He conquered the kings of men, and turned the dwarf lords to greed and wrath. He built Barad-dur and obliterated Numenor. He caused the separation of Valinor from the rest of Arda. He killed Gil-Galad and Elendil, and triggered the Elves leaving Arda forever.
If not for the hobbits, Sauron would have been unstoppable.
1850 years with the ring and accomplished nothing? What did he expect to be different? The ring didn’t work. Try something new.
He conquered the kings of men, and turned the dwarf lords to greed and wrath. He built Barad-dur and obliterated Numenor. He caused the separation of Valinor from the rest of Arda. He killed Gil-Galad and Elendil, and triggered the Elves leaving Arda forever.
If not for the hobbits, Sauron would have been unstoppable.
The elves and humans were significantly more powerful for most of the second age. The third age was an era of general decline.
Wasn’t it an era of decline specifically due to Sauron’s actions?
He did use the ring in the war against Eregion, the siege of Ost-in-Edhil, and to influence the Numenoreans.