Question

Is Arceus good as a Dark Type?

Answer 1

As this question asks, I believe it is only worth talking about in VGC/Ubers, because Arceus is not a "good/suggested" in-game team Pokemon.

On the Ubers Metagame perspective, Arceus-Dark is a good Defog user and is the probably the best Calm Mind user of the Arceus forms. Most Arceus-Dark sets only have Judgment as the attacking move. Here are sets straight from smogon:

Arceus-Dark @ Dread Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Timid Nature
- Judgment
- Recover
- Toxic
- Defog

Arceus-Dark @ Dread Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Judgment
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Refresh

In short, Arceus-Dark has a niche role in defog using as it checks Mega Gengar and Gothitelle, is a good choice for balanced and defensive teams, and is one of the best Arceus forms to use Calm Mind. Overall, Arceus-Dark is A solid B+ Ubers Pokemon, but competes for move slots with Arceus-Flying (A-), Arceus Fairy (A-), Arceus-Water (A), and Arceus-Ground (A). (only Arceus-Forms Included)

Then again, there is VGC/Battle Spot. I am pretty sure it is banned from VGC, but I have used Arceus quite a bit in Battle Spot. Arceus Dark is okay for checking Yveltal, but other Arceus types are more useful; although, most people expect Arceus to be a Fairy type, because most people use Arceus-Fairy.
(TL;DR, Arceus-Dark is okay in battle spot, but fairy types like Mimikyu, The Tapus, and on rare occasion Diancie/Xerneas/Magearna are used enough to make it less viable)

Source: Arceus-Dark (Smogon), Ubers Viability, Experience

So, Arceus is Great as a Dark type; the only Uber tier Dark type higher than it is Yveltal, but it isn't the best Arceus typing.

Hope I helped!

Comments

thank you for the answer!

Answer 2

Well it all depends on how you plan to use it.

A pure Dark type has 3 weaknesses; Fighting, Bug, and Fairy.
A pure Dark type is alse resistant to 3 things; Ghost(1/2), Psychic(0), and other Dark types(1/2).
Dark type moves are super effective against Psychic and Ghost.
Dark type moves are ineffective against Fighting(1/2), Fairy(1/), and other Dark types(1/2).

So really, questions like 'what is the best type,' or 'is this type any good' will not be answered with facts; they will be answered with other people's opinions. The 'goodness' or a type is how you use it in a battle. However, as of now, I will give you my suggestion for a Dark type Arceus moveset.

Arceus @ Dread Plate(Use this instead of Darkinium Z so you can have a better STAB).
Ability: Multitype.
Judgement(Signiture move + high STAB).
Aerial Ace/Fly(Coverage against Bug and Fighting).
Dark Pulse(Works best with stats = medium STAB).
Flash Cannon(Works best with stats + coverage against Fairy).

Comments

Why do you use Dark Pulse when Judgement does the same thing?
Why do you have 4 attacking moves (especially since Aerial Ace isn't that good, and Arceus is almost never used in in-game teams) when Arceus gets refresh, recover, etc.?

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Because I like to have mostly all of their moves be for attacking because I focus on damage; most of my main Pokemon do(with an exception for Zapdos, who has Roost).
And I like to have 2 STABs. Don't ask me why.. I just do.
Also I checked Arceus' moves it could learn by TM/Level Up, and those 2 Flying type moves are the only thing that can counter both weaknesses in one(trust me, if I could have it have Air Slash instead, I would).

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Heavier neutral damage with added effects/in general (Flamethrower, for example) helps because you'd want to cover as many types as you can, not necessarily your weaknesses, especially when that neutral damage can still KO the "threats" you could be weak to. :P

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??? I understood almost none of that..

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I think the main problem with this set is that there's no good reason to use it when Yveltal does the exact same thing but better. The only thing dark Arceus does well is switching into certain attacks and then defogging.

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Omfg I just saw a Aerial Ace Arceus... I’m sorry but I have to downvote your answer because your moves are so unacceptably horrible.