Introduction
When you first spawn into a dungeon in Dark and Darker you will faced with many challenges. The ultimate goal is get in, gather valuable loot, survive, and extract. To survive and successfully extract you will need to avoid traps, take down monsters, avoid or take out other players, and navigate many other dangers. In this Dark and Darker beginner guide you’ll learn how to navigate the dungeons in the game, and what dangers lie within.
Monsters
Once inside a dungeon you’re going to encounter a variety of monsters, depending on which map you spawn into. There are three different variants of monsters. The lower level the dungeon, the harder the monster you will encounter. The variants consist of common, elite, and nightmare. With every increase in variant, the monster will get much stronger.
Nightmare enemies are very rare in normal difficulty dungeons. There are also boss monsters that can be encountered in the inferno map variants.
Currently, the following monsters can be found in Dark and Darker:
| Monster Name | Image | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ghost King |  | Boss | Inferno |
| Lich |  | Boss | Inferno |
| Cave Troll |  | Boss | Goblin Cave |
| Skeleton Warlord |  | Boss | Crypt / Inferno |
| Frost Wyvern |  | Boss | Ice Abyss |
| Cyclops |  | Boss | Goblin Cave |
| Cockatrice |  | Mini-Boss | Ruins |
| Giant Centipede |  | Mini-Boss | Goblin Cave |
| Giant Worm |  | Mini-Boss | Ruins |
| Demon Berserker |  | Mini-Boss | Inferno |
| Demon Centaur |  | Mini-Boss | Inferno |
| Skeleton Champion |  | Mini-Boss | Crypt / Inferno |
| Wraith |  | Mini-Boss | Crypt / Inferno |
| Death Beetle |  | Monster | Goblin Cave |
| Death Skull |  | Monster | Crypt / Inferno |
| Demon Bat |  | Monster | Inferno |
| Demon Dog |  | Monster | Inferno |
| Dire Wolf |  | Monster | Crypt |
| Giant Dragon Fly |  | Monster | Crypt / Inferno |
| Giant Bat |  | Monster | Goblin Cave |
| Giant Spider |  | Mini-Boss | Ruins |
| Goblin Axeman |  | Monster | Goblin Cave |
| Goblin Archer |  | Monster | Goblin Cave |
| Goblin Bolaslinger |  | Monster | Goblin Cave |
| Goblin Mage |  | Monster | Goblin Cave |
| Goblin Warrior |  | Monster | Goblin Cave |
| Mimic |  | Monster | Crypt / Inferno |
| Mummy |  | Monster | Crypt / Inferno |
| Skeleton Axeman |  | Monster | Crypt / Inferno |
| Skeleton Crossbowman |  | Monster | Crypt / Inferno |
| Skeleton Swordsman |  | Monster | Crypt / Inferno |
| Skeleton Spearman |  | Monster | Crypt / Inferno |
| Skeleton Archer |  | Monster | Crypt / Inferno |
| Skeleton Footman |  | Monster | Crypt / Inferno |
| Skeleton Guardsman |  | Monster | Crypt / Inferno |
| Skeleton Mage |  | Monster | Crypt / Inferno |
| Zombie |  | Monster | Crypt / Inferno |
| Wisp |  | Monster | Ruin |
| Golem |  | Mini-Boss | Ruins |
| Skeleton Royal Guard |  | Boss Minion | Inferno |
| Skeleton Warlord Crystal | N/A | Boss Minion/Mechanic | Inferno |
| Frost Giant Berserker |  | Elite Monster | Ice Cave |
| Frost Giant Shielder |  | Elite Monster | Ice Cave |
| Wendigo |  | Mini-Boss | Ice Cave |
| Frost Imp | N/A | Monster | Ice Cave |
| Frost Skeleton Archer |  | Monster | Ice Cave |
| Frost Skeleton Crossbowman |  | Monster | Ice Cave |
| Frost Skeleton Footman |  | Monster | Ice Cave |
| Frost Skeleton Guardsman |  | Monster | Ice Cave |
| Frost Walker |  | Monster | Ice Cave |
| Frost Wolf |  | Monster | Ice Cave |
| Frost Skeleton Halberdier |  | Monster | Ice Cave |
| Frozen Ghost | N/A | Monster | Ice Cave |
| Ice Kobold Archer |  | Monster | Ice Cave |
| Ice Kobold Axeman |  | Monster | Ice Cave |
| Yeti |  | Mini-boss monster | Ice Cave |
| Frost Demon | N/A | Mini-boss monster | Ice Abyss |
| Frost Elemental | N/A | Monster | Ice Abyss |
| Frost Sentinel |  | Monster | Ice Abyss |
| Frost Skeleton Maceman |  | Monster | Ice Abyss |
| Ice Giant Spider |  | Monster | Ice Abyss |
| Ice Harpy |  | Monster | Ice Abyss |
| Ice Hound | N/A | Monster | Ice Abyss |
| Ice Spider | N/A | Monster | Ice Cave/Ice Abyss |
| Living Armor | N/A | Monster | Ruins/Crypt/Inferno |
| Living Statue | N/A | Monster | Ruins/Crypt/Inferno |
| Loot Goblin | N/A | Unique Monster | Ruins/Crypt/Inferno |
| Midnight Stag | N/A | Monster | Ruins/Crypt/Inferno |
| Ozzeling | N/A | Unique Monster | Ruins/Crypt/Inferno |
| Scarfang | N/A | Unique Monster | Ruins/Crypt/Inferno |
| Slime | N/A | Monster | Ruins/Crypt/Inferno |
| Slinkfoul | N/A | Monster | Ruins/Crypt/Inferno |
| Specter | N/A | Monster | Ruins/Crypt/Inferno |
| Undead Knight | N/A | Monster | Ruins/Crypt/Inferno |
Traps
Each dungeon is littered with traps. Make sure you watch you step and play close attention to your surroundings. Valuable treasures are often times guarded by traps. There are three different kinds of traps in the game.
- Floor Spikes
- Wall Spikes
- Swinging Axe Traps
- Stone Pistons
- Flame Pylons
Floor spikes are fairly easy to spot, however, if you’re not paying attention they can and will lead you to your death. They are sometimes hidden in dark areas, to make sure you tread carefully. They are generally easy to navigate around, and you can throw a torch onto them in order to activate the trap. You can then wait until the spike goes back down to cross. There is a short recharge time after the spikes have retracted before they are able to activate again. You can use this to your advantage when fighting other players around traps as well.
Wall spikes are much harder to detect than floor spikes. You can spot them by a small visible hole in the wall. You can also spot some of them by viewing your in game mini map and seeing the small spike icon. Some of them are well hidden and positioned at head level. They will activate when something gets too close, so you will want o crouch to avoid them when you locate them. There are also some wall spikes that are only located in the maze area that are positioned at knee level as well, so be careful when progressing through that area.
Axe traps are very easy to spot and are always active. Don’t get in too big of a hurry when trying to progress through them. Time your moments correctly and you will have no problem getting around them, and can easily avoid the damage.
Shrines
Within the dungeon you may encounter a shrine. Interacting with one of the shrines will give you a specific buff depending on the shrine. The shrines will regenerate over time and become reusable, so you can revisit it and gain the buff again. The five shrines include the following:
| Shrine | Image | Buff |
|---|---|---|
| Shrine Of Protection |  | Grants a protective buff for 60s |
| Fountain Of Speed |  | Grants a speed buff for 60s |
| Shrine Of Health |  | Restores 100% of the player’s HP |
| Shrine Of Power |  | Grants a damage buff of 30 Physical Power for 60s |
| Alter of Sacrifice |  | Allows you to resurrect fallen players at the cost of some of your own health, however, you will need to equip the Soul Heart of the fallen player to be able to begin the resurrection process. |
Loot
As you explore the dungeon you will come across various loot. Each piece of loot has a different value, and these can be sold to the collectors outside of the dungeon for gold coins. The coins can the be utilized to purchase other useful items for your next dungeon run.
Each piece of loot can take up various amounts of space in your inventory. Larger pieces will take up quite a lot of space and can have poor value per amount of inventory space taken up. It’s a good idea to try and acquire as many single inventory slot loot items ad you can during your dungeon run. These occupy less space and will have the highest gold yield per inventory slot.
Death Mechanics
The longer you’re in the dungeon the greater your risk to succumb to each dungeons death mechanic when the time hits zero:
- The Crypts, the death swarm is a swarm of hideous bugs that will try to consume you.
- The Ice Cavern, the sub-zero conditions eventually take its toll, freezing you solid – dying as a result.
- Goblin Caves, the cave is progressively collapsing. When the timer hits zero, the cave collapses; killing everyone inside.
You can see the match timer above your map at all times unless you’re in high-roller. Between 3-5 minutes remaining is when the dungeon-specific death mechanic starts to affect the map. During this time, particular extracts become available – such as escape ropes in the Goblin Cave.
Portals and Extraction
There are different types of portals that you will encounter in the dungeon. There is a blue portal, and a red static stair case or gateway.
In order to safely extract you will need to find a blue portal or a static extraction point. Portals will appear in a stack of three portals for a full party to escape with.
During the match, a blue-glowing formation appears on the ground in random parts of the dungeon. These formations mean that a trio of blue portals is GUARANTEED to spawn there later on. This is important to keep note of as you come across them during a match, as you may need that location later to escape.
Then, during the last few minutes of the match, the portals rise from the pre-determined spot.
The other type of portal, the red portal, will take you deeper into the dungeon. These portals appear in a set of three allowing 3 players to descend together. However, each portal only allows one person in.
(NOTE: THESE PORTALS ARE CURRENTLY NOT IN-USE IN DARK IN DARKER BUT MAY RETURN)
Guaranteed Extractions
While Escape Portals and Down Portals may spawn randomly throughout the match, there is actually static escape spots and mechanics in the game. These static spots are closed off by a gate that will lift at any time throughout the match. Alternatively, other extracts or “down” methods can appear mid-match, specific to the dungeon you’re in. Finally, these spots are defined on the map as a blue or red staircase, based on which type of Portal it represents.
Rope Extraction
The Ice Cavern (and the Abyss) and the Goblin cave have extractions in the form of escape ropes. These ropes tend to fall down and become active as the dungeons death mechanic draws close (within 3 or so minutes). To use these ropes, just interact with them and hold on tight. It takes roughly 17 seconds to extract via the escape rope. However, you can jump off at any point if a surprise attack from a player happens.
The Ice Cave map also contains two guaranteed extracts in the form of an escape raft and an elevator in the Goblin Cave & Ice Cave.
Conclusion
That concludes our Dark and Darker Beginner Guide. Click Here for our other Dark and Darker content.