The Sufficiently Simple and Simply Sufficient Seraphim Build

[2Lemurs 26]

After over a decade of playing this game, reading all of the wonderful guides (THANK YOU), and gravitating to the same build over and over again, I figured it was time to share it with everyone else, in the hopes that others might 1. Like it 2. Find it useful and/or 3. Help improve it.

Credit to @RavenLight for their Dual Wield Build, which this is based off of. You can find that guide here- 

Overview (How and Why it Works):

This build is based on a few key aspects and concepts: Hit them quickly and consistently; make yourself hard to hit- if they do hit you, reduce the realized damage taken to as close to zero as possible as to be zero, and even when we're taking damage, hit them at a rapid clip with Life Leech EVERY HIT to heals us, and worst case (very, very rarely) abuse the heck out of our health potions. Finally, increase the quantity and quality of our loot reliably. It eschews all other aspects of the mechanics and game in the pursuit of efficiency- this beautiful, wonderful game, for all of its intricacies, relies heavily on very, very linear mathematics- and we're going to take a sledgehammer to them. It is possible, given a little patience and planning, to play this build through Niobium without dying even once- I died 5 times, and I can tell you how it happened each time- 

1st time: Cat disconnected the HDMI cord, and my console is hooked up through my receiver, and, well, it's not a quick process getting behind there. 

2nd, 3rd, and 4th times: Fell asleep. 

5th time: Tried running the Orc Cave on Niobium... at level 78, without sufficient +All Skills. Not bright.

Downsides to this build: Well, there are a few,  most notably the complete lack of crowd control.  Ignoring combat arts does give us more skill slots and points to spend on damage and survivability, but a mob of meanies can outstrip your life leech, especially on Niob, and you'll need to watch out for those spinny skull DOT spells (though those are easily enough avoided). Yes, eventually you'll be so unbelievably powerful that it won't matter, but if you, like me, reach the end of Niobium at about level 100, you'll have some touch and go moments on your hands, especially with Temple Guardians at the Great Machine- those death spells (which sound to me like really weak and raspy TARDIS noises) can be murder, and until you start equipping +10 and greater All Skills equipment, spike damage is still a very real threat (at level 100-110). Furthermore, it's kind of boring to play- again due to the complete erasure of combat arts. You're going to be spending a lot of time with your fingers on the A button and hovering over your health potion slot. Lastly, if you're a hoarder, then this is either the best or worst build for you- you're going to have *** equipment coming out your ears before long, but by the end of Platinum, you can easily set your main pickup setting to *** and just glide through without the constant inventory management issues. 

I. Skill Choices

Tactics Lore- (Moar damage!) Keep at your level until 75
Armor Lore-(Get hit less often) Keep at your level until 75
Dual Wield- (Hit them more often and quicker) Keep at your level until 75
Toughness- (Oh, did you hit me? I didn't notice 😁) Get to 75 as quickly as possible
Enhanced Perception- (Get that loot boi) get to 75 AFTER toughness
Bargaining- (Buy that loot)  doesn't need to be mastered, I usually go to about 50.
Sword Weapons- (For any weapons we might find with Sword Mastery as a modifier) Get to 75
Combat Reflexes- (Haha you gotta be quicker than that) Get to 75
Constitution- (Boiiii I'm a tank, ya hear?) Get to 75
Exalted Warrior Focus- (I want to jump more often, because when we glitch ourselves into the ocean we don't want to be there for centuries) Get to 75

If you're thinking to yourself "Wait, there's a whole lot of extra points leftover", you're right. This build relies heavily on socketing All Skills+ rings and amulets to raise those skills- we only need to master them for the extra bonuses, and we can ignore Bargaining because the mastery bonus is pointless (or master it, it really doesn't matter). Those extra points can go... pretty much anywhere you want (My choice is for either Toughness [extra unkillable] or Enhanced Perception [IT'S RAINING GEAR]). And because of the extremely overpowered benefits of All Skills+, by the time you reach the end of the game, you should have at least 22 sockets with All Skills+10-20  rings/amulets socketed, which adds another... 220-440 points... TO EVERY SKILL.  As an example, my level 100 Seraphim (This build) on Niobium currently has +157 All Skills+... I don't even remember the last time I was close to death- the only thing that does damage to me are ground spells.

II. Gear
The following gear is non-negotiable, when you find it, no matter whether you like it, it's now your jive.

Garment of the Celestial
Gown of the Celestial
Endijian's Wings

What do these all have in common? All channel damage mitigation. If you don't know what that is, an easy way of understanding would be to say that damage mitigation is a modifier that reduces all damage, regardless of source, before all damage calculations have been made. It's a little like saying "Oh you hit me with a bus, good thing I have +300,000 bus armor on, guess I'll go get coffee now". This is the second pillar of our build (the first being DPS focus), and without it this build is trash. Every so often you may find a piece of gear that has better All Channel Mitigation than your set piece- you'll need to weigh whether losing the set bonus is better or worse than the extra Mitigation, or whether you have another workable set piece to swap in (it often is better, honestly, search for explanations of the mechanics behind this and I think you'll agree). A thorough test and discussion of this mechanic written by @Dobri can be found here-

 

Sections III-VI appear to have gone missing, must have made a mistake in a previous edit; it will take some time before I am able to restore them 😭😭😭

 

VII. On Level Grinding

While many guides point out that the swamp, specifically the southeast corner, has the highest spawn rate, I've always disliked it for two reasons- high density of undead and high density of enemies which can stun/freeze/root you. This makes leveling, without a gear set built to protect against those attacks, a chore. Other guides will mention D'Ary, the infamous island of turtles just off the south eastern coast of the Dryad realm- this is a good choice, though I will state that without a gear set with ample +experience% you may find it a chore. I propose two alternatives- the south western desert, with all of its scorpions (no special attacks, high experience but low density), and using the Orc Cave (A link to a guide written by none other than Dobri again is here- http://www.sacredwiki.org/index.php/Sacred_2:A_guide_to_the_Orc_Cave_-_your_easy_way_to_a_ton_of_XP_and_drops! ), After level 100, however, it is in my opinion best to move on to higher density areas, and only use the Orc Cave as a loot grind, when you get bored of doing side boss runs. The swamp is an excellent choice, as is the northern part of the Dryad realm (especially Blood Dryads- quick to kill, and high spawn). 

 

VIII. So you've beaten Niobium and have over 100% map revealed, now what?

Some options-

1. Use this build to shop for a cooler, more fun to play build. 

2. Get to level 200, and hunt down a perfect set of gear. 

3. Speed Trial, Every Single Boss Edition

4. Uh, other stuff?

This build guide is somewhat incomplete, and if I've left anything out, please feel free to ask in the comments section.

 

Addendum: I've included a picture of my Seraphim which I took literally seconds after beating Niobium- in all honesty, this build can likely beat Niobium 5 levels earlier with a few alterations.

 

Edited for inaccuracies and clarity, will be edited and updated with any relevant information as time allows. 

Edited November 9, 2021 by 2Lemurs
Clarification, edits for inaccuracies and my own misunderstanding, credit to various members for previously written articles and discussions, and a note about entire sections disappearing.

[2Lemurs 26]

*comment removed and worked into existing topic post*

Edited November 9, 2021 by 2Lemurs
Redundant

[ShapeShyphter 3]

I know this has sat for a while, so it's unlikely, but I (and likely many others) would love to see the missing sections return. This kind of build is honestly something I find really cool and a fun way to roleplay the Seraphim class.

[gogoblender 3,199]

1 hour ago, ShapeShyphter said:

I know this has sat for a while, so it's unlikely, but I (and likely many others) would love to see the missing sections return. This kind of build is honestly something I find really cool and a fun way to roleplay the Seraphim class.

Bravo ShapeShyphte, great seeing you here with your first post on the board and seeing you connect to a guide that makes you want to play!

Thats an endearing response you've written to this build's creator... and I understand that you'd love to see him create more for the build... There are a good number of other players here who love the game's class mechanics, perhaps someone will have some info that can help you out..I know that feeling when you connect to a guide that excites you and in your heart you can see the movie version of your Toon taking out the evil doers in Ancaria.  I'll try and contact this member for you, perhaps he'll respond and will have some more delights to delve into with us?

Thanks again for finding us and welcome to DarkMatters!
 

gogo

[ShapeShyphter 3]

1 hour ago, gogoblender said:

Bravo ShapeShyphte, great seeing you here with your first post on the board and seeing you connect to a guide that makes you want to play!

Thats an endearing response you've written to this build's creator... and I understand that you'd love to see him create more for the build... There are a good number of other players here who love the game's class mechanics, perhaps someone will have some info that can help you out..I know that feeling when you connect to a guide that excites you and in your heart you can see the movie version of your Toon taking out the evil doers in Ancaria.  I'll try and contact this member for you, perhaps he'll respond and will have some more delights to delve into with us?

Thanks again for finding us and welcome to DarkMatters!
 

gogo

Thanks so much for the kind response! The level of activity on this forum just goes to show how timeless this game is, and how there's really still no comparable replacement out that meets the same level of quality and complexity. 

Cheers!

[SLD 330]

14 hours ago, ShapeShyphter said:

I (and likely many others) would love to see the missing sections return.

I read the guide and the linked guide it was based on.
I have no clue what the missing sections could have contained, other than a suggestion on what attribute to raise and how to "glitch ourselves into the ocean". He seemingly doesn't use any combat arts except the movement skill, the picture suggests he doesn't even use buffs.

For a breakdown of this guide's quality:
Mechanics:
-"Armor Lore-(Get hit less often)" and
-"damage mitigation is a modifier that reduces all damage, regardless of source, before all damage calculations have been made."
Should yield about an "F" in "game mechanics"...
Just to clarify, armor lore doesn't affect hit rates at all and damage mitigation is a seperate multiplier that doesn't effect anything else therefore saying it comes "before all other damage calculations" is just misleading. It does for example not affect the damage reduction via armor.

Content wise:
Someone made a dual wield seraphim for whatever reason and this guide suggests adapting that idea by dumping all combat arts...
Well someone had fun, so I guess it was worth it?

[gogoblender 3,199]

4 hours ago, SLD said:

Well someone had fun, so I guess it was worth it?

Guides are as good as the connection they make with their reader. 🥰 

It could have been the tone they wrote it in, their snappy title that reads quickly and is wonderfully alliterative,  images they evoked,  the way they inspire a player to feel about paying this game.

Everyone  can make their  own guide, and they  will have their  own troop of followers as well, who for their own unique reasons, will connect with readers 

 

Quote

 

Thanks so much for the kind response! The level of activity on this forum just goes to show how timeless this game is, and how there's really still no comparable replacement out that meets the same level of quality and complexity. 

Cheers!

 

Happy to have shared in your path  

I tried my best to contact the guide creator but the contact info could be out of date  ne'er the less people , intentions and  sentiments  and satisfactions  have a way of always making their way back to us, the source  

Delighted you have found our little corner of the Sacred Universe

Here's SLD's favorite cow in celebration

Please dont eatit

theres bee a lot of use of it lately, and they could be becoming rare species  

gogo

 

[ShapeShyphter 3]

18 hours ago, SLD said:

Well someone had fun, so I guess it was worth it?

Heh, I completely get where you're coming from, and I understand it's definitely not a very "traditional" way to play the game.

My train of thought here was that it would be a fun thing to try, to create a "non-build" build, so to speak. Something that boasts such a powerful baseline that you can clear everything in the game without ever dying by only dumbly swinging your sword(s) around, and never doing anything beyond that (think of Guts, from Berserk).

Again, I know it's not conventional, but it makes for a fun, lazy power-trip of a playthrough. 

[SLD 330]

3 hours ago, ShapeShyphter said:

Something that boasts such a powerful baseline that you can clear everything in the game without ever dying by only dumbly swinging your sword(s) around, and never doing anything beyond that

You can do that same thing with buffs and a combat art and it will be a lot better and exactly as "dumb". Not sure wether it is different on console, but on the pc version you get all kinds of targeting bugs with the left-click auto attack like swinging emdlessly at an enemy but not actuallly being able to hit, also enemies that run away won't get hit etc. Combat arts are just mechanically better in this game.