As well as checking out the PvP Manager and Armor Spreadsheet for weapon and armor differences.
Introduction
Dark Gaming’s modified weapon and armors allow for weapons across every stage of the game, meaning weapons and armor sets from early-pre hardmode can be viable. However, this doesn’t mean every weapon is created equal.
I’m not going to be going over every single viable weapon, however, I will be going over some of the best weapons in detail as well as mentioning some other notable weapons briefly.
Weapons
Melee
Paladin’s Hammer
Damage: 65
Max Damage: 90
Min Damage: 30
Velocity: 14
Paladin’s Hammer is already viable in vanilla and pseudo-vanilla PvP, and in DG PvP, it’s arguably the best melee weapon. It has good range compared to other melee weapons and consistent damage output for most builds. It does require at least some melee speed boosting armor pieces/accessories in order to have good damage on non-melee focused kits, but it’s easy to do so.
Starlight
Damage: 80
Max Damage: 110
Min Damage: 65
Velocity: 15
Starlight basically behaves like a big shortsword. You have to spam-click at a specific rate in order to get this weapon’s maximum DPS, but said DPS is really high. Plus, because it’s a shortsword, you can aim it more reliably, unlike broadswords.
Solar Eruption
Damage: 74
Max Damage: 98
Min Damage: 40
Velocity: 24
Although this weapon has the ability to wall pierce, Solar Eruption is typically used as a burst damage option due to its relatively good range and because of how much area it can cover when it’s used while moving quickly.
Combat Wrench
Damage: 110
Max Damage: 175
Min Damage: 45
Velocity: 25
Combat Wrench had its velocity jacked up in DG PvP (So much in fact, that under certain circumstances, it can bug out and do 1 damage). It now travels full screen, essentially making it a melee sniper. This weapon is great because you can just toss it out and swap to something else while it’s still active.
Possessed Hatchet
Damage: 76
Max Damage: 116
Min Damage: 40
Velocity: 12
Possessed Hatchet is like a slower Paladin’s Hammer, with projectiles that linger longer and deal more damage. This makes the weapon more of a defensive tool, but not necessarily an anti-rush weapon.
Ghastly Glaive
Damage: 100
Max Damage: 150
Min Damage: 75
Velocity: 65
Ghastly Glaive is the best of the close-range spear weapons. While it doesn’t have the highest damage, it makes up for it in its speed and extra range.
Ice Sickle
Damage: 89
Max Damage: 125
Min Damage: 65
Velocity: 16
Ice Sickle’s combination of devastating damage and hard-to-see lingering projectiles makes it an ideal anti-rush weapon, and the most reliable anti-rush. Not necessarily the best, but the most reliable.
Flying Dragon
Damage: 56 (Proj. Damage: 60)
Max Damage: 95
Min Damage: 35
Velocity: 17
Flying Dragon may not be the high damage titan that it is in pseudo-vanilla PvP, but it still is decent in DG as a wall pierce weapon. It has less base damage on the blade itself, which encourages use as a wall pierce.
Other Notable Melee Weapons:
Light Disc: Similar to Possessed Hatchet, but with longer-lasting projectiles and higher damage, making it an anti-rush outright.
Daybreak: Fires decently fast, high damage projectiles with high range.
Breaker Blade: The best non-projectile broadsword, with good size, too.
Sargeant United Shield: Similar to Combat Wrench, but travels less distance and does less damage, but has higher velocity.
Chlorophyte Claymore: Does 1 more damage than Breaker Blade, and also fires a slow, small projectile.
Terrarian: The best Yo-Yo, has decent damage and lingering projectiles, and can be used as a wall pierce weapon.
True Night’s Edge: Fires large and semi-fast projectiles, and has good damage.
True Excalibur: Fires rapid, high velocity, decent damage projectiles. Is basically a melee Stake Launcher.
Flower Pow: It has the highest base damage of any weapon in DG PvP, but it’s really hard to hit with reliably.
Mushroom Spear: Decent damage, and has lingering projectiles as a bonus.
Chlorophyte Saber: Fires a singular, high damage, high velocity, wall piercing cloud projectile.
Bananarang: If i don’t mention this weapon, dsaf will come after me.
Butcher’s Chainsaw: Does insane damage, but has very limited range. Also, it has no damage cap, so this is possible.
Semi-Unviable Melee Weapons
Terra Blade: Its projectiles are too slow, and the damage is decent at best. Outclassed by True Excalibur.
Influx Waver: Has good damage, but its projectiles and the sword itself are too slow.
Vampire Knives: The life-steal is a decent utility, but it does way too little damage.
Ranger
Sniper Rifle
Damage: 120
Max Damage: 148
Min Damage: 40
Velocity: 16
The best ranger weapon on any kit, not only because of its reliable high damage and hitscan projectile, but also because of its utility. Having the ability of the Scope accessories without needing to spend an accessory slot is really good.
Tsunami
Damage: 90
Max Damage: 92
Min Damage: 22 (Why?)
Velocity: 10
Tsunami fires high damage, high range, high velocity arrows at a quick rate. It’s a top tier weapon due to its stats alone, plus it’s consistent.
Stake Launcher
Damage: 69
Max Damage: 72
Min Damage: 30
Velocity: 9
One of two of the ranger’s most viable mid-range weapons. High DPS and velocity, but is not a hitscan weapon.
Clockwork Assault Rifle
Damage: 74
Max Damage: 77
Min Damage: 24
Velocity: 8
The other most viable mid-range weapon for ranger. Is a hitscan weapon, but fires projectiles less often. This weapon would be top tier if one set of bullets could hit multiple times reliably.
Flamethrower
Damage: 56
Max Damage: 60
Min Damage: 17
Velocity: 7
Ranger doesn’t have many good close-range weapons, so this is its best option. Has pitiful damage compared to Paladin Hammer and Aqua Scepter, but is easier to aim than both the former and latter.
Tactical Shotgun
Damage: 73
Max Damage: 78
Min Damage: 20
Velocity: 6
It is really easy to hit someone with this weapon at every range except for point-blank. Really good for finishing off retreating opponents.
Aerial Bane
Damage: 79
Max Damage: 93
Min Damage: 33
Velocity: 11
Covers a large area in front and below the player, and has decent velocity and damage, but the best thing about this weapon is its area coverage.
Chlorophyte Shotbow
Damage: 90
Max Damage: 98
Min Damage: 35
Velocity: 12
Chlorophyte Shotbow is like a weird hybrid between Hallowed Repeater and Tsunami. It covers a decent area, fires fast, and has high DPS, but isn’t as reliable as Tsunami.
Pulse Bow
Damage: 75
Max Damage: 88
Min Damage: 18
Velocity: 8
Pulse Bow’s unique bouncing projectile isn’t very reliable at hitting someone mid-range, but it fires decently fast and has good velocity, so it’s best used as a pseudo wall pierce.
Other Notable Ranged Weapons
Elf Melter: Has slightly higher range but slightly less damage than Flamethrower.
Revolver: Lower damage, but faster firing speed sniper.
Red Ryder: Higher damage, but slower firing speed sniper.
Hallowed Repeater: Fires singular arrows relatively quickly, and does high damage.
Marrow: If i don’t mention this, u0a will come after me.
Ice Bow: Similar to Marrow, but is auto-fire, but does less damage.
Eventide: Fires decently fast and has high velocity, as well as no gravity on its projectiles.
Toxikarp: The projectiles linger for a very long time, this weapon is spammable, and it does high damage. A somewhat unreliable but high damage anti-rush.
Onyx Blaster: A decent shotgun as it is, but if you are at the right range, you can hit your opponent with both the bullets and the crystal projectile, doing devastating damage.
Semi-Unviable Ranged Weapons
S.D.M.G: This staple vanilla ranger weapon has been significantly weakened in DG. Simply doesn’t do very good damage.
Jack ‘O Lantern Launcher: Very spammable, but is heavily affected by gravity and has lacking damage.
Celebration: Deals insane damage, but the rocket projectile is insanely slow and the explosion’s hitbox is smaller than it looks.
Daedalus Stormbow: On paper, should be just as good as Blizzard Staff for wall piercing from below, but it doesn’t fire many projectiles at all.
Uzi: It has awful damage, terrible spread, and is overall a trash weapon. Who would use this?
Mage
Heat Ray
Damage: 46
Max Damage: 46
Min Damage: 15
Velocity: 15
Heat Ray is arguably the best weapon in DG PvP, not just the best mage weapon. It fires incredibly fast, does decent damage, most most importantly, is true hitscan. The only other true hitscan weapons are guns with high-velocity bullets.
Laser Rifle
Damage: 64
Max Damage: 68
Min Damage: 22
Velocity: 17
Laser Rifle is a higher damage, slower version of Heat Ray. It’s not true hitscan, but it still has good velocity. It’s still a really good mid-range weapon.
Betsy’s Wrath
Damage: 66
Max Damage: 88
Min Damage: 35
Velocity: 14
Betsy’s Wrath doesn’t cover as much area as Aerial Bane, but as a trade-off, it multi-hits really often and has bigger projectiles. This weapon’s DPS is deceptively high, which is why it’s another top tier weapon.
Stellar Tune
Damage: 65
Max Damage: 84
Min Damage: 35
Velocity: 1
Stellar Tune is the best wall pierce weapon, plus it has high DPS at close to mid-range. It is held back slightly by its somewhat limited range and velocity, however.
Rainbow Rod
Damage: 62
Max Damage: 80
Min Damage: 35
Velocity: 16
Rainbow Rod is a high damage projectile that doesn’t need to be aimed. It’s great for wall piercing, it does good damage, it can hit multiple times, and it has high velocity.
Bubble Gun
Damage: 96
Max Damage: 135
Min Damage: 33
Velocity: 11
Bubble Gun has limited range, lingering projectiles and devastating DPS. It’s arguably the best anti-rush weapon.
Aqua Scepter
Damage: 61
Max Damage: 80
Min Damage: 35
Velocity: 13
Aqua Scepter has good DPS and velocity, making it useful as a close-range weapon like Paladin’s Hammer, but it has the added bonus of having additional range when fired at a downward angle.
Blizzard Staff
Damage: 42
Max Damage: 40
Min Damage: 5
Velocity: 10
Blizzard Staff can hit anyone hiding behind a wall and above reliably for decent damage. The damage isn’t insane, on non-mage loadouts it’s basically chip damage, but it still forces you to dodge it.
Other Notable Mage Weapons
Bat Scepter: Fires slow, long lasting projectiles, meaning you can easily build up a wall of bats. Really good for when you want to cover a specific area while you’re outside sniper range.
Shadowflame Hex Doll: A slightly less consistent version of Aqua Scepter that has much less range but much higher damage.
Magic Missile: A single hit, higher damage version of Rainbow Rod.
Crystal Storm: A decent anti-rush due to its long lasting, hard to see projectiles.
Razorpine: A hybrid between Betsy’s Wrath and Blizzard Staff, dealing less damage than Betsy’s but hitting more often.
Venom Staff: Fires limited range but very high DPS projectiles.
Shadowbeam Staff: Deals higher damage than Heat Ray and its projectiles bounce off of walls, but sometimes bugs out and deals one damage due to the lingering beam projectile hitting instead of the initial beam projectile.
Orange Zapinator: Mage’s Sniper counterpart, but is significantly worse because of how ping-dependent the projectile is.
Nebula Blaze: Does decent damage and fires often, but has a lot of spread and the projectiles are slow.
Crystal Vile Shard: Fires a singular, long-lasting, high DPS projectile. Is pretty much just a worse Bubble Gun.
Semi-Unviable Mage Weapons
Razorblade Typhoon: Unlike in vanilla, where the projectiles have high velocity, bounce off of walls, fire fast, and are massive, in DG, the projectiles do not move.
Toxic Flask: If you catch someone sitting on the ground or on a wall, say sayonara to their health bar, but it’s impossible to hit otherwise.
Nightglow: Seems good on paper, due to its lingering, non-moving projectiles, but doesn’t do nearly as much DPS as Bubble Gun.
Laser Machinegun: Fires a lot of projectiles, only if you charge it for a few seconds. Considering how much swapping is done in PvP, this makes this weapon not good.
Summoner
Dark Harvest
Damage: 74
Max Damage: 82
Min Damage: 30
Velocity: 4
Dark Harvest is the best whip, and the only summoner weapon with good DPS. It doesn’t do as much as Paladin’s Hammer, but it’s easier to hit with.
Ballista Staff
Damage: 103
Max Damage: None
Min Damage: None
Ballista Staff is the highest damage sentry. If you catch someone on the ground or attached to a wall, this weapon can do good DPS.
Rainbow Crystal Staff
Damage: 73
Max Damage: 88
Min Damage: 20
Rainbow Crystal Staff is the best sentry that can be summoned in the air, making it good for wall piercing if you click precisely enough
Staff Of The Frost Hydra
Damage: 100
Max Damage: None
Min Damage: 22
Similar to Ballista Staff, but can be summoned inside walls and has a bigger hitbox, making it easier to hit with in general.
Other Notable Summoner Weapons
Tempest Staff: The tornadoes deal damage based on your held weapon’s damage, however, using this property is considered a bannable exploit (alongside a similar exploit with Flying Knife and Rainbow Rod)
Kaleidoscope: Deals pitiful DPS compared to Dark Harvest, but it’s faster and has slightly higher range, making it useful for getting rid of beetles/solar shield stacks.
Morning Star: Has less DPS than Dark Harvest, but higher base damage.
Semi-Unviable Summoner Weapons
Stardust Dragon Staff/Terraprisma: Because summons don’t target players, the best summoner weapons in Vanilla are not viable.
Lunar Portal Staff: Despite its bigger hitbox size, the damage is significantly worse than Rainbow Crystal Staff’s damage.
Armor
Pre-Hardmode
Gladiator Armor
Defense: 81 (27, 27, 27)
All Damage Types: 27% (9%, 9%, 9%)
Gladiator Armor’s set bonus gives knockback immunity, which allows the Hero Shield to be replaced, allowing a free accessory slot. The set’s stats are all good, providing decently high defense and boosts to all damage types, but it lacks any boost in melee speed.
Crimson Armor
Defense: 71 (23, 25, 23)
All Damage Types: 36% (12%, 12%, 12%)
Crimson Armor is a glass cannon mixed set, as shown by its impressive damage boosts and low defense. The regeneration boost from the set bonus somewhat makes up for the lacking defense.
Molten Armor
Defense: 78 (24, 28, 26)
Melee Damage: 39% (14%, 13%, 12%)
Magic Damage: 38% (14%, 13%, 11%)
Melee Speed: 7% (Legs)
Molten Armor was made into a melee/mage hybrid armor set. It provides decent stats across those boards, as well as a decent amount of melee speed from the legs. The best piece to use individually is the legs.
Gi
Defense: 23
All Damage Types: 11%
Melee Speed: 10%
The Gi is one of the only chest pieces in the game that gives melee speed. It also gives a good amount of damage to all types, but its defense is lacking.
Hardmode
Crystal Assassin Armor
Defense: 75 (25, 25, 25)
All Damage Types: 21% (7%, 7%, 7%)
Melee Speed: 10% (Legs)
Crystal Assassin Armor’s set bonus allows the Tabi to be replaced. The set itself doesn’t have impressive stats, but this can be made up for by utilizing the freed accessory slot.
(btw, i recommend you replace the tabi with berserker glove and use avenger emblem + destroyer emblem, that way you can have great mixed damage and make up for this set’s low defense)
Frost Armor
Defense: 86 (28, 33, 25)
Melee Damage: 36% (12%, 12%, 12%)
Ranged Damage: 27% (9%, 9%, 9%)
Melee Speed: 10% (Legs)
Frost armor is an ideal set for melee/ranged hybrid kits. It provides a very good amount of defense and melee/ranged damage, as well as melee speed. The set bonus doesn’t do anything, however.
Forbidden Armor
Defense: 72 (20, 30, 22)
Magic Damage: 45% (15%, 15%, 15%)
Summon Damage: 36% (12%, 12%, 12%)
The Forbidden set provides a disgustingly high amount of magic damage. However, only the chest piece is used due to the high defense it provides.
Beetle Armor
Defense: 82/74 (25, 32/24, 25)
Melee Damage: 28% (Scale Mail)/12% (Shell) (3%, 16%/0%, 9%)
All Other Damage Types: 12% (3%, 0%, 9%)
Melee Speed: 12% (6% w/o Scale Mail) (6% Scale Mail, 6% Legs)
Whenever a full set is used, it’s always the Shell set because the Scale Mail set doesn’t work. Beetle Shell has bad stats due to the set bonus providing damage reduction for a few hits. The Scale Mail Chest piece and Legs are often used individually due to their good stats.
Valhalla Knight Breastplate
Defense: 23
All Damage Types: 2%
Valhalla Knight Breastplate gives more regen than the entire Solar Flare set, which is why it has crummy stats. The regen is so good that this piece is viable despite its stats.
Red Riding Armor
Defense: 71 (23, 25, 23)
Ranged Damage: 38% (12%, 16%, 10%)
All Other Damage Types: 11% (4%, 2%, 5%)
Red Riding Armor is intended to be a glass cannon set, with how much ranged damage it provides and how little defense it provides. It also provides a bit of damage in other areas, but said damage doesn’t matter very much.
Dark Artist Armor
Defense: 74 (25, 24, 25)
Ranged Damage: 33% (11%, 12%, 10%)
Magic Damage: 35% (11%, 14%, 10%)
Dark Artist Armor is a ranger/mage hybrid set with good stats in those areas, and decent defense.
Solar Flare Armor
Defense: 65 (23, 13, 29)
Melee Damage: 24% (14%, 10%, 0%)
Melee Speed: 15% (Legs)
Solar Flare Armor probably has the weirdest stats out of every armor set. This is because it has been subjected to several balance changes due to how much regen each piece provides and how much melee speed the legs give. The full set is still viable, however, because the regen is still good. It’s also worth it to mention that the solar shield stacks do not provide damage reduction.
Vortex Armor
Defense: 49 (29, 20)
Ranged Damage: 28% (12%, 16%)
Because the helmet is banned, the full set can’t be used. However, both the chest and legs are usable in ranger kits.
Other Notable Armor Sets/Pieces
Djinn’s Curse: This piece was made viable for the sole purpose of not needing to use featherfall potions. It has good stats, but lacks melee speed, and considering legs tend to have melee speed boosts, this makes this armor piece worse.
Palladium Armor: Palladium Armor is a unique set, with it providing magic damage mainly, but with additional types of damage on the side. The Mask provides an above average amount of melee speed, while all helmets provide below average defense. The other pieces and the regeneration-based set bonus make up for the lack of defense.
Orichalcum Armor: Orichalcum Armor is an average set stat-wise, what makes it unique is its set bonus, giving a chance to double-hit. The Mask is the piece that’s most often used individually.
Titanium Armor: Titanium Armor’s Set Bonus isn’t practical in PvP, so individual pieces are used more often. The mask gives good melee speed and damage, the helmet gives a very high amount of ranged damage, and the leggings are used for their high defense.
Hallowed Armor: The chest piece is one of the mostly commonly used armor pieces in DG PvP, for its high defense and decent damage. The full set bonus is a useful gimmick, as the armor can be swapped, allowing you to keep the buff.
Chlorophyte Armor: The Mask gives really high melee damage and good defense, while the chest piece gives the single most defense of any individual armor piece in DG PvP.
Nebula Armor: While the set bonus doesn’t work, individual pieces are usable in mage kits.
Semi-Unviable Armor Sets/Pieces
Shinobi Infiltrator Armor: Although it provides good melee/magic damage and melee speed, it’s outclassed by molten armor in terms of damage and especially defense.
Turtle Armor: The Thorns set bonus doesn’t work in PvP, plus this set’s stats are trash.
Valhalla Knight’s Helm/Greaves: The helm is outclassed in stats by Chlorophyte Helmet/Frost Helmet, and the leggings are outclassed in stats by any piece that provides melee speed.
Spectre Armor: The Spectre Healing effect does work, but this set’s stats aren’t nearly good enough to make up for it.
Shroomite Armor: This set is mostly outclassed by Vortex Armor in terms of stats.
Huntress’s Jerkin: Despite giving 20% ranged damage, the most out of any armor piece, the 17 defense is just not a worthy sacrifice.
Monk’s Armor: Has the exact same problem as the Huntress’s Jerkin, except the shirt provides insane melee damage, and the other pieces provide insane melee speed.
Accessories
Unlike the other categories, I will be sorting the accessories by how viable they are, from completely necessary items to unviable equipment.
Absolutely Necessary
Solar Wings
Solar Wings are one of two major wings used. They provide great horizontal and vertical movement.
Empress Wings
Empress Wings are the other most used wings. They trade off some horizontal movement for better vertical movement.
Betsy’s Wings
While not as good as Solar or Empress wings, Betsy’s Wings are still usable, providing good horizontal movement.
Hero Shield
This can technically be omitted if you’re using Gladiator Armor, but having some kind of knockback immunity is required if you don’t want to get thrown around like a pinball.
Tabi
This can also be omitted if you prefer hook movement or if you’re using Crystal Assassin Armor, but the movement provided by this accessory is necessary.
Optional, but Highly Recommended
Worm Scarf
17% damage reduction is really good, but you can omit this, preferably for another damaging accessory so you can be a glass cannon.
Celestial Shell
Again, you technically can omit this, but the amount of stats it provides is too good to miss out on. It’s also noteworthy that this doesn’t stack with the Celestial Stone, Sun Stone, and Moon Stone.
Necessary depending on class
Emblems
The Avenger Emblem, Warrior Emblem, Ranger Emblem, Sorcerer Emblem, Summoner Emblem and Destroyer Emblem are all viable due to the fact that they give damage boosts. Not too hard to understand.
Gloves/Gauntlets
The Fire Gauntlet, Mechanical Glove, and Berserker Glove are accessories that all provide melee speed, an important stat in DG PvP. The Fire Gauntlet and Mechanical Glove provide additional melee damage, while the Berserker Glove provides defense. You can also use the Power Glove for more melee speed, if you want a fourth glove accessory for some reason.
Recon Scope/Sniper Scope
These accessories provide ranged damage as well as a binoculars effect on all guns. Useful when paired with easy-to-hit ranged weapons like the Tactical Shotgun.
Celestial Emblem
This accessory is one of two accessories that provide 15% magic damage (the other being the Sorcerer Emblem), which is the highest magic damage boost you can get from accessories.
Papyrus Scarab/Hercules Beetle
These two accessories and the Summoner emblem are the only accessories that provide 15% summon damage.
Optional
Soaring Insignia
95% of all mid-high level DG PvPers don’t need the additional movement provided by Soaring Insignia, and would rather have a free accessory slot
Terraspark Boots/Frog Leg/Bundle Of Balloons/Other Movement Accessories
Typically, you don’t need other movement accessories besides Wings and a Tabi (Unless you are doing a Wingless loadout)
Charm of Myths
Charm of Myths is most often kept in a vanity accessory slot where it can be swapped in order to use a healing potion with a 45 second cooldown. The accessory rarely is ever used permanently.
Unviable
Mana Flower
Magic weapons aren’t used frequently enough (in mixed sets) to warrant usage of this accessory and its variants, and when they are, mid-high level PvPers would rather deal with mana management than waste an accessory slot on this. Mana management is easy, simply bind your mana potion key to something easy to reach.
Flesh Knuckles/Other Defense Accessories
Having high damage is better than having high defense. This is also why Menacing should be the only prefix you use for accessories.
Conclusion
Like I mentioned before, I did not mention every single viable weapon, armor set, and accessory. There are still a lot of possibilities for what you can use. Hopefully, this guide will be a good baseline for what you should use.
Also, I should mention that Enemy Gamer’s PvP Handbook will become a series of posts, covering various topics. I am open for suggestions on what to make guides on. Also, I am willing to answer any questions and discuss anything in the comments.
In the future, i will be making PvP guides on the following:
Weapon Archetypes
How to make a good loadout
How to weapon swap
How to use pokes
How to Rush-Antirush