Smurfed

I like a CE to have physical extras as well, not just digital in-game extras. The Sacred 2 CE was great, seeing as it had both. The map, artbook, (miniature in the case of the Xbox CE) etc... as well as the Carrier Imp before it was readily available for everyone in Ice and Blood. So chances are that if there's a CE for S3 for download, it would have to be a pretty damn good in-game extra for me to want to get it as opposed to the boxed CE you could buy in stores, or pre-order specials

Welcome! =D I can understand your plight somewhat. One of my little ones has dyslexia, and it's not the end of the world. It's good to see that you're coping with it, an not letting it get to you. That's awesome in my opinion Anyways, hopefully you enjoy your time playing Sacred 2 and all that. I've only been a member here for a little while as well, and everyone's been super helpful and nice. So much so that I'm wondering why I didn't find this place sooner... Cheers, - Smurfed

Usually department stores sell electrical screen cleaning products with their electrical merchandise. Usually I don't get anything more than dust on my screen, so it's just a simple task of swiping a duster over it to clean it. But on the odd occasion that a grubby little child-finger leaves marks, or some other form of dirt builds up, I picked up a specialised mist spray and chamois for just such an eventuality... And it does work, and only cost a few dollars

But that's just it, it is pretty much the exact same as this build, an this one is so much more detailed than what I'd write anyway... So if I were to do up another thread, I'd just link to here and job done I was more remarking on how scary similar our builds are without me having seen this before

I play on the PC, although I own both the PC and 360 versions. Wolfie did a good job on highlighting the overall advantages of the PC version. Also, I first ran Sacred 2 on an ancient PC (Intel 486 2GHz Celeron with 128MB PCI vid card and 1GB RAM). It ran fine with minimalism on all the details and other settings, but noticeably chunked when running higher settings. Of course I've since upgraded, and everything runs silky smooth with settings maxed out. So even if you experience chunkiness with orig Sacred, it could just be a compatibility issue with the OS you're running? If thats the case, then you could probably do as I did and run Sacred 2 with low settings until you can upgrade....

That'd be cool gogo, but I want to get to niob with this build before going too far with it. After all, if it's not good enough all the way through, then it's not good enough now, is it? I once I hit that milestone I'll see what it's like at level 200 with Schot's lvl200 blanks just to see what it's like rockin' some superpowered guardian action.. Hopefully have everything done and dusted and complete by the end of the week

This build is so similar to my TG that it's scary. The only difference is that I didn't have Enhanced Perception and had both Toughness and Concentration. I was thinking about writing out my own guide for my TG, but yours and mine are pretty much the same (except for mastery order), so I don't think I'll worry about it

I'm tempted to call the build complete at this stage. I've more or less dropped off testing it in favour of testing my ranged SW for the time being. But before I did that I was bosshunting in Plat without any difficulty. But, until I get around to doing that in Niob, I'm not going to call it just yet... I think I'll also add a new thread with my range SW sometime in the future. Even though it has a similar skill layout with this one, the CAs I've used and mods vary slightly.

I should reiterate and say that I got the CE for the PC on release, and for the XBox when I saw it for like $10 on sale at KMart or somesuch. Mostly just for the Seraphim miniature though... But yeah, I'd still most likely get a S3 CE for the PC if it comes out....

Wow, a thread full of nostalgia? Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) I don't remember too much pre-3.5" floppies... Sure I've seen and heard of 8", but never worked with one. Not unless you can count tossing one around the office as an office-friendly frisbee... And yeah, I used to be a p'n'p RPGer back in the day, but kinda dropped off for a while after 3rd Ed came out... :/ Other than that, welcome Lone, have fun

Ahh. I've only put 1 rune into all my CAs, including skeletons

Cool, good to know that I'm not being a PITA with all these successive posts... Also yes sure, obviously you can substitute Shield Lore for Dual Weapons, or anything else you want for that matter. It's a guide after all, take from it what you will and expand upon it if you want Although, another progress update. Currently level 102 in platinum, doing boss runs to see how I fare against them with the build looking pretty solid, nothing really needs tweaking except maybe gathering socketable equips an other more solid loots. Anyway, doing boss runs and was doing the Gar'Colossus, and noticed that I didn't use one health pot, my skele's were taking the brunt of the damage, and still standing afterwards. So that got me thinking, why am I on the front lines? So, yeah. After doing some fiddling, I swapped out Hafted weapons for Ranged weapons, Shield lore for Toughness, got myself a bow and started making it sing against mobs. my SS and PS combo works pretty well against groups, and champions don't stand up too well against the DB spam... I haven't done any bosses with this new setup though, so not sure how it'll fare. I'm going to take a break for now though. Will fiddle with it some more later for sure. This could be more fun...

Updated with more info on tactics, weaknesses at higher levels and compensating. See the update section to see more on what I changed. Also, hopefully it's not that annoying when I post so much in my own thread when I find something else out about the build and update it. Just delete the redundant posts if you need to

Okay, so using Schot's level 200 blank characters, I've identified a few problems with the build at high level. Namely attack value. Easiest way to counter at the moment would be to pump all stat points into strength, HP was never an issue. I'll do some more tweaking after work. As it is I'm running late at the moment....

Granted, but I can't tell you the amount of times I've wished I'd taken X skill instead of Y skill...

Yes, that is true, you do have limited control over followers, but nothing in great detail. I don't really want to delve too much into comparisons to other games, however there have been other games that I've played that dealt with pets in detail, even going as far as to have entire classes made to 'power up' the critters, while still having your basic attack/range/spellcasting/etc... character classes as well. Pets weren't the be-all-end-all of the game, but they did add a certain variety, functionality, and fun to the game. And if done right, the main character can sit back and reap the rewards as the pet does all the work... Also, I thought of this on the spur of the moment in another thread, but also unlocking certain quests at higher difficulty levels. One thing I've always liked about the franchise is that theres an abundance of quests to complete. You can choose to do them, or not to do them at all if you so desire. What about if upon reaching a new difficulty level, you have access to more harder, challenging quests? Such as new bosses to conquer, more powerful items to unlock, so on and so forth... But another spur of the moment idea I just had is new areas get unlocked with difficulty levels as well. I mean, I've not once had a character go to niob, let alone past level 100, simply because in the end I get bore with doing the same ol stuff all the time. Go here, kill that, talk to Fred, etc... So, I'd just start again with a new character, new build, and go again. Rinse and repeat. However, if there were a new location to explore, new quests to do, new items to find, so on and so forth, then that would makes things a lot less repetitive, and a lot more worthwhile getting those levels, unlocking those difficulty levels, and playing the game for longer. Its worth looking into at least, anyway... Cheers, - Smurfed

I'm liking those ideas actually! Multiple masteries per skill, and also being able to reskill your character. In terms of the reskill, perhaps a specific quest you can unlock via unlocking difficulty levels. eg, unlock gold or platinum, and you can unlock a quest for a reskill NPC. Actually, on that strain, perhaps they could add in difficulty level dependent skills.... But that's getting a bit off topic now and more into the "What I Want For S3" realm...

That bobble-headed SW makes me giggle like a little girl But as for what I'd like to see in S3... Vampires. I liked the concept of the Vampiress in the original, along with the form change and daylight effectiveness. She was awesome, second only to the dwarf and his big canon As for something new that I'd like to see implemented, is something akin to pets. I'm not talking about some random animal that you get which follows you around, gets in your way, never changes, and is pretty much a nuisance throughout the game, but I mean something with a bit of depth, custom-ability, something that you can see grow and evolve, and more importantly, something you can control. You could get one by completing a character-specific quest (which is also something I'd like to see more of, more character specific quests), something challenging that makes you work for it. The pet itself could level up along side you as well. It could have varying functions (such as close combat/ranged/magic specialties) to compliment how you play your character (eg, close combat pet to draw in mobs for a range character to pick off, or high-damage pet for your low damage tanking character, etc...), or different types of pets for whatever function you want it for (such as the varying special mounts in Sacred 2) And as for evolution, at certain level increments (such as level 50, 100, 150), the pet could grow bigger, stronger, more effective, or even take on a different look at each stage. With nearly everyone using widescreen monitors/TVs these days, you could have a few buttons on one side that would tell your pet what to do, such as attack, retreat, use a specific skill, attack the same thing you're attacking, or change to a different target, etc... And lets say your pet dies. Instead of losing it and having to have to buy a new one such as you do with the mounts, you could need to go to a certain NPC to have it revived, for a price, keeping its growth, experience, skills, etc. in place. That, I think, would be more beneficial than hindering to the game in my opinion. Don't want a pet? Don't do the quest. Or dont buy one. Whatever, its up to you

I'd have to agree with Silver on this one as well. She makes a few good points, but the one that I'm identifying with at the moment is in regards to the builds. It would be a lot less involving if the game decided what skills, or at least decided how your skills progressed, for you... Although yes, the concept itself does have merit. For certain games it can and does work shiny. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depening on your point of view ) Sacred isn't the type of game that it would work too well for. Lets say for example they chose to do this in Sacred 2... So what if my character runs around with a sword most of the time, that doesn't mean that I'd take Sword Weapons as a skill, or choose to place many points in there if it was taken, And how would Constitution work? The more you get hit, the more HP you eventually gain? Adding realism, someone who gets hit more would feel weaker, not tougher... Like I said, it's a good concept, I just cant see how it would fit well with Sacred

Okay, so I restarted the build on HC, edited the balance script for faster leveling to just run though, and swapped Riding for Combat Discipline, GR Fort for GR Reju, and I must admit that the build works nicer. Also using Scything Sweep for regular mob killing now too. All in all, more balanced indeed. I'll edit the main post later to reflect the changes

Thanks. I've got a Temple Guardian in the works too, but am still working out the kinks

Bit of an old inactive thread now, but... Here goes my two cents I like collectors editions. If given the choice and availability, I'd rather spend a few extra dollars on a CE than the regular game. Sure, a lot of the content you might only look at/use/implement only once and forget about it, but usually there's at least one item that justifies the additional charge. I got the Sacred 2 CE when it first came out and haven't regretted it. Chances are I'll do the same for S3 as well

Personally, I like character customization. Granted it tends to have zero impact on actual gameplay, and is more for aesthetic reasons than anything else. Although where character customization really shines is in a multiplayer environment. When going through on single player, it doesn't matter if you're customised or not. Generally, you'll already stand apart from the NPCs and mobs regardless of what you look like, so in that aspect it is just that, purely aesthetic for no other reason. In multiplayer, however, it helps to identify (even if just a little) between several characters of the same race/class. Granted armor and such usually is more noticeable than hair, skin colour, etc... (especially for characters who have hair underneath helmets, don't show much skin, etc...). But say a few characters were rocking the same armour sets, a little bit of individuality never went astray. Also, as was mention previously I believe, spending any length of time at the beginning helps a player form a sort of 'bond' with their character, for lack of a better word. As for gender changes, I'm all for it. No one ever said that the big beefy damager all have to be men, nor that the squishy characters are all girls. Obviously depending on certain character concepts, gender would be an issue (Seraphim, for example, or the Amazon from D2). So yes, unless there's a specific reason or backstory for characters to be locked to a gender, I say why not let the player decide if they're a boy or a girl, instead of having the choice made for you?

I'll be honest and say that it never really occurred to me either. It just panned out that way... And thanks for the suggestions Schot. In regards to Grim Resilience - Fortify, I really was torn between that and Rejuvenation. I remember sitting there for something like half an hour or somesuch trying to decide. And yes, admittedly there is a lot of defence there. I was thinking of restarting this build when I get Ice and Blood and making him HC. Would it still be a good idea to substitute the extra defence from shields (especially their black chance at mastery) for improved combat arts and combo's in that event? And in Ice and Blood, is Spell Resistance really that important? And yes, I like the leech life. I was running around with a LL axe for a while there, but upgraded it to another weapon that didn't have it unfortunately...

Thanks for the welcomes all. I can see myself frequenting this place with all these weird and wonderful people floating around You know the toilets don't actually flush backwards. Its YOURS that goes around the wrong way Also, yes. She's all grown up and quite yummy. Does that sound wrong? It does, doesn't it... But who cares when there's a hot blue girl thrown into the mix BAD Schot! Not setting little blue men on fire! And gogo, I didn't know that there was a Smurfing movie coming soon. I think I just died and went to awesome!