Hard Core for Consoles challenge

[moodyjm2 0]

So I found some decent loot yesterday (Ilgard's torso and shoulders + Dylans helmet) and now I'm really destroying those mobs. I fought the Oglagomus (sp.) and it wasn't too hard - only used about 4 - 5 potions but never really got down near 25% hp. It also turned out well that I was able to fully mod Mortifying Pillory right before the fight - (Armor Reduction)+Proclamation+Decay.

 

I have pretty sick recharge on my attacks at 1.7s so I can cast doppleganger a bit more which is great during those boss fights.

 

At this point I'm definately going with AS Lore and then probably Concentration (or vice versa order wise). After reading Dobri's topic about an Inquisitor with RP+Toughness and no Constitution, I realize that I could get some great damage mitigation/reflection with Toughness + Innure+RP. Sure I'm missing out on more hp and recharging hp during fights, but with Concentration I can increase my CA levels even further and decide if I want three buffs with Doppleganger.

 

Still undecided about weapon spec. I figure I'll go with a melee weapon spec because I can still use ranged on the spider, but I will need a melee spec when I'm in dungeons without it. I like the polearms, but I just got the Sword of the Blood Dryads last night which makes a pretty convincing case for DW. Weapon spec will be my last Skill so I still have some time to decide.

 

How is anyone else doing?

[essjayehm 58]

 

I use a unique energy staff gun and Lance of Perdition...still not 100 percent sure about my weapon spec as the energy staff on the spider gets disgusting range and makes Mortifying Pillory and Ruthless Mutiliation very powerful.

 

So far doing well and looking forward to moving up to Gold, Plat, etc.

Glad you're up to the challenge! Take your time deciding on your weapon of choice... Frenetic Fervor more than does enough to keep your attack speed very high without a weapon lore, even if you have attack speed penalties from using too-high weapons. No real mistake to eat lots of runes into FF because the 60-second cool-down cannot be reduced.

[moodyjm2 0]

So I was looking at the legendaries on SacredWiki and I didn't see any polearms but I saw alot of Swords, 1H and 2H, and other weapons for DW. I already got Ker's Hand on my first Inquisitor, so I'm thinking that for a long run toon Sword weapons or DW would be the way to go? What are your thoughts?

[essjayehm 58]

So I was looking at the legendaries on SacredWiki and I didn't see any polearms but I saw alot of Swords, 1H and 2H, and other weapons for DW. I already got Ker's Hand on my first Inquisitor, so I'm thinking that for a long run toon Sword weapons or DW would be the way to go? What are your thoughts?

You cannot plan on ever getting a Legendary on the console. Well, other than the class-quest rewards, and the Boneslicer.

You could plan a build around some Uniques, but I would actually have them before planning around them.

For a "first" toon (well, your third) I will say DW all the way.

[Scleameth 19]

I started the Dryad last night with the high Voodoo Dryad high XP build, but this is not really my style of play. I'm constanly thinking about all the possible drops that I'm missing out on I did get enough exposure to the dryad to realize that she's not really my type and so I'm going to sever the ties. I really loved the Wood Elf in S1, but the dryad just does not offer the same ranged CAs.

 

I suppose it's going to have to be High Elf. Never really tried an all out ice elf build, so this I'm excited about trying something new with something old, borrowing a few tips from guides and wearing a bit of blue...

[essjayehm 58]

I started the Dryad last night with the high Voodoo Dryad high XP build, but this is not really my style of play. I'm constanly thinking about all the possible drops that I'm missing out on I did get enough exposure to the dryad to realize that she's not really my type and so I'm going to sever the ties. I really loved the Wood Elf in S1, but the dryad just does not offer the same ranged CAs.

 

I suppose it's going to have to be High Elf. Never really tried an all out ice elf build, so this I'm excited about trying something new with something old, borrowing a few tips from guides and wearing a bit of blue...

For myself, it was a good measure of self-control not to go for the goodies on the ground when running the VD-exploit... getting the experience floods is more important. But, yeah... the few set pieces I did manage to stumble across made me wonder what I missed out on.

 

I think an Ice elf will be one of the harder builds to complete this challenge... I found the Niob mobs hit really hard. When they hit her ...

[Scleameth 19]

I think an Ice elf will be one of the harder builds to complete this challenge... I found the Niob mobs hit really hard. When they hit her ...

 

Well it's actually good news to me (believe it or not!) - From what I read, the Ice elf appeared to be almost too overpowered and I was afraid that that game play would become a bit monotonous after surviving the 1st 20 levels. It's always good to be brought back to earth just when you think you're at godlike status. :cha (18):

[moodyjm2 0]

Agreed...I just hit the swamps at level 36 after having some trouble with the Immortal One and I'm definately realizing that a few wrongs moves and I'm done-for

[Scleameth 19]

Well I made it to level 14 and so very nearly bit the dust doing the class quest in Thylysium... 3 guards waiting in ambush slapped me silly with their pikes! I made it out and headed straight to the blacksmith to upgrade my armor a bit... just in case I get such a nasty surprise again!

[lujate 578]

Well I made it to level 14 and so very nearly bit the dust doing the class quest in Thylysium... 3 guards waiting in ambush slapped me silly with their pikes! I made it out and headed straight to the blacksmith to upgrade my armor a bit... just in case I get such a nasty surprise again!

Was that in the cave by the beach? That is a tough encounter.

[Scleameth 19]

Was that in the cave by the beach? That is a tough encounter.

 

Yeah - actually they're wielding halberds ... not pikes, but a ton of damage taken non the less! But it's a good thing as I said, just to make sure I don't become over confident.

[lujate 578]

Was that in the cave by the beach? That is a tough encounter.

 

Yeah - actually they're wielding halberds ... not pikes, but a ton of damage taken non the less! But it's a good thing as I said, just to make sure I don't become over confident.

IIRC, that was the most dangerous part of the class quest.

[moodyjm2 0]

I joined a Gold game with my level 40 Inquisitor who was doing the Silver campaign and I died against one of those tree creatures. Can't believe it! I was so meticulous with the build! Maybe there's something I missing with scaling, but I died so easly! ugh...

 

I deleted the character because he was my first stab at a HC character, so I'm back playing my level 50 Inquisitor on Gold for fun. Sure I got 9 deaths on Silver with him but that was before I knew how to build a (somewhat) proper character and I think he's been salvaged.

 

The thought of starting another HC character and after losing 20 hrs very frustrating . With work and other responsibilities 20 hrs was a good little investment :/. Oh well, maybe start on HC in the near future after I sow my pride back together .

[essjayehm 58]

I joined a Gold game with my level 40 Inquisitor who was doing the Silver campaign and I died against one of those tree creatures. Can't believe it! I was so meticulous with the build! Maybe there's something I missing with scaling, but I died so easly! ugh...

 

I deleted the character because he was my first stab at a HC character, so I'm back playing my level 50 Inquisitor on Gold for fun. Sure I got 9 deaths on Silver with him but that was before I knew how to build a (somewhat) proper character and I think he's been salvaged.

 

The thought of starting another HC character and after losing 20 hrs very frustrating . With work and other responsibilities 20 hrs was a good little investment :/. Oh well, maybe start on HC in the near future after I sow my pride back together .

I think that level 40 in the Gold Dryad region was a little above his head. I'll usually try not to get that far ahead of myself, aiming for about level 60-ish for that area/difficulty.

 

Jumping around between difficulties and areas can be very dangerous for "Hardcore" play. Especially if playing online with others, who may be higher level / higher survival bonus making the enemies tougher than anticipated.

 

I'd play with your 9-death Inquisitor for a while, and get to know some of the more dangerous enemies/areas, etc before jumping back into the hardcore pool, just to avoid the fustration that losing a whack of hours of playtime can be....

[Scleameth 19]

Still in Silver @ level 48 and finally out of the swamps! Those skellies are really resistant to ice damage! I had to swallow my pride and flee the fight against the Dark Prince I had him down to about 25% health and then he started summoning 'em skellies and I just could not kill them off fast enough to get back on the real task at hand, and so he just started regaining health all the time. But I realized that I need a LOT more armor protection. I was chain-healthing like crazy and almost got my fingers in a knot trying to escape and drink health potions at the same time! I'll give the Dark Prince another shot in Gold when my ancient magic has a few more points allocated.

[Scleameth 19]

Sclice is still alive and kickin' at lvl49. 'been cought up in work a bit and did not play much recently. I'm in the desert region, but I need more protection, since I don't think I'll be able to beat the Garganthropod. The scorpions are doing some insane damage and the big green scorpion bosses = 1 health potion per hit. I'm trying to keep my GT at 0.7secs and don't want to push that up with consuming Crystal Skin runes. But I have to make a plan soon! I thought I had everything under control, but at the rate I'm going I won't last 2 secs against the guardians. I'll have to stick around in Silver for another 15 lvls at least

[lujate 578]

My incredibly weak, 3-aspect caster Seraphim took out the Guardians by luring them into the hall individually. She ran in a big circle, casting spells over her shoulder. My 1st pyro HE did not think that was necessary. She is sorely missed.

[Morbus79 0]

Make sure you use Frost Flare with your ice elf to slow those green scorpions and Bosses down. That gives you a chance to stay just far enough away from them to hit the with GT but never take a hit. It's just what you need for the guardians. You may not like running away from them constantly, but it will keep you alive.

[Scleameth 19]

Make sure you use Frost Flare with your ice elf to slow those green scorpions and Bosses down. That gives you a chance to stay just far enough away from them to hit the with GT but never take a hit. It's just what you need for the guardians. You may not like running away from them constantly, but it will keep you alive.

 

Thanks! - at the moment that is my tactic against the green scorpions, but I feared that the later boss monsters would block FF, since only 1 in 4 actually hit the Dark Prince... but I suppose my chance to hit will increase as I take one a few more levels.

[Scleameth 19]

I gave up the chase a bit with my ice elf... shards, shards, shards and more shards. Getting a bit boring and the auto targeting works on my nerves a lot lately - I'm fighting to stay alive more than I'm fighting enemies! I've never had this type of struggle in Silver before, so I'm hanging up the gloves and started a new seraphim last night. The first time I'm going duel wield and Archangels' Wrath (aka snotball). So far so good... I like the toe to toe action again!

[Scleameth 19]

My vote again for the seraphim as my favorite character! So far all the seras I played were Radiant Pillar orientated and I liked the Cleansing Brilliance buff against undead and T-energy creatures. But my latest and greatest seraphim is exceeding expectation with Revered Technology based CAs! The only RT CA I don't use is the BFG. My Flaring Nova is modded (not yet gold mod) like such:

Impulse - Sends out two pulses, but reduces strength and area of effect.

Stun - Chance to stun opponents within range.

My gold mod will be: Flux - Increases Flaring Nova's damage.

 

The stun effect is great and through this I get what I loved from my Hafted Weapons specialist Inquisitor. Pelting Strikes makes mince meat out of stunned opponents and I just love running head long into a crowd of skellies and watch my seraphim do what comes natural...

 

Oh, and Archangel's Heat seeking Snot-ball is also one of my regulars.

 

level 24 now and one the final stretch of the Undead Legion quest. Although I would always strive to be the most powerful mage/sorcerer in any RPG, I have to say that my Ice Elf was never as exciting as the seraphim.... shards, shards, more shards, shards in wrong direction, raging numbus, shards, shards... and that about sums it up. I wish S3 has more, more and more to offer for magic users!

[MITZE 1]

Nine months later, and the urge to play Sacred 2 has hit me again.

 

Guess it's time to finally make and play that Pure Caster Temple Guardian that I planned out way back at the beginning of the year. Wish me luck!

[essjayehm 58]

Welcome back, Mitze!

 

Best of luck to you... you'll need it! Tough toon to get past the bosses.

[MITZE 1]

So, I started the character yesterday, but have only had time to put in about 3 1/2 hours worth of playtime.

 

Nonetheless, here's what has happened so far:

 

---

 

Obviously, the most dangerous time for the character was right at the start. Luckily, I was able to kill the two elven archeologists that decided it was a good idea to attack me without using one of the three 'Light Health Potion's I started with. The second archeologist was even kind enough to drop a 2* piece of armor.

 

The starting chest gave me a rune each for 'Furious Emblazer' and 'Untouchable Force,' in addition to some armor. I promptly read the runes, equipped the armor, and activated the only buff I'll ever use with this character. I also started the campaign-long class quest.

 

With health potions in limited supply until I could get to a merchant, the gun-arm proved very useful. Enemies would typically be pretty injured by the time they got to me. I would also tend to just sit and recover health instead of using a potion after each encounter.

 

Since it was pretty slow-going, I didn't reach Level 2 until 0:20. I put the attribute point into 'Willpower,' and got 'Source Warden Lore' first to mod out the buff. (SWL: 2) My plan for the attribute points is thus: for every ten levels, two levels worth of points go into 'Willpower,' one level worth goes into 'Vitality,' two levels worth goes into 'Stamina,' and five levels worth goes into 'Intelligence.' Why? 'Cause I'm weird and I like to spread out my points.

 

I got to the merchant at the Happy Cow Farm, and sold the 2* armor I got from the archeologist for a decent sum. I then spent most of it on a staff (for roleplaying purposes) and some cheap armor that didn't have awful regeneration penalties. I forgor to buy potions, though. I also started 'Rusty Inheritance,' a class quest for the Temple Guardian.

 

While completing 'Rusty Inheritance,' I found an 'Amplifying Discharge' rune. I read it straight away.

 

I finished the 'Rusty Inheritance' quest at 0:39. I got some armor from it that I sold straight away. I then bought the all the potions the HCF merchant had, as well as some jewelery and relics.

 

On the way to Sloeford (more like Slowford, dang town takes forever to load every time I visit!) I found a 'Firey Ember' rune. Guess what I did with it.

 

0:52 : Got to Sloeford.

 

0:57 : Level 3 (SWL: 3). Am waiting until (SWL: 5) so I can get 'Lost Fusion Focus' next (in hindsight, pointless). Modded Untouchble Force with 'Mind Control.' My reasoning: this is HARDCORE! I'd rather something that boosts survivability than something that boosts (what I feel is) a rather insignificant amount of damage. Anyone wish to counter-argue?

 

1:15 : Finished looting Sloeford.

I now have a decent amount of cash for the moment. Thus, I buy the local merchant out of potions for the second and last time.

 

I did the 'Tutorial Runemaster' quest and got a 'Jolting Touch' rune. Jolting Touch immediately began making things slightly easier for me with its 'reduce regen times slightly' thing.

 

1:40 : Level 4 (SWL: 4).

 

Did the 'Tutorial Blacksmith' quest, and immediately used the blacksmith. Bought an amulet for the coming buff suit. (UF: 2) Traded runes for one 'Archimedes Beam' and one 'Charged Grid.'

 

Accepted the 'Mugged' quest.

 

2:20 : Level 5. Got 'Lost Fusion Focus' and 'Lost Fusion Lore' (SWL: 5, LFF: 2, LFL: 1). Modded Jolting Touch with 'Payback.' My reasoning: due to how I think I'm going to be using Jolting Touch, (this will be explained later) I'm probably going to be in melee range pretty often. "Chance to Reflect Melee" is better for survivability than a fixed leech life effect, I think. Modded Untouchable Force with 'Calm.' I don't think I have to explain this one. Counter-arguments?

 

2:38 : Level 6 (SWL: 5, LFF: 4, LFL: 1). Modded Jolting Touch with 'Voltage.' Again: shouldn't need to explain.

 

Completed 'Mugged.' Stopped playing for ~20 minutes to eat.

 

3:05 : Level 7 (SWL: 5, LFF: 6, LFL: 1).

 

Completed the quest chain involving that guy in charge at the Celestial Dome. Realized I never turned my buff on after I finished eating.

 

3:32 : Level 8. Have not distributed points yet.

 

---

 

So, I was thinking that the final mod for Jolting Touch is going to be 'Flux,' to supplement regen times. I'll keep other CAs at not-quite-spammable levels, run up to an enemy, and alternate between Jolting Touch and whatever does the most damage to it.

 

I'm worried that if I take Shelter, it will make the character into a joke. The way I imagine it, I just need to get two or three 'Jolting Touch's going on an enemy at once and I'll be mostly immune to damage as long as it's happening. What do you guys think?

 

Regardless, I think I'm about ready to take on Gahanka.

[essjayehm 58]

0:57 : Level 3 (SWL: 3). Am waiting until (SWL: 5) so I can get 'Lost Fusion Focus' next (in hindsight, pointless). Modded Untouchble Force with 'Mind Control.' My reasoning: this is HARDCORE! I'd rather something that boosts survivability than something that boosts (what I feel is) a rather insignificant amount of damage. Anyone wish to counter-argue?

I think that's the correct choice. It would be a challenge in itself to see if you could make UF do any signifigant damage.

 

2:20 : Level 5. Got 'Lost Fusion Focus' and 'Lost Fusion Lore' (SWL: 5, LFF: 2, LFL: 1). Modded Jolting Touch with 'Payback.' My reasoning: due to how I think I'm going to be using Jolting Touch, (this will be explained later) I'm probably going to be in melee range pretty often. "Chance to Reflect Melee" is better for survivability than a fixed leech life effect, I think. Modded Untouchable Force with 'Calm.' I don't think I have to explain this one. Counter-arguments?

 

I think the life leech on JT is bugged for console version and will heal the enemy. Good choice

Calm is my choice for UT as well, no argument!

 

2:38 : Level 6 (SWL: 5, LFF: 4, LFL: 1). Modded Jolting Touch with 'Voltage.' Again: shouldn't need to explain.

 

So, I was thinking that the final mod for Jolting Touch is going to be 'Flux,' to supplement regen times. I'll keep other CAs at not-quite-spammable levels, run up to an enemy, and alternate between Jolting Touch and whatever does the most damage to it.

 

I'm worried that if I take Shelter, it will make the character into a joke. The way I imagine it, I just need to get two or three 'Jolting Touch's going on an enemy at once and I'll be mostly immune to damage as long as it's happening. What do you guys think?

 

Don't lose sight of the fact that consolers MUST beat the bosses to advance the difficulties... and a caster TG will have major issues killing them without that 100%mitigation from JT. Food for thought

 

Regardless, I think I'm about ready to take on Gahanka. [/size][/font][/left]

 

Good Luck with Ghanka... that will be a big, long fight; you may even have to run, I predict