Dark and Darker Cleric class build guide

If wearing a whole lot of plate armor while smashing the undead in the skull seems like your ideal playstyle in Dark and Darker, the Cleric might just be your calling. The Cleric excels in party-play with their ability to heal others and resurrect, but the viability of heavy armor can make it a solid solo character once you’ve built up a bit of a bankroll. With the right build, the Cleric can be an end-game powerhouse of holy righteousness — here’s our Dark and Darker Cleric class build guide.

Note: this guide is current for Playtest #4.

The best Cleric perks

Players are able to add additional perks every five levels, up to level 15. This means a total of four perk slots, as the initial slot is unlocked upon creating the character. This means that players will want to frontload the most important perks for the first initial dives into the dungeons, then supplement those perks with future add-ons. The Cleric, however, can excel in both solo and group play, so which perks you’ll want to pick are likely going to change based on your environment. Here’s our ordering for Cleric perks based on both dynamics.

If you’re playing with one other person, you may want to add more damaging perks to your build to help deliver more damage toward foes, as a single DPS may struggle against mobs. Undead Slaying is a great perk for both, however, as it allows the Cleric to specialize against undead foes, of which there are plenty in Dark and Darker. Brewmaster is an often overlooked perk — it allows Clerics to benefit from the massive strength buff of Ale without becoming drunk, turning them into PvP behemoths in a melee.

Best Cleric gear

Heater shields are considered to be the best-in-slot shields across all shield-using characters, thanks to their balance between size and weight. The Mace or Morning Star is likely to be your best companions with the heater shield. Larger weapons, such as the War Maul, can offer a lot more power, but the loss of a shield is far too great of a detriment in both solo and group play. As a secondary slot, the Spell Book is an easy option for its possible buffs.

In terms of stats, however, much of this can be tossed to the wayside. The single most important stat for the Cleric is Knowledge, as that allows the Cleric to use far more spells while in the dungeon. While some caveats may apply, such as Strength modifiers for the more aggressive Clerics, most Clerics are going to want to attempt to maximize their Knowledge attribute through gear. Clerics start with only 12 Knowledge, and the massive benefit of on-demand resurrections takes 8 of those 12 slots.

Best Cleric skills

This tends to change depending on where, and what, you’re planning on fighting, but the golden rule for Cleric skills is to take the two that are automatically selected for you upon character creation: Holy Purification (PvE focused) or Judgement (PvP focused), and Spell Memory. Without Spell Memory, the Cleric becomes a weak melee class as they can’t cast any spells.

Holy Purification gives Clerics a massive AoE attack against all undead creatures within a radius of 7.5 meters. This is helpful if you’ve been ambushed by multiple Mummies, or in the center room of map Crypt 1 where a slew of undead is guarding a large treasure horde. The cast takes time, for sure, but being able to dispense 100 damage to every enemy within the radius is invaluable whether you’re solo or in a party. Alternatively, Judgement gives relatively quick damage to any players attempting to close into melee range against you.

Best Cleric spells in Dark and Darker

Without spells, Clerics are angry priests — selecting the right spells for what you’re expecting is paramount to overall success. As mentioned, Clerics only have twelve Knowledge points to start, but you can prepare additional spells beyond your memory using the Spell Memory Priority. This function works so users can enable additional spells during dungeon diving if they come across gear that increases their Knowledge.

Regardless of group composition, your bread and butter is Lesser Heal, which lets the Cleric heal a target or self by 15 HP. Combining this with certain skills can increase the strength of this heal, but it’s best used to top up the health of your front line between battles. If you’re in a group, Resurrection can keep saving an entire party if a frontline fighter goes down early, without needing to find an Altar of Sacrifice which tend to be well-guarded.

Divine Strike gives a noticeable increase to damage with a cheap Cost, and Holy Light either heals allies or delivers a devastating 100 damage blow to an undead target. Combined with the skill Holy Purification, players can send out 200 damage with little ramp-up, although it’s only usable once. Finally, Cleanse can help remove DoT effects, such as Goblin Poison, which will greatly increase survivability in maps such as The Goblin Caves.