Welcome to Dark and Darker Playtest – Rouge Gameplay Weapons & Skills Guide.

You can use this guide to learn how to play rogue solo or with a group, the skills you should use, your options for weapons, and their advantages and disadvantages.

 

Who’s the Shady Fellow There?

A rogue is a pragmatic utilitarian who doesn’t care about principles and beliefs. They are often surrounded by unreliable people or creatures that want to destroy their inner world.

The rogues first regard their skills, ability to use their tools, and keenness with their steel. Rogues are not loners but are self-reliant.

Let’s get enough flowery! What do you do?

Dark and Darkest is a slow-paced game, as you’ve probably noticed. Ironmace wanted to create a dungeon crawl and so they bolded the crawl. Combat is slow and slow-moving, interaction is slow, and death can happen quickly.

Rogues are quick.

Rogues are great at:

• Moving hella fast
• Interacting with objects
• Backstabbing and stabbing
• Mozzies can make you sick

Rogues suck at:

• Fighting head on
• Aiming to stab distance in large rooms against ranged character
• Bleeding without ever dying

The rogue is a binary compromise that any player can accept.

They have the fastest speed stat in the game and the lowest health pool (about 85 points) after wizards. However, they have surprisingly acceptable armor.

This means that you have the tools to tackle any encounter but can die faster than any other character if your only advantage is your speed.

Speed is a valuable asset.

Only shields and a few weapons can block. Avoiding an EFE (or F) is your only option. Dodge the arrows, dodge traps, and dodge your taxes.

The direction of movement determines how fast you move, so moving backward is slower than moving forward.

However, if you want to engage in a French charge (and run away in the opposite direction), the camera can be whipped around quickly enough to get out of most attacks.

It is possible to sidestep incoming blows. But remember that many weapons have very large swing angles, and it all depends on what you are up against.

Not only is speed important in immediate combat but also in how you approach these battles.

Later, we will discuss strategies for solo and group rogues.

Active Skills

It is difficult to get started as a rogue.

Your speed is amazing, but your first dagger does damage similar to a love peck. Your skill selection is limited, and your bag of tricks is almost empty.

As they gain experience, their skill paths become more obvious. This also helps them to survive without the right equipment.

There are currently four active skills for rogues. You can only bring two to use from the E and Q buttons.

Hide

Hide makes you invisible As long as you don’t do anything. You can’t move, you can’t attack, you can’t heal, and you can’t interact with anything. You can only move the camera.

It is difficult to use it reliably without certain passives: when you hide, you leave behind a misty swirling of particles that can easily be seen in the darkness. Anyone who has played a rogue knows that this is what you are doing.

Hide has a 45-second cooldown and lasts approximately one minute. Hide will run out of cooldown.

Modifiers:

Ambush (Passive):

After you leave Hide, Ambush will give you 50% more bonus damage for approximately 3 seconds. Although it isn’t great, Hide doesn’t have any casting time, so you can activate it during a fight to get that bonus damage.

Crawl (Passive):

Crawl allows you to crawl while being stealthy. Although it may not seem like much, it is enough to disorient people and give them an easy backstab when they believe you are somewhere else.

I think Hide is a situational and unreliable skill that can be used in most cases. It can give you an advantage in ambush situations, but there are other ways to achieve it that don’t require you to waste an Active skill.

Smoke Bomb

A skill that can be cast instantly with a 25-second cooldown and a 20-second duration.

It creates a thick smoke cloud at the location where it is cast, which blocks enemy movement and hinders their vision.

Although it’s not my preferred skill, it is useful.

Rupture

This ability adds 20 magic damage to your strike in just 5 seconds.

Activation infuses you (, not your weapons, with one bleeding strike. You can discharge any weapon, fist or torch, throwing knives or daggers with this single bleeding strike.

The ability is not released by hitting the air, but shields or walls will.

This effectively doubles the damage of a stab, as most weapons at the green level make around 20 points of damage. It can be left enabled indefinitely, only fires upon impact, has (nearly) casting time, and can be used in conjunction with the Weakpoint attack.

The easiest, most active ability for rogues.

Weakpoint Attack

This ability is very similar to [bleed skill], with a slight difference in effect.

Activation grants your next strike +50% damage and imposes a 50% armor penalty upon the target for 6 seconds.

Although neither value is significant, it adds up and can be activated simultaneously with the bleeding skill, making it an easy choice for rogues who want to kill fast.

Passive Skills

Levels 5, 10, and 15 will receive an additional passive skill slot you can take with you. Some of these skills are mild, while others can be game-changing.

Lockpicking

A good rogue’s signature skill is the ability to defeat any lock.

Chests are valuable, whether you like it or not. However, some doors have the annoying habit of being locked closed. Being the only class with access to any door without a lockpick is amazing.

It’s only for situations, but it’s great if your goal is to open every lion chest that comes your way. You will be expected to pick locks if you are part of a party.

Poisoned Weapon

This is the best passive skill for rogues.

Your weapons can do additional damage over time, up to 5 times.

This is a great game because rogues have all the fastest weapons.

10/10

Creep

Information is power. Backstab, when paired with it, can kill many characters before they react.

It’s not necessary, but it’s always a good choice.

Back

30% extra damage against backs.

What’s not there to love? You are certain to make use of your group if you are part of it.

Solo players will want to surprise their opponents. However, it is possible to still use the skill against mobs to do delicious extra damage.

It’s a great choice.

Trapsense

This allows you to see (with a very bright red outline.

This has effectively 3 uses

Teach you about trap locations.

You and your team can find safe passages to dangerous areas.

Deny rangers the opportunity to trap kill you.

This is a great option if you don’t know what to do next.

Dagger Mastery

Daggers cause 5% more damage

You have more chance of causing additional damage with the other tools.

I sleep.

Pickpocket

This allows you to steal an item from someone else.

I’ll tell you guys the day I use this perk.

Hidden Pockets

Your belt’s items are invisible.

This is more useful than you might think. Protection and healing potions are bright blue and red that can be seen in pitch-dark darkness.

Optional but nice to have.

Crawl and Ambush

Described in the Hide skill.

Weapons and equipment

Rogues have very limited equipment.

They are wearing Cloth and Leather armor (, which is a lot more than you would think at the time this) was written.

They are skilled at using rapiers and daggers.

The rogue can acquire higher-tiered weapons for essential. Their damage increases significantly. A starter dagger and a blue dagger can make the difference between killing a fighter with 8 stabs or 4.

Equipment Tiers

Weapon damage can vary depending on tier. However, as a rule, each tier does more damage than the last.

These are the tiers:

) Brown (Starter Gear)

Grey

White

Green

Blue

Purple

Orange

Red?

Rogues are the only class that can dual-wield weapons, but each weapon is assigned to a specific hand and cannot be used simultaneously.

The starter kit includes 3 throwing knives. They do not deal much damage, but it is better than nothing if you need ranged options. You can also Poison them at will.

Let’s talk about armor.

You can wear heavy armor made of leather or cloth, and you won’t notice a difference in speed.

These are the best (options without having to buy special) stuff.

Gambeson

Cloth is the best armor available for rogues.

Marauder’s Outfit

Rogue exclusive is a great choice but has slightly less armor than a gambeson. It’s fashionable, so it’s worth looking at if you’re into fashion.

Rondel Dagger

Main Hand Weapon

Your first dagger is solely stab-based.

Stabs are more effective than you might think. Without the large swing, you can attack in narrow spaces and corridors with little chance of getting your weapon stuck on walls. This dagger is also difficult to land and almost impossible to multihit.

Castillon Dagger

Offhand

A dagger with 2 slashes and then a stab. This is slightly slower, but does more damage.

Kris dagger

Main Weapon for Hand

Although the kris is not a standard weapon, it is still very rare.

It is very similar in appearance to the Castillon Dagger. The only difference is that it is the main hand weapon.

Rapier

Main Hand weapon.

This is the only non-dagger weapon rogues have access to.

It is slower than daggers and for some reason, much weaker. However, it has a longer-range stab as the first attack, followed by two slashes. It is the most dangerous weapon available to rogues due to its inability to do damage and speed.

Consumables

If you don’t have a Cleric to help you or a Ranger with a campfire, you won’t be able to sustain yourself as a rogue. If you’re short on time, a stack of 3 health potions might suffice. However, bandages are the best option if money is not an issue. You can use them very quickly due to your Item Interaction speed.

If you are running out of healing material, memorizing their locations and walking to them might be your only hope. Or, you could cower and wait for an escape portal.

Rogue Life (and keep on living)

There are many playstyles for rogues, depending on whether they’re alone or with others. Let’s start by naming everyone’s favorite.

Solo Rogue

First rule: Run.

Do not consider a single rogue a loot rat incapable or willing to fight.

A rogue can only fight fair. You will die if you go one-on-one with a fighter during his Second Wind.

No, sir. You are a rogue. You can stalk, evade and reposition at your leisure.

You are a rogue because you can move quickly and escape any situation. This is your greatest strength to make the situation work for you. Your reduced sound is less likely to attract the attention of wandering parties. It’s up to you to decide whether or not to engage them.

Let’s say you WANT to engage them because stabbing people is fun.

Know your opponents first.

• Barbarian: Can you 2-hit you, slow to af, tanky? Avoid, weaken, harass, and outlast.
• Fighter: The same as a barbarian.
• Cleric: They CAN be dangerous. Do not underestimate them.
• Ranger: They can be very powerful if they have melee weapons. You shouldn’t be in the same room if they are within range.
• Rogue: You are just as dangerous as other rogues. Your equipment, resources, and ability to think critically about whether you want them to die sooner than they need you to, all play a part in every fight with rogues.
• Wizards: A wizard within range is a threat. A wizard at close quarters is dead flesh.

A rogue’s success depends mainly on opportunism and not carving a path through opponents. It’s about going around your opponents and finding their backs when they don’t expect it. It’s about activating every advantage you have.

Your Item Interact Speed is one of your most prominent abilities.

A cleric may take several seconds to pull the lever.

It can be done in 1.

It takes 3 fighters to open a door.

GET IT DONE IN 1.

This small advantage allows you to block the path behind, scurry among skeletons, zombies, and mobs to find another way to engage your targets. You are difficult to pin down and other classes don’t have the same luxury. They risk getting stuck in the level geometry or mobs if you try to pursue them mindlessly.

Learn how to trap Wraiths, remember spawn locations and lure them. You can use all the information you have to your advantage. A rogue has the speed and ability to jump from around corners and kill entire parties before they realize they are under attack. Sound is your best friend and worst enemy. Information is the name of the game and improvisation can only be relied upon when all else fails.

Open doors can be both an escape route and an invitation to unannounced visitors.

Party Rogue

You play a similar role to the ranger in a party. You are an eye and ear, a Wayfinder, and a scout. Your teammates shouldn’t be too close, so instead, you should use your speed to keep an eye on the rooms around you and inform them of any dangers.

Your speed is not the same as your friends. If you walk fast enough, you will be left behind by anything but rangers. Keep an eye out for where they are and how long it takes to get there.

They may not be able to run away if a fight breaks out. Your modus operandi is to position your front liners with due consideration of their weapons and swarm your opponents whenever you can do any damage.

It is risky, but it is all head-on fights.

You must quickly decide if you are a helper or a liability to your frontline. Also, consider whether you are more useful in getting a stab in their frontline or rushing to pursue their backline support, healer-clerics, rangers, and wizards. If you can, it is usually a good idea to sink a dagger into the targets.

How to Deal with the Undead

Skeletons and Zombies can be annoying for a rogue with brown weapons, but they are not something you can’t handle without taking some damage. Rupture and Weakpoint attack are great abilities to use to dispatch skeletons quickly. Your general speed will allow for combos of 2,3, and 4 attacks against different enemies before the enemy has had a chance to recover and land a swing again.

Mummies are slow and have a small attack range. However, they can hit like a truck so don’t get too many slaps.

Skeletons are generally easy to kill, but if your life is dominated by other classes killing them in just 2 or 3 strikes, you might have to adjust to the rogue lifestyle. You might need to take more than 10 hits to kill a single skeleton before you can get a good weapon. If you have the money, be patient and get any green+ on the market to get a good start.

Two-handed skeletons are dangerous. They can wreak havoc on your body and take half of your health in one hit.

Skeleton knights are a no-no for you alone. You can use empty space to punish the skeletons while they are busy with their 3 attack combo. But if you don’t have enough space, they can spell doom.

Wraiths are not easy to avoid, so fight them wherever you can.

Although mimics are not a major concern, they can be a problem for some. However, their attack patterns are unpredictable and you should not attempt to score more than one strike each time they attack.

Dragonflies are the bane and curse of existence. Avoid the fight by poisoning a throwing knife Trust me.

Skeleton heads are easy to dodge and can be easily defeated with 2 stabs using a half-decent weapon.

Closing Words

It was a blast writing this guide. I hope you find it even remotely helpful, to either play with them or as a rogue.

There is still a lot to be done, so I may revisit it. However, the Playtest ends this Friday, so let’s see if it’s worth the effort.

Happy digging, dungeoneers! Don’t forget to use the keyboard when opening a chest.

 

This is all about Dark and Darker Playtest – Rouge Gameplay Weapons & Skills; I hope you enjoy reading the Guide! If you feel like we should add more information or we forget/mistake, please let us know via commenting below, and thanks! See you soon!