It was always a pleasure to play this game.

The official Servers shut down on 12. of August 2020.


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Thank you DG-Team for this amazing piece of art. I will always keep a warm place for it in my heart <3
Also if you have any question regarding Deathgarden don't hesitate to ask in the comments =)

Petition to bring back DG.
https://www.change.org/p/return-deathgarden-deathgarden-needs-to-come-back
If you are interested in DG, you can find a lot of content out there that didn't make it into the game, a lot of it being made available by Pawn94. Please check out his/her stuff you will easily find it by searching for it with his/her name. It offers a lot more insight into Deathgarden and honors the work the devs put into this game.

Currently (2024) the game is in a playable state thanks to some talented members of the community. In addition to this the balance has been massively modified. This guide therefore is partially outdated as it represents the legacy build.

The following links are important if you want to try out the game:

Instructions on how to setup the game and download of the launcher:
https://playdeathgarden.live

Matchmaking information:
https://api.zkwolf.com/matchmaking

If you need help, don't hesitate to ask in the comments :).

*The Scavenger's Rank is being determined by the following four categories
The higher the number of the Scavenger in a category, the better he/she does perform in it.


1. The Difficulty (Is this Scavenger compared to the competition easy or hard to play?)
The Difficulty is rated by a number between 1(very hard) and 10(very easy)

2. The Equipment (Which Powers and Perks does he/she have and are they useful?)
-| |- 1(useless/bad) and 10(very good/useful)

3. **The Skillcap (Can your Performance and Survivability improve by putting time into him/her?)
-| |- 1(it doesn't matter at all) and 10 (it does matter a lot)

4. The Grind (Is it easy to level him/her for prestiging or is it just a pain in the a$$)
-| |- 1(very frustrating) and 10 (very enjoyable)

The final Ranking is in the Résumé.


One last thing to say numbers like 4,5 or 6 are in terms of balancing okay or good, since only numbers between 1-3 and 9-10 are the extrema and can mean that they could need adjustment to bring them more in line with the average. This counts at least for the categories 1,2 and 3. Grind can be neglected, since every game developer should push towards an enjoyable grind.

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Note:
* I try to be objective, but in the end this is all based on personal opinion and my experience with these characters you may agree or disagree.

** You can argue that by leveling the characters equipment the performance of him/her in chases will be automatically better as well as the xp outcome and that you cannot call it skillcap. I won't say that you're completely wrong but besides the level of the equipment, it still takes some skill and awareness to use it to win the chase by surviving or avoiding it. In addition to that, to level the character, you have to complete challenges, which can be tricky and almost impossible on some perks.

Name: Iosif Blatov
Height: 178 cm
Age: 39 y.o.
Location: Moscow

After losing his family in the ruins around Moscow, Iosif Blatov joined Tabula Rasa: a group dedicated to the destruction of The Enclaves and the rebuilding of society. Now an expert Scavenger, he gains entry into Enclaves under false identities, strikes blows against the Hunters from within and melts back into the ruins, before moving to another Enclave to start again.

Since Fog is unlocked for all players, I will give a little bit extra information considering his six perks.
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The Ranking:

1. Difficulty: 6 of 10

Fog is a good scavenger for beginners, his vambrace powers and perks are strong and easy to use. His unique bonus also allows him to deal more damage to hunter constructs, which saves time and ammo both very important in this game, because time management is essential in Deathgarden and will make the difference between gaining 3000-4000 XP or gaining up to 7000 XP. The only two things that holds him back is your experience and the experience of the hunter. Skilled hunters will be able to track you through the smoke more consistant. His smoke power also requires timing if you use it too early the smoke will vanish before the hunter arrives, if you use it too late he/she already spotted you and will chase after you.
His heal bolts are a reliable alternative but it focuses more on preservation then stealth and therefore it probably will be more difficult to escape the chase successfully once you've been found, but you can endure longer.


2. Equipment: 8 of 10

His Vambrace Powers both Smoke and Healing are good. You can use it for your own survival, but it can also provide a lot of help (especially with golden crates) for your teammates. Overall they can be easily used to save lifes and over time you will learn how to use them the best, making them to a stronger tool in your hands.
His perks can be very powerful and will probably have a high impact on your performance.

His 6 perks are:

-Shimmy: Increases crouched movement speed,
-Ammo Opportunist: Increased bolts per crates and max. bolts,
-Fleet Feet: Gathering blood increases your movement speed by 50% for a time
-Heat of the Moment: Move faster while revealed
-Emboldened: Delivering blood grants a shield with 30hp for a time
-Sharing is Caring: When collecting ammo, you and all scavs in a 15m radius gain more ammo

All 6 perks are useful. Shimmy, Emboldened and Sharing is Caring are maybe a little bit more situational, but still viable. In addition to that Ammo opportunist, Fleet Feet and Heat of the Moment are extremely good. You will benefit from them every match and they will often save your life.
Therefore definetely try out Fog with Fleet Feet and Heat of the Moment if you haven't already. However they don't stack anymore, so be beware of that.

3. Skillcap: 7 of 10

Depending on what power you use, it will significantly change the way you play him. With smoke you're better at avoiding chases, but with healing bolts you can endure in chases (potentially) for a much longer time and you can revive downed teammates from a hopefully safe distance. In addition to that you can choose between a variety of good and strong perks, allowing you to have a high impact on the match. This variety gives you an agony of choice, but a nice one and it gives you many freedoms to experiment with.

4. Grind: 8 of 10

In this category Fog does truly shine. Not only are his perks strong, the challenges related to it are pretty simple and easy even for the more specific and situational one. In many cases you will level so much more faster than you will earn the ressources to level him up. You might get some challenges which require more time to complete but there's nothing that feels impossible and can't be done in a couple of matches.

Ranking: 29

Recommended Perk Build(s): [Emboldened + Heat of the Moment], [Fleet Feet + Ammo Opportunist]
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Name: Su Bai
Height: 168 cm
Age: 27 y.o.
Location: Shanghai

Oneway to survive in the ruins is as a Recycler - scavenging old tech and breaking it down into NPI. Su Bai takes that to the extreme, getting sent into The Bloodharvest for minor offenses, having her amputated limbs replaced with artificial ones, which she recycles when she returns to the ruins. It takes a special kind of resourcefulness to be willing to sacrifice body parts to survive.
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The Ranking:

1. Difficulty: 4 of 10

Switch is a Scavenger with a talent build on awareness and foresight. Therefore stealth is the recommended way for her. In addition to that Switch has tools to increase her own survivability per default. For a beginner Switch can be useful at learning the general map layout and to locate objectives since her perks can reveal crates and blood. She also has perks to help her evading the killer more efficient. On the other side an unexperienced player (especially when matched with an experienced hunter) can have a bad time with her since Switch's playstyle is more designed on confusing the hunter while fastly immerse into cover to avoid being spotted. Switch is good at avoiding chases but heavily lacks durability in chases and since small mistakes can be badly punished, it's not recommended to play Switch when trying to improve your survivability in chases.

2. Equipment: 5 of 10

Most of Switch's perks revolve around Stamina regeneration and objective localization. They do their job relatively good, but for the advanced player it's nothing special.
Her unique bonuses on the other side are pretty good. One revives you with full health the other gives you a speed boost(50%) for some time after your delivered blood. All in all Switch has much utility to begin with but it doesn't really increase that much with upgrades.

3. Skillcap: 6 of 10

Time investment can payout on her not only because of her beginner friendly perks, but also because of her vambrace power. Generally speaking to know when to use your clones as a distraction, when not and to keep them is a useful skill since the unappropiate use could give away your position. Other than that there isn't much to learn or to progress with her. She is relatively basic but still fun to play with.

4. Grind: 7 of 10

Her perks might not be the strongest in the game, but fortunately the challenges where you have to get the perk to work aren't that hard. They're mostly connected to things you would do anyway and the challenges besides that aren't that bad either. The only thing that can be difficult is if you have to heal damage, since you don't want to be chased as her. Besides that have fun prestiging her.

Ranking: 22

Recommended Perk Build(s): [Evade Master + Size Matters], [Evade Master + Toil Together]
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Name: Aria Vaughn
Height: 173 cm
Age: 35 y.o.
Location: Texas

Aria Vaughn ran a clinic in the ruins, healing those she could, easing the pain of those she couldn’t. Her settlement was raided and she vowed to fight back, but warlords are powerful and merciless.
Vaughn’s counter attack was crushed, her friends were murdered and she was thrown into The Bloodharvest as punishment. Her spirit remains strong, she won’t be defeated; she’ll win her freedom and return to the ruins, where she can continue to do good for those who need her most.
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The Ranking:

1. Difficulty: 4 of 10

Sawbones is the medic of Deathgarden, a scavenger meant to hold the team together, simply by extending the chases and life time of her fellow scavengers. For this purpose Sawbones has a lot of tools to make sure the teammate smiles and the hunter complains about healing bolts in the forum.
Pulling a last second save off or just knowing that your mate wouldn't have survived the chase without your hp boost is very satisfying. That said though it requires practice, timing and skill to pull this maneuvers off to avoid the hunters attention and to make sure you're not helping the hunter tracking your mate.

Sawbones support role will often have a high impact on the round when you're playing against a skilled hunter.
[The same can be said for new hunters, but an experienced Sawbones is so much more vital in higher skilled levels than in low skill levels.]
Although you have to be careful, by saving your teammates you will often have to bring yourself in danger, into the crosshair of the Hunter. Therefore it's so important to always have an escape route in mind.

2. Equipment: 7 of 10

What makes her additionally difficult is that she only has two really good perks. These are Security Blanket (40% reduced after delivering blood for a time) and Under Foot (reduces hunter shock damage).
All the other perks (except for one which increaes the stamina regeneration after blood delivery) are too weak or too situational.
This limited choice can make her rough to get used to, especially because Sawbones has only preservation powers which will only extend the chase but won't help you directly at avoiding or escaping a chase.
Her unique bonues on the other side are both valuable and fit her chracteristics. She has 8% more base movement speed by default and needs only half the time to revive a scavenger, making her to an excellent medic.


3. Skillcap: 8 of 10

It can be quite difficult to find your specific playstyle with Sawbones, since she lacks some viable perks. That said if you do manage to get around this and put some or even a lot of time into her, you can make hunters life very difficult and your own and especially that of your teammates much easier. Besides that you have to learn how to be stealthy and to listen for the Hunters "Terror Radius" (the dramatic music) to compensate for the missing stealth perks and powers. This (combined with the heal/shield) will be the key for your survival and to become the counterweight at the scale to every hunter.

4. Grind: 3 of 10:
Good luck prestiging her. Her vambrace powers are compared to some of her perks easy to level, but friends for life and faster healing are a nightmare. The challenges where you have to get the perk to work are extremely frustrating. It's probably not intended to be that hard, but until this is adressed... Consider yourself a god (or someone with too much time :P) if you manage to prestige her four times.

Ranking: 22

Recommended Perk Build(s): [Security Blanket + Under Foot]
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Name: Yani Amini
Height: 182 cm
Age: 24 y.o.
Location: Algiers

Hating what the Hunters had made of society, Yani Amini tried to strike back. However, during an assassination attempt on the Hunter in charge of The Enclave, he was caught in the act and sent into the Complex for life. He knows how the system works, and how best to take advantage of it. He’s a survivor and plans that one day, he’ll get free and enact his revenge on the Hunters.
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The Ranking:

1. Difficulty: 8 of 10

In terms of avoiding chases as well as ending chases quickly (in favor of the scavengers... most of the time) Ghost is still a force to be reckoned with. He is also good at countering hacked crates as well as delivering blood to bloodposts.
His name reflects his playstyle Ghost is a character meant to be never seen by the hunter even in the blood mode. Therefore he suits perfectly the playstyle of starters, since you can easily without much practice avoid the hunter. The only thing that is important to learn is the timing. The invisibility lasts only a couple of seconds and clones can also take some practice to use correctly.

2. Equipment: 7 of 10

For stealth players Ghost's loadout is pretty decent, except for one perk which is almost useless, besides that he has two good stealth powers as well as five perks and two unique bonuses between okay and good. In general Ghost is specialized on delivering blood without being detected. An important note would be that Ghost lacks perks to help him during chases, that's why it's so important to escape the chase as fast as possible or even better to avoid these engagements completely.

3. Skillcap: 4 of 10

There isn't much of a learning curve considering Ghost. To make the most out of his clones will take some time, but the invisibility doesn't require much practice. Just make sure to be invisible before he spots you and just don't get too cocky. These aspects make him very consistent but also often boring in the long term, when you become more familiar with the role of a scavenger.

4. Grind: 7 of 10

Overall completing the challenges isn't that hard most of the time. Only one perk which has to do with hacked crates requires a lot of luck and coordination for the first challenge, besides that most of the challenges are between easy and mediocre.

Ranking: 26

Recommended Perk Build(s): [Ocular Implants + Lucky Charm], [Ocular Implants + Firmware]
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Name: Aishwarya Kumaran
Height: 178 cm
Age: 29 y.o.
Location: Chennai

In the past, Runners used biometric tattoos, to make them faster, stronger, better. Aishwarya Kumaran wanted to return to thosedays, developing her own methods and technologies to help Scavengers against the Hunters. When her allies turned on her, wanting to keep the tattoos for themselves, she fled where they would not follow: into the Deathgardens. If she can beat the Hunters, she can win her way out of the country, escape her pursuers and use her tech to help others get into The Enclaves.
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The Ranking:

1. Difficulty: 6 of 10

Inked can be seen as a tank. If you want to learn how to survive chases, you should consider picking her since mistakes will not be as heavily punished as on other scavengers. Her unique bonuses and most of her perks help her to endure chases longer as well ending chases abruptly. She is the toughest of all scavengers and a survivalist. Combined with a Sawbones which constantly heals you, their is a low chance to get actually downed by the hunter. Her shield even though it has the same stats as of Sawbones has still a little bit more utility on her if you do combine it with some of the tank perks. You can also decide to play her stealthy which is a solid option as well.

2. Equipment: 8 of 10

Both Vambrace powers are good on her they easily synthesize with her perks and unique bonuses. Overall there isn't much to complain about except for two perks which are more situational and one of them being pretty useless. Other than that Inked's loadout as it is right now, is pretty nice.


3. Skillcap: 8 of 10

Inked's perks and powers as well as her general playstyle make her in the hand of competitive players to a one man team, since you cannot predict her movement as easily as as it is with the other scavengers during chases. You can find yourself often wondering what happened if you don't know this scavengers loadout. She can be a pure tank, she can also be a good evader. One perk allows her to cling considerably longer to walls making it easy for her to vanish behind a tree or high building. If you can calculate the risk and mix up your playstyle to make it harder for the hunter to adapt, then pick Inked . A risky but satisfying scavenger.

4. Grind: 5 of 10

Except for Staying Alive you probably won't have a hard time completing the challenges. Some risky challenges may occure, but shouldnt be overall not that much of a problem for an experienced Scavenger. Leveling her first perk will be the tricky one.

Ranking: 27

Recommended Perk Build(s): [Cling Wrap + Keep Hanging On], [Keep Hanging On + Damage Dodger]
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Name: Darius Shaw
Height:~165cm
Age: 17
Location: Minneapolis

It was when the raiders came that fate intervened. With the settlement’s resources ransacked and winter approaching, a miracle was needed. Fueled by the fearlessness of youth, Dash turned his nightly Garden break and entries into a dangerous heist. Though he looted enough to save his settlement, his luck ran out, and on his last robbery a Hunter laid in wait. Was it bravery that caused Dash to run a distraction while his friend escaped or something more? As the Hunter approached, a grin flashed over Dash’s face. He knew the sentence for looting from the Enclave: Competition in the Bloodharvest.
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The Ranking:

Difficulty: 8 of 10

His powers are very simplistic and strong. It requires maybe some timing (at least stealth) to use them the most efficient way as well as knowledge of how to dodge and evade effectively. Combine this with his speed to make it very difficult for the hunter to get consistant shots on you. After you've learned that, you're good to go and you will definetely enjoy playing as him, since you always benefit from increased movement speed. The only thing you have to watch out is that you should never get caught out on an open terrain, it's one weakness of his power as well as missing foresight of the player... bumping into walls can be hindering.

Equipment: 8 of 10

Dash is a fast paced scavenger, he speeds up himelf as well his team. His equipment fits well into this playstyle. He has speed and camo as vambrace power. Both very good and simple to use. Although the speed is much more versatile. You can make use of it within and out of chases.
You are granted with tools to speed up most of his performance allowing him to be the most time efficient scavenger...and time is crucial(/XP). He only lacks in terms of a supportive role, but this can be neglected considering that speeding up the pace of a match is more useful for the scavengers than the hunter.

Skillcap: 7 of 10

Although speed makes many things much easier, you can still improve with him over time.
There is little you can't achieve with him in terms of your performance and your XP outcome. It might be difficult and definitely needs practice but the closer you bring your time management to perfection the more rewarded you will be.

Grind: 7 of 10

All of his perks are useful and you probably benefit from them a couple of times every round but some challenges require you to be literally lucky or to bring yourself into a dangerous situation, which you don't want to be in with him. This can be frustrating to deal with because of the RNG besides that it's a managable and enjoyable scavenger to grind through.

Ranking: 30

Recommended Perk Build(s): [Plenum Tubes + Code Optimization], [Into Overdrive + Hotter Intensity]

The only face reveal we seemingly have. Credits to "Pawn94".
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Ranking:
1. Dash: 30
2. Fog: 29
3. Inked: 27
4. Ghost: 26
5. Sawbones: 22
5. Switch: 22

The most versatile and reliable Scavenger is Fog and always a good choice for spending time and ressources into him to upgrade his powers and perks.
Inked:is a tank with several tools which allow you to endure or evade chases much easier.
Switch:is used best at confusing the hunter and escaping quickly after blood delivery.
Ghost:is pretty good at locating/completing the objective and run around the map undetected.
Sawbones:is a strong support character and essential in a team that works together.
Dash:is made for those who love it fast paced and in competent hands he can speed up the whole game leaving those in his dust who can't adapt.

Overall all Scavengers are unique and have their own specialization and how much fun you can have with them depends mostly on your preferred playstyle. They might overlap in their way to play, but every Scavenger has tools to make their lifes (and yours) in a specific aspect easier, giving you the opportunity to weigh up what benefits you the most. Take your time and have fun!

Addendum: Dash and Fog were back then, before the servers were shut down, extremely viable. They were the most reliable choice for any new player, who wanted to focus on one scavenger. After you've understood the basics of stealth in the game, Sawbones was a good choice as well.

Also thank you guys for the amount of positive feedback!

See you in the Garden !
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A part of my Heart will forever stay in the Deathgarden even with the Servers shut down. ❤

Sunset Livestream(/Goodbye Stream):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW0jNFW3YcI


Thank you very much for taking your time to read this guide!
PS: Best Community <3