FrostElfGuard

Our radio announcers keep talking about snow --and bad conditions on the highways outside town... and I keep listening to them... and keep getting up early... and keep finding NO SNOW to shovel... Then the day there was a lot of snow I had just kinda got used to getting up early...so 20 minutes of shoveling was no problem. Today they talked about patches of highway where there suddenly is NO ROAD. And... like magic. No snow to shovel for me!! Go figure!

I paid $1000 for Blizzak snow tires a while ago. What a difference! On Ice, I have waaaaay more traction. These kind of tires can't be used for 0C (32F) conditions...it has to be *brrrr* colder for them to not just wear away. On ice, I have control. I only have to worry about the other drivers ability to stop (and not rear-end me) when they think THEY can stop as easily as me. You're right about some snow conditions being bad for even these tires. If you have loose dry snow on top of polished ice... nobody has traction! What gets me is this: people don't understand something simple. If you are on ice (say, at a stop sign) and you try to accelerate, and you're not accelerating... DON'T put more gas in!! You'll only polish ice and make things worse for anyone (including you if you come back this way again) who follows you. We have to accept slow acceleration on ice... then we don't make things worse!! And to our U.S. friends, we don't like to export Arctic air (that's where the really cold stuff comes from...not us, honest!!)--cause we get it too when that happens! 10 years ago we had an Arctic High Pressure Air Mass stall over us. The temp for the WHOLE of December never went above -30C (-22F). The lows were -35C (ish) (-31 F ish). A whole MONTH. I'm glad we don't have that this year! Though we've already had a week of that weather (that normally only hits us in January) this winter. Cheery (?) thought: Snow for Christmas!

Re: Cloning humans. Um. If it is outlawed in Western Society, it'll be done covertly. Like when the (CIA or FBI?, or the other one, NSA) US govt experimented on people in hospital with LSD. Only reason we know about that one is they happened to choose the wife of an M.P.. Bad mistake. Oh---this also happened in Montreal. I also heard the US experimented on my home city (before I got there) by dropping chemicals from the air to see the effect on an urban population. So, no worries. The military funds these things, 'cause all new technology is used for weaponry first. Or 'defense'. The kitties glow in the dark... so now, scuba divers can be created that have their own lights... so Megaladon can find them easier. Yum! Tasty morsel! (And Orca should eat less scuba divers too.) But bad: 'cause Navy Seals are supposed to sneak up on enemies... not glow like light bulbs!

My DEs are trappers. I love trappers. I sometimes take Pak Dain (Return Projectiles) just for fun. It is nice to see the damage reflected and amplified by your Weapon Lore. Often, the archers kill themselves in one hit! Some people's DE's are melee fighters. I don't like melee fighting much. But other people do. The two styles are all about what skill choices you took. I don't even take Blade Combat anymore--I can oversocket to avoid the BC requirements of set items. So, why bother, I don't hit things with blades/swords/etc... With Dual Wield, if you have two weapons, the DW skill level is used. If you have single weapon, it is the higher of DW or BC. (For attack rating and weapon speed to the cap of 220 attack speed.) Hope you have lots of fun with Sacred.

I don't fight dragons much. However, with the vampiress, you have to melee. (More or less). Does Dragon breath reach right next to the dragon, or does the graphic show there, but the damage not get applied? (Or was I in a buggy game where I should've been burned to a crisp by dragon-fire?)

If anyone does an item quest (like Riddle in the Desert) it breaks the quest chain. With a now unknown state, the quest cannot recover. This can also happen with an old server where the temp files haven't been cleaned out. (The physical server I'm talking about now, the one hosted by Krawall, not the game server.)

I tried something with my level 104 Vampiress that didn't really use runes. (Just relied on base attack value augmented by night A.R. increase and double damage from "dual wielding" her claws... I decided to read one of each rune to enable all attack forms. Then. I went shopping. Big Time shopping. It is amazing how much really great gear you can buy in Platinum. Great gear being up to +20 to a given combat art. I was able to push Awaken Dead from 1 rune to over my character level---I think it was 108 AD for the combo. I also shopped for Bats: Blood Swarm, and Hard Hit and TiV. {This all got started 'cause Tit said I only needed 1 rune read in TiV, the result of the TiV could come from a combo you got by shopping/drops.--but since, while you're shopping, you simply get access to ALL the goodies, I figured I might as well stop letting equipment with +18 to a useful CA just click on by...} The dead so Awakened are extremely tough. I stayed in Vampiress form and had about 30 followers. I decided I should pay a call on Miss D'Cay. You know, the undead dragon just south west of Khorad-Nur? Well. I don't think the DRAGON was able to kill ANY of my followers. ANY. They just circled around her and hacked away. It took a few attacks of my own to convince them (they get in each other's way, and if you abort your attack too soon, they change and follow you instead of following through with their attack). Once they're attacking D'Cay only sometimes pays attention to you... mostly she attacks your followers... including fire breath. I wonder if standing right next to her is a fire-free zone. That is, in melee I wonder if ---ah. New topic. New thread. So, it was easy for me to turn necromancer (really, polymancer, since I can now play with any Vampiress ability). By the way, Bats: Blood Swarm is definitely and under-performer. At low levels, the bats themselves can kill monsters. At high levels, they are just a meat shield. That's okay. The melee Vampiress in Vamp form can take just about anything anyway (at least at night!). It seems the key with the Vampiress is have a high level CA. I suspect other CAs might be very interesting (such as Mind Control. That would be cool to convince D'Cay to be in your party and have her raid Khorad Nur or have her go after Orc or Skeleton bands.)

0 Funny Reasons Why It's Wonderful To Be A Woman 1. When a ship sinks, women (and children) get off first. 2. A woman can hug her best friend without worrying she'll think she's gay. 3. Women can talk to attractive members of the opposite sex without having to picture them naked. 4. A woman can never be blamed if it's wet on the floor around the toilet bowl. 5. If a woman cheats on her spouse everyone will assume it's because she was being emotionally neglected. 6. Women are capable of doing at least two different things to a passable standard at the same time. 7. Women live longer than men. 8. Women know how to cover up spots and other facial blemishes. 9. If a woman inexplicably disappears for two weeks, one of her friends will notice. 10. Women mature earlier than men (some men never mature at all). 11. There are times when chocolate is really the answer to all woman's problems. 12. Women don't feel uncomfortable with gay waiters or hairdressers. 13. A woman can fully assess a person just by looking at their shoes. 14. Women know the truth about whether size matters... 15. A woman can take a drive without trying to beat her best time. 16. If a woman forgets to shave, no-one has to know. 17. Women are capable of going longer than five minutes without thinking about either sex or football. 18. Women never lust after a cartoon character or the central figure in a computer game. 19. Women can be groupies. Male groupies are stalkers. 20. Women can cry and get off a speeding ticket. 21. A woman can get a whole new lease on life just by changing her lipstick. 22. A woman can congratulate her team-mate without ever touching her rear. 23. Women don't have to worry about catching anything important in their zipper. 24. If a woman says something stupid, most men will just think she's cute. 25. Women can admit to others when they've made a mistake 26. If a woman cries, she's sensitive; if a man cries, he's a wimp. 27. Women know who their children are without having a DNA test. 28. It's cool to be a daddy's girl. It's sad to be a mummy's boy. 29. Women can wear platforms - which is why there is no such thing as a short woman's complex. 30. Women can watch one TV channel at a time without getting bored. 31. Women have total control over their eyebrows. 32. Women can get drunk quicker and cheaper than men. 33. A woman's friend won't try to persuade her to get a tattoo while she's drunk. 34. A woman won't drive to Hell and back before she asks for directions. 35. Women aren't covered with hair like shag carpeting. 36. Women don't feel threatened if their partner earns more than they do. 37. For women, a new season means a whole new wardrobe. 38. Women know exactly what buttons to push to get exactly what they want. 39. Women don't think reading the manual is a betrayal of all their species stands for. 40. Women can keep pot plants alive for more than a week. ==== I had to post this. I had to. (*the voices told me to!*)

...and the results are?!! It's been 5 weeks!

My handwriting is pretty awful. I have studied different techniques, and even took calligraphy lessons--I was trying to learn calligraphy so I could make scrolls (in the Medieval recreation club called the Society for Creative Anachronism people earn Awards and someone has to do the calligraphy (writing) and illumination (pretty pictures) for the parchment/sheet (called a scroll).) It's been years, but I've found the secret. Why my handwriting is bad. It's simple. I'm too rushed. My mind operates at 100 mph (or 160 kph for Canadians and Europeans), and my hand operates at 25 mph (40 kph). If I slow down, I have complete control over how I write. Take some time and observe how fast someone who writes beautifully writes. It's probably a fraction of the speed of the messy writer. The same people who can write neatly can also do archery and bowling better than average. Again, these pursuits reward someone who slows down and takes the time to get it right. (They also make better parents and coaches. Patience is a marvelous thing in a teacher!!) So, caffeine-loving peoples (and I guess soda-pop lovers too) of the world: despair! or... at least... Slow down and smell the roses, cross the ts and dot the I's.

BD does sound like it should be improved with greater FS. However, I found (without improving FS) that if I got too far away the discs disappear. As in, if they got off-screen they were gone. Note: BD starts with the char, so isn't a true Area of Effect effect like DS. In the end, I suspect DS is the combat art that benefits most from FS.

I tried the link in the first post, and gogo's link in the 4th. the first one gave a graphic of a monkey holding a club telling me no content of interest with a couple of links below it. Gogo's link goes no where. I suspect this URL's registration ran out, and someone else bought it quick. Quick, 'cause it has traffic to it. (Who wants a site with no traffic!) Here's hoping this doesn't happen to darkmatters.org when it's registration expires (or nears expiry)!!

I just tried the link above and got a squatter page full of links. I suspect their domain registration ran out, and someone registered the domain name. As of today, this link doesn't work: http://www.hopeclan.de

Thanks for that. I didn't realize you had to take Jacquaire north to the fortress. I always just walk him back to the edge of the forest. Also, I use a horse to travel through from Mascarell to Jacquaire. Then I switch to on-foot. It is easier to keep him safe if I'm on foot. And... I'm worried I won't step across the trigger to make him appear in Braverock tavern (which is located on the road somewhere between the edge of Tyr-Fasil and Mascarell portal.) Thanks, I enjoyed your video!

Yes. The seed (initial) follower is converted just as the Knight form starts. To get this first follower apparently is tricky. Then, you need to nurse it along trying to make sure it doesn't die before it gets a chance to infect others. When you log out you'll lose all followers, just as in the regular game. Most players do not opt for a Knight form Vampiress since it's melee damage output is far less than the night time/underground version of the character.

hmmm...good question...and one which I have considered for a while now. Would socketing a TON of magic damage socketables work? Is Fireball modded by 1-Magic + x% 2-Magic Damage + X% ? I'm curious now, and in fact...now I want to start a bm LOL! gogo My bet is that fireball is modded by (and only by) 3-Magic Spell Damage + X% or 4-Fire Spell Damage + X% I used to socket damage rings in my BM's armour and weapons. I didn't realize that "Magic Damage" increased only elemental magic damage from my melee attacks (which I had quickly learned I shouldn't do.) Now, I socket deadly.

re: Far Sight and the Dark Elf What about Pak Dain? Would it increase the range of returned arrows/bolts? On second thought, I'm guessing not. Since the enemy needs to aim at the player character, and I bet enormous Far Sight on your part doesn't increase their threat range. That is, they won't start firing at your from 2 screens away. They won't even know you're there unless you can damage them at the same time as spawning them.

Looking at the formula again. I'm going to have another go at turning this German formula translated into English formula into Frosty words. Chance of unique = [Creature Chance] Times [1/2 (Survival Bonus)] Times [square Root of (Magic Find% * 100)] Note: I changed the "+" to " multiplied by ". Why? 'Cause I never remember getting a set item ever from a wolf. It's money or nothing with them. If the creature chance is vanishingly small, then the drop chance of set or unique is vanishingly small. Regardless how big your MF is. Does this bear out? Wolf=0 Sakkara Demon = .2 Goblin = =.5 Quest = 1 Boss= 1.2 Whaddya think?

This is where we have to use our overseas connections... or plan a trip over there! Frost at Canada customs on the return journey: "Why, yes. I bought 20 copies of Sacred 2 for my personal use!" (Sadly, this could be true. Gotta have dem mules! {k. I might spring for 3 copies for myself for day 1. Then, when the price goes down, the numbas of licensed copies goes up!})

This goes hand in hand with what the devs said a long time ago: Boss monsters (eg: Orc Chieftains, Skeleton Mages) and lots of 'em give you better chance of drops and 4 to 5 chances each. Which is why orc cave (or any cave that either spawns a boss or spawns one just outside) is great. Monotonous, but great. This would also be why the mounted Shaddar Rims at the church in Zhurag are also good. They're bosses! So goblin shamans of the goblin lawn (Silver Creek to PV) should also prove fruitful. I'm trying real hard to ignore trolls at ZN (and definitely more so wolves) 'cause their drops are dreadful! Re: Sakkara nest: I've found some items there but regular "promoted" to boss monsters (Orc Chieftain, Skeleton Mage, Mounted Shaddar-Rim) are much better item droppers. Giant Spiders have also proved to be a good source of items for me. My question is still this: Can anything drop from Orc Chieftain? Skeleton Mage? Mounted Shaddar Rim? Ages ago someone said that, for instance, Meg-Anid's Blizzard items dropped more on snow-covered ground than elsewhere. Is this true for Greedy Dwarves? Or is this "it happened to me so it must be true!" (too small a sample size) location variation?

The normal mechanism of Awaken Dead is this: You kill something while you're in Vampiress form. You use Awaken Dead on it. It rises as a follower of yours. It will attack any target you click on. Even if you abort your own attack. You raise more. The follower has a slight chance of converting opponents with each hit. When you TiK, you lose all such followers...except you *might* get a new one converted or raised just as you TiK. If that happens, it will remain with you until Open Wounds kills it, opponents kill it, or your next TiK (assuming you want to play in Vampiress mode for all the extra damage per hit and the dual wielding (double hits instead of one). GrimJack's idea is simple. What if you never TiK again? Then the one lone Awakened will remain potentially a long time. If you damage an opponent to near death, and allow your follower to kill it... it will be Awakened even in daytime. If you repeat this last step instead... your army will grow. And grow. GrimJack starts with the wolves of bellevue using a level 60 AD. With 3 or 4 of these you can obtain about 10 hatchet crabs from crab island. With 10 crabs you (apparently) can very quickly take down dragons. His screenshot shows about 10 hatchet crabs, 10 ice elves (with whips and light sabres) and 4 dragons in his army. Wow. I have to try this at least once. Perhaps you do too?

k. My understanding of Poison Mist is this: the damage is boosted by Testosterone (poison side) and the damage is set at cast time. So, if you test expires, your existing PMs still pump out the increased rate. You new PMs will keep going at the new regular rate. Gogo stated in his slot switching schemes that he: 1) Cast high level CL 2) Switches slots for either R & R (since he only has read 1 rune of CL, switch away from the CL booster slot regens it at level 1 timing, a significant savings in regen time!). 3) He switches to Magic % boost (was that Magic Spell % or Magic %? not to be confused with Magic Weapon Damage %) and the existing CL now has it's Magic damage (spell damage) aspect boosted. From an existing CL. So, is CL like PM or not? Perhaps different programmers handled the different characters? 'Cause to me, both "spells" are roughly equivalent in how I use them. Discuss/Refute/Exalt!

k. Now I'm going to be checking out my SB at start of session and after each set item drop (or unique). This could very interesting.

My guess is that just about every current game of Sacred is getting stressed by 1) Exit-Entrance XP boosting (where multiple sets of monsters spawn...severly straining the server... and probably filling it up with temperary files--which likely are cleaned out during server down time) 2) Fads/Orlas/Split (-Icons) use... seems like every game has an Icon user in it... leave the game and they follow you... 'cause there's more xp in a game with 2 people rather than 1. 3) Normal wear and tear (which doesn't affect the game anywhere near as much as 1 and 2). (This would be high graphics use such as tons of Poison Mists, huge Awakened Dead armies, high Far Sight (increases spawns 2 Pi r ) spammed CL, etc...) When stressed... Watch out world!

A few thoughts: 1) Isn't the armour on a Seraphim sort of "free-flow"? I recall boots and greaves fit in the same armour slot. Perhaps weapons and bracers also somehow share a slot. If this is true for Seraphim, perhaps it is true for other classes as well? 2) If this Orla experience can be recreated on another Seraphim by simply passing over the 2 pieces of equipment... then it would be isolated to the two pieces of equipment. 3) If a buggy game with Orla present is all that is required as a 3rd ingredient... getting the "right" buggy game could be a challenge. There is room for a lot of testing in and around the issue. Also, an export of the character to SP could see if it only appears in MP. If not, perhaps someone else would have more interest in nailing down exactly what is going on (I, for one, would be very interested in trying to play around with this to see how it works.) ( I could PM you with my email address so you could email my the pax file.) Whatever you decide to do, have fun doin' it!