Dark And Darker: All Arcane Spells & Tiers

The Arcane Spells of Dark And Darker belong to the Wizard Class in the game, which is your typical mage-focused character. You can cast these spells using your staff or spellbook, and most of them can provide a fantastic long-range offensive approach against enemies and other players.

But do keep in mind that there are two Spell Trees for usage here, so later on, once you get a feel for the class, you can use both spell trees to maximize the potential of the arcane spells and the Wizard class, in general, to wreak havoc.

Here’s the comparison table which contains all the Arcane Spells:

How Do The Spells Work?

Spells can be designated across two of your spell memory trees, which can be accessed by equipping the memory slots from the skills tab of your character. The other skills, such as Intense Focus and Meditation, are both pretty good in their own right, so choose wisely before you head out to grind in a dungeon as having two spell trees can be nice, especially for the Wizard, but you will be missing out on your other two skills.

Lastly, it can be quite confusing how the Spell casting can work during gameplay for beginner players, but the simple gist is that you first need to have the cast weapon, which will be in your secondary slot. Now once you have either a spellbook or Staff, open up the Spell Wheel by pressing and holding the E key.

Choose the spell that you want to cast and now hold down the right-click on your mouse until the on-screen meter is fully charged, and then let go while aiming correctly to unleash the arcane spell onto the battlefield.

Lastly, be sure to remember that there is a limit on how many spells you can equip as they are dispersed among tiers, and each tier is essentially their cost to equip. The Spell memory limit scales off of your Knowledge stat so acquiring Gear and armor, which can help boost the Knowledge parameter, is vital for the Wizard class.

The Arcane Spells List In Dark And Darker

There are a total of 11 Arcane Spells for the Wizard, and each is unique from the others in its abilities. The sorceries are all categorized among Tiers ranging from 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. It not only represents their power level but also showcases their requirement in order to be equipped on your corresponding spell memory tree.

Continue following the guide below as we discuss each spell, as well as mention which one of them is the best to use while venturing with your friends in the game.

Tier 1

• Zap: If hit, it deals magic damage and burns the target for 1 second.
• Light Orb: Blow sup spheres of floating light to illuminate the surroundings brightly.
• Ignite: Set the targeted user’s weapon on fire, dealing five additional magic damage to enemies and applying the burn effect on them.

Among these Tier 1 Spells, Zap is pretty handy in our testing with it, and it helped us one-shot kill the small spiders as well as the floating enemies, which are quite annoying to deal with when fighting other regular enemies or players in PVP. Light Orb is somewhat useful to help navigate dark corridors or rooms, but ultimately, even Ignite is more viable as it can buff your teammate’s weapon damage to help with DPS.

Tier 2

• Slow: As the name of the spell implies, it slows the Targeted enemy’s movement speed by -40% for 2.5 seconds.
• Ice Bolt: On a hit, it deals magic damage and reduces the target’s movement by -15% for one second.

The Tier 2 arcane spells, in our opinion, were of little to no use to us, especially considering the fact that Zap is better than Ice Bolt as both have relatively similar properties but feel free to test both and see which one entices you the most. Lastly, Slow is situational at best since you can use it in overwhelming situations where you can slow down other players in PVP or try to navigate around a large number of enemies to get a breather.

Tier 3

• Magic Missile: Fires up to 10 homing missiles that each deal 12 damage. The only caveat is that the spell will only work whilst your character is stationary, and it will stop shooting these missiles if you move. 
• Haste: The targeted user gains a 14% action and moves speed bonus for 12 seconds. If there is no ally in range, then instead, it will be cast on yourself.

Magic Missile and Haste are easily the top-tier spells for the Wizard, at least from our experience, as the former will launch a barrage of magic at the enemy, instantly killing them if used correctly. Meanwhile, Haste is exceptionally good, especially when you can use it on yourself, as not only is the cast time pretty short, but it will also help you get away from enemies as well as increase your action speed at the same time.

Tier 4

• Lightning Strike: Upon casting, a bolt of lightning will strike the targeted area after 4 seconds, dealing magic damage to anyone caught in the radius.
• Invisibility: Targeted user becomes invisible and gains a 10% move speed bonus for 10 seconds. It will cast to yourself if no one is found within the targeting range.
• Fireball: Just like how its name may imply, the Fireball spell will launch a literal ball of fire at the target, dealing 30 direct damage and 20 Splash damage, as well as a knockback effect to nearby enemies.

All of these spells are great, one of which, Invisibility, is situational, but it can be essential if you’re trying to get a sneak attack or ambush enemies during fights. The Lightning strike spell can deal a lot of damage to anyone caught within its targeting circle, but the 4-second delay can be a hit or miss. Fireball is immensely strong, one that we found could even bypass the Protection spell of the Cleric to almost one-shot you in the process.

Tier 6

• Chain Lightning: According to the lengthy in-game description, it states, “Electrocutes the target, inflicts spell damage, and fires lightning that is transferred to a being within 400 meters and shocks up to 3 times. It does not transfer to the target it was once transferred to once, and it transfers to yourself if you are nearby.

It is the last arcane spell here of the Wizard Class in Dark And Darker, but if players can know how to use it properly, it can be strongly overpowered. The Tier 6 cost can be somewhat of a deal-breaker, but ultimately, it is up to your personal preference if you want to bring this spell along with you.

Sooner or later, once you can access more spell memory slots, you will end up using it due to its strong nature to ricochet damage across multiple enemies. But be careful because if your character is near the chain, the lightning will end up hitting you, damaging you along with the enemies.

The Wrap-Up

From what we could gather via a Subreddit Post, if you are looking to jump into the fray of dungeon crawling as soon as possible, then the best Arcane spells that you can equip as soon as possible are Invisible, Zap, Ignite, Magic Missile, Fireball. But again, if you are struggling to equip all of them at once, then consider leveling up your character first, along with upgrading their gear in order to accommodate more spells.

Choosing the Best Class In Dark And Darker can be a confusing decision as each one has a drastically different play style as well as abilities in their arsenal. We found that the Pickpocket Perk on the Rogue Class can be a great incentive to pick it if you’re looking for someone fast and agile. Whenever you’re out venturing the dungeons with your friends, be sure to grab the Golden Key as soon as possible in order to gain the most amount of loot.

For now, this wraps up our guide to the Arcane spells in Dark And Darker. If you enjoyed reading, then be sure to let us know if you have any further questions related to it or if you want to share your experience with the game in its current Playtest Version 3; then we’ll be more than happy to hear you out on that too!

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