Sacred:Stalky's Wood Elf Guide Weapons Wood Elf JOAT build

Posted at Darkmatters For review and discussion

Introduction

The "weapons" woodelf is the culmination of what I have learned about game mechanics in Sacred. This build is versatile and completely at home in closed HC. Capable of doing more damage than a same lvled seraphim or glad. This guide is a guidline to building a character who can kill with any type of weapon, and can seemlessly switch between, to allow for a more varied type of gameplay. Certain weapons are more conducive to certain areas. Feel like weilding a bow today, go for it, feel like punching things with brass knuckles, go ahead, 2-handed sword, no problem. In other words this character will own with any weapon in an appropriate area.

Premise

The main barrier for a character like a glad or seraphim, and the reason why they can't weild more than 1 or 2 weapon types effectively, is Attack speed, how fast they swing the sword or spear. It forces them to waste a skill on a specific weapon lore to get the attack speed up, or to waste sockets that would be better spent on either resistance or damage.

The woodelf is blessed with a CA that, for all intents and purposes, makes taking any specific weapon lore a waste of points, and a waste of a skill slot. Quick As A Flash (QAAF) grants both increased attack speed, and a HUGE bonus to Attack rating (or hit%). QAAF may have a very short duration, but it increases (1 second/level - max 60 seconds) and also has a very short cast time, allowing it to be very easily recast, even while mobbed.

The Skills

The build has no wasted or useless skills (which i love) but everything works together to create the perfect fighter. I will lay out the skill choices and briefly discuss the worth of this skill to the build and how to know when to put more points in.

Agility (latent)

This is your starter skill. Early on you will keep this at 3/4 your level (because it helps your hit% and defence) but after level 20-30 you should stop adding points here, because your hit% and defence will be coming, more efficiently, from other sources.

Weapon Lore (latent)

This is your main skill. You are a weapons fighter, and you need to dish out major damage with every hit. Keep this at 1/2 your level until level 10, after that raise it by 1-2 points every level until you hit level 30, then this skill becomes optional. If you can find levels of it on items, use those items, and pump other skills. After lvl 100 you may find yourself again increasing this skill.

Concentration (level 3)

Your regeneration. By level 30 you want to see all of your CA regenerating very quickly, 5 seconds for your HH, and 1-2 seconds for Attack, you will need to keep this at at least 1/2 level. Once you stop pumping Weapon lore those points go here.

Constitution (level 6)

I'm a Hardcore guy. My characters cannot die and so minimum here IMO is about 1/2 your lvl points. More HP is always a nice way to go. As a side note this skill compliments both physical regen and strength. Do not neglect those attributes and think that constitution will make up for it. As a Woodelf you will be greatly in need of more HP the entire game.

Moon magic (level 12)

This skill replaces your specific weapon lores. It allows you to regenerate QAAF (which does not give diminishing returns like the lores do) and therefore increase your attack speed and attack rating. 1/2 to 2/3 level. Good mojo!

Trading (level 20)

Very important to get at this point to allow you to go shopping for good gear. DO a few items runs and you'll quickly gain 2 or 3 hundred thousand gold. Put all 3 points into this at level 20, and every 5-10 levels hereafter put all points into trading, and then go shop for good gear. It should end up at 1/4 to 1/3 your level.

Armor (level 30)

By this point you are noticing that your Woodelf is taking a lot of damage in combat. Put all points here at levels 30 and 31, and then spend enough points to raise it to 1/4 your level (or better). Into platinum it may be wise to raise this to 1/2 of your lvl. This will also help your run speed.

Parrying (level 50)

The most important skill not to miss. If you decide to forgo parry and take disarm or meditation you will seriously suffer in Gold and beyond. As a melee/ranged fighter you need to avoid getting hit, and this is a better investment than agility. Keep at 1/4 level.

The Attributes

You have 2 choices. Strength or Physical regeneration.

Basically the choice is regeneration speed (phys regen) or damage (strength). In the end they both add to damage over time, so take your pick as neither choice is entirely superior.

Strength.(recommended) Increases all physical damage (even ranged) and increases HP, attack rating, and defense rating.

Physical regeneration.(suggested if you want to use bows most of the time) Decreases regeneration times for abilities (except spells) and increases HP. note : Physical regen is one of the 3 combat timer factors, and late in the game will provide a big bonus to regeneration allowing you to output more damage than taking strength. But be careful because many weapons (including ranged) derive increased damage from strength.

The Combat Arts, and The Spell

You will make use of different Combat arts depending on what weapons you decide to use, however, you will build a character with several different abilities.

This section is just a guideline, the specifics are up to you, but here is what i prefer.

Attack

Your primary damage dealer. You will only ever read 1 "attack" rune. This is VERY important. Any levels you wish to add later should be added by socketing vampire attack runes, or rings with the attack skill on it, this is because socketed CA lvls only count 1/2 as much against your regen, and you want your regen here, initially at 12 seconds, to fall to at least 1.5 seconds.

Hard Hit

Read away my friend. Get HH as many levels as you feel comfortable with. I'd keep it between 3-5 seconds personally. This ability will be used to quickly dispach a dangerous foe, and in a combo as a crowd clearer.

Multi Hit

To be used with LH weapons or swords (especially 2-handers). Go somewhere that you can get a big mob, and decimate them. I'd aim for a 0.8-1 second regen on this ability. If you intend to use it often it might be in your best interests to socket vampire MH runes, but i'd just read a few.

Bow Arts

Build these if you feel like occasionally using a bow. Particularly good use can be made of Spider Arrow, as a boss distraction ability, and also Multiple-Shot followed by Penetraing Arrow, as a fire and forget against large bosses, or as a mob killer.

QAAF

The star of the show. Keep its regeneration within 1 second of it's duration. Past level 50 you will need to add a level to this ability approximately every 2 character levels, and the duration will rise to 40+ seconds. Maximum duration for QAAF is 60 seconds. Recast it immediatly after it has worn off.

Reading QAAF runes

I would suggest reading as the way to exclusively level this skill. True, you could find lvls on items, and socket QAAF runes, but, since the entire timer is dedicated to QAAF it is best IMO to take permanent lvls that will not be replaced or removed at a future time. Plus it is better to increase your damage than to marginally increase your hit%.

CAs After lvl 100: Attack will not be efficient as a primary damage dealer with a low regen time. Finding items with + to multi hit and Hard hit will be important here. Attack runes can now be read in order to increase the damage to hard hit level. Keep MH on a low timer now (even though you've read a few it shouldn't be too hard) and HH at 2-4 seconds, this should allow you to easily deal with lone enemies (HH) while also being able to quickly tear down mobs(MH).

Items Shopping/Dropping Guide

This is a guide to what you should be shopping for(in this order).

• + Regeneration Special Moves (more important) or + Regenertaion Spells (get at least some)

Max sockets (socket vampire attack/MH, and plenty of physical damage rings)

• + Weapon Lore

• + MH HH or ATTACK (in that order)

• + Attack%

• [+] Defence%

Physical, Poison, Magic and Fire resist (in that order)

Anything else that looks good, of course, but the spell/special move regen is key.

Socketing Resist vs Socketing Damage

First off let me state my opinion. I prefer to socket damage. I would rather quickly dispatch an enemy (taking less damage from subsequent hits) than be a battle tank. First off it is better for soloing (XP wise) and secondly i find it more fun.

There are things you have to look out for with both damage an resist. The first being what are the other bonuses on the items? If those other bonuses are good enough it deserves a socket anyway.

But, to do this character justice you will need to shop some, and at the shop you will be choosing between damage and defence. Here's why i prefer damage.

Resistance suffers from huge diminishing returns. Items have good resist on them already so that any amulets you might socket (unless you are lacking a specific resist type - like poison) are largely wasted points. If you add another 400 to a physical resist of 2000 you will see a tiny increase in resist, about a 5% damage reduction, poor output for the effort in my opinion.

Is this small increase cheap? No, it is the most expensive thing in the game. As such i do not socket amulets that don't have other effective bonuses (like a % Life Leech, or regeneration spells.) I equip amulets that are strong in the area of my lowest resist.

Compare this to rings. For each point you increase your base damage you are effectively decreasing the ability of enemy resists. So much so that even a fire resistant enemy can effectively be attacked by a beefed up fire attack. My WE has used fire exclusively and can 1 hit kill orcs (fire resistant) and she is also effective against fire trolls. What does this increased usefulness cost? Next to nothing, compared to resists.

Finally, a warning. If you do not socket amulets you are going to have to make sure that your equipment does not get too far out of date, because your armour (and other equipment) will be your primary source of resistance. Also you will need a stash of healing pots in your inventory at all times and a finger on the space bar. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance... err... something...

Weapons, and how to use them

Knuckles + Sheild

I would suggest this as the starter weapon for the build. It attacks fast and for decent damage. The attack ability is quick (6 hits), and the HH is faster than sword HH. Do not use MH with this because you may not even hit 1 enemy. Works great late in the game when fighting in areas where the enemies are spaced out evenly. It is not as good at handling mobs as some other options.

Dagger + Sheild

I would suggest this as the starter weapon for the build. It attacks fast and for decent damage. The attack ability is quick (5 hits), and the HH is slower than knuckle HH. MH is less poor than with knuckles, but still useless for clearing crowds. Works great late in the game when fighting in areas where the enemies are spaced out evenly. It is not as good at handling mobs as some other options. After level 15-20 MH the radius has increased enough for MH to be effective. It only hits each enemy once or twice, unlike the other MHs, so it is still less effective than sword/axe/staff MH, but it is useful in a pinch, or if your dagger is your highest damage weapon.

Sword (mace/axe) + Sheild

Another good starter weapon. It attacks slower than knuckles but for marginally increased damage. Attack is 5 hits, and slowish, MH is of medium-high effectiveness, as is HH. Probably the most basic and mediocre setup for the weapons woodelf. Better defence than your other good MH options and thus a better choice for mid game XPing, or for fighting with enemies of much higher level than yourself.

2-handed Sword

I would not suggest it as a starter weapon. This is becasue the regular attack is the slowest thing you will ever see, and early on you will need the basic attack. Once your Attack ability falls below 2 seconds you can use that, and the speed is much improved. Attack hits 4 times, HH is slow but useable, and MH will hit everything around you with the 2 hander, often 2 or 3 times (is slightly poorer than sword + sheild MH when MH is at low levels. At high levels of MH this is your most effective weapon). Use a 1 second regen MH as a crowd clearer. Late in the game this will be most effective in any area where enemies tend to mob.

LH weapons (spears and staves)

The same as a 2-Handed sword. The only difference is that your Attack gets more hits (5) and the multi-hit is good but it does not hit everything around you because the shape of the stroke is irregular. Also note that damage on staves is usually lower than same leveled 2-handers ....but Israfaels wraith drops quite often and is very good, especially when you factor in the 9-18 percent critical that it can spawn with. A warning about Spears: MH for spears is very unimpressive (unlike Staves)because the game applies damage only to monsters intersecting with the tip. When weilding a spear Attack is your best bet, with HH as a backup for boss monsters.

Bows

This here is a no brainer. Woodelf bow users have many options, go read another guide for details on how to use the bow.

Variants on the Weapon Woodelf

The Hybrid

A weapon woodelf who is able to switch to COTA in situations where large mobs of avoiding characters (preists, mages, and elf women) are running around, avoiding damage. Skills[list]

• At lvl 20 take Magic lore, keep it at half level

• At lvl 30 take Trading

• At lvl 50 take Armour

drawbacks

Defence is lower than the regular weapon woodelf (no parry), and the regen is not as good as with a regular weapon woodelf. Special attention must be paid to Spell Regen equipment with this build. COTA is slightly lower damage than a full on caster. CA regeneration is slower forcing you to use a lower level HH, ATT and MH. advantages The woodelf is proficient with all weapons. The woodelf runs at max speed, and QAAF can be maxed much earlier. Better at handling mobs of sakkaras and wizards than the regular Weapons Woodelf. Has more options for impressing your friends *wink*.

The Bow User

Sometimes called a "BOAT-Bow of All Trades"(thanks FoxXII) Weapon woodelf who relies solely on bows and bow arts. CA's are wildly different from the Weapons Woodelf.

Combat Arts Multiple shot(MS): keep the regen here around 6-10 seconds. Cast it and follow up with other bow Arts.

Attack(EFAE): Keep the regen low, again between 1-2 seconds. Use with MS, you won't be dissapointed (unless your computer is slow ... )

Penetrating Arrow (PA): Use PA after Multiple shot for a crowd clearer. Cast it on the farthest enemy and watch it work wonders. Not a very good Art when used singly (slow killing speed). Keep the regen between 2-3 seconds and find items with bonuses to PA to get the lvl up without hurting your regen as much

Spider Arrow(SA): Use to hold the boss of a mob in place. Very handy when used alone (to paralyze a single target) or when MS cast on a MOB (MWA HAA HAA....LAAAAAGGGGGGGG......SLoW COmPutEr dOwn.... *gasp*)

Explosive Arrow (EA); A better HH for the ranger. Go nuts. Great with MS.

drawbacks

There is less varied gameplay. You will be unable to use the large elemental specific bows and will be relagated to the smaller physical only (usually) bows. It's okay though, cause the physical bow still do good damage. Note: many unique bows with elemental damage do not require ranged lore, but you could drop Parry for Ranged lore to be able to use all bows. If you do, keep Ranged Weapon Lore at 1/3 your lvl (note: this setup will drastically lower your defence and limit your ability to tackle enemies should you choose to melee.)

Advantages

High killing speed, High running speed, all your favorite bow arts. What could be better?

LH Weapons Specialist

Weapon woodelf with a focus on mutihit and HH.

Combat Arts

Attack(AFAE): Attack is pumped to a regeneration of 10+ second for use against tough single monsters

Multi Hit(MH): Read only 1 rune. Use Vamp MH runes or MH off of equipment/rings to increase the level. Main attack, mob leveller. Hard Hit (HH): Keep between 3-5 seconds for mopping up sakkara preists or enemies missed by MH.

advantages

Very good at mob control. In the right area can be leveled faster than the Attack focused Weapon woodelf. Good build for all weapons at high levels.

disadvantages

Less effective with daggers/knuckles/bows. Much more capable in certain curcumstances than others. Sometimes WE MH will miss for no apparent reason.

Spell and Combat regen timers. Building a Killer!

The simplified formulas.

spell regen

(moon magic)x(meditation+regeneration spells)x(mental regeneration)

combat regen

(concentration)x(regeneration special move)x(physical regeneration)

math... erm... uh oh

Lets say you start out with 1 in each factor

1x1x1=1

You get 3 points to apply, you want to max out your regen, first you try dumping them all in one spot

(1+3)x1x1=4

Not bad, but you can do better. you put 2 in one and 1 in another

(1+2)x(1+1)x1=6

hmmm, still not tip top, you grunt and apply evenly across the board

(1+1)x(1+1)x(1+1)=8

great. you have half the regen of the first try, doing your CAs twice as often, now lets figure out what this means to Sacred, and most importantly, the JOAT woodelf.

Why to choose moon magic instead of Meditation

Lets take a look at the formula for spells again

(moon magic)x(meditation+regeneration spells)x(mental regeneration)

You'll note that in the formula that moon magic stands on its own but that Meditation is additive with spell regen, this is important. It means that with close attention to our equipment that we can replace meditation (to a large extent) with spell regen items. The most damage would be done to our timer by not taking moon magic (removing a factor, and decreasing regen by an order of magnitude). Moon magic is a better point for point increase than meditation (even though meditation has a higher "apparent" point value) because moon magic is the sole way to increase the third factor. It should be mentioned that mental regen will level up on it's own at a good rate, thus avoiding the need for our attention (but pluses to it from items are still extremely useful).

All three factors come from different places. Mental regen comes from your stats, Moon magic from a skill, and Regen Spells from equipment. SO you have to pay attention to both your skills and equipment to keep your spell(s) growing as it should. Neglect either and your returns on the other will be poor.

A note for the higher levels. Once you read QAAF runes to a certain level you are tied to the Spell regen required to use that level of QAAF. If you drastically increase spell regen and then read runes up to that level you will have far less flexibility in your equipment. I would suggest having a max of 3 armour peices devoted to spell regen.

How to Max the Combat Timer

(concentration)x(regeneration special move)x(physical regeneration)

You need to get these three factors as high as possible. Physical regen will level up slowly (slower than mental regen) so you might want to put a few points here. What is absolutely neccesary is that you find good Regen special moves equipment. Without it you will not have a hope of decreasing your regen times.

Concentration gets a good increase per level (same as meditation, about double moon magic) and so it will still get good returns at high level, consider maxing out this skill.

Another very important thing to consider, not to increase your base regen by any more than necessary. Socketed runes or levels of Combat Arts off of items only count for half as much against your regeneration, use this to your advantage by picking a primary CA and only reading one rune (though once regen gets good enough you may be reading runes just to keep up). Every other level that you need should be either socketed or come off an item. This will allow you to do maximum damage with a minimum of effort.

Managing your Damage - Dishing out MAXXXX

Damage works on a similar formula to regeneration, in that it has three distinct and very important factors in order to tweak it up to full potential.

(Base Damage)x(CA +/- % bonus)x(critical percent)

Base Damage

This is the damage given when swinging a with a left click. It includes base damage values from your weapons, as well as the boost to those values provided by weapon lore. You could consider weapon lore a separate factor, but i like to include it because it's very easy to come up for a number for left click damage, but very difficult to find a number for basic weapon elemental type damage. Any +% damage elemental mods go into this section of damage.

CA damage bonus (or reduction)

This is the % bonus that comes off of any CA that you use. This Factor is directly proportional to your regeneration abilities, so if this is drooping it's a very good idea that you go back and evaluate your regen factors. More levels of CAs, either from items, or from read/socketed runes, increases this factor.

Critical chance

Since a critical hit does between 1.5 to 2.5 X damage you can think of it as effectively doubling your damage. So 100% critical is the same as +100% damage (of course it's applied after all other factors). So critical hit works similar to a CA level increase and can thus be compared to different CAs but only at low levels.

Merging the three

My advice is pay attention to all three factors, and since your CA% damage is tied to your regen special you can think of the formula this way:

(base damage)x((rsm)(Phys regen)(conc))x(critical)

Note: since critical hits at irregular intervals this formula is not useful for calcualting individual hits but rather the average damage output of a particular setup over time.

just make sure all 3 are increasing and your damage numbers will be astronomical.

Some conclusions

Because of the way that regeneration can be blown sky high (thanks to it's multiplying factors) regeneration is the single most effective way to increase the damage of your character (this goes for spells as well as CAs). Neglecting regen will do more damage in the long run than neglecting th other factors, and is much more difficult to fix in later levels (impossible to fix if you skipped either moon magic or concentration.) Focus on regen if you want a strong character because damage from both critical and base weapon can be patched up quite quickly with a little shopping or item hunting.

Mistakes - Hey, we all make them

spell regen error

I got a shield with high regen spells on it. I read runes to the level where regen was equal with the sheild. It made me unable to regenerated QAAF effectively while using 2 handed weapons or my bow. Always update your QAAF level when your character has empty hands.

Damage and regen focus error

Late in the game when your woodelf is doing insane amounts of damage (ei. 100k-300k from HH and 50K+ from other abilities) it can be easy to focus too much on the concentration/weaponlore/moon magic skills and not enough on parry and armour. Once damage hits this point (and also before) you do not need to try and increase it further, but instead focus on making your woodelf sturdier (armour/parry/agility/trade.)

will update this section as i make more errors

The Recap

Use QAAF instead of specific weapon lore. You will have to recast it every 20-60 seconds but you will save points to build a more versatile character who moves and attacks at maximum speed by about lvl 70 or 80. You will be able to switch weapon type depending on what is most effective in your current hunting grounds. Regen spells will serve as a substitute for meditation (so don't neglect it) and regen special moves will lower your regeneration times significantly.

Happy hunting.