I cannot do any Sanctum run, because I have no Relic

In Standard league, I have made some Sanctum runs.
I had only 1 relic.
Then, another day (today), I started another run. The first room was completed.
Then selected the second room, have tried to complete, then something happened.
(Possibly I have (suddenly) died?)

In the chat:
"You have entered Sanctum Vaults"
"Lycia: The Templars would shudder at your incompetence. I shudder at theirs."

I was suddenly outside. (Possibly in the Forbidden Sanctum. I do not remember.)

I have lost my relic.
I cannot do anymore any Sanctum Runs.
(There is no "Confirm" button in the Altar.)

What to do? / Is it a bug?

Sanctums require you use Forbidden Tomes to do runs. Once you insert a book into the relic altar slot, it should open up and reveal any relics you had selected.

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Pizzarugi wrote:

Sanctums require you use Forbidden Tomes to do runs. Once you insert a book into the relic altar slot, it should open up and reveal any relics you had selected.

If this is the only way to access the Sanctum, then those books need to drop more often than "not at all." A mechanic that's gatekept by an item that drops less frequently than Divine Orbs may as well not be in the game at all, especially for SSF.

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Waitubold wrote:

"

Pizzarugi wrote:

Sanctums require you use Forbidden Tomes to do runs. Once you insert a book into the relic altar slot, it should open up and reveal any relics you had selected.

If this is the only way to access the Sanctum, then those books need to drop more often than "not at all." A mechanic that's gatekept by an item that drops less frequently than Divine Orbs may as well not be in the game at all, especially for SSF.

Just buy them off of other players. They're worth 25c, give or take, for a level 83 tome. You get far more wealth out of them than they're worth so they're easily sustainable.

Are they easily sustainable? There is a good chance you get a wall of afflictions on the very first floor right after the first room that can basically end your run before it even began. Take you to another room/can't see rewards/40% reduced speed/flasks drain resolve/can't see afflictions/30% increased monster speed/all the aureus and merchant afflictions that make buying boons and offers very difficult and so on.

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Mmmannn wrote:

Are they easily sustainable? There is a good chance you get a wall of afflictions on the very first floor right after the first room that can basically end your run before it even began. Take you to another room/can't see rewards/40% reduced speed/flasks drain resolve/can't see afflictions/30% increased monster speed/all the aureus and merchant afflictions that make buying boons and offers very difficult and so on.

I mean, I've been farming Sanctum the past week and I'm doing fine. Getting 1-3div per Sanctum is very consistent for me.

The trick to a successful run is to take the least worst affliction if you don't have a choice. A Tattered Blindfold is a lot better than a Blunt Sword, for example. The only time you make an exception to this rule is if the next room behind it has a very valuable reward such as divines.

NEVER take any Accursed Offers that could give you a random affliction if it can be avoided. Some are run-endingly bad compared to others and you run the risk of picking one up this way. In fact, anything that could give random afflictions is best left avoided at all costs. Since your goal is to also farm Sanctum for divine orbs, you also want to avoid Black Smoke and Golden Smoke. Black Smoke reduces your ability to see rooms ahead while Golden Smoke obscures all rewards.

Just like afflictions, choosing the right boons can make a huge world of difference, especially depending on your build and how you play. If your DPS is lacking, try focusing on Ornate Dagger and Sanguine Vial. If you have a bad affliction, try and counter it with a boon that does the opposite effect (+30% monster speed is slightly countered by -20% monster speed). Scrying Crystal and All-Seeing Eye are, of course, top priority.

You will never find divine orb offers in floors 1 and 2. Use those floors as preparation for the higher ones. Prioritize grabbing aureus coin rooms, benevolent fountains, and merchants. Buff up as much as you can here, because floors 3 and 4 are much tougher. You can also take Accursed Deal rooms if you like, but only consider the deals that offer a major boon and avoid the others. You can be more open about your choices in floors 3 and 4, because the compensatory item reward you have access to afterwards could have a divine in it.

Another, probably more important, thing that helps determine a successful Sanctum run is your choice of relics. They're now tradable so if you have the currency, you can buy some good ones right away to get started off easy. There's a lot of mods to choose from, but I recommend stacking any one of the following depending on both your build and playstyle:

- +25 maximum resolve on using a fountain (Getting +100 max per fountain is going to turn you into a super resolve tank)

- Guards take +15% damage taken (+90% total damage taken is no joke, especially when you use boons to reduce their life and give you more damage)

- +7% chance to avoid gaining an affliction (at max, you'll get 1/4 less afflictions than usual)

- The merchant has 2 additional choices (this one's a bit expensive)

- +1-2 additional rooms are revealed on the sanctum map (+2 is SUPER expensive)

You know I completely forgot about relics being tradable now, I should look into that. I just messed around with it for a few runs and after getting wrecked by the afflictions I just moved on. Also those new laser and firebomb rooms were rough. I think I'm just salty. I do vaguely remember getting a div or two in the Sanctum league. I also liked how I would actually get a bit of xp even at a high level in the Sanctum, but never actually died and lost my xp to death penalty, only resolve "death". I'm not exactly a POE wizard and death is always around the corner for me so that was nice. I think I'll give it another chance. Thanks for the breakdown