Tips for reaching Demigod in SK?

ZedTheRed

Hey there! I've been playing SK pretty casually here and there for years, but I've never made it past the "wizard" difficulty. I've recently started playing SK much more and I'd love to understand more of the game.
So, I'm reaching out to all you ancient forumers that make it to demi' np: How do you play at the higher difficulties? Any tricks or strats I could use and abuse to make things more manageable? Could someone please explain what "weaken by 10%" means???
Thanks in advance!
Zed- :)>-

Tears_Of_Asariel

ANCIENT FORUMERS?!? tch.. why would we help you after you insult us!  id like to help you, but im not sure if i made it to demi or not.. i know i did 1 playthrough atleast and started another, but i dont think i played that one allthe way through.. i was more into solomons boneyard... but i never had any issues as i was running through using frost jet... its op, aswell as magic shield and perhaps teleport? ive never really used teleport tho

ZedTheRed

Ancient was meant to be a compliment. My people value wisdom and experience.

ZedTheRed

I'm very interested in making a Solomon's keep guide video, but I lack the knowledge or results to produce an end result that would satisfy.

Janus

I eventually beat SK on hardcore demigod in order to finish 100%'ing the achievements, so I'll share what I remember.

I did have to collect a lot of specific Items to send through the magic cabinet. Items that I used a lot:

Staffs:

+3 to all skills (don't know if I could've done it without this)

1000% health recovery (return to the magic door for a few seconds between rooms and gain full health)

1000% gold (used to farm gold on other games and send all the items through the cabinet to sell them. also put this on before I opened any chests, and just before finishing bosses)

50% xp (used it the whole hardcore playthrough until I reached demigod)

Rings:

100% xp (wore two of these at all times until I reached demigod)

45% damage resistance (put two of these on whenever I was in a really bad situation)

+2 to battle mage/200% mana recovery (had two of each to help manage dps/mana ratios)

150% casting (again, had two, used them to manage dps/mana ratios)

So yes, I had to farm some of these items on other games and move them in via the cabinet. I also farmed random epic items and sent them all over to sell and buy more xp. I also started and deleted a bunch of games until the initial upgradable skills that the brown wizard offered were good...I think it was battle mage, magic shield, and I don't remember the others. Later it became rush, cone of ice, channel mana, and various other things, but when I reached demigod level, one of the options was frost jet, so I dedicated all my remaining gold to upgrading that or buying levels. Also always kept stocked with potions for emergencies and wizard chug for bosses.

Skills...I think...yeah, I took a picture of my final skill set. This is including the bonuses from my +3 to all skills staff:

Harden 8 (damage resistance was vital)

Flash Freeze 6 (used for dealing with demons and also to optimize dps against solomon dark on demigod by casting right before his shield broke)

Magic Shield 9 (vital; I kept my shield refreshed and tried to make sure it rarely if ever broke)

Creativity (hope for this early on)

Faster Caster 6

Siege Mage 9

Life Up 4 (mainly from staff, don't waste skill points on these. health doesn't matter on high levels since if you take any damage at all you will probably die)

Mana Up 4 (mainly from staff, don't waste skill points on these. mana doesn't matter as much on high levels since mana recovery per second should exceed what your primary skill actually costs)

Rush 5 (Vital against Monoculus and Solomon Dark on high levels)

Teleport (Vital as a last resort panic button to escape and get through the magic door)

Battle Mage 9

Channel Mana 7

Frost Jet 14 (Wish I'd got it higher...low damage made this playthrough very slow sometimes)

Cone of Ice 9

Chill Wind 8

Mental Focus (a must have)

Telekinesis (lifesaver for mana management and also kept me sane while collecting gold)

Final Stats while defeating Solomon Dark on Hardcore Demigod (I know they're not the best, but sue me):

Level: 47

XP: 1470522 (1500000)

Life: 150 (150)

Mana: 299 (300)

Frost Damage: 1137 (using quad damage from wizard chug)

Mana Cost: 33

Mana Recovery: 33

Damage Resistance: 45%

Deaths: 0

Awesomeness: got up 200,000 a few times, but by the end it was only 80,000

Time: Just under 4 hours

Hmmmm...strats. Well there's really not a huge amount to say here. That playthrough was very methodical. Keep the shield constantly refreshed. At any sign of danger, teleport or use the magic door. The reason I had to keep mana cost so low was to keep Harden active at all times, taking care of poison and lot's of other risks. For demons on higher levels, just used flash freeze over and over. It was boring, but got the job done. The hardest part was probably Monoculus on hardcore demigod. I just had to be very patient and careful, kill his minions quickly and never let him get close. As for the final boss fight...again, just slow and methodical. Kill the minions as they come. Almost always stay close to Solomon, and then time when you will break his shield so as not to waste that tiny window for damage. Always keep a few potions, and use them whenever you get damaged. I never fused primary skills on that playthrough, but had a lot of fun with flame lash and frost missile in Solomon's Boneyard, got up 200,000 before my phone couldn't handle the imps. Anyway, I hope this was helpful. Good luck with your guide!

Oh, and weaken by 10%. That's on the ether charge for the magic missile final perk, right? It's a stacking ability, (up to 50%,) available on the magic missile after level 25, that reduces the maximum health of all enemies it touches.

The main key to getting far, I found, was knowing exactly which skills you needed and never taking any others. So don't waste any skill points on alternate secondary skills, alternate primary skills or any other random stuff like resist poison. You will need every skill point.

ZedTheRed

Woah, Janus! That's an insane amount of info. Thank you so much! I can barely believe you took the time to type all that out for me- thank you thank you!
10% weaken was referring to the "turn undead" skill, but I assume the same thing is happening there as well.
Sorry for the late response! I've been uber busy as of late and didn't even think to check the forums (would be cool if we could install an app and get notifications). :)>-