One of the biggest hurdles players faces when entering Dark and Darker is learning how to deal with PVE enemies. Even one mistake against a monster can cost a lot of health. And replenishing health requires precious resources. You can’t waste these resources if you want to be prepared for encounters with enemy players.

So, here, we’ll review some great general tips about PVE. Then a more specific explanation of some enemies currently implemented in Dark and Darker. Even if new enemies are added in the future, the basics presented here should apply to future additions. This gives you what you need to learn, experiment and develop your own strategy.

This guide aims to explain how to deal with these enemies in melee builds without blocking options. So this is specifically for evasive, close-range tactics. Now, learn more specific tips.

Skeleton Footman

Skeleton Footman is the most common, easiest enemy, and the one best suited to teach us the all-important anti-NPC tactic. They have two attacks, an overhead swing and a sideways swing that moves them forward.

There are two variants of this enemy. One has a shield, and if the shield gets hit, he will always fight back, and one has no shield. The two are more or less functionally identical until they reach a Nightmare tier.

If you hit its shield, the shielded one will reflect damage back to you. Even if your attack is a ranged attack like Bow or Magic Missile. Unshielded ones can follow up with a sideways swipe with an overhead swipe. You just need to stay within its range to lure a second attack.

Skeleton Spearman

This is probably the most complex basic melee enemy. They have 3 attacks and they all have different counters. But thankfully, these enemies seem to have a consistent strategy. They seem to have an extremely strong preference for long-distance stabbing attacks. So you can avoid damage by simply holding left or right while backing up.

If you’re close and don’t back off, they’ll attempt an overhead punch. Thankfully, there’s very little scope for this overhead wiggle. This means you can easily dodge it even with slower movement speed.

The easiest strategy here is to lean away from them diagonally and react to sideways swipes. Diagonal movement can dodge melee attacks and stabs, but will often get caught by side attacks and require dodge to be 100% safe.

Mummy

Mummy is a very basic melee enemy. They function almost identically to Skeleton Footman, except they have a much shorter range. But sometimes they do big forward sprints. It’s easy to dodge, just shoot sideways when you see it.

But Nightmare difficult Mummies gain the ability to paralyze you on hit, and attack faster, with a high preference for lunges.

Goblin Warrior

It’s a miniature Skeleton Footman. They move faster, have a smaller range, and tend to travel in groups. The only real strategy is to stay out of their range and punish their swing.

Sometimes, after taking damage, they will run away and gesture at you. It can be tempting to follow them, but usually they’ll turn around and beat you right away. So please don’t do this unless you know your next attack will kill them.

Demon Dog

Demon Dog is just a bigger Dire Wolf. The strategy for them is similar to Dire Wolf. We can punish and spin forward around them as they sprint.

They get Electrified Collar in Nightmare difficulty. So be careful when trying to hit their heads. So you can get some energy shields by using Dark and Darker Gold before fighting them in case you get accidentally killed.

Giant Spider

This enemy is very rare. Currently, this only appears in one room in Ruins and a few locations in High Roller Goblin Caves. It has a basic melee attack and can be dodged by moving or strafing in a circle or jumping. But also has a ranged venom spit attack that prevents you from attacking during its poison effect.

Up close, there doesn’t seem to be any way to dodge this attack, not even jumping over Giant Spider’s head. This is a very common enemy and a very troublesome one.

Death Skull

Death Skull is the first flying enemy. Flying enemies will always try to fly directly at the player, and will not find a path around the map geometry.

With Skeleton, they would do straight sprints. If you’re moving fast enough, you can just run away in a straight line. Strafe dodging is also an option, though you’ll need some distance.

Of course, you can hit them before they attack, thus avoiding dodging altogether. If your damage is high enough, you can easily kill with one hit. But Nightmare difficulty is a bit of a hassle. He will have more health and two dashes. But you can combat these problems using corner points and map geometry.

Giant Bat

Giant Bat is a more tanky flying enemy, but it’s less threatening. It has a range screaming sound that creates a drunk effect on your screen. This can be disorienting, but is ultimately just a visual filter. As long as you’re moving around, it’s nearly impossible for their melee attacks to hit you.

Giant Centipede

This enemy has two attacks, a widespread venom spray and a forward dash with a narrow hit range. Both situations can be avoided by strafing in front of and around Centipede. This bug is pretty bulky, but not very threatening as long as you stay close and keep going.

Demon Berserker

Demon Berserker is one of the most dangerous enemies and truly deserves the title of mini-boss. It alternates diagonal swings that require you to crouch and move side to side to avoid them.

The challenge is to react to the attack. But once you react to the first move, follow-up moves are consistent, at least until their combo is over.

Demon Berserker can use a side swing. They randomly throw the swipe to end their combo. You need to hide underneath by looking down and crouching. The speed of this action is fast, so it is actually a deadly reaction check.

This is definitely one of the toughest enemies on this list and requires the use of pure evasion tactics. So more creative solutions may be preferred, especially at higher difficulties.

That’s all the enemies and how they work that I’ve learned so far in Dark and Darker. Bosses are not included here, as they are much more complex. While more enemies will no doubt be added to the future, this guide can give you the ideas you need to learn them yourself in the future.