Marijan

I.) Introduction Hello fellows, I recently got my own copy of Sacred 2 Gold by purchasing the Deep Silver Humble Bundle. I enjoyed the first one very much, but the infamous bugs of the second one turned me off from buying it. I hope a majority of those bugs is fixed by now and intend to create a Seraphim as my first character, because she is a familiar face from the first game and apparentally good for beginners. I have a lot of questions nevertheless and would highly appreciate to get some answers. Constructive criticism and your opinions of the build I intend to use, which I am about to introduce to you, is appreciated as well. If you are a newbie, like I am, and happen to stumble across this thread - feel free to use my thoughts as food for your own. Keep in mind though, that my Seraphim is a "Softcore"-character, which means that Hardcore mode is disabled, and that I am playing on PC, but without Community Patch. II.) Foundation / Equipment I decided to construct my build around Endijian's Artifacts, since it complements the build I had in mind anyway and because the visuals of my character are kind of important to me, since I do not want to stare at something I genuinely dislike for hours, like this for example - or any of those armor sets, which suggest that a thong is sufficient protection against hordes of undead creatures. Furthermore I want to utilize either the unique Pole Arm, Endijian's Javelin, the BeeEffGee or this common shield, because they visually complement the armor very well. Since Pole Arms, Shields and Ranged Weapons do not go well together, I have to make a choice, if I do not want to cripple my own character by combining different spezialisations. I would like to be as effective at level 200 as possible by using the chosen equipment, but in order to make a choice I will need some help, especially regarding the effect of the BeeEffGee-Buff on other weapons. I am going to explain the build, which I intend to use, to you in detail, because which weapons suit you the best is obviously dependent of the build you are using. III.) Skills I am going to list the Skills, that I intend to choose and give brief explanations why. The order does not represent the order in which I will choose those Skills, since I am going to figure that out by myself and I do not need any help with that. Many of those Skills are variable though and I would like to hear your opinions about my choices, especially regarding the Defensive Skills. I want to utilize the Revered Technology and Exalted Warrior Aspects, to maximize the potential of Endijian's Artifacts. I did not list those skills, which are obviously pointless for my build, coloured the "-" of the ones I consider as some kind of must-haves green and the ones of those, which I actually have no interest in, because I consider them less useful than others, in red, but feel free to prove me wrong. The ones without any specific colour are the variable ones and any advice on which ones to pick is highly appreciated. I always added the amount of points I will put in a specific skill, if I choose it. I appreciate any kind of feedback on those numbers as well. 1.) Combat Art Skills: Concentration - 75 hard points to be able to use a third buff (Battle Stance, BeeEffGee and Warding Energy). In case of a "Pole Arm"-Seraphim maybe only 1 hard point, depending on the effectiveness of BeeEffGee in combination with Pole Arms, but since Endijian's Artifacts provide a huge bonus to the BeeEffGee, not reading at least a single rune in there would be kind of a waste. Exalted Warrior Focus - 75 hard points, so we can read more runes into Battle Stance, Soul Hammer and Dashing Alacrity. Revered Technology Focus - 75 hard points, since we will be utilizing many Combat Skills of this aspect. Revered Technology Lore - Keeping it at character level or at least put 75 hard points in it, in case of a "BeeEffGee"-Seraphim, otherwise none or 75 hard points as most, if you intend to use mainly Archangel's Wrath and to utilize the small bonus of Endijian's Visor. Combat Discipline - 75 hard points, if you are using your Combat Arts in Combos a lot, but I usually do not. 2.) Offensive Skills: Tactics Lore - 75 hard points at least for any build. Keep it at character level if you are using other weapons than the BeeEffGee. If you want to use the BeeEffGee, you should keep Revered Technology Lore at your character level instead, although I don't know if the diminishing returns would not make it more effective to distribute your Skill points between those two skills, which synergize with each other really well. Ranged Weapons - 1 hard point if you intend to use the "BeeEffGee" as weapon, to utilize its bonus, and 75 hard points if you intend to use other Ranged Weapons instead. A "Pole Arm"-Seraphim obviously does not invest any points in this Combat Art Skill. Pole Arms - 75 hard points if you are mainly using Pole Arms, otherwise none, although Endijian's Javelin has Warding Energy Lore as modifier, since you will definetely want to use other Pole Arms occasionally. Speed Lore - 1 point or more if you feel the need to increase your Attack Value, although I doubt that will be necessary. The other Skills and Combat Arts, especially Battle Stance, increase our Attack value sufficiently, we gain run speed, which is not that important anyway, through Dashing Alacrity, and while the increased Defense Value is good to have, it is much worse than what an additional Defense Skill offers. Damage Lore - 75 hard points. I think that this Skill might be completely useless against common enemies, since you should be able to kill them with a single or a couple of blows and there will not be enough time for those Damage Type Effects to make a difference. They might be really handy against bosses though. 3.) Defensive Skills: Armor Lore - 75 hard points, regardless of your build. Constitution - 75 hard points, regardless of your build. Toughness - 75 hard points, regardless of your build. Combat Reflexes - 75 hard points, regardless of your build. Warding Energy Lore - 75 hard points if you are relying on your shields, which might be the case for "Pole Arm"-Seraphims, especially since you need this to unlock Item Modifiers on Endijian's Javelin and to utilize the "+Max. shield energy"-Modifier. Since I will most likely master concentration, I will probably use both, Warding Energy and Divine Protection, which are improved by Endijian's Artifacts, regardless of my weapon choice, so this Skill might be worth it, but I am not sure about this. Shield Lore - 75 hard points, if you choose to mainly use a one-handed Ranged Weapon in combination with a shield. Spell Resistance - 75 hard points, regardless of your build. 4.) General Skills: Enhanced Perception - 75 hard points at least or keeping it at character level, if you choose it, but I dislike crippling my character for better loot. Riding - 75 hard points, if you are going to use your Mount in and out of combat a majority of the time - but I will not. Alchemy - 75 hard points, since it allows the use of Trophies. You might want to consider it, if you see yourself using a lot of potions, but they usually pile up in my inventory in my case and Warding Energy Lore already allows me to use some trophies. Bargaining - keep it as high as possible, if your character is supposed to be your "Shopper". I dislike the idea of a Seraphim-"Shopper" though, because the Temple Guardian seems to be more useful as supporting character, because he can use Blacksmithing as well. IV.) Attributes Strength - If you are using Pole Arms, you might want to put all of your points in here, to further increase your damage. Stamina - Invest points in if you feel the need to decrease the regeneration time of your Combat Arts, which might be the case, if you want to read many runes in, despite using 3 Buffs. I am curious, if this or simply investing straight into Strength/Dexterity yields greater results with my build, in terms of dealing damage. Vitality - "Hardcore"-characters might want to invest all of their Attribute points in here. Otherwise you might want to invest some points in the beginning and be done with it. Dexterity - "BeeEffGee"- or "Ranged Weapon"-Seraphim should want to invest points in Dexterity to increase their damage. Intelligence - No point in investing any points in here with my build. Willpower - Just seems inferior and less useful than other Attributes. V.) Combat Arts 1.) Revered Technology Archangel's Wrath Great secondary attack, especially for "BeeEffGee"-Seraphims, because it converts its damage to fire, as well as a useful ranged attack for Pole Arm users. Seraphims which use other Ranged Weapons than the BeeEffGee benefit less from this Combat Art, but it is still great for hitting as many targets as fast as possible to trigger "On-Hit-Effects". Therefore I would always choose "Salvo"- and "Explosive"-Modifications. As Gold-Modifications I prefer "Vulnerable", but that is up to you. BeeEffGee Amazing Ranged Weapon, which eliminates the need to upgrade your weapons, if you are mainly using this one. You can keep it above the actual maximum level of items you can use as well, which makes it really powerful - until it hits its level cap of 200. I do not know, if the BeeEffGee still outclasses common weapons with both "Enhancement"-modifications or if using another Ranged Weapon, which will also benefit from the passive buffs of the BeeEffGee, is preferably and would highly appreciate some clarification about this and which of those buffs affect melee weapons as well (because the bonus to Ranged Weapons for example obviously does not). If the BeeEffGee is just used for its buff, I would recommend taking the "Battery"-Modification twice, if the "Enhancement"-Modification does not affect other weapons. "Penetrate" seems to be the better Gold-Modification, since I do not worry about my chance to hit. Warding Energy I prefer to take the "Field Force"-Modification twice, because it applies to all enemies, instead of only specific ones, especially to the most common ones use mainly melee attacks. As Gold-Modification I would choose "Resource", except for characters which have Revered Technology Lore mastered, then I would choose differently, because it improves "Block". Divine Protection The Modifications of this Combat Art highly depend on how you intend to use it - as an emergency shield for critical situations, which will save your life if Warding Energy is depleted, or as a buff that you want to keep up as long as possible, like Dashing Alacrity. I prefer the first option, because I read multiple report about bugs regarding the interaction of Divine Protection and Warding Energy and do not know if they are fixed yet (anyone has more information about this?). So I will play it save by only using it when Warding Energy is depleted anyway and would therefore go with "Dampen" and "Uplifted Force". The last one seems to be personal preference, but "Improved Mirror" sounds more useful to me, because Spells tend to be more dangerous than projectiles. Flaring Nova It will be mainly used for "crowd control", instead of dealing damage. Therefore I would recommend for "Pole Arm"-Seraphims "Impulse", "Stun" and "Laggard" and combine this with Assailing Somersault to an effective combat-opener. I prefer "Laggard" over "Flux", although you will be in melee range of your enemies anyway, because enemies, which use ranged attackes, tend to run away occasionally. "Ranged Weapon"-users might want to choose "Expand" instead of "Impulse", if they do not want to get as close. 2.) Exalted Warrior Soul Hammer I would like to keep the cooldown of this powerful attack so low, that I can use it as my main attack (or in alternation with Archangel's Wrath). "Aim", "Battering" and "Incision" seem to be the best balanced Modifications for this purpose. While "Wounding" might be better in long fights against bosses, especially when used in alteration with Archangel's Wrath, although that is just an assumption, I prefer "Aim", because damage over time is except for those occasion not really effective - I prefer to score a critical hit and take out a common enemy or champion instantly, instead of wounding it just to finish it with the next hit. While "Coup De Grace" seems to be great for finishing, by making you hit twice as hard for the last quarter of the fight, it only saves you 1/8 of your time, while "Incesion" grants you constant additional damage during the whole battle. Pelting Strikes Might be great for hitting an enemy as often and fast as possible, but I do not know if this can compete with Archangel's Wrath, especially if you do not use Expert Touch and alter between it and Soul Hammer. If you choose a build without Revered Technology Lore, you might be forced to use Pelting Strike instead of Archangel's Wrath though, because of the limited amount of available Modification-points (without wasting too many Skill-points in Revered Technology Focus). Basically all of the Modifications of this Combat Art seem to be great and I think it is very difficult to pick. I would appreciate to read some opinions about this. Battle Stance The best Buff available for the Seraphim in my opinion. I prefer to use the Modifications "Aggression", because you will have a high attack value anyway, "Drill" or "Flexibility", depending on whether you want to be more offensive or defensive, and "Retaliation", because I am will be mainly playing alone with my Seraphim. Dashing Alacrity Another great buff and which Modifications you choose is basically up to your preference, whether you want to keep Dashing Alacrity up as long as possible or make it as effective as possible while it lasts. I will probably go with "Sprout", "Delay" and "Ardor", to make sure I hit the cap for Run Speed, because I will hit the one for Attack Speed for sure anyway, and want to be able to finish an average boss fight in a single duration of Dashing Alacrity. Assailing Somersault This Combat Art is mainly used as "gap-closer" and for "crowd-control" in combination with Flaring Nova. Therefore I will go with "Spurt", "Impetus" and "Concussion". 3.) My Selection 3.1) I would use those Combat Arts with a "BeeEffGee"- or "Pole Arm"-Seraphim, which uses Archangel's Wrath a lot. The "BeeEffGee"-Seraphim will put a lot of points in Revered Technology Lore and can therefor fully modificate all Combat Arts. The "Pole Arm"-Seraphim will want to focus on Tactics Lore instead and only put 75 points in Revered Technology Lore. Therefore I would recommend to use BeeEffGee ("Battery" - "Battery") and Flaring Nova ("Impulse" - "Stun") without their Gold Modifications, because you will only have 13/15 Modifications available and barely benefit from those as melee character anyway, since you will not be using the BeeEffGee as weapon and you will get in melee range and probably stun your enemies anyway. You could put Dashing Alacrity and Divine Protection into a Combo as well, but I prefer to use Divine Protection for emergencies, as I already mentioned. Archangel's Wrath seems to be the better secondary anyway, since it enables "BeeEffGee"-Seraphims to use another damage type, without carrying multiple pairs of gloves, and gives "Pole Arm"-Seraphims a ranged attack, which can be used in alteration with your primary attack, Soul Hammer, since this build does not use Expert Touch. Since you do not use Pelting Strikes, putting 75 hard points into Tactics Lore and Exalted Warrior Focus each, will allow you to fully modify all Combat Arts of that Aspect. 3.2) Those are the Combat Arts I would use with any build, which neither intends to utilize the BeeEffGee as weapon nor Archangel's Wrath, and therefore invests no points in Revered Technology Lore, like a Seraphim that intends to use another Ranged Weapon instead of the BeeEffGee for example. Since you will not have enough Modifications available to fully modify Archangel's Wrath without sacrificing something else, I replaced it with Pelting Strikes. I advice to use Flaring Nova and the BeeEffGee without their Gold Modifications like above and to put 87 instead of 75 points into Revered Technology Focus, so you can fully modify all other Combat Arts you are using. Furthermore I would recommend to use "Expert Touch", because your primary and secondary attack are from the same aspect in this case anyway. The combo, which consists of two Combat Arts of different Aspects benefits from Expert Touch as well, and this should guarantee that Divine Protection is ready when you need it. VI.) Deities / Relics The choice of your god and its related skill seems to have barely any impact on the game, besides a few specific quests, since the Divine Gifts have a very long cooldown, a long casting time and limited use, especially without picking "Divine Devotion". As Seraphim we only have access to the three deities of Light, Lumen, Kybele and Forens. I will choose Forens for my character, because I doubt that I will have any problem with survivability and additional reflection of Inspiration seems to be the most useful to me, but I would recommend Kybele for players, who intend to play with their friends or struggle with escort missions, since Infusion affects allies within range as well. Lumen seems to have the least useful Divine Gift, but is lore-wise the best match for the Seraphim. Furthermore the Wiki lists more quests for Forens than for the other two deities, but this might be due to incompleteness. In terms of Relics, I intend to focus on one color/resistance per side primarily and secondarily pay attention to their Skill boni and Modifiers. Keep in mind that you do not benefit from Skill boni, if you did not pick the affected Skill, which is in case of "Chance to find valueables" apparentally Enhanced Perception. VII.) Questions 1.) How exactly does the BeeEffGee affect other weapons? 2.) Do Pole Arms or other melee weapons benefit from the buff as much as Ranged Weapons (because I read somewhere that it increases your Ranged Weapon Skill for example)? 3.) Do Javelins and Halberds have a higher base damage than Energy Weapons and Long Bows? 4.) How much lower is the damage of Short Bows, Energy Pistols, Throwing Daggers and Throwing Stars, compared to the weapons mentioned above? 5.) If I use the BeeEffGee as buff, do Ranged Weapons or Pole Arms do more damage (considering as well, that I will probably spend my attribute points differently as well (Dexterity/Strength)? 6.) What is the maximum level of Endijian's Javelin and how much worse is it compared to other Pole Arms? Does it deal less damage than good one-handed ranged weapons? 7.) Does the level cap of the BeeEffGee make other weapons, with higher levels, more effective than the BeeEffGee itself, considering that those benefit from its buff as well, or does the BeeEffGee still outclass other weapons with both Enhancement Modifications? 8.) Do the Enhancement Modification and the Gold Modifications of the BeeEffGee affect other weapons as well? 9.) Is Shield Lore considerably better than other Defensive Skills, if you intend to use a Shield anyway, or is it kind of equal to them, but forces you to use a Shield to utilize it? 10.) Are common shields considerably worse than unique and legendary ones and does that I intend to use one make the Shield Lore Skill less useful? Thank you in advance and please excuse my bad English. Marijan