Dark and Darker classes, as with a lot of fantasy RPGs and MMORPGS, are crucial to your gameplay, and choosing the right one – or the wrong one – will determine your experience, so you always want to make sure you're familiar with your options before delving into the action.
Given that Dark and Darker is a multiplayer game, it's even more important that you choose the right class – not just for you own gameplay, but for your team's balance. After all, you don't want a party of three clerics. Thanks to the playtests, we already know what each of the six Dark and Darker classes offers, so even though there is more than one character slot, you can still start to plan which class you might want to main when the Dark and Darker release date finally comes around.
Dark and Darker classes
There are six Dark and Darker classes, all of which you’ll be familiar with if you’ve ever played a fantasy game before:
- Barbarian
- Cleric
- Fighter
- Ranger
- Rogue
- Wizard
Sure, you might have some allegiances with one or more of these classes before you start the game, but the great news is that you can have one of each in your collection if you wish. More than one of each, in fact. Here’s what you need to know about each of them.
Barbarian
As you’d probably expect, the Barbarian class is the hardiest of the classes, usually large and strong, and a melee fighter, being the first into the action. The Dark and Darker Barbarian head into battle with anything that hits hard, but starts off with a classic, but basic, battle axe as a primary weapon. The barbarian also starts off with three throwable Francisca axes equipped.
With the highest starting strength health stats, the barbarian is instead cumbersome, and is the slowest of the classes. None of the barbarian’s perks help with this, but instead focus on improving on their existing strengths, with buffs to strength, impact power, and HP recovery, among others.
Cleric
If you’re familiar with the cleric class, you’ll know that they’re the healer of the group, putting their altruistic nature to use in a support role, but still handy with a weapon when they need to be. The Cleric is one of two magic users in Dark and Darker, alongside the Wizard, so if you’re a fan of wielding spells, then the cleric could be for you – as long as your party has some strong fighters to compliment you.
While some Cleric perks and skills increase damage, most focus on support, healing, and reducing damage.
To cast spells, you must use up one of your skill slots with the Spell Memory skill, then equip spells to your number keys. You can use up to five spells to begin with, but by training your spell memory, you can add five more. However, spells cost to equip, and better spells have a higher cost, so consider your loadout well.
Fighter
If you like to fight with your fists, but don’t want your stealth to be affected as much as it would be with a barbarian, then you could consider the fighter class, which is also the only class with two starter items: a sword and a shield. Not quite as strong as the barbarian, and with a lower health, a fighter has better agility, so is more balanced overall.
This balance is also reflected in the fighter’s perks and skills, which cover a range of playstyles. Whether it’s increasing your movement speed, reducing damage taken, or recovering your HP slowly, you can mould the fighter around your strengths and weaknesses perhaps more than any other class.
Ranger
The ranger was among the most popular classes in the most recent playtest, allowing you to take out dangerous enemies from a distance. Unsurprisingly, the ranger’s starting weapon is the Recurve bow, one of the better starting weapons you have to choose from. The ranger also starts off with a campfire kit, which allows you to rest and recover – if you can find a secluded enough place to do so safely.
Generally speaking, the ranger’s perks and skills are based around the class’ ranged weapons and attacks. For example, you can choose to rapidly fire three arrows in quick succession with the Quickshot skill, or buff your headshot damage when attacking with a long-range weapon.
Rogue
The most nimble class, what the rogue lacks in health and strength, they make up for in movement speed and agility. While the rogue only starts with the small Rondel dagger, their quick attack speed makes it easy to attack over and over again, and you also go into battle with three throwable knvies, too.
Of course, a rogue’s stealth allows for some excellent perksand skills, including the ability to steal items from enemies or pick locks without a lock pick. With the Smoke Bomb skill equipped, you can even detonate a smoke screen to help you and your team evade a difficult situation.
Wizard
Of course the wizard is a magic user, with powerful spells for attacking enemies including the infamous fireball. You can hit opponents with your magical staff, which will do some damage, but of course your spells are going to be your strongest offence as a wizard, but it does mean one of your skill slots must be taken up with the Spell Memory skill.
The wizard’s vast knowledge of all things magical, they have a solid choice of spells available. As with the cleric though, each costs to equip, so plan your loadout carefully. Fireball is among the most more expensive starter spells, but deals significant damage to the target, and additional damage to nearby enemies. Other spells include Invisibility and Haste.
As for perks and skills, you’re looking at perks that focus on specific types of spell, so whether you prefer fire or ice, you can adjust your perks accordingly. With two spell memory skills for you to equip, you may simply choose to go into battle with more spells at your disposal, but you can also elect for the likes of Intense Focus, which reduces the casting time of your next spell.
So there are your six Dark and Darker classes from which you have to choose, though there could be more added before launch. Consider your usual playstyle in other RPG games when choose, but why not also consider a class you have minimal experience with too? Before any of that though, at least make sure you can run the game by checking out the Dark and Darker system requirements while we wait for the next playtest.
