Sacred 2:Combat Art Modifications

Modifications or upgrades work in three levels per Combat Art: bronze, silver, and gold, with a choice having to be made between two offered upgrades at each level. Modifications must be chosen in order, meaning you must have a bronze modification to a specific CA before you can learn one of the silver modifications. Depending on how many points you allot to one of the chosen aspect, the game will give you points that you can spend on upgrades that can enhance among many options, the damage, regeneration, duration and many more. The more points you spend per aspect, the more choices will become available to the player. The player can spend all their upgrade points in one Combat Art, or distribute them amongst different CAs within that same aspect.

For example, the Seraphim Combat Art Radiant Pillar allows the following options along its modification tree:

Bronze

Hypnosis - Attracts opponents to the center of the pillar. (~6.75m area (guess)) Delude - Reduces opponents' attack values within the area of effect. (650 + 10 per CA level, see below)

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Silver

Brightness - Increases the area of effect. (33.3% increase) Conserve - Increases duration of Radiant Pillar. (50% increase)

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Gold	Magnify - Increase damage of Radiant Pillar. (35.7% increase (guess)) Ordeal - Inflicts twice as much damage when the opponent's health has fallen below a threshold value. (threshold is 25% + 0.?% per CA level of max health)

A player adding enough points to the Celestial Magic Focus or Lore, will soon accrue modification points that can be allotted as the game progresses. In the above case, the player's choices within his Combat Art Modification Screen will be highlighted to show that a choice is now available. At each advancing metal-colored level, a choice of two new upgrades will make themselves available, with the player having to pick one of the two choices. For the Combat Art, Radiant Pillar, the player, when he sees the choice of upgrade option available, will then have to choose between Hypnosis or Delude as his choice of options at the Bronze level of upgrades offered. At the next level of upgrades offered, Silver, the choice would be between Brightness and Conserve, with the final Gold level upgrades offering the player a choice between Magnify and Ordeal.

With the progression of the game, and with more points poured into the Celestial Magic Focus or the Lore... the next choice of upgrades for any newly chosen Combat Art within that Aspect will become available, and the player will then again have to choose.

Modifications become available when you spend the following amount of skill points:
3, 5, 9, 14, 22, 31, 42, 55, 70, 87, 106, 126, 149, 173, 199.

For example, the first modification point is available when you spend 3 skill points in a relevant skill, the second becomes available when you spend 5 skill points etc.

There is a maximum of six upgrades available for each Combat Art, with a player being able to choose three of the six available options.

Players receive a total of 911 skill points to allocate by choice. A player, by adding 199 points into the skills that add modification points to the 3 aspects for his class will have the ability to choose all five modifications for all three of the aspects that affect his class. The only exception to this being the Shadow Warrior which will only need 398 (199 points in Tactics Lore fully modifies both Malevolent Champion and Death Warrior aspects + 199 points for Astral Lord).

The following links can be used to view the class combat art pages which will show the six unique combat art upgrades/modifications available per combat art:

Seraphim Combat Arts	Shadow Warrior Combat Arts	Dryad Combat Arts
High Elf Combat Arts	Inquisitor Combat Arts	Temple Guardian Combat Arts	Dragon Mage Combat Arts

Combat Art Modifications FAQ

How do I earn these modification points?

You earn points to spend on modifications by spending skill points in the Lore or Focus skill associated with the three Aspects available to a class. Modification points for Combat Arts within each of the three Aspects are earned seperately. For example, a High Elf spending skill points in Arrant Pyromancer Lore and/or Arrant Pyromancer Focus will only accrue modification points for Combat Arts within Arrant Pyromancer Aspect; if you wish to modify Combat Arts in the Mystic Stormite or Delphic Arcania Aspects then you will need to select the Lore and Focus skills that correspond to them instead or as well.

Note: Only skill points you have spent count towards the total, while those gained from equipment add nothing. You must also have used at least one rune in a Combat Art before it is possible to modify it.

Modification points are available when the total skill points spent on relevant Lore and/or Focus reach the following levels:

3, 5, 9, 14, 22, 31, 42, 55, 70, 87, 106, 126, 149, 173, 199

As can be noticed, there is a diminishing return on the number of skill points spent, meaning that it takes longer (more skill points need to be spent) to get the 15th point than it does to get the 14th point, etc.

It is possible to improve all five Combat Arts in an Aspect to the fullest extent, by earning all 15 modification points - a total of five Combat Arts per Aspect, each with 3 possible modifications, requires 15 points in total.

How should I spend modification points?

You can spend points in any order you like but gold is only available if the Combat Art already has the silver modification and silver is only available if the Combat Art already has the bronze modification. For example, you might want to spend your first three points improving one Combat Art to gold OR three Combat Arts to bronze OR one Combat Art to silver and another to bronze. You just can't select the silver modification before bronze, or the gold modification before the other two, because the game doesn't provide that option.

What is the best way to accrue points towards Combat Art modifications?

Spending on just one of the two appropriate skills, either Lore or Focus, means that you will earn modification points more slowly; the amount of skill points you can spend on any one skill is capped at your level so the earliest you can get them all, in this scenario, is when your character reaches level 199.

On the other hand, if you spend skill points in both Lore and Focus then you can obtain modification points earlier, because the points spent in both skills count towards the total. If you spent the maximum number of skill points in both skills then you would obtain all 15 modification points when your character reaches level 100.

It is your choice of how many Combat Arts within an Aspect you will improve, ie how many points you need to spend on Lore/Focus. It is also your choice to learn Lore, Focus or both, and in how many of the three Aspects you learn these skills.

Why don't some Aspects have a Lore skill associated with them?

You may notice that while all classes have a Focus skill for each of their three Aspects, some don't have a corresponding Lore skill. This is because these Aspects are weapon-based and therefore the appropriate Lore skill is Tactics Lore. They are:

• Dryad - Capricious Hunter

• Inquisitor - Gruesome Inquisition

• Seraphim - Exalted Warrior

• Temple Guardian - Devout Guardian

• Shadow Warrior - Death Warrior and Malevolent Champion

Here the Shadow Warrior has an advantage because you can spend points in Tactics Lore and start accruing modification points in two Aspects simultaneously, a significant advantage.