Ice and Blood Info

[ZGold 0]

Okay, I'm starting this thread mainly so I've got somewhere to natter about new things I spot (or think I've spotted) rather than clogging up the wiki projects thread

 

This is the place to post any info about the Dragon Mage class, Dragon Mage set items/CAs/etc., new stuff (uniques/legendaries/set items) introduced with Ice and Blood, things that are different with Ice and Blood (key binds, camera controls, character creation, quest indicators, etc.) and generally anything somehow vaguely related to Ice and Blood.

 

This isn't the place to post any Ice and Blood related changes you've made to the wiki, or are going to make to the wiki - those still belong in the wiki projects thread.

 

To get things started:

* All weapons now have the 'convert to [element] damage' slot as standard (this is the slot you can only put poison fangs/ice crystals/lumps of lava/magic pearls into)

* Character creation now includes options such as skin colour/hair colour/hair style (seraphim, high elf, dryad), skin colour (dragon mage, inquisitor, shadow warrior); the only exception is the temple guardian, which only comes in its default form

* The world map/tap map/radar will now show grey quest circles around any of the 'Something Wonderful' NPCs you've encountered whilst travelling, even before you begin the quest

* Game modes now include 'Expert Touch', which speeds CA regeneration but causes all CAs to regen at the same time as if they all belonged to the same aspect (this is beneficial if you regularly use a set of CAs from the same aspect, but less useful if you use CAs from two or all three aspects) - this mode is activated by default

* It may be me, but the dragon mage sounds Irish

* Default key binds have changed; Teleport is now F8 by default, not F12

* Camera controls include the ability to set the minimum and maximum zoom amounts of the camera - lowering the minimum zoom increases the distance you can zoom in, increasing the maximum zoom increases the distance you can zoom out

* The camera will sometimes get 'stuck' and start vibrating - the solution to this seems to be decreasing the maximum zoom in the options menu until the camera stabilises, after which the maximum zoom can be increased again

* The pause function that was introduced no longer works whilst viewing the world map, but will work whilst the game menu (esc) is visible, and also whilst any of the options menus (gameplay, sound, control etc.) are visible

* Possible text error:the magic focus skills have 'Highest Spell Level without Malus' - this most likely should read 'Highest Spell Level without Penalty'

* The in-game class quest indicators for the Dragon Mage appear to be Yellow, the same as the Shadow Warrior

Edited October 21, 2009 by gogoblender

[Dragon Brother 619]

You can teleport to any portals/last activated save thingy just by clicking on it after opening up the main map.

Also, regeneration per hit works now. This could lead to some very interesting builds, but im not gonna fiddle with it too much right now.

And it freezes!! I dont know if its something that happens across the whole map but ive been trying to complete the blood forest chain quest and ive frozen 6 or so times now...and each time its been between 30mins and an hour on the one chain...rather annoying. Sinc ei never froze while playing without the addon its not my comp... Only semi bonus is that sets are dropping like crazy at the completion of these quests so im filling up on them. Not sure if thats something thats occuring for all queats though, I'll check later.

 

New set piece: Pyx's Righteous hand

Edited October 5, 2009 by Dragon Brother

[ZGold 0]

You can teleport to any portals/last activated save thingy just by clicking on it after opening up the main map.

Also, regeneration per hit works now. This could lead to some very interesting builds, but im not gonna fiddle with it too much right now.

And it freezes!! I dont know if its something that happens across the whole map but ive been trying to complete the blood forest chain quest and ive frozen 6 or so times now...and each time its been between 30mins and an hour on the one chain...rather annoying. Sinc ei never froze while playing without the addon its not my comp... Only semi bonus is that sets are dropping like crazy at the completion of these quests so im filling up on them. Not sure if thats something thats occuring for all queats though, I'll check later.

 

Ooh...nice find with the teleporting

 

hmm, I've not had any freeze issues on the main campaign/side quests with the Ice and Blood expansion, not yet anyway - I wonder if there's a coding bug hiding somewhere in the expansion quests... wouldn't surprise me

 

Interesting...I'll keep an eye on the set drop rates as I run my two DMs around the High Elf region. Tbh, I'd settle for drop rates staying the same if they'd make it that you get set items for the character you're on

 

I've noticed on loading up that I just get a black screen until the Deep Silver/Ascaron logos come up - if I want to view the startup silly msg I have to open the console manually...

Anyone know if the carrier imp is standard for Ice and Blood? Iirc it came with the collectors or pre-order edition of Fallen Angel, and I'm not sure if it's a similar deal with Ice and Blood. I have the imp, which came with the download version of the expansion from 3rd October.

[Antitrust 32]

The Imp is activated by the expansion for all game modes.

[ZGold 0]

The Imp is activated by the expansion for all game modes.

 

Thanks Anti, good to know

 

More random Ice and Blood info:

* Selecting a CA that does not require a target enemy (e.g. self tranformations/area target spells/self buffs) causes it to activate if 'quick cast' is selected in the gameplay options

* The time remaining before a transformation automatically ends (Dragon Mage) is indicated by a blue gauge next to the red HP gauge

* The Dragon Mage skill 'Dragon Strike' can be blocked by high terrain between the dragon's approach and the target area/enemy; the Dragon Mage does not take damage from the fire area effect

* The bug where Champion ghosts in the Seraphim Monastery (Seraphim Valley) would not attack before being attacked has been fixed; they also now have a ranged magic attack that causes magic damage over time

* Ghosts now have a death animation of a shower of sparks

* Traps now have a death animation of an explosion of mechanical 'bits'

* Camera 'jitter' bug - using a CA/closing/opening a window will also sometimes fix this; edit: it seems to be related to camera collision glitching after an auto zoom in/out (I.e. when you interact with an NPC such as the merchant and then close the window), at least, that's when it keeps occuring for me

* Dryad only displays custom hair style/colour in game - skin colour displays as default colour

 

Also picked this up:

Oddly this seems to have an additional 'Spell Resistance +1' attribute on it, unlike the level 17 version on the wiki - I thought items only gained attributes as they increased in level? Possibly items have been 'tweaked' in the Ice and Blood expansion?

Edited October 5, 2009 by ZGold

[Ysne58 236]

I am extremely interested in the expansion. It is almost done downloading. The reason it took so long is I had to by the UK version of the game as well as the expansion.

 

I had the North American version and unfortunately, it looks like the expansion won't be coming out for that version anytime soon if ever.

 

I start out with a black screen as well. But I do get the silly message. It just takes a minute or 2 to load.

 

I did read the readme on the current changes. It is a bit hard to interpret because I do not understand German and so I do not understand what it is talking about when referring to specific skills.

Edited October 6, 2009 by Ysne58

[Dragon Brother 619]

Also picked this up:

Oddly this seems to have an additional 'Spell Resistance +1' attribute on it, unlike the level 17 version on the wiki - I thought items only gained attributes as they increased in level? Possibly items have been 'tweaked' in the Ice and Blood expansion?

I'm pretty sure thats the case. Ive seen a few pics of sets with more sockets/different mods (one seraphim piece had direct damage +16% or something which is something ive not seen before) and from personal experience at least, my dryads and its detheya's set has about 5 or so new sockets in total. So definitely items have been changed.

[ka243 3]

Also, regeneration per hit works now. This could lead to some very interesting builds, but im not gonna fiddle with it too much right now.

 

Are you sure regen per hit did not do anything before? Thanks.

[Dragon Brother 619]

Are you sure regen per hit did not do anything before? Thanks.

It may have but I hadnt noticed it working last time I tried it. This time however, when lag was permitting, I was able to hit and regen in noticeable jumps...I ended up playing around with it and it meant continous darting assault or ravaged impact for my dryad

[Ysne58 236]

seraphim's now have access to the magic staff skill. I have not yet checked to see if that skill does actually allow a wand user to access a ranged attack. According to the readme, that is supposed to be available now.

 

I have one of each class started up now. I'm disappointed at how buggy the start up is with skin colors not actually showing up in game.

 

I was able to test out the magic staff skill with the High Elf. With that ranged ability, once you select the skill, and HE build with staff's just might be worth experimenting with.

 

I still have not been able to identify which skills the read me refers to for the seraphim that now operate in ranged that did not before. The german just does not translate well whenever ever I try with different online dictionaries.

Edited October 7, 2009 by Ysne58

[Ansgar 0]

Hi Ysne,

 

The full english readme for ice and blood can be found here. An interesting read.

 

http://download.ascaron.com/sacred2/englis...eadme_Final.doc

[ZGold 0]

Hi Ysne,

 

The full english readme for ice and blood can be found here. An interesting read.

 

http://download.ascaron.com/sacred2/englis...eadme_Final.doc

 

Fantastic - now I can check I'm not just repeating things the manual's already pointed out!

 

Oh, and I think the Ice and Blood text proofing was hit by budget cuts...I've found more typos/grammar errors in the DM blue chain quest so far (up to part 6) than in the rest of the quests I've written up for the High Elf region

 

Also, they've definitely added some new books, which, very originally (/sarcasm) come under the heading...'New Books'.

 

Hmm, some interesting information hidden away in that manual - first on my list is trying out that camera shake fix...

Edited October 7, 2009 by ZGold

[Ysne58 236]

Thanks for that info Ansgar. That is much more readable than the one that came with the download. There are still errors in it but it is much more usable.

 

I've barely had time to make a dent in what I'm looking at in I & B, cause I'm also working on S1, both Ancaria and Underworld.

 

I do really like the ability to access any portal from the map. It makes things much easier as far as getting around goes.

Edited October 7, 2009 by Ysne58

[wraithking 1]

some extra info/bug report,

 

while fighting the crystal phoenix my sw just stood there and couldn't execute Combat Arts or basic attacks so I had to watch a painful death,

the manual(uk) says theres 4 new sets for every char well its a lie if they mean char pacific sets(I've investigated the blueprint file)

if your in the crystal plaines make sure you can resist slow stat,it caused me so much grief I hate the plaines after 1 time walkthrough,

over all it actually makes the gameplay totally different which I suppose isn't really that bad but with the new regen system and if you dont know what your

doing then its just fun testing and killing more and more,

[Dragon Brother 619]

That sucks wraith. Hope it wasnt too big a loss. I managed to kill the phoenix without any problems though, no lack of motion/ability at all. Maybe you got lagged really badly...

[ZGold 0]

Hmm, could have been some sort of stun? Although, I created a DM last night and skipped the intro scenes...he wouldn't move/use CAs either...

 

What I'm finding annoying at the minute is the sluggish response to keyboard inputs, such as when changing CA/weapon or trying to hit the space bar for a health potion - I've had two deaths now because hitting the space bar just didn't register.

 

Granted my computer's at the lower end of the spec. scale processor-wise, and I've dropped the graphics down to medium now, but on very high settings the lag was so bad that I could run into a dungeon (or out of one - anything requiring a full area load) and until I stopped moving (or, um, 15-20 seconds had passed, at a guess) the enemies didn't load in very funny for doing quests like Gantiar Copperore, since I could load in, leg it to where the ore is, pick it up (despite the graphic not being loaded!) and leg it back out again before the enemies loaded in to attack me!

 

In terms of custom colours/hair etc. the HE will show the default hair colour (not sure about style, I don't like the others they added) in the opening cinematic (just before starting the duel), but will show the correct colour after that. I've also noticed that the HE Fire Demon buff seems more passive than I remember; it's not going out of its way to attack enemies, and it seems very slow to attack enemies that are attacking me before I attack them.

 

This may be true of earlier versions (never thought to try it), but you can load a game from the 'character select' screen by double clicking on it.

Edited October 9, 2009 by ZGold

[Ysne58 236]

I have that lag, not able to use cas on the laptop which is slower than the desk top. I'm going to replay it all on the desk top and try to see if there is a difference.

 

I was also unable to do the holdup quest with my first seraphim after I installed the expansion. I will do more checking, it is possible that the quest page for that my need to be updated, if none of my other characters can get there in time to save her either.

[ZGold 0]

I have that lag, not able to use cas on the laptop which is slower than the desk top. I'm going to replay it all on the desk top and try to see if there is a difference.

 

I was also unable to do the holdup quest with my first seraphim after I installed the expansion. I will do more checking, it is possible that the quest page for that my need to be updated, if none of my other characters can get there in time to save her either.

 

I've done the Holdup quest with both DMs using melee, and two Dryads using blowpipes. I only failed it on my Inquisitor because I was heading for Thylysium and cba'd to save her XD If you're suffering from lag it's going to affect any quest where you need to react quickly (I'm really not looking forward to fighting the fog boss...not only will it be in the swamps with enemies en mass, but I can just see the gfx for the fog slowing the game to a crawl on the higher graphics settings).

 

As far as the 'load lag' I mentioned goes, I think they may have screwed something over in the loading sequence because even on lower graphics settings I'm still getting it - and it's lasting for longer than 15-20 seconds as well. It's as if the load system is doing the following:

* Load area & textures

* Load player character

* Wait for player input

* Load NPCs/items/enemies

 

So after your character has loaded, you can take one action before everything else loads. If that action happens to be moving from point A to point B, and you move by left-click and hold (as I do), then the action isn't counted as 'over' until you let go of the left mouse button or your movement is interrupted. As an example, I went down into the sewers using the entrance near the Thylysium Docks (next to the guy who gives you Down in the Sewers quest). When I came out again I just started running to where I was going (the Army Camp in the South of the city), and didn't really register the absence of NPCs until I reached the lower part of the Docks where you can do the Good Address quest and sort of went...'where'd the quest guy go?'... at which point I stopped running and everything loaded in. I haven't tried ducking into and out of the sewers and then seeing how far I could get...yet...

 

Wraithking...I'm not sure where in the manual you read '4 new sets' for each character? In the version Ansgar posted the link to I can only see 'new items for all heroes'. What they definitely have added is new armour models for all heroes...whether they've added 4 new sets of armour models I don't know, but I'm definitely seeing pieces of armour at merchants that I haven't seen before (as in, haven't seen the skin before, not just the colour ).

Edited October 9, 2009 by ZGold

[Ysne58 236]

Based on what I'm experiencing between my two computers, I think your guess about load order is just about right on ZGold.

 

I have managed to complete Holdup a couple of times. I realized after I read your post that I did hold the left mouse down and ran to the rescue point.

 

The jiggling camera effect is much worse on my slower lap top than it is on the desk top. I barely notice it on the desk top. Sometimes it is so bad on the lap top I get nauseated just watching it. I have found that if I get my character far enough away after the jiggling starts, that it will stop.

 

With the expansion, the dilligent award is much easier to get. I did manage to complete the game with my SW last night. He only died 3 times,

 

He got the dilligent and the scrooge awards. Without the expansion he would only have gotten the scrooge award.

[Barristan 14]

Heya,

 

well.... the add-on comes with new bugs... who would have seen that coming

 

Really looking forward to it tho.... a change of scenery is due.

 

Eventually, we'll find a fix for all that is bugged. Let's hope there will be a great patch....

 

TC and HF

 

Greetz

[ZGold 0]

Ysne: I've found that sticking that 'noshake' line for the camera in the options text has pretty much eliminated the camera bug for me (it's in the manual ansgar linked), might be worth a try.

Referring back to a much earlier post, if by 'wand' you mean '1-h staff you can use a shield with', then yes, they also get the magic missile ability. My HE has a fire-based one, and when she's using it she reminds me so much of the film Tron, where they're flinging disks back and forth xD The magic missiles are also coloured according to what damage (if any) a staff is doing; red/orange for fire (typical fireball), blue/white for ice (iceball? snowball maybe ), green for poison (just like the kobold shamans), and a darker blue for magic. The default ('physical damage only'...yeah...) I think is the fireball (but with a chance to cause bleeding rather than burning). Like any other projectile weapon, if you miss what you're aiming at (usually because your target moved) then the missile will continue on for a certain distance or until it strikes terrain or another enemy. I've had more than a couple of enemies suddenly appear out of nowhere from the direction of a few stray missiles...

 

My next 'ooh, shiney!' (aka. distraction) project will be an Inquisitor with Magic Staffs and Duel Wield, just to see if I can have a duel 1-hand staff and magic-missile slinging character not sure how many times I'll die whilst laughing if I can, but if you can it'll be a shame that only the Inquisitor has both the skills required...

 

Edit: Only 17 quests this week (unless I develop insomnia in the next few minutes, which is somewhat unlikely ); that might go up to 18 if I'm up early and do the Brothers in Arms quest for the Shadow Warrior. Forgot how long and tedious the first HE Blue Chain quests are...not to mention that they complete in the Human Region

 

On the flip side, sheer boredom (and the fact I needed several thousand gold for a decent horse) finally drove me to the new Ice and Blood regions. Not bad so far; I already hate those rock-throwing 'things' in the Seraphim hunting grounds, and my HE took one look at the Skinned Demons near the cursed forest and bolted back to the ship screaming 'zombies!!' (I'm sure at some point I'll manage to actually figure out what they remind me of, I'm sure it's not just your generic 'zombie'...probably some sort of Resident Evil human/licker hybrid...). Went from level 4 to level 10 whilst exploring and then suddenly noticed...I have 4 CA/Weapon slots...what on earth!?

 

I know the manual mentioned changing the default keybindings because they'd made it so you get 5 slots at level 20...it hadn't quite registered until now that the previous maximum was 4... So yeah, getting to the point (I ramble when tired...no, that's not my point...), I have no idea if they've changed the points per level/skills gained at: levels (I suspect not), but they've definitely changed the maximum number of CA/weapon slots and the levels at which you get them. So far I'm going with level 20 for 5 CA/weapon slots (based on the manual), and level 10 for 4 CA/weapon slots (based on my HE hitting level 10). I'll try and remember to watch out when 2 and 3 are gained, but if someone beats me to it, go ahead and post the info here

 

Edit: You now get 2 CA/weapon slots at level 2, and 3 CA/weapon slots at level 5

Edited October 12, 2009 by ZGold

[ZGold 0]

Not sure if this is a bug, a feature, or how long it's been around, but discovered that you can cast Cascading Shroud on a non-hostile target if one happens to be under the cursor when you right click.

 

There is still a difference between enemy statistics (attack types/resistance types) on screen and shown in the skills (last enemy) window. The statistics shown on screen appear to be the correct values/types, where the skills window will often miss off attack/resistance types.

 

The achievement for reaching level 15 with a Dragon Mage is 'Master of Flames'

 

And on the subject of the Dragon Mage, there is a very nasty (or at least, I found it very nasty) boss that is quite literally sprung on you during the 6th part of the Blue Chain quest. It's an ethereal mini-dragon, and it flippin hurts! I suspect one of the reasons it hurts so much is because of the adjustments to boss difficulty that were made. In a similar vein, enemies in an area seem to adjust to match your level much quicker than they used to, e.g. walk into Thylysium at level 4, do a couple of quests and hit level 5, walk out of Thylysium and the enemies will also have leveled from 4 to 5. No more coasting through enemies that have gone white and avoid you...more than slightly annoying when you're trying to take screenshots and write quest notes at the same time

 

I can't see this mentioned anywhere in the manuals I have for Sacred 2 or Ice and Blood, but when you hold down Ctrl and Left Mouse Click on an enemy (attack without moving from where you're standing), it only works if you press Ctrl before you start attacking (especially if you left click and hold to continuously attack), and it also seems to block you from being able to use potions/change CA/weapon etc. There's definitely a multiple-input recognition issue, it's as if the game gets fixated on anything that's providing a 'continuous' input (key held down, mouse button held down).

 

An update to the load order issue: the 'Wait for player input' step is specifically movement - it waits for you to stop moving (issue being that you aren't moving to start with when you load!), so I'm wondering if the original idea might have been to have the character load and automatically move forward out of the transition trigger zone (at which point you would stop moving and everything else would load).

Edited October 12, 2009 by ZGold

[Ysne58 236]

My next 'ooh, shiney!' (aka. distraction) project will be an Inquisitor with Magic Staffs and Duel Wield, just to see if I can have a duel 1-hand staff and magic-missile slinging character not sure how many times I'll die whilst laughing if I can, but if you can it'll be a shame that only the Inquisitor has both the skills required...

 

 

Edit: You now get 2 CA/weapon slots at level 2, and 3 CA/weapon slots at level 5

 

 

seraphim and Dryad now can get Staff skill as a secondary choice. I haven't tried to see if I can do that. So there are actually three classes that have both the skills required.

 

I'll have to take DW on my seraphim for next skill choice and see if I can do that. Interesting idea. I know you cannot dw 2 throwing weapons. I already tried that.

 

Later: Ok, I just added DW to my seraphim. You can dual wield wands with other weapons. However, the staff skill appears to get over-ridden, no more magic wands when two weapons are equipped.

Edited October 12, 2009 by Ysne58

[ZGold 0]

My next 'ooh, shiney!' (aka. distraction) project will be an Inquisitor with Magic Staffs and Duel Wield, just to see if I can have a duel 1-hand staff and magic-missile slinging character not sure how many times I'll die whilst laughing if I can, but if you can it'll be a shame that only the Inquisitor has both the skills required...

 

 

Edit: You now get 2 CA/weapon slots at level 2, and 3 CA/weapon slots at level 5

 

 

seraphim and Dryad now can get Staff skill as a secondary choice. I haven't tried to see if I can do that. So there are actually three classes that have both the skills required.

 

I'll have to take DW on my seraphim for next skill choice and see if I can do that. Interesting idea. I know you cannot dw 2 throwing weapons. I already tried that.

 

Later: Ok, I just added DW to my seraphim. You can dual wield wands with other weapons. However, the staff skill appears to get over-ridden, no more magic wands when two weapons are equipped.

 

Aw, shame...I had such a lovely vision of duel wield staffs

[gogoblender 3,072]

It`s an amazing topic you have going here, good job mate. We`re going to have the new link up for Ice and Blood changes to the game link from index on the wiki`s front page, and then this sweet info can be moved in. Me and Schot are still looking for deals for at least four copies of the expansion, so we`re a bit behind with getting it just yet. Thanks you guys for getting the information together like this.

 

 

gogo

 

p.s And... topic stickied as asked Zgold!