The slow but heavy-hitting Barbarian is a classic in many fantasy RPG games and Dark and Darker is no different. The Barbarian is straightforward but extremely fun and exciting to play in IRONMACE’s hit title and truly lives up to the fantasy behind the iconic class.
Dark and Darker has often been described as a mix of Escape from Tarkov and Dungeons & Dragons and this description, along with its addictive gameplay, has lured many adventurers into the dark depths of its dungeons.
But this dungeon crawler PvEvP experience has a pretty steep learning curve and can be very daunting for new players. This punishing gameplay can be exacerbated when you have some bad Perks, Skills, and weapons equipped.
So if you’re interested in playing the Barbarian but are unsure about what the best build is, here’s everything you need to know.
Best Barbarian build for group play in Dark and Darker
Unlike the Barbarian’s relatively straightforward playstyle, the best build for this class can change depending on what gear you have, whether you’re playing with a group, and what weapons you’re using among other factors. Let’s start with the best build for the Barbarian class when you’re playing Dark and Darker with some allies.
Best Perks
- Axe Specialization: Axes are the Barbarian’s most common and most effective weapons for nearly every situation you might encounter. As such, getting a flat +10 damage to every axe you use is a massive boon.
- Smash: While Smash might not seem that essential at first, this Perk is not only helpful for chasing down enemies and escaping rooms quickly by breaking down any wooden doors, but it also allows the Barbarian to break wooden chests, which makes looting rooms much faster so you can get back to cracking skulls.
- Toughness: While in some scenarios you may choose to swap out Toughness for another Perk that could give you more value, giving yourself an additional 10 percent health is going to be a solid choice for most scenarios you might find yourself in.
- Iron Will or Two Handed Weapon Expert: The choice for your fourth Perk is tough. On one hand, Iron Will gives a flat +100 to your magic resistance rating, which can be exceptionally helpful if you find yourself facing off against a lot of Wizards or those pesky Skeleton Mages. On the other hand, if you don’t encounter many magic users, Two Handed Weapon Expert is a fantastic overall Perk that will increase your physical attack power by 5 percent as long as you’re using a two-handed weapon.
There are some leftover Perks from the Barbarian’s arsenal in Dark and Darker that can be chosen situationally.
First up is Savage, which gives you a 10 percent physical attack power bonus when you aren’t wearing any chest armor. This Perk can be helpful when you’re starting off and don’t have any chest armor to choose from, but when playing with a group, the Barbarian’s primary role is usually that of a frontline tank, so we’d highly recommend using chest armor and avoiding this Perk entirely.
Another solid option is Berserker, which increases your physical attack power based on your missing health. This can be an amazing Perk in solo play and can also be useful with a group if you are lacking a Cleric. We’d usually recommend bringing some Health Potions and Bandages with you to keep yourself at max health, but if you’re low on supplies and see yourself losing health during the dungeon run, this Perk can be quite good.
Lastly, Morale Boost is a good Perk choice if you’re planning on PvPing a lot in Dark and Darker because the 12 percent health regeneration after killing another player can be a lifesaver when facing off against other teams of players.
Best Skills
- Rage: Rage is easily the most essential tool in the Barbarian’s entire arsenal. Giving you a massive boost in health points and physical power as well as a 15 percent speed boost at the cost of 20 percent of your defense for a short duration. This Skill allows the usually slow and clunky Barbarian to catch up to most classes if timed correctly and will also make you hit like a truck.
- Savage Roar or War Cry: The second Skill choice for the Barbarian is usually best used on Savage Roar, which will cause PvE enemies to flee for three seconds and reduce both players’ and monsters’ physical damage bonuses by 25 percent. The 25 percent health increase from War Cry will find far more value if you’re playing with another high-health ally in your party, such as a Barbarian or Fighter.
Best Weapons
- Felling Axe: The Felling Axe is head and shoulders above the rest of the Barbarian’s weapon options. What this axe lacks in range it makes up for with an extremely fast swing speed and recovery time. Additionally, when combined with the right Perks for damage and your Rage Skill, you can easily one-shot squishier classes like the Rogue, Ranger, and Wizard. Just make sure to land your hits!
- Quarterstaff: Although it isn’t an axe, the Quarterstaff is most often the Barbarian’s second-best choice when it comes to weapons. This is because of its extremely low move speed reduction of -10 and solid overall damage. This weapon requires a slightly different playstyle for the Barbarian in PvP, though. Rather than popping your Rage ability to get in that one or two swings you need to take your target down, you’ll need to stick to your target for a longer period of time to get the three to four hits you’ll need to kill most enemies. Also, because the Quarterstaff isn’t an axe, be sure to swap out your Axe Specialization Perk for a different one.
- Other Axes: If you don’t plan on using the Felling Axe, you can’t really go wrong with any of the other axe choices the Barbarian has. They all come with their own sets of strengths and weaknesses, so try each of them and figure out what you enjoy the most!
Best Barbarian build for solo play in Dark and Darker
While not as safe as the Ranger or as sneaky as the Rogue, the Barbarian is still a force to be reckoned with in solo play. Here are the best Perks, Skills, and weapons for the Barbarian when you’re heading into Dark and Darker‘s dungeons solo.
Best Perks
- Axe Specialization: Axes are the Barbarian’s most common and most effective weapons for nearly every situation you might encounter. As such, getting a flat +10 damage to every axe you use is a massive boon.
- Smash: Smash is not only helpful for chasing down enemies and escaping rooms quickly (which is especially important in solo play) by breaking down any wooden doors, but it also allows the Barbarian to break wooden chests, which makes looting rooms much faster.
- Savage: When playing solo, you won’t have a Cleric to shield and heal you or a Wizard to give you that sweet Haste buff, so we’d recommend taking off that cumbersome chest armor which will make you far less likely to get kited by Rangers and Rogues. And since you won’t be wearing chest armor, Savage becomes an amazing Perk that gives you a 10 percent increase to your physical damage.
- Berserker or Toughness: Similarly to our group play build, the fourth Perk slot for the Barbarian is a difficult choice. Berserker is a great option if you expect to be losing health throughout your run and it can occasionally make the difference during PvP combat if you start reaching low HP. On the other hand, the extra 10 percent health you get from Toughness makes it an all-around helpful Perk that can help you stave off foes for a little longer in sticky situations.
Just like our team build, there are some other Perk choices in the Barbarian’s arsenal that might fit your specific needs if you’re focusing more on certain aspects of Dark and Darker than others.
Two Handed Weapon Expert can be chosen if you’d prefer a more consistent 5 percent physical damage bonus rather than the situational bonuses from Berserker or the extra health from Toughness. You could also replace the Savage Perk with it if you would rather use chest armor.
Iron Will is always a solid choice if you’re struggling with PvE monsters that use magic or are running into a lot of Wizards throughout your dungeon-diving adventures.
Lastly, and most situationally, Morale Boost can be an amazing Perk option if you plan on focusing on the PvP aspect of Dark and Darker far more than looting and killing PvE monsters.
Best Skills
- Rage: Rage is easily the most essential tool in the Barbarian’s entire arsenal. Giving you a massive boost in health points and physical power as well as a 15 percent speed boost at the cost of 20 percent of your defense for a short duration. This Skill is especially helpful for solo play because you won’t have any shields or heals from a Cleric or the Haste buff from Wizards which makes reaching your target and killing them quickly a difficult and incredibly important task in PvP.
- Savage Roar: The second best Skill for Barbarian in Dark and Darker when playing solo is Savage Roar, which will cause PvE enemies to flee for three seconds and reduce both players’ and monsters’ physical damage bonuses by 25 percent.
Best Weapons
- Felling Axe: The Felling Axe is easily the Barbarian’s best weapon, but unlike in group play, the gap between it and the rest of the class’s options isn’t that much. Nonetheless, the Felling Axe is still an amazing choice if you’re able to reach your targets and land your hits.
- Horseman’s Axe: You might think we’re crazy for recommending a one-handed axe by itself, but when it comes to solo play, the Horseman’s Axe is a fantastic choice. What makes this weapon so good is its fairly low move speed reduction and your ability to use the Axe Specialization Perk which will add 10 to the Horseman’s Axe’s somewhat low damage. When you’re also not wearing any chest armor, you’ll have no problem catching up to almost any class in the game.
- Quarterstaff: The Quarterstaff is a great weapon option because of its extremely low move speed reduction of -10 and solid overall damage. This weapon will take a few more hits than our previous choices to take down most enemies and it attacks a bit slower, but the movement speed you’ll retain is worth the loss of damage. Also, because the Quarterstaff isn’t an axe, be sure to swap out your Axe Specialization Perk for a different one.
