There are six total classes available inDark and Darker, and that’s been consistent across all of its alphas and playtests. That said, each class has had its fair share of changes between alphas, some small and some quite large, depending on the class.
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Now, Rangers, Fighters, and Wizards absolutely dominated during theDark and Darkeralpha playtest in December (2022), has anything changed between that playtest and this one?
Disclaimer: There aren’t any ‘bad’ class options in Dark and Darker, each class can be overpowered in the right situation. That said, this Tier List considered which classes are in advantageous situations the most with the least amount of effort in regards to the placements.
C-Tier: Barbarian
Bringing up the rear of the pack are Barbarians, which may surprise some people. Barbarians are, by far, the heaviest-hitting melee character, but it comes at a steep cost.Barbarians are slow in just about everything they do, from swinging their weapon to running and even applying bandages.
Because of this, any Barbarian without a helpful Haste-Wizard is usually out-sped and out-maneuvered by any other class. Thankfully,as Barbarian players level upand open more Perk Slots, a lot of their weaknesses are lessened somewhat. And, if they happen to actually ever get close to their opponent,thenthere’s nothing scarier than a Barbarian.
B-Tier: Rogue
Next up are Rogues, another pick that will probably ruffle the feathers of the people who main this class. Yes,Rogues can absolutely dominate if they’re played correctly. And yes, shanking a player who has no idea the Rogue is there 5+ times before they can react is so absurdly fun.
But, Rogues are so incredibly squishy, and their playstyle, at least in PvP, requires almost flawless gameplay. If a Rogue is fighting a Barbarian, they need to weave and dodge away from every hit or kill them before they can even swing because if even one of those swings makes contact with a Rogue player, they’re losing at least 50 percent of their health at once. Outside of this,Rogues are also fantastic at looting in general and sneaking around, which makes them highly specialized in two specific areas. Meanwhile, the rest of the classes in the higher Tiers are more evenly spread in their specialization across more categories.
B-Tier: Cleric
As a fighter, Clerics are awful inDark and Darker. They’re probably the worst fighters by default (not including the ‘drunken fistfighter’ build for Cleric), but they still manage to do alright overall. Most of this comes from their ability to use shields, which is a huge plus, and they haveplenty of miracles/spells that target the undead. And, for those unaware, almost everything in the dungeon ofDark and Darkeris some type of undead.
Not only are they decent fighters and amazing undead killers, butClerics are also highly sought after in every team combination thanks to their healing spells. They’re basically a fantastic support character in a game full of raw damage dealers, and that means they’re always useful to have around.
A-Tier: Wizard
Wizards can honestly fit in either A-Tier or S-Tier depending on who is playing one,but because of their high skill ceiling, it feels a bit more accurate to put them in A-Tier.Wizards can do it all in Dark in Darker.They can:
But, because there is so much potential utility in playing a Wizard, the person playing the Wizard is punished much more for not being on top of their game. When they mess up in a PvP team-on-team setting especially, they can easilyharm their team with their spellsmore than they’ll help them.
With Wizards, it’s all about keeping the enemy at the perfect range and knowing when to switch from damage to buff/debuff and vice versa. And, if an enemy manages to close the distance, at least they have a last-ditch Magic Missile option to hopefully take their opponent out because if they don’t then the Wizard will die in a measly one or two hits.
S-Tier: Fighter
Whereas Wizards are the jack of all trades in terms of magic,Fighters are the jack of all tradesin everything physical. Fighters can function as a team’s tank, the frontline damage dealer, a back-range sniper, and theyeven work as a Solo-play class. Because of theirWeapon Mastery Perk, Fighters can use (quite literally) every weapon in the game, though this is at a 20 percent loss in damage if they do so.
Still, the sheer versatility this Perk offers cannot be overstated. And, on top of this,they’re the only class that can kit themselves out in full heavy armor, making them unpredictable and seemingly unkillable. It’s very easy to tell the differencebetween a beginner Fighterand a veteran one because a veteran will have already killed anyone who stopped long enough to try and figure this difference out.
S-Tier: Ranger
Last up and at thetop of the rankings is the Ranger, just like the last alpha playtest.The Ranger truly is a class that made it to the top by excelling in one specific area, ranged damage. Giving a player the ability to use a bow with infinite arrows against enemies and other players who (almost always) will need to run toward them in order to fight, is just too much of an advantage.
Never mind thatalmost all of the Ranger’s Skills and Perks are amazing and can be utilized in different builds. Plus, thanks to how dark the game is overall, it’s almost harder to place a trap that players won’t step into than it is to place one that they will step into.
Dark and Darkerreleases in late 2023 on PC.
