief as it appears in Dark Dawn.