stachnie

I have managed to finish the game with the two most problematic characters (Dragon Mage and Inquisitor). I was playing with Enhanced Edition, Enhanced Spells and Superspawn. Inquisitor: the main problem were bosses. My first character was purely spell-based, Astute Supremacy only with Zealous Doppleganger and Reverse Polarity buffs and I had abandoned him. In the second go I went also for Gruesome Inquisition focus and used Purifying Chastisement as the only buff. Slot 1: combo Callous Execution and Mortifying Pillory. Great against single champions, I used this also against heavily magic-resistant bosses (the demons in the wetlands and outside the Agkor-Wat-like temple in jungle). Slot 2: Levin Array. Great against a few opponents in one direction (e.g. narrow passes), sufficient against most bosses (modded for range, damage and healing). Slot 3: combo Clustering Maelstrom and Eruptive Desecration. Gather as many enemies as possible, cast, rinse, repeat. The ultimate mob control, does not work against single opponents. Slot 4: combo Frenetic Fervor and Paralyzing Dread but I almost never remembered to cast it. Slot 5: Zealous Doppelganger. Not very useful. Skills: Astute Supremacy lore (top), Bargaining (medium), Astute Supremacy focus (top), Blacksmith (1), Gruesome Inquisition (high -> top), Armor lore (1), Combat Discipline (1), Toughness (1), Spell resistance (low), Constitution (1). Weapon: a magic 1h staff + shield. This character died some 11 or 12 times on Silver (e.g. 6 times when fighting against Gar-Colossus). Dragon Mage: Mentalism + Dragon Magic focus. Buffs: Draconic Ally (former Familiar) and Runes of Protection. Slot 1: Mind Strike. Great against single opponents. Slot 2: Energy Blaze. Slot 3: Maelstrom. Main combat art. Mob control: spam it among enemies and keep running away. Good also against single targets and some bosses. Slot 4: combo Dragon’s Wrath and Combat Trance (I rarely remebered to use it). Slot 5: In fact not used. Skills: Mentalism lore (top), Bargaining (medium), Mentalism focus (top), Dragon Magic focus (high -> top), Blacksmith (1), Concentration (1), Armor lore (very low), Combat Discipline (1), Ancient Magic (high), Constitution (low). Weapon: staff+shield. This character died a few times at the beginning.

Interesting - maybe I will try something like this one day,- or maybe something else, e.g. Skeletal Fortification without Shadow Veil, Grim Resilience as a buff and a staff (Int.) or lightsabre (Willpower) as a weapon. This would mean also Death Warrior Focus. Because this build is NOT fun - like everything that is too easy. I have finished one game with this build, I tried to do this a few times more but I have abandoned these games soon after getting full Invisibility (SV level 25). However. as an utility character he is a perfect choice.

Thanks for a tip. It means more points invested in Dragon Magic Focus than I have intended (Familiar seems to be a good choice of a buff anyway) but if a next attempt to play Dragon Mage fails, I will try this. S. Edit: I have started a new game with the Dragon Mage at a good PC. Up to now he is level 10, max Mentalism Focus. high Lore, Concentration (1 point) and Bargaining (2 or 3 points). The setup with two buffs works well, Familiar helps to fight with a staff (he uses a 1h staff + a shield) and increases damage output. At low levels the Berserk was great, but now I use my favourite way of levelling low level characters: the Via Koboldica from Western Tyr Lysia Portal to the kobolt cave under the Kobold Camp and it is not enough now, especially in the cave under Gahanka site I needed to use some health potions. Energy Blaze works well, but no miracles yet. Perhaps I should eat a few more runes for the Berserk.

I guess a lot of Sacred 2 players are skilled Hack&Slash fans, easily switching between combat arts and combos and doing everything in the right time. I am rather a casual player and during heavy combat sometimes I press wrong keys or misclick. My goal is to find the setup for all characters suitable for people like me - who do not like to click too much and who want to simplify their gameplay. The only thing necessary for these builds is to find a good Area Effect CA (to deal with many enemies). Suggested skill choices: CA's skill lore (high priority in the terms of points assigned during the levelup) - General skill 1 - CA's skill focus (top priority) - General skill 2 - (maybe General skill 3) - defensive skills (Armor Lore, Constitution, Warding Energy etc., low priority), Ancient Magic for extra boost to CA damage (high priority). Weapon skills and Shield Lore are not necessary. From my point of view the best CA's are these that may be placed somewhere and they damage enemies for some time. If you use a buff from a different school, you should take appropriate Focus (just to get all mod points for the buff or maybe more). Two or three buffs: Concentration (this may be a good choice anyway, because it lowers regeneration time, so indirectly it may boost damage). My favourite General Skills are Bargaining (average, high or top priority) and Smithing (1 or 5 points) but sometimes Enhanced Perception may be necessary to get them. It may be worth to throw some points there, especially for characters with empty common chest. Favourite attribute: Intelligence (for CA damage output). Try to keep main combat CA's at the level equal to the lower of two numbers: the level with the best DPS (damage per total cooldown time, sometimes multiplied by the rate of fire, usually this is the same as the max level without penalty) and the level that CA duration is greater or equal to its total regeneration time. I have made my private ranking of available characters in terms of the convenience of the gameplay and survivability. 1. Shadow Warrior, Astral Lord setup - when he gets Shadow Veil level 25, he may cast spells and shoot without being noticed. He needs only 2 CA's: SV as a buff and Skeletal Fortification. With CP 1.60 he is an excellent supporting character - invest 5 points into Smithing, max Bargaining, maybe some use of Enhanced Perception and he will be an ultimate treasure hunter. One drawback: I was not able to kill the Ice Hydra during the Christmas quest, its HP regeneration rate is insane. 2. I think Seraphim. She has 2 excellent CA's: Radiant Pillar and Flaring Nova. FN acts immediately and around the character, so it needs a bit more skill to use (my FN Seraphim has died a few times at Silver), so I go for RP and my build is based on the Celestial Magic. The problem with this build is that the only defensive buff for Seraphim is Warding Energy (at low levels 1 rune is enough), so it means also Warding Energy Lore (enhances the buff protection). 3. High Elf - vulnerable but a great firepower and regeneration ability. Fire spells are great but Ice/Storm ones are better, so I suggest the Mystic Stormite build. Simply Raging Nimbus is more convenient than Blazing Tempest and Crystal Skin offers a better protection than Incandescent Skin. For any HE Grand Invigoration is a no-brainer, so Delphic Arcania Focus and Concentration. 4. Temple Guardian - vulnerable at the beginning, then a real killing machine. Unlike for the other characters, I suggest two CA's: Fiery Ember and Icy Evanescence (Source Warden). Both of them have a 15s cooldown time, so the best method to use them seems to be to use one after another. Their total regeneration time may be kept greater than their duration but definitely smaller than two regeneration times (to be able at least to cast one after another finishes). A buff: T-Energy Shroud (Devout Guardian). 5. Dryad. Malicious Totem (Cabalistic Voodoo) makes her to be a Shadow Warrior without invisibility but maybe a better damage output. A buff should be defensive, so Ancient Bark (Nature Weaver). Acute Mind (NW) may be a good way to increase damage output. 6. Inquisitor. The best CA for my needs seems to be Levin Array - maybe Clustering Maelstrom would be better if I knew how to use it effectively (both Astute Supremacy). Definitely I need to play more with this character. Buffs: perhaps Soul Reaver (Nefarious Netherworld) would be the best (mod it with Recreation and Soul Imbiber), Zealous Doppelganger (AS) also seems to be interesting. Why so low in my ranking? LA is great in terms of damage but it needs some caution how to cast it, one may easlily miss a lot of enemies. 7. Dragon Mage. Energy Blaze (Mentalism) looks promising but when I tried to run a DM using this CA, he died so many times at Silver that I have resigned. Maybe because I was playing at a laptop below technical requirements (just enough RAM to run the game without many CTD's, too weak CPU, poor GPU) so it loaded new areas, enemies and during a heavy combat it reacted to keyboard and a mouse with a few seconds delay. The DM is vulnerable, so any delay really hurts. A RP Seraphim at this machine performed very well. I need to try this build at a much more solid PC. Another option is the Dragon Strike (Dragon Magic), but this has a limited use not in an open terrain. Buff: perhaps the Rune of Protection, maybe also Familiar for better stats. S.

I am not surprised my suggested build is not much innovative However, I have not seen any guide which would stress getting total invisibility as soon as possible. I have tried it and after eating 26 runes of SV (25 would be enough, the extra one was to get a bit better invisibility at lower levels) my character got total invisibility at level 30 (with the aid of two items both socketed with two "+1 to all skills", left by some other character in the common chest). I guess usually it would take one-two more levels.

I am NOT keen of hack'n'slash games - I prefer the ones like Elder Scrolls or Gothic, with much less enemies but much stronger ones. I don't like to click too much, switch between combat arts etc. - I guess when compared to average Sacred player I am very lazy. My favourite strategy is to cast a long-lasting spell/CA and watch when it decimates enemies without a need to heal, dodge their attacks etc. Shadow Warior fits this playstyle very well for two reasons. 1. Shadow Veil (SV). A lifesaver - when properly modded. grants you permanent invisibility. Mod it ASAP. Creep, Fade, Sinister Pact. At level 25 it grants you 100% invisibility. Try to keep it at this level. If some enemies start to see you (I guess it may be possible at higher levels), you may consider to increase the CA level. Do not increase it too much because it increases regeneration time of all CA's. 2. Skeletal Fortification (SF). A kind of a "Fire and Forget" CA - you place a skeletal tower at the battlefield and it takes care of your enemies. Mod it after SV. Choices are up to you, I would suggest Focus (halves regeneration time which is the main part of the cooldown, it will slowly decrease with the CA level), Arcane Power (I prefer magic damage over the ice one) and Scatter Shot (two arrows instead of one). Keep it at the level with the best damage-to-cooldown ratio (it may be checked every time you get a new level or better equipment). General tactics at lower levels: get both CA's ASAP, the other ones may be ignored. At the beginning keep SF at low level, eat runes of SV whenever possible (up to 25). Put the skeletal tower somewhere near the enemies (possibly in an open land) and use any weapon that grants a good damage. General tactic at higher levels: use SV as the buff, use SF with the aid of ranged weapons or magic staves (with CP they may shoot at close ranges), melee attack would cancel invisibility. Attributes: Intelligence 100% (incresases the damage of SF). Skills: Level 2: Astral Lord Focus. Try to keep at max level. Improves regeneration time, raises max CA level without penalty. Level 3: Astral Lord Lore. Try to keep at max level. Increases damage and the chance of a critical hit. Level 5: General skill no. 1. I prefer Smithing - I am not sure if Riding would be a good combination with SV, Divine Devotion is a poor choice anyway. Try to get to 5 at level 8, before the next choice. Level 8: Enhanced Perception/Bargaining (the second one with the Community Patch). Some people suggest to keep them as high as possible, I tend to make sure they are above the half of the level of the hero. Level 13: The second one, not chosen at level 8. Try to keep them about half of your level. Level 18: Ancient Magic. Increases the damage of SF, decreases enemy magic resistance. You may throw some points from time to time. Level 25: Armor Lore - to lower armor penalties. Throw some points if you feel the penalties are going too high. Levels 35, 50 and 65: up to you. I would suggest Concentration (decreases regeneration time of all CA's), Shield Lore and maybe Combat Discipline. Equipment. Look for anything with the following effects: 1. +n to all skills. 2. +x% spell damage. 3. +x% XP for killing enemies. 4. -x% regeneration time. 5. +n to Astral Lord Focus. 6. +n to any of the other important skills (Astral Lord Lore, Bargaining, Enhanced Perception, Ancient Magic...). 7. +x% to find rare items. Of course, you should pick items with many slots and/or with good bonuses.