Introduction
Welcome to our Dark and Darker Wizard guide for beginners. In this guide we’ll be covering all the basics you need to know to get your adventure started in Dark and Darker. The Wizard is a strong ranged spellcaster class with the ability to choose some melee options also. The Wizard has a vast array of spells ranging from high damage nukes to utility buffs.
Pros
- Has access to powerful spells
- Unique access to ranged and melee magic weapons
- Fairly versatile gameplay
- Extremely strong when played right
Cons
- Very low base health pool
- Low base physical damage
- Prone to hitting teammates in group sessions
Skills
Skills in Dark and Darker are the core abilities each class has unique access to. Currently you can select two of the following skills to complement the playstyle or build choice you prefer:
- Meditation
- Intense Focus
- Arcane Shield
- Spell Memory 1 & 2
Meditation
Meditation is a core spell in the Wizard skill set, when used it will sit your character down and channel for a short period of time. During this channel however, you will recharge uses of your equipped spells.
Intense Focus
Intense Focus essentially turns your next spell into an instant cast. In some cases this can be an interesting skill but usually replaces Meditation, currently that is not recommended.
Spell Memory
Spell Memory 1 & 2 are skills that allow the wizard to carry up to 5 spells in a spell book. Equipping both however will allow you to slot 10 spells, depending on your knowledge stat.
Arcane Shield
Places a shield around you that absorbs 35 damage for all types for 15 seconds.
Upon absorbing all the damage this shield can absorb it unleashes an Arcane Explosion dealing 5 damage to hostile targets in an area around it
Skill Recommendations
For starting out and the foreseeable future, we recommend using Meditation and Spell Memory 1. This allows you access to spells and the ability to regenerate them!
Perks
Perks in Dark and Darker serve as unique passive traits. Each class can slot up to 4 perks once they reach max level:
- Quick Chant, +20% casting speed
- Arcane Mastery, Reduces cast time of Magic Missiles and Invisibility
- Fire Mastery, +5% Fireball, Zap and Ignite damage, doubles burn duration. Fire Mastery also reduces healing by 50% on burning targets
- Sage, +10% knowledge increase
- Mana Surge, +5% magic damage bonus
- Reactive Shield, a shield that activates after taking damage
- Ice Shield, +20 armor rating increase, slows enemy melee attacks
- Arcane Feedback, +1% damage and cast speed per arcane spell hit
- Melt, landing fire damage reduces physical armor by 10%
- Arcane Feedback – Each time you do damage with an arcane spell your spell-casting speed and base magic damage increase by 1% per stack. Arcane Feedback can stack up to 5 times at once. The bonus duration lasts for 7 seconds and resets with each successful stack.
Perk Recommendations
Currently, we recommend taking Quick Chant, Fire Mastery, Sage and Arcane Mastery. However, when starting out in your adventure and you are leveling your Wizard, we suggest starting with Sage first. This allows you to hit a Knowledge stat threshold to pick up a meta set of spells.
Spells
Spells are currently unique to a couple of classes that can wield them, such as the Cleric and the Wizard. These spells are the ones you will slot into your Spell Memory skill and take with you on your adventure. Something to know when starting out however, each spell has a cost to even use it. To see this, make sure to check the bar at the bottom of the screen when selecting spells to know what your spell capacity is.
Currently, spells are separated into tiers based on their power level, and as such, cost more to slot into your Spell Memory equal to the tier they are in.
One Cost Spells – Tier 1
- Zap, quick single target lightning damage spell
- Light Orb, illuminates a small area
Two Cost Spells – Tier 2
- Slow, slows target down
- Ice Bolt, deals damage and slows target
- Ignite, enchant target weapon with a fire damage buff
Three Cost Spells – Tier 3
- Haste, increase targets movement speed by 5%, action speed by 10% and 10% casting speed
- Magic Missile, channel a barrage of arcane orbs to deal damage
Four Cost Spells – Tier 4
- Fireball, fire a medium sized ball of flame that deals huge damage and splash damage
- Invisibility, turns your target invisible and grants movement speed
- Lightning Strike, after 4 seconds a bolt of lightning hits target area dealing damage
Five Cost Spells – Tier 5
- Explosion, when casted, an explosion occurs in the targeted area after 3 seconds. The explosion deals 30 Magic Damage and burns within a 1m area
Six Cost Spell – Tier 6
- Chain Lightning, chains to multiple targets within 400 meters up to 3 times, can hit you too
Spell Recommendations
For a standard Wizard build, and especially for starting. We recommend taking Ignite, Haste, Magic Missile, Invisibility and Lightning Strike providing you have the Spell Capacity to do so!
Weapons
The Wizard can utilize a fair few weapons within the game, allowing multiple playstyles to form:
- Staff
- Spellbook
- Rondel Dagger + Crystal Ball
- Crystal Sword
- Crossbow
Starting, we recommend trying to drop the starter staff as soon as possible and picking up a Spellbook instead. The Spellbook provides a decent set of stats while also having no movement speed penalty while using it. You can also buy a Spellbook from a vendor every so often so keep an eye out! In the early game, the Crossbow can also be an effective backup weapon until you reach the late game. For melee options to use along with your Spellbook, a Crystal Sword is advised.
It is important to note too that within the game there is a mechanic known as “Casting Collision”. Casting Collision is an instance where you attempt to cast and ability, but are too close to a wall or looking at a floor – ultimately canceling or “failing” the spell. The spellbook helps mitigate this issue as it’s a very small weapon, but keep this in mind while playing!
Stat Priority
Different stats in Dark and Darker have different properties, as a result we recommend prioritizing the following stats on gear:
- +All Attributes
- Knowledge to 25-30
- Additional Magic Damage
- Will/True Magic Damage
+All Attributes is a no brainer, allowing you additional stat points in every stat is huge value. We recommend reaching 30-35 Knowledge before fully committing to damage stats, as it is a fantastic breakpoint to reach to allow flexibility with spell selection and casting speed. Additional Magic Damage is a large raw stat addition to your Magic Damage, as a result your damage largely increases.
How To Play Wizard
In this Wizard Guide for Beginners, we will focus on the fundamentals. Ultimately as a Wizard you will provide heavy ranged damage assistance to teammates, or be a menace solo. Dark and Darker is a very brutal and unforgiving game, as a result mechanics such as friendly fire is on. This means as a Wizard you have to be careful when casting spells such as Fireball and need to think about positioning.
PvE
When dealing with PvE mobs throughout your dungeon run most mobs can be taken down fairly easily with Magic Missiles. However, should you bring a Rondel Dagger or Crystal Sword as a backup weapon to a Spellbook, you can Ignite your Dagger or Sword and take out monsters that way. Additionally, this method is much quieter and might help you avoid detection.
Fighting with teammates versus another trio can get hectic quickly, remember however that you can buff not only yourself but your teammates too. Make sure to keep uptime on your teammates weapons with Ignite, you can also Haste + Invisibility your frontliner such as a Barbarian or Fighter to charge in aggressively and confuse the opponent. Keep in mind however this is a brutal game, and as a result, you can also cast buffs on opponents too by mistake.
Spell Usage
Fireball, Lightning Strike, Zap and Magic Missile are your bread and butter hard-hitting spells you will often weave in between moving. Fireball is typically used from mid-long range, however, Magic Missile can be used in a “shotgun” style manner, by casting Haste + Invisibility on yourself, flanking the opponent and firing away at close range.
Finally, a basic but key thing to remember when fighting is to buff your teammates. And if you cannot find an angle from your backline to fire spells, Haste + Invisibility yourself and push into their backline. This allows you to create a squeeze and have a safer time casting without killing your friends. However this method also works solo too. Last but not least, always remember to Meditate between rooms you clear out! This will keep your spell charges topped up.
An alternate way of playing the Wizard is a dive-focused build that uses Rondel Dagger + Crystal Ball to stealth in and assassinate players. As a result, this is a selfish playstyle but a powerful one. Simply buff yourself with Ignite, Haste and Invisibility and push past the opponent’s Frontline and clear their backline as soon as possible. Finally, clean up the rest of the fight!
We hope you enjoyed our comprehensive Dark and Darker Wizard Guide for beginners! To check out other class guides and more, click here.
Dark and Darker’s next Playtest is coming 6th February, with many potential changes and additions we are expecting to see.