Dark and Darker is back on steam now, it is an extraction game similar to Escape from Tarkov except in a medieval fantasy setting with several different classes.
Gameplay: slow and feels kinda janky with no sprint and only crouch and jump, which both can be used in PvE against bosses and PvP against enemies. Shields need to actually be aimed at an attack to work, and aiming spells, heals, and arrows can be quite hard at first. The “ring” has been removed, so no need to always be moving towards the center of the map.
Classes: probably the hardest thing for the devs to balance, the game being both PvE, PvP, with Solos, Duos, and Trios. The community and streamers often complain and cry about “x” class being too strong in trios but sucking in solos or vice versa which in turn either turns “x” class into a fairly weak option or completely overpowered. So far there is Fighter; classic knight type class with access to most weaponry and good armor but no spells pretty good class overall. Barbarian; like fighter you have no spells but more damage and less armor, however more magic resistance. Great class for beginners since the playstyle is hold W and swing your axe. (Can simply destroy doors and chests). Cleric; a class using primarily maces and shields with slow moving attacks but can use faith spells to heal and buff yourself and teammates. Can also build into being very tanky. Not the best solo class but one of the best classes for trios. Ranger; the bow and arrow class, primarily focused on ranged. Great potential to take out 1-3 people on your own with great positioning and well aimed shots, also the potential to lose to even the worst of players if caught in close quarters. Pretty good for Duos imo. Wizard; the wizard. Squishy and uses spells, probably tied for the hardest class for beginners, using spells can be pretty clunky in this game, and Wizards entire playstyle revolves around spells (vs cleric and warlock). Not the best for solos but one of the best for trios due to the sheer amount of burst damage. Warlock; the edgy version of cleric. Great in solo due to sustain and summoning hydra, uses melee weapons as well as spells primarily spells that drain your health but you leech it off enemies, pairs quite well with other classes in duos. Rogue; the sneaky assassin. Rogue is tied with wizard for hardest class for newbies. You primarily use daggers (can use rapiers) and hand crossbows) and can go invisible, use poison, or attacks to cause enemies the inability to use their skills for a short time. High skill ceiling but more often than not will lose a fight head on, requires ambushes and outplaying the enemy. One of the worst classes for PvE and leveling up. Not very strong in duos or trios unless the team is playing around you. Invisibility used to be very good, now it requires several perk points to actually be good for anything other than a quick ambush. Bard; the skald. Haven’t played much of it but provided buffs in trios while also quite well in solos. Druid; newest class, haven’t played him but he can summon a tree monster, heal quite well, and can turn into a literal rat.
Steam Launch: devs kinda dropped the ball by saying it’s a free to play game but you can only have one class, and can’t use the trader to full extend and obviously can’t use a shared stash. Until a few days ago (iron maxed fixed it) you couldn’t use certain gear as a F2P player, so many people review bombed the game. Along with this, the game can be very unforgiving, if you don’t leave the dungeon in a timely manner boulders and whatnot will start damaging you and outright kill you, which was a big part of the negative reviews “I keep randomly dying” no you stayed in the dungeon when there was only a minute left in the raid.
Conclusion: I don’t really like extraction fps games, but this one is an exception. PvP doesn’t require twitch reflexes to headshot people, plus PvE is emphasized for getting money/ loot and doing quests, along with bosses so it feels like PvE first before PvP. Ironmace should stop listening to streamers for nerfs and buffs.
