Best Shown "Builds" Tricks?! (No GMx7)

[Dylan]

Hey hi!

Well, we assume here a Stat/Skill affinity.
We assume you can have more then 700 shown skillscap.
We assume the invert % as costant rule of shown/real cap gap:

Gap % = 100 - Real ----> linked to the relative Stat.

I miss the way this % works with relative Stat. But should be easy to understand.

The only way to get an advantage from this, anyway, is making a not GMx7 (7 skilled capped at 100) character.
The lower your skills, the greater your skillscap. Its clear u must have more then 7 different skills. The The more skills you have, the greater the benefits.

I know GMx7 its the right one, but...

My question and curiosity now is..what are the best possible alternative "builds" for you?

[SighelmofWyrmgard]

As to your 1st question,

I'll try to explain this more clearly: my response in the other thread was a little 'clipped', and might easily seem cryptic.

"Show Real" displays developed skill-points, while the default setting displays actual ability.

When you create a character, you assign 100 real-skill-points between (almost any) 3 skills, with no more than 50 points in any single skill: at character creation, you have only those 100.0 developed skill-points, total, and must train to 'earn' the remaining available-but-undeveloped 600.0 skill points, to reach the 'skill-cap' of 700.0.

Many skills are, indeed, improved by having high Strength/Dexterity/Intelligence, according to a schedule of which skills are indeed affected by which stat(s)

The schedule is here (Robots.txt will likely block access from an external link, but you can navigate from the sidebar: find the section, Skills, General; from that section, select, Master List).

... at lower-skill levels this will generate a significant increase to base ability; in all such cases, it is the inverse of "true", developed skill-points that modifies the maximum percentage of applied stat-influence.

What this means:

At 0 real-skill, my ability is +100% stat-bonus;
at 10.0 real-skill, my ability is +90% stat-bonus;
at 20.0 real-skill, my ability is +80% stat-bonus;
et cetera ...;
at 90.0 real-skill, my ability is +10% stat-bonus;
at 95.0 real-skill, my ability is +5% stat-bonus;
at 100.0 real-skill, my ability is +0% stat-bonus.

It is, actually, a little more complicated than that, but I hope you can see what I mean.

There are skills that offer performance that is 'good-enough' (depends on what you want, though), at levels less than 100.0: there is too much variability, though, for me to offer any kind of complete summary here; I'll try to give you some ideas.

Magery: 35ish real-skill-points is sufficient to scroll Recall, Greater Heal and Magic Reflection (some failure chance on MR), cast Poison on your enemies to help drop them faster; 65ish-75ish casts all of those spells, and scrolls Circles 6-8; 100 Magery and 100 Evaluate Intelligence is absolutely necessary for direct-damage casting;

Healing: 60 real-skill-points is more than 'good enough' for PvM (break contact when you bandage, or bandage after combat), and has a chance to Cure Poison (but this would not be your primary means of curing poison, merely an emergency back-up); PvPers need 100.0.

Resist: 75ish real-skill-points is enough for PvM; PvPers will demand 100.0;

Tracking: 25 real-skill-points, depending on stats, will give 36ish-40ish skill, and this is a lot! In fact 40-50 is about the maximum amount of real-skill-points you would ever want here, even on a "scout".

For template ideas, please look at these pages (you must be logged-in to these Forums to view),

Professions of Virtue
Professions of Pride
Other Professions

All of those templates are PvM (in a few cases, only Role-Playing 'flavor'); all skill-points listed in those templates are real-developed-skill-points, unmodified by stats.

Good luck.

SS

[Dylan]

Lol, im gonna read it now.

[Dylan]

I think I can say, it is clear now!!!

Thank you for the links, too! Fantastic!

Im going to modify my Stats right now

[Dylan]

My Favourite, actually are:

Summoner
Desired Stats: Str100/Dex25/Int100

100 Animal Lore
100 Animal Taming
100 Eval. Int
025 Hiding
100 Magery
075 Meditation
075 Resisting Spells
025 Tracking
100 Veterinary

Enchanter
Desired Stats: Str100/Dex25/Int100

100 Animal Lore
100 Animal Taming
025 Hiding
100 Magery
075 Meditation
100 Musicianship
100 Provocation
075 Resisting Spells
025 Tracking

[Elk Eater]

Where is archaicsubrosa when you need him?

[morgan1109]

What Elk eater is trying to say is the builds aren't optimized for performance. optimizing for performance isn't the same thing as optimized for your personal enjoyment. So build what you want. If you want to change it, just click the little down arrow on the skill you don't want anymore. You can always make the adjustments for performance later.

I will say that hiding at 25 is going to be very disappointing. Even at 70 you won't hide when you really need to. However, Hide at 100 is a beautiful thing and it's free to raise. There's no harm in trying GM hide for a bit, then switch to something else if you want it more.

[SighelmofWyrmgard]

Low skill-level Hiding isn't there to use Hiding as any kind of scouting/escape mechanism: for that, it's 80+ or nothing (and 80+ Hiding without 80+ Stealth is pretty pointless); 25 Hiding permits one to run off to a discrete corner of the dungeon (or beside a tree in one of those few outdoor areas where there aren't lot of houses nearby), and disappear temporarily in order for the player to use the toilet, telephone, whatever; 15-25 makes a dual-boxed-ship-deck-alt-account-archer-bot invisible while it's not actively helping to defend the ship. There is a lot of utility to be had from any character possessing a base facility to become (with some patience) invisible.

80+ Hiding and 80+ Stealth and Razor-Macro-bound Teleport Jewelry can save your life: anything less than all of that either serves a different purpose, or is a total waste of skill points.

More than 75 Resist is unnecessary, PvM. The mana-regeneration difference, with 100 (105) Int, between 75 and 100 Meditation is noticeable but not significant, and certainly not game-breaking: knowing (by Tracking) that the off-screen Recall you just heard is The Murderer IKillYouNow, or detecting that IKillYouNow is already in the off-screen room you were intending to approach, can be useful things, to certain people ...

Yes, the builds are optimized for performance: that's the point of shorting those skills; I invite anyone to post an all-GM Tamer with useful Resist that also Bards and throws EVs, and can Hide and Track when desired; naturally, anyone who can't use 25 Hiding and/or Tracking to any advantage can simply swap those skills out and GM (mmmmm, yum, moar macro, mmmm, yum, less ability ....) Resist and Meditation.

Dylan, I'll caution you that the builds you like most are both late-bloomers, and expensive to field (and both are largely impotent until they are fully developed):

Play the Summoner as a kiting direct-damage-mage until you get worthwhile pets (generally, not until after Taming > 96ish), although you might be able to use 'crummy' pets as cannon-fodder and/or 'interference', while you adventure; can Ostards be trained into worthwhile low-level fighting pets; or Giant Scorpions? I have to confess that I simply gave up, myself, on trying to make fighters out of animals and low-level monsters (except for 'flavory' fun, that is). Dylan, if that's what you're hoping for, expect to be disappointed ...

The aspiring Enchanter needs to bring along a friend, generally, to kill-off Provoked enemies, until good pets can be tamed/acquired to do that: the Enchanter is not a direct-damage-mage (the Poison spell is very useful, though, and Blade Spirits can be a great spell in appropriate circumstances; Energy Vortex, of course, is a whole different flavor of nasty fun ...); with a friend, the Enchanter can be out in the field with little expense, after only a dozen hours or so of training the Bard skills.

I definitely do not recommend either as a player's first/only adventuring character.

Whatever you do, have fun, and good luck. I do encourage you to actually play UO, rather than afk-macro it: It's a game, after all, and no one is awarding gold medals for GM skills.

SS

[Dylan]

There's no harm in trying GM hide for a bit, then switch to something else if you want it more.

Thats exactly what Im doing.

25 Hiding permits one to run off to a discrete corner of the dungeon

So it is possible to hide in front of the enemys with high Hiding lvl? Didnt know!?!

Dylan, I'll caution you that the builds you like most are both late-bloomers, and expensive to field (and both are largely impotent until they are fully developed):

Whatever you do, have fun, and good luck. I do encourage you to actually play UO, rather than afk-macro it: It's a game, after all, and no one is awarding gold medals for GM skills.

SS

Im having fun, ty I spent much time on UO, but i have never tried the thrill to be fullcaps!!! This wasnt my target, anyway. I like adventures, and with this UOMap its great and easy going around without get lost.

Im dreaming out...at the moment

100STR 25DEX 100INT

Animal Lore GM
Animal Taming GM
Musicianship GM
Provocation GM
Magery GM (dream a little dream of dream...)
Resisting Spell 75
Veterinary 75
Tracking 50 (for less stress)

I have to figure out mana potions keg prices


Now I have Hiding 60 not locked and just music&lore&STR GM and almost prov.

[Capitalist]

Mana potions don't exist here.

[morgan1109]

There are no mana potions. What most people do is get a high “meditation” skill. Meditation greatly improves mana regeneration (both in a passive form, and when actively meditating). Many people consider it a must if you cast a lot. It really is an awesome skill. You can also raise it for free with a runebook with a rune marked under a town crier and one recall scroll. You've got meditation at 75 on each which is a good choice. The only other thing I would add is to raise meditation prior to raising magery. It will speed up the process, and like I said meditation is free

For potions agility and poison probably won’t do you any good. Strength is debatable but having extra hit points is never a bad thing. You certainly don’t need them. What you will need is health (yellow), Cure (orange), and Stamina (red) potions. As a mage you won’t be using stamina to up your damage like a fighter would. You would be using stamina potions just in case mobs trap you in a corner, or your stamina drops to zero (you can’t move). A couple are fine. Carrying a few cures is always wise. Health potions are required materials for the most part.

One caveat on hiding, Tamers love it typically. They can march their dragons into the nearest dungeon, then hide in the center of them. Since the dragons are blue (tame) all the dungeon in habitants will attack the dragons. It’s a pretty risk free way to get cash, but fairly boring (until the PK’s show up). You can do it with the invisibility spell instead as well, which is a good substitute for hiding in most cases. It just isn’t quite as safe.

[SighelmofWyrmgard]

Everything Vega and Morgan1109 said just above is true.

Dylan, the template you presented does not have Meditation, and way more Tracking than you would ever use.

You need Meditation (I'm guessing you thought you could 'dump' this, thinking that there were mana potions: I'll be the 3rd T2A vet, in this thread, to confirm for you that they do not exist here, nor did they in T2A-proper): that is why Meditation is included in the original template I devised; if necessary, 'dump' Vet for Med.

All of the templates I have devised are built on generating synergy with the selected skills, and providing certain base (if, in some cases, meagre) complimentary facilities 'outside' of the template-proper: I advise you to avoid 'dumping' any skill from any of my templates which possesses a value of 50+, without really good reason*; go ahead and 'dump' 25 Hiding to have 100 Meditation, and maybe 'dump' 25 Tracking for 100 Resist, exactly according to that schedule of priority, if you like; you'll have a 7xGM template.

*Morgan1109 again mentions Hiding, and the 'active' uses for it: it is pretty straight-forward and, I am sure, justifies to many the inclusion of high-skill Hiding in almost any template; personal preference is a wonderful thing, and I do appreciate the value here. On the other hand, Morgan1109, himself, points out that the same effects can be achieved with the Invisibility spell ... The main problems with Invisibility is that it costs mana and reagents (or magic-item charges), and it has a finite duration (Hiding is indefinite until broken). Personally, I'd rather use Invisibility, and Tame and Bard and throw EVs ...

Another note on Hiding that I think needs to be mentioned: it is virtually impossible to hide (even GM Hiders will have a lot of trouble) if you are being aggroed by anything, without first breaking line-of-sight; teleport jewelry can do this, and perhaps give a character a second or two in which it is possible to successfully hide.

However, with no aggro and all lines of sight broken, Hiding will (eventually) succeed, regardless of skill level: with 25 Hiding, expect to have to wait up to 30-40 seconds before you succeed and, with only 15 Hiding, up to a minute; no big deal, to my own mode of thinking; in many cases, the RNG will smile upon you and you will succeed with the first attempt; in the wilderness, running up beside any player's house and Hiding has (I think) 50% chance of success, regardless of skill.

There is something else I feel compelled to point out, a caveat that applies to both of the templates that Dylan likes:

0 Wrestling, or any other weapon skill: this means that you will get hit, whenever anyone is close enough to physically attack you; do not let this happen. Luckily, it's only the rare "event" mob that uses ranged weapons; any Archer-PKs, however, will always be your nemesis.

Carry on,

SS

[Dylan]

So, no mana potions eh? No Problem.

I would say....its a good idea for the balance of the characters.

Morgan u talk about march Sighelm u are talking about teleport Jewelry

Didnt know all that, sorry! Im just gaining from my memories from ShadowAge and sometime it is totally different. Obviusly im reading too.

For me was: Hiding - PvP Warriors behind threes
An Lor Xen - PvM Mage

Thank you so much again

... memories uploading...10%...20%

[morgan1109]

Sigil is right. The invisibility spell provides the majority of benefits hide does. If the build is pretty tight you can pass on hide. I ended up keeping it on a couple PVM characters, but I dropped it on the rest. You can “hide” when monsters are agro’d on you, and the higher your hide skill the closer you can be to the mob and hide, so high levels of hide definitely help in those situations where you need to run. Hide’s main advantage is that it doesn’t wear off like the spell and it is instant.

Sigil also suggested Bard + tame+ EV. EV is one of the best spells in the game. Due to the poison it inflicts it nearly always kills whatever you put it on. While some creatures dispel it, they are almost always poisoned before they do. Since the poison is so strong, it can kill literally anything in the game. It’s a great spell for grinding high end spawns.

The only thing I would contradict Sigil on is them Tame + bard. Both skills are there essentially to ensure the mobs are not directly attacking you. Both require 200 points each. Either skill is as adept at doing this as the other. So essentially you are doubling up in the same area. You wouldn’t normally build a fighter with both swordsmanship & macing for instance. Those 200 points can be better spent to add utility (like meditation).

There are a couple caveats to that. The first is veterinary. If you have both tame and bard you can let the tames pull the agro as usual, but then you could make the mobs fight each other with provoke. This means your pets aren’t taking damage, and therefore Veternary isn’t necessary. The other point is there are 3 or 4 areas in this world where the spawn can be very very thick. In those rare places, having multiple methods of controlling the spawn would be beneficial. If you are planning on hunting in those few places exclusively, it would make a lot of sense to have both. Otherwise it’s a bit of overkill.

Barding is free to raise. It just takes a 25 gp instrument and a couple days of macroing to master both music and provoke. So you could put it in now, and then eliminate it later if you want. For new people I frequently point them to the cheap skills to raise, heh heh. The first few weeks are the only time money will be tight in your UO career. Getting a character up and running quickly and cheaply so you can afford to pay for skills like Magery and Resist makes for a smoother transition into the game. You’ve got to have an earner

[SighelmofWyrmgard]

Morgan1109 has said much to explain why the templates I devised are exactly the way they are:

Summoner
Desired Stats: Str100/Dex25/Int100

100 Animal Lore
100 Animal Taming
100 Eval. Int
025 Hiding
100 Magery
075 Meditation
075 Resisting Spells
025 Tracking
100 Veterinary

Enchanter
Desired Stats: Str100/Dex25/Int100

100 Animal Lore
100 Animal Taming
025 Hiding
100 Magery
075 Meditation
100 Musicianship
100 Provocation
075 Resisting Spells
025 Tracking

Thanks for the assist.

Otherwise, I need to address a small misapprehension,

The only thing I would contradict Sigil [sic] on is them Tame + bard. Both skills are there essentially to ensure the mobs are not directly attacking you. Both require 200 points each. Either skill is as adept at doing this as the other. So essentially you are doubling up in the same area. You wouldn’t normally build a fighter with both swordsmanship & macing for instance. Those 200 points can be better spent to add utility (like meditation).

The fully-developed Enchanter is a mob-grinding-machine, and I do agree that its powers would be overkill in many situations: the template does have Meditation (what it doesn't have is Veterinary, for precisely the reasons you describe, and so I'm not really sure in what way you are "contradicting [me]": rather, I think you are correcting Dylan, for deviating from my template); it might be useful to compare the Enchanter to other Bards, rather than to Tamers, in which light you will immediately see what Taming adds to a Bard (rather than what Barding adds to a Tamer).

Even compared to other Tamers, though, the Enchanter adds "moar": Daemons kill eachother rather quickly when Provoked (so pets kill other stuff at the same time); Ogre Lords will (hopefully) be beating on something other than the Tamer's pets, and remain oblivious to the fact that they are being killed, so the Enchanter rarely has to dump mana and reagents into sustaining the pets ... as soon as any Enchanter achieves a 'foothold' in any dungeon-room, he/she will begin to very-quickly and very-efficiently 'mow-down' the entire spawn; one might not even be able to keep up with all the looting ...

Overkill? Yeah ...

One might consider this, as a variant of the Enchanter,

Desired Stats: Str100/Dex25/Int100

100 Animal Lore
100 Animal Taming
100 Hiding or Wrestling or Veterinary
075 Magery
050 Meditation
100 Musicianship
100 Provocation
075 Resisting Spells

This keeps the essentials (greater reliance on scrolls, and some failure for Circle8, but failed scrolls burn nothing but time ...). It doesn't add anything spectacular to the template, IMHO, and loses some mana-regeneration, and Tracking and/or Hiding + Tracking: I'd rather develop the original Enchanter, myself.

On a side note, Morgan1109 remarked upon the redundancy of building both Swordsmanship and Mace-Fighting into the same template: hmmm, consider a dexxer with a bag of DPed GM katanas, a blackstaff of Vanquishing, a couple each wands of Harm and Heal, and gnarled staves of Lightning and Greater Healing ...

That's all I have to say for now.

SS