One of the biggest hurdles players will face
when getting into Dark and Darker is learning to deal with PvE enemies. Even one mistake against monsters will cost
a hefty chunk of health, and replenishing that health requires precious resources, resources
that you can’t afford to waste if you want to be prepared for encounters with enemy players. So here, we’ll be going over a few important
general tips when it comes to PvE, followed by a more specific explanation for each type
of enemy currently implemented in Dark and Darker. Even if newer enemies are added in the future,
the fundamentals presented here should apply to future additions, giving you the understanding
you need to experiment with and develop your own strategies. And to clarify, this guide is meant to explain
how to deal with these enemies as a melee build with no blocking options. There’s already some very good guides on
how to use shields elsewhere, so this is specifically for evasive, close-range tactics. No ranged tutorial here, because that can
be summed up in a single statement. (Run or shoot??? Both!) That isn’t to say you shouldn’t use those
strategies when they’re available. Some higher-difficulty enemies are downright
brutal to deal with without a shield or a planned “cheese” strategy, so if you have
those options available to you, use them! It’s just nice to have a plan for when those
strategies are unavailable. First and foremost, understand the AI. The AI for enemies is extremely basic. They will take the most direct route towards
the player they are targeting, and once they are in range to attack, they will attempt
to. They can swap targets if a player tries to
damage them while they are targeting someone else, and WILL instantly attempt an attack
once their target switches, so if you’re in a group setting, be wary of the surprise
“180”. With the knowledge that enemies will ALWAYS
attempt to attack when they’re in range of you, even if walls are in the way in the
case of ranged enemies, we can exploit their patterns very easily. Another very important thing to keep in mind
is that your movement speed is drastically cut when you are backpedaling, but not when
moving sideways or forwards. If you need to quickly avoid an enemy’s
attack, it is always better to turn and move sideways or forwards than it is to try and
hold backwards. Similarly, be mindful of your limbs! Swinging weapons will often extend your arms,
and your arms are vulnerable! While limbs take reduced damage, you will
still be affected by negative status effects like slowdowns and poison if they get hit,
so be mindful of your attack animations and don’t get too greedy. Now, for more specific tips. The Skeleton Footman is the most common and
simple enemy, and the best for teaching our most important anti-NPC tactic. They have two attacks, an overhead swing,
and a sideways swipe that moves them forward. The best way to deal with them is a very basic
“walk into their range to bait, walk out of range, and punish the swing” strategy. Intuitively, you may want to strafe their
overhead swing, but this will not work, as this attack has extremely good tracking and
a deceptively wide hitbox. There are two variants of this enemy. One with a shield, who will always counter
with an attack if the shield is hit, and one without a shield. These two are functionally more or less the
same, until they reach the Nightmare tier. The shielded one will reflect damage back
to you if you hit its shield, even if your attack is a ranged attack like a bow or Magic
Missile, while the unshielded one gains the ability to follow up the sideways swipe with
the overhead swing in order to punish you. Simply bait out the second attack by staying
barely in its range and punish as usual. The Skeleton Swordsman is one of the 3 uncommon
skeleton variants, and this one is packing a Zweihander. Basic bait-and-punish works on this enemy,
although worth noting is that even the common variants have access to a two-hit combo. If they swing to your right, or counter-clockwise,
they can follow it up with a swing to your left, or clockwise, so only go for a punish
when they’ve done a clockwise swing. You can also crouch and look straight down
to go underneath their swings, so long as you are on level ground with them. Looking down is better than looking up, because
when you look up, your arms tend to stick out. The Nightmare version adds a third hit to
their cycle. Instead of ending with the clockwise swing,
a final low sweep is added that must be jumped. Duck under the high swings, jump over the
low. Another uncommon skeleton, and probably the
most infamous one. The Axeman destroys everything you know about
basic walk-in-walk-out punishing. It’s POSSIBLE to outrun their stepping swing,
but it’s very difficult and very frustrating, and even sideways movement is a challenge
due to its great tracking. They also have a sideways swipe, which can
punish strafing! The trick to beating this enemy consistently
is to hold forward and left, while rotating your camera towards the Axeman, effectively
rotating around the left side while staying as close as possible. You never need to leave point blank range
against this enemy, just rotate left anytime they’re about to attack. You can also duck underneath their sideswipe
by crouching and looking straight down, in case you’re caught on the wrong side of
the skeleton. Nightmare Axe Skeletons also gain a two-hit
combo, meaning you will often be required to duck AND strafe. They also swing significantly faster. If you’re caught in a tight space with nowhere
to dodge, this can be especially troublesome, and is a situation where having a shield or
a cheese spot is almost mandatory. Probably the most complex of the basic melee
enemies. They have 3 attacks, and all of them have
different counterplay, but thankfully there seems to be a consistent strategy with these
enemies. If you are in their range and moving backwards,
they seem to have an extremely strong preference for the long range stab attack, which will
punish backpedaling, but can be avoided by simply holding left or right while backpedaling. If you’re up close and NOT retreating, they
will attempt an overhead swipe, which cannot be strafed up close due to its tracking and
hitbox, and MUST be avoided by moving away. Thankfully, this overhead swing has pitiful
range, meaning you can easily avoid it even with slower movement speed. And sometimes they will attempt a forward-stepping
sideswipe similar to the other two uncommon skeles, and just like those two, it can be
ducked. This attack has surprising range, so ducking
underneath is often necessary, especially with higher difficulty versions of this enemy. The easiest strategy here is to just move
diagonally away from them, and react to the sideways swipe with a duck. The diagonal movement dodges both the close
range attack and the stab, but often gets caught by the sideswipe, requiring ducking
for 100% safety. Similar to the other skeletons, they gain
a two-hit combo option at Nightmare difficulty, following up their stab with the sideswipe. The Mummy is very basic melee-type enemy. They function almost identically to the skeleton
Footman, only their range is much shorter. The exception is that sometimes, they will
do a forward lunge with great range. Dodging this is very simple, simply strafe
to the side when you see it. It has no tracking to it, so this is extremely
easy. Nightmare difficulty Mummies gain the ability
to paralyze you on hit, and attack much faster, with a high preference for the lunge. The Zombie is another basic melee-type enemy. This is very similar to the mummy, but without
the lunge. Instead, for their first attempted attack,
they will spit out a lingering gas cloud that does damage over time. The summon animation is very long, but the
cloud can become extremely inconvenient, especially if too many are formed. When their cloud attack is on cooldown, they
will use a simple close-range swipe that is very easy to avoid by backpedaling. The Mimic is another extremely simple enemy. You can basically just treat it like a Mummy. Spider Mummies are very small enemies that
spawn out of a pot. Each pot can summon up to 3 at a time, and
the spiders will continuously respawn until the pot is destroyed. Depending on the situation, it may be easier
to go for the pot before killing spiders, or to simply let them live until other enemies
are dealt with, as their attacks are very short range and easy to avoid. The biggest danger with these enemies is getting
swarmed and cornered, or paralyzed by the Nightmare difficulty ones. Generally speaking, if you jump onto the pot,
you’re safe, just be ready to escape once you break the pot. Basically a miniature Skeleton Footman. They move faster, have less range, and tend
to travel in packs. The only real strategy is to stay out of their
range and punish their swings, same as the Footman. Sometimes after taking damage, they will flee
and gesture at you. It can be tempting to follow them, but oftentimes
they will immediately turn around and whack you, so maybe don’t unless you know your
next attack will kill them. The Axeman is almost identical to the Warrior,
with the exception being access to a two-hit combo. This combo only happens after their forward-stepping
attack, and it’s usually slow and short-range enough to not be a problem. Individually, Dire Wolves aren’t very dangerous. You can easily sidestep their attacks by strafing
diagonally forward. But, more often than not, these wolves hunt
in packs, so do your best not to get cornered or surrounded, and use your environment to
your advantage. The Demon Dog is basically just a bigger Dire
Wolf. The strategy for these is similar to the Dire
Wolf, strafe and rotate forward around them when they lunge. The Nightmare version gains an electrified
collar, so be wary when trying to hit their heads. This enemy is very rare. At the time of writing, this only appears
in one room in the Ruins, and in a few spots in the High Roller Goblin Caves. It has a basic melee attack that can be dodged
by moving away or circle strafing or jumping, but also has a ranged poison spit attack that
prevents you from attacking at all during its poison effect. There doesn’t seem to be any possible way
to dodge this attack up close, even jumping over the spider’s head doesn’t do the
trick. This is a very common enemy, and one that
is very troublesome. Dealing with ranged enemies in this game often
boils down to side-strafing at a medium range, waiting for their attack, and running in to
punish. You may also want to use your environment
to your advantage, as archers are not smart enough to know when you’re behind a wall. If your damage is too low, you may need to
repeat this process a few times, but if you have enough damage to kill them in one cycle,
your life will be much easier. One of the bigger issues is when there are
Archers combined with other enemies. You need to keep moving constantly. The best idea is to lead the melee enemies
away from the Archer or behind a corner, deal with the melee enemies first, and then kill
the Archer last. Or, you could be a bit riskier and try to
fight the Archer first while ignoring the melee enemies, which can be a viable strategy
if the melee enemies aren’t particularly difficult. The biggest issue with Skeleton Archers is
their double shot. It seems totally random whether or not they’ll
go for one, and it will punish you if you try to run in after their first shot whiffs. Their second shot also aims for your center
of mass rather than your head, meaning that ranges where you could sidestrafe their first
shot become dangerous for the second, due to your body being wider than your head. This also means that, unlike the first shot,
you can’t duck the second shot. Your best bet is usually to deliberately wait
for the second shot, and not even bother punishing single shots unless you’re confident you
won’t get hit. Nightmare archers have a triple shot. Much slower than the Skeleton Archer, but
more damaging and with a faster projectile, meaning the ranges at which you’re safe
will differ. Because of their incredibly long reload time
and lack of a double shot mechanic, these are generally easier to kill than Archers,
despite being less common. The same general strategy applies to these
as the Skeleton Archers, although there’s no double shot, the window to safely punish
Goblin Archers is much shorter, and they have significantly more health. Using walls and corners to your advantage
is a very good idea here, as any arrows that hit you will poison you for a significant
chunk of your HP. Less health than the Archer and with no poison,
but getting hit will reduce your move speed by an incredible amount. Same strategy as always, strafe to dodge,
move in to punish, move out to dodge. Or use a corner for maximum safety. The Skeleton Mage will cast a fireball at
you, with very good accuracy. The fireball deals explosive AoE damage and
leaves a very dangerous damage over time effect on the floor. Treat them like an especially dangerous Archer. When they or another enemy nearby is damaged,
they will cast a protection spell, which seems to block 100% of damage. The safest way to deal with them is to lure
them close to a corner and force them to damage themselves with their own fireball. Sometimes this option is unavailable, and
so you’ll have to resort to strafe-dodging and punishing. The Shaman is similar to the Skeleton Mage,
having both an offensive projectile and a supportive buff. The projectile has some homing properties,
which aren’t usually an issue, as the projectile itself tends to move downwards into the ground. Getting hit will slow you down tremendously
and prevent you from healing for several seconds. Their support spell heals and provides enemies
around them a buff to attack speed, but the casting time is so incredibly slow that it’s
basically a free kill. Wisps fire a slower magic projectile at your
body. The projectile is so slow, that you can simply
strafe around them point-blank and still be safe. When the Wisp dies, it’ll explode in a flash
of light, blinding the player, but not dealing damage. The Death Skull is the first flying enemy,
and the best for demonstrating flying enemy AI. Flying enemies will always try to fly directly
towards the player and won’t pathfind around map geometry, which can be exploited. In the Skull’s case, they do a lunge in
a straight line. If your movement speed is high enough, you
can simply run away in a straight line. Strafing to dodge is also an option, although
you need some distance. Of course, you can avoid having to dodge entirely
by hitting them before they can attack. If your damage is high enough, you can easily
one-shot them. The Nightmare version is a bit more troublesome,
having much more health and dashing twice. Using corners and map geometry does wonders
against these ones. Instead of a dash attack, the Giant Dragonfly
fires a fan of poison. It’s incredibly hard to predict which side
the splash will start from, and so circle-strafing isn’t usually an option. The projectiles have limited range, meaning
you can bait out one spray, punish it, and usually be able to squash the bug before it
can fire a second volley. Jumping over the volley works at mid-range
as well, making punishes easier if you’re a slower class. Unlike the other flying enemies so far, the
Death Beetle has a respectable amount of health. It fires a single short-range projectile in
a straight line that usually requires strafing to dodge. The projectile is slow enough to dodge up-close
in most cases, although slower weapons will have a harder time, especially against Elites
and Nightmares. Getting hit will apply a slowing debuff that
can stack up to 3 times, so be especially careful. Like the Death Beetle, the Giant Bat is a
tankier flying enemy, but unlike the Death Beetle, it’s not very threatening. It has a ranged screech that will inflict
the Drunk effect on your screen, which can be disorienting, but is ultimately just a
visual filter. Their melee attack is almost impossible get
hit by as long as you’re moving around. Demon Bats are a rare enemy found in the Inferno,
but they’re not classified as a mini-boss, only having about as much health as a Skeleton. Their only attack is a lunging kick in a straight
line, which, you guessed it, is weak to circle-strafing. If you’re fighting the Champion on even
ground, the best way to deal with it is to bait out its first swing, stay relatively
close so the Champion is baited into continuing its combo, and punish once you see the shield
bash. This attack has significantly more recovery
than the others, giving time for even slow classes to safely get a punish. The Champion has a quick, forward-stepping
slash that makes these shorter punish windows dangerous, so always remember to turn and
move sideways or forwards instead of backpedaling. If you’re a faster class, you can punish
if the combo ends early, but this is risky for slower classes. The Wraith is very scary if you don’t know
how to deal with it, but becomes one of the easiest enemies in the game with this strategy. No matter which attack it does, simply crouch,
look straight down, and hold forward and left. Punish, duck, move forward-left. Rinse and repeat until the Wraith is dead. This enemy has two attacks, a poison spit
with a wide spread, and a forward lunge with a narrow hitbox. Both can be avoided by strafing forward and
around the Centipede. This bug is very tanky, but not very threatening
as long as you stay close and keep moving forward. A rare miniboss with a valuable drop, yet
not all that challenging. When it’s burrowing underground, simply
keep moving and it can’t hit you when it emerges. From here, you can move close to attack it,
and simply move away whenever it’s about to retaliate. Eventually, it will spit poison around, forcing
you to reposition, but otherwise this enemy is very non-threatening. The most notable feature of the Cockatrice
is its petrification ability. Its first attempted attack will be a scream
that petrifies you, but only if you’re looking at the Cockatrice. When the scream misses, the Cockatrice is
left wide open for several seconds. Other than this, they have a forward lunging
kick, and a walking peck with very good tracking. Because you can’t circlestrafe the peck,
and the kick doesn’t track, the best strategy is to walk diagonally away after each punish. The Cockatrice recovers very quickly from
these attacks, so you need to time your punishes and movement well, but even a default Barbarian
can do this strategy consistently. The Demon Centaur has two primary attacks,
an overhead swing and a sideways swing. The overhead swing can be dodged by ducking
and moving left, and the sideways swing can be dodged by just ducking. As long as you stay point blank, these are
the only attacks this monster will use and the fight will be very simple, but if you’re
farther away, they may attempt a charging stab that must be sidestepped. The Demon Berserker is one of the most dangerous
enemies to deal with, truly deserving of the mini-boss title. It will alternate between diagonal swings,
requiring you to crouch and move side to side to avoid them. The challenge is reacting to which attack
is coming first, but once you’ve reacted to the first move, the followups are consistent,
at least until their combo ends. Nightmare Berserkers gain access to a sideways
swing that they will throw out randomly to end their combo, and must be ducked underneath
by looking down and crouching. This move comes out extremely fast, and so
it’s effectively a very deadly reaction check. This is definitely one of the roughest enemies
on this list to deal with using purely evasive maneuvers, so more creative solutions may
be preferred, especially at higher difficulties. And that’s every enemy currently in the
game! Bosses aren’t included here, as those are
all much more complex and already have plenty of guides out there. While more enemies will undoubtedly be added
in the future, this guide should give you the ideas you need to learn them for yourself
in the future. If any of the strategies listed here change
drastically, there may be an updated video in the future, or check the comments section
for additional notes.
