Darius III

AoE Noble Phantasm

Thanks to his class and AoE Noble Phantasm, Darius is a good farming machine that most players have access to, provided they have an NP battery like Kaleidoscope, Zhuge Liang and/or The Imaginary Element. His Noble Phantasm can also be upgraded through an Interlude, which compensates for his lack of offensive buffs.

Decent Normal Damage

Darius can dish out good normal damage thanks to him having 3 Buster Cards, decent offensive stats for a 3* Servant, and his Berserker class.

Somewhat Decent Survivability

Unlike many Berserkers with complete lack of defensive skills such as Frankenstein or Lancelot, Darius packs a Guts, a debuff clear and a small heal. In some situations, these skills can prove to be vital to keeping him alive for longer and synergizes somewhat with his Golden Rule-boosted defensive NP gain.

Lack of Offensive Self-Buffs

It is a shame that Darius does not get any form of offensive self-buffs to improve on his baseline stats and offensive potential. His NP interlude is the only aspect that allows him to compete in damage against his fellow low star peers.

Struggle to Compete in an Overcrowded Niche

AoE Berserkers are one of the more abundant roles in the game. Even amongst lower rarity Servants, there are options that have the same function as Darius III that take up less Party Cost such as Spartacus or Erik Bloodaxe. However, in term of skill leveling cost, Darius III does not require any skill leveling at all unlike his competition, which is excellent for players that want to save monster material resources for other investments.

Darius has one of the more mismatched skill sets and it is worth noting that none of his skills really affect his main niche as a farm bot with Kaleidoscope. This is both a blessing and a curse, as he can be fielded without high investment costs for farming purposes, but he will be surpassed by some Servants in a similar niche at higher skill levels. Early on, Masters can forego levelling his skills entirely to save costs. For the true Darius-aficionados or when more resources are available, the following skill order is recommended:  

• Golden Rule B: Like most AoE Berserkers, Darius can only function with some assistance in charging his NP Gauge. As most people don’t have a max limit broken Kaleidoscope, raising his Golden Rule skill can alleviate some of his NP generating problems. While as niche as it may be, Golden Rule does synergize nicely with a Berserker’s passive NP gain on being hit as Darius can generate up to 7.25% NP gauge per enemy hit count at max rank.His most useful skill, level this first.
• Disengage A: Darius’s class means the heal amount from this skill is essentially halved. The debuff clearance is still nice as it can ensure his damage won’t be dampered by enemy debuffs when he uses his Noble Phantasm. Unlike his battle continuation, this skill can potentially be used twice during longer battles and the healing aspect scales at the same rate at the battle continuation skill, making it a superior option.
• Battle Continuation A:  In most circumstances, Darius will only get to use this once. Thus, unless players truly want to get an incremental increase in his survivability, it is worth leaving this alone for last.

OVERALL: With Starting NP Gauge Craft Essences, Darius III can be a good budget farmer for many new players. Otherwise, Buster Performance is another stat that can improve his usability.

• Golden Sumo: Boulder Tournament / Halloween Princess: These two provide an Attack or NP damage bonus and give a bit of starting NP (up to 50% MLB). However, Darius will still need another source to raise his NP bar, such as Zhuge Liang or the Mage Association Mystic Code.
• Kaleidoscope / Imaginary Element / Dragon’s Meridian: This line of CEs provides the Starting NP Gauge that helps make farming a bit quicker and these are generally the go-to Craft Essences for him.
• Limited/Zero Over / Verdant Sound of Destruction / Mystic Eyes of Distortion: These Craft Essences improve his Buster Card Performance to take advantage of his Buster Brave Chain potential. However, it also means that the chance for him to use his Noble Phantasm is greatly reduced.