The Dark Sword is a MagicalMelee Weapon. It requires a Shadow Manipulator to prototype and costs 5 Nightmare Fuel and 1 Living Log to craft. The Dark Sword does 68 damage per hit and has 100 uses. It also drains Sanity by 20 /minute while equipped. It is one of Maxwell's starting items in the singleplayer game.
The Dark Sword is one of the strongest Melee Weapons in the game, in terms of reliable, player-dealt damage. Due to their perks, the Dark Sword proves the most useful when wielded by Wolfgang, Maxwell, Wigfrid and Wanda.
The Woven - Elegant Corrupted Blade skin was introduced during the official Year of the Carrat event in 2020.
The Woven - Elegant Lightsbane skin was introduced in the An Eye for An Eye update in 2021, as a crossover collaboration with Re-Logic's Terraria. Its rarity was Inspired - Elegant initially, but received change in August 19, 2022.
The Woven - Elegant The Lamb's Blade skin was introduced in the Cult of the Lamb Crossover update in 2023, as a crossover collaboration with Cult of the Lamb. Collection: Flock's Collection
Woven - Elegant Corrupted Blade Show them no mercy. See ingame
Woven - Elegant Cursed Sabre Your enemies are usually slain before the curse can take effect. A pity, really. See ingame
Woven - Elegant Lightsbane A sword born of darkest pitch with blades of blackest shade. See ingame
Woven - Elegant Twisted Dagger Try not to listen to its whispers... See ingame
Woven - Elegant The Lamb's Blade This blade will shear through anything that opposes you.
Tips
Saving Maxwell's Dark Sword for stronger mobs later in the game, or for emergency situations, and until the player obtains a Shadow Manipulator and enough of the Weapon's ingredients is advised.
As Wanda, Dark Swords are best used when she is old, as she gains a 1.75x attack damage buff to Shadow Weapons. She also does not suffer from the Sanity drain.
The design of the Dark Sword appears to be a combination of Nightmare Fuel's visual elements and the shape of a scimitar, a sword stereotypically used by Ottomans and relative Middle Eastern populace, originating in the 9th century (along with its usage seen in some parts of North India).
Maxwell’s quote for the dark sword appears to a reference to the famous line from the poem The Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll.
In the singleplayer game, Wilson's quote for the Dark Sword is "I dreamed it myself!", Willow's is "It's like my dreams can hurt real things!", and WX-78's is "I CAN HACK THIS WORLD".