Leveling up in Dark and Darker is something players know the general concept of, but it hasn't been fully dissected as a mechanic quite yet.
To explain this a bit more simply, people know what gives EXP but aren't aware of the exact numbers or the best leveling methods. So, let's go over how leveling works in Dark and Darker, the actions that have been confirmed in the multiple alphas to give EXP, and the few facts about each method that are known.
How Leveling Works & What It Unlocks
First and foremost, leveling in Dark and Darker works exactly as one would expect. As a character levels up, they gain access to previously locked mechanics/features. But, unlike other games, leveling up in DaD does not mean stats are increased, at least not yet. There's a Class Training tab in the game currently that's inaccessible, and players speculate that this is where they'll be able to increase certain stats like Strength or Agility (depending on the best stats for their class) as they level up. This is where a lot of the 'build' diversity would come in that would make characters feel more individual. For example:
- Barbarians could build into either raw damage or pure tankiness.
- Wizards could build for either Spell Cast Speed, Spell Damage, or somewhere in between.
- Rogues could spec into raw Agility for quick looting or Strength for more damage per stab.
Of course, this is all hypothetical because again, at the moment, all leveling does is give players access to more Perk Slots, with 1 by default, 2 at level 5, 3 at level 10, and 4 at level 15. Other than that, there isn't any sort of 'numerical' reward for leveling, especially past level 15.
Where To Get EXP
Now, with the general concepts understood, where do beginner Dark and Darker players go to gain EXP? Well, there are quite a few ways to go about this. The most obvious method is to get into the dungeon and kill NPC enemies or other players. But, there are a lot of other actions that grant EXP besides this, such as:
- Opening Chests.
- Leaving the Dungeon with Loot in their Inventory.
- Activating Portals (of either color).
- Going further down into the Dungeon.
- Successfully escaping the Dungeon.
All of these actions grant EXP, and this likely clears up some questions players might have had about why someone in their party was leveling faster than they were.
What Grants The Most EXP?
Again, there aren't really any numbers out yet for what action in DaD gives the most EXP, especially since this will all likely change between this alpha and the full release. But, players have noticed that certain actions cause their EXP bar to jump pretty noticeably, and these are:
- Escaping the Dungeon through a Blue Portal.
- Going deeper into the Dungeon through a Red Portal.
- Defeating the boss at the end of the Red Portal floor.
Now, there are other methods of getting a lot of EXP all at once, such as getting a bunch of PvE or PvP kills in a single game or escaping with an inventory full of loot, but the methods above are the singular actions that seem to grant the most overall.
Final Notes & Tips
And lastly, let's clear up a few things about leveling or gaining EXP in Dark and Darker that players seem to be confused about:
- EXP is (sadly) not currently shared between players in a party for kills (both PvE and PvP).
- The 'last hit' seems to be what actually matters for getting EXP for kills (think farming minions in MOBAs like League of Legends).
- Opening the chest itself seems to be what gives the actual EXP for looting, not the number of items grabbed from the chest, etc...
- Looting, killing, and so on will still grant EXP if the player doesn't escape the Dungeon, otherwise, a lot of people would be stuck in a level 1 loop.
- The new Experimental Solo-only Mode does grant EXP, though it's a lot more unforgiving in spawns and enemy placement.
- EXP for PvE kills does seem to be based on the type of enemy. For example, a basic skeleton will give less EXP than most creatures on the second floor of the Dungeon.
Dark and Darker releases in late 2023 on PC.