"Expert Touch" is the name used in the North American release, but it may be called "Master Hand" in your game if you have a European version. This guide is about Expert Touch, obviously, but will mention some other gameplay terms. I will not be going into the detail of other gameplay terms and what they do, such as Combat Arts, Regeneration Times, Combos, or Aspects. If you wish to know more about how combat arts work as a whole, there are other guides available which explain it well. Also, when I talk of a "global cooldown," I don't mean the cooldown involved with temporary buffs such as Rousing Command or Killing Spree. The cooldown I mention multiple times throughout this guide is in reference to the waiting period between using a combat art and being able to use another combat art that is otherwise ready to use, and is usually around 2 or 3 seconds.

If you don't really care how Expert Touch works and just want to know what style of gameplay is suited to Expert Touch, simply consult the table below. Because it can be a little difficult to interpret what I mean in the table itself, and the Expert Touch system is a bit confusing, under the table is an explanation of what each play style in the rows mean and why I suggest whether or not you might want to use Expert Touch. For those interested in knowing what Expert Touch is and how it works, you can find the answers further down in the next section.

The quick suggestions:

Those above recommendations further explained:

The tooltip for Expert Touch can come off as simple, but what it doesn't tell you says even more.
See the blue glow around the Expert Touch icon under Game Mode? A glow means Expert Touch is on, and clicking it will turn it off, removing the glow effect.

I looked around on the internet for clarification but only found people basically saying what the tooltip already says but in different words. It wasn't until after I did some basic testing that I came to understand that you can't take the option's description at face value. My hope is that this guide will help prevent others from making the wrong choice and having to recreate a character, as I did.

Expert Touch will decrease the amount of time it takes for you to be able to use a combat art again after you use it (that is, its regen time), but causes a global cooldown for all of your other combat arts. Normally, without Expert Touch, the global cooldown only applies to other combat arts within the same aspect as the combat art used.

Using Belligerent Vault with Expert Touch results in a cooldown for Demonic Blow and all other learned combat arts along with the normal regen time of Belligerent Vault.
Using Belligerent Vault without Expert Touch results in a regen time for Belligerent Vault, with only the learned combat arts within the Malevolent Champion aspect under a cooldown.
Some people might tell you that your decision to use Expert Touch is a black and white issue, easily determined by whether or not you want to use a variety of combat arts from different aspects or if you only want to focus on one aspect, but they're wrong. If you're just using combat arts individually and you want to use them from more than one aspect, then yeah, you'll probably want to turn off Expert Touch so that you don't have to wait a couple of seconds to use any combat art after using one. But if you want to use combos, turning off Expert Touch will only help you if you plan on using combos that consist entirely of one aspect at a time; and let's face it, for most classes, the best combos will utilize more than one aspect.

When you use a combo, all aspects involved within the combo will be affected by a cooldown. If a combo only uses combat arts from one aspect, the other two aspects will still be affected by the cooldown if you have Expert Touch on, but if it's turned off, only the aspect used will be affected. Using a combo that has more than one aspect involved still means that two or three aspects will be affected by the cooldown when Expert Touch is off, but at least with Expert Touch on, the combat arts will have a lesser regen time.

The regen time of a combat art will also affect any combo it is in. In the two images above, for example, Belligerent Vault and Demonic Blow are in a combo, but I only use Belligerent Vault by itself. Regardless of whether Expert Touch is on or off, the combo is unavailable until all combat arts within it are available to use again. However, this has less to do with Expert Touch or cooldowns, and is more about combat arts in general, which is not what this guide is about.

If you'd like to see some basic examples of just how much of a difference Expert Touch will make on your character, I've provided some images below for you to view (click to enlarge). Keep in mind that these differences within the below images are only at level one with no differences in stats or equipment, and that the combat art regen times will vary even more greatly as you increase a combat art's level, or if you have a buff activated.

Expert Touch ON


Expert Touch OFF


Expert Touch ON


Expert Touch OFF

Can I enable or disable Expert Touch any time I want?
No. You can only choose whether to use Expert Touch or not when you create your character. This means it's rather important for you to know if Expert Touch is the right choice before you make your character.

I used to play Sacred 2 long before Ice & Blood was added. Can I enable Expert Touch on my older characters?
Unfortunately, no. You'll either have to do without Expert Touch or recreate your old character(s). This seems like a huge developer oversight in my opinion.

How much does Expert Touch affect the regeneration time of combat arts?
I've never saw an official answer, but I've read speculation of a 33% reduction in regen times. Based on the regen times within the above images, 33% does seem somewhat accurate. Because 33% is quite a significant amount, I find that most people will want to use Expert Touch. Consult all information first and determine for yourself if it is best for your build after weighing it against the global cooldown.

How long is this "global cooldown" thing anyway?
It's hard to pin down, exactly. I've saw it range anywhere from 1 to 5 seconds, and it varies. The global cooldown after using a combat art seems to vary not only by what combat art was used, but for each combat art affected as well. For example, if I use Rousing Command, other combat arts may barely be affected by the global cooldown, but if I use Skeletal Fortification, the wait may be noticeably longer. Additionally, when I use a combat art, Frenzied Rampage may not be affected as strongly by the cooldown as Rallied Souls is.

Furthermore, the global cooldown seems to be even longer if I have permanent buffs activated. Between the buffs and varying effects, this leads me to believe that the regen time of a combat art may directly influence how long its cooldown is, although it's rather difficult to say anything for sure. Even the examples I've mentioned here may be different for you if you happen to have different regeneration times for your combat arts. When using a combo, the global cooldown will restart after each combat art in the combo is used, so the last combat art used will start the global cooldown you'll be waiting on.

If I use a combo with Expert Touch, will the combo pause between each combat art within the combo because of the cooldown?
No, the cooldown doesn't cause a waiting period for combat arts within the combo while it is happening. You can see a globlal cooldown effect in your Combat Arts window as each combat art is used, but the combat arts will flow seemlessly between one another so long as they're used in a combo. It's not until after the combo is completed that you'll really have to wait before using something again, which is why the final combat art of the combo will be the deciding factor.

This whole thing still seems a bit confusing. What should I do?
Yeah, sorry. My guide kind of sucks and I've never been good with words. Doesn't help that the exact details behind Expert Touch itself is a bit of a mystery, so I'm more or less just showcasing my observations and opinions. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask in the comments below and I'd be glad to try to explain things better for you.