Gunbreaker vs. Dark Knight

[Edax]

Bullets penetrate medieval armor. Id say a GNB would win 100% of the time so long as they manage to shoot the enemy in the head at the start. Traditionally, real life gunblades were kind of bad to use and were intended as guns foremost while being swords second. If you were shooting your enemies and you needed to reload you could melee a bit as a last resort if you were interrupted. Back then people had to shoot one bullet at a time and they poured powder into the gun similarly to a flintlock. It was later decided that gunblades were not as efficient as rifles with knives on the end of the barrel. Thus we ended up with bayonets.

Realistically, if one fought with a gun that was also a blade for close combat vs a man who held a 2h sword and heavy armor, the gun would make fast work of him. Now, if the dark knight was tossing around black magics theyd still die in one head shot so hed better cast faster than the gunner can pull the trigger.

If the GNB for some reason could not shoot the drk in the head or some other vital spot, I have no doubt that the drk would eat them alive. Drk has a lot of strength and protection from swords with the armour. GNB wears a flimsy coat. Even if the drk couldnt hit the gnb with the large slow greatsword, he could just plunge him, toss magic at him or just about anything. After all, the gnb has no real protection from any type of attack. A single unmend to the eyes would likely take his eyesight. Any other attack would be like a butcher chopping into a hanged meat.

It might be easier to see in this picture. My character wields the first gunblade given to her at the start of the GNB job quest. Note how the cylinder doesn't even line up with the barrel because the gun part doesn't actually shoot bullets. If they did, this would be a very different conversation because the Gunblade would have significant range then.

[Cilia]

Something to keep in mind is that while DRK does have access to magical abilities, so does GNB - all of its special techniques are made possible through enchanted cartridges and shells. Heart of Light / Stone, Aurora, Superbolide, etc. make it just as durable as any DRK. (Despite being a "physical spirit," Thancred just suffers from the inability to wield aether he picked up from the trip into the Lifestream... even though that makes no sense. Must be residual self-image or something.)

Gunblades don't shoot - or at least that's not their main function. The main function of a gunblade (the model GNBs use at any rate) is to trigger high-frequency vibrations along the blade, drastically improving the blade's cutting power through friction. We don't have any metric for how much more power that extra heat can generate, either - it could be useless or so strong that it cuts through plate mail like rice paper. If it's the latter, one shot to the vitals would be enough for an instant kill. (Living Dead? Use Superbolide after a couple seconds and Aurora to regen HP.)

DRK has more raw power, but if you can master the gunblade (and its vibroweapon function is powerful enough) a GNB's higher speed and more advanced weapon would give it the edge if skill levels were equally high. Using a heavy weapon like DRK's requires being able to masterfully read your opponent and gamble on correctly predicting your opponent's action(s). GNB's higher speed makes it less predictable, which is a huge boon at high-level swordplay.

[whiskeybravo]

Note how the cylinder doesn't even line up with the barrel because the gun part doesn't actually shoot bullets.

The hell? All that's going to do is blow up in your face lol

Looks like the Edge goes to DRK.

[Brannigan]

DRK dunks on GUN as soon as he gets enough bloody aether stored up to start the 2v1 with his shadow buddy

[Misutoraru]

shockwave is sort of my field, not an expert though
few thing we need to figure out, type of metal/material use in the armour and how the shockwave transfer from gunblade to the armour
assuming the armour is made of single layer of metal, and a large amount of shockwave create by the gunblade can be transfer to the armour, then the armour actually going to do more harm than protecting the wearer.

[YianKutku]

If the Gunbreaker had committed some injustice and used their position and abilities to escape punishment, the Dark Knight will win.

If the Dark Knight is attempting to intrude upon something or someone the Gunbreaker has sworn to protect, the Gunbreaker will win.

This isn't actually facetious: I strongly suspect that the motivations of the combatants matter a great deal. Especially for the Dark Knight, who is basically powered by their strong emotions, and from what we see in the questlines, become more powerful when they have something to truly fight for.

[Absimiliard]

If the Gunbreaker had committed some injustice and used their position and abilities to escape punishment, the Dark Knight will win.

If the Dark Knight is attempting to intrude upon something or someone the Gunbreaker has sworn to protect, the Gunbreaker will win.

This isn't actually facetious: I strongly suspect that the motivations of the combatants matter a great deal. Especially for the Dark Knight, who is basically powered by their strong emotions, and from what we see in the questlines, become more powerful when they have something to truly fight for.

And what if neither of them have strong motivation? Or, for that matter, their motivations are equal. I.e. the Gunbreaker is protecting someone important to them that happens to have taken the life of someone close to the Dark Knight. The Gunbreaker has their charge, the Dark Knight has a deep wellspring of rage and grief from which to draw power.

DRK dunks on GUN as soon as he gets enough bloody aether stored up to start the 2v1 with his shadow buddy

The gauge is just a game mechanic. I would be extremely surprised to find out they need to spend anywhere near that much time building aether in lore.

[YianKutku]

And what if neither of them have strong motivation? Or, for that matter, their motivations are equal. I.e. the Gunbreaker is protecting someone important to them that happens to have taken the life of someone close to the Dark Knight. The Gunbreaker has their charge, the Dark Knight has a deep wellspring of rage and grief from which to draw power.

If neither of them have strong motivation, then it would probably go either way. If, through some strange calculation, both of them happen to have the "same amount" of motivation, then it would also probably go either way.

[Edax]

We'll assume luck to play no part, equal skill in their respective disciplines and equipment between combatants, and a completely open battlefield.

If neither of them have strong motivation, then it would probably go either way. If, through some strange calculation, both of them happen to have the "same amount" of motivation, then it would also probably go either way.

It's assumed that both combatants are fighting without being given advantages outside of their job.

[RyuDragnier]

It'll end with both of them dead. The DRK's Living Dead will allow them to keep going just long enough to kill the GNB, at which point the DRK will fall over dead.