Combat | Characters Sacred 3 Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
Combat in Sacred 3 is easy and intuitive. The combat system consists of five buttons for attack, bash (useful for breaking the enemy attacks and breaking through defenses), light and heavy combat arts and finally, block. The battles are, usually, very dynamic and the most important , while in combat, is to use the available abilities properly and remain in movement, regardless of the enemy type. Therefore, do not shirk from dynamic fight and do not save up the energy for later. Most usually, in several points, after major battles, you can replenish it. Also, remember that you can use various items to obtain at the shop, to your advantage - health potions are the last resort but totems make the game much easier, in many points, just like the protective aura towards and, the end of the game (or before the next attempt, as the same character) savvy bombs are invaluable, which allows you do eliminate waves of enemies easily.
Combat against medium opponents
Throughout the majority of the game, you will be fighting opponents that are much tougher than the regular boys for beating, and who are weaker than minibosses. You can encounter such opponents with every step you take, at any stage of the game. This group encompasses a wide variety of enemies that fight in melee, bulky shieldmasters, warriors that perform the lethal spins, shamans and crossbowmen. In the game, there are several variations of these opponents, e.g. the spinning warriors additionally leave a trail of fire behind, or shamans with slightly different attacks. Fighting such opponents is not much different. The most important thing is to watch out for the attacks prepared beforehand that are symbolized with appropriate icon above the head of the opponent - this means that in a moment (as long as the player does not break the preparation) he attacks with an attack that is special for a given enemy. And so, in the case of shamans, these are, e.g. big fireballs that explodes and deals considerable damage. In the case of crossbowmen it is going to be summoning special crystals that project in certain points of the ground. You need to be especially careful with this type of attacks because they are stronger than the regular ones.
The most important thing, while fighting groups of enemies, is to stay in constant motion - you are than more difficult to hit for the slower enemies, and for ranged ones. Dodging is necessary here and it is much more reasonable to do that than to block. each attack should be combined with combat arts which, in difficult situations, may often cut through the enemy lines. Also, it is a good idea to eliminate crossbowmen, as quickly as possible, and shamans - they usually attack at long range and when the player is occupied with fighting at close quarters, they may easily fall victim to their attacks, which they will simply fail to spot. A tough nut to crack may be the warriors that perform spins, with their swords - not breaking such attack may bear a steep price to pay, if you get within the opponent's reach Also remember not to get into the very middle of the battle, among the enemies, where you are exposed to attacks from any side which, due to their numbers, are difficult to dodge. Taking as little damage as possible, in battles with groups of enemies, is key, especially at higher difficulty levels.
Boss and miniboss battles
A separate type of enemy are minibosses, also called elite - single enemies that come alone or, which is more frequently the case, with a stronger or weaker group of smaller enemies. Their health bar is clearly visible, which is why they are easy to spot in the battlefield. In spite of the appearances, fighting them is not too difficult - each miniboss type (e.g. trolls or the violet shamans) has his own attacks that are marked beforehand (in the case of the troll, it is, e.g. raising the club above the head) So, pay attention to what your opponent is up to - thanks to this you will easily dodge the blow which, in the case of minibosses, usually deal lots of damage. Just like in combat with the regular opponents, remember that some of the attacks can be interrupted thanks to which you will stun the enemy temporarily. This will allow you to attack him with impunity. Often, you will also be able to perform a "strong grab" - mash then the interaction key to prevent the opponent from wriggling out and he will keep losing health points. In the case, in which the elite opponent is not alone, things may get complicated. In such a case, remember to eliminate, at least, some of the opponents in the first place (if possible, all of them) and deal with the miniboss afterwards. This rarely happens, but happens, that there are two opponents - focus then on attacking and knocking down one of them to make the fight more balanced, as quickly as possible.
The actual bosses fall into a different category- a boss battle occurs at the end of each main quest (not always are you going to fight an opponent, the boss may be a machine that you need to destroy). These battles are much tougher than the regular ones but there also are some weaker bosses. In any case, boss battles conform with a simple pattern - learn the attacks of the opponent and avoid them. The attacks of many of the bosses are quite powerful - they have been described in detail in the walkthrough for the main campaign.