Sacred 3 Beginner’s Tips

As you wait for Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Ultimate Evil Edition to make its console debut later this month, there’s another game you can pass the time with. In Sacred 3, you play one of four chosen warriors who set out to rescue the Heart of Arcania, which fell into evil hands. With your chosen warrior (or warriors, if you prefer co-op mode), you’ll fight your way through evil forces, avoid booby traps and eventually turn the tide.

We have several tips that’ll help you get through this game with ease, but we’ll start with the basics, followed by more advanced tips tomorrow. Let’s head into battle!

Choosing your warrior

In Sacred 3, you’ll have access to four warriors. Each of these characters come with melee attacks, as well as a defense-based strike that will distract shielded and stronger enemies long enough for you to get in some hits. They also come with two special abilities, which we’ll get to later.

Let’s look at each character:

First up is Marak the Safiri Warrior, a strong hero brandishing a pair of twin weapons. Marak is the best character to take into battle if you’re looking for up-close combat, and you can upgrade weaponry so your strikes are even more devastating than before.

Next is Vajra the Khukuri Archer. This is more of a distant combatant, one that uses archery to hit enemies from afar. Vajra’s up-close striking capabilities aren’t that great, so keep that in mind.

Claire the Serphanim Paladin is a god-like warrior who attacks using a single sword. While she doesn’t possess the kind of strength that Marak has, she makes up for this with increased speed and special attacks called down from the heavens.

Finally, there’s Alithea, the Ancarian Lancer, a superb striker that uses a pole to get the point across, along with poison spells that can affect more than one enemy.

There’s a fifth unlockable character as well, although Deep Silver hasn’t provided instruction on how to unlock him just yet.

When it comes to choosing a character for the first time, Marak is a safe bet, although the others have unique strengths. It depends on what kind of combat you prefer. Experiment with all four. Remember, the more you play with a character, the more potential you have for unlocking additional special techniques.

It never hurts to have a group

Sacred 3 is good solo – and it gives you more enemies to carve up and gold to collect. However, like the Gauntlet games of old, it’s fun if you bring friends along for the ride.

The game supports two-player local co-op, with drop-in/drop-out options, along with four-player online support. Partnering up is the best way to defeat enemies, especially when you use power-up moves. When facing a large boss, you’ll be able to hit the Y or triangle button (depending on your platform of choice) to temporarily subdue these creatures. You’ll need to keep mashing the button to keep them restrained while your allies move in to make some critical strikes.

Teamwork is important. If you leave someone behind to get bombarded by enemies, it may halt your progress. Work together to defeat enemies, and when facing off against bosses, try to use a diversionary tactic. Have one or two players distract these larger foes while the others hack away.

Your special skills

Finally, no matter what character you play in Sacred 3, you’ll have access to two special skills. These are limited attacks assigned to the controller’s shoulder buttons, and pack quite a punch when you’re surrounded.

Case in point: let’s look at Alithea’s. Her first main attack is a multi-slash technique that quickly deals damage, while her second main attack is an earthquake-style strike that’s not only useful for a large range of foes, but also for disarming traps. Each character starts out with a good up-close and long-range special attack, but keep in mind that you can only use them so many times until you recharge.

At the end of each stage, provided you have enough gold, you’ll have the option to visit the shop and see what other special techniques are available for your character. Some are better than others, as a special bee summoning attack for Alithea provides a singular blast that hurts enemies, but is very limited in range. Don’t be afraid to unlock new techniques, and try them out and see how effective they are in battle. If your older ones proved more effective, sell them back and re-equip them. No harm done.

Tomorrow, with our more Advanced Tips for Sacred 3, we’ll discuss the quests you can tackle, how to get more gold in each stage and effectively beat larger enemies without taking that much damage.

Sacred 3 is available now for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.