The Fighter of Dark and Darker is a standard hero, capable of wielding many weapons, plate armor, and a massive shield between you and anyone who threatens your life. There is a significant difference between a skilled warrior with an intelligent build and someone who lets the game make the decisions for them.
The Best Dark and Darker Classes in Dark and Darker Tiers
This guide is up to date for alpha playtest 4.
Dark and Darker have the best Fighter perks.
The following four perks, in order, are recommended:
- Swift
- Swift removes 20% of your movement penalty from armor. As you’ll be donning armor typically as soon as its found in a dungeon, that movement penalty can stack quickly, making you easy prey for Rogues and Wizards alike. This won’t entirely mitigate the movement penalty, but absolutely makes it far more manageable.
- Shield Expert
- Shield Expert gives an additional 10% movement speed while you’re holding your shield up with right-click. Keep your shield up while your opponent is swinging, but try to strafe past the shield to offer an opportunity to land your own blows. This becomes the crux of combat with a Fighter, where the shield is a failsafe if your strafing happens to fail.
- Counter Attack
- If an enemy hits your shield, the Counter Attack perk increases both your movement speed and attack speed for three seconds. This is enough time to counter strafe, and land your own hits, with the possibility of a full combo depending on the equipped weaponry. Along with Shield Expert, this perk turns the Fighter into a frightening class.
- Combo Attack
- Every time you successfully land damage against an enemy, your attack power by 10% increases for 3 seconds. If you can manage to land full combos with Counter Attack, Combo Attack can eliminate most enemies foolish enough to try to stand toe-to-toe against the Fighter. They’ll never know what hit them.
- Swift removes 20% of your movement penalty from armor. As you’ll be donning armor typically as soon as its found in a dungeon, that movement penalty can stack quickly, making you easy prey for Rogues and Wizards alike. This won’t entirely mitigate the movement penalty, but absolutely makes it far more manageable.
- Shield Expert gives an additional 10% movement speed while you’re holding your shield up with right-click. Keep your shield up while your opponent is swinging, but try to strafe past the shield to offer an opportunity to land your own blows. This becomes the crux of combat with a Fighter, where the shield is a failsafe if your strafing happens to fail.
- If an enemy hits your shield, the Counter Attack perk increases both your movement speed and attack speed for three seconds. This is enough time to counter strafe, and land your own hits, with the possibility of a full combo depending on the equipped weaponry. Along with Shield Expert, this perk turns the Fighter into a frightening class.
- Every time you successfully land damage against an enemy, your attack power by 10% increases for 3 seconds. If you can manage to land full combos with Counter Attack, Combo Attack can eliminate most enemies foolish enough to try to stand toe-to-toe against the Fighter. They’ll never know what hit them.
- Swift removes 20% of your movement penalty from armor. As you’ll be donning armor typically as soon as its found in a dungeon, that movement penalty can stack quickly, making you easy prey for Rogues and Wizards alike. This won’t entirely mitigate the movement penalty, but absolutely makes it far more manageable.
- Shield Expert gives an additional 10% movement speed while you’re holding your shield up with right-click. Keep your shield up while your opponent is swinging, but try to strafe past the shield to offer an opportunity to land your own blows. This becomes the crux of combat with a Fighter, where the shield is a failsafe if your strafing happens to fail.
- If an enemy hits your shield, the Counter Attack perk increases both your movement speed and attack speed for three seconds. This is enough time to counter strafe, and land your own hits, with the possibility of a full combo depending on the equipped weaponry. Along with Shield Expert, this perk turns the Fighter into a frightening class.
- Every time you successfully land damage against an enemy, your attack power by 10% increases for 3 seconds. If you can manage to land full combos with Counter Attack, Combo Attack can eliminate most enemies foolish enough to try to stand toe-to-toe against the Fighter. They’ll never know what hit them.
The best Fighter gear
The Heater Shield is by far the finest-in-slot shield for Fighters. It's big enough to withstand piercing weapons such as spears, but small enough to block your view. Find the greatest armor possible, especially once the Swift is slotted, and put any one-handed weapon aside from the Falchion — its peculiar horizontal swings leave you completely unprotected.
Try to prioritize Strength and Agility as opposed to Strength, which will make the Fighter a bit more tankier. Agility increases movement and attack speed, which will allow your perks to proc far more often.
Best Fighter Skills
The Fighter has six abilities to choose from, but most are niche choices that demand a change in playstyle. Second Wind and Victory Strike are two of the most powerful weapons for the Fighter, and delaying from these requires a fundamental shift in strategy.
- Second Wind
- Second Wind allows the Fighter to heal 50% of their HP, once per dungeon run. This is a monumental ability that isn’t matched by any other character, although the Cleric ostensibly comes close with their self-heal. Be warned it’s a heal-over-time, though — this isn’t the clutch you can count on in the middle of a fierce melee.
- Victory Strike
- Victory Strike offers an additional 20% damage for your next attack — if it kills an enemy, you instantly heal for a total of 5% total health. This ability can be used every 22 seconds, meaning it’s a very reliable means of keeping your health topped-off if someone, or something, manages to land a hit.
- Second Wind allows the Fighter to heal 50% of their HP, once per dungeon run. This is a monumental ability that isn’t matched by any other character, although the Cleric ostensibly comes close with their self-heal. Be warned it’s a heal-over-time, though — this isn’t the clutch you can count on in the middle of a fierce melee.
- Victory Strike offers an additional 20% damage for your next attack — if it kills an enemy, you instantly heal for a total of 5% total health. This ability can be used every 22 seconds, meaning it’s a very reliable means of keeping your health topped-off if someone, or something, manages to land a hit.
- Second Wind allows the Fighter to heal 50% of their HP, once per dungeon run. This is a monumental ability that isn’t matched by any other character, although the Cleric ostensibly comes close with their self-heal. Be warned it’s a heal-over-time, though — this isn’t the clutch you can count on in the middle of a fierce melee.
- Victory Strike offers an additional 20% damage for your next attack — if it kills an enemy, you instantly heal for a total of 5% total health. This ability can be used every 22 seconds, meaning it’s a very reliable means of keeping your health topped-off if someone, or something, manages to land a hit.