rhs408

If you are just starting out then you will benefit greatly from getting EP and Bargaining early, although Bargaining won't help you much on your first playthrough since you won't have the gold to buy all the good items available at merchants (on the second or third playthrough you'll likely have some decent gear in your hero chest that you can sell for that much needed early game gold). I would get EP early (second or 3rd skill choice), and also Armor Lore early. Bargaining you can get later on (7th or 8th skill choice at the earliest), but you should probably get one more defensive skill first (Constitution or Warding energy) since you will likely still have below average gear at this point unless someone is helping you out.

Here's one spot from top of my head (in the bandit camp near the river, behind a tent). There's also one near the bridge (north-west of it) in the jungle. There should also be one on the edge of the dock, easily accessible via the Na'Fian portal. All of them should always drop yellows. 2 for 2 so far at the dock in Na'Fian, got a nice run speed w/ spell intensity ring the last time. I'll assume the others always drop yellows/rares as well. I like it.

RpH works fine on console, don't need the expansion...?

A "bug" that has always annoyed me: every now and then when you get hit, your character will say something like "I need better protection against physical damage." Or ice damage, or fire damage, etc. The bug is that the damage type that your character says you need better protection against has nothing to do with the damage type of the monster that is hitting you. It is based entirely on the damage type of the weapon that you are wielding. For example If you are using a weapon with 55% fire damage and 45% physical, it will say "I need better protection against fire-based damage," regardless of the monster that is hitting you. This is on PS3, not sure about XBOX and PC.

Hmm I see... interesting. So it sounds like the difference from sword to dagger is the base attack speed then. Therefore, weilding a dagger at 100% attack speed would be about equal to swinging a sword at 125% attack speed, correct? I am seeing the usefulness in daggers now... going to have to try some sort of dagger build soon!

This reminds me, I was going to make a topic regarding the usefulness of daggers (or actually the lack thereof). I could never understand what the point would be in even using a dagger since they have such pitiful base damage. But let me try to understand the +25% attack speed a bit better... would this also apply when your attack speed is already maxed out at 150%? Let's say I have 150% attack speed when I have a two hand sword equipped, would I essentially get 175% if I switched to a dagger? Or would 150% still be the cap?

Hmm + all combat arts always worked for me, just recently was using Chestplate of Solitare for a while, when I eventually switched to something better noticed that all of my Combat Arts went down and had a lot of work to do as far as reading runes. Using the patched version. But what I have noticed does NOT work is Combat Art Skills + x. It does raise the focus and lore skills, but does not raise the others such as Combat Discipline or Concentration.

Loco, thanks. Can anyone confirm for a fact that Sword Weapons skill does mod the guitars? I'm not sure how to tell objectively, since I've already got three blacksmith's art weal attack bonus runes in all the slots. You can confirm it on your own by checking what your current attack speed % is on the Overview screen when you equip/unequip the guitar. When you start out at level 1, with no items or skills, your Attack Speed will be at exactly 100%. When you learn the Sword Weapons skill and then equip a sword, you will see the Attack Speed % increase. If the weapon is not a sword, you will not see this increase when you equip the weapon. It can be a little more tricky if you have both Hafted Weapons and Sword Weapons skills learned (which sounds like is the case for you). Assuming that both skills are not at the same level, you should see a difference in attack speed % on the Overview screen when you switch between the guitar and another hafted weapon (which would confirm for you that the guitar is in fact a sword and not hafted weapon).

I'm almost positive that I've found Ileias's Dirk in many areas (including desert and swamp), I think I've gotten more of those than any other unique (hard to say though since I immediately scrap them as soon as I see it in my inventory nowadays). Do you happen to remember if you got your Lord Wayne's from the same area or in different areas? You're pretty much the first person to label what most of us would regard as a "rare" unique as a "common," so I'm very interested as to where you found all of them. I often wonder if every monster has at least one "rare drop" unique that only drops from that particular monster. If every monster had that one rare drop, it would make sense that some uniques are so much harder to find than others, and I believe the numbers would add up pretty good (there are about 30-40 different monsters in the game and about 30-40 rare uniques?). But if Barristan says he got his Lord Wayne's from many different areas it would contradict that. I apologize for not having more concrete data of my own to offer... for example a couple days ago a quetzal's First Strike and Uruk's Destiny both dropped for me for the very first time, both within about 15 minutes of each other. Not only do I not know what monsters dropped them but I can't even remember what region they dropped in... But what I do know is that I was in an area that I have been to many, many times (I wasn't doing any sorty of exploring, just farming mobs). Why would I never have gotten either of those two items before in an area that I kill monsters in frequently?

I know that it is quite clear that different monsetrs have different drop lists in that you will never find armor, weapons, or uniquies from rats or rat champions but you can from an orc champion, but I don't think there is a difference in drop lists between say an orc champion and an olm champion. Or blood dyrad champion. Or dragon champion. They seem to all follow the "standard" drop list. Has anyone been able to see differences in the game coding as far as what monsters drop what items? Damage modifer items (ice crystal, poison fang, etc.) and trophies always tend to drop only from certain monsters - always get a lava chunk or two when on Seraphim Island. I remember reading a thread here once where gogo was trying to get data from users for what items had been dropped in what areas and from what monsters, but it never really gained much steam. Many uniques I've found in different areas all over the map, same with sets. Not able to confirm that any one of them drops only in a certain area. Anyone else?

Hmm the links aren't working for me, getting a "502 Bad Gateway" error message. I think I can find the first and third of those though, I'll check them out.

Cheers. This topic reminds me a lot of the faster kill = better drops discussion... I remember in my early playing days, in the two caves just north of Clearview, I found one set item in a chest in each cave. Extremely stoked, I immediately thought of those caves to be "lucky" caves. Since then I've probably been back to those caves 15-20 times on other characters (I often bee-lined to those caves early on thinking I'd nab a good item), haven't found a unique or set again, nor any other memorable item. It's all just luck/coincedence with what comes out of the chests, same with what drops from monsters. JMHO. Can you give us any examples? I've yet to find any spot that always drops the same quality of item every time. The only thing I have noticed is that you will never find an armor piece (excluding jewelry) or weapon from a vase. Magical Hiding Places and Chests seem to give pretty much anything.

Oops sorry for the Ice and Blood items in there. Orc Shocks I have also found a lot of. Sword of the Blood Dryads I've definitely gotten at least 10 of, does not seem rare at all. Have only found one Flame Smiter, Lord Wayne's Playerkiller, Executioner's Axe, Pyx's Cudget of Admonishment, Serpent's Tongue, and Rancuil's Dark Flame - these are probably in the same category as the others in my "rare" list.

I am trying to confirm what I think I already know - that some unique items are much, much more difficult to find than others. I'm mainly referring to weapons here, although I have noticed the same trend with jewelry. For example, these uniques drop quite commonly. I've probably gotten at least 10 of each of these through all my playing: Pirita's Bone Staff Ignius Magica Cordell's Javelin of War Cheops' Eye Ileias' Dirk Ancrid's Blade Unireth's Lightning Testa's Annihilator Optimus Minimus Sword of the Blood Dryads Seyr's Klinge Then there are uniques which I have NEVER seen/had drop before, such as: Lorga's Sword Extremely Mighty Bat of Devastation Excalibran Ice Flash Orc Slayer Slicing Scythe Kernforce's Cutlass Zeptel's Short Sword Kullgard's Taskwatch Skullsplitter Lar's Hammer I tried to make sure none of these are in Ice & Blood, as I'm playing on console. I would think that the weapons which do not spawn as often would be harder to find, but a lot of these spawn just as much or more than items in the first list (according to the wiki). So my question is, has everyone else's experience been closely similar to mine as far as finding these items? At first I always thought it was just luck/coincedence that I have not found some of these uniques, but when I see that I am finding 10 of one unique and zero of another, it seems there has got to be something else going on - that some uniques are much harder to find than others. But maybe for some of you, a Slicing Scythe drops more often than a Sword of the Blood Dryads? Please do tell!

The explainations for this CA from members and the wiki are confusing the heck out of me. First, the wiki description: Skills And Attributes That Affect This Combat Art: Astral Lord Lore Astral Lord Focus Concentration Strength affects Damage. Stamina But then I've read a whole lot of other talk about how tactics lore affects this mod, and that even changing weapons affects this mod. So which is it? Does Astral Lore only increase critical hit and casting speed? Is the wiki missing tactics lore in its description? Someone please clear this up, thank you.

I think I've logged about 500 hours so far in about 5 months. While I am playing, I'm always getting new ideas on what hero/builds I'm going to be trying for my next go around. Currently next in queue is a Seraphim (which I've never played, was thinking of doing a caster with dual wield/2 staffs), followed by Dryad (my very first go around in Sacred 2 was with Dryad in bronze, and looking back I had no clue what I was doing). 3rd in line is a two-handed hammer wielding SW. That should keep me busy for another 500 hours. So Starcraft 2 is going to have to wait for now...

What I want to see in Sacred 3 is really quite simple: I want a game that overall is nearly identical to Sacred 2 (this is the MOST important thing for me, especially as far as depth), but with a new map, new characters, new items, and last but not least no bugs. Maybe some better voice actors too, and a more detailed instruction manual.

Agreed - well put.

I agree that the difficulty in this game is relatively low pretty much all the way through Platinum, but Niobium is different, especially if you get there around level 85-90. I think that is when your character truly gets tested as to how strong it really is and/or if it has been built well enough to survive powerful opponents. My Inquis got to Niobium at 86, and I remember having to be very careful as to which areas I wandered to early on as I would often run into monsters (I remember Undead were particularly tough early on) that would hit me for 1/3 to 1/2 my life, or critical hit me for a one-hit death. And that is with having excellent gear going in, as well as my character being properly built as a hard-hitting tank. A poorly built SW can probably get by, but other classes will have a very tough time getting going in Niob if they weren't built up properly prior to getting there... That being said, the degree of difficulty that I experienced at level 86 in Niob brought a fresh new layer of fun to the game... I recommend everyone give it a try at least once!

Great, ty for confirming what an awesome find this was! Not playing in HC, and thank goodness for that since my HE had her first death last night Was fighting the garganthropod, and I ended up dying right after killing him to his mutated scorpion buddies... I let my guard down for just a second as I thought I was in the clear after I saw garganthropod's body start to shutter, then noticed the two little guys still pounding on me and they managed to finish me off just before I could pot I don't think I could take playing HC, losing just my SB already feels like a HUGE punishment!

Today a level 80 amulet with +10 All Skills dropped for me... I know there are lots of All Skills jewelry that is higher than +10, but not at level 80. In shops right now the highest I can buy is a +4, enemies were probably dropping +5's (My HE is level 71 my SB is about 88). So I think this amulet (which is what it is called, simply labeled "Amulet" in my inventory) actually had +5 All Skills twice, then the game automatically combined the two into a +10. I don't think I've ever had an item that had the same ability 2x in it, much less an +All Skills item. Anyone else ever had an item such as this?

Right, it auto targets. Most of the time, if I cast it at an enemy up close, I get a wider arc. Sometimes it seems to only spit out the smaller arc though, but maybe that is because it is somehow locked onto an enemy that is further away? It just seems to be random sometimes... And I do know that the environment (trees, water, etc) can stop the flames.

The "randomness" of the casting effect of BT is really starting to annoy me. Sometimes when I cast it I get more than 180 degrees of flame wall (larger than a half circile), while other times a wall about the size of my HE pops out and hardly hits any opponents. Is there anything that controls how large/wide the wall of flame is, or is it all random? I had previously thought that if you are right next to the opponent, most of the time I'd get at least a half circle...but often times I am still getting a little trickle of flame instead of a nice army-killing wall. Any tips would be appreciated, thank you!

After a whole lot more experience playing this game, I am again changing my opinion/flip-flopping as to my answer to this topic. This will definitely be my final opinion, which is that kill speed/number of hits has nothing to do with improving drops in any way shape or form. I am going to directly address a couple of posts made within this topic that make a good case for kill speed improving drops. These posts had certainly influenced my opinion on this, as I'm sure they have many other people reading this topic. This was a big one, and there it is front and center, the very first reply in this topic. I previously had no basis or experience to argue with this since I had never played a HE. But this is no longer the case... I'm currently playing a Pyro HE, have her up to level 70 at the moment. She also kills with Area of Effect and dot. I have seen absolutely zero difference in drop quality comparing my HE to my hard hitting Niob SW and Inquis. She finds just as many uniques/sets/rares as the other heros I played. I'm certainly not one hit killing with her. Quite often I get good items from oppontents that took a long time to take down. She fills chests with sets just as well as my SW and Inquis do (although at this point I'm often having to scrap sets/uniques, I need more chests...) Locolagarto, I'm assuming that this HE of yours was played during the early days of your Sacred playing? Maybe you didn't know what monsters to fight back then (fighting too many rats/wolves/bats/pigs)? I know that my first hero, a Dryad, hardly found any uniques at all, but looking back now, it wasn't really because I wasn't killing fast enough, I just overall didn't know what the hell I was doing. Or maybe it was just bad luck. But what you described is a stark contrast from what I have experienced thus far with HE, and it sounds like we are killing opponents in the same fashion. When developers make a game, you would think that they would as you said "reward players who have developed a very good build and who are successful at defeating opponents efficiently." But developers also must develop the game to be playable by the masses - good players as well as bad players. You do get rewarded by having a good build - you don't die and you kill efficiently. Killing efficiently will likely net you more good items. But an extra drop quality bonus on top of all the bonuses that you already have from your gear and skills? I don't think so... if that were the case, would it not be too easy to abuse? I've yet to read about anyone here successfully "abusing" the drop quality system, other than some folks messing with the game coding. Sorry, I have not experienced this. I've gotten sets from one hit kills, I've gotten just as many from monsters that took one hit and then were on the screen for another 15 seconds before finally dying. Next is boss killing. With my HE I am killing bosses far and away faster than ever before (just by using IS). It used to seem like when I took a long time to kill a boss, it would only drop like 5 items instead of 8-9. I now also think that this is just based purely on luck... I kill them very fast every time, but sometimes they drop 5 items, sometimes they drop 8-9. Just the luck of the draw. Lastly, I must offer my apologies to all of the other Neener Naysayers... I should have never doubted you. Cheers, rhs

Ok, I'm wrong. Using Soul Reaver, after the buff animation disappears, killing more monsters DOES still increase attack and defense values, even though you no longer see the animation of the souls going from the corpse to the inquis. I assume the other buffs still work as well after the buff effect animation disappears.