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Few Questions regarding Seraphim


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Hi all. I have been looking for a Diablo like game for a while now and I just found this game and I love it. I just got it for the PS3 and was just looking for an RPG type game. Turns out, it's similar to Diablo, so imagine how surprised and happy I was. Anyways, now that I have played a bit, I am getting ready to try and make the type of character that fits my style of play. I have read a lot on these forums as well as the wiki and some other places, and that has been very useful. However, I still have a few questions to which I haven't found the answers to, or if I did, I didn't quite understand the answer. I wanted to ask them here in the hope that someone can help me out. Please don't flame me if these questions have been answered in other places.

 

First, a general question:

 

1. I understand the importance of Survival Bonus, but I can't seem to find what the max bonus is. So is there a max and is it worth trying to reach that max and maintain it?

 

Now to some more specific ones. I'm playing a Seraphim and I'm focusing on survivability more than anything else. I don't need her to be my farmer, I just want her be as close to unkillable as possible, while still dishing out good damage. For this purpose, I have learned the following skills: Tactics Lore, Armor Lore, Toughness, Revered Technology Focus, Exalted Warrior Focus, and Constitution.

 

2. My second question is, what do you suggest I make my last 4 skills? I want to be able to survive, so I do use the Warding Shield Buff as well as Divine Protection, but my primary Combat Skills come from the Exalted Warrior Branch. I also want to dish out some damage without giving up too much protection.

 

3. This leads me to ask, should I use a 1 handed weapon and shield, or is Dual Wielding a viable option? I personally like the dual wield style of play, but I don't want to lose out on protection if shields do really increase your survivability substantially.

 

4. If I use a 1 handed weapon and shield, should I be investing points into both Shield lore and whatever type of weapon I use Lore (either sword or hafted weapon)?

 

5. In terms of damage, which is better, sword or hafted weapons? I know customizability plays into that, so with that in mind, which is still better at producing more damage?

 

6. In terms of defense, which is better, sword or hafted weapons? Same caveat as #5.

 

7. If I do end up dual wielding, I should probably invest in the Dual Wielding. However, should I also invest into either sword or hafted weapons? I read that dual wielding limits something, but I don't quite understand what or how.

 

8. Finally, in terms of rings and amulets, what are some good one for damage? Which are good for defense? And more generally, are the best rings and amulets in either category unique/legendary ones or others with good modifiers?

 

Again, thanks for any help. If answers to some or all of these exist already, please give me a link and I'll check it out. Thanks again.

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Hi Zaraki and welcome to the Darkmatters forum. :)

 

I will try and answer as many questions as I can.

 

1. The maximum survival bonus is 100%, but that is very hard to get to as it takes longer and longer to get.

 

2. For more survivability you should get Warding Energy Lore, that will give your energy shield a nice boost to defense and power, as for more damage you could get a weapon lire (IE Sword Lore) that will increase your attack speed as well as your chance to hit.

 

3. I personally have never found shields of great use on a Seraphim, I generally find that duel wielding works much better.

 

4. If you were to use a weapon and a shield, I would think you would get both Shield Lore and a Weapon Lore, as it would add defense, damage and chance to hit over the two skills.

 

5. With this one I tend to find it depends on the weapon, but in a general sense I think hafted weapons have more base damage than swords.

 

6. As far as I know, your defense will be the same, it depends on your armor not your weapons.

 

7. If you duel wield you should 100% get the Duel Wield skill, as for the weapon lore it's personal preference once again, a weapon lore will only unlock the locked skills you need a weapon lore for on a weapon, all the bonus attack and attack speed will be negated by the duel wield skill.

 

8. I tend to find the best rings are +base damage, +to all skills, -regeneration on hit and +% to damage rings, out of all those I tend to find + to all skills the most useful. A little hint about amulets and rings, if you have a level 200 ring (or any level of ring) you can socket into a level 1 piece of armor (or any level of armor) and still be able to use it on a level 1 character ( or any level character)

 

Well, I've done my best to answer all of your questions.

 

I hope you enjoy your time in Ancaria.

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Hi all. I have been looking for a Diablo like game for a while now and I just found this game and I love it. I just got it for the PS3 and was just looking for an RPG type game. Turns out, it's similar to Diablo, so imagine how surprised and happy I was. Anyways, now that I have played a bit, I am getting ready to try and make the type of character that fits my style of play. I have read a lot on these forums as well as the wiki and some other places, and that has been very useful. However, I still have a few questions to which I haven't found the answers to, or if I did, I didn't quite understand the answer. I wanted to ask them here in the hope that someone can help me out. Please don't flame me if these questions have been answered in other places.

 

First, a general question:

 

1. I understand the importance of Survival Bonus, but I can't seem to find what the max bonus is. So is there a max and is it worth trying to reach that max and maintain it?

 

Now to some more specific ones. I'm playing a Seraphim and I'm focusing on survivability more than anything else. I don't need her to be my farmer, I just want her be as close to unkillable as possible, while still dishing out good damage. For this purpose, I have learned the following skills: Tactics Lore, Armor Lore, Toughness, Revered Technology Focus, Exalted Warrior Focus, and Constitution.

 

2. My second question is, what do you suggest I make my last 4 skills? I want to be able to survive, so I do use the Warding Shield Buff as well as Divine Protection, but my primary Combat Skills come from the Exalted Warrior Branch. I also want to dish out some damage without giving up too much protection.

 

3. This leads me to ask, should I use a 1 handed weapon and shield, or is Dual Wielding a viable option? I personally like the dual wield style of play, but I don't want to lose out on protection if shields do really increase your survivability substantially.

 

4. If I use a 1 handed weapon and shield, should I be investing points into both Shield lore and whatever type of weapon I use Lore (either sword or hafted weapon)?

 

5. In terms of damage, which is better, sword or hafted weapons? I know customizability plays into that, so with that in mind, which is still better at producing more damage?

 

6. In terms of defense, which is better, sword or hafted weapons? Same caveat as #5.

 

7. If I do end up dual wielding, I should probably invest in the Dual Wielding. However, should I also invest into either sword or hafted weapons? I read that dual wielding limits something, but I don't quite understand what or how.

 

8. Finally, in terms of rings and amulets, what are some good one for damage? Which are good for defense? And more generally, are the best rings and amulets in either category unique/legendary ones or others with good modifiers?

 

Again, thanks for any help. If answers to some or all of these exist already, please give me a link and I'll check it out. Thanks again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will also try and answer from my point of view. Sorry if many of these questions have already been answered. I am running my first major character who is also a Seraphim. If this is your first character let me make a suggestion. Take enhanced perception and Bargaining. You might want to think about Bargaining because it will take alot of money to make use of. Enhanced Perception will help but you still need to build up gold before you take the skill. I have noticed a major difference in my gear by taking these two skills. It will allow you to buy rings and amulets with plus all skills on them.

 

 

 

1. Survival Bonus is great because it will raise all of your attributes. Just be careful not to die, it builds up really slow and starts over if you die. It raises by spending time in actual combat not just exploring. The weapon the Officers Saber gives a nice bonus to SB and has 3 gold slots. Look out for this weapon.

 

 

2. As I said above I suggest taking EP and Bargain. EP for better drops and cash money and Bargain for later to get better gear and jewels. Make a bargain suit, with plus general skills and such and put it on before you click on a merchant. With plus all skill gear you might only need a few pieces of gear to switch. Relics are also a great way to boost the Bargain skill. Switch them for Enhanced Perception when out in combat. If this sounds like to much of a hassle then just Take EP. I don't know what your other skills are but Constitution is always a decent skills. I would dual wield without a doubt. Make sure you also take Tactics lore. Also take CM focus, this will let you mod Hallowed Restoration which is an amazing healing spell. Mod it so it gives you healing over time and reduce the regen of the skill. Baneful Smite can also be modded to slow foes and is a nice long range tool to have. Flaring Nova is also a good CA to check out for melee. Mod it for stun and two rings.

 

 

3. Like I said above dual wield all the way. I like to use the Officers Saber and Timbors Curse. One is a sword and one is a hafted weapon. See I would not take Hafted Or Sword weapons. This will limit what you can use which is one of the benefits of taking Dual Wield. Especially since this is your first character. You will be switching around weapons and gear often I imagine.

 

4. See above. I would go with Dual Wield. Plus, this will let you save a skill point. Make sure you take Armor Lore, that is a very important skill and if you want to use two buffs you will need Concentration.

 

5. It will depend on the weapon, I find better sword weapons but if you find a Timbors Curse or a Hafted Weapon with life leech use that. Life Leech is amazing for a dual Wield seraphim who likes to use Pelting Strikes.

 

6. Not sure what you mean here? Sword or hafted in terms of defense? I would say sword because they usually have more slots for rings and such so then you can socket whatever you want plus defensive skills if thats what you dig.

 

7. Yes, you lose the sword weapons bonus when you have two weapons in the same slot ie when you Dual Wield. BUT, if you do take Sword weapons you will open up the mods on the sword weapons. I suggest no, because this will limit you. Plus, you can get enough attack speed from using Dashing Alracity(always the first thing I mod) will let you run much faster and improve attack speed for weapons and casting. I find you can find rings and amulets with the mods you could gain from sword weapons but thats just my opinion.

 

8. Thats a hard question. Basically you need to take Bargain to get the best rings and amulets. Plus physical damage rings are amulets are nice. Basically try and find ones with plus to all skills and another mod that also happens to fit in with your character build. For example if you found a tailsman with +3 all skills and +1 aspect Exalted Warrior that would be a very good amulet. It would improve your skills across the board and also add a point to your major combat arts. I am having alot of trouble myself right now trying to figure out how to socket all my gear and what to use it fun but can be overwhelming at the same time.

 

 

 

Just make sure you remember three skills: Dashing Alracity, Hallowed Restoration and Divine Protection. Mod them so you can use them all the time. This will make you very fast, add attack speed. Very nice health regen from HR just have to cast it again every 10 seconds in a major battle. Divine Protection will add that extra layer of protection that you sometimes need. Cleansing Brilliance also has a mod that reduces a foes attack speed that you might want to look into.

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Thanks for all the quick replies, it is really appreciated. You all also said some insightful things. Couple of things.

 

@ Rasputin17: I certainly get the importance of have EP and Bargaining, especially since you need gear to survive and improve. But wouldn't it be better to have one character dedicated specifically to gear finding? Hate to use another game as an example, but in Diablo 2 I had my sorc specifically setup to do item runs, giving her magic find gear, runes, and skills that allowed me to quickly kill those minions that I was doing runs on. From those runs, I fed my main char. I feel like that's what I should do here too; have a second character specifically setup to find gear.

 

Going along this line then, what class would you say is best for this? I assume the best place to search for gear is the orc cave. So what's the best setup characterwise to go through the cave really quickly?

 

@ Hacksaw32: I personally like the dual wield build but I'm wondering whether shields are worth it for survivability. You said that you don't like shield, but why is that? Is it because they don't really add much to defense or just not your style of playing Seraphims? Like I said previously, my goal is a survival build. So if shield greatly improve survival, I might want to stick with it.

 

I do have a few more questions, if anyone is willing to answer.

 

1. Is there an actual difference between hafted weapons and swords? I mean, there is a hafted weapon skill and a sword skill, so I assume there is some kind of difference, but what is it? Are swords faster but weaker whereas hafted weapons stronger but slower? Is it something else?

 

2. One big thing that I have been wondering about is max values in this game. Basically, at what point does increasing something make no difference anymore? For example, is there a maximum attack speed? If there is, and I could reach it without speed lore, then why would I ever get speed lore? Same with other things like, maximum HP, move speed, armor, resist, etc. Knowing this helps with figuring out how to invest points.

 

3. That leads me to my last question. What are max values for attributes? I know how many attribute points I will have available to spend by the time I hit level 200, but is there a limit on how high an attribute can go? And if so, can I raise them past those points with soft stats from equipment?

 

Again, thanks for everyones help.

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Hi Zaraki

 

The reason I don't like shields too much is because I think you can take either a 2h weapon or duel wield without sacrificing to much defense at all. With Toughness, Armor Lore and Warding Shield Lore (I think that's what it's called, the one that increase the bonus from Warding Shield Buff) you will have more than enough damage resistance to live a long and healthy life.

 

1. I think the main difference between swords and hafted weapons is just the modifiers on them, although I can't really tell you what they are.

 

2. There are a few things that have maximum values on them, but most don't. The maximum Attack Speed is 150%, the maximum Movement Speed is either 150% or 175%, as for armor, resists and things like that, I think the maximum might be in the billions (a number you can never hope to achieve without exploits, mods or hex editing. As for Speed Lore I can't say as I've never used it, but it should be fairly easy to get maximum Attack Speed without it.

 

3. The maximum values for attributes..... hmmm.... I'm not sure on that one, once again it could be in the billions and once again that is a number you will never achieve without mods, cheat or a hex editor.

 

I hope this cleared a few things up for you, enjoy.

 

One more thing, be sure to check out the Sacred 2 wiki, it has everything there, from set information to every skills and Combat Art (CA).

Edited by Hacksaw32
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Zaraki,

 

Howdy!

 

There's another part of Sacred that is important to think about which are the combos. Most people make 3 types of combos:

 

1. Mob killing combo

2. Boss killing combo

3. Protection combo

 

Using the Combat Discipline skill opens more combo slots as well as damage.

 

Two characters have the active shield buffs: Seraphim and the Temple Guardian. I like to use them as it does work well and at higher levels, these shields can be powerful tools.

 

Unlike Diablo [I played the second game for 4 years] gold actually means something in this game. From changing runes to slotting weapons to bargain hunters [chars with the bargain skill for shopping for rings/ammys] the gold is necessary. Check any and all chests, crates ect... and also fight the mini-bosses. Sacred wiki has a map with the list of these hidden baddies.

 

The builds I've seen on this site are excellent and should be reviewed. Sacred can be a tough game to figure out at times. But it's well worth it!

 

Have fun storming the castle!

 

ZConnor

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Thanks for all the quick replies, it is really appreciated. You all also said some insightful things. Couple of things.

 

@ Rasputin17: I certainly get the importance of have EP and Bargaining, especially since you need gear to survive and improve. But wouldn't it be better to have one character dedicated specifically to gear finding? Hate to use another game as an example, but in Diablo 2 I had my sorc specifically setup to do item runs, giving her magic find gear, runes, and skills that allowed me to quickly kill those minions that I was doing runs on. From those runs, I fed my main char. I feel like that's what I should do here too; have a second character specifically setup to find gear.

 

Going along this line then, what class would you say is best for this? I assume the best place to search for gear is the orc cave. So what's the best setup characterwise to go through the cave really quickly?

 

@ Hacksaw32: I personally like the dual wield build but I'm wondering whether shields are worth it for survivability. You said that you don't like shield, but why is that? Is it because they don't really add much to defense or just not your style of playing Seraphims? Like I said previously, my goal is a survival build. So if shield greatly improve survival, I might want to stick with it.

 

I do have a few more questions, if anyone is willing to answer.

 

1. Is there an actual difference between hafted weapons and swords? I mean, there is a hafted weapon skill and a sword skill, so I assume there is some kind of difference, but what is it? Are swords faster but weaker whereas hafted weapons stronger but slower? Is it something else?

 

2. One big thing that I have been wondering about is max values in this game. Basically, at what point does increasing something make no difference anymore? For example, is there a maximum attack speed? If there is, and I could reach it without speed lore, then why would I ever get speed lore? Same with other things like, maximum HP, move speed, armor, resist, etc. Knowing this helps with figuring out how to invest points.

 

3. That leads me to my last question. What are max values for attributes? I know how many attribute points I will have available to spend by the time I hit level 200, but is there a limit on how high an attribute can go? And if so, can I raise them past those points with soft stats from equipment?

 

Again, thanks for everyones help.

 

 

 

 

 

Hello again, yes I had a Necromancer that was my item finder in D2. The Sorceress was my semi Treasure Hunter. My favorite game of all time, but this game is actually more complex. I agree that if you do have a specific bargain character then you might want to leave the skill out. In my opinion though its worth it just to take because most of the gear you can find shopping is for your SPECIFIC character class. Having the ability to buy plus all skill rings right away really helps. But if you plan on making a Shopper to level up with your main character you can leave it off. Just remember this will probably take even more work. Enhanced Perception will help you find gear much faster but again if you really plan on having multiple characters with different roles then its best left out. Just so you know I felt the same way as you before but now I would at least take EP. If you decide against it I suggest spending some time in gear with "Chance to find Valuable".

 

 

 

1. I think the only real difference is visual, and maybe the usual mods you can find. For example Hafted weapons usually have a chance to stun while Swords usually have "Level for Death Blow"

 

 

2. Not exactly sure but if you go to the overview screen then click over once you will see all your stats. This will list your attack and run speed. With Dashing Alracity and points in Dual Wield you should be able to easily reach your max. The max for Run Speed and Attack Speed is 150%.

 

 

 

3. Not positive but I always put most of my attribute points in Vit. I also don't have constitution though. I suggest building up whatever attribute you feel is the weakest. To be honest most of the time I actually just try and reach whole numbers. If I am one point away from 150 str I put it there. If I have 119 in Vit I will take it to 120.

 

 

Hope that helps, by the way if you ever want to play online sometime my PSN is Rasputin177. I play during the night.

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Again, thanks everyone for your input. It really has helped me out and led me to making a dual wielding Seraphim!. I have been looking at a bunch of build on this site, and I got to say, some of them look very impressive. I'm trying a little something different though, so we shall see how it goes.

 

I am already in the process of making a Seraphim Shopper, but my goal is to get my main char to niob before I work on the Shopper for real. Still looking for a good build on the shopper, but I haven't really put too much thought into it yet and haven't read too much on the bargaining/EP mechanics.

 

Btw, how important are combo's? I mean, do you really ever need to go over 2 combos? I use soul hammer and pelting strike, and that does enough damage to kill 1 orc and damage another, in orc cave, and the regen is really low too. So I feel like I don't need to add anything else to it.

 

Anyways, thanks again for everyone's help.

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Zaraki,

 

Try this combo for mobbin':

 

Radiant pillar --> halo [whatever it's called] --> pelting strikes

 

The pillar and the halo are 360 degree forces and the strikes cleans up the rest.

 

Combos are worth it for all of the char builds IMO. Every build of mine uses combat discipline.

 

ZConnor

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Zaraki,

 

Try this combo for mobbin':

 

Radiant pillar --> halo [whatever it's called] --> pelting strikes

 

The pillar and the halo are 360 degree forces and the strikes cleans up the rest.

 

Combos are worth it for all of the char builds IMO. Every build of mine uses combat discipline.

 

ZConnor

 

The halo is Flaring Nova. I don't use combat discipline but use two combos in succession. Radiant Pillar and Flaring Nova combo followed by Soul Hammer and Pelting Strikes to knock out any champions still standing after the first combo. I find that I don't always need the second combo and by using CAs from one or two different aspects at most first I can use two CAs of the same aspect in a second combo while the first is still running.

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The radiant pillar/flaring nova combo sound good and all, but is it worth it without celestial magic lore and focus? I mean, without them, I feel like they don't do very much damage. And since I'm going the exalted warrior and revered technology path, I didn't want to invest more skills on celestial magic. So yea, I'll try that combo, but I feel like it might not be that strong.

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The radiant pillar/flaring nova combo sound good and all, but is it worth it without celestial magic lore and focus? I mean, without them, I feel like they don't do very much damage. And since I'm going the exalted warrior and revered technology path, I didn't want to invest more skills on celestial magic. So yea, I'll try that combo, but I feel like it might not be that strong.

 

Since Flaring Nova is a Revered Tech CA you can put a bunch of points in it to do most of the damage. If you mod Radiant Pillar for hypnosis you can draw the mobs in towards you so that FN can hit them easily. FN emanates from your position while RP can be any distance from you so cast RP close to you. That also allows the second combo of SH and PS (both Exalted Warrior) to be executed within the radius of PS/RP.

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So, I have been playing for a few weeks now, and have a bunch of additional questions that I would like to ask at this point. Again, thanks for any help and sorry if this has been answered in other threads already.

 

1. Will I only have 15 points for modifications or is it 15 per aspect?

 

2. I saw the posts about getting a level 1 char to niob, but I'm wondering if a shopper will be any good at those low levels? So essentially, if I do end up making a separate shopper, do I also need to level him up to higher levels to get good gear for my main guy or will it be fine at low levels?

 

3. Is using a unique mount to fight worth it? Right now I'm in Gold, and the mount for exalted warrior reduces regen on exalted warrior by about 30% but regen generally goes up by 30%. So right now, exalted warrior aspect doesn't get extra regen, which is where all my skills come from essentially. But the mount also allows me to move faster and increases my hitpoints. So why wouldn't I use it as much as I can, especially since I can imagine that they are even better in higher difficulties/levels?

 

4. Related to the last question, is the Riding skill useful or can I still use my mount effectively without it?

 

Thanks again.

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So, I have been playing for a few weeks now, and have a bunch of additional questions that I would like to ask at this point. Again, thanks for any help and sorry if this has been answered in other threads already.

 

1. Will I only have 15 points for modifications or is it 15 per aspect?

 

2. I saw the posts about getting a level 1 char to niob, but I'm wondering if a shopper will be any good at those low levels? So essentially, if I do end up making a separate shopper, do I also need to level him up to higher levels to get good gear for my main guy or will it be fine at low levels?

 

3. Is using a unique mount to fight worth it? Right now I'm in Gold, and the mount for exalted warrior reduces regen on exalted warrior by about 30% but regen generally goes up by 30%. So right now, exalted warrior aspect doesn't get extra regen, which is where all my skills come from essentially. But the mount also allows me to move faster and increases my hitpoints. So why wouldn't I use it as much as I can, especially since I can imagine that they are even better in higher difficulties/levels?

 

4. Related to the last question, is the Riding skill useful or can I still use my mount effectively without it?

 

Thanks again.

 

 

 

 

 

Hello again, Hope the build is going well.

 

 

 

1. I dunno exactly how many you get but look at sacred wiki, go to Combat Art. Then go to Combat Art Modifications at the bottom of the page. It will tell you how many points you need to get to the next mod point for example you get one at level 3-5-9-14-22 and then on and on. To get all 15 mod points you will need to spend alot of points in the given focus/lore.

 

 

 

 

2. I really don't know. I thought I read that does not work anymore. Even without being in Niob a shopper can help you. Plus, it will be gear closer to your other characters levels. It takes a long time to get to level 200. It is possible to socket how level rings and amulets in low level gear and the character will get the benefits!

 

 

 

3. I have been told that you do not need Riding to use a class specific mount.It will have positive and negative effects on your character. Increased HP but Pelting Strikes will take longer to execute. You can't go into dungeons with a mount either. Good Luck.

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