Introduction
“Darryl is a shotgun-toting, double-wielding robot who’s ready to roll!”
Recently reworked, this barrel-bot has received both love and hate from the community. Darryl received an unexpected rework in the month of December 2018, which completely changed his playstyle from a tank to an assassin-like brawler. His damage and health are enough to kill almost any long-range brawler, but he is not able to take down tanks effectively. When Darryl attacks, he fires his both shotguns, dealing high damage at close range. He outranges Bull, but not Shelly. In his super, Darryl jumps into his barrel and rolls a short distance, bouncing off walls and dealing light damage to enemies. His super is unique as it charges automatically every 20 seconds. Once you unlock Darryl’s star power, all received damage is reduced by 40% for 3.5 seconds when he uses super.
Stats
- Health: 4000-5600
- Damage per shell: 280-384
- Shells in an attack (both shotguns): 8
- Reload time: 1.8 seconds
- Attack range: 5.67
- Super damage: 400-560
- Super range: 7
- Super charge time: 20 seconds
- Speed: 770
- Rarity: Super Rare
- Skins: Default, Dumpling Darryl (Lunar New Year 2019 skin: 80 gems, available for a limited time)
Darryl’s super is mainly used for attacking or running away. He is good at hiding in bushes and rolling onto brawlers with low health like Piper, Crow or Jessie.
Remember to aim your super properly. There is a chance that your enemy has time to run away, or charge and activate their super if you do not kill them quickly. Darryl does only a small amount of damage at long range, so it is important to come as close to the enemy as possible. If you roll towards an opponent and miss the roll, do not try to follow them to get close. Instead, shoot at their direction and walk backward and go behind the closest wall to heal up.
Darryl is very weak against tanks. He has longer range than Bull and Primo, but Shelly can outrange him, and her super can cause some serious trouble. If there is a Bull or Primo near you, stay at a safe distance and shoot at them. They cannot hit you, and you will get your super ready!
Game Modes
Darryl is decent on all normal game modes, but he is very map-dependent and he is best played with teammates you know. It is a bit risky to play him with randoms.
Showdown
Showdown is one of the best modes for Darryl. Hide in bushes and wait for a brawler with low health to come close, then roll towards them and kill them with your shotgun. Darryl’s health is really low although he is a close-range brawler, making him an easy target for nearly any long-range brawler.
Darryl is really vulnerable without his super. His only option against ranged brawlers is either to roll away from them, or roll against them and kill them. As his super still takes some time to charge, stay away from fights in the beginning. Darryl is decent at taking down boxes, but it is best to have his super charged before going after boxes. You may have to retreat quickly if an enemy appears, and if you are not ready to roll, there is a big chance you’re doomed!
Darryl is best on more open maps with some bushes, like Thousand Lakes and Scorched Stone. He is less effective on maps with many walls like Hot Maze or Rockwall Brawl since it is harder to roll with so many walls, making it difficult to attack and retreat. Throwers behind walls do also counter him easily.
Gem Grab
In Gem Grab, Darryl is mainly used as an aggro unit, rolling towards individual brawlers separated from their team. Teams tend to gather up together near the mine or the gem carrier, so this strategy can not always be used. When this happens, attack enemies from a distance and roll away if trouble appears. Darryl cannot attack many brawlers at a time, so he must have some teammates helping him if he needs to battle against several brawlers at the same time.
Darryl can be good as a gem carrier if played right, although it can be a bit risky. His super charges fast, allowing him to quickly take those gems away from tough situations.
Do not rush to the middle right when the game starts. As Darryl has so little health despite being a close-range brawler, you will be killed by the enemy team before you can come close to deal any damage. Darryl is best on maps with a lot of cover on the sides like Undermine, Crystal Clearing, and Stone Fort. He can hide in the bushes on the sides and kill brawlers that return from the mine to heal up.
Team Comp
Pam, Barley, Darryl
Pam’s high damage and healing turret make her a good teammate for Darryl. When you have to retreat from a fight, or when you are carrying gems she can keep the enemies at a distance while her turret heals you up. Barley is a good support unit. His bottles can separate the enemy team as they try to dodge his deadly drinks. This is helpful as lonely enemies are easy targets for Darryl.
Bounty
In bounty, Darryl is best on maps like Temple Ruins, Stone Fort, Crystal Clearing and Canal Grande. Stay in the bushes on the sides and roll towards enemies with low health coming towards their spawn to heal up. You can also kill ranged brawlers like Piper, which there are plenty of in Bounty. If things seem to go wrong, do not hesitate to use your super to retreat. Never roll towards a group of enemies, you will not have enough firepower and health to fight against many opponents simultaneously. If you happen to find yourself in such a situation, try to keep a distance and shoot at the enemies until your super is charged, then roll away.
Other close range brawlers like Bull have to attack enemies to charge their super, making them an easy target for ranged brawlers. Darryl has an advantage as he doesn’t have to expose himself to enemy fire.
Darryl is worst on Snake Prairie, Hideout and Shooting Star. On Snake Prairie, shotgunners can easily come close and kill Darryl. Hideout has too many walls for you to aim your super easily and Shooting Star does not have enough cover.
Team Comp
Darryl, Piper, Brock
As the snipers already dominate in Bounty, they make for a good team with Darryl. They can take down enemies quickly from distance, and you can roll in and kill the ones who are at low health and are seeking cover behind walls. As Darryl struggles to kill tanks, Piper and Brock can help you to take them down easily.
Heist
Although not as good as he used to be, Darryl is still a viable option in Heist. His super can be used to roll over the water on G.G. Corral, Safe Zone, Bandit Stash, and Cactus Corridor bringing him close to the safe. His damage is still decent, making him able to do serious damage to the safe. Make sure to have some good support characters on your team to help you kill tanks like El Primo or Bull which you can find a lot of in Heist.
Team Comp
Bull, Darryl, Colt
These three are already strong in Heist separately, making them a good trio. Colt works well as a support, dealing great damage to both the safe and enemies. With Colt’s and Bull’s help, Darryl can easily take down tanks that would normally cause trouble.
Brawl Ball
Darryl is really good at Brawl Ball. The knockback of his super knocks away the ball from opponents which can be really useful. If you have the ball, you can throw it and then roll after it, like you can do with Mortis’s regular attack. As Darryl’s super charges quickly, it can be used many times which is especially helpful in Brawl Ball, where his super has so many uses.
As teams often gather up together when the match starts, do not rush towards the ball in the beginning. Instead, stay at a distance and shoot towards the enemies and charge your super.
Team Comp
Tara, Spike, Darryl
Spike’s high damage makes him really good at killing tanks. He can weaken enemies so that Darryl can take them down easily. Tara’s super brings a lot of enemies together, making them easy to kill for Darryl and Tara. Walls can be a problem with this team, as none of these brawlers can/are good at destroying walls. On a map with many walls, Colt, Darryl, and Primo can be a better team comp.
Big Game
Darryl is not the best choice in Big Game. His super does help him a bit, but only against weaker bosses like Crow. The super charges automatically at normal speed as an attacker, so you would be able to roll in, deal damage and roll out. Most of the time the Big Brawler will be someone Darryl is not good against at all like Bull, Shelly, Jessie or Nita making this strategy useless.
As a Big Brawler, Darryl is not the greatest. His super does not help him a lot as it is mainly used for retreating which is not a possibility since he cannot heal and everyone will still follow him. The other use for his super is attacking, which is pointless as he can easily walk close to the enemies due to the Big Brawler’s faster movement speed.
Robo Rumble
In Robo Rumble, Darryl is not great either. His guns do a decent job at taking down bad bots but many brawlers are more effective. Due to his low health, a group of robots can kill him quite easily, and it is very difficult to fight against higher level robots. Darryl’s super still charges automatically but really slowly, in this mode his super is almost useless. It is pointless to roll towards robots as it is easy to dodge their bullets, and they’ll still come towards you. Rolling away can be useful in some situations, but most of the time it is not that effective.
Boss Fight
Darryl is a pretty bad choice when fighting against the Boss. As a close-range brawler, Darryl has to come close to the Boss to deal a lot of damage, but his low health makes it hard to stay alive on higher levels or when the Boss is angry.
Darryl’s roll resets the Boss’s attacks, but due to the slow recharge of his super in this game mode, it is not a viable and good strategy. As in Robo Rumble, Darryl’s super is not really effective in Boss Fight.