Dark and Darker Wizard Guide

Diablo 4 Season 1 Date
By | February 20th, 2023 | Categories: Others

The Wizard is a ranged spellcaster class in Dark and Darker that—if used correctly—can obliterate mobs of skeletons and zombies in a room. While you can undoubtedly use melee weapons for the class, using the Wizard’s vast array of spells ranging from utility buffs to fireballs, is preferred by most players. Because of that, it’s one of the most challenging classes to play. The addition of the Spell system makes their build more critical compared to the Fighter or Barbarian. As a Wizard, you’ll need to learn how to manage your Spell Casts, Spell Memory, meditation time, and the effects of each Spell, among others.

In this Dark and Darker Wizard guide, we’ll show you all the basics you need to know to get started hitting those arcane magic spells.

Class Overview

The Wizard is the only magic-based class in Dark and Darker at the moment (although you can argue that the Cleric can be a part of that category), and if used well, it can be viable for group and solo gameplay. Once you finish reading our guide, you’ll realize the sheer scope of methods you can play as a Wizard. It all depends on your perk, abilities, and spells.

Some of the pros when playing as a Wizard is that you gain access to many powerful spells. Using ranged magic, these spells can buff your party members or attack other enemies. And say you’ve finally run out of juice. Not a problem! Wizards can meditate and regenerate spells mid-run, letting you “reload” your “ammo.” If you can aim your spells right, you can deal massive damage at a consistent rate.

Of course, let’s not forget about the cons. One of the things that I don’t like about the Wizard is that they’re incredibly squishy in terms of health. You can quickly die from just two (or one) hits from a Fighter or Barbarian. Plus, if an enemy manages to close the distance, you have limited options to rely on. As I’ve said before, using spells is all about aiming them right, but what if you don’t have a keen sense of accuracy? Well, it’ll lead to your team hating you because you either keep missing your shots or damaging them via friendly fire. What’s important to note about the Wizard is it requires constant precision, focus, and skill to play at even a decent level. If you don’t plan to hone those things, you’re better off playing another class.

Perks and Abilities

Now, let’s look at the Wizard’s Perks and Abilities:

Perks
Quick ChantGives a 20% speed increase to your casting speed.
Arcane MasteryLets you deal more damage (about 5%) and reduces cast time for Insibility and Magic Missiles.
Fire MasteryBurn duration lasts longer and gives your Fireball and ignore damage a 5% increase.
Arcane FeedbackYour base magic damage and spell-casting speed will increase by 1% per stack each time you do damage with an arcane spell. You can stack Arcane Feedback up to five times at once, with each bonus duration lasting for seven seconds. This ability resets with each stack.
Reactive ShieldCreates a shield that will last for three seconds when you take damage. It can absorb 10 damage and will only reactivate after the cooldown.
SageIncreases your knowledge by 10%.
MeltIf you hit an enemy with fire spells, it will also reduce their physical damage protection by 10% for five seconds.
Ice ShieldInflicts Frostbite on melee-based targets for 0.5 seconds. Your Armor Rating is also improved to 20.
Mana SurgeImproves your magic damage bonus (5%).

As you can see, there are many perks to take in. It can be overwhelming, especially if you don’t know what perks to choose. If you want to improve your spell-casting speed and defensive capabilities, I recommend using Reactive Shield and Quick Chant. Then, once you’ve unlocked the final perk slot at level 15, you can pick Arcane Mastery or Mana Surge to up the ante further.

As for the Wizard’s abilities, it’s not that long compared to your perks:

Abilities
Spell Memory 1Allows the user to use spells in the dungeon.
Spell Memory 2Besides letting you use spells in the dungeon, you’ll now also gain an additional spell tree.
MeditationEnter a meditative state for 10 seconds to restore spells with a spell cost rate of 40.
Intense FocusThe next spell’s casting time will be reduced to 0.1 seconds.

I cannot stress this enough: Spell Memory is essential. If you don’t use it, you won’t be able to use up to five spells in combat. You can pick Spell Memory 2 to double the number of spells you want to equip, but it’s much better to use Meditation as your second skill to refresh your spells in the middle of a dungeon run. Meditating between fights sounds like a hassle, but don’t worry—this becomes less problematic once you’ve leveled up your character.

Which Spells Are for You?

You can play the Wizard as a full DPS, but it doesn’t hurt to have a couple of support options, like Ignite or Haste. Spells are the bread and butter of the class, and they’re the ones you can slot into your Spell Memory and take with you in the dungeon. Currently, the spells are separated into tiers according to their power level. The higher the power level, the more they cost to slot into your Spell Memory.

Tier 1: One Cost Spells
IgniteEnchant a target’s weapon on fire, letting them gain a fire damage buff and inflict burn on an enemy.
ZapA single target spell that uses lightning.
Light OrbIlluminates a small area by using a lighting spell.
Tier 2: Two Cost Spells
Ice BoltThrow an ice bolt to deal damage and slow the target’s movement speed by -15% for a second.
SlowReduces an enemy’s movement speed by -40% for 2.5 seconds.
Tier 3: Three Cost Spells
HasteA movement speed buff that’ll last for 12 seconds. This can be used on yourself if there’s no target.
Magic MissileFire up to 10 arcane orbs that each do 12 damage. The user stops firing when they move.
Tier 4: Four Cost Spells
FireballAn AoE fire attack that causes 30 damage to a target and 20 splash damage plus a knockback effect to nearby targets.
InvisibilityMakes the target invisible for three seconds and gains a 10% increase in movement speed. It can be cast on yourself if there are no other targets.
Lightning StrikeDeals lightning damage in a small area after casting for four seconds.
Tier 6: Six Cost Spells
Chain LightningArguably the most powerful spell for the Wizard. A chain lightning spell that can chain through enemies within a 400m radius and shocks up to three times. It can chain to yourself if you’re near the vicinity.

Best Spells for A Beginner

If you’re only starting, you’ll only have access to 12 Knowledge Points. The number of these points determines what kind of spells you can use in a dungeon. Since you’re only a beginner at this point, here’s what I’d recommend:

  • Fireball – 4 points
  • Magic Missile – 3 points
  • Slow – 2 points
  • Haste – 3 points

Fireball and Magic Missile are considered to be some of the best games in Dark and Darker, and thankfully, they’re accessible to Wizards immediately.

What Kind of Weapons Do Wizards Use?

The Wizard class can use a couple of weapons in the games, allowing multiple playstyles. However, Wizards are Spellcasters by default, so it doesn’t make sense to be wielding swords around when they can use their spells. Here’s what they can use as a weapon:

  • Staff
  • Spellbook
  • Crystal Sword
  • Rondel Dagger
  • Crystal Ball
  • Crossbow

I’m going to tell you right off the bat to stop using that starter staff and pick up a Spellbook. The Spellbook gives you a decent amount of stats and doesn’t compromise your movement speed. The only catch is that they’re expensive when you buy them from a vendor, so looting one from chests or enemies is your best chance to get it for free.

As for the melee weapons Wizards can wield, I suggest not considering them as viable options. You’re sure to lose 90% of the time when it comes down to melee combat. The only melee weapon worth using is the Rondel Dagger, and that’s only if you have a Crystal Ball to pair it with.

Knowledge Over Defense for Armor

As a Wizard, spells and tomes are what you should prioritize—not the difference between Plate Boots and Old Shoes. In general, you ought to wear some variation of the following:

  • Frocks
  • Mystic Vestaments
  • Oracle Robes

You can also equip armor that you can use for all classes, but you should generally look for armor that offers stat bonuses for anything related to Knowledge than Defense.

Master the Art of Spells

With the plethora of spells, abilities, and perks available for Wizard, each has a situation where they work better or worse. By playing the game more—even if you’re only doing naked runs without extracting—you can figure out what setup works best in which scenario. It’s all about the position when it comes to the Wizard; as long you keep the proper distance, you can connect your spells to an enemy and avoid hitting your teammates. I hope you learned something in our Dark and Darker Wizard guide! If you have other tips to share on what players could do to improve as a Wizard, let us know in the commen

Leave A Comment

Latest posts

Latest Wiki

Featured Posts

what game should i play next