Giggles

I too, have come back to the Sacred Series. The dev team did an awesome job on this game. I still get some laughs out of the commentary. The graphics are still stunning, and with the CM Patch and other add-ons, it's like a whole new experience. I purchased it off Steam, and get crashes to desktop more than I would like, but I still play. I'm also happy to see this forum is still supporting this game!! Props to all!!!

Looks like a very fun build to play with. I do have a question though....where are the inbetween skills? Are we just to pick what we like?

When I was playing Sacred 2, I was balancing 3 games. Sacred 2, Diablo 2 LOD, and Forza 2 on the 360. Since my departure from Sacred 2, I focussed on my other games. I run a endurance league on a racing site, and I'm also a Team Captain for a league on another racing site for Forza 2. I am a Co-Founder for a D2 site. I have played D2 since Diablo was a demo. I specialize in Ladder. Non-ladder just doesn't offer the opportunities that Ladder does. Besides, when Blizzard resets the Ladder, then all my "ladder only" runewords and items are worth tons! With Blizzard having one last Ladder reset before the release of D3, I may not participate in the season and focuss more on my pk builds, unless Blizzard adds more "ladder only" type things. Then I will HAVE to play ladder, just so I can have those items on Non-Ladder. The best about a reset, is that you have to start from scratch. There isn't anyone to provide rushes, or do chaos runs, or baal runs. You are forced to work together. Of course, it only takes about a month till people are getting up to speed, but atleast for that months time, it shows what the community is all about. Most of the clan people, will stick together, and do private runs for awhile, just because the low level items have become very important now, and they wouldn't want outsiders to get a chance of the drops. I usually will play solo, or with some friends that are in the channel. We don't run a clan. It's more of a community of people that help each other out, and just like to have fun playing the game. The founder and I were in a clan at one time, and got tired of being told what to do, and when we had to do it, while the leader did nothing but bann people with no real reason, just so he could get the pleasure of them crawling back to be alowed back in. So we formed a community that is designed around respect, compassion, thoughfulness, and most of all, laughter. Anyways, those two games are my priority. I don't play to many others. I have played/tried pretty much every game that has been announced in this thread. Divine was an awesome game, but no multiplayer. Too much reading in NeverWinter Nights. Never got into the MMO's. I tried a few, but just didn't like them. Titan Quest was one of my favorite substitutes for Sacred 1 and Diablo 2. They had just as much bad luck with their initial release as did Ascaron did with Sacred 1. TQ (titan quest) had alot of potential, and it was the first game that I actually played single player from the beginning to the end. The story was awesome, and kept me very interested. It's too bad the dev's went belly up. One game that isn't mentioned here, and should be given a try is, Dawn of Magic. The problem with DoM, is it doesn't support story multiplayer. That is the only thing that turned me away from it. Well, that's it for me. I use to play alot more games, but found it difficult to dedicate my time evenly and got stressed instead of having fun. So, now I limit myself, and became picky as to what I played.

360 for me! I already have mine pre-ordered. I'm sure once I have mine, the kids will want one for their 360's.

I started to write a big post, but not anymore. All I'm going to say is: "I think this was a bad move, and they should have left it!" People got stuck in their head that sets are it for this game, and that is cool. They got what they wanted. Grats. I'm off to continue setting up some PK matches for my site, and get my team ready for a race come Sun. It was fun while it lasted. Hopefully sometime in the future, they'll get rid of all the crashes. Thanks for listening. I'll pop in every once in a while to see if any changes have happened.

I'd say it is. They didn't fix any of the reflect bug's or CTW's, but the drop rate on the quest bug is dramatically changed. You still have a chance to get a set from a side quest, but the chances of that are huge, or they put a lock on how many will drop from a game:) Not sure how they fixed it, but it's not worth doing the side quests anymore. You'd be better off running the boss's, unless they put a lock on that too? I think they should. Make it extremely hard for all types of item hunting. I wouldn't care to much about the change in the quest bug, IF champions had a frickin chance to drop decent stuff. Some of us poor folks don't have the friends to get hand-me-downs, and not having good gear to boss kill makes it even harder to find stuff. Oh well, can't please everyone I guess. I suppose now, I can just take a break from playing, till I see a new patch come out. Off to other games.

I think they have fixed this little bug? (sota speak). What I mean is; I believe they have made it harder, or put some kind of restricts on how often the sets will drop from a quest. I've done 5 in a row, roughly 15 side quests a run, and only get one set item if I'm lucky. Usually I could average 3 a run, with the possibilty of more, but 3 was an average. I'll continue to test, but I think something has changed. Not sure how, considering you had to patch to get the bug, so I would think you would need to patch to fix it, but I could be wrong, and they can change things on the fly:)

I understand where frost is coming from, but if it is at an extreme, then that is no fun either. Another way to say it is: Bring down your damage, to what the monsters do. That's why they don't die from hitting you when you have massive reflect, they don't do crap for damage, or 2x their health damage anyways. So you could down grade your damage, and when they reflect your damage it won't 1 hit kill ya. Of course, then having spent all that time and energy, into developing a one hit kill combo, or just a very nice damage build that can handle a full game of players, is all a waste. Maybe with this higher chance to hit from the monsters, they should have added some -% reflected damage, instead of the current items we have, which only slow down how often they can reflect the damage? So instead of having a 30% chance to reflect, it would be -50% damage reflected, or what ever works. Throw a cap on it. Other games I play, have a cap on damage reduction at 50%. So you will always take atleast 50% of the attackers physical damage. It's an idea.

Hi Time. I play on US Servers and I play soft core/closed servers. Gonna have to buy another copy of Sacred 2 in order to play HC. My current account is made up of 3 mules and 3 item hunters. Kinda blows that you can only make one account per each cd key, but I had 4 copies of S1, so no biggie. Anyways, add these char names to your buddie list, if you want to play, or need some portals or something. Char names: Giggles, Pupil. Kaiden has an awesome melee Shadow Warrior guide. It is designed for HC, and I can confirm, it is solid. Even with crap gear, he can kill all in his path, and you don't die. The SW has the best multi-hit CA in this game. It's long, and hits alot of opponents. Like others have stated, take a look in the guides sub-forum. Lots of good info! All in all, trial and error are gonna be your teachers.

I second Katran, I am very glad we have all been able to discuss this in a peaceful manner. This next statement should be thought on. Have we forgotton about rares? Have we forgotton about the awesome uniques? We still need these items for our builds, and since we need them, we still need EP and Bargining. Someone stated it perfectly, (sorry, so much info, frying the brain), what this exploit did, is kind of ruin the value of set items. This is acceptable to me, considering that the sets don't provide what you can gather with other items. Sets are great for the beginners, and moderate play, but I believe, this game has ALOT more to offer in the rare/unique combo than any set can provide. It's finding it, and since most rares are one of a kinds, you will be the only one with that godly gear. People will envy you, and want what you have. Or they will turn around and try to get it themselves. The reason sets are so valuable right now, is because no one has gone out and discovered the little feature. Set value was on the moon from the day this game came out. Once someone exploits that sets are pointless and there are better ways to build using other items, sets will be worth crap, and THEN, and only THEN, will people be willing to have it easier to get sets. Sad, but true. I understand some people's feelings on this though. If this quest thing was in the game from the beginning, most wouldn't care, but since it came later, they feel violated, (sorta speak), because of all the time they have already put into the game to get what they have. Now, some may look at the game, like, why play, everyone has what I have, and didn't have to do crap to get it. I understand this frustration, been there. All this does to me, is causes me to get seriously motivated to finding other ways to become one of the best, or unique in my own way. The mods that you can get on a rare are almost never ending. A +skills, +Combat Arts, and +to an indivual CA or Skill, all on the same piece of armor. Man that's sweet. Then you add in some sockets with possibilities of other mods, it just doesn't get any better. Now that's just one piece, depending on char, you could have up 5 of them, maybe more. Talk about costomizing your char for individual bosses, or PVP It's just finding and gathering those items. What works with what, etc....... I'm always trying to find ways to be different, but also better. Also, I'm sorry, and this may make me look like I need a hobby or something, but to me, if this was just "a game", I wouldn't play it very long. I'd finish the quests, then the game, and put it back in the drawer and start a new game. To me it's more. It provides a community like this, sharing information, stories, and expierences people have gotten from the game. You might just get together and chat about stuff within a game, or have some good laughs about how a monster fell off a cliff, or rooled into a river. Whatever it is, it made the game, "more" than a game. Let me ask you this, if someone came up and kicked in your car door. Then your friend turns around and says, it's just a car, what would you say? Believe it or not, there are people out there that think that way. Same with money. I've seen, heard, expierenced it. Everything in this world, means something different to someone. I love to game. I co admin a D2 forum. I run a racing league, and I play this game. I also work on my Mustang, (finally got it on the ground to drive, now if only the snow weather would make up its mind), and just got a starter vehicle for my 2 older boys. (get drivers license soon. oh boy. ) Anyways, I went alittle off topic. I'm not mad about anything here, except the bugs that make the game crash, among other important bugs that should be fixed. I wonder if the closed servers can handle the work load if they got more people to play? I was playing today, and when I went to create a game, only 3 servers were avaliable. I also saw many people in the public servers Ascaron provides. That's the most I've seen yet on this game, and blows the kind of traffic we had on Sacred 1 away. Ah well, I hope most won't quit the game, take a day off, get some fresh air. Thats what the wife tells me to dao anyways.

I reccomend giving Dawn of Magic demo a try. Beautiful graffics, and those that are some what familuar with Diablo 2 LOD, some of the skills will be familuar, but 10x the graffics. 3D world, just like you have here. I own DoM, but not alot of my friends play, so I don't play much. The demo is well worth a try. I wish the Dev;s of Titan Quest didn't fall, I loved playing that game.

I won't go into much detail, but runewords are not duped as common as you think. The runes, thenmselves, might be, but 9 out of 10, the actual runeword/item isn't. What you may be referring to is like the .08Valk helm, and other items that people dupe the crap out of. SOJ's, Anni's, etc. I played Diablo before many people, I played when it was just a demo back in the 90's. I know ALOT of legit players, and they will use most runewords over full sets. Anyways, the same theroy works here, in it's own way. Rare is better than Set, hands down. BUT, Set is a good STARTER item. Thats why this little quest bug/thing is important to have. So many times when I first started playing Sacred 2, I kept my level 9 armor, just because I couldn't find anything better. Now, people can hunt for a level 15 starter set, and it will last them quite some time, till they can hunt for better, because we all know, level 30 and up, is when things can improve greatly. It's getting to level 30, thats the trick, and it can be very difficult, mainly in HC, where dieing isn't an option. Another thing, to kids, set items are all that matters. When I showed one of my kids, what the Inquisitor looks like with one the the sets on, he imediately wanted to go look for it. He thought it was the coolest looking thing he has ever seen. That's what they care about. (12 year old wise) Then he wanted me to show him the other sets of other chars, and it was just more of a motivation to do it, and play the game. Giving this opportunity, whether it was by accident or on purpose, was the best thing that could have happened for the game. I am seeing alot more people on the US closed servers now. People getting online to look for items, also causes them to spread the word to thier friends. "man, you got to get this game! It is awesome!" This will also cause them to make/find new friends to play the game with, and in turn, causing more to buy and play the game. My kids didn't play Sacred 1 that much, if at all, just because no one was ever online. They wanted to play with others, PERIOD. I'll go upstairs, and one of them will be in a game, and I will ask who they are playing with. They'd say, "some level 60 player." while they are only level 10 or 14. I ask them why. They respond with, because I just want to play with someone. They'd play with me, but I'm a perfectionist, and like to do things in an order or with a purpose. When I log online, I am to better my gear, or improve my char by rebuilding, not to just run around with others, and listen to the voice overs, or watch what my char does when I stand in one spot to long. Point being, this probably has to be the biigest improvement on the game yet. I hope it is here to stay, if not, then things will just go back to the way they were before, and my kids will play D2 over this.

First, I would also like to state that I like the chance of getting a set item from a quest drop. I haven't truely came out and said that yet. One could assume, from my previous posts, but I am confirming it now. Also, my kids are more involved in the game now. They are doing side quests they have never done before. All they cared about was finishing the game.. If you do certain side quest while playing campain, you'll come to see, that some of them have alittle to do with the story of the main quest. For instance, on the Light canpaign, in Thylisim, before you enter the generals camp, there is a guard there with a side quest, that exploits a trator within the counsil, and she has been reporting info to the Inquistor about what your team has been doing. The quard asks you to go over to the docks and make a statement to her, to shut her up. It's little quests that can change the flow of the story, but without a REAL reason to pursue the side quests, many wouldn't know about this kind of stuff. Second, I have been doing ALOT of testing the past couple days on this side quest set thing. As I already stated, you won't get a set item from a side quest till your level 15 or greater. If you only hunt in bronze, chances are, you will only get the pieces for a specific CA. If you look in the Wiki, each char has 3 sets that specialized in their own Combat Arts, that is what I have been getting the most of. (99% of the time). My only conclusion to this is I am hunting Sloeford and Thylisium only, and there is a level cap on WHEN you can start getting a particular set item. When I hunted on Silver, I was getting pieces for all set items, but of course, the set items level would increase. When I hunt on bronze, within the areas I am hunting, the level cap is 15. In which case, I wanted, so starting out on new builds, wasn't to difficult. Third, I feel that the Ca sets that I am getting, are worthless when compared to the others. I also feel, that given enough time, and searching, one could find better RARE items, with JUST as MANY sockets, that are much better. Like I said over at Sacred 2's forums, I've seen and had better RARE's than what a set could provide, excpecially if you put the same items in the sockets that you would in a set item, BUT, you might not do that, because, the RARE item might provide additional stats that COULD allow for a more stratigic item for the socket. Meaning, a RARE could free up some uses for other items, where as a set item has fixed stats. They may increase as you find the higher level piece, but you can just look at the Wiki, and that will tell you exactly what you will get. Rare's with the combonation of Uniques, are gonna be the way to go as far as I'm concerned, excpecially when it comes to PVP. Think about Diablo 2 here for a moment. How many people that have played or still play D2, have seen gg char's using a full set in a pvp match? Sure, D2 has runewords, but this game allows you to use the sockets to an even better advantage, and put gg rare amy's and rings in them, allowing a more flexiable char. The problem with rare items is, it's VERY, and I mean VERY hard to find identical rare items to carry you through the game. So, when building a char, you can't possibily know what kind of rare items are in store for you as you level you char. What I have been doing is this. I have been gathering rare items as I go, and hopefully when I get high enough in level, I will have gathered enough rare items to start a new char, and be able to allocate the skills and stats accordingly. Granted, this requires alot of rebuilding, but I'm use to rebuilding chars. It's what I know best, and always prepare for. My theroy is this, a char is never finished, you will always find something that will give you a idea, of a new way to get more out of your current build, forcing to rebuild, and this procedure goes on and on, till one day, a new version of the game comes out, or you have done all you can do. Anyways, I like this new quest treasure. My kids are more invilved in the game now, and they love it. It may seem irrelivent to me, because of what rare items have to offer, but for them, and any new comer, or HC player for that matter, a place to start, and work towards what the game has to TRUELY offer within the rare items. Edit: I also hope this was a planned thing. I remeber the days in Sacred 1, and I would hunt down in the desert, and kill just CHAMPIONS, that's right, just CHAMPIONS, and had awesome chances of finding set items. I also feel that the set items in Sacred 1 had more value than the ones in Sacred 2.

What I find funny is: they will work their little butts off to fix this bug asap, but when it comes to the other bugs, (champion Turtles), they will just wait, wait, and wait some more. Come on already, fix the damn CTW problems. I did 10 30 min side quest runs and I dropped just about every other run. It sucks to, cause if you're in the middle of a quest, and you drop, all info is lost. This is huge if you're doing the main quest, for not every area has a save point or even a portal, so you have to start ALLLLLL over from the beginning of the last saved point. BAD I TELL YOU, VERY BAD! I almost quit playing the game last night, I was getting very frustrated. I started playing again this morning, same frickin senerio. So I quit playing and did something else. Point is, they will fix this little thing, that can actually improve on getting more people involved, but won't on the bugs that are making people frustrated, and pushing them away from the game. Pathetic. Atleast Blizzard cared enough to patch the game to work well enough for people to play. Heck, when one of Sony's firmware's didn't work out right for the PS3, they just yanked it, and went back to what was atleast working. I also find it hard to believe they even tested this patch. How could someone not see the set drops when doing a side quest:) What did the test consist of? Starting up the game, then creating a game? Well, it fired up, was able to make a game, must be ok then. Ugh, me ranting too. I love the game. I really love the Elite graffics. With the ability to change my camera angle, I feel so much more involved and apart of the game. I just wish a few things were looked into a little deaper, and made more of a high priority, than alittle thing of sets dropping. Like others have stated, it takes FOREVER to get a complete set, and it's same class only. How is doing side quests different, than mfing the mini bosses? You would probably get more from the mini boss's because it takes like 5 minutes to do the run explained in another thread. If you get like 1 set each run, that's like 6 pieces in 30 min, which is what it can take me to do a small side quest run of 6, and sometimes I end up with a dry run, but usually get around 3 set pieces. My point is this, we really aren't beniffiting from this, it's just that the new comers now have a chance to get decent items, since you can start this as early as level 15, instead of waiting till you can get a high enough level char to take down a couple of the mini bosses rather quicky. Anyways, they are the Dev's and will handle what they think is top priority, and I will sit down and frown on how some things are handled, but there's nothing I can do. They have the control, not me. It would take a MASS ORGANIZED GROUP to get them to hear, but when it's just a limited amount, they turn the other cheek.

Quick update. Took level 17 char to Thylisium and did the "Judriel and Romdreal" quest, and got two sets out of it. Did 3 side quests in Sloeford, and got nothing. Quick edit: The "Judriel and Romdreal" quest gave me a total of 4 sets for completely finishing it. I am finding more set items for the char that finishes the quest, than for any other char. Kinda pooish, but understandable.