Cloak & Dagger are one of the most commonly picked Strategist characters in the entire game, and for good reason: They are incredibly powerful. While each of their abilities are somewhat limited, you’ll maintain control of two characters with completely different roles, so balancing them will be key to excelling.
Dagger is a straightforward healer, with abilities to heal up single targets and groups alike. Her defensive Ultimate helps your team and hurts your enemies at the same time with only one real weakness, and her healing primary attack has limited aim assist. She’s a great healer to get started with. Cloak, on the other hand, is somewhat similar to Scarlet Witch, who is a Duelist. He has a mid-range attack that deals steady damage, but he can also debuff enemies, reducing their visibility, dealing damage, and causing them to take more damage for a time. He also has an ability that grants invincibility for a few seconds.
Since you can instantly switch between them, fans of both healing and damaging will find a lot to love about this pair.
How should you play Cloak & Dagger?
Dagger is a very approachable healer since you don’t need to have great aim to heal well with her Lightforce Daggers bounce and bend towards allies and enemies.
In spite of this, there is still skill required to play her and her comrade to their maximum potential—and much of that involves how much time you spend playing as Cloak. A great Cloak & Dagger player will use Light Explosion and Dagger Storm to keep allies topped off, using downtime to switch to Cloak and deal damage, hitting enemies with Terror Cape to amplify team damage against vulnerable targets, and using Dark Teleportation to negate enemy Ultimate abilities before switching back to Dagger to heal allies again.
While Eternal Bond is one of the fastest charging Ultimate abilities in the game, be aware that enemies like Magneto can easily kill you in-between dashes (if they know what they are doing), so try to have a teammate like Punisher or Star Lord use their Ultimates to bait it out before you use yours, or use it when Magneto has been knocked out or does not have an ultimate charge ready yet.
What are Dagger’s Abilities?
- Lightforce Dagger: Your primary attack. Bounces towards enemies and allies, damaging enemies and healing allies. A very easy attack to use, and one you should be constantly holding down. It needs a reload, but you can quickly switch to Cloak and back again to reload faster.
- Eternal Bond (Ultimate): Same as Dagger’s.
- Shadow’s Embrace: Switches to Cloak. Switching to Cloak and back again will reload Lightforce Dagger slightly faster than the standard reload animation.
- Light Explosion: Throw a large rectangle of light towards your target, healing them a slight amount and boosting subsequent healing they receive. Use this on enemies who are getting hurt a lot before using Lightforce Dagger or Dagger Storm on them.
- Dagger Storm: Throw a ball of light that expands into a dome, healing all allies within it over time. The primary way Dagger can heal herself, so throw it at your feet if you are getting hurt and the other Strategist is far away. You can also switch to Cloak after creating Dagger Storm to fight back against approaching Dualists like Spider-Man, and more.
- From Shadow To Light (Team-Up: Passive): Teaming up with Moon Knight will give him the ability to create a sphere of invisibility for himself.
What are Cloak’s Abilities?
- Darkforce Cloak: Your primary attack. Like Scarlet Witch, this ability deals constant damage to enemies who are in the close and mid-range. So long as you hold the button down, and aim near the enemy, they’ll keep taking damage. A great way to strike back at enemies trying to take Dagger out.
- Eternal Bond (Ultimate): Same as Dagger’s. Four dashes, each aimable, lay down a Light/Dark power on the ground, damaging all enemies and healing all allies standing on it. A very powerful Ultimate ability, and one which charges very quickly. Be aware that enemies like Magneto can kill you in-between dashes, so try to have a teammate like Punisher or Star Lord bait it out before you use this, or have a Loki on your team to have two Eternal Bonds.
- Light’s Embrace: Switches to Dagger.
- Terror Cape: Throws a rectangle of dark energy in the direction you are aiming, significantly reducing visibility for enemies struck with it. Also deals damage and makes them Vulnerable, making them take more damage from all sources for a time. Use this every 12 seconds, when it comes off cooldown, against the most vulnerable targets on the enemy team.
- Dark Teleportation: Causes yourself, and nearby allies, to become invisible, untargetable, and quicker movement speed. A well-timed Dark Teleportation can completely negate certain enemy Ultimate abilities. Iron Man shooting his ultimate at your team? Switch to Cloak and use this ability, and you’ll take no damage. It only lasts a moment, so your timing will need to be precise.
- From Shadow To Light (Team-Up: Passive): Teaming up with Moon Knight will give him the ability to create a sphere of invisibility for himself.
With all these tips in hand, you are prepared to become a true master of both light and dark. Good luck!