Dark Elf: beginner's race guide — classes, strengths and weaknesses

In short: The Dark Elf is the most aggressive race in Lineage II, a master of both the blade and dark magic. It trades a little defense for raw damage and speed, making it perfect for players who like to take enemies down fast.

In the lore of Lineage II, Dark Elves are descendants of the Elves who turned to the goddess Shilen, the Lady of Death. Banished from the forest, they embraced forbidden arts and built a cold, proud and merciless society.

In actual gameplay, this means elegant and lethal characters. They strike first, strike hard, and rely on dark magic to dominate the battlefield. If you want a hero with attitude and offensive power, the Dark Elf is a natural choice.

Overview

Profile
Role	Offensive (melee and magic)
Style	Aggressive, high damage, stealthy
Difficulty	Medium
Number of classes	20

The Dark Elf covers nearly every attacking role in the game: nimble fighters, damage mages, and even summoners. The price of that power is a more fragile defense, so the race's whole point is to kill before being hurt.

Strengths

• High, steady damage: with both blade and magic, the Dark Elf hits hard from early on, which greatly speeds up leveling.
• Role versatility: with 20 classes, you can become a warrior, stealthy assassin, archer, sorcerer or summoner without changing race.
• Speed and initiative: nimble classes arrive first and strike before the enemy reacts, which is decisive in duels and PvP.
• Dark magic: the race's mages have powerful attack spells, great for clearing groups of monsters quickly.

Weaknesses

• Lower defense: the Dark Elf trades toughness for aggression, so it takes more damage and dies fast if left exposed.
• Punishes mistakes: because it relies on killing first, poor positioning or the wrong target can be costly, especially in PvP.
• Fragile mages early on: the spellcasters have low health in the first levels and need care until they grow stronger.

Dark Elf classes

Each class below has its own detailed guide here on the blog. Start with the starting class and choose your specialization as you progress.

Starting

• Dark Fighter (Starting): the foundation of all the race's melee combat classes.
• Dark Mystic (Starting): the foundation of all the race's magic classes.

1st Class

• Palus Knight (1st Class): a defensive warrior who holds enemies and protects the group.
• Assassin (1st Class): a stealthy attacker with explosive damage from behind.
• Dark Wizard (1st Class): an attack mage who punishes with dark magic.
• Shillien Oracle (1st Class): a support who heals and strengthens allies.

2nd Class

• Shillien Knight (2nd Class): a tank that taunts and absorbs damage for the group.
• Bladedancer (2nd Class): a blade dancer who grants attack buffs to the team.
• Abyss Walker (2nd Class): a stealthy assassin focused on critical hits.
• Phantom Ranger (2nd Class): an archer with high ranged damage.
• Spellhowler (2nd Class): a direct-damage mage with heavy spells.
• Phantom Summoner (2nd Class): a summoner who fights alongside servants.
• Shillien Elder (2nd Class): the race's main healer and support.

3rd Class

• Shillien Templar (3rd Class): an advanced tank, the group's maximum defense.
• Spectral Dancer (3rd Class): a master of enhanced blade buffs.
• Ghost Hunter (3rd Class): the ultimate stealthy assassin, with very high critical damage.
• Ghost Sentinel (3rd Class): an elite archer with deadly precision.
• Storm Screamer (3rd Class): a sorcerer with devastating area damage.
• Spectral Master (3rd Class): an advanced summoner with powerful servants.
• Shillien Saint (3rd Class): the supreme healer, sustaining the entire group.

How to start

For beginners, the simplest path is the Dark Fighter, which becomes the Palus Knight or Assassin. Melee combat classes forgive more mistakes and are easy to play while you learn.

1. Create your character by choosing the Dark Elf race and a starting class (Dark Fighter for melee, Dark Mystic for magic).
2. Do the starting quests in your village: they teach the basics and already hand out gear and useful items.
3. Use auto-hunt to gain levels: the system makes your character hunt monsters on its own, building experience while you watch.
4. Change class when you reach the required levels, advancing from Starting to 1st, 2nd and 3rd class.

Tip: Always keep your weapon and armor up to date. Old gear makes auto-hunt slow and dangerous.

Common beginner mistakes

• Ignoring gear: leveling with weak equipment stalls your progress; always upgrade your weapon and armor.
• Forgetting elemental attributes: adding an attribute to your weapon greatly increases damage against the right monsters.
• Always playing solo: joining a party yields more experience and items, and the Dark Elf shines when supporting the group.

It's for you if…

• You like pure offense: you prefer taking enemies down fast over tanking damage for a long time.
• You want variety: with 20 classes, you can try warrior, mage, archer and summoner.
• You enjoy the dark theme: the fantasy of shadows and the goddess Shilen matches your taste.