Succubus (Sacred)

For other uses of the word Succubus, see Succubus (disambiguation).

The box cover of the video game Sacred

Sacred is an action role-playing game for Microsoft Windows released in 2004. It takes place on the magical continent of Ancaria, with characters of various races (dark elf, wood elf, vampiress, etc.) each with their own missions. More than 1.8 million copies of the game were sold worldwide. In 2008 Linux Game Publishing announced that they would port the game to the Linux operating system.

Sacred was developed by Studio II Software and Ascaron Entertainment and published in 2004 by Encore in the USA release.

In this video game series, creatures called Succubi appear in several locations.

Game Information

• Title: Sacred Video Game Series
• Developer(s): Ascaron
• Publisher(s): Encore, Koch Media, Red Ant Enterprises, Linux Game Publishing (Linux version)
• Designer(s): Aarne Jungerberg, Michael Bhatty, Hans-Arno Wegner
• Platform(s): Microsoft Windows, Linux
• Release date(s): Microsoft Windows: 2004, Linux: 2009
• Genre(s): Action role-playing
• Mode(s): Single-player, Multiplayer
• Rating(s): ESRB: T
• Media: CD, DVD, Steam download, GoG.com download
• System requirements:

• Microsoft Windows: 800 MHz Processor, 256MB RAM, 16MB 3D video card (DirectX 8 compatible), DirectX compatible sound card, 2GB hard disk space, Windows 98/ME/2000/XP, Internet connection/Network card for multiplayer modes
• Linux: 1GHz Processor, 256MB RAM, 32MB 3D video card (OpenGL compatible), OSS/ALSA compatible sound card, 3.7GB hard disk space

Characters

Upon beginning the game, players are given a choice to start with one of six different character types :

• Gladiator: a strong, barbarian-like fighter
• Dark Elf: a cunning, trap and poison-using warrior
• Wood Elf: a long range sniper
• Vampiress: a knight-like fighter who can turn into a vampire
• Battle-Mage: a mage who may also acquire weapon skills
• Seraphim: an angel-like fighter with many blessings and light-oriented spells

The Daemon and Dwarf were additional characters added in the expansion Sacred Underworld and included in Sacred Gold. This was the first appearence of Succubi as well.

Each character begins in a different part of Ancaria (the continent that Sacred takes place within), and with a different starting quest. For example, the Gladiator starts in a colosseum, enslaved by his master, while the Seraphim starts in a church. The Dark Elf starts on a cliff with a Wood Elf companion. Throughout the game, the characters all receive different sub-quests.

Each character class is also restricted to a certain set of items, and has a different set of skills. To increase these skill levels, characters must find runes which correspond to those skills, a rather novel system in contrast to the more mainstream model of skill points. Some character classes have identical skills, but the runes from one class cannot be used to advance skills in another class. Runes may be traded.

Storyline

A great Sakkara demon was conjured into existence by the necromancer Shaddar. The conjuring went wrong, and the Sakkara demon is now loose in the world of Ancaria. The heroes must find the five elements of Ancaria (wind, fire, earth, water, void), and use them to defeat the monster. Each hero has different objective]s along the way, but eventually, they all lead up to this one final quest.

Graphics

At the first glance, the graphics of Sacred looks like a mixture of 2D and 3D: the floors and walls are in 2D, while the player, monsters, and all objects that the player can interact with are in 3D. Much like in Diablo II (when using Glide or Direct3D modes in Diablo II), there is a perspective effect to give a pseudo-3D movement to the user, so the environment looks more dynamic and therefore somewhat three-dimensional.

Despite the optical illusion the floor is in fact a three-dimensional plane, modeled to resemble slightly irregular natural ground. The light radius surrounding the player (which is usually a perfect circle on flat floors) is affected by the floor variations, which reveals slight differences in height and texture. This does sometimes affect the gameplay or movement of the character (which is not always restricted to 2D movement, e.g. the daemon flying over cliffs) and is therefore not purely cosmetic.

Ancaria

The whole of Sacred takes place on the continent of Ancaria, where there are several towns and villages to be visited. Even when you begin the game more than 70% of Ancaria is already available to be traveled on. To the south of Ancaria, there is a vast desert and lava-ridden plains. In the north, there is a wall of mountains and an icy backdrop. In both the east and the west there are large forests, blocking the way and stopping further travel. In the game there is an option to buy horses, which can be used for faster travel and to battle opponents, but will not affect your ability to traverse difficult terrain in most situations.

Items

Sacred features a vast array of items that can be obtained from shops, various containers (chests, barrels, graves...), dead monsters or "magical hiding places" in many of the rocks and bushes throughout Ancaria, which are indicated by a yellow sparkle. Many of the items can be only equipped by one type of character, like wings, which can only be equipped by a Seraphim.

There are also several potion types, such as the typical health heal, but there are other types, like Potions of Undead death, which stops Undead from reviving once you kill them, and "Potions of Concentration", which regenerate your combo attacks so you can use them faster. There are no mana-heal potions in Sacred, because mana is not a feature of the game. Also, monsters occasionally drop a rune that increases a certain skill for a certain character, if used.

If the player owns a horse several different types of saddles can be bought to be used on it. These saddles increase the speed, defense, and damage done by the horse. Only 1 horse may be owned at a time, and the horse can be damaged and killed.

The names of items are in five different colors, which represent different quality classes of equipment:

• white - basic item
• blue - magical item
• yellow - rare item
• brown/golden - unique item
• green - belongs to a set

Sometimes, a monster drops a set item. Much like in Diablo II these set items will become much more powerful when gathered together and are very useful and sought-after in multiplayer games. However, this is not to say that unique items are inferior to set items. Unique items are usually individually better than set items.

Some items also can be imbued with better stats. If you take an item with a number of "slots," indicated by small boxes in the inventory screen, you will be able to imbue it by taking it to a blacksmith and then using either jewellery, a rune, skeleton skull or one of the blacksmith's techniques on it up to as many times as there are slots in it. Once imbued you can remove 1 rune or piece of jewellery from it, but all other items in the slots are lost when you do this. Though you can't use a rune or jewellery which isn't of your class, you can socket it in an item to gain the benefit of its magical and possible stat-raising properties.

Skills

Every character in Sacred has a different set of skills that are available to them. The only way to obtain them is to find a rune of that particular skill and use it to make it available to use for you. Each character has between 11 and 22 different skills that can be unlocked and used. To increase your level in a skill, you must find another rune for that skill and use it.

To use a skill, you have to drag it to one of your available skill slots.

There are also several "combo masters" spread throughout Ancaria, which can combine up to four separate skills into a combo, which you can use in the game. The combo masters can also trade runes you cannot use or don't need for a rune of your choice. You can trade 2 runes for 1 random rune or 3 runes for a random rune of your class. If you give him four runes of any character class and pay him 2000 gold pieces, he will give you a rune of your choice from within your character class.

Enemies

Ancaria has many enemies. These include human enemies, such as bandits and deserting soldiers, elves, undead, animals, monsters and demons. There are also several powerful dragons in Ancaria of which all but one can be fought and defeated. Enemies respawn whenever a player loads a game and are generated in random positions throughout a certain area. Occasionally, a player encounters an enhanced version of a monster.

Game Versions

• Sacred - the original game, was released in February 2004
• Sacred Plus - Free expansion pack, was released in October 2004. It adds 2 regions, monsters, quests, items
• Sacred Underworld - Expansion pack, was released in April 2005. It adds 2 player characters (Daemon and Dwarf), 6 regions, 2 acts, new monsters and items
• Sacred Gold - Released in August 2005, this version is the full release. It contains: Sacred (original), the Sacred Plus expansion, and the Sacred Underworld expansion

Succubi in this game

Rumors

One rumor heard throughout one of the games is that: Once there traveled a woman throughout the lands, a Succubus, she called herself. Such was her beauty that every man she passed was quick to offer her both his life and his soul. The rumor is heard in the Sacred Underworld module.

Codex of Daemons Succubus

The following is taken from the Codex of Demons guide at the Sacred II forums. You can find the original page here.

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 spellcaster/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 spellcaster 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 mowhawk.
• 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 spelll 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 spellcaster 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 expotentially 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 Hellspheres 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 healthpoint-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.

External links

• Sacred at Wikipedia
• Sacred Official Website
• Wolfe's Lair Sacred fansite/info guide
• SacredWiki operated by DarkMatters