Sacred:Tharkane's Incredible Codex of Daemons (Guide) Part 5

Originally posted at DarkMatters for review and discussion.

Now for Something Completely Different

I'll introduce Options Three and Four now for the adventurous and the curious.

[color=red]Option Three[/color]

Weapon Lore

Concentration

Dual Wielding (3rd level)

Magic Lore (6th level)

Agility (12th level)

Constitution (20th level)

Armor (30th level)

Parrying (50th level)

Option Three agressively goes after items and equipment with the Regeneration Spells: + X% modifier. Option Three, like Option Two, will likely use infernal entities as an aid in combat. You'll need to stack up on this spell regen bonus to begin to see a decent reduction in spell regen time as they increase in level.

[color=red]Option Four[/color]

Weapon Lore

Concentration

Sword Lore, Axe Lore, or Unarmed Combat (3rd level)

Agility (6th level)

Constitution (12th level)

Dual Wielding (20th level)

Armor (30th level)

Parrying (50th level)

Option Four goes after the same external aid to spell regeneration as Option Three does, only to a lesser extent since no infernal entities will be used. This is probably the most pure melee build for the Daemon.

Both of these options have a big shortcoming: reliance on copious amounts of Spell Regeneration bonuses. Your efforts might be better spent building up critical hit bonuses and life leech with Options One or even Two than these latter two melee templates.

Notes

A character doesn't have to have any Weapon skills at all in order to use weapons. The only exception to this is Dual Wielding: if you want to equip two weapons in the same slot, you have to have the Dual Wielding skill.

You may wield a one-handed weapon or two-handed weapon of any type without having any skill at all. The only thing that would prevent a character from doing this would be an actual skill requirement on the weapon that the character lacks, or a racial/set weapon for a different character.

If you want to wield two weapons in the same slot, then you must have the Dual Wielding skill. A character who has the Dual Wielding skill may: use two weapons in the same weapon slot, use a one-handed weapon + shield, or use a two-handed weapon. A character without the Dual Wielding skill may use a one-handed weapon + shield, or a two-handed weapon.

What this means: great flexibility is afforded to a character with the Dual Wielding skill. Nothing (save the aforementioned restrictions) stops them from using a weapon + shield, or a two-handed weapon. In the case of the Daemon, the Infernal Power spell supplies all of the attack rating she will ever need. The attack boost from this spell far outstrips the attack rating contributions of any Weapon skill alone. A 60th level Infernal Power spell supplies +1350% to attack rating, the last time I checked. Needless to say, no Weapon skill can match that.

Perhaps attack speed with one-handed and two-handed weapons is a concern for you. The law of averages finds that in the lower levels of play when excellent gear and items are scarce, attack speed is not really an issue. It becomes an issue in the higher levels of play...however, by that time, a character (through set items, rings, and bonuses on armor and weapons) can easily achieve a 220 attack speed across the board with whatever is placed in a weapon slot, independent of Weapon skills.

Each of the melee characters in the game share one thing in common: all possess a CA/spell that, at a minimum, increases their attack rating. For the Gladiator, both attack and defense are nicely boosted through the use of one CA - Heroic Courage. The Wood Elf enjoys an attack rating and speed boost via Quick as a Flash. The Seraphim can boost her attack rating through Strength of Faith. The Dwarf can boost his through the use of a CA (War Cry), and a Dwarven Technology art (Dwarven Steel).

The Dark Elf and [[Daemon] share something in common with their combat buffs. Both his (Testy) and hers (IP) jack up attack rating to ridiculous levels, *plus* they enhance weapon damage big time.

With all of this in mind, it pays for a Daemon who dual wields to also dabble in the use of weapon + shield and two-handed weapons. However, she needn't spend a skill pick on any other Weapon skills. She lacks any serious defensive buff save for what the Soaring Form offers - and that is a modest amount. A shield can be useful sometimes. After testing various weapon combinations when executing the Descent Attack move, I conclude that the best weapon to have equipped is a two-handed sword. Infernal Power compensates for any unskilled weapon use, supplying the attack rating increase. And, as I've mentioned elsewhere, her attack animation speed with all swords and claw weapons is very, very fast. A Daemon with an "official" attack speed of 140 will still swing a sword faster than another character with an attack speed of 220. Her speed with two-handed swords is awesome. She's as fast with a two-hander as she is with one-handed swords!

So, a Daemon who takes nothing but Dual Wielding will do just fine. The only drawback to this is, you'll have to use "creative socketing" to use weapons with skill requirements.