Dark And Darker: Class Guide

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• Fighter

• Barbarian

• Rogue

• Ranger

• Ranger Abilities

• Wizard

• Cleric

Dark And Darker currently has six classes in the game, the Fighter, the Barbarian, the Rogue, the Ranger, the Wizard, and the Cleric. Each class has its strengths, weaknesses, and certain playstyles. This guide is here to give you an overview of each class, some build tips, and some general advice on how to play the game in a team or as a solo player.

Dark And Darker is not an easy game to experience solo, which is why it's a good idea to party up and create a team composition with different classes. We'll cover that below, too.

This info is based on the December 2022 Playtest for the game. All info is subject to change – we will keep this class guide updated over the next Playtests and the full release of the game.

Fighter

This is your standard, sword-wielding, shield-smacking combat class that can wield virtually any weapon. It's a well-rounded class that can pick up most equipment off the floor and do something with it, and also comes with the ability to sprint. You can't, however, cast spells. This is an excellent class that we recommend for beginners to get a grip with the game, its weapons, and gameplay.

Fighter Perks

The Fighter has a number of perks that impact their equipment specifically. You can equip up to four perks at level 15. A new perk slot unlocks every five levels – 5, 10, 15 with one slot available from level 0.

You can change perks at any time via the Class menu.

We recommend taking the Barricade perk for a new player as you will be using your shield a lot. For a solo player, we also recommend the Projectile Resistance perk as ranged enemies (Archers specifically) will destroy melee solo players.

Fighter Abilities

As well as perks, here are the Fighter's abilities. You can equip two separate abilities at any one time.

In terms of the best skills for this class, we will cover this more in-depth in our build guides, but a general rule is that HP regen is great for solo players (Victory Strike and Second Wind, for example), while abilities like Taunt and Adrenaline Rush can be great for team play. You can select any ability you like from the start of the game.

Barbarian

The Barbarian is Dark And Darker's hardest-hitting class, with a damage bonus for two-handed weapons, loads more HP, and better magic resistance. This does, however, come with a penalty for movement speed, attack speed, and interaction speed. The Barbarian is a very interesting solo class because you can deal huge damage to enemies with a single swing, but you will find yourself outmaneuvered against three decent players. You can equip up to four perks unlocking at 0, level 5, level 10, and level 15.

Barbarian Perks

Here's a list of every Barbarian perk in the game currently.

Recommended perks for the Barbarian include Morale Boost for vital HP regain (good for solo players), Smash for PvP, and Iron Will to combat the number of mages you'll come up against. We will cover more of these in our Barbarian build guide.

Barbarian Abilities

Here's a look at the Barbarian's abilities – this class has fewer abilities than the Fighter.

These are abilities are pretty distinctly cut in two solo and team play: Rage and Reckless Attack for solo play, and Savage Roar and War Cry for a more party-based approach.

Rogue

The Rogue is a master of stealth. You will be able to pick locks, detect traps, move quickly and silently, and interact with objects very swiftly. This class encourages a sneaky style of play of creeping around enemies, ambushing them, and very will rarely take a PvP fight square in the face. This is advised, at least, because you have much lower health and defense. It's a difficult class to learn, but also one of the most fun, and definitely viable for solo play.

Rogue Perks

Here's a rundown of all the Rogue perks in the game.

Rogue might have the most interesting set of Perks in the game. Pairing up Ambush and Backstab for example can deal an extra 80% of damage overall to any enemy player or NPC. Likewise, Poison Dagger is excellent for PvP, and the Stealth/hiding/creeping mechanics are ideal for players who want to get in, get loot, maybe one or two kills, then extract quickly.

Rogue Abilities

The Rogue's abilities focus on surprise damage, evasion, and stealth. There are four abilities in total, and you can equip two at a time.

We will cover the utility of these abilities in our Rogue build guide, but overall, Hide is excellent for solo play and quick looting and Rupture is great when paired with Ambush, Hide, etc, that deal damage on first hit.

Ranger

The Ranger is Dark And Darker's ranged specialist. This is an excellent class and currently considered one of the best in the game. Ranged damage is very hard to deal with if you're playing as a melee character, and headshots are lethal. As the Ranger, you can deal damage with the bow, track players, and set-up campfires. However, you are extremely limited as you can't use the vast majority of melee weapons in the game – any melee weapons you can pick up do very low damage.

Ranger Perks

Here's a rundown of every Ranger perk in the game. You can equip up to four perks at a time, with perk slots unlocked at level 0, level 5, level 10, and level 15. You can choose from any perk you like from level 0.

The Ranger has a versatile set of Perks that both benefit solo and group play. Out of these, we really like Enhanced Hearing because footsteps are very important in Dark And Darker, and we also think Tracking is good for solo play. Sharpshooter deals extra headshot with long-ranged weapons, by the way, which can be super deadly.

Ranger Abilities

Here's a closer look at the Ranger's abilities. You can equip up to two abilities at a time.

In terms of solo play, we like Field Ration for solo healing and Quickshot for targeted damage. In a group, we might take Multishot or True Shot. We will cover these more in our Ranger build guide.

Wizard

The Wizard is another one of the top tier classes in the game currently because of the excellent damage output of your Staff or Book of Spells. A new magic system was introduced with the latest Playtest that only enhanced the Wizard's abilities, but added an extra layer of complexity around which spells you take. You can put out a lot of damage, but the Wizard often needs to be protected by other players, as it can be viewed as a glass-cannon (lots of damage, very poor defensive abilities and mobility).

Wizard Perks

Here's a breakdown of the different perks for the Wizard. You can equip up to four perks at a time, with new perks unlocking at level 0, level 5, level 10, and level 15.

The different Perks here include a lot of synergies for different elemental damage (particularly Fire), but also some abilities that are more defensive, like Reactive Shield and Ice Shield.

Wizard Abilities

Here are all the Wizard abilities in the game – you can equip two of these at a time.

We cover how Spell Memory works in more detail in our guide on it, but in short, for a beginner you should take Spell Memory 1/2 and then either Intense Focus or Meditation (Meditiation is a great pick-up as it allows you to partially restore your spells to be able to cast them again).

Wizard Spells Tiers

Here are the different tiers of Wizard spell available.

• Tier 1: One Cost Spells
  • Zap – Deals magic damage and burns the enemy for 1 second.
  • Light Orb – Lights up surrounding area.
  • Ignite – Set the target's weapon fire, causes burn debuff on attack.
• Tier 2: Two Cost Spells
  • Slow – Slow the enemy target for 2.5s (-40% movement speed).
  • Ice Bolt – Deals damage and slows target.
  • Tier 3: Three Cost Spells
    • ​​​​​​​Magic Missile – 10 individual missiles that do damage (12 each), stops when you move.
    • Haste – Target gets extra movement and action speed for 12 seconds. Casts on self if you are alone.
    • Tier 4: Four Cost Spells
      • ​​​​​​​Lightning Strike – 4 second delayed lightning strike special, targeted AoE.
      • Invisibility – Target becomes invisible and gets extra movement speed. Casts on self if you are alone.
      • Fireball – Large AoE attack with big damage.
      • Tier 6: Six Cost Spells
        • ​​​​​​​Chain Lightning – Chain spell damage that inflicts other enemies within 400m up to three times (careful, this will inflict you if you are the only other person nearby)

        Cleric

        

        A Cleric acts as the support class for the game – however, the Cleric also moonlights as a mace-wielding Paladin-type that deals excellent Blunt damage and extra damage to the Undead. Any viable team of three or four players will want to include a Cleric as it can make such a difference in a PvP fight or against some of the game's harder bosses. Much like the Wizard, the Cleric relies on the Spell Memory system to cast spells.

        Cleric Perks

        Here are all the Cleric perks in the game. You can equip four perks at a time with new perk slots opening up at level 0, level 5, level 10, and level 20.

        Perk	Perk Ability
        Advanced Healer	Base heal improved by 5
        Blunt Weapon Mastery	Physical attack power up by 5% when attacking with a blunt weapon
        Brewmaster	Your character cannot get drunk, does not have the downsides of alcohol
        Kindness	Heal yourself while healing others, you get 15% heal back on your character
        Perseverance	Reduces all incoming damage types by 3 overall
        Protection from Evil	All harmful debuffs and effects duration reduced by -20%
        Requiem	Grants 25% health back to allies you revive, you do not need to offer your own health at an Altar of Sacrifice to revive an ally
        Undead Slaying	Extra 20% physical damage against Undead monsters

        The Cleric's key perks really focus on healing – perks like Kindness and Advanced Healer are good for a beginner class loadout.

        Cleric Abilities

        Here's a breakdown of the different Cleric abilities. Much like the Wizard, you will need to include a Spell Memory on your ability bar.

        Ability Name	Ability
        Holy Purification	100 base magical damage to all Undead monsters within 7.5m
        Judgement	Close range damage and movement speed reduction, need to be within 4.5m of an enemy and targeting them directly, deals 30 magic damage and reduces movement speed by 20% for 5s
        Smite	After activating ability, you deal +10 magic damage to all enemies for the next 7 seconds
        Spell Memory 1/Spell Memory 2	Allows access to spells

        Cleric Spells Tiers

        Here are all the Cleric spells in the game divided by their tiers.

        • Tier 1: One Cost Spells
          • Protection – Shield spell, blocks 20 physical damage for 20 seconds.
          • Bless – Target gets +3 Strength, Agility, and Will, for 30 seconds. Casts to self if alone.
        • Tier 2: Two Cost Spells
          • Divine Strike – Increase target's weapon damage by 10 for 20 seconds.
          • Cleanse – Removes all harmful magic effects from target.
          • Tier 3: Three Cost Spells
            • Bind – Bind the target for 0.75s.
            • Tier 4: Four Cost Spells
              • Lesser Heal – Heal a target for 15 health. Casts to self if alone.
              • Tier 5: Five Cost Spells
                • Holy Light – Heals an ally for 30hp or deals 100 damage to an Undead enemy.
                • Tier 8: Eight Cost Spells
                  • Resurrection – Can revive an ally from death, the ally's corpse must have a Soul Heart.

                  Both the Cleric and the Wizard have a more complicated ability system due to Spell Memory and the Spell Book. You can read more about it in our guide.

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