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Trading as a Starting Skill? To Eat or Not to Eat Runes?


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Hello everyone,

 

I hope this is the correct section for this topic.

I have only recently come around to playing Sacred Gold (GOG version), and so far, I like it better than Sacred 2. I have started quite a few characters, but none has been exceptionally successful, regardless of whether I started on Bronze or Silver. I have read quite a few guides on this forum concering skill progression and combat arts, yet it is not quite clear to me how long to refrain from eating runes and whether it would be a good idea to choose trading as a starting skill for every character that can choose it.

My major issue with most characters is that they barely, if ever, seem to find any useful gear. Thus, I created a dwarf and chose trading as a starting skill and kept it at my character's level, which has helped significantly. Save for a few bosses, my dwarf smashed everything, alternating between two-handed weapons and axe + shield. Can this be done with any character? If I remember correctly, the Daemon cannot do so. The rest of my characters is not even half as successful.

My second major issue is that I really never know when to eat a rune. The cooldowns on most combat arts are extensive, but I found that at the beginning, this does not matter, as the base level suffices. Concentration and Special Move Regeneration help a lot, but I do not wish to eat too many runes right at the beginning for fear of reduing the rune drop rate. To be clear, I am not looking for a step-by-step guide, just for some general outlines or criteria how to decide whether I should eat a rune.

 

Thank you very much for your time.

 

Regards,

 

DeadByDefault

Edited by DeadByDefault
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Welcome to DarkMatters, DeadByDefault!

We're happy to have you here on the boards, you've discovered the Sacred community! :bounce:

The timing was that we had a huge upgrade just recently, so I'm bumping up your question, so that it will have some visibility with folks that can answer

Great having you here on the boards!

 

:)

 

gogo

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What combat arts are you using? I know vehemance takes a while to develop - alot of initial regen.

With some characters it takes more time depending on the combat art/s used in the build - e.g Battle mage Lightning strike, Daemon using choir, poison tendrils/thorns Wood elf build are all weak pre level 50 compared to picking stronger /more conventional builds.

 

With a trader you should be going for +Combat arts/+whatever combat art you predominately use to minimise regen penalty (1/2 the regen penalty you'd otherwise get from eating a rune, or was it a third?)

tbh trading at lower levels is much better in Sacred 2 IMO and you find set items much easier too. There are pro's and con's with each Sacred.

 

Generally I'd stick to 1 or 2 runes unless its something you have to pump up - eg dwarven steel.

Maybe revisit it after level 60 or 70.

Bear in mind this is just my opinion as I use combos alot - so alot of yellow potions, and haven't gone overboard with survival bonus (I.e not fighting monsters 20 levels above me)

Besides concentration, + % regen special move) shop for physical regen - you can find high bonuses on gear and it reduces combat art regen time.

Combat art level is probablly the biggest factor in damage but if you aren't happy with combat art damage look at things besides CA level - Weapon Lore, Strength, + % physical /elemental damage rings, base weapon damage and using elemental damage weaknesses (e.g Poison damage on orcs, fire on ghosts)

There is also forging damage from blacksmith.

Also playing a dwarf you should use dwarven steel as much as possible.

 

EDIT - Trading - 4 characters have to be level 30/50 to pick it. I didn't shop alot pre GOLD difficulty, and when I was shopping I commiitted. So wouldn't bother much in Silver, under level 30. Its subjective based on how much time do you wanna be shopping?

Battle mage might be an exception - trading @ level 12 - get 4 socket 1H staffs. Very nice.

OK - thinking a little more about it I would add trading is pretty useful to get extra resistances for regions - e.g I try to get more poison resistance (amulets) when going to the dark elf and troll regions

 

 

Edited by Augmint
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21 hours ago, gogoblender said:

Welcome to DarkMatters, DeadByDefault!

We're happy to have you here on the boards, you've discovered the Sacred community! :bounce:

The timing was that we had a huge upgrade just recently, so I'm bumping up your question, so that it will have some visibility with folks that can answer

Great having you here on the boards!

 

:)

 

gogo

Thank you very much for the welcome!

Yeah, I noticed that the forum was taken down quite soon after I had created this topic. At first I thought I might have been banned (for whatever reason), but then again, it wouldn't have made any sense for me not to be able to even display the website any more. XD

6 hours ago, Augmint said:

What combat arts are you using? I know vehemance takes a while to develop - alot of initial regen.

With some characters it takes more time depending on the combat art/s used in the build - e.g Battle mage Lightning strike, Daemon using choir, poison tendrils/thorns Wood elf build are all weak pre level 50 compared to picking stronger /more conventional builds.

 

With a trader you should be going for +Combat arts/+whatever combat art you predominately use to minimise regen penalty (1/2 the regen penalty you'd otherwise get from eating a rune, or was it a third?)

tbh trading at lower levels is much better in Sacred 2 IMO and you find set items much easier too. There are pro's and con's with each Sacred.

 

Generally I'd stick to 1 or 2 runes unless its something you have to pump up - eg dwarven steel.

Maybe revisit it after level 60 or 70.

Bear in mind this is just my opinion as I use combos alot - so alot of yellow potions, and haven't gone overboard with survival bonus (I.e not fighting monsters 20 levels above me)

Besides concentration, + % regen special move) shop for physical regen - you can find high bonuses on gear and it reduces combat art regen time.

Combat art level is probablly the biggest factor in damage but if you aren't happy with combat art damage look at things besides CA level - Weapon Lore, Strength, + % physical /elemental damage rings, base weapon damage and using elemental damage weaknesses (e.g Poison damage on orcs, fire on ghosts)

There is also forging damage from blacksmith.

Also playing a dwarf you should use dwarven steel as much as possible.

 

EDIT - Trading - 4 characters have to be level 30/50 to pick it. I didn't shop alot pre GOLD difficulty, and when I was shopping I commiitted. So wouldn't bother much in Silver, under level 30. Its subjective based on how much time do you wanna be shopping?

Battle mage might be an exception - trading @ level 12 - get 4 socket 1H staffs. Very nice.

Thank you for your elaborate reply. Well, I've refrained from eating runes, either completely or at least in the sense of not eating more than one, except for some buffs whose regeneration times are easy to keep down with a couple of points in Concentration or Meditation respectively. The first thing I read about this game's mechanis was that in order to find more runes, you had to eat as few runes as possible. Needless to say, this also prevented me from experimenting with all the combat arts, as it would've required me to unlock everything. If I remember correctly, I've started a game with all of the different classes except for the Seraphim. Reading that she's kind of a jill of all trades put me off, as I generally don't like this kind of character in a game. I still may give her a try, though.

I  now think that it's a mistake to complete the game on Bronze difficulty, as the levelling process becomes a mere grind fest beyond level 30. I wasn't sure when to switch to Silver, though, but I have little motivation to take my gladiator ('Hector') to Silver now (I know I needn't finish Bronze in order to import the game into Silver). He can deal with any kind of situation on Bronze difficulty, and I haven't even collected all the elements of Ancaria with him yet, but it's not fun. Until level 33, I've only used Attack against everything, and it's worked fine. Then I decided to finally eat some runes (Heroic Courage), and I also unlocked Fist of the Gods and Hard Hit. Yeah, he can easily kill stuff with these combat arts, but it's boring to me.

I found the dwarf ('Bolgrim', no good name from ancient Greek mythology here) far more exciting, probably also because he got some great loot by shopping in both Port Vallum and Braverock Castle. I didn't even need Dwarven Armor, Vehemence and War Cry were sufficient for any kind of situation. I enjoyed playing as a dwarf mostly because you cannot play dwarves in most games. I mean, basically in any fantasy setting, dwarves are either extinct or on the brink of becoming so.

I started a wood elf ('Artemis') because I usually like archers, but hack 'n' slash rpgs tend to make them problematic in that everything wants to be straight in your face. I watched some videos about high-level archers, but for my taste, it took too long to take bosses and especially dragons down, at least compared to what other characters can do. In fact, I've never played any archer as fun to play as a bowazone in Diablo II. I loved the ability to cover the whole screen in arrows.

Playing as a dark ('Deimos', for obvious reasons) elf, then, I made him a dual wielder, and I have to say I like it much more than dual wielding with a gladiator. The weapons and the way the dark elf moves around are more to my taste. I haven't taken him beyond level 30, either, though.

I recently started a daemon (and called her 'Styx', obviously). Her wings look ridiculous, but I like her movement speed and dive attack.

I started a battle mage ('Azrael', ancient Jewish instead of Greek, but also: smurfs) at some point, but the fire ball spell with which he starts off moves so slowly that it killed my motivation soon. I finished off everything in and around Bellevue but had no idea how to deal with the swarms of goblins beyond the bridge. I need to stand still in order to cast, but with so many enemies to deal with and no effective Area of Effect attack, I didn't want to continue that journey.

If I understand you correctly, I need to bite the bullet in any event, since I need to get my characters beyond level 30 or even 50 for them to take off. I find this tedious, but if it's necessary, I'm willing to give it a chance.

One more thing, do I have to import a game into a new game each time I want to kill a dragon or specific boss again? Enemies respawn basically as soon as an area is off-screen, but I noticed that this doesn't entail dragons and bosses, at least not in the cases where I actually bothered to look.

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With bosses and dragons - yes they do respawn but you have to clear out a region (as in thousands). http://pctalk.info/Games/Sacred2/Wolfes.Lair/SacredUnderworld/Pages/BossesMenu-Region.html

 

I wouldn't bother importing, maybe make a saved character before a boss, if you don't like what they drop do it again. Personally if I did do that I'd limit it to before the twin frost dragons, tristam town (hope I'm not spoiling anything), and the Sakkara demon.

For farming I HIGHLY recommend this area as you get the shaddars to respawn (use the portal nearby) and they drop good stuff.

http://pctalk.info/Games/Sacred2/Wolfes.Lair/SacredUnderworld/Pages/PopularHG-RimValley.html

 

For some of the other things you mention. The game has some tough areas when you begin - goblins are pretty hard when you have poor regen and the archers in the desert are nasty too for a beginner. Clearing out Bellavue and doing all the quests helps. Save some yellow potions too. This might help

http://pctalk.info/Games/Sacred2/Wolfes.Lair/SacredUnderworld/Pages/Eggs-EnlightenedIron.html

 

 

I normally go to level 20 in Bronze, maybe kill D'Cay in the deset then start Silver.

Gladiator can be boring if you don't like his style - using stomp and dagger stare are pretty fun though.

For the battle mage I would recommend flame spiral - maybe make a combo of it. You can exchange 4 runes to get the one you want. Also socket vamp runes for the life leech, 9% is good. Use ghost meadow.

Daemon flying builds - poison or fire - are awesome. Therions Death from above build is a pretty fast leveller too. 

 

 

 

For a dark elf I'd recommend the poison mist build. Makes some bosses really easy (boring even?) but he levels fast, uses split well and shines in Underworld (aka Poison works well on Sakkara demons.)

Wood elf is fun - multi arrow is great. I can't compare it to D2 as I've only played D3 on PS 3. Using thorn bush, call of the ancestors or tendrils gives her some variety.

The wood elf isn't as strong as other character but with some very specic gear she is up there

http://pctalk.info/Games/Sacred2/Wolfes.Lair/SacredUnderworld/Pages/Item-SetAll-EttolRahcNotwensBreeze.html

 

*********

For gogoblender - Wolfes Lairs forum is down/gone.

 

Edited by Augmint
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14 minutes ago, Augmint said:

With bosses and dragons - yes they do respawn but you have to clear out a region (as in thousands). http://pctalk.info/Games/Sacred2/Wolfes.Lair/SacredUnderworld/Pages/BossesMenu-Region.html

 

I wouldn't bother importing, maybe make a saved character before a boss, if you don't like what they drop do it again. Personally if I did do that I'd limit it to before the twin frost dragons, tristam town (hope I'm not spoiling anything), and the Sakkara demon.

For farming I HIGHLY recommend this area as you get the shaddars to respawn (use the portal nearby) and they drop good stuff.

http://pctalk.info/Games/Sacred2/Wolfes.Lair/SacredUnderworld/Pages/PopularHG-RimValley.html

 

For some of the other things you mention. The game has some tough areas when you begin - goblins are pretty hard when you have poor regen and the archers in the desert are nasty too for a beginner. Clearing out Bellavue and doing all the quests helps.

I normally go to level 20 in Bronze, maybe kill D'Cay in the deset then start Silver.

Gladiator can be boring if you don't like his style - using stomp and dagger stare are pretty fun though.

For the battle mage I would recommend flame spiral - maybe make a combo of it. You can exchange 4 runes to get the one you want. Also socket vamp runes for the life leech, 9% is good. Use ghost meadow.

Daemon flying builds - poison or fire - are awesome. Therions Death from above build is a pretty fast leveller too. 

 

 

 

For a dark elf I'd recommend the poison mist build. Makes some bosses really easy (boring even?) but he levels fast, uses split well and shines in Underworld (aka Poison works well on Sakkara demons.)

Wood elf is fun - multi arrow is great. I can't compare it to D2 as I've only played D3 on PS 3. Using thorn bush, call of the ancestors or tendrils gives her some variety.

The wood elf isn't as strong as other character but with some very specic gear she is up there

http://pctalk.info/Games/Sacred2/Wolfes.Lair/SacredUnderworld/Pages/Item-SetAll-EttolRahcNotwensBreeze.html

 

*********

For gogoblender - Wolfes Lairs forum is down/gone.

 

Hi Augmint!

I just clicked your link for wolfe's lair, it's still successfully connecting to her hosted site.  I think Spock (member on our forum) is still having it hosted for now

:)

 

gogo

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Just now, Augmint said:

http://nightwolfe.proboards25.com/index.cgi

The forum link above gives me "the page you are looking for can't be found"

 

Hi Augmint, nightwolfe used to be hosted on proboards when she started, she's over here at Spocke's place now... try this link here:

 

http://pctalk.info/Games/Sacred2/Wolfes.Lair/SacredUnderworld/Pages/PopularHG-RimValley.html

 

:)

 

gogo

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OK - so Spock is hosting all the content with the exception of the forum? My bad. I can access everything I just freaked a little at the dead link.

Not a big issue as I never really went there.

Also with the new Darkmatters layout and changes are liking posts no longer an option?

 

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4 minutes ago, Augmint said:

 

OK - so Spock is hosting all the content with the exception of the forum? My bad. I can access everything I just freaked a little at the dead link.

Not a big issue as I never really went there.

Also with the new Darkmatters layout and changes are liking posts no longer an option?

 

Heh, no worries... Nightwolfe's site is a grand repository of the most amount of Sacred... when she couldn't host it anymore Spock took over the hosting :)  And... yah regarding likes...we're working on that :lol: There's atually a VERY cool like system...but it only comes with another version of this skin... more advanced..we cant upgrade to it yet because it breaks some of the functionality of the forum.  Schot's going through all the breakages now and we're hoping to get to the newest version of this skin soon.  The new like system is kind of like the on on FaceBook.. a range of likes showing a continuum... very cool!

:gogo:

 

gogo

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