Beginners Guide

Alpha Disclaimer

• Dark and Darker is presently in Alpha state of development. Features will be added and removed, thus the current state of the game is not representative of the final product.
• Many of the systems in the game are not yet finished and are in a placeholder state. Mechanics may break or not function as intended.

Getting Started

Currently, the game can only be played during scheduled playtests. Once a playtest is ongoing, simply request access on the game's steam page and download the game.

Once you start the game, you will be presented with the Character Creation screen. You will have to create a character to be able to click the "Enter the Lobby" button. Currently, there is no limit for character creation. You can also check the official guide by iron mace and dungeon guide.

What Class to Pick

There are currently 6 unique classes to pick from. In here we will briefly share what you need to know about each class. For more in-depth guides check Classes.

Fighter

• Pros
  • Versatile class that can equip a vast variety of Weapons and Armors, this allows for a flexible play style.
  • Has exclusive access to some of the strongest armor categories in the game.
  • Well-rounded attributes.
  • Great gap closer/evade ability with the Sprint skill and sustain through Second Wind.
  • Can wield a shield, which enables blocking melee hits, as well as ranged projectiles.
  • Naturally counters Rangers when using shields to block arrows or reduce their damage through perks or innate projectile damage reduction from heavy plate armor.
• Cons
  • Gear dependent to be effective.
  • Will take extra damage from Wizards and magic dealing enemies, due to heavy armor having negative magic resistance.
  • Cannot cast any spells.
  • Some skills are single use.
  • Blocking and parrying is difficult to pull off consistently due to the directional blocking system, leading to free damage taken.
• Tips
  • If you have teammates, pairing up with a cleric is a great way to increase survivability.
  • Try to get your hands on a bow, this will enable you to dispatch enemies from range.
  • Use your shield to block melee weapons, arrows and spells.
  • Be resourceful with your skills, since some of them are single use only. However, they can be replenished with the use of campfires.

Barbarian

• Pros
  • Highest base health combined with a high melee damage output.
  • Highest base magic resistance when equipping the Iron Will perk.
  • Increased proficiency with axe type melee and throwing weapons
  • Can equip a perk that allows breaking unreinforced doors and chests.
  • Fast room clearing ability.
  • Can onehit headshot enemy players once decently geared.
  • Strong buff and debuff skills.
• Cons
  • Very slow interaction speed, attack speed and base movement speed.
  • 2handed melee weapons are very unwieldy, coupled with his slow attack speed, this makes Rogues a natural counter.
  • Starts out with a Battle Axe which combined with his slow attack speed, makes him very kiteable.
  • Relies on supportive spells from a Wizard or Cleric to excel.
  • Cannot cast any spells.
  • Limited ranged options.
• Tips
  • Do not open chests or doors, just break them with the Smash perk. Your interaction speed is too slow.
  • Your ranged options are very limited, try to force enemies into close quarters where you excel.
  • If you have teammates, a Wizard or Cleric can allow you to excel.
  • Try not to fight Rogues while using 2handed weapons, their swing speed is very slow, allowing Rogues to bait your attack and punish you during the recovery time. Have either a Hatchet or a Horseman's Axe as a secondary to deal with them.
  • Francisca Axes deal a lot of damage when equipping the Axe Specialization Perk. This enables you to deal a lot of damage with thrown weapons. Don't sleep on the Francisca Axes, the deliver a powerful slow, enabling you to close the gap or outright 2-3 shots low health enemies like the Wizard.
  • Use your ability to smash through doors to make aggressive plays and surprise enemy players.

Rogue

• Pros
  • Fastest class, has very high interaction speed, attack speed and base movement speed.
  • Unlimited lockpicking ability through the Lockpick Expert perk.
  • High damage per second output.
  • Can detect and disable traps.
  • Moves quietly and can become invisible for a very long time, allowing him to avoid encounters or setup ambushes.
  • Able to take most 1v1 fights and win with the use of good movement.
  • Strong bleeds put pressure on the enemies.
• Cons
  • Limited range from daggers, Rapier is the longest reach weapon he can equip, but has much lower damage than it's dagger counterparts.
  • Low health requiring good decision making skills.
  • Struggles with ranged enemy units, has to cleverly use the terrain to block projectiles and punish during their recovery frames.
  • Limited ranged options.
  • Cannot cast any spells.
  • Gear dependent.
  • Low DPS with the starter weapon.
• Tips
  • Pick the Poison Weapon perk to deal high bleed damage.
  • Use your Invisibility skill to ambush enemy players or de-aggro enemies.
  • Use your throwing knives, they can do quite a bit of damage. You can even apply your on hit debuff skills with them, however, be aware they will be consumed and go to waste if you miss.
  • You are not as durable as a fighter, don't take big group fights head on, prioritize ambushing their low health or supportive allies, to quickly turn the tides of battle into your favor.
  • You are able to kill Rangers and Wizards with ease, but against other melee classes you will need to go in and out.
  • If you are hiding in the dark, be sure to unequip your potions from your quick-slots, since they glow in the dark and would give your position away. In the same vein, enemies can see your weapons glowing in the dark if you use your buffs on them.
  • You can use Hide while in the air if you crouch or shift walk, to confuse they enemy and make your movements more unpredictable.
  • You cannot use your Hide ability while holding a light source in your hands.

Ranger

• Pros
  • High ranged projectile damage output.
  • Very high headshot damage through the Sharpshooter perk.
  • Can track fresh enemy footprints via the Tracking perk, this can lead to snuffing out stealthed Rogues.
  • Can set bear traps to lock down enemies in place.
  • Starts with a campfire, however, it's of the worst quality.
  • Has a perk that allows the use of spears with increased damage.
  • Great room clearing ability without putting himself at risk.
  • Can shoot through door holes.
• Cons
  • Bad at close quarter fights.
  • Vulnerable to Rogue ambushes.
  • Needs to frequently reload his quiver.
  • Limited choices for melee weapons.
  • Hard to hit moving targets.
  • Reliant on hitting headshots for high damage output.
  • Gear dependent.
  • Low damage output with the starter bow.
• Tips
  • Excels in group fights if he has a frontline to protect him.
  • Quickshot and Multishot allow you to fully replenish your quiver, you can cancel the skill so you don't waste arrows.
  • You can place traps under environmental traps or inside corpses.
  • Use door holes to shoot at unsuspecting enemies.
  • Nimble hands is so far the best perk to use at level 1.

Wizard

• Pros
  • Access to powerful spells that allows for a versatile play style.
  • High single and multi target magic damage output.
  • Temporarily high movement speed from Invisibility and Haste.
  • Able to replenish spell casts through the Meditation skill.
  • Can wield different magical weapons to improve spell potency.
  • Can become invisible to re-position and setup ambushes.
  • Ability to break doors with Fireball.
• Cons
  • Slow when casting spells.
  • Very low physical damage.
  • Lowest health in the game.
  • Very vulnerable during a long time when meditating and unable to look around to scout for enemies due to the locked camera during this process.
  • Needs further Knowledge attribute points to be able to equip and use a full rotation of spells.
  • Limited by the amount of available spell casts, which requires to meditate frequently to replenish them.
• Tips
  • Try to meditate after every 2 uses of Arcane missiles, Invisibility, and Fireball, because all your spells regenerate at the same time when you meditate.
  • When enemies are interacting with doors, shoot a fire spell at them.
  • Use door holes to poke at enemies.
  • Use invisibility to get out of sticky situations and re-position. You can use the Haste ability beforehand to further boost your movement speed.
  • 1 use of Zap can one shot most flying creatures.
  • While meditating, your camera is locked and you character looks down at the ground, to increase your visibility, meditate on an elevated position to increase your field of view and spot incoming enemies.
  • Fireball deals direct hit damage, as well as damage around it at the target location. Use this property to hit multiple enemies, but be careful to not hit your allies, or fire of the spell when an enemy is in close proximity to you, as you will also take damage.
  • Alternatively, can rest at campfire to replenish spell casts.
  • One popular tactic with the starter gear, is to undress everything except the boots to remove any movement speed penalties. This strategy works, because the armor rating provided by starter gear is very poor. You have to be proficient with the Wizard class though.

Cleric

• Pros
  • Only class with the ability to heal others and to resurrect fallen allies, without the need of a Sacrificial Altar.
  • Access to powerful buffs and protection spells.
  • Beginner friendly due to having access to healing, allowing him and his team to take a couple of hits without being in danger.
  • Access to a great variety of armors, including some heavy plate armors which enables either less durable nimble builds or slower tanky builds.
  • Good room clearing ability through Holy Light, Holy Purification and Undead Slaying.
  • Has the ability to wield shields.
  • Strong support class that is also able to act as a frontliner while wearing adequate heavy armor.
  • Surprisingly good melee damage in PvP encounters with Smite and Divine Strike.
  • Pretty mandatory in a team composition to be able to defeat the bosses.
• Cons
  • Slow attack speed and very slow interaction speed.
  • Limited choices of melee weapons.
  • Slow movement speed when wearing heavy armors, because you cannot reduce the movement speed penalty like Fighter can with their Swift perk.
  • Unable to regenerate spells like Wizards, resting at a campfire is required for this.
  • Slow base spell casting speed
  • Weak alone, unless a solo focused build was chosen.
• Tips
  • You can be a very strong support character when playing with a team.
  • Be careful when using buffs and heals since you can target enemies and enemy players.
  • Only one of your healing spells can be cast on yourself.
  • Pre-buff your team and yourself before a PvP fight.
  • Be sure your team has campfires when entering a dungeon, to enable you to replenish you spell casts when needed.

Controls

Note: When trading with another player left click moves stacks to the trade window which is different than the normal Inventory Controls. I have not figured out how to move partial stacks while trading. If you know how edit this please.

Weapon Move sets

Each weapon has its own unique move set and range. Practice and memorize them to your advantage. Some weapons have 2 unique attack move sets, one with the left mouse click and another with the right mouse click.

The arming sword for example has a 3-motion attack sequence. Holding down the primary attack button will go through the attack sequentially until it is interrupted. If the enemy is wielding an arming sword, knowing this sequence can help you evade their attack.

Blocking/Parry System

Shields and some melee weapons have a block ability. However, simply holding block does not fully protect you from frontal attacks like in other games. To complete a successful block, you need to intercept their weapon or projectiles with your shield/weapon.

You also need to be careful to fully conceal your body parts, because even if you manage to block a hit, the weapon's hitbox can extend past your shield and hit you on uncovered body parts. Therefore, distance management is equally as important as blocking in the right direction. With this in mind, larger shields will offer a higher degree of protection due their their bigger sizes.

Currently, the only weapon that can execute a parry is the Longsword. If you successfully block an attack with the Longsword, you can quickly follow up with a higher damaging 2-sting riposte animation by clicking or holding the left mouse button.

Blocking and parrying requires a great amount of practice to pull of consistently, as you need to develop the spatial awareness around your shield/weapon as well as know your opponents weapon's move sets.

Check out Oggieson's Youtube Channel, he has made detailed videos showing how to block and parry with different weapons against most enemy types.

Body Part Damage Scaling

Every attack that can hit a body part in the game including melee, ranged, and magical deals more or less damage according to the body part it hits.

• Headshots deal 150% damage
• Torso shots deal 100% damage
• Limb shots deal 50% damage

Utility

Every character has two sets of toolbelts that can be accessed with "3" and "4" key. These tool belts hold up to 3 different items each. To scroll through your quick-slots, press "3" or "4" multiple times until you land on your desired item. Utility items such as potions with different rarities will occupy different slots. For more information on these items check Consumables and Utility. Be aware that potions will glow in the dark while equipped on your quick-slots.

Party

A party can consist of up to 3 characters. You can choose the same characters as your teammates. Only the leader can queue up for a game when other players are ready.