Sacred Guide: John K.C: Defence and Physical Regeneration in Sacred

[The Fellowship of DarkMatters 2]

Our sincere thanks to John KC for his permission to bring this wonderfully comprehensive Guide over to The Fellowship of DarkMatters

 

 

 

NOTE: This was lost in the transition to the new forum. I've made some minor changes and added some more info on defense. 18 May 2006, Raptor (Johkc)

 

Regeneration, and the different things that impact it, are complicated issues. Many players do not understand the relationship between Meditation and Mental Regeneration, and Concentration and Physical Regeneration. I’ve been looking at these issues since early 2004, and have created a number of characters with different abilities to better understand that relationship. Let’s start with a definition before we enter the complicated world of regeneration.

My definition of regeneration is as follows:

• “The time it takes for a combat art (CA) or spell to ready itself for the next time you want to use it.”
  

Your CAs/spells are displayed at the right side of the screen in one of those circles you see at the bottom.

 

You select the CA/spell you want to use by left-clicking the corresponding circle, or pushing the matching number key (6-10). You know the CA/spell is active and ready for use when the circle lights up. On the other hand, if the circle remains dark, the CA/spell is not ready because it’s still regenerating, or you may have pushed the wrong circle (or outside it), or there is another reason.

 

The regen time is very important because its length determines when you can use the CA/spell again, and it’s also a deciding factor in what you’re going to do next – stand there and wait, switch to another weapon, or run away. Of course, all this is compressed into a very short time, and in most circumstances it’s measured in seconds and in tenths of seconds. If you have not played Sacred or Underworld much (or not at all, yet), this may be hard to believe, but when adding a rune increases your regen time by one-tenth of a second, or two seconds, or more or less - in the game it can seem like an eternity while you’re waiting to use the CA/Spell again.

 

Increasing or decreasing your regen time depends on a lot of different factors. In some cases, the regen time may not matter to you, as long as you’re aware of the consequences. For example, I have a level 132 WE in HC, with a unicorn that is a level 200 (or level 1000 if you count in increments of five – since one uni rune equals a 5-level increase). The regen time for the uni is about 16-18 minutes. But, the uni can kill dragons in silver, so almost nothing can kill it and it stays with me throughout the game. The regen is completed before I finish playing (unless I play less than 16 minutes, which I don’t), so I really don’t care how long it takes. If my playing takes me to a level where the uni is in danger of dying, I’ll level it up so it stays alive longer (or I have to play without it until the regen is finished). It’s important to me because I like to use the uni as a tank, which is to draw monsters to it while I stand back and shoot them.

 

I’ll discuss a number of different issues that are tied to the subject of regeneration such as runes, skills, abilities, and others – all these play a role in, and can affect, regen times.

 

When you are ready to add a CA or spell for your character to use, you do this one of two ways. One, you “read” it - or as some people call it, you “eat it; or two, you socket it. The first one you do by right clicking on the rune while it is in your personal inventory. The second one the smith does (unless you’re a dwarf, then you can do it yourself if you have the Forge skill). You take the rune and item with the socket to the smith and click on him. Put the item with the socket in the square at the far left. Below the socketed item, a number of small circles show up (the same number as the number of sockets the item has). Grab the rune with the cursor and put it in the circle (in the left circle if there is more than one – if you put it in any other circle and leave the rest empty, the game will move it into the left circle when you pay for the action).

• 
  
• Note: If you have two or more sockets: When you go back to the smith at a later time to remove the items from the sockets, you are allowed to keep only ONE of the socketed items (rune, ring, amulet, etc.) The others disappear. I recommend that you put the most important item in the socket furthest to the left, then the next important item in the second socket, next in the third, last in the fourth socket. Keep doing this throughout the game with all socketed items, and it will be easier to decide/remember which item to keep.
  

After you put the item in the circle, click on the circle to the left of the smith’s picture to finish the action. The price that the smith charges is displayed there as well – nothing in life is free.

• 
  
• Note: Below the smith’s picture are three little circles. The top left one increases all damage and also increases attack by a certain percentage (%). The top right one increases your character’s resistance. The bottom circle increases physical; fire, magic, and poison spell damage and adds to Mental Regen. Left clicking on the circle you want will put a little disk on your cursor. Move the cursor and put the disk in the socket by left clicking on it. Then, when finished, you pay for the action. Early in the game, some characters are weak because of a low defense and/or resistance. Here you can increase these areas until you find better equipment.
  

Now, when you equip your character with the equipment or weapon, you have a level one CA/spell (and the action displayed on the little disks, if you added any, will kick in). When you put your cursor over the circle at the bottom right of the screen (where the spell is displayed), you’ll see the details such as the name, the regen and/or duration times listed there in seconds (remember that each time you add a rune, the regen increases – until you take action to reduce the time). Some CAs/spells also have a duration in addition to regen, and this also increases as you read/eat or socket more runes. NOTE: Normally, you’ll have to read/eat at least one rune to “learn” the CA/spell. Counting this rune plus the one that is socketed would give you a level two CA/spell.

 

This would be a good time to discuss “duration.”

 

Duration is similar to regen - it is the length a CA/spell is active (ready to use, I guess, is the best explanation of duration). For example, some CAs/Spells have an animation sequence prior to using it – the length the CA/spell is ready for use is called duration. Then, when you use the CA/spell, the regen time kicks in – if there is one. Let me try to explain the differences in a more understandable way:

1. 
   
   
2. I have a seraphim with a level 10 Lightning Bolt spell. I left click on the circle (at the bottom right of the screen) to select the spell (or use the corresponding number). Next, I target an enemy/monster by running my cursor over it, and then right click my mouse; the lightning bolt comes down from the sky and kills or injures the enemy. After the regen (1.5 seconds) is completed, I can repeat this action. There is only one issue here you have to think about, and that is the regen time between individual shots, but as long as you fight your battles smartly and deal with it, you can use the spell over and over again. The spell doesn’t have a duration, in other words, you can use it continuously.
    
    
   
   
3. My seraphim also has a level 25 Rotating Blades of Light spell with a 69 second duration. This is a defensive spell and puts a shield of rotating lights around her that damages any enemies that come to close to her. I left click on the circle to select the spell (or use the key board), and then I right click to activate it. My seraphim goes through an animation sequence, and then the rotating blades show up on the screen. The duration of the spell is shown on the circle and is visible when you click on it to select it or when you put your cursor over it. The only – primary – issue here is duration. After 69 seconds, the spell “goes out” – inactivates – and you have to right click again to activate it. As you read/eat/socket more runes and increase the level of the spell, the damage that the blades do increases, and the duration also increases. Be careful to keep the regeneration time below (lower than) the duration time. If you don’t you will have to wait for the regeneration to finish before you can select and use it again. Another important issue to remember is to not right click to activate the spell near any monster(s) because they can attack you during the animation sequence.
    
    
   
   
4. The third spell my seraphim has is a level 3 Energy Bolts spell. It is an offensive spell, and when active/ready allows her to shoot energy bolts from her hands at the enemy. Selecting the spell is the same as discussed earlier. When ready, right click to activate the spell – there is a short animation sequence by the seraphim, then left click to shoot the bolts. Bolts shoot as fast as you can left click, and you can click until the enemy is dead or injured, OR the spell duration ends. It’s like an Uzi with a magazine that lasts 31 seconds (duration) instead of having a certain number of bullets. The spell itself has a 12.2 second regen (before you have another 31-second duration of shooting). This spell has a duration and regen time, but there is no individual regen time (after each mouse click, like the first spell), but you’re only concerned with the duration. The reason is – it allows you to have very powerful CAs/spells with very little or no drawback or penalty.
    
    
   
   
5. 7 Jan 2006: While playing my level 52 energy daemon (and also battle daemon) today, I noticed a fourth instance of regen. The energy spell has an animation with a 7.5 second regen, a 64 second duration, and a 2.5 second regen after each shot. So, it’s like this: a. Animation and 7.5 second regen for the spell itself; b. a 64 second duration for the spell; c. and then a 2.5 second regen between shots. I would love to play an energy daemon who uses no other spells/CAs, however the slowness of the regen between shots, although only 2.5 seconds, is too slow for enjoyable play and does not allow for first-kill shots (or heavy damage that slows a monsters) unless you play in an area where all the monsters have gray circles around their feet. In the higher levels, you cannot wait 2.5 seconds to shoot another set of energy bolts, because while you’re waiting for the regen time to pass, monsters will be attacking you (and you can die).
   

There are several ways you can reduce regen time (remember, duration is good for some CAs/Spells and you’d want this to go up in some instances). One is by adding points to certain skills and abilities, and these differ for CAs and spells. If you don’t know the difference, your regen time may never go down; you may have spent precious points on the wrong skills and/or abilities, and you may have to start your character over. I remember one case in 2004 that was discussed on the forum where a player waited till his character was a level 35 before asking about this. As it turned out, he had assigned all his points to the wrong areas and had a totally useless character, and he had to start over again. To make things worse, he couldn’t mule his weapons/armor and other stuff to his new character, so he also lost all that equipment, extra runes, etc.

 

RS and RSM:

 

Another way to reduce regen time is by wearing weapons, armor, rings, and amulets with two different, but special skills and abilities printed on them. In some cases, you can reduce your regen time by a high amount of time. Of course, the reduction is relative to the overall time. What I mean is if you have a 10-second regen time, a one-second reduction may not do anything for your game. But, if you have a 2-second regen time, a one-second reduction will have an immediate and drastic impact on your game. At times, you can use these items instead of using your points, and then you can spend your points on other skills/abilities such as Constitution – which increases your health much more than Strength. One word of caution: I recommend that you don’t replace all your weapons and armor with RS/RSM (whichever is appropriate). The reason is because you’ll have to replace these items sooner or later (probably sooner), and if you’ve grown to depend on the low regen time, you’re in for a tough time when you have to play with higher regen times. This is especially true if you have some items with very large percentages. If the regen is very large, and you have to switch several items, you may add back 4, 5, or more seconds to your regen time, and that means you may not survive the next battle.

 

Here are the two special skills that can reduce your regen:

• a. RS: Regeneration Spells: + XX%, and
   
  
• b. RSM: Regeneration Special Move: + XX%
   
   
  
• (where XX is a number expressed in a “percentage” and is listed on the armor, ring, amulet, etc. For example: Regeneration Spells + 10%, or Regeneration Special Moves + 29%). The higher the percentage, the more it will reduce your regen time. In addition, the percentages are cumulative (they stack on top of each other), meaning they are all added together to affect the regen time.
  

Remember the following:

• a. Regeneration Spells: Reduces regen times for SPELLS only.
   
  
• b. Regeneration Special Move: Reduces regen times for COMBAT ARTS (or equivalent terms) only.
  

• NOTE: What I normally try to do is if I find a one-socket item like gauntlets or boots (or even without a socket), and if it has a very large Regeneration Spells or Regeneration Special Move percentage, I will keep wearing those gauntlets until something better comes along, I.e., a higher percentage – not necessarily a higher level gauntlet or boot. I don’t mind if I miss one socket in exchange for a .5 or even a 1 second reduction in regen time. On the other equipment I try not to go higher than 10%, that way regen time usually doesn’t change by more than .1 second. (I was not able to follow this advice on my WE who is discussed in the next paragraph.)
  

I’ve never seen any exact numbers in regard to the percentages (Ascaron has never released an official guide that discusses these issues), but here’s an example of how this can affect your regen time. I have a level 86 WE who has three pieces of armor, with 30%, 50%, and 69% Regeneration Special Move (Her CA is Multi-Hit (MH)). The regen time change when I removed one piece of the equipment was as follows:

 

• 30% - from 1.2 to 1.5 seconds + .3 seconds.
  
• 50% - from 1.2 to 1.6 seconds + .4 seconds.
  
• 69% - from 1.2 to 1.9 seconds + .7 seconds.
  

Believe me when I state that even the lowest change - .3 seconds – is something you will notice in the game, and you will have to change your tactics because of it.

 

Other skills and abilities that affect regen(eration) rates:

 

For all characters using Combat Arts (CAs) as their primary weapon, you must take:

• 
  
• Skill: Concentration
  
  
• Ability: Physical Regeneration
  

For all characters using spells as their primary weapon, you must take:

• 
  
• Skill: Meditation
  
• Ability: Mental Regeneration
  

Assigning points to skills/abilities of the opposite class will not work and is totally useless. In other words, if you are using CAs, do not assign points to mental regen. Or if you’re using spells, do not assign points to physical regen.

Here’s some more information that should help:

• Concentration: Increases regeneration rates of combat techniques. (CAs). (not spells)
  Physical Regeneration: Accelerates health recovery and the recovery of non-magical combat arts. (CAs). Magic is for spells, therefore “non-magical” is CAs.
   
  
• Meditation: Increases the regeneration rates of magical spells. (Spells). Not CAs.
  Mental Regeneration: High mental regeneration shortens spell regeneration periods. (Spells). Not CAs.
  

Now, in addition to the above skills, there is at least one additional skill you may have to take to make this work, but that skill is different for each character and you’ll have to look it up (also see note below). I think most or all spell-based characters have to take an additional skill, while some CA-based can get by with just concentration. The reason is that the combination of either one or two skills and one ability are connected to each other and work together to reduce regen times. For example, the WE should take Constitution if you have a WE who uses CAs (in other words, not a magic or spell-based WE). If you do, move your cursor over the “+” sign to the right of the word “Constitution.” When you do you’ll see percentages that are added to physical regen and health. At level 63, 165% is added to physical regen; 143% is added to health. Physical Regen, as stated above, helps with non-magical combat arts recovery. Another example is a spell-based Battle Mage (BM) who has to take one of the magic lores in addition to meditation.

• NOTE: Some characters do not deal with the standard terms. For example, dwarfs use dwarven technology and combat arts; daemons have transformations and hell magic; BMs have Fire/Earth/Air/Water and Life Magics; DEs have Special Moves and Traps – but all these translate into Combat Arts (CAs) and Spells, and either RSM or RS will work with one or the other.
   
   
  
• NOTE: If your primary offense is based on CAs, you can still use spells, or vice versa, but you either have to split your skill and ability points, or deal with increased regen in everything. The exception is if you use a spell and the duration or regen doesn’t matter to you. This is what I discussed earlier about my WE. Her MH is a Combat Art – CA – the uni is a spell. Obviously, using spells and CAs and splitting points will build a weak(er) character than if you use points to support either only a CA-based OR spell-based character.
   
   
  
• NOTE: One other thing to remember: As long as the duration is longer than the regeneration, you will always be able to use it immediately (except for a short time to “re-activate” it). For example, if you have a spell with a 30 second duration, but a 20 second regeneration, that means the spell is ready to be “activated” again 10 seconds prior to running out or ending. If this is reversed, and the spell has a 20 second duration and 30-second regeneration, it means that when the spell ends/runs out, you have to wait 10 seconds before you can use it again. You can die numerous times in 10 seconds, believe me. If it’s possible, what you want to do in this case is read/eat the rune(s) instead of socketing them. That’s what my seraphim does with the Rotating Blades of Light spell, she reads/eats every rune – because it only affects duration, not regen time, and once the spell is running, it takes 69 seconds before it stops and has to be started again, and that time continues to increase (same for my WE uni spell).
  

• A Note and Credit: In early 2004, I remember several discussions that stated that eating or reading a rune would increase regen by one second, while socketing a rune would only increase regen by 1/3rd second. A few months ago, I read in the forum that there had been a change, and socketing a rune would now increase regen by ½ a second. I do not remember who made those statements, so I cannot give credit to anyone for that – I apologize, but I didn’t know then that I would be writing this. Also, I have not seen anything official from Ascaron that confirms or denies that. I do know if you add a rune, either through socketing or eating/reading it, the regen time increases by various times. However, I have seen some very low increases/decreases. As discussed below, my WE’s level 40 MH has a 1.3 regen time. I removed a ring with a +3 to MH, and the time didn’t change. It wasn’t until I removed a second +3 MH ring that the time dropped to 1.2. When I reversed the process, the regen time increased back from 1.2 to 1.3 when I added the 6 levels MH. But, early in the game you certainly won’t see numbers that low. The changes are related to the total level of the CA – the higher the level, the more runes you have to add/remove to see a change in regen time. In other words, in this case the regen time is spread over 40 levels, and removing or adding three runes is not going to impact a 1.3 second regen time.
  

Early on, many characters are hard to get going. Socketing/reading/eating runes will increase your regen times and you will have to adjust the way you play the game – be a wuss, back up, etc. As you increase in levels, your life increases, and so do the other skills and abilities, and as a result, your regen time decreases – even if you don’t add points to your skills and abilities – because when you go up a level your skills/abilities are increased automatically by certain percentages/numbers. So, as time goes by, it will become easier. Much later in the game, you will start finding rings, amulets, weapons, and armor with numbers that increase your CAs/spells. My WE has found some armor pieces that add 8 or 9 points to Multi-Hit (MH), her primary CA. She also has a bow with four sockets, and each socket has a ring with Multi-Hit +2 (+8 total). Also, WE have 4 slots for rings and each one of her slots has a ring that has +4 to MH (+16 total) in them. For those who want to know more about her, she has a level 40 MH, with a 1.3 second regen time, each volley (right click) fires 5 arrows, each arrow does @ 17,000 points damage. Please don’t think the game is easy for her because some of those little goblins outside Silver Creek have 90,000 (or more) hit points, so it’s not as if she rules the game. It used to be a little easier, but after MH was nerfed, not every arrow hits an enemy now, so it takes more hits/volleys to kill them. She also has a 30% life leach, and since that percentage is “per arrow,” she doesn’t use health potions since she leaches 5 arrows X 30% = 150% life, each volley. Another WE I have in UW has a level 64 MH with a 0.9 second regen time.

 

Anyway, when you get that high in the game, the entire socketing process changes because when you get rings or equipment that add high numbers to your CA, you can remove some of those runes from their sockets and replace them with rings to increase your damage, with amulets to increase your defensive or resistance level, or with rings/amulets that increase your CAs/spells (to make this more understandable, lets say you have 8 runes socketed for a level 8 CA. Then, you find a ring with +4 to your CA. You could remove 4 runes and insert the ring, leaving you 3 sockets for other rings/amulets, etc.). Another nice ring/amulet to socket is one that adds a percentage to experience. From what I’ve read, this is a must once you get to higher levels because it becomes harder to level up as you go deeper into the game.

 

Selecting Skills:

• As you level up, you are given additional skill points – a total of six – one each at level 3, level 6, level 12, level 20, level 30, and level 50. When you have decided to take an extra skill you have to push the “+” symbol to the right of that skill. Be very careful what skill you select, because when you click on the + symbol, that skill becomes one of your skills, and that point is gone. There is no going back when you suddenly decide you either selected the wrong skill for your character, or you moved the mouse and clicked on the wrong + symbol (the only way you can get around that is if you are playing a local game – which is saved on your hard drive. In that case, restore the game and do it again. However, since you are playing on-line (I hope you are), that’s not an option, and a wrong selection is irreversible. One more warning. I used to go up in level and keep my skill points, and select most of my skills at a later time. However, the number of new skills shown in the window is limited by the size of the window. If you do not take your skill points in a timely manner, you may find that you cannot take a skill you want because so many new skills have been added to the skill window that the one skill you want may have been pushed “outside” the skill window (the list of new skills that are on the list is longer than the number that can be displayed).
  

Another issue with skill selection is whether or not you really need a skill or not. Let’s take my WE, for example. One skill that’s available to her is Ranged Combat.

 

And here is the definition of Ranged Combat:

 

“Ranged Combat improves attack effectiveness and speed when using ranged weapons.”

However, when my WE goes into battle she always uses her MH CA. When you use a CA for battle, attack effectiveness and speed are at its highest level, so why select a skill and put additional points in that? Those points can be used much better by increasing damage or constitution. So, take your time and select your skills wisely.

• NOTE: I was re-reading this a few days after I wrote it and I was tweaking some areas, and that turned out to be good because I want to delve into this area a little deeper. About 2 weeks ago I took my level 86 WE up to gold (she’s a level 95 now) and cautiously started to explore Bellevue and the surrounding areas. All the enemies had red circles around their feet, and the experience points I was getting were very good. Yesterday I met a player in gold – a level 119 character – who dumped a lot of equipment/items on the island for those who were already there to choose from (more on this later). I got into a discussion with him (male character) and he said something like, “As a WE, you have to take ranged combat (RC). How can you be a ranger if you don’t?” He also said that you can’t get a bow unless you have that skill. Since you are limited to one line of words in the game at the time, I couldn’t get into a lengthy discussion with him, so I decided to look at this again. I grabbed myself a cup of coffee, called my character’s horse for faster transportation, and started running around between the merchants on the island, upstairs in Bellevue, and the merchant next to the portal in Braverock. Initially, each merchant showed a lot of bows as red since I don’t have RC, making me think he may be right. But just about that time one of the merchants showed me 12 bows – none red – meaning you don’t need RC to use them. So, since the wares a merchant shows are randomly selected, it all depends on luck, and I’ve seen good and bad bows that either require or don’t require RC. I don’t have an answer for his second statement, but I certainly don’t agree with him that you need RC to be a WE. One more thing on this subject. One bow showed a +5 to a seraphim skill, but required 33 points RC. First of all, a seraphim doesn’t get RC until level 20. Second, I can think of a lot better places to stick 33 points than in RC just so I can have +5 to one of my skills. Actually, you could take the 33 points you’re supposed to add to RC, remove 5 points to increase that skill, and still have 28 points you can add to other areas. My WE found a bow this morning that had +8 to MH and also had two sockets, better than the 3-socket bow she was using (or the 4-socket bow in her chest).
  

Added on 18 May 2006: I highly recommend the Ettol'Rahc bow (the name maybe mispelled here) for any character using ranged weapons, wether it's a WE or another toon. The reason is when you insert the 3 rings that belong in the sockets of the bow, you receive several bonuses. One bonus reduces all monsters' defenses by 66% - this is an excellent bonus and will really help you in the game.

 

Now on to some other areas I’d like to discuss:

• Equipment dumping on the island.
   
  
• If you’re new and you see this happening (mostly in HC), what’s going on is that players save special (gold, yellow, set) items we don’t need – stick them in our chest. When your chest is full, and if there are enough players on your server, we remove the items and dump them on the ground – AND make sure you tell all the other players. It’s a good way to share with your friends and fellow players, and they may find an item or weapon they have been looking for. However, there are some rules for this.
  

• 1. You thank the player.
  
• 2. If you have anything you’re keeping in your chest, now is a good time to dump it.
  
• 3. You don’t rush in, pick stuff up and run to the merchant and sell it.
  
• 3a. You don’t rush in, pick stuff up, and stick it in your chest so you can sell it later.
  
• 4. Take your time, look at things, and if you can’t use them PUT THEM BACK ON THE GROUND. That way others may look at them and use them.
  
• 5. DON”T BE RUDE. If you can’t be nice and behave like a normal human being, leave the server. DON’T BE A PIG!
  
• 6. Most of the players in HC don’t trade. If we can help someone, we will give the item, money, weapon, etc., with the understanding if next time they need help, you will do the same.
  

Now, here’s another subject that is very dear to my heart, and certainly is to most other players, and it relates to the previous subject.

 

SOME DOES AND DON’TS OF PLAYING SACRED.

• 1. DO say Hi and Bye when you enter or leave a server.
   
   
  
• 2. DON’T start a game by asking the other players for gold. If you don’t have enough gold, do the Braverock run.
   
   
  
• 3. DO offer to help others, especially if they are a much lower level than you are.
   
   
  
• 4. DON’T start a game by asking for armor, weapons, etc. If you can’t take the time to get your own, why are you playing?
   
   
  
• 5. DO thank others players if they offer help, money or equipment. In case your parents didn’t teach you – not doing so is RUDE.
   
   
  
• 6. If you are playing with a group/party, DON’T run in and start grabbing items after a high-level enemy is killed. This is especially important if you are a lower level player who is in the party to level up. AND, this is especially a NO-NO if you didn’t contribute anything – like killing the enemy.
   
   
  
• 7. DO wait for the higher-level players to offer you something from the drop. Other players will appreciate you for doing that. Word will spread about you, and you’ll find it easier in the long run to party with others.
   
   
  
• 8. The most important thing – something I learned from my military service: LEAD BY EXAMPLE. What I mean by that is if you’re a rude pig, your buddy who is playing the game for the first time will think that’s normal behavior and do the same thing. Let me tell you, nothing is more irritating if you’re a level 100 to see a level 20 player start grabbing items. If you deserve anything, they’ll give it to you. If they don’t give you anything, you’ve either exhibited some rude behavior, or they are rude themselves – but that’s not a reason to join them in rude behavior.
   
   
  
• 9. DON’T forget about the lower-level player who is partying with you to level up. This is also very rude.
  

There are some other rules I could add if I took the time to think about them, but this is enough to get you started along the road of a well-liked player with whom it is fun to party. Word of your anti-social behavior will spread in the player community, and you don’t want to have a reputation that precedes you.

 

Another thing I’d like to discuss is a question that I see repeatedly on the forum:

 

SHOULD I TAKE TRADING?

 

Usually, a lot of people answer the question, and everyone has an opinion – mostly different.

 

If you’re interested in getting better equipment and weapons you must shop at the merchants in the game, and I’m not talking about a single visit once a week. You cannot rely on the game dropping better equipment and weapons. Those of us who are serious players usually shop at Braverock Castle – go to the market and do the quest next to the merchant already there. When you talk to the quest-giver again the quest is completed, and he turns into another merchant. Position your character in-between the two merchants and shop as long as you want (you have to move your character occasionally – the game will warn you to do that otherwise it will kick you out). Merchants change their inventory when you click on another merchant.

 

Anyway, the question was asked once in early 2004, and one of Ascarons’ forum moderators stated that the level of your character and your character’s trade level determines the level and quality of the items merchants offer for sale. He also said this was told to him by one of the people who knows how the game works. So, the higher your trade level, the better the items are (more sockets, more damage, higher level, etc.) One way to get better items earlier in the game is by fooling the game into thinking that your trade level is higher than it really is. NOTE: This is not my idea, but I don’t remember who mentioned that first on the forum – if you know, please e-mail me so I can give credit for this. I have done that and I have seen an increase in quality – so I believe Trading is a must (although I’m not sure if this holds true for all characters. I’ve played every character except a vamp, and I’ve seen some interesting items for sale, and some characters didn’t get very good equipment.) I believe that a character that can get the trading skill early in the game should take it because he will probably not get a lot of good equipment otherwise, whereas a character that gets trading later in the game will probably be compensated by the game with better equipment early. One reason I say this is because I just recently started to play a seraphim which doesn’t get trading till level 50, and she has seen and purchased more items with three and four sockets than any of my other characters – not absolute proof, but pretty convincing in my mind. The way to fool the game is to save, for example, rings and amulets that add To Trading: +1 (the number can be higher) or a ring that has To All Skills: +1 (or a higher number) because that also increases your trade skill/level. When you go shopping, put the rings in the character’s ring or amulet slots (make sure to replace them again before you go fighting). If you only have a few, I don’t think it makes a lot of difference. But if you see those rings, amulets (and other items), purchase and save them. What I do is I keep an armor piece with 4 sockets (and preferable a piece that has +1 to trading or +1 to all skills), and then socket four rings/amulets that increase the trade skill. Do the same with the helmet, bracers, weapons, etc. My much discussed WE has a weapon that adds To All Skills: +7 and has 4 rings socketed in the body armor that each adds +1 to trading, and the armor has +1 to trading. I have also boots, gauntlets, greaves, helmet, etc. with rings/amulets that increase trading. She has a complete outfit in the chest that I keep just to do some serious shopping – it adds +23 to trading and I definitely see better items when I shop with it. NOTE: Since I originally wrote this, she has obtained 5 amulets with +5 to trading, pushing her overall trade level even higher, and she’s now seeing rings and amulets with added percentages for experience, LL, trading, etc. Needless to say I’m convinced trading is a MUST HAVE skill.

 

DEFENSE OR RESISTANCE

 

I wanted to write a paper on defense and asked for inputs in the forum. The only person who wrote was Obsession. I asked him his thoughts and this is what he said:

• “High defence is better than high resistances, because if you don't get that much
  hits, you don't need much resistances to lower the amount of damage. Downside
  is when those creatures finaly hits you, it's bigger damage than whit high resis-
  tances. Resistances are better if you are planing to take a lot of beating (if your
  characters killing speed is low).”
  

The reason this subject was of such interest to me was because I’ve been playing Sacred for over one and a half years, and always looked at resistance only. Whenever I purchased or found new armor, I would use it if my resistance increased. It wasn’t until October 2005 when I noticed “defense” on one item and I became curious about it – only because I wanted to know what it would do if used properly. To my surprise my characters lasted longer, required less health pots, and it was a please to play the game since I no longer had to run away during attacks.

 

Now that I’m paying attention to defense, and try to purchase items with good defense and resistance (to get a more balanced character), it is becoming really complicated when to change armor, ammys, etc. The reason is that there are so many requirements for a new item, and if you want all areas to be good (or improve over what you currently have), it is very hard. Here’s what I look at in new equipment.

• 1. Number of sockets. I usually do not select/use equipment with a lower number of sockets – UNLESS the item has a high + XX to my CA/Spell. For example, my WE found some armor with + 8 to MH. In this case, losing one or more sockets is not a problem because the +8 makes up for it.
   
   
  
• 2. RS or RSM. As discussed earlier, this can make a huge difference in your game, and to the way you play. Losing RS/RSM is not an option – I will keep the equipment till I find something better in all areas – unless the change in RS/RSM is only one or two percent.
   
   
  
• 3. Resistance.
   
   
  
• 4. Defense.
   
  I talked to Obsession about my requirements for equipment, and this was his input:
   
   
  
• “I never bother looking defence or resistances on items as you can allways buy
  defence ammys where you can get defence and resistances at same time.”
  

I have to disagree with Obsession on this. I now select/use equipment with high defense and resistance readings. Then, I buy ammys with a high defense and resistance. If you look at an ammy it will either provide a number resistance only; a number of resistance and attack; resistance and defense, etc. I take the ammys that have resistance and defense, and watch my characters shine when fighting monster. Recently, I visited the Valley of Tears (VoT) for the first time while partying with another person. After killing about 1/3 of the monsters, the other player suddenly disappeared, appearing again a few minutes later stating, “I ran out of health pots.” My character had 4 LL runes, and I had not used any health pots by then. Eventually I had to use some, but not as many as I thought I would. I credit this mainly to my character’s defense and resistance. My character (level 54 daemon) had over 1200 points defense and over 1400 points resistance. By the time we finished VoT, the other person had to go back 2 or 3 times to buy more health pots. Talking about VoT – that’s an awesome area. Take plenty of mentor potions, and be careful. The monsters are big (size), they attack in groups, and are not easily killed. Especially those Sakkara things at the end. WOW! Anyway, ammys with defense listed are very helpfull especially since the the defense level on the ammy is not added as a straight number, but with a formula applied. My gladitor (level 108) has an ammy with a defensive level of 130, but when you look at the block where Defense is listed, it goes up over 400 levels when the ammy is worn. So, it's like an almost 3 to 1 increase for each level of defense.

 

 

Added on 18 May 2006: There are also some other ways you can boost your defense. There are additional skills and spells that are very good in providing additional levels of defense. One skill often overlooked is Agility. My level 108 gladiator has his Agility only up to level 56, but even then Attack is increased by 130%, and defense is increased by 235%. Add an Heroic Courage (HC) spell to that at level 93, this provides an additional boost to attack of 191% and defensive of 191%. Altogether, his defense is at level 4557, and with HC turned it it goes to level 15, 432 - that's a very good defense considering if I had been investing runes and points in these skills sooner, his defense would have been over level 20,000 or higher. Of course as a character that mainly uses melee, he definitely needs such a high level of defense.

Sets: Sets are green items, and are named with an overall name for the entire set, and then a sub-name for each individual item. Looking at my 8 characters, I noticed they don’t wear a lot of set items. In my opinion (at least for me) the reason is that most set items have one really good statistic (like 4 sockets or a high number of + XX to CA/Spell or RS/RSM) but the other 3 areas are usually worse than what you already have. Most of the time the other special items are better. When you wear all the pieces of a set (green items), you will get a bonus (usually the bonus starts when you are wearing two pieces of a set and increases with each added piece of the set that you wear). Some of the bonuses are very nice, so you have to decided whether or not the bonus is worth wearing a set. I have one character that wears a complete set, she's my level 106 seraphim. She uses lightning bolt as her main offensive weapon, and the set she's wearing provides a 20 or 30 level increase in lightning bolt. That's the only reason she's wearing the completed set, and I may change it know that I'm more familiar with defense and regen.

 

As we say in HC when we leave a server: “Stay safe.”

• NOTE: This paper was written by Raptor, member of the Sacred Forum. You can reach me at:
   
  flyraptor01@hotmail.com
  

This paper may be distributed in part or its entirety, as long as the appropriate credit is given to the writer. If you have questions or comments, please e-mail me at that e-mail address instead of sending me a PM in the forum.

 

Enjoy the game, I really like it and I’m looking forward to Sacred II.

__________________

Formerly posted as Quattro