Mage character progress/template

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.online (More info?)

I have a new Mage character. What skills should let her advance and what
skill should be locked?

What is the best way to advance her Mage skill. After several hours of play
they have not advanced at all.

Andrea

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.online (More info?)

On Sat, 9 Oct 2004 15:45:05 -0700, "Andrea2"
<andrea6192001nospam@yahoo.com> wrote:

>I have a new Mage character. What skills should let her advance and what
>skill should be locked?

Depends on what your mage is going to do. Magery has several
support skills, and I made a few mistakes because of old, or PvP
related information at stratecs. Assuming a full blown PvM
fighting mage, here's what a year of experience has taught me.

Evaluate Intelligence. This is the oomph behind your spells.
Offensive spells hit harder if you have higher eval skill.

Meditation. Regenerates mana. No mana means no casting, so you
really want mana. Trust me, even at GM med/focus I still look
for mana bonuses on armor.

Focus. See above, but this can be traded later should you chose.
It's so easy to get focus that there's no point in locking it at
this stage unless you have a solid plan for other skills.

Inscription. There is a bonus if you can GM inscription, and I
think it's a substantial one too. Only a mage can scribe, but a
mage doesn't need to scribe. It's a very nice money maker
though.

Wrestling. I was lead to believe that wrestling would prevent my
spells from being disrupted in battle, so I set it upwards. PvP
advantages from special moves aside, I don't like wrestling and
have set it downwards.

Resisting Spells. I think there's still some debate over whether
or not this is broken. I have it set to rise, but I'll let
someone else comment on it's true value.

Hiding. I love it. Not part of the Mage Templates I've read,
but very useful, as your mana regenerates while you hide, and
keeps you out of the battle. You can't actively meditate when
hidden, so it's passive only.

So my template is;

Magery
Evaluating Intelligence
Meditation
Focus
Inscription
Resisting Spells
Hiding

One possibility that I've not mentioned is poisoning. Poisoning
skill will give your poison spells a boost, and I understand that
at GM level, it's a boost to be reckoned with.

In the above template, should I decide to pursue poisoning, I
would drop Focus. On a new char I would substitute Inscription.

>What is the best way to advance her Mage skill. After several hours of play
>they have not advanced at all.

Magery is a movement based skill, meaning it won't rise if you
stay in one place.

Only wear +mage rings when you want spells _instead_ of gains.

Equip a wand to lower your mage skill, giving you a better chance
to gain when you cast.

Build a LRC suit.

Learn to 8x8

All skill appear to rise best when training at the 60-70% success
level. The sewing kits will tell you when you have a 65% success
chance at something, but spell books don't. Use the calculator
at <http://uo.stratics.com/content/skills/magery.php>

Practice practice practice.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.online (More info?)

Thanks for all the answers, they have been of great help. Without a boat, I
should move N or S between casts to maximize the skill gain. Any idea how
far I need to move between casts?

My female curiosity is bursting, just what is 8X8?

Andrea

"Rick Cortese" <ricortes@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:jDcad.1229$Bw1.860@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> Andrea2 wrote:
>> Thanks so much for your very through reply. I sill set my Mage character
>> skills as you advised.
>>
>> I have another character who is a Paladin, she made Master Swordsman in a
>> week. She can obtain lots of better armor and weapons and make easy
>> money. I could transfer items to the new Mage to get her started out on
>> the right foot.
>
> Do you have a boat yet?
>
> Reason I ask is because there is anti macroing code in the game now that
> slows skill gain if you aren't moving. Easiest way to convince the anti
> macroing code that you are at the keyboard is to just get on a boat and
> sail north to south or south to north while practicing a skill.
>
> There's also 8X8 for rapid skill gain, but that is for another time.
>
> The only thing you really need to advance a new mage are a full spell book
> or one with at least one spell per page on pages 4-7, reagents, and a
> boat. It would be preferable to everyone if we could just go to a dungeon
> and 'be a mage' but the code makes it so you seldom if ever advance in a
> mage skill that way.
>
> Did you bank enough gold with your Paladin to buy a house?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.online (More info?)

"Andrea2" <andrea6192001nospam@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:seCdnWZn4a1_9PXcRVn-hQ@giganews.com...
>I have a new Mage character. What skills should let her advance and what
>skill should be locked?
>
> What is the best way to advance her Mage skill. After several hours of
> play they have not advanced at all.
>
> Andrea
>

The best way is to get on a boat and sail north and south along a server
line (UO automap shows these) and cast a spell repeatedly that you can
successfully cast about 2/3 the time. A bit slower than traditional 8x8ing
but saves some of the hassle . It's more fun to just find a monster you can
gets gains casting at and do a lot of hunting. Much slower gains, but you
make gold at it.

My mage template is:

Magery 110
Eval 110
Meditation 110
Resist 100
Focus 60

for dishing out damage to my opponets. With 130 intelligence his mana regen
is something like 1.78 per second passive, 3 1/2 per second active. Once his
mana is drained he can cast ebolts about every 12 seconds. Casting one ebolt
every 8 to 10 seconds he can drop a dragon without stopping to meditate.

Heal 110
Anatomy 110

For healing damage he takes without draining his mana pool with Greater
Heals. Wearing 100% Lower Regeant Cost armor with it's lousy resists means I
still have to cast a few but it's not the major drain on mana it would be
without the bandaging.

Also it's handy during party combats. He can bandage rezz and heal up fallen
comrades while still casting Greater heal and Cure on those still fighting
and still sling some ebolts at the enemy.

Camping 10

To let me logout while leaving him at a favorite hunting spot in Ilsh
(before the Paragon spawn campers). Saves traveling back to the same spot
repeatedly if RL calls

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.online (More info?)

Jaeger Prelac <jprelac@softhome.net> wrote:
>Inscription. There is a bonus if you can GM inscription, and I
>think it's a substantial one too. Only a mage can scribe, but a
>mage doesn't need to scribe.

Incorrect. Only a scribe (one who has the Inscription skill) can
scribe. No magery is required.

D.
--
Touch-twice life. Eat. Drink. Laugh.

-Resolved: To be more temperate in my postings.
Oct 5th, 2004 JDL

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.online (More info?)

On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 18:11:41 GMT, fairwater@gmail.com (Derek
Lyons) wrote:

>Jaeger Prelac <jprelac@softhome.net> wrote:
>>Inscription. There is a bonus if you can GM inscription, and I
>>think it's a substantial one too. Only a mage can scribe, but a
>>mage doesn't need to scribe.
>
>Incorrect. Only a scribe (one who has the Inscription skill) can
>scribe. No magery is required.

Some days I check my facts before posting nonsense to usenet,
other days I don't. Today I checked, and a good thing I did too.

stratecs says - When scribing scrolls you need to have the spell
you want to scribe in your spellbook, your spellbook must be in
your hands or in your backpack and you must have the necessary
reagents on you.

All this time I thought I needed the _ability_ to cast the spell
before I could scribe it. I stand corrected.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.online (More info?)

Andrea2 wrote:
> Thanks for all the answers, they have been of great help. Without a boat, I
> should move N or S between casts to maximize the skill gain. Any idea how
> far I need to move between casts?
>
> My female curiosity is bursting, just what is 8X8?

OK, if you have mined or lumber jacked or fished you have noticed that
eventually you run out of logs or ore or fish if you stay in the same
spot. These are resource squares are 8 steps across.

Speculation is the anti macro code uses the same 8x8 grid pattern to
make sure you aren't macroing. There just like ore you may be able to
get more then one gain in a resource square, but if you do it risks the
anti macroing code to kick in because 'you ain't moving'.

What a lot of people have found out is that your next gain for some
skills like magery happens in the next resource square north<or south
sometimes> of the one you are on. You sail around until you get a .1
gain, then say "back one"<or forward one> 8 times to get to the next
skill gain. You sometimes get streaks of 2-5 points of gain moving from
one resource square to another.

Just for comparison, my first mage character I played daily and after
two years they were only about 85 or 90 magery. *IF* I feel like
building one now using a boat and 8x8 it takes me about a week to get to GM.

I've come to the conclusion that waiting for OSI to figure out how to
get skill gain working like it should, i.e. using magery in dungeons to
kill stuff, has no merit and no hope. There is nothing morally or
socially redeeming in suffering with a feeble character for a couple of
years because OSI's programmers are not up to the task: It is an
exercise in futility.

Tell you what, I will leave an UNLOCKED BOAT in the water due east of my
villa. I will also stick a couple of hundred nightshade in that public
bag on the porch. To get on the boat, you just double click the railing
even with the mast.

Sail it away from Moonglow until you can't see Moonglow on the overhead
map. Turn it north and say "slow forward". Soon as you are moving start
casting Poison and target something like your spell book. Just keep
casting until you are out of mana and everytime your mana gets back up
to 9. What to watch for is you will notice everytime the boat moves 8
squares you will get a .1 gain in meditation.

Meditation is a good one because it is automatic, none of that "forward
one" stuff. You should get to 70-80 med in the first night. This is good
since it will increase the rate at which you can cast spells. The harder
stuff like magery and evaluate intelligence can wait until after
meditation is good'nuff.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.online (More info?)

Thanks for all the information. I now have a good understanding of how to
train a mage.



Since I don't have a boat, I use the 8X8 theory on the ground. I go out the
east gate of Luna on the long N/S bridge during the power hour. I cast Fire
Field, Poison Field. When I get a skill gain, I move 8 steps South and
repeat. It seems to work well. I made a 2 point gain in mage skill today.



I have an 85% LCR suit so regents are not that expensive.



My mage presently has swords skill for self defense. Her present profile is:



Anatomy 33.8

Eval Intel 46.7

Focus 54.7

Healing 26.4

Inscription 25.4

Magery 57.9

Mag Res 30.6

Med 65.1

Parrying 29.5

Swords 35.9

Tactics 35.3

Wrestling 30.5

Str 48

Dex 23

Int 58



Total Skill: 471.8



When her skill total reaches 700, I will have to turn some skills down. Any
suggestions on what to do now and later, will be appreciated.



Playing this game has been a lifesaver for me. I am pregnant and confined to
bed. Before playing I was going crazy from boredom. Now I play for 14-16
hours a day and look forward to the next day. I have 4 more months of
confinement.



TIA

Andrea

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.computer.ultima.online (More info?)

Andrea2 wrote in news:8NqdnaBn_5Lzy_HcRVn-vw@giganews.com:

> Thanks for all the information. I now have a good understanding of
> how to train a mage.
>
>
>
> Since I don't have a boat, I use the 8X8 theory on the ground. I go
> out the east gate of Luna on the long N/S bridge during the power
> hour. I cast Fire Field, Poison Field. When I get a skill gain, I
> move 8 steps South and repeat. It seems to work well. I made a 2
> point gain in mage skill today.
>
>
>
> I have an 85% LCR suit so regents are not that expensive.
>
>
>
> My mage presently has swords skill for self defense. Her present
> profile is:
>
>
>
> Anatomy 33.8
>
> Eval Intel 46.7
>
> Focus 54.7
>
> Healing 26.4
>
> Inscription 25.4
>
> Magery 57.9
>
> Mag Res 30.6
>
> Med 65.1
>
> Parrying 29.5
>
> Swords 35.9
>
> Tactics 35.3
>
> Wrestling 30.5
>
> Str 48
>
> Dex 23
>
> Int 58
>
>
>
> Total Skill: 471.8
>
>
>
> When her skill total reaches 700, I will have to turn some skills
> down. Any suggestions on what to do now and later, will be
> appreciated.
>
>
>
> Playing this game has been a lifesaver for me. I am pregnant and
> confined to bed. Before playing I was going crazy from boredom. Now I
> play for 14-16 hours a day and look forward to the next day. I have 4
> more months of confinement.
>
>
>
> TIA
>
> Andrea

For a mage in training you can turn down the skills:

Parrying - unless you are using a shield with the sword.
Wrestling - Since you are already using sword for melee or drop sword
and use this for melee
Inscription - You dont need this yet until you want to become a scribe
Healing - You can use the healing spell to heal... or carry a couple
of greater healing potions for emergency.

And cap Focus at 60 if you want decent mana regeneration rate.


Greytone

--
*****
"He is richest who is content with the least,
for content is the wealth of nature."-Socrates