Sacred:Csaszar's Hybrid Dark Elf, ** The funny way to be powerful **

Originally posted at DarkMatters for review and discussion.

Foreward

I wrote this guide earlier but I updated it to the new standards.

It could be possibility happening that I do errors and spelling things bad I don't want but happens it could.

Dark Weapon Master and Shadow Hunter of the lightless caverns of Ancaria - The Hybrid Dark Elf

Well if you choose to play a Dark Elf then you are creating the most powerful character in the game*. If you do things right you will excel in every important aspect of the game. You will have really high defense and attack, very nice Hit Points and one of the best damage in game**.

This build is aimed at multiplayer but with minor changes u could play it at single too.

STATS:

You will need to increase only one stat and that is Physical Regeneration. All the other stats can be increased through item bonuses (phys regen too) and you don't need to put points in them. All points in one stat means a real and visible increase. Why phys regen? Thats the stat what lowers the regeneration of your Combat Arts (both melee and traps) and it gives you Hit Points as well.

SKILLS:

Trap Lore and Ballistics Its pretty obvious that u need to put skill points in these skills. Put a few points in them as soon as possible. At early lvls increase trap lore more and later some points into Ballistics. Get both skills to at least lvl 80. (trap lore could be increased more)

Constitution Put as much point in as possible till you see very little increase.

Armor Put as much point in as possible till you see very little increase.

Parrying Some items and sets have nice bonuses to it so u don't need to allocate too much skill points. You will mostly use a weapon + shield combo so parry could really be useful.

Weapon Lore Your trap damage will benefit from this skill so its useful to increase it.

Blade Combat Dont forget that this is a hybrid build. You need this skill to efectively wield your fearful Dark Elf Blades. (see Tharkane's compendium for more info)

Concentration Its the second skill (beside blade combat) needed for your melee side. It lowers regen time of your melee CA's and also helps with the PAK CA's.

COMBAT ARTS:

Poison Mist Yeah thats the CA u will use mostly for killing the evil guys. At lower lvls read only 1 rune and raise it through items or runes. This way you will have low regen time. As you gain lvls and better equipment you could raise it slowly. U would feel the right time when you could begin reading all PM runes u could find.

Testosterone A wonderful CA that boosts your poison damage. It raises your attack too. Testo has a WONDERFUL duration (Battle Mage buffs wont suck that much with this kind a duration) Read as much runes as you could.

Adrenaline A wonderful CA that boosts your defense rating. Adre has a WONDERFUL duration. Read as much runes as you could.

Attack CA While melee i advise use this CA for 'Crush Kill n Destroy'. If you make this right 2 handed Glads (sorry r00) Vampires (except my UNORTHODOX Vampire) wont even near your damage. Read 1 rune and get the the others from item bonuses.

Basically depending on these skills the game could be Managed nicely. Of course there are some other support CAs that could be useful too. Confusion and Battle Fog. Both skills are used to confuse enemies and render them unable to attack you or defend against you. Sounds nice but you want KILL them. In most cases your enemies will be dead in a few secs so no real need to use these CAs. At lower lvls they could prove useful - if u increase them heavily. IMHO increasing Testosterone (and Adrenaline) will get you further. BUT for the FUN FACTOR*** they are pretty useful. The PAK CAs - Magic Deflection and Projectile Deflection. If you plan to play in an area which has many archers or mages u definitely need these CAs. Really worth read some runes. My DE has around 150 lvls of these CAs (depending on item config). If you plan to play many in the new areas of UW u wont see too much archers or mages.

Soul Catcher Absorbs the life of the fallen enemies to restore your life energy. Pretty and nice CA but not too much use. Some items could have large bonuses for it and then (and only then) its worth to raise it. With an average amount of life leech u wont be more than OK without this CA. It has Good duration. (if high enough) If you are supported with enough runes and maximized every other really useful CA you could try to raise this one.

Mongoose Read a rune at the start ASAP. It will help u cross rivers and some obstacles.

Explosive Charge and Bottomless Pit If you feel yourself bored with PM use these CAs for a while. You will get quickly back to Poison Mist though. No real need to raise or use them.****

ITEMS:

Mainly use any stuff u think will benefit you. Some sets and uniques are really great for DE so i mention a few. These are the pieces i liked to wear when played with my DE (You don't need to use exactly these equipment)

Sets:

Mostly I like wearing full sets but in the case of our DE I discourage you to do that. A carefully selected mixed unique/set/rare equipment will get you much more bonuses and overall would be far more useful.

Ethan-Rhy's Shining Custody - Armor. MF (magic find) on it.

Ethan-Rhy's Sneaky Enchantment - Amulet. Good fire resist + bonus to xp

Huron's Dark Crown - Helm. Nice bonus to regen special move + split + bonus to PM + points to ballistics

Huron's Eternal Pillars - Shoulder Guard. Regen special move + points to trap lore + a nice amount to critical

Cordell's Greaves - Greaves. Bonus to speed, constitution and strength. It has also MF on it.

Cordell's Dagger - Fist Blade. At lower lvls it is very useful. 3 socket + life leech + bonus to poison mist

D'Brae Bracer (Hell steel I think) is one of the best choices for a bracer. It gives life leech and bonus to PM.

Uniques:

Ice Brackets - Bracer. A very good item - my favorite. It gives a huge bonus to MF and some bonus to Battle Fog.

Gordar's Metal Gauntlets of Rampage - Gauntlet. A good gauntlet with 2 socket and life leech.

Dexter's Chrysopras - Ring. The dream of all trapper DEs. Seek it trade for it beg for it kill for it 1smile.gif It has a huge bonus to PM a moderate bonus to ALL CA a nice bonus to poison damage.

High Shield of the Dark Elves - Shield. A very nice bonus to xp + bonus to endurance + bonus to the PAK CAs Well simply wonderful for lvling purposes.

Spiral of Falling Arts - Amulet. Bonus to PM (and other trap CAs).

Ornate Axe of Resting - Axe. It has very nice bonuses to regen special move, life leech and xp. (I used this axe together with High Shield)

I wont mention more equipment. If u could get these you will be OK. If not then u will be OK too.

For BELT and BOOTS I always used rare ones with socket and huge amount of Regen special move and/or Phys regen.

And thats it. If you play multiplayer you will lvl your char fast to niob difficulty. For me the real challenge always begins there. With this build you will find much fun a feeling of power.

THE FUN FACTOR

When I first tried Ethan Rys set I was dissapointed with the invisibility bonus. It wasn't a true invisibility and when you stopped next to a monster it spotted you right away. Now Ethan is much much better. It gives you complete invisibility until you attack or use a CA. That means you can explore, escape, get near to a monster (monster group) without noticed. If you attack and spotted you could halt your actions to regain invisibility. The enemies who spotted you will have one attack one you after that they cant see you.

Ethans set isnt the most powerful set or combination for your char but it is really useful. I suggest you build 2 or more set of outfit for your char. One for pure trapper one full ethan for your melee or you could make a full Ethan socketed for trapper business. Either way Ethan - seeing just the numbers and calculation - isnt the best set for you. But it helps greatly enjoy the game - and thats our ultimate goal right? Besides Dark Elves are sooooooo powerful 1smile.gif you will manage easily with this hinderance.

• Of course thats my opinion only - but there are facts to prove it.

• • Under special conditions more builds can reach higher damage. But overall DE has the best damage potential and the ability to do it continously.

• • • FUN FACTOR is inmportant part of this build. Thats why we do it hybrid.

• • • • Dark Elves based on this chars could be also pretty fearful and powerful. Just simply not that good as PM.

• • • • • Forgive me for the grammatical errors and misspellings. My native language isn't English.