MortalKombat

Yes, usually you will want to use rare rings, amulets and weapons (not for all), and use set items in all other slots. Without bargaining, it will be very hard to find proper rings/ammys, as unique ones are totally garbage (except very few).

Chance to halve regeneration time is not only bad itself (unreliant), but it also is very weak numberically. Getting 100% chance to halve regeneration time is almost impossible, while getting 50% reduced CA regen time isnt a hard task really. Most undevalue mods share same problems - for example, who needs a bonus to just one skill, when the bonus to all skills provides almost same value (but to all skills, not just one)?

Actually, default enemy armor values in Sacred 2 are negligible, so you can simply take "X% Direct damage" as "X% more damage" (for attacks / weapon CA). Even if you increase enemy armour by factor of 10 (like I did for myself), it still wont make a big difference.

And dont forget 100% damage mitigation from all sources (almost total invinciblity), which Seraphim can get.... Yeah, Seraphim is OP.

Thorin, I dont think Dryad needs to learn Constitution at all. You can get passive regen just by using Ancient Bark, and even more regen by using Goldenglade's Touch. You can also get HP boost by investing into Vitality and socketing "+max hp" amulets into some sockets. There are much better skills to learn. I also think there is no need to invest 100 points into skills, better invest 75 points into ALL valuable skills first (to get masteries). And I think, concentration is worth leveling to 75 only if you plan to use 3 buffs. This isnt your case, so better just leave concentration at 1 point. And you cant get Armor lore first, because you should get either Shield Mastery or Combar Reflexes or Speel Resistance first and level one those to 5. Also, there are more enemies resistant to poison than you think. Poison elemental are quite common in Swamp and near Thylisium, and they have SERIOUS poison mitigation (80% or so). A main quest boss in the Desert (giant scorpion) is also resistant to poison. Poison weapons are still good, after 75 level, in you invest 75 points into Damage Lore. Fire weapons are no worse. I also suggest to have a magic weapon too, cause some bosses can be killed with magic only Now, about stats investment, Investing into willpower is totally useless for a Dryad. You want willpower? Cast Goldenglade Touch on yourself and enjoy having 1000-5000 willpower. Investing into dexterity isnt worth it too, in my opinion - bonuses (damage boost, etc) are too weak. I would suggest to invest 100% into vitality, or 50-90% vitality and 50-10% Stamina (whatever ratio you like).

If you mean "Attack speed" modifier on items, then, YES, it DOES NOT affect combat arts at all. However, attack speed penalty (apllied by using a weapon of too high level) does affect weapon-based combat arts too. And as far as I know, attack speed bonus from weapon-specific skills (Ranged Weapons, dual-wielding, etc) DOES affect weapon-based combat arts execution speed (assuming you use an appropriate weapon, of course). Attack speed/cast speed bonuses from buffs and temporary effects usually follow the same rules as those on items. I havent checked them all,though. But I'm confident in Dryad buffs (Sinister predator).

Shops actually offer a small amount of items for other classes (as well as drop from monsters). By default 70% of items you find or see in the shop, will be for your class. You can change that by changing a corresponding value ( IsUsableByHero = 700,) in "balance.txt" file (1000 = all items for your class, 0 = all items are for other classes). Shops DO sell blowguns (and really good ones, sometimes), but you MUST invest into bargaining (and I mean that, equip all items with bonuses to bargain/skills you can get). You can reset shops simply by relogging the game - the easiest way to make shopping. Though, to purchase nice goods, you should invest into Bargaining skill, otherwise shops offer junk. The reset time of shops can be changed by changing a corresponding value (TraderOffer_MaxLifetime = 900,) in "balance.txt". Setting this value to 1 will make shops change their offer very quickly (you can reset shops by just visiting each vendor in starting area in multiplayer game, for example. You MUST level skill up to 75 yourself. Bonuses to skills from items dont contribute to mastery. So, you can master a skill only at 75 level. About survival bonus It grows in combat. So, the only way to bump it is to engage into combat. You may try investing all your runes into Ancient Bark and invest heavily into Nature Weaver Lore/Focus (you need those 2 skills, anyway), so you'll get a good hp regeneration + defence. Then, find some enemies with physical/poison damage (for obvious reasons), engage them and go AFK. Even if you invested into reflect mod (which generaly is weaker than just evasion), you can still do the trick with ranged mobs, as reflect mod on Anciaent Bark affects melee only. Blowguns are the best ranged weapons for killing trash mobs. Bows (and energy weapons) can have high damage, yes, but they get slower attack speed (with certain investment, blowgun can out-DPS bow), and what more important, blowguns hit INSTANTLY, so moving enemies wont avoid your hits, clustered enemies wont block projectiles from each other, and "regeneration per hit" stat will make your CA perfectly spammable. For killing bosses, throwing stars are the best (although they're quite rare, even if invested into bargaining). They got the best attack speed (so they can out-DPS any other weapon) and what more important, they can have "life leech" golden mod, that has DEVASTATING effect on bosses. P.S. Life leech is so powerful, that I "banned" it from usage for myself. It makes game too silly, as any equipment/class/build, that has that mod, will be superior to those who dont have it. Dont care about attack combat arts for first 30-50 levels of your character, just kill all enemies with left click. I would suggest to invest into Ancient Bark first, then Sinister Predator. then GoldenGlade's Touch. First and latter can make you invincible, and that's good when you want not lose your precious survival bonus. Also, top-priority skills to invest into are: Tactics Lore Nature Weaver Lore Nature Weaver Focus Capricious Huner Focus They not just offer great bonuses, but also give you precious modification points. Just ensure you get the modifications you really need (since you cant change them without 3-rd party tools). I can help you with that, if you want.

On the topic - blowguns coupled with "regeneration per hit" make the perfect "spam CA" dryad. Blowguns are instant, so your CA will recharge instantly (assuming you have enough regeneration per hit) and, therefore, be spammable. Just ensure you invested enough into chance to hit.

Since blowpipes themselves have low base flat damage, socketing "flat damage" rings is the best way to boost your DPS. That's why your top priority on blowguns should be "flat damage". You'll notice that property, it makes blowgun have WAY more damage. For example, a general blowgun at level 130 has around 200 base damage, while a blowgun with "flat damage" mod has around 300. "All stats" is also a nice stat to have. Sure, you shouldnt forget about "death blow", "opponents chance to evade", "regeneration per hit" - those stats are powerful, but their usefullness either quickly diminishes (so gaining "death blow" or "opponents chance to evade" total over 60% is pointless, generally). either are useless after certain value (regeneration per hit above regeneration time of your CA is useless). "regeneration time: aspect" (except cabbalistic voodoo), damage: damage type are also useful. Do note, that rare blowguns have 4 slots. One of them will be occupied by "ranged weapon-based" mod, and the best mod there, probably, is "chance to apply secondary effects". Of other three slots, BiS combination will, probably, be "flat damage" + any two of (socket, death blow, all skils, regeneration per hit).

To improve combat art execution time, stack "cast speed" on your gear (yes, "cast speed" improves execution time of ALL combat arts, including weapon-based, while "attack speed" on items doesnt affect combat arts at all). And dont overlevel your combat art - it receives a drastical multiplicative execution speed penalty, if leveled too high (usually, game assumes "normal" combat art level to be 1/4 of your character's level). Of course, if you use melee weapon, then execution time for some combat arts may vary greatly depending on class, weapon/skill used and being mounted. But for ranged weapons, equal attack speed and execution time will result into equal number of attacks/executions per second.

First, thank everyone for explaining the meaning of values in Balance.txt I'll advice everyone to change the folloing strings in Balance.txt AdjustCriticalDamageFactor = 2000 (Makes crits do double damage, as it should. Standard value 1200 (+20% damage on crit) makes investing into critical hits totally useless. Also, it makes game more challenging and interesting, as enemy can crit you for heavy damage) ExpMountFactor = 1000 (Sets the amount of experience your mount gets to 100% of experience you get. Standard value 3000 makes your mount to get experience 3 times faster than your, resulting in overleveleved mount and drastical penalty, Also, there is no reason, why your mount should get 3x experience) And here are some notable values: QuestExpmax = (Essentially changes the amount of experience gained for quests. assuming you dont outlevel quest area greatly. I suggest to increase it, because standard quest experience reward is total lackluster. Killing several orcs provides the same experience reward, but takes a ton less time.) Enemy_armor = (Changes enemy armor values, from Bronze to Niobium. Standard enemy armor values are totally unnoticeable, you can beat a fire-armoured enemy with fire weapon or spell, and wont even notice it. Increasing these values drastivally, especially on higher difficulties, makes game more challenging and interesting.