Post by Night Ω Wolfe on Oct 29, 2006 17:36:54 GMT -5
There is a wealth of information available regarding the older, more established characters of Sacred, but little concerning the Daemon. Most of us who have run successful Daemons (online and/or in single player) came across our knowledge the old-fashioned way: trial and error. For gamers like myself, that way is the most fun, and the biggest part of what I enjoy about games. However, not everyone has fun doing the same things. Some of you may want to enter the arena armed with basic knowledge...well, this is what the Codex is for. Read on!
Purpose
The purpose of the Codex is to provide background information regarding the Daemonic succubus character of Sacred. It is not designed to be a guide supporting a particular build. Any number of builds work equally well in the game, as I have seen and experienced myself. Your build is a question of your own preference. That said, this guide should help you direct your own build efforts.
The Daemon: Terror on the Battlefield
The Daemon is a hybrid spell caster/melee warrior character. Her spells are offensive in focus, designed to damage opponents and enhance her attack capabilities in combat. Her starting statistics - Strength and Mental Regeneration being the highest - lean towards a spell caster that transforms into a killing machine through her combat forms and spells. The Daemon's melee prowess is linked to her forms...without her forms, she lacks any special attacks in melee combat.
It is important to note that both the Daemon's forms and attendant special attacks are considered Combat Arts (more on the mechanics of her CAs later). What follows is a brief review of each form, and the special attack offered by each one.
Fire Daemon - The Daemon assumes her fire form. She enjoys a boost to fire resistance while transformed. A percentage of physical damage she inflicts is translated into fire damage. While in her fire form, the Wall of Fire attack becomes available. This ranged attack creates a roaring wall of flames at the target destination, i.e., where you click the mouse button. She tosses the Wall of Fire as a bouncing orb of fire...opponents in the way of this fireball will receive fire damage. Imagine this orb as a red-hot grenade, and you will have the perfect visual.
Energy Daemon - The Daemon assumes her magical form. She enjoys a boost to magical damage resistance while transformed. A percentage of physical damage she inflicts is translated into magical damage. While in this form, the Energy Orb attack becomes available. The Daemon unleashes multiple orbs of energy from herself that inflict magic damage on her opponents. The higher the Energy Daemon level, the more orbs she unleashes with the attack.
Poison Daemon - The Daemon assumes her poison form. She enjoys a boost to poison damage resistance while in this state. Like the other forms, a percentage of her physical damage is translated into poison damage. While in this form, the Poison Ring attack becomes available. With this attack, the Daemon unleashes an expanding ring of poison which damages opponents in her immediate vicinity. The radius of the poison ring is static, and does not increase with the CA level.
Battle Daemon - The Daemon assumes a powerful physical form. She enjoys a boost to physical damage resistance while transformed. Unlike her other forms, Battle Daemon adds damage to her attacks (in accordance with the nature of the form, the additional damage is physical). It also increases her attack rating in combat. The form's special attack is called Assail, which resembles the Attack CA of other Sacred characters.
Soaring Daemon - The Daemon can fly through use of this form. This enables her to navigate many obstacles that earth-bound characters cannot cross. While in her Soaring Daemon form, she enjoys a bonus to movement speed, and a bonus to her defense rating. While transformed, the Descent attack becomes available. The attack is ranged and may occur virtually anywhere on the screen with a click of your mouse. When committed, the Daemon dive-bombs her target and executes a Hard-hit attack that features splash damage to all targets in the radius of effect. This attack is extremely powerful and upon its use, the Daemon reverts to her ordinary form.
Very Important: Notes Regarding Forms and Their Special Attacks
Hell Magic
The Daemon's spells are offensive in nature. They are designed to achieve maximum carnage on the battlefield, whether they empower the Daemon to slaughter her foes effortlessly (ala Infernal Power and Call of Death), or create nasty entities which ferociously attack her enemies on her behalf (such as Blazing Disc, Hellsphere, and Tentacles).
Dread - As a spell, Dread is very similar in mechanics to the area of effect (AOE) spells of the Battle Mage, such as Fire Spiral, Circle of Fear, and Circle of Ice. However, that is where the similarity ends. Dread creates a circle within which the attack and defense ratings of enemies are greatly reduced. The duration of the spell never changes - it remains static at 25 seconds - but its effectiveness increases with additional levels. The higher the spell level, the greater the reduction in attack and defense ratings.
Abysmal Choir - When she casts this wicked spell, all enemies directly around the Daemon suffer its effects. Movement rate is slowed dramatically. Each affected enemy will also suffer damage over time while under the spell effect. Like Dread, the higher the spell level, the greater the reduction in movement rate, and the greater the damage inflicted. How to tell that an enemy is affected by the Choir: they will be cursed with a black cloud while affected. Damage types: Physical and Magic.
Tentacles - Certainly the most gory and graphics-intensive spell in the game. When she casts Tentacles, the Daemon is imbued with an aura for the duration of the spell. The corpses of every enemy she kills adjacent to her person while in the Tentacles aura will suddenly sprout nasty tentacles in an explosion rich with gore. These tentacles then proceed to attack any enemy target in their reach. Note to Daemons with a Vampiress in your party: the tentacles destroy the corpses they pop out of, which means one less dead for the Vampiress to awaken. Also, this spell is graphics-intensive and drains system resources. For this reason, well-mannered Daemons refrain from using the Tentacles spell in multiplayer. A well-mannered Daemon gets to have lots of friends to run with. Damage Types: Magic and Poison.
Hellsphere - This spell creates a sentry orb that can be placed wherever the Daemon wishes. This orb will dutifully attack any enemy which approaches the Daemon while she is within the sphere's line of sight (LOS). She may only create one sphere per casting of this spell. Damage Types: Fire and Magic.
Blazing Disc - This spell creates an airborne entity which hovers directly around the Daemon. The entity - the Blazing Disc - will attack any enemy which approaches the Daemon. The disc will follow the Daemon wherever she goes, but spell caster beware: discs cannot follow you through portals. A Daemon loses the discs she creates when she passes through a portal. Also, they can be lost if you travel too quickly through caverns and around tight turns. Remember your disks, and they will serve you well. The spell creates one disc per casting. Damage Types: Physical and Fire.
Infernal Power - This buffing spell enhances the Daemon's attack rating in combat. Also, it adds fire damage to the Daemon's attacks. It also increases the percentage of fire damage done overall. Although this spell is ideal when used to complement the Daemon while in her Fire form, it serves well in every circumstance, and with any form. The Daemon may cast Infernal Power upon any member of her party. They enjoy the full benefits of the spell.
Call of Death - Call of Death is a particularly nasty combat spell. It is a buffing spell. For every foe the Daemon kills, her damage is exponentially increased. Note that any lag between kills resets the damage multiplier: one dead foe after another means more and more damage.
Daemon Synergies
The Codex would not be complete without a treatise on the subject of Daemon synergies. Certain forms and spells lend themselves to one another in spectacular ways. The synergies are due to the fact that the damage translation of the forms (and spells) are not restricted to weapon damage alone. They apply to both weapon and spell damage.
Fire
The simplest and most obvious of these synergies is the relationship between the Fire Daemon form and the spell Infernal Power. Fire damage is elevated and multiplied. Little known is the increased fire damage Blazing Discs will do while the Daemon is in her Fire form - portions of the disc's physical damage is translated into fire damage. Infernal Power further boosts fire damage by adding it. Discs and Hell Spheres do more damage this way. For this reason, Fire builds are the most popular choice amongst players.
Physical
Battle Daemon form is the only form that adds to the total damage done by the Daemon. Therefore, spells are affected accordingly (Blazing Discs will inflict additional physical damage). Also, Battle Daemon is the only form that increases her attack rating. In concert with Infernal Power, the Daemon enjoys a tremendous boost in attack power.
A particularly devastating tactic for a Daemon in Battle form is the employment of claws and knuckles in combat. Note that the Daemon cannot specialize in the weapon skill these weapons fall under. The weapon skill in question is Blade Combat (the exclusive realm of the Dark Elf). However, the Daemon is unnaturally fast when using these weapons...faster than she is with any melee weapon at the maximum speed possible in the game (220)! Whether she uses one of these weapons and a shield, or dual wields, the effect is devastating. Another item worth noting: these weapons normally feature a bonus to their physical damage along with a set amount they inflict. This bonus is usually a percentage amount of one of the statistics, usually Dexterity. In Battle Daemon form, she adds even more damage...with Infernal Power active, add additional fire damage!
What About Poison and Magic?
Alas, this is where her synergies end. The Daemon lacks the ability to add additional poison or magic damage to her attacks (beyond what normally occurs via the Magic Lore and Weapon Lore skills)...she can only do so with fire damage and physical damage. She can only translate physical damage into poison damage, or magic damage (depending upon her current form). Still very useful when used as part of a sound tactical plan.
Soaring: Fly the Infernal Skies!
There are many benefits to using her little wings. First and foremost, obstacle-hopping power. Depending on how much you've invested into the Soaring form, you can fly across large bodies of water (within certain limits, as I have discovered) and reach patches of dry land unavailable to all the other characters, even teleporting Battle Mages. If it's not on the screen, he can't reach it. Not so for the Daemon!
Secondly, Soaring Form is the only way a Daemon can boost her defense rating beyond skills, items and equipment. This is an important factor to consider when you reach the higher difficulty levels. The more defense you have, the better.
Thirdly - and this is a synergy - while Soaring, the Daemon enjoys an incredibly high rate of fire (ROF) using the only ranged weapon she can use in the game: crossbows. The difference between the ROF while Soaring and on foot is remarkable. Experience it for yourself and you will agree: the Daemon makes an excellent medieval jet fighter.
And finally, there is the trivial matter of the Descent attack of the Soaring Form, by far this author's favorite Daemonic combat move. The attack is absolutely devastating...combined with spells such as Infernal Power and Call of Death, only Dragons and other health point-wealthy targets can hope to survive a direct hit. The area of effect is a great boon, enabling a Soaring Daemon to wipe out groups of monsters, complete with their boss, in a single attack. By far the best tactic: target the boss, who is usually in the midst of a group. Dive-bomb and witness their pitiful deaths.
Tips and Advice
Pure Melee, Hybrid, or Spell Caster?
For those considering the development details of your Daemon and what to do with her build-wise, you might find yourself stumped on the subject of her Hell Magic and combat ability. Are they truly independent of one another? Can a non-magical Daemon be viable in the game?
Important factors to consider regardless of your goals: the Daemon's magic essentially covers two realms: attack enhancement, and damage-dealing. Each one of her spells fall into either one of those categories; in the case of Infernal Power, both. Her spells cover a broad spectrum of damage types: physical, fire, magic, and poison. In this regard, she is a more adept spell caster than the Seraphim, though nowhere near the equal of the Battle Mage. Magic ability is an important part of the Daemon, as vital as her combat prowess.
Her awesome potential in combat is in fact partly due to her magical ability. Call of Death and Infernal Power, both buffing-type spells, amplify every one of her blows. The power these spells add to her damage output actually negate the need for the Daemon to rely on combat moves such as the other Sacred characters possess. Case in point:
My Daemon Yiloth - Experiments in Combat and Magic
Enter Yiloth, a 112th level Daemon just barely into Platinum difficulty. With Aarnum's Fiery Blade equipped, endowed with the full set bonuses and enhanced by Infernal Power, she achieves "normal" hits in the range of 20K - 50K, even against fire-resistant targets. Quite impressive when you also consider the amount of damage she achieves using the Descent Attack, the special attack of the Soaring Daemon form. Her highest hit in my memory was in the neighborhood of 420,000 damage. Part of the reason why her "normal mouse-click" attacks are so powerful: critical hit bonuses. The other reason: I have her Infernal Power spell nicely developed. It adds considerable damage to every attack by itself. When I add Call of Death on top of everything else, nothing on the screen lasts very long. She zips around in Soaring form whacking everything into clouds of bloody mist. The resistances of her targets are overcome by the sheer damage of her hits.
I have tested the forms alone with no spell enhancements, and find her lacking. The only exception: using a crossbow while in Soaring Form. The rate of fire is not unlike an Uzi with unlimited ammunition.
Of her combat moves, it seems that the Descent Attack of the Soaring Daemon Form and the Wall of Fire of the Fire Daemon Form are by far the most effective and useful. The energy orbs of the Magic Daemon come in a close second here, being ranged in nature. Unfortunately for the Daemon, she has no magic that enhances her magical damage.
Fire is a different matter. As we all know, Infernal Power adds to fire damage. For this reason alone, the Wall of Fire attack becomes much more useful and powerful. The DOT it inflicts increases as the level of the form itself, and the Infernal Power spell, increases.
Then there is the Physical/Fire synergy, as discussed earlier in the Codex. While in Battle Daemon form with the Infernal Power spell active, her Blazing Discs inflict almost 300% more damage than they do on their own!
Had I the chance to do Yiloth over again, I would have changed her skill selections. She rarely uses any magic beyond what I like to think of as Melee magic - Infernal Power and Call of Death. With this is in mind, I submit the following for Daemon players to consider:
There is no such thing as a "pure" melee Daemon. She is a spell caster by default...all that differs is the amount of investment you channel into her magical abilities. Any debate over the merits of Hell Power vs. Meditation becomes somewhat moot when it is really just a matter of what method you choose in her rise to the top.
Hell Magic Caster: She will use all of her Hell Magic, both attack enhancements and damaging spells. Since Meditation offers the biggest reduction in spell regeneration time, the selection of this skill is important. Hell Power would be an excellent choice too, since the casting time reduction and further regeneration reduction only serves to make her deadlier in combat with Hell Magic. As a Hell Magic caster, you want multiple Burning Discs, Hell Spheres, and the Abysmal Choir all doing their thing at the same time.
Melee Magic Caster: Like my Daemon Yiloth, you use Infernal Power and Call of Death either constantly, or quite frequently. You want the satisfaction of doing the killing yourself.
Note that the Melee Magic caster can add a few Burning Discs as friends if you stack up on spell regeneration power somewhat. Your discs will do a lot of damage since you're constantly buffed with Infernal Power, and even more so if you like Battle Daemon form. That's a sort of compromise between melee prowess and a little magical specialty.
I created a Hell Magic caster, and have to say that her carnage is spectacular. So if it's a question of who does more injury to enemies, both types of Daemon do equally. Yiloth kills anything (including some dragons) with one dive, and Daedra my Hell Caster makes the entire screen suffer with her spells. Depends on my mood.
Final Opinion: The "Best" Hell Magic Daemon
The most effective Hell Magic caster would use Battle Daemon as her preferred form, and keep the buffing spells constantly active on herself. She then adds damage to every damaging spell in her arsenal. Here's how:
Battle Daemon form (adds physical) + Infernal Power (adds fire) + Call of Death (multiplies damage done) =
Blazing Disc (Physical + Fire, enhanced by Call of Death)
Hellsphere (Fire + Magic, enhanced by Call of Death)
Abysmal Choir (Physical + Magic, enhanced by Call of Death)
Tentacles (Magic + Poison, enhanced by Call of Death)
Purpose
The purpose of the Codex is to provide background information regarding the Daemonic succubus character of Sacred. It is not designed to be a guide supporting a particular build. Any number of builds work equally well in the game, as I have seen and experienced myself. Your build is a question of your own preference. That said, this guide should help you direct your own build efforts.
The Daemon: Terror on the Battlefield
The Daemon is a hybrid spell caster/melee warrior character. Her spells are offensive in focus, designed to damage opponents and enhance her attack capabilities in combat. Her starting statistics - Strength and Mental Regeneration being the highest - lean towards a spell caster that transforms into a killing machine through her combat forms and spells. The Daemon's melee prowess is linked to her forms...without her forms, she lacks any special attacks in melee combat.
It is important to note that both the Daemon's forms and attendant special attacks are considered Combat Arts (more on the mechanics of her CAs later). What follows is a brief review of each form, and the special attack offered by each one.
Fire Daemon - The Daemon assumes her fire form. She enjoys a boost to fire resistance while transformed. A percentage of physical damage she inflicts is translated into fire damage. While in her fire form, the Wall of Fire attack becomes available. This ranged attack creates a roaring wall of flames at the target destination, i.e., where you click the mouse button. She tosses the Wall of Fire as a bouncing orb of fire...opponents in the way of this fireball will receive fire damage. Imagine this orb as a red-hot grenade, and you will have the perfect visual.
Energy Daemon - The Daemon assumes her magical form. She enjoys a boost to magical damage resistance while transformed. A percentage of physical damage she inflicts is translated into magical damage. While in this form, the Energy Orb attack becomes available. The Daemon unleashes multiple orbs of energy from herself that inflict magic damage on her opponents. The higher the Energy Daemon level, the more orbs she unleashes with the attack.
Poison Daemon - The Daemon assumes her poison form. She enjoys a boost to poison damage resistance while in this state. Like the other forms, a percentage of her physical damage is translated into poison damage. While in this form, the Poison Ring attack becomes available. With this attack, the Daemon unleashes an expanding ring of poison which damages opponents in her immediate vicinity. The radius of the poison ring is static, and does not increase with the CA level.
Battle Daemon - The Daemon assumes a powerful physical form. She enjoys a boost to physical damage resistance while transformed. Unlike her other forms, Battle Daemon adds damage to her attacks (in accordance with the nature of the form, the additional damage is physical). It also increases her attack rating in combat. The form's special attack is called Assail, which resembles the Attack CA of other Sacred characters.
Soaring Daemon - The Daemon can fly through use of this form. This enables her to navigate many obstacles that earth-bound characters cannot cross. While in her Soaring Daemon form, she enjoys a bonus to movement speed, and a bonus to her defense rating. While transformed, the Descent attack becomes available. The attack is ranged and may occur virtually anywhere on the screen with a click of your mouse. When committed, the Daemon dive-bombs her target and executes a Hard-hit attack that features splash damage to all targets in the radius of effect. This attack is extremely powerful and upon its use, the Daemon reverts to her ordinary form.
Very Important: Notes Regarding Forms and Their Special Attacks
- Forms cannot stack, nor can they be used concurrently.
- The Daemon can cast one of her forms (except for Soaring Daemon) upon any member of her party in sight. However, her selection is limited to any form she is not currently in. In other words, if she is in Fire Daemon form, she can bestow any form upon any party member except for Fire Daemon (and Soaring Daemon) form. She can never cast Soaring Daemon on anything or anyone except herself.
- The party member receiving a Daemon form cannot use any of the special attacks associated with the form. They benefit from the additional elemental resistance only. They also enjoy a cool makeover which consists of colored twirling light-thingies, and a radical-looking mohawk.
- When you select a Daemon Form from your CA bar at the bottom right of your screen, the CA icon will then change to represent the Form's special attack. When your transformation expires, the icon will revert to the Daemon Form CA once again.
- There is no skill or statistic which accelerates the "casting times" for both the forms, and their special attacks. These remain static. The Physical Regeneration statistic, along with the Concentration skill, reduces the regeneration time for the Forms and their special attacks as they do with the combat moves of other Sacred characters.
Hell Magic
The Daemon's spells are offensive in nature. They are designed to achieve maximum carnage on the battlefield, whether they empower the Daemon to slaughter her foes effortlessly (ala Infernal Power and Call of Death), or create nasty entities which ferociously attack her enemies on her behalf (such as Blazing Disc, Hellsphere, and Tentacles).
Dread - As a spell, Dread is very similar in mechanics to the area of effect (AOE) spells of the Battle Mage, such as Fire Spiral, Circle of Fear, and Circle of Ice. However, that is where the similarity ends. Dread creates a circle within which the attack and defense ratings of enemies are greatly reduced. The duration of the spell never changes - it remains static at 25 seconds - but its effectiveness increases with additional levels. The higher the spell level, the greater the reduction in attack and defense ratings.
Abysmal Choir - When she casts this wicked spell, all enemies directly around the Daemon suffer its effects. Movement rate is slowed dramatically. Each affected enemy will also suffer damage over time while under the spell effect. Like Dread, the higher the spell level, the greater the reduction in movement rate, and the greater the damage inflicted. How to tell that an enemy is affected by the Choir: they will be cursed with a black cloud while affected. Damage types: Physical and Magic.
Tentacles - Certainly the most gory and graphics-intensive spell in the game. When she casts Tentacles, the Daemon is imbued with an aura for the duration of the spell. The corpses of every enemy she kills adjacent to her person while in the Tentacles aura will suddenly sprout nasty tentacles in an explosion rich with gore. These tentacles then proceed to attack any enemy target in their reach. Note to Daemons with a Vampiress in your party: the tentacles destroy the corpses they pop out of, which means one less dead for the Vampiress to awaken. Also, this spell is graphics-intensive and drains system resources. For this reason, well-mannered Daemons refrain from using the Tentacles spell in multiplayer. A well-mannered Daemon gets to have lots of friends to run with. Damage Types: Magic and Poison.
Hellsphere - This spell creates a sentry orb that can be placed wherever the Daemon wishes. This orb will dutifully attack any enemy which approaches the Daemon while she is within the sphere's line of sight (LOS). She may only create one sphere per casting of this spell. Damage Types: Fire and Magic.
Blazing Disc - This spell creates an airborne entity which hovers directly around the Daemon. The entity - the Blazing Disc - will attack any enemy which approaches the Daemon. The disc will follow the Daemon wherever she goes, but spell caster beware: discs cannot follow you through portals. A Daemon loses the discs she creates when she passes through a portal. Also, they can be lost if you travel too quickly through caverns and around tight turns. Remember your disks, and they will serve you well. The spell creates one disc per casting. Damage Types: Physical and Fire.
Infernal Power - This buffing spell enhances the Daemon's attack rating in combat. Also, it adds fire damage to the Daemon's attacks. It also increases the percentage of fire damage done overall. Although this spell is ideal when used to complement the Daemon while in her Fire form, it serves well in every circumstance, and with any form. The Daemon may cast Infernal Power upon any member of her party. They enjoy the full benefits of the spell.
Call of Death - Call of Death is a particularly nasty combat spell. It is a buffing spell. For every foe the Daemon kills, her damage is exponentially increased. Note that any lag between kills resets the damage multiplier: one dead foe after another means more and more damage.
Daemon Synergies
The Codex would not be complete without a treatise on the subject of Daemon synergies. Certain forms and spells lend themselves to one another in spectacular ways. The synergies are due to the fact that the damage translation of the forms (and spells) are not restricted to weapon damage alone. They apply to both weapon and spell damage.
Fire
The simplest and most obvious of these synergies is the relationship between the Fire Daemon form and the spell Infernal Power. Fire damage is elevated and multiplied. Little known is the increased fire damage Blazing Discs will do while the Daemon is in her Fire form - portions of the disc's physical damage is translated into fire damage. Infernal Power further boosts fire damage by adding it. Discs and Hell Spheres do more damage this way. For this reason, Fire builds are the most popular choice amongst players.
Physical
Battle Daemon form is the only form that adds to the total damage done by the Daemon. Therefore, spells are affected accordingly (Blazing Discs will inflict additional physical damage). Also, Battle Daemon is the only form that increases her attack rating. In concert with Infernal Power, the Daemon enjoys a tremendous boost in attack power.
A particularly devastating tactic for a Daemon in Battle form is the employment of claws and knuckles in combat. Note that the Daemon cannot specialize in the weapon skill these weapons fall under. The weapon skill in question is Blade Combat (the exclusive realm of the Dark Elf). However, the Daemon is unnaturally fast when using these weapons...faster than she is with any melee weapon at the maximum speed possible in the game (220)! Whether she uses one of these weapons and a shield, or dual wields, the effect is devastating. Another item worth noting: these weapons normally feature a bonus to their physical damage along with a set amount they inflict. This bonus is usually a percentage amount of one of the statistics, usually Dexterity. In Battle Daemon form, she adds even more damage...with Infernal Power active, add additional fire damage!
What About Poison and Magic?
Alas, this is where her synergies end. The Daemon lacks the ability to add additional poison or magic damage to her attacks (beyond what normally occurs via the Magic Lore and Weapon Lore skills)...she can only do so with fire damage and physical damage. She can only translate physical damage into poison damage, or magic damage (depending upon her current form). Still very useful when used as part of a sound tactical plan.
Soaring: Fly the Infernal Skies!
There are many benefits to using her little wings. First and foremost, obstacle-hopping power. Depending on how much you've invested into the Soaring form, you can fly across large bodies of water (within certain limits, as I have discovered) and reach patches of dry land unavailable to all the other characters, even teleporting Battle Mages. If it's not on the screen, he can't reach it. Not so for the Daemon!
Secondly, Soaring Form is the only way a Daemon can boost her defense rating beyond skills, items and equipment. This is an important factor to consider when you reach the higher difficulty levels. The more defense you have, the better.
Thirdly - and this is a synergy - while Soaring, the Daemon enjoys an incredibly high rate of fire (ROF) using the only ranged weapon she can use in the game: crossbows. The difference between the ROF while Soaring and on foot is remarkable. Experience it for yourself and you will agree: the Daemon makes an excellent medieval jet fighter.
And finally, there is the trivial matter of the Descent attack of the Soaring Form, by far this author's favorite Daemonic combat move. The attack is absolutely devastating...combined with spells such as Infernal Power and Call of Death, only Dragons and other health point-wealthy targets can hope to survive a direct hit. The area of effect is a great boon, enabling a Soaring Daemon to wipe out groups of monsters, complete with their boss, in a single attack. By far the best tactic: target the boss, who is usually in the midst of a group. Dive-bomb and witness their pitiful deaths.
Tips and Advice
Pure Melee, Hybrid, or Spell Caster?
For those considering the development details of your Daemon and what to do with her build-wise, you might find yourself stumped on the subject of her Hell Magic and combat ability. Are they truly independent of one another? Can a non-magical Daemon be viable in the game?
Important factors to consider regardless of your goals: the Daemon's magic essentially covers two realms: attack enhancement, and damage-dealing. Each one of her spells fall into either one of those categories; in the case of Infernal Power, both. Her spells cover a broad spectrum of damage types: physical, fire, magic, and poison. In this regard, she is a more adept spell caster than the Seraphim, though nowhere near the equal of the Battle Mage. Magic ability is an important part of the Daemon, as vital as her combat prowess.
Her awesome potential in combat is in fact partly due to her magical ability. Call of Death and Infernal Power, both buffing-type spells, amplify every one of her blows. The power these spells add to her damage output actually negate the need for the Daemon to rely on combat moves such as the other Sacred characters possess. Case in point:
My Daemon Yiloth - Experiments in Combat and Magic
Enter Yiloth, a 112th level Daemon just barely into Platinum difficulty. With Aarnum's Fiery Blade equipped, endowed with the full set bonuses and enhanced by Infernal Power, she achieves "normal" hits in the range of 20K - 50K, even against fire-resistant targets. Quite impressive when you also consider the amount of damage she achieves using the Descent Attack, the special attack of the Soaring Daemon form. Her highest hit in my memory was in the neighborhood of 420,000 damage. Part of the reason why her "normal mouse-click" attacks are so powerful: critical hit bonuses. The other reason: I have her Infernal Power spell nicely developed. It adds considerable damage to every attack by itself. When I add Call of Death on top of everything else, nothing on the screen lasts very long. She zips around in Soaring form whacking everything into clouds of bloody mist. The resistances of her targets are overcome by the sheer damage of her hits.
I have tested the forms alone with no spell enhancements, and find her lacking. The only exception: using a crossbow while in Soaring Form. The rate of fire is not unlike an Uzi with unlimited ammunition.
Of her combat moves, it seems that the Descent Attack of the Soaring Daemon Form and the Wall of Fire of the Fire Daemon Form are by far the most effective and useful. The energy orbs of the Magic Daemon come in a close second here, being ranged in nature. Unfortunately for the Daemon, she has no magic that enhances her magical damage.
Fire is a different matter. As we all know, Infernal Power adds to fire damage. For this reason alone, the Wall of Fire attack becomes much more useful and powerful. The DOT it inflicts increases as the level of the form itself, and the Infernal Power spell, increases.
Then there is the Physical/Fire synergy, as discussed earlier in the Codex. While in Battle Daemon form with the Infernal Power spell active, her Blazing Discs inflict almost 300% more damage than they do on their own!
Had I the chance to do Yiloth over again, I would have changed her skill selections. She rarely uses any magic beyond what I like to think of as Melee magic - Infernal Power and Call of Death. With this is in mind, I submit the following for Daemon players to consider:
There is no such thing as a "pure" melee Daemon. She is a spell caster by default...all that differs is the amount of investment you channel into her magical abilities. Any debate over the merits of Hell Power vs. Meditation becomes somewhat moot when it is really just a matter of what method you choose in her rise to the top.
Hell Magic Caster: She will use all of her Hell Magic, both attack enhancements and damaging spells. Since Meditation offers the biggest reduction in spell regeneration time, the selection of this skill is important. Hell Power would be an excellent choice too, since the casting time reduction and further regeneration reduction only serves to make her deadlier in combat with Hell Magic. As a Hell Magic caster, you want multiple Burning Discs, Hell Spheres, and the Abysmal Choir all doing their thing at the same time.
- Option 1: Take the Meditation and Hell Power skills. Biggest benefit: you will be able to enjoy the large bonuses to Hell Power that many of her set items give (one of her platinum set pieces gives a +22 bonus to Hell Power by itself). Also, bonuses to the Meditation skill are given on many of her items, and the "generic" Daemon items. If you find Regeneration Spells: +x% items, all the better!
- Option 2: Take the Meditation skill. Rely on Regeneration Spells: +X% items to augment.
Melee Magic Caster: Like my Daemon Yiloth, you use Infernal Power and Call of Death either constantly, or quite frequently. You want the satisfaction of doing the killing yourself.
- Option 1: Take the Meditation skill. Since the spells that will be used are duration buffs, casting them multiple times in succession only applies if you want to buff allies and hirelings. Simply keeping the regen time below the duration is all that is needed. In my opinion, this option has worked very well with my latest Melee Magic Daemon.
- Option 2: Take the Hell Power skill, and rely on Regeneration Spells bonus items to augment regeneration times.
Note that the Melee Magic caster can add a few Burning Discs as friends if you stack up on spell regeneration power somewhat. Your discs will do a lot of damage since you're constantly buffed with Infernal Power, and even more so if you like Battle Daemon form. That's a sort of compromise between melee prowess and a little magical specialty.
I created a Hell Magic caster, and have to say that her carnage is spectacular. So if it's a question of who does more injury to enemies, both types of Daemon do equally. Yiloth kills anything (including some dragons) with one dive, and Daedra my Hell Caster makes the entire screen suffer with her spells. Depends on my mood.
Final Opinion: The "Best" Hell Magic Daemon
The most effective Hell Magic caster would use Battle Daemon as her preferred form, and keep the buffing spells constantly active on herself. She then adds damage to every damaging spell in her arsenal. Here's how:
Battle Daemon form (adds physical) + Infernal Power (adds fire) + Call of Death (multiplies damage done) =
Blazing Disc (Physical + Fire, enhanced by Call of Death)
Hellsphere (Fire + Magic, enhanced by Call of Death)
Abysmal Choir (Physical + Magic, enhanced by Call of Death)
Tentacles (Magic + Poison, enhanced by Call of Death)
