Sacred:Tharkane's Book of the Ancestors (Dwarven Guide) Continued:Hall of Heroes Part 3

Originally posted at DarkMatters for review and discussion.

Hall of Heroes

Here's some ideas for Dwarven builds that takes advantage of his skills and CAs. I have personally tried all of them except for one: the Greedy Berserker. Despite the fact that I started playing this game a few months after the original release date, I have yet to fool around much with a WIDD-based build for any character. However, I am willing to bet the Greedy Berserker would be a smashing success.

The Battle Hammer

The Dwarven Battle Hammer lives only to crush the skulls of his opponents in battle. He focuses on the use of two-handed axe weapons in combat, taking full advantage of the entire complement of his combat move CAs. Advanatages of the build:

• Using two-handed melee weapons means he can use any combat move CA at any time - two of the Dwarven combat move CAs require the use of a two-handed melee weapon.

• The damage output is extremely high. The two-handed axe weapons dish out huge amounts of damage per hit. The Dwarf-only two-handed hammers almost always feature physical damage bonuses based on a percentage of Strength or Dexterity, on top of an overall percentile bonus to physical damage. The use of the Dwarven Steel CA makes these weapons even more deadly.

• The high damage potential compensates for the lack of a shield. Killing foes quicker = an enemy that can't take a swing or shot at you. The Dwarf swings two-handed axe weapons faster than any other character.

Disadvantages:

• Lack of shield usage and the Parry skill means lower defense rating in general. War Cry can help boost the defense rating, but it will still never match a Dwarf who uses a shield with the Parry skill.

• Weakness to ranged opponents. This relates to lack of a shield, and the fact that the Dwarf has no combat move that allows him to "jump and attack."

Skills:

Weapon Lore Constitution Axe Lore (3rd level) Concentration (6th level) Armor (12th level) Dwarven Lore (20th level) (Your choice at 30th. Good choice might be Sword Lore, allowing the use of Aarnum's Fiery Blade, a special two-handed sword. Sword Lore allows the Dwarf to enjoy the full set bonuses, which are very, very nice) Agility (50th)

Primary CAs:

Combat Moves: Vehemence, Recoil, Heavy Blow, War Cry Dwarven Technologies: Dwarven Steel, Dwarven Armor, Mortar Grenade

Statistics to Pump up: Every 5 levels, put 4 points into Strength, and 1 point into Physical Regeneration.

General Item and Equipment Advice

Focus on armor that offers defense ratings. Wear rings which are heavy on attack, defense, and damage. Wear amulets with good defense ratings. Armor which adds additional physical resistance is very desirable. Use the backpack to jack up attack power. Many Dwarven backpacks offer a percentile bonus to physical damage: get those!

The Dwarven Lord

The Dwarven Lord is a refined warrior who primarily uses melee weapons and shields in combat. He has a strong sense of tradition, preferring axes and maces over other weapons such as swords. His style offers a great blend of defense and offensive power, making him a solid battle tank. The refinement of this build comes into play regarding strategy: when opportunity knocks, the Dwarven Lord doesn't miss it. He keeps a two-handed hammer ready for those times when a crowd of his foes cry out for a good smacking ala Vehemence. When faced with grim odds, he uses his axe and trusty shield.

Advantages of the build:

• The use of shields and the Parry skill means that good defense and higher resistances are a reality. This is a big bonus when the higher difficulty levels of the game are reached.

• Even distribution of stat points into Strength and Physical Regeneration equates into an even distribution of damage power and CA regeneration, respectively.

• The build is an excellent template that can be adapted into a number of different specialties: a gun Dwarf, a Trader, a Dwarven Blacksmith, a Dwarven Pyromaniac, etc, etc.

Disadvanatges:

• Damage output will not be as high as the Battle Hammer.

Skills:

• Weapon Lore

• Concentration

• Axe Lore (3rd Level) Gun Dwarf variant: Ranged Combat.

• Parry (6th level)

• Constitution (12th level)

• Armor (20th level) Dwarven Blacksmith variant: Forge Lore

• Dwarven Lore (30th level)

• (Skill of your choice at 50th level)

Primary CAs:

Combat Moves: Primary - Heavy Blow, Wrath, War Cry. Secondary - Vehemence, Battle Rage.

Dwarven Technologies: Primary - Dwarven Armor, Flame Thrower, Mortar Grenade. Gun Dwarf variant: Replace Mortar Grenade with Entrench, and Dwarven Armor with Dwarven Steel. Secondary - Mortar Grenade, Greed or Dwarven Steel.

Statistics to Pump up: For every 4 levels, 2 points into Strength, and 2 points into Physical Regeneration. Gun Dwarf variant: 3 points into Dexterity, 1 point into Physical Regeneration.

General Item and Equipment Advice

The Dwarven Lord build has loads of potential in this department. Focus on armor with excellent resists and special bonuses to Weapon Lore, Strength, RSM, and others. Use shoulder armor to boost attack rating and boost statistics and damage types. For the Dwarven Lord, wear two rings which boost attack, and two which boost defense. Both amulets should be defense amulets. The belt should boost physical regeneration, RSM, and offer a % boost to at least one damage resistance. The boots can focus on speed, % bonus to defense or attack (or socket a rune). Gauntlets can boost attack rating. The shields should be very, very heavy on defense.