Furupawa 2 Posted March 5, 2023 just cleared bronze campaign...it was a really good ride ( I did pretty much only the main campaign, after clearing the first 2 cities). Build was fantastic, thanks a lot ( again) for posting it. Now it is time to try another ( think melee this time , maybe seraphim queen of blades).. Furupawa O/ 1
rhs408 7 Posted May 4, 2023 On 3/23/2018 at 5:57 AM, Hooyaah said: I usually mod Raging Nimbus first to take care of mobs and level up; then I mod Glacial Thorns to off bosses. Frost Flare is last. Glacial Thorns is best modified Bronze: Frost, Silver: Devastation, Gold: Fusillade. Modify Crystal Skin early with Bronze: Glacial Mirror to defend against magic attacks (like that of the White Griffin). I usually finish out modifying Crystal Skin before Frost Flare and go for Silver: Focalize (because, instead of Feel Cold we will be using Ancient Magic to lower the opponents resistance to ice damage). Gold: Frosty Breeze, because more ice damage is a good thing. Hello all, I just started playing Sacred 2 again after a hiatus of a few years, good to see people still posting here! I came across Hooyaah's build here as I'm now working on an Ice Elf. I noticed that in the first post you say to pick Feel Cold for the Silver mod of Crystal Skin, but then later in this post you say to get Focalize? I ended up picking Feel Cold because Spell Intensity can be added easily via items but lowering ice resistance cannot, aside from Ancient Magic. Although later on I thought that Glacial Thorns and Raging Nimbus also do physical damage, which Feel Cold won't help with, so still not sure if I made the right call there. For my Ice Elf, since I'm playing offline on PS3, I don't have access to the armor set that you mentioned. I also can't have a separate shopper to get items from, so I picked Bargaining and Enhanced Perception really early (3rd and 4th Skills) - by getting these early I can start snowballing my character with good items and + all Skills jewelry, I'm currently breezing through Gold at level 50. Spell Resistance doesn't work on console so I won't be getting that, I might pick Shield Lore for my last skill though at 65, debating between that and Toughness. All of my other skills are the same as in Hooyah's build. Just to confirm, does chance for Deadly Wounds and Deep Wounds not work on HE's spells? What about chance to disregard armor? I think some of her sets come with chance to disregard armor, so it wouldn't make sense if it doesn't get procced from her spells... Her legendary class quest item also comes with Chance for Deadly Wounds. 1
claudius 104 Posted June 28, 2023 (edited) Back when I played Sacred 2 I did a test with two computers and accounts and I had a Elf test Spell Intesnity (one variable) against a Shadow Warrior varying a stat (forgot the name of the stat). The Elf could vary spell intensity by changing the amount of runes (from gear not eaten) on her Focalize modded Crystal Skin, and she could also change her gear. The Shadow Warrior could change his defensive stat versus spells (forgot the name) by varying amount of runes on Grim Resilience buff and his gear. I can't remember specifically which spells, but I tested out different configurations of SI and the defensive stat (Willpower?). I didn't just test one shot from each but I gathered data sets and data is familiar to me having been a chemistry graduate student. I couldn't find any beneficial effect from Spell Intensity. I can't remember if I detected or did not detect a benefit from Grim Resilience. Seeing as Shadow Warrior was my most played class (to level 177 and a couple other builds) I think I would have remembered if I found GR is not helping as much versus spells as I had previously thought. I don't know if my attempt to find how big an effect of SI was done with something wrong, but it seemed to me that SI is not a good stat to build around. Edited June 28, 2023 by claudius 1
idbeholdME 437 Posted July 8, 2023 (edited) Spell Intensity only increases the likelihood of the spell passing the SI vs SR check. It works like attack x defense for spells. If you fail that check against an enemy, your spell will do 30% less damage before any other calculations. Picking Focalize on Crystal Skin makes it so that the intensity you get from Intelligence is enough for everything and you don't have to gear for it at all. Can free up some slots. Also note that the Feel Cold mod has a limited range. Enemies won't be affected by it if you are casting spells from max range. It will boost damage a lot, especially if you level Crystal Skin a lot, but can be a quite dangerous playstyle. The range of the Feel Cold mod is 75% of Temple Guardian's level 1 Icy Evanescence/Fiery Ember for comparison AND the enemies have to be in it for a moment to be affected. Chances are that if you're kiting, you will often not benefit from it. Here are a couple demonstration screens of where the range limit is. The demon is heading towards me and I hit it with Frost Flare - it's not taking increased damage from Feel Cold. An inch closer, and it would. You can play around it if you like dangerous playstyles, but can become pretty hairy around bosses, which is where you'd utilize it the most. With smaller enemies, it gets even worse: The Assassin is walking towards me and is still NOT taking increased damage from Feel Cold even at this range. He most likely is in the area of effect, but the delay before it gets applied is at work here. Good luck trying to benefit from it against ranged enemies like fighting a swarm of Fen Fires or a group of small dragons in Niobium Anyway, there are not that many enemies with high spell resistance, besides some exceptions like Scorpions in the Desert. Overkilling your intensity will not do anything besides making your spells always do their listed damage, but having a decent amount so that you can punch through most enemies is still desirable. Bosses also have very high amounts of spell resistance. The main benefit of Willpower (besides increasing shield strength for TG and seraphim) is that it reduces the duration of secondary damage effects, along with boosting your spell resistance. Still not worth putting actual points into on non-energy shield characters. The wound effects from gear only work for weapon attacks. The HE can use it with Magic Coup, but that's about it, besides regular attacks of course. I think that disregard armor also doesn't work on spells, although not a 100% on that one. Edited July 8, 2023 by idbeholdME 1
claudius 104 Posted July 9, 2023 (edited) Interesting idbeholdME I thought about this awhile and I think maybe player versus player (PVP) the effect from intensity is not showing up. But player versus monster (PVM) it may be quite valuable. I once tried PVP where a group chose a level to compete at and they could go any class. If I recall correctly from a long time ago the classes that used combat arts struggled to deal damage. I think melee classes also struggled unless they had life drain (name?) on their weapon to help them damage. I think around 25:) was the level so flat life still outpaced %life:) I mention the PVP because it's also an example of PVM and PVP being a different case to look at. But I'm thinking PVM being different from PVP explains why tests I did with PVP characters did not uncover any effect from Spell Intensity. I didn't have the means to (do controlled with data etc) test against monsters. Edited July 9, 2023 by claudius
idbeholdME 437 Posted July 9, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, claudius said: Interesting idbeholdME I thought about this awhile and I think maybe player versus player (PVP) the effect from intensity is not showing up. But player versus monster (PVM) it may be quite valuable. I once tried PVP where a group chose a level to compete at and they could go any class. If I recall correctly from a long time ago the classes that used combat arts struggled to deal damage. I think melee classes also struggled unless they had life drain (name?) on their weapon to help them damage. I think around 25:) was the level so flat life still outpaced %life:) I mention the PVP because it's also an example of PVM and PVP being a different case to look at. But I'm thinking PVM being different from PVP explains why tests I did with PVP characters did not uncover any effect from Spell Intensity. I didn't have the means to (do controlled with data etc) test against monsters. Yeah, I just fought the Gar'Colossus in Gold and hitting him with Glacial Thorns, I saw 4 different numbers show up when hitting him. 1. Regular hit, passed the SR check. 2. Critical hit, passed the SR check. 3. Regular hit, did not pass the SR check 4. Critical hit, did not pass the SR check So a level 74 Gold Gar'Colossus had enough Spell Resistance so that a decent number of my Thorns did reduced damage with Spell Intensity of a little over 600 on a level 65 character. By late game Niob, if you want to have a decent chance of winning this check against bosses, you should aim for well over 2000 Spell Intensity. For anything else, much less is needed. Spells that do not pass the check will deal 30% less damage baseline and also make it so that any enemy armor is much more effective. If the enemy has a decent amount of it against the element of the spell, you can expect even larger drops in damage. As for PVP, note that any built-in spell DoTs, like Frost Flare or Blazing Tempest are not affected by this, they can only be reduced by damage mitigation or detrimental effect reduction. So it could be that if you were testing with those, you did not see a difference. Also, there is this line in balance.txt: AdjustPvPFactor = 200, which most likely means that PVP damage is only 20% of regular damage. If the characters also had Pacifism, Toughness etc., I can see early level characters having trouble dealing a lot of damage to each other. Life Leech would indeed not be affected by this scaling. Edited July 9, 2023 by idbeholdME 1
Hooyaah 3,113 Author Posted July 10, 2023 For the High Elf to be truly "devastating," the best combat arts are Glacial Thorns and Raging Nimbus. The former is normally best for bosses, while the latter typically is best for mobs. (I only use Frost Flare to "toy" with weaker opponents.) It is always best to pump skill points into Constitution and Ancient Magic and master the two before Niobium. Also, it is wise to invest Attribute points boosting Intelligence from the very beginning. It is also very helpful to add rings which will boost physical and most especially ice damage. 1
Hooyaah 3,113 Author Posted October 17, 2024 On 9/2/2022 at 7:04 PM, SnowCrane said: What weapon should I be using for this build? Nlovae's Mystery! It speeds casting time and regeneration time, while increasing the range of Combat Arts. Also, the two Gold Slots are helpful when you add your own jewelry to boost Skills, Combat Arts, Ice Damage, and suchlike. 1
gogoblender 3,429 Posted October 17, 2024 27 minutes ago, Hooyaah said: Nlovae's Mystery Nlovae's is awesome for this build... i truly never liked its name... the funniest things eh but... boy could it sure throw a snowball fast Steve, do you remember what your other slots were being used for ? I have till October 28th to burn off my lately Sacred Obsession (ahhh, dang you work! *balled angry fist!*) Ive forgotten so much from so much a long time ago... I actually found an upload I made of my dryad Niobium level 141 here at DarkMatters ...I feel like just putting it on the table and opening it up for dissection to know what I did then that made it work... though I probably wouldn't remember the most important.. why ahhh, good ole Sacred Autopsies gogo
Hooyaah 3,113 Author Posted October 17, 2024 39 minutes ago, gogoblender said: Nlovae's is awesome for this build... I truly never liked its name... the funniest things eh but... boy could it sure throw a snowball fast Steve, do you remember what your other slots were being used for ? I have till October 28th to burn off my lately Sacred Obsession (ahhh, dang you work! *balled angry fist!*) Ive forgotten so much from so much a long time ago... I actually found an upload I made of my dryad Niobium level 141 here at DarkMatters ...I feel like just putting it on the table and opening it up for dissection to know what I did then that made it work... though I probably wouldn't remember the most important.. why ahhh, good ole Sacred Autopsies gogo I'm playing Sacred 2 currently with a Niobium Level Mystic Stormite High Elf Build. I use Chance to Halve Regeneration Time at 100% so that Combat Arts always regenerate in half the time. All Skills +X Amulets and Combat Arts +X and rings that increase Ice and perhaps Physical Damage and increase Spell Intensity are very important. Amulets which boot the Mystic Stormite aspect help also. Kill Bosses with Glacial Thorns. Most will perish before they can return a deadly onslaught. Narmul is protected by some magic icy crystals which must first be destroyed with Raging Nimbus. GET SOME! 1
gogoblender 3,429 Posted October 17, 2024 16 minutes ago, Hooyaah said: Narmul is protected by some magic icy crystals which must first be destroyed with Raging Nimbus. GET SOME! oh gawd.. I HATED Narmul... ice and blood had some scary stuff at high levels... very risky playing for closed .. I usually said *pass* on the way to the guardians gogo ps SO happy to hear shes still shooting! Can hardy wait to see her in action in video... Schot, Schot... where'd he go... I sometimes cant hear the ball and chains we use to manacle him for forum work
Hooyaah 3,113 Author Posted October 17, 2024 11 minutes ago, gogoblender said: oh gawd.. I HATED Narmul... ice and blood had some scary stuff at high levels... very risky playing for closed .. I usually said *pass* on the way to the guardians gogo ps SO happy to hear shes still shooting! Can hardy wait to see her in action in video... Schot, Schot... where'd he go... I sometimes cant hear the ball and chains we use to manacle him for forum work Rommel, my Mystic Stormite High Elf makes quick work of Narmul.
SLD 524 Posted October 17, 2024 58 minutes ago, Hooyaah said: Rommel, my Mystic Stormite High Elf makes quick work of Narmul. yes, finally someone with some proper damage But 1 minute wait time till the bs protection statues are gone. What a clunky boss. It's not just that these statues need to be killed, it's how bad the targeting is. No build can properly attack them... 1
Hooyaah 3,113 Author Popular Post Posted October 17, 2024 16 minutes ago, SLD said: yes, finally someone with some proper damage But 1 minute wait time till the bs protection statues are gone. What a clunky boss. It's not just that these statues need to be killed, it's how bad the targeting is. No build can properly attack them... Indeed, even Glacial Thorns with both ice and physical damage was ineffective. However, Raging Nimbus worked immediately, yet had to be directed at each of the four ice pillar clusters individually. Then, unprotected, Narmul, the maleficent, was conquered with the Icy Shards! 2
JagaTelesin 6 Posted November 17, 2024 Just started a re-run of the game with a variation on my old Ice Elf (similar to this build). I took some tips from this one (thanks a bunch), but had concerns/questions about the viability of using Shield Lore, as opposed to Enhanced Perception (which my old build used). We know the Ice Elf can equip shields without the Lore skill already (even socketed ones), and gain benefit that way. Is it *really* that much more beneficial to take Shield Lore for the Elf, vs something like Enhanced Perception? I know we can use find valuables in sockets, but if we can offset that via a skill like EP to regain the use of those sockets (and potentially more/better gear overall), does the loss of any gains in Shield Lore really hurt that badly? Some items of note: I don't play other characters, so I don't have a shopper or a farmer for this one. I don't play online, so getting items from others isn't happening. And I highly doubt I'll ever download items to give to her simply because I see that as being far too easy - I want to earn the items myself. I would think EP would therefore be a more useful overall skill in rounding out her equipment, than the little bit of defensive gain I'd lose with Shield Lore. I've done a little reading on the topic, but it's nebulous either way as to how beneficial EP really is. I also use the 1.60 CM patch, and "Sacred 2 Enhanced Edition", both of which change the loot that drops. But to what degree I'm not 100% on. Thoughts? Just looking for helpful feedback. Cheers. 1
Hooyaah 3,113 Author Posted November 17, 2024 1 hour ago, JagaTelesin said: Just started a re-run of the game with a variation on my old Ice Elf (similar to this build). I took some tips from this one (thanks a bunch), but had concerns/questions about the viability of using Shield Lore, as opposed to Enhanced Perception (which my old build used). We know the Ice Elf can equip shields without the Lore skill already (even socketed ones), and gain benefit that way. Is it *really* that much more beneficial to take Shield Lore for the Elf, vs something like Enhanced Perception? I know we can use find valuables in sockets, but if we can offset that via a skill like EP to regain the use of those sockets (and potentially more/better gear overall), does the loss of any gains in Shield Lore really hurt that badly? Some items of note: I don't play other characters, so I don't have a shopper or a farmer for this one. I don't play online, so getting items from others isn't happening. And I highly doubt I'll ever download items to give to her simply because I see that as being far too easy - I want to earn the items myself. I would think EP would therefore be a more useful overall skill in rounding out her equipment, than the little bit of defensive gain I'd lose with Shield Lore. I've done a little reading on the topic, but it's nebulous either way as to how beneficial EP really is. I also use the 1.60 CM patch, and "Sacred 2 Enhanced Edition", both of which change the loot that drops. But to what degree I'm not 100% on. Thoughts? Just looking for helpful feedback. Cheers. At level 35 you certainly may select Enhanced Perception rather than Shield Lore. It should allow you to find better Armor and other useful items, especially amulets and rings. I have discovered while playing Purist Fix Pack that Glimborins Garments drop, albeit rarely. With Enhanced Perception, you should find that such set pieces drop more often, especially after slaying certain boss monsters. You will most certainly have to collect these pieces from multiple levels to obtain a full set. I recommend using a surrogate High Elf for your Shopper if you want to find the best jewelry in the shortest term. However, you might find that doing certain things the way that see best is more interesting; personalizing the game your own way can serve as its own reward. Have fun; let us know how you fare. 1
JagaTelesin 6 Posted November 17, 2024 That's a good looking set. The Elf I'm playing has barely reached her teens, so I have time to decide. Though I'm thinking that in order to complete sets fully, she may need it. And since she is pumping all the other defensive arts listed in the build, I can suffer without the little extra Shield Lore might give, in order to raise up her other gear. She does run with a shield, but I consider it just an extra defensive bonus. I may miss that in Niob, but we'll see. Thanks for the feedback, glad to know she won't be gimped and that it might actually help her as I'm not much for multiple chars. Depending on how far she makes it before I get bored (typical, I know), I may post with how she does. Cheers. 1
Sethi22 279 Popular Post Posted November 17, 2024 On 11/17/2024 at 5:20 AM, SLD said: the Set also drops with CMPatch. And with EE. Not just with PFP. Yep, I have it in CMPatch, although it must be pretty rare (as all the mutation sets), as this is the only piece I have at the moment: 2
JagaTelesin 6 Posted November 17, 2024 Good notes, thanks. I probably won't play her forever - I'll be lucky to make it through Niob I think before burning out and switching gears. I think I have more fun during the journey than at the end anyway, so I'm leaning 70% towards EP and 30% towards Shield Lore. But I definitely love the build, since it's close to the old one I had, but not quite the same. Seems to be quite a bit more survivable, and the tips towards that were good ones. 1
gogoblender 3,429 Posted November 22, 2024 On 11/16/2024 at 11:57 PM, JagaTelesin said: That's a good looking set. The Elf I'm playing has barely reached her teens, so I have time to decide. Though I'm thinking that in order to complete sets fully, she may need it. And since she is pumping all the other defensive arts listed in the build, I can suffer without the little extra Shield Lore might give, in order to raise up her other gear. She does run with a shield, but I consider it just an extra defensive bonus. I may miss that in Niob, but we'll see. Thanks for the feedback, glad to know she won't be gimped and that it might actually help her as I'm not much for multiple chars. Depending on how far she makes it before I get bored (typical, I know), I may post with how she does. Cheers. On 11/16/2024 at 9:57 PM, JagaTelesin said: Just started a re-run of the game with a variation on my old Ice Elf (similar to this build). I took some tips from this one (thanks a bunch), but had concerns/questions about the viability of using Shield Lore, as opposed to Enhanced Perception (which my old build used). We know the Ice Elf can equip shields without the Lore skill already (even socketed ones), and gain benefit that way. Is it *really* that much more beneficial to take Shield Lore for the Elf, vs something like Enhanced Perception? I know we can use find valuables in sockets, but if we can offset that via a skill like EP to regain the use of those sockets (and potentially more/better gear overall), does the loss of any gains in Shield Lore really hurt that badly? Some items of note: I don't play other characters, so I don't have a shopper or a farmer for this one. I don't play online, so getting items from others isn't happening. And I highly doubt I'll ever download items to give to her simply because I see that as being far too easy - I want to earn the items myself. I would think EP would therefore be a more useful overall skill in rounding out her equipment, than the little bit of defensive gain I'd lose with Shield Lore. I've done a little reading on the topic, but it's nebulous either way as to how beneficial EP really is. I also use the 1.60 CM patch, and "Sacred 2 Enhanced Edition", both of which change the loot that drops. But to what degree I'm not 100% on. Thoughts? Just looking for helpful feedback. Cheers. Hello Monsieur new friend JagaTelesin AWESOME nic You've found the happiest, heart-chilling, brain-freezed topic here at DarkMatters! She rents out her ice bolts on weekends to distant worlds that need their about=to-go-novae suns cooled down Wishing you success in your journeys with Hooyah's lovely High Elf..he's taken it most places Ancarian and it was always a melt down for his nemesis .. me and brad made one strictly for Nameless Guardians speed raids .. zero utility, only attack and def skills, we had to shop with her using trader network back when game came out and we were all closed net. Depending on your needs case for where, what you want your HE to to, possibilities... are... endless Aaaaaand... Welcome to DarkMatters! gogo 1
JagaTelesin 6 Popular Post Posted November 23, 2024 On 11/22/2024 at 12:56 PM, gogoblender said: Wishing you success in your journeys with Hooyah's lovely High Elf..he's taken it most places Ancarian and it was always a melt down for his nemesis .. me and brad made one strictly for Nameless Guardians speed raids .. zero utility, only attack and def skills, we had to shop with her using trader network back when game came out and we were all closed net. Depending on your needs case for where, what you want your HE to to, possibilities... are... endless So far she's happy as a clam (as am I). Taken her so far to Lvl ~58 in Silver, and she just took down both Carnach and Octo bosses in roughly 12 seconds each. Carnach didn't even get a chance to spawn his little helpers - he was already dead. Definitely a step up from the older build I had, since while that one still had roughly the same core skills, she also had EP, Bargaining, etc... which limited her overall power curve. It's much better this time, and I DID finally slap on Enhanced Perception so she'd get some better drops (which she is!). The only drawback to having such a high survivability is the level of enemies combined with the SuperSpawn mod, as it makes fights take a bit longer and some of the loot she's gotten recently is even above her level to use. But all good otherwise - it's great advice for how to build and level an Ice Mage. The tweaks I made to bring my old build closer to this one made a world of difference. 2 1
