Dark Knight: Guide by Raenryong/The Dark Knight Zerg

===The Dark Knight Zerg===
What is a "Dark Knight zerg"?
Simply put, it is combining the abilities Souleater and Blood Weapon; this allows even weaker weapons (eg, Kraken Club) to be really mighty, whereas your Blood Weapon prevents your HP from dropping (and hence your Souleater power does not decrease)!
There are two main ways of zerging; one-handed and two-handed. The general subjob used for two-handed zerging is /sam (due to Hasso) and the one for one-handed either /drg (due to Wyvern Earring) or /nin (survivability). /mnk also works if you are only zerging for 30 seconds and have 5/5 merits in Desperate Blows.
====The Basics: Stat Priorities/Weapons====
Two-handed weapons: Rune Chopper, Ferrara, Fortitude Axe, Bahamut's Zaghnal
One-handed weapons: Republic Dagger, Ridill, Mercurial Kris, Octave Club, Kraken Club
Five of these nine weapons have one thing in common; "Occasionally attacks 2-x times". This is very important since during a zerg, it is the QUANTITY of the hits which matters ultimately. When you are attacking at maximum speed, it is those "occasionally" hits which really push you over the top.Souleater also contributes the majority of the damage/hit to these weapons. Therefore, amplifying Souleater damage by adding HP does far more to your damage than amplifying the "base damage" by adding atk/str. So, 
To summarise: Haste > HP > else for a zerg.
The current haste cap is 80%. Equipment haste caps at ~25.25% (sources vary, but since you need 26% to cap it and all sources agree on this, it is irrelevant). Magic haste caps at 43.3%. Hasso adds an additional 10% haste for two-handers, and Desperate Blows adds an extra 5~25% for two-handers external to either magic or equip haste. Recent developments show that the Job Ability cap haste is 25%; meaning that Hasso + Level 5 Desperate Blows = Level 5 Desperate Blows, so you can't add them together to make 35%. For greatest power, we build to maximise haste and HP, with haste as the priority. Two-handers have more flexibility concerning gear options due to that 15~25% haste from Hasso/Desperate Blows!
Additionally, it is very good to consider adding a piece of equipment which amplifies Souleater effect (from 10% to 12%) -- either Chaos Burgeonet or its HQ, or Gloom Breastplate, or Sable Cuisses. Gloom Breastplate is best in a low-haste setup since you cannot achieve any haste on the body, but in more flexible setups Sable Cuisses or Chaos Burgeonet can be more beneficial.
=====Equipment Choices=====
Food: Carbonara is attractive because it gives lots of HP and to a lesser extent, attack. Don't be afraid to use Sole Sushi if you need it.
Main: Weapon of your choice.
Sub: Sword Strap, the 3% delay reduction will outdo even the HP on the Axe Grip or other alternatives. If you are one-handed zerging, Januwiyah (a shield) or its HQ for the HP.
Ranged/Ammo: Fenrir's Stone if it currently gives you HP or Happy Egg, though virtue stones if you're using a Fortitude Axe obviously.
Head: Walahra Turban/Chaos Burgeonet or its HQ. Walahra Turban has both 30HP and 5% Haste, Chaos Burgeonet has your Souleater bonus.
Neck: Cougar Pendant gives 30 HP. Other options are Ajase Bead Necklace or Shield Pendant have HP, as does Ritter Gorget. Peacock Charm if you need accuracy (less supported zergs perhaps).
Earrings: Cassie Earring or Intruder Earring, then Brutal Earring OR Wyvern Earring if /drg (otherwise Cassie/Intruder or other HP earrings). Do NOT use a Brutal Earring with the onehanders or Bahamut's Zaghnal; when you are attacking at such a high speed the higher end of the "occasionally attacks 2-x times" will proc often, and forcing a Double Attack before this is counterproductive.
Body: Gloom Breastplate for the Souleater bonus, or Homam Corazza to add some Triple Attack to the build (only do so if you can put Souleater bonus on either the head or the legs and still have capped haste!)
Hands: Dusk Gloves or their HQ. Homam Manopolas HP and Haste.
Rings: Bomb Queen Ring and Bloodbead Ring. An Alternative to the very difficult to get Bloodbead Ring is a humble Bomb Ring. If you are not capping haste, Blitz Ring is a very good choice; the 1% haste will help you more than any other ring if you are not capped.
Back: Gigant Mantle or High Breath Mantle. Lots of HP.
Waist: Swift Belt or Speed Belt or Velocious Belt. Lots of haste from this slot, and not much else you can do with it (note some RSE belts have a lot of HP for a 2handed zerg perhaps).
Legs: Homam Cosciales for haste, Dusk Trousers for HP, Sable Cuisses for Souleater effect.
Feet: Homam Gambieras for HP/Haste/Acc. Dusk Ledelsens are an alternative. Marine M Boots or Marine F Boots are very viable if you have capped haste already.
If we are two-handed zerging with good support, we assume that we have 10% haste from Hasso, 5-25% haste from Desperate Blows (where Hasso + Desperate Blows Haste cannot exceed 25%) and 43.3% haste from magic. That means that we need 22-12% of equipment haste to cap it to 80. (80 - 43.3% - (5-15%)). If you are onehanded zerging, you obviously need more haste than you can get from equip (37%), so you have less luxury to swap around equipment.
A note on the Rune Chopper: this weapon since the latest haste nerf is only really good when you can't get enough haste to cap effectiveness (since it gives 9% haste, you only need 3% to cap from equipment!). When you can, it is inferior to many standard weapons, including a relatively weak Great Sword zerg. Consider it the stepping stone to a Fortitude Axe or Ferrara zerg for two-handers.
Order of abilities
Seems like a fairly obvious point, but in what order are the abilities used? Obviously the earlier you engage your enemy, the more damage you do, and choosing your abilities in the right order can save you a second or two; which can mean a lot.
If the enemy is not immune, begin with Dark Seal + Drain II. After that, it comes down to personal preference: I prefer to use Hasso (if /sam) => Blood Weapon => Souleater => Last Resort. The logic behind this is thus; you will be fully buffed before engaging and so will be hitting very fast; if you activate Souleater first, you will hit before activating Blood Weapon and so lose HP, so your first few hits will be weaker. Last Resort is very important if you are zerging 2handed so you want to get the full 30 seconds of benefit on that, and in a zerg situation mages can support your HP loss quite comfortably for the 2 seconds or so of HP loss you get from using this order.
Again, this is just personal preference, but that is my logic behind it.
How do they compare?
This all depends on subjob choices and the length of the zerg in question. GENERALLY:
The short answer:
30 second zerg:
Kraken Club > Octave Club > Mercurial Kris > Ridill > Bahamut's Zaghnal > Fortitude Axe > Republic Dagger > Ferrara.
60 second zerg:
Kraken Club > Octave Club > Mercurial Kris > Ridill > Bahamut's Zaghnal = Republic Dagger > Fortitude Axe > Ferrara.
Note the "= sign" there. The two are incredibly close and change very slightly depending on subjob... they are essentially interchangable, unless accuracy is uncapped.
 ~ The long answer... this may undergo revisions soon if I find out Bahamut Zaghnal's exact distribution. Assumptions are 100% accuracy and perfect gear. If you have less than perfect gear, it favours 2handers, but not enough to change the hierarchy (except the Bahamut's Zaghnal vs Republic Dagger one). Drain II is not accounted for and this favours 1handers. Do not quote the figures as exact, but the percentages are fairly accurate.
If accuracy is uncapped, Bahamut's Zaghnal may best Ridill or if zerg support is lacking. This happens primarily in situations like Nyzul Isle. In most situations though, the hierarchy is as listed above.
Comments
I would also like to include that Bahamut's Zaghnal is the much better choice for a Nyzul Isle zerg, or when you wont have a 6 song brd rotation. As stated above, HP is big for Bahamut's Zaghnal, I've seen galkas come close to out parsing a KC drk at Bv2 before. HadesDrayco 01:36, 13 July 2009 (UTC)
I'd like to add that DNC might be a good sub, since you get drain samba and duel wield, so a 2hour might not always be as necessary. - Yertthedestroyer 10:18, September 19, 2010 (UTC)
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