In depth guide to my Shadow warrior build

[warpoyo 22]

INDEX

1. Introduction
2. Skills
3. Attributes
4. Combat arts
5. Sets
6. Gods
7. Warrior Colonel
8. Pros and Cons

 

1. INTRODUCTION

The guide I have tried to create here is a guide for the Shadow Warrior geared towards two-handed melee combat, exploiting the Death Warrior and Malevolent Champion aspects to the full, albeit with a certain tendency towards first, and taking advantage of some aspects of Astral Lord as support for close combat.

The most important thing is this: in this guide ALL skills play a fundamental role, supporting each other to create an impenetrable barrier that is reflected in our warrior. It is important, therefore, that you know that it is much more recommended that you follow the guide to the letter than not take only some aspects.

 

2. SKILLS

At first, the Shadow Warrior is a character as powerful as it is resistant, so it won't matter much what kind of skills we start with.

We will start with Tactics Lore, to increase our base damage and critical chance, followed by Armor Lore, aimed at increasing our resistance in combat; Constitution, to increase the points of life and its regeneration; and the mastery of the weapon you choose, of course two-handed, and we already forget about offensive and defensive skills.

Next, we will take Death Warrior Focus and Malevolent Champion Focus, to alleviate the regeneration of the arts of each aspect, because at this point, we will begin to depend a lot on them.

Later, we will take Combat Discipline, to start worrying about combos, in addition to that this ability increases the damage of combat arts inside or outside the combo and incredibly increases regeneration, and Concentration to reduce it even more and to sustain all three improvements that we will use at the same time.

Later, we will take Spell Resistance, to alleviate the warrior's Achilles heel, the enemy spells, and finally, we have a skill gap, so we will take Astral Lord Focus, to improve Shadow Veil and alleviate his regeneration.

One important thing: you must rely only on one type of weapon, to improve it to the maximum and turn it into a tool of mass destruction, instead of having to uselessly divide points between several weapon domains.

Remember that the Infernal Hound is essential for the Warrior, because on his back we can use each one of our techniques, and we go much faster than walking, in addition to the bonus of hit points and regeneration of the Warrior arts of the Death or Malevolent Champion it provides.

However, an abusive use of it is not too recommended since it can trigger the regeneration of combat arts.

Among some things and others, the skills to choose will be the following:

Skill                                                                                 Total Points

Tactics Lore -------------------------------------------------- 176

Armor Lore --------------------------------------------------  75    

Constitution -------------------------------------------------  75 

Weapon Skill of your choice -------------------------------- 176

Death Warrior Focus ----------------------------------------  75

Malevolent Champion Focus -------------------------------  75

Combat Discipline ------------------------------------------ 100

Concentration -----------------------------------------------  75

Spell Resistance ---------------------------------------------  75

Astral Lord Focus --------------------------------------------   9

 

You can see the Skill Level order here

 

3. ATTRIBUTES

Let us now talk about the attributes regarding the Shadow Warrior.

 

Strength (27 points):

Strength is the main attribute of our warrior, as it increases the attack and damage of our weapons.

Stamina (26 points):

Stamina is another important attribute for the warrior, since it highly decreases the regeneration times of the combat arts.

Vitality (28 points):

Vitality is the other important attribute of the warrior, it increases his hit points and regeneration.

Dexterity (21 points):

Dexterity is the most useless attribute of the warrior in general, because although it increases the attack, defence and damage, these bonuses are for Dex based weapons, so it is useless for our warrior. 

Intelligence (22 points):

The most useless attribute for this build. Spell damage and intensity are increased, and by not using spells this warrior, Intelligence is completely discarded.

Willpower (26 points):

Willpower increases resistance to spells. We will not give it a single point, as Grim Resilience increases it in an exaggerated way.

 

In short, upon receiving the attribute points per level (+ 10% calculated on the base points), they will be distributed as follows, considering our type of warrior:

 

Warrior with hafted weapons.

The main asset of those weapons is precisely its damage. Considering its high percentage of damage, the attribute points will be distributed as follows:

• Level 1-49 (1 point / level): all to Stamina, to alleviate the regeneration since we will not need more damage.
• Level 50-149 (2 points / level): one for Stamina and one for Strength, to compensate for the previous Stamina expenditure.
• Level 150-200 (3 points / level): 2 to Stamina and 1 to Strength or 1 to Stamina and 2 to Strength, at the user's choice.

 

Pole arms warrior.

This warrior is more complicated than any other, since the spear is the least damaging 2-handed weapon in existence, immediately above the 2-handed sword. Thus, the points should be distributed more similarly to the swordsman than to any other:

• Level 1-49 (1 point / level): points must be alternated between Stamina and Strength for each level.
• Level 50-149 (2 points / level): 1 to Stamina and 1 to Strength, the same as with the swordsman, because it is assumed that with the points that we have given to Strength in previous levels we should already be left over for a good time.
• Level 150-200 (3 points / level): 2 to Strength and 1 to Stamina.

 

Swordsman Warrior

The swordsman warrior has a totally different combat system from the warrior with axes or maces, since the sword is the least damaging 2-handed weapon, although the fastest. We will distribute the points as follows:

• Level 1-49 (1 point / level): all at Stamina, to get a good initial regeneration bonus.
• Level 50-149 (2 points / level): 1 to Stamina and 1 to Strength.
• Level 150-200 (3 points / level): 2 to Strength and 1 to Stamina, or all to Strength if you are in a hurry.

 

4. COMBAT ARTS

Now, we are going to talk about the fighting arts (this is the longest part of the guide and by far).

 

DEATH WARRIOR

Demonic Blow (Regeneration limit: 1-1.5 sec.)

Bronze:

• Wounding: possibility of causing an open wound (19.7% + 0.3% per level of combat art).
• Vehemence: allows the demonic strike to deal area damage (approximately half the damage).

We will choose Vehemence, to allow the Demonic Strike to destroy not only the boss enemy, but also the four minions around it. However, Wounding can be a good option if we use the demonic blow to weaken the bosses while our combo is on recharge. So, we will take the one we like the most, according to our way of fighting.

Silver:

• Frailty: reduces the enemy's armour (50% + 0.1% per level of combat art).
• Poisoning: adds poison damage (4% + 1% per level of combat art).

Undoubtedly, we will take Frailty, because it reduces the resistance to half of any enemy, while there will be enemies who are not affected by the poison.

Gold:

• Life Leech: absorbs the life of the enemy (3% + 1.5% per level of combat art).
• Trauma: Chance to cause a severe wound. (20% + 0.2% per level of combat art)

Obviously, we will take Life Absorb, because we need life absorption to alleviate the only lack of the Armantin set.

 

Scything Sweep (Regeneration limit: 2 sec.)

Bronze:

• Force: the scything sweep is executed with more force and deals more damage (15%).
• Knockback: increases the possibility of pushing enemies. If pushed enemies collide with each other, the others will take damage. (12.5% + 0.2% per level of combat art / + 50% of base value).

We will take Force, because Knockback is quite annoying, because you must go after the enemies again.

Silver:

• Intent: chance of critical hits (9.9% + 0.1% per level of combat art).
• Numb: chance to stun enemies (15%).

We will take Intent, because Numb is useless if we get rid of the enemy directly with a critical hit.

Gold:

• Hurl: the sweep launches enemies like projectiles. (100%).
• Rage: each hit of the sweep stores additional damage. Damage is released on the next hit (14.9% + 0.1% per level of combat art).

We will take Rage for the same reason as we don’t choose Pushing.

 

Rousing Command (Regeneration limit: 50-60 sec.)

Bronze:

• War Song: The scream intensifies and increases the attack more (+ 50% of the base value).
• Persistence: extends the duration of the Inciting Order (+ 50% of the base value).

Here it does not matter what we do, because if we increase the damage, we will finish off the bad guys earlier, and if we increase the duration it can be more useful for long battles. Almost better we take War Song, to "shorten" the duration of these battles.

Silver:

• Spur: Increases running speed (15% + 0.1% per level of combat art).
• Impulse: increases attack speed (10% + 0.1% per level of combat art).

Here we will take Impulse, if we want speed, we already have the Infernal Hound.

Gold:

• Surge: the regeneration of all combat arts is reduced while the inciting order is active (-5% - 0.5% per level of combat art).
• Leader: The effect of the inciting order also affects groupmates (50% + 0.2% per level of combat art).

In this case, we will take Surge if we play individually or Leader if we play online. However, if we use the colonel variant, we will take Leader because with this we increase the attack of the spectral soldiers of the Nether Allegiance.

 

Grim Resilience (buff) (Regeneration limit: 10-15%)

Bronze:

• Fortify: increases the hit point bonus (+ 50% of the base value).
• Rejuvenation: increases the regeneration of hit points (2 / s + 2 / s per level of combat art).

We will take Fortify, because the regeneration bonus is little useful in comparison: at art level 10, we will only have 20 per second, and that is truly little.

Silver:

• Readiness: adds defence making the shadow warrior more difficult to hit (10 + 5 per level of combat art).
• Discipline: reduces the regeneration of other combat arts (-25% - 0.5% per level of combat art).

We will take Discipline, because from my own experience, we are going to need a good hit point bonus, which forces us to always carry Grim Resilience. Thus, with Discipline, we reduce the regeneration time that the art adds, making it cheap to use and with good results. Also, Readiness is useless, because if we carry Reflective Emanation, we do not want the attacks against us to fail.

Gold:

• Reflex: increases the chance to evade attacks (20% + 0.2% per level of combat art).
• Safeguard: significantly increases physical resistance (5% + 0.3% per level of combat art).

We will take Safeguard, since we are not interested in evading the attacks.

 

 

MALEVOLENT CHAMPION

Frenzied Rampage (Regeneration limit: 1.5-2 sec.)

Bronze:

• Double attack: possibility of hitting twice with an attack (20%).
• Wounding: possibility of causing an open wound with a successful hit (9.8% + 0.2% per level of combat art).

We will take Double Attack, because the Wound bonus is not so useful in comparison.

Silver:

• Double hit: increases the chance of double hits (20%).
• Intent: chance of critical hits (9.9% + 0.1% per level of combat art).

We will take Double Hit, because we have more damage in this way.

Gold:

• Envenom: adds poison damage (2.8% + 1.4% per level of combat art).
• Vampire: extract life from the enemy with each hit (2% + 1% per level of combat art).

Although the bonus is ridiculous, we will take Vampire, because the succession of blows can help to sustain life points, something particularly useful especially against bosses. Also, extraction is always applied, which we cannot say about poison, since not all enemies are affected by it.

 

Belligerent Vault (Regeneration limit: 2 sec.)

Bronze:

• Reach: increases the jump range (33.3%).
• Routine: reduces jump regeneration (-50%).

We will take Reach, because the jump already has a good regeneration. With Range we manage to jump further, increasing the effectiveness of the jump.

Silver:

• Unaware: reduces enemy defence (130 + 1 per level of combat art).
• Shock: Opponents at the starting location of the jump become confused which slows them down. (-50% - 0.5% per level of combat art).

We will catch Unaware, because it is assumed that when jumping we will be alone so that enemies do not catch us, which cancels the effectiveness of Shock. Also, the combat arts that come after the jump will be more effective due to the reduced defence.

Gold:

• Commotion: Chance to stun enemies in the jump's area of effect (20% + 0.2% per combat art level).
• Unbound: chance to escape rooting effects (50% + 0.5% per level of combat art).

In my case I choose Commotion, cause a good stun against a mob of NPC will make the combat shorter and easier.

 

Augmenting Guidon (Regeneration limit: 10-15 sec.)

Bronze:

• Elite: more attack and defence (50%).
• Ensign: increases the area of effect (50%).

We will take Elite, because we won't move much when fighting bosses anyway.

Silver:

• Healing: heal party members within the area of effect (8 / s + 2 / s per level of combat art).
• Tutor: increases the experience gained from enemies within the area of effect (10% + 0.2% per level of combat art).

Here it is a matter of taste. With Healing we heal ourselves and allies in the group, while with Tutor we get all our allies to get more experience. However, as soon as we reach level 200, Tutor is cancelled, so it is more advisable to take Heal.

Gold:

• Fear: reduces the attack of enemies within the area of effect (130 + 1 per level of combat art).
• Leadership: increases the attack and spell speed of friendly units within the area of effect (10% + 0.2% per level of combat art)

We will take Fear, thus reducing the attack of the bosses, which is their strong point, thus making their destruction easier and guaranteeing our own survival.

 

Killing Spree (Regeneration limit: 50-60 sec.)

Bronze:

• Control: increases the attack of the Shadow Warrior (45% + 5% per level of combat art).
• Berserk: the warrior's damage increases when he is injured (100% + 5% per level of combat art).

Almost better to catch Berserk, as it increases the damage more. However, if we combine this with Reflective Emanation it is more difficult to get hit, and therefore Berserk could be rendered useless, so Control is a good option too.

Silver:

• Burst: adds a bonus damage to the discharge (40%).
• Perseverance: prolongs the duration of the kill (50%).

We will take Burst, because we are with the same as with Rousing Command. If we increase the damage before the duration, we shorten our battles.

Gold:

• Sway: increase attack speed (25%).
• Sear: adds fire damage to the discharge (34.3% of base physical damage).

We will take Sway, because with the amount of fire damage we will do with our weapons (and that is recorded in the discharge), the damage we do with burning is ridiculous.

 

Reflective Emanation (buff) (Regeneration limit: 15-20%)

Bronze:

• Tough: adds a chance to return stun effects (20% + 2% per level of combat art).
• Backslash: adds a chance to return ranged attacks (20% + 2% per level of combat art).

Let’s be serious, how many enemies in the game are able to stun you? We will take Backslash, to mitigate the capabilities of the Shadow Warrior, naturally incapacitated for ranged attacks.

Silver:

• Unstoppable: adds a chance to return immobilization effects (20% + 2% per level of combat art).
• Antimagic: adds a chance to return spells (20% + 2% per level of combat art).

We are in the same. How many enemies in the game can immobilize us? We will take Antimagic to definitively forget about enemy spells.

Gold:

• Riposte: adds a chance to increase the damage returned (14% + 1.4% per level of combat art).
• Idol: extends Reflective Emanation to groupmates (50% effective on teammates).

We will take Riposte if we play offline, or Idol if we play online, but undoubtedly it is better to take Idol, because both offline and online is very useful to protect teammates or mission, as they can suffer a slow and painful death if they go kamikaze or if they are too slow. Also, if we follow the colonel variant, Idol is the best to protect our bony friends.

 

ASTRAL LORD

Shadow Veil (Regeneration limit: 10-20%)

Bronze:

• Creep: opponents have to get closer to detect the warrior while the veil is active (100%).
• Avoidance: reduces the effects of spells received (3% + 2% per level of combat art).

We will take Creep, to prevent the Shadow Veil from leaving us when we pass next to the enemies.

Silver:

• Nimble: Increases running speed while the veil is active (10% + 0.2% per level of combat art).
• Fade: increases the undetectability radius when casting spells (50% + 1% per level of combat art).

We will take Fade, because we have to spend fewer runes to achieve greater undetectability, with the consequent saving in money for exchange of runes and in regeneration of combat art.

Gold:

• Sinister Pact: Shadow Veil's effect is permanent (it becomes a buff).
• Shadowmaster: significantly reduces the regeneration of the Shadow Veil (50%).

I do not think it is necessary to tell you which of the two improvements you have to take. But if you ask me it’s sinister pact.

 

To recap, the combat arts will occupy our 4 slots as follows:

 

1st: Combo - Demonic Blow + Frenzied Rampage + Scything Sweep

Combo of the 3 main arts of the warrior, useful for both single enemies and groups.

 

2nd: Combo - Augmenting Guidon + Scything Sweep + Demonic Blow + Frenzied Rampage.

Combo of offensive arts focused on a single target, especially useful for bosses. This combo works by the following system:

1. The Augmenting Guidon reduces the boss's attack, while increasing our attack, our defence and our healing.
2. The Scything Sweep deals damage and accumulates the attack.
3. The attack is released in the Demonic Blow, increasing its effectiveness, and reducing the armour of the boss.
4. Frenzied Rampage, with the enemy's armour broken, is more effective, and deals the most damage possible.

 

3rd: Combo – Belligerent Vault + Scything Sweep + Demonic Blow + Frenzied Rampage.

Combo of offensive arts focused on several enemies, very useful to destroy large groups of enemies. It works by this mechanic:

1. The Belligerent Vault reduces the defence of the group and stuns it.
2. The Scything Sweep damages all enemies it reaches and accumulates the attack.
3. The attack is released in the Demonic Blow, increasing its effectiveness, causing area damage reinforced by the accumulated damage and reduces the armour of the group that receives it.
4. Frenzied Rampage is responsible for cleaning the few enemies that have remained, and is more effective because their armour is under minimal.

 

4th: Combo – Rousing Command + Killing Spree + Augmenting Guidon

Combo to increase the Shadow Warrior's stats and make him ready for combat. Very useful in especially intense combats against bosses. If you follow this combo with the first one the result is simply enjoyable.

 

As for the upgrade slots, the main art you should choose is, of course, Grim Resilience.

Later, with Concentration, you will get a second upgrade slot, which will be occupied by Reflective Emanation, and upon reaching mastery we will get a third upgrade slot, which will be occupied by Shadow Veil when we promote it to buff.

 

5. SETS

Here the choice is simple: the only set that suits our needs is Armantin. It has all we need in terms of stats, and a bunch of sockets to put jewellery or runes to give our shadow warrior the last touch.

 

6. GODS

And to finish with the Shadow Warrior, we have to choose a god. The two best gods are Kuan and Testa. In my case I played with Testa, cause in early levels it can save your character a lot of times. 

 

KUAN

Kuan is the god of war, and as such he likes to see massacres and destruction. With his technique, the Breath of Kuan, we will make the enemies fight each other, particularly useful for those situations in which the enemies outnumber us.

 

TESTA

Testa is the god of science, and that is why he has control over the T energy. With his technique we launch T energy balls that disintegrate the enemy. The balls may take a while, but the results are surprising.

 

7. WARRIOR COLONEL

As there may be people who do not like the Shadow Veil, I have devised this variant: the colonel suppresses the Shadow Veil and replaces it with Nether Allegiance, which extends our fighting power by providing special forces against archers and any other enemies.

Additionally, skeletal lackeys can be used as a shield to regenerate yourself while they are in close quarter combat.

 

Nether Allegiance (Buff) (Regeneration limit: 20-30%)

Bronze:

• Accomplice: Summons another spectral soldier.
• Sharp Blades: Spectral Soldiers deal more damage (over 50%)

The Colonel has a maxim: quality is better than quantity. So, we will take Sharp Blades to make the soldiers even more powerful.

Silver:

• Commander: Summons another spectral soldier.
• Spectral Tower: equip the spectral soldier with improved shield (over 50%)

Following the Colonel's maxim, we will take Spectral Shield, to make the soldiers more resistant.

Gold:

• Balm: Increases the health point regeneration of Spectral Soldiers (50%)
• Elite Equipment: increases the armour of spectral soldiers (7.5% + 5.5% per level of combat art)

We will take Elite Equipment, what interests us about the spectral soldiers is that they endure, not that they heal faster.

 

And with all this, we have two undead warriors coming straight from Hades capable of wreaking havoc wherever they go; We have thus created a true Colonel capable of dealing with any situation as Leonidas did with his 300 Spartans.

8. PROS AND CONS

PROS

• Begginner Friendly
• Good overall damage during all the gameplay, specially at the high levels.
• Good for Boss Clear
• Good Survivality
• When buffs are active you have a VERY good stats
• In high levels not many potions needed
• Good customization thanks to the armantin's 10 gold sockets
• Good customization in the weapon skill choice (swords, pole arms and hafted weapons)

 

CONS

• Very item dependent (you need the full set of armantin and 2 handed weapons with 3-4 sockets for each type of damage)
• Vulnerable to magic till you get the spell resistance mastery (and even you are a bit weak against magic)
• In early game, your hit % is not too good (you have to solve it with inlayed jewels in your equipment)
• Not a high amount of Life Leech (but you can half solve it with inlayed jewels in your gear)
• The gameplay may be boring for some players
• You rely on your hitpoints pool and your armour to survive the fights (cause this build is focused on return hits with Reflective Emanation, so don't expect to evade too much)
• May have problems against ranged enemies, so focus on killing ranged first and then your fight will become straightforward

 

 

CHANGE LOG

• 16/02/2021 - V.1.0 - Full guide posted
• 19/20/2021 - V.1.1 - Pros and cons section added - some minor style changes
• 21/02/2021 - V1.2 - Added the Simple Skillplanner by Tapir to see the mastery levels (Link to the original post)

Edited February 21, 2021 by warpoyo

[SNaKeYGR 1]

How do you "read" the Skill level order ?

For instance : 1    3    0    Astral Lord Lore

What do the numbers on each 3 columns represent ?

Im new to sacred 2 and looking at some builds so sorry for my ignorance.

 

[chattius 2,520]

 

Welcome to the forum. The numbers are from the .xls in the link from the guide I guess. I can only guess because I am not the author of the excel table.

The first number seem to be the skill group and if it is direct choosable or if you have to put 5 points in a skill on the left side.

1/2 combat art skills ----- free/unlock with 5 points into a skill marked with 1

3/4 weapon skills

5/6 defensive skills

7/8 generic skills

[gogoblender 3,068]

On 4/8/2021 at 9:16 AM, SNaKeYGR said:

How do you "read" the Skill level order ?

For instance : 1    3    0    Astral Lord Lore

What do the numbers on each 3 columns represent ?

Im new to sacred 2 and looking at some builds so sorry for my ignorance.

 

Happy to see you've found this game and that you have already met Chattius for some help with your build.   

Welcome to the forums SNaKeYGR!

 

gogo

[warpoyo 22]

On 4/8/2021 at 3:16 PM, SNaKeYGR said:

How do you "read" the Skill level order ?

For instance : 1    3    0    Astral Lord Lore

What do the numbers on each 3 columns represent ?

Im new to sacred 2 and looking at some builds so sorry for my ignorance.

 

To read the skill order just go to the second page of the excel and you will see the skill points form level 1 to 200. It's very easy and straightforward

[gogoblender 3,068]

1 hour ago, warpoyo said:

To read the skill order just go to the second page of the excel and you will see the skill points form level 1 to 200. It's very easy and straightforward

Thank warpoyo!

gogo