Sacred 2:Combat and Game Basics

Auto Levelling Explained

Or perhaps more, Why Auto Levelling is Your Friend. There has been a lot talk on the forums lately in respects to auto levelling, because after it was discovered how Oblivion handled it, gamers really, really didn't like it. This section details the auto levelling in Sacred 2 and also explains why it's a completely different mechanic to the way Oblivion handled it, and also why in fact, we need auto levelling or the game itself will become unplayable. So here we go:

Oblivion vs Sacred 2 Auto Levelling

First up, there is a misunderstanding about auto-levelling - people are using the term as interchangeable between how Oblivion handled levels and how Sacred 2 does. The two are not the same so lets clear this up.

Oblivion adjusted the monsters based on your level.

Please look at what I wrote there, as it's important: It adjusted the monsters based on your level.

This means, the monsters changed.

The monsters actually changed. This meant you could never do what gamers love doing, which is getting ahead of the power curve. You could never go and craft that perfect weapon, and then come back to fight that awesomely hard monster that was there earlier, guarding some chest that you were curious about. Why not? Because it's now changed into something even harder to match your character level.

This is far, far, FAR different thing to adjusting the monster level based on your level:

• Sacred 2: If a rat goes from level 1 to 40, that's one thing.
• Oblivion: If a rat is a rat at level 1, but a [b]minotaur[/b] at level 40, that's something else.

So Sacred 2 auto-levelling is not the same as Oblivion, therefore the arguments that pertain to Oblivion's system and why it was horrible, do not apply to Sacred 2's.

Challenge and Difficulty

Now the reason auto levelling comes under fire, is actually because players aren't finding the game challenging enough and blame it on the auto-levelling feature. Auto-levelling is, actually, a moot point since the real issue is that there is no challenge and that gamers cannot get ahead due to the perceived auto-balancing. Lets look at another popular hack 'n slash RPG, Diablo 2. In Diablo 2 for example, you could find a great weapon, and suddenly you were at the upper end of the power curve. The power curve is the balancing mechanism that provides challenge. It ensures you are not to strong, and also that the enemy is beatable. In Diablo 2 it fluctuated a lot, you found a monster who was better, then you levelled up got a new skill and were back up there. It was a constant struggle which was enjoyable. In Sacred 2 the difficultly appears fleeting, if not absent. Here are a few possible reasons from my experience so far:

1) It didn't get as much attention as it should have. 2) The world is huge and free-roaming (talk about this in a second). 3) The level range is huge, 1-200. Put that in perspective, Titan Quest was 1-75 and Diablo 2 was 1-99.

Sacred 2 has a huge difference to Diablo 2, it has a fully open world. Each area has level caps for the monsters. So the rats in the first area around Sloeford actually cap out at level 37. The reason for this, is that as per the manual, you get experience based on the level of the creature you defeat. You can't go and kill thousands of creatures that are level 1, who provide no challenge for your level 80 Seraphim, because they give you 0 XP. The closer their level gets to your character level, the better, the higher compared to your character level the better too as then the highlight for the enemy creature is red which yields maximum experience. The reason enemies increase in power as you do, and the reason that they are capped as I was saying, is because then you have time to explore this massive area, and level up and so on, without exhausting the supply of enemies around your level - so you get enough experience to level up.

Diablo 2 did the same thing, except they capped the max too.

In Diablo 2 the world is linear (randomised, but closed). It's like a complex maze. The enemies are staggered in their level. Look at the way the enemies' levels are organised on this page. They offer a good range, but are all around the same average level.

So. Players were always fighting monsters around their level, by nature of the way the game was controlled - it was a closed system, and players were known to be of a certain level by the time they reached area X or whatever. If you were not, then you got depreciating returns in experience - and thus found it very hard, like the jump from normal to nightmare and nightmare to hell - as there were usually a few levels disparity between the two, ie, they didn't match up precisely.

Summary

So, this has been a long read, but the auto levelling criticism is being levelled at Sacred 2 incorrectly. The very last thing I will say, is that the initial areas are like a MASSIVE tutorial section. There is little challenge there on purpose, you get to explore, poke about with your character and do some quests. Because the game is so huge, this drags on a bit, because many veterans from action RPGs will play Sacred 2, and get to grips with the game immediately, they will wonder what's going on. Why is it so easy, and even if they stick it out to level 30, it will still be easy. One player on their official forums said that the game really starts around level 50, and if you look at some of the Hardcore players, you will see a lot of deaths at this stage. Don't let the fact that because the developers decided to show you the monster level, that it's doing something different, or indeed, that it's doing something different to our favourite games like Diablo 2. It really isn't.

The slow start is a bit of an issue in my opinion, because a level 37 character, for example my Shadow Warrior has almost fully cleared the entire starting area, and has just started to find some challenging battles. All I can say is stick with it, as you will begin to see where the game goes and really enjoy it.