An intermediate Guide ep1

[@duxater2331]

Hey, this video is the best I've seen so far about Dark and darker!! Awesome work.

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Thanks for the compliment, hope you got something out of it !

[@drago2412]

How the hell do you not have more views? Every other Dark-Tuber Ive come across just makes guide telling you perks and gesr to equip to do certain things while you thoroughly go through the fundamentals that help players build up to toying around with gimmick builds and strats. I hope you go far now that ths game has re-released on steam, and I hope this game thrives for years to come.

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

What a nice thing to say. I also hope this game thrives and the community grows. I Just can't get enough of this game. I'm not sure why my viewership is on the smaller size. I don't really do any self promotion, just word of mouth. Do me a favor and let your friends know about ol'koopa !

[@keitaagremory9905]

Yo thank you for putting this video out. The more people that get better at the game the more fun my fights will be. Its no fun steamrolling new players because they are inexperienced

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Agreed. Glad you enjoyed it !

[@ell-tn8cb]

THANK THE HEAVENS! Finally a guide that tailors towards people who play games for fun! I almost fell in love when you mentioned the shop verse collecting gear as you go. Every "guide" out there right now is basically : farm gold, buy sets, win. How boring. I like having gear progression and im glad to see you reminding us why we play games to begin with. Will definitely spread word about your content. You have helped me understand what the game wants from me and in return what i want from the game. Sounds stupid but I got to the point where i was thinking "what the heck do i do now or next raid" not anymore! I have clear goals depending on my needs after every raid. And I'm achieving them by playing the game instead of buying the solutions. Anyway THANKS BRO!

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Thanks ! I'm really glad you got something out of it. Feel free to pop by the discord if you are looking for folks to play with.

[@ShardBearer16]

What fantastic guide to bridge the gap between newer players and advanced. Ive definitely been looking for this, I have roughly 400 hours and just now feeling more comfortable to go into Hell/Abyss and start taking on bosses. This is an incredible guide & resource, looking forward to watching more of this series

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Hey, Thanks for the compliment. I think one of the things that's really tough for Dark and Darker is that it can take hundreds of hours of play to really feel comfortable about any of it. A few months ago I told myself that I was gonna try and make it easier for new folks coming in, to find their way to that place of comfort, a little bit easier and with a little bit less pain. If I can help ease folks in, and prevent just a few players from bouncing off that sharp difficulty curve, it will have been time well spent. Thanks for the affirmation.

[@Yamata_orochi]

Instasub, great advice not about mechanics but about mindset of adventurer. If you will see a rogue running around room full of mobs .. it's probably me now

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

I'm delighted that you enjoyed it ! I'll be on the lookout for you running around rooms filled with monsters ! In all seriousness, it's a great way to become comfortable with that concept as it will happen often. When you feel like you've got the hang of it, start practicing by killing one monster, while dancing around the others ( start with the ranged monsters ), as this recreates the scenario of you fighting a player amidst the wonderful chaos of a room full of monsters.

[@firesupotree]

Great video! I was hoping this would become a series. A lot of this stuff tends to get taken for granted, but not everybody came from Tarkov / sweaty extraction games! (or played the playtests) We need more guides like this sorely.

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Thanks, I'm really glad you like it. Anything I can do to make this generation of new player have a smoother time than we did !

[@BAYET5]

Iv'e been checking some channels since I started playing the game a couple days ago, your videos honestly are the most useful and entertaining, good job.

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Thank you my friend ! That means a lot.

[@zeppy6547]

I'm obsessed with learning more about the game rn. I play a decent amount but still consider myself new. Looking forward to more of these!

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Very glad you enjoyed it ! let me know if there are subject's you'd like to learn more about !

[@zeppy6547]

​@@WrathofKoopa-fs8le I'm at the point where I don't know what I don't know. But personally I feel like maybe I'm missing information about the shops? Is it normal to buy things from shops before runs? What is the point of the questing? Pros and cons of certain items and if they should be brought on certain runs(ex. Ale). It's possible there's not much to all this, but I'm not sure

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

@zeppy6547 Well there is ALOT of point to it, and asking those questions is a great place to begin. Lets start with doing quests. Completing quests raises your faction level with THAT vendor. As you gain faction, the items the merchant offers you will increase in both Quantity ( selection ) AND quality . This directly improves the quality of the items your SQUIRE is able to give you, Free. So, if you work the quest lines, you'll soon be getting white items instead of Grey, a broader selection orf armors etc. It's very, very strong. Also, as you raise your faction by completing quests, you'll gain access to new crafting options under the 'services' tab on each vendor. Short term, getting white items instead of grey is akin to a 100% power boost on some characters for 'normal lobbies'. Long term, you'll unlock the ability to craft some of the best gear in the game.

[@zeppy6547]

@@WrathofKoopa-fs8le wow it's insane that I've seen so many beginner guides and no one has highlighted the importance of this. Thank you! I'll be focusing on quests way more now.

[@dotanon]

The care and effort you put into this is bloody commendable man. Really really helpful and made a lot of things click for me.

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

THANK YOU SO MUCH ! I'm really glad to hear that you both liked it and it was helpful.

[@canadianbean3429]

Ep1: "if you are just joining us this is the second video"

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

True, lol. I couldn't really call it the second video about being ABSOLUTELY new to the game. I kinda put myself in a box title-wise. I named this episode 1 of the Intermediate guide because I think there is a lot of ground to cover in the intermediate game, and I just couldn't cover it all in one episode.

[@LILCarson17]

@@WrathofKoopa-fs8lew vid

[@jtekholm]

Watched your previous video and this one... amazing guides! Thank you so much!

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Thanks ! Glad you got something out of them !

[@diswazzi1683]

Patrick Bateman explains Dark and Darker to us

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Welcome back to Psychopathy gaming !

[@Akkiora69]

Great and detailed guide. Waiting for the following chapters

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Very glad you enjoyed it. Are there any particular topics you'd like to discuss in the next episode ?

[@deltasspace9214]

​@@WrathofKoopa-fs8le Could you include some high roller economy. When to not do another one if you fail etc.

[@FumblsTheSniper]

Some advice for just starting out at PVP, which does contradict this video quite hard. For a while, or when you wipe a character, go ahead and play it normally but dedicate yourself that if you detect another player you will go straight at them with everything you have. No trying to think about advantage or anything like that. Your goal is to have an immediate response to approach the situation. The faster you can make that decision the better. It will also give you practical knowledge on what NOT to do while still giving full effort. Well, obviously a mage doesn’t just rush forward but have you experienced the fight without that thought in mind? I’ve played mostly Rogue and Mage, realized a lot of my problem was hesitating and trying to think of how best to capitalize on the situation. Kept either missing the opportunity entirely, getting nothing out of the time spent, or some chance would again lead to me having wasted my time. Then I spent some time just sneaking and rushing at the first person I came across. Getting over that hesitation has really helped. Ah, and an addition to maybe help is to also dedicate that right before you charge someone you WILL drink a blue potion. It’s an advantage I wish I had gotten used to earlier.

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

We are going to clearly disagree quite a bit on this approuch to learning. I'm not saying you won't win fights this way. You will. Getting the jump on your opponent ( initiative ) is VERY strong in dark and darker. If this is the 'only club in your bag', then yes, reacting immediately and holding down W and left click as quickly as possible is the way to go about it. If you'd like to play this way, Barbarian is a great class choice IMO. But all this Method teaches you is that hitting your opponent first is a very strong advantage and you will learn very little else about pvp dynamics; coming back from being behind, the nuances of specific class matchups or the higher skill tiers of the game. We have a saying in poker, " Sophisticated moves only work on Sophisticated players". It's used frequently to describe how advanced players have to adjust their bluff-game to consider the player skill-level of the player they are trying to bluff or outplay. With regard to the above approuch to new player PVP, I will caution, " Unsophisticated moves are only going to work on unsophisticated players ". All that being said, it's a game. If you enjoy playing a certain way, go for it. If you are having fun, you never need to change.

[@zanzull]

Absolutely fantastic video!

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Pumped you enjoyed it !

[@amirhosseintb1521]

This video was phenomenal Ive been getting into this game for the past days and generally, i find the guide content creation for this game on youtube lacking in quality and quantity compared to other games that are as guide dependant as d&d (tarkov has amazing guides) but this video was by far one of the really good ones, please keep up the awesome work ✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Thanks for your Fantastic compliment. In particular, for the compliment around quality. I'm a novice with the editing tools. I was just telling a friend of mine, there is a point in every video where I absolutely loath the thing I'm creating and my options are to give up or power through; chipping away at the stuff I don't like until only the quality elements remains. This video was particularly vexing, as the problem space for the intermediate player is so large. Thanks again for watching, and for your kind words !

[@amirhosseintb1521]

@@WrathofKoopa-fs8le understanble 👍🏻dont worry it only gets better as time goes on, looking forward to see your future work 👌🏻

[@juansek208]

Man, this video is amazing.

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Thanks ! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@robertwill5455]

Great video, thank you.

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

thanks for saying so ! Glad you got something out of it !

[@nimerecl]

Ur voice is so pleasant! Great vid, I like it, keep going

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Glad you enjoyed it ! Hope you got something from the guide !

[@nimerecl]

​@@WrathofKoopa-fs8le i got it for sure) but sadly I won't be able to try it myself. Been dying to try out Dark & Darker but my old potato pc can't handle it. I heard there are some cloud gaming services like Boosteroid that let you play anything even on a cheap laptop. It'd be sick if you could check this one out and mb do a review. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, I bet loads of ur subs would be interested too. Keep up the great work, btw ty for replying my com, i appreciate it:)

[@nimerecl]

@@WrathofKoopa-fs8le i got smth for sure) but sadly I won't be able to try it myself. Been dying to try out Dark & Darker but my old potato pc can't handle it. I heard there are some cloud gaming services like Boosteroid that let you play anything even on a cheap laptop. It'd be sick if you could check this one out and mb do a review. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, I bet loads of ur subs would be interested too. Keep up the great work, btw ty for replying my com, i appreciate it:)

[@TheRedVipre]

Another excellent guide Koopa! Wish I had something even half as good when I started playing.

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Thank you sir !

[@JavelinBayraktar]

i sometimes do Battle Royale challenge - load in with fists only, no torches, no weapons etc. super fun just trying to find some weapon, survive and extract😄

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Over the last year, the community has routinely discussed how cool it would be if Iron Mace were to introduce a 'self found only' mode, codenamed SSF ( must be tarkov jargon, idk ). I think it would be really fun, to only play with gear you find against players who are only using gear they have found. Regardless, Welcome and thanks for watching !

[@Unouna10]

​@@WrathofKoopa-fs8le haha it's ARPG terminology, I've mainly seen it used in Path of Exile

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Thank you sir!

[@SirShadock]

Good shit

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Glad you enjoyed it !

[@drago2412]

Some guides that would be neat to see in the future, in no particular order: Questing tips (Probably would be a smaller video, considering there's a pretty massive google doc that's pretty thorough in questing info) Gear building (Stats to look for with each class, how to find complimentary sets, a quick runthrough of each stat, etc.) Bosses (Every single boss, reccomendation in experince level to fight them, class and gear reccomendations for solo-trio, attack patterns, etc.) Pvp Guide (Class Vs. Class matchups, stats for fighting, etc.)

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Great suggestions, when I make these, I'll give you an associate producer credit !

[@Rafamat96]

Great guide

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

I'm very glad you enjoyed it !

[@zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz__]

LARGE, OVERSIZED POGGERS, MY DUDE BATCHEST

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Thanks ! Not gonna lie, I had to look up what BATCHEST means.

[@zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz__]

@@WrathofKoopa-fs8le we sippin that elite moderna pfizer sauce out here, sorry amigo Glad you got to peer past the veil for a moment o7

[@MatviiCheked]

very nice

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Thanks, I'm very glad you enjoyed it !

[@squidjuice666]

Dude that thing about playing lower gearscore when ur still learning hit me hard, I got so dissapointed when i lost a few of my cool pieces to nerds with orange weapons and such, made me realize i need to skulk around in the lower brackets for a while and learn how to play this game, I'd love some tips on how to stop getting kited like a chimp because I get destroyed by people just holstering and running

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Sorry bud. It's a predictable disaster really. A new player finds some neat gear and they want to run that neat gear , but the reality of what happens next is never explained or cautioned. Like I say in the first video in this series, you never really own gear, your just borrowing it. You aren't really skulking in the lower bracket. LOTS of people play this game exclusively in that mode, by choice, including yours truly. It's my long held opinion that it's the best version of itself at that scale. What class are you playing where you are getting kited so hard ? If you are playing fighter, take weapons master and sprint and consider running leather ( lighter ) gear with either Agility or +movespeed on it. With weapons master, you can get and use a recurve bow as your second weapon from the Squire, and that's a great middle distance DPS options for you when they try to break contact. Later, the survival bow is also a decent option. If you are playing barbarian, your options are far more limited. Basically, bring more Frany axes from the woodsman, or hit more headshots and try to burst them down when they stow their weapons. EDIT - I forget to mention cleric. If you are playing melee cleric you will never catch anyone, your best chance is to hold back your judgement until they try and run.

[@squidjuice666]

@@WrathofKoopa-fs8le Thanks for the elaborate response. I never concidered that the sub 25 gear score mode was anything more than a "noob'' mode. It actually makes sense to me that people would play this as their main mode as the playing field is a lot more balanced (just like you pointed out in your video with the gear variety of the 25+ mode) and I feel like the combat should be a lot more balanced this way instead of encountering people with maxed out gear while you're just running some greens and blues. I think I'll stick to this mode for a while too at least untill I feel comfortable enough to try my luck on the higher modes. so thank you for that. I have to say eventhough I'm liking this game a lot so far I wish the whole "kitting" wasn't as much as a thing. I really like the fantasy of big man with big axe but it feels bad when a ranger just peppers me with arrows the moment i grow bored of running after them like a tom and jerry skit. but that's probably just a skill issue as I tend to miss my slowing throwing axe eight of ten times haha I'm sure it will get better. Maybe it also had something to do with them running full movement speed gear while i'm just rocking some random assorted greens. Thanks for the advice in any case, definently put me getting creamed by full purple/orange gear boys into perspective! and I will be enjoying the lower gear score mode for now. I hope you make more videos in this series as I'll definently be on the look out for your next episode! (PS I found you through the dark and darker discord where you posted your guide just thought you should know that it works posting in there)

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

@@squidjuice666 That's the right read on

[@loveDRAGONCON]

Aweseome

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Thanks for watching !

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

I'll be at bar in the back of the Peachtree Hyatt, people watching, if you'd like swing by and say hey. I'll likely be cos-playing as Deadpool-Koopa mash up !

[@mortalace22]

A LONGBOW shot to the head only doing 10% of your hp is disgusting. It must’ve been/hope it was a chest shot for my free play ranger’s sake

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

True. So, firstly, I think it did closer to 15 % damage, and I'm running an above average amount of Physical damage absorption in this clip. It could have clipped me high on the shoulder as well. The take away for your FTP ranger is, create space, kite till you have a big health advantage and always have a trap placed somewhere nearby for just this eventuality.

[@sku36]

take my sub....TAKE IT!!!!

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Danke !

[@sku36]

@@WrathofKoopa-fs8le deutsch?

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

@@sku36 4th generation German American. I studied it in university, but all of my vocabular is lost to time, as no Americans speak it and Germans loving speaking English to me :)

[@sku36]

@@WrathofKoopa-fs8le wow...ich war verwundert warum du mir auf deutsch antwortest...wie hab ich mich verraten? xD

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

@@sku36 Ich habe eine Annahme gemacht. Ich bin groß in Deutschland. :D .. My grandfather spoke a lot of German around the house when I was growing up. We still use a bit around my house today. I use Danke as much as I say thank you.

[@oblivionfan345Tony]

I dominate PvE, but get absolutely squashed every PvP encounter I find myself in. I feel like fights are over in seconds and I can't really learn anything from them because of it.

[@WrathofKoopa-fs8le]

Lets explore that together. Swing by my Discord, because this is something that can be solved. Honestly, This is the one of the reasons I started recording my Dark and Darker games. I wanted the ability to play back fights to analyze and better understand what was happening, in both my victories and defeats. This is also one of the reasons I SO strongly recommend new players stay in Normal games. If you can believe it, in high roller and at higher gear levels, the fights are over even faster, with lightning fast TTKs.

[@orums2606]

I forgot to join your server. Gotta fix that

[@nathanh.3656]

2nd comment😀