Outside of surviving, one of the most important aspects in Dark and Darker is knowing how to extract, whether by portal, a passing boat, and so on. If you’ve been out of the loop for a while, or you’re a beginner, random blue portals used to be your only way of getting out alive, but that’s no longer the case. There are now four additional ways to extract in Dark and Darker, and more often than not, you’ll find yourself skipping on portals.
Dark and Darker: All Escape Routes (& How to Extract)
Escape routes in Dark and Darker are boiled down into two types: single-use escapes and group escapes. From just those two categories, you can come across five unique extractions:
- Ropes: Interact with the rope and it’ll lift you out of the map. You can still take damage while you’re leaving, nor are you immune to the match timer.
- Stairs: This escape route features two torches lit by blue fire when they’re ready for use. Until then, they’re locked. When it’s opened, simply step through and you’ll escape.
- Lifts: Similar to the stairs escape, lifts are locked until the second half of the game. When unlocked, activate the lever to be lifted out of the map.
- Boats: Simply stay on the raft and you’ll extract. Like the rope escape, you can still take damage at this time, so keep your shield up.
- Portals: Does not appear on the map. Look for blue, stone markers on the ground. You have to activate the portal, then step through it.
The rope, stairs, and portals (sort of) are all single-use escape routes in Dark and Darker. That means only one player can use them before it’s unavailable for good. Portals are still single-use, but now they spawn in a cluster of three rather than one. Boats and lifts can be used by a group of players, making it the ideal option for extracting you and your buddies.
Excluding the portals, every extraction point will appear on your minimap. Each one has its own icon, too. For example, if you see blue stairs on your map, that denotes an escape route. These will start appearing in the second half of the game, so keep your third eye on the timer!
Arguably the best way to extract in Dark and Darker is by way of the stairs. With it being instantaneous, you don’t have to worry about someone sniping you while your pockets are full of loot.
