Best Solo Classes In Dark And Darker

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  • Can You Play Dark And Darker Solo?
  • Best Solo Class In Dark And Darker? It Might Be The Rogue
  • Smash Skulls With The Barbarian In Solo Play
  • Defy Death With The Solo Ranger
  • Dark And Darker Solo Tips

Dark And Darker is a difficult game for solo players. At the time of writing, there is no dedicated solo playlist, which means when you queue up to play, you could be facing off against teams of players. This makes it an extremely unforgiving experience.

However, playing solo is also a great way of learning the game, honing your craft, and pulling off some sneaky extracts. You will, however, need to pick the best class for the job. That's why we're here to talking you through the pros (and cons) of the different classes in the game for solo play.

This guide was produced with info from the December 2022 Playtest of the game and is subject to change. We will keep this guide updated when new Playtests are opened.

Can You Play Dark And Darker Solo?

As with any class-based game, the classes are only as good as your experience with them. Dark And Darker is a very unforgiving and hardcore game for solo players. If possible, we recommend teaming up with at least one other player to at least learn the ropes of the game – you might find the solo grind off-putting.

Quite a few of the mechanics are based around team compositions, with a healer, tank, etc. You should imagine it like a game of Dungeons & Dragons where each member of the party has a role. It's much harder to survive alone, but not impossible. You just need to choose the right class.

Best Solo Class In Dark And Darker? It Might Be The Rogue

Out of all the classes, the Rogue has been the most successful for us in solo play. There are a few clear reasons for this. Let's get into it.

Rogue Playstyle

The main playstyle of the Rogue is stealth, deception, and surprise attacks. For our Rogue solo build, we've opted for these perks and abilities. It's a sort of mega-damage stealth combo build designed around taking down solo targets and extracting safely.

Perks

Abilities

  • Level 0 – Poisoned Weapon
    • Deals poison damage over 4s
  • Hide
    • Allows you to turn invisible, deactivates when you move, attack, or do another action
  • Level 5 – Stealth
    • Allows movement in Stealth for 10 steps
  • Rupture
    • Next attack deals bleed damage for 20 physical over 5s
  • Level 10 – Ambush
    • First attack after stealth deals 50% extra damage
  • Level 15 – Backstab
    • ​​​​​​​Extra 30% damage bonus if attacking an enemy from behind

In terms of perks, we've opted for a lot of Backstab/First Attack/Poison Synergy here. The main aim is to play slow and steady in the shadows. Activate Stealth to get an advantageous position or use the Hide ability to position yourself behind an enemy player or mob. Then utilize the suprise damage combo of Ambush, Backstab, and Rupture to take down single target enemies.

Rogue Solo Tips

  • Dark And Darker is a very dark game (go figure) which means you don't always need to use the Stealth/Hide mechanics of the Rogue, you can just turn out the lights. Dim torches wherever you go to create more shadowy darkness.
  • You can deal a lot of damage with our combo build but once you get caught out, there aren't any escape mechanics/defensive capabilities. Get away quickly if you are facing a group of players.
  • Play slowly. Wait for enemies to take damage from monsters.
  • This Rogue playstyle is about playing relatively conservatively, getting the decent loot, and then extracting without causing too much fuss. Play smart and you should make it out alive.

Smash Skulls With The Barbarian In Solo Play

On the complete other end of the Spectrum, you should try out Barbarian in solo play. Although this tanky, axe-wielding nightmare is awful slow, the class also comes with a bunch of HP and the potential to smash PvE enemies to smithereens. Great for clearing treasure rooms and handling gank situations.

Barbarian Playstyle

There isn't much to say here other than the Barbarian is designed to smash things. You'll feel a bit like a bull in a 7-Eleven, but being able to take down multiple enemies can be useful, especially for new players that haven't learned mob types and attack patterns yet.

Defy Death With The Solo Ranger

The Ranger is one of the best classes in Dark And Darker if we're speaking in tier list terms (ranged damage is superior in the game, especially headshots), and it also performs very well as a solo class.

Ranger Playstyle

Go slow, utilize traps, and use the portals to escape. Sounds all very straightforward, but the Ranger is closest to the Rogue in terms of sneakiness. We really like the Advanced Hearing perk as this will alert you to nearby enemies, whereas the variety of Traps can be very useful in PvE or PvP.

Dark And Darker Solo Tips

Here are some tips to improve your solo Dark and Darker gameplay.

  • Go slowly. Use the Shift key to walk slowly.
  • Take your shoes off to reduce footstep noise.
  • Listen closely for other players running around.
  • Don't bother noisily breaking pots – the best loot is found in chests and loot rooms.
  • Invest time in memorizing enemy patterns. Try to get used to the map, where loot spawns, and common places to run into enemy players.
  • Gank (this is when you interrupt other player fights or PvE fights).
  • It doesn't matter if you die repeatedly at the beginning – your character is still getting XP towards those new Perk slots.
  • Practice with your favorite class and stick with it. There are a lot of nuances to certain playstyles that will come in handy if you are experienced with a class.

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