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 Ironmace 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.

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.
  • Strong buff and debuff skills.
• Cons
  • Very slow interaction speed, attack speed and base movement speed.
  • Starts out with a Battle Axe which combined with his slow attack speed, makes him very kiteable.
  • Very limited combat healing.
  • Cannot cast any spells.
  • Limited ranged options.

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.
  • Good room clearing ability through Holy Light, Holy Purification and Undead Slaying.
  • Has the ability to wield shields.
  • Surprisingly good melee damage with Smite and Divine Strike.
• 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.

Fighter

• Pros
  • Versatile class that can equip a vast variety of Weapons and Armors.
  • Exclusive access to some of the strongest armors in the game.
  • 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.
  • Good melee and ranged capabilities.
• Cons
  • Jack of all trades, master of none.
  • Cannot cast any spells.
  • Some skills are single use.
  • Blocking and parrying is difficult to pull off consistently due to the directional blocking system.

Ranger

• Pros
  • High ranged damage output.
  • Very high headshot damage through the Sharpshooter perk.
  • Can track fresh enemy footprints via the Tracking perk.
  • 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.
• Cons
  • Bad at close quarter fights.
  • Needs to frequently reload his quiver.
  • Limited choices for melee weapons.
  • Hard to hit moving targets.
  • Reliant on hitting headshots for high damage output.

Rogue

• Pros
  • Fastest class, has very high interaction speed, attack speed and base movement speed.
  • Unlimited lockpicking ability through the Lockpick Expert perk.
  • Can detect and disable traps.
  • Invisibility skill lasts for a long time, allowing him to avoid encounters or setup ambushes.
  • Able to take most 1v1 fights and win with the use of good movement due to the high movement speed.
  • Strong bleeds put pressure on 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.

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 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.
  • Vulnerable during a long time when meditating.
  • 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.

Controls

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 Modifiers

Every attack, be it melee, physical ranged projectile or magic spell will scale with damage modifiers, depending on the body part that was hit.

• Head hits deal 150% damage
• Torso hits deal 100% damage
• Limb hits deal 50% damage

This system affects player characters as well as AI monsters.

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 adventurers. You can choose the same characters as your teammates. Only the leader can queue up for a game when other players are ready.