Building New Char to PvP

[Obsidian]

I'm going to start a new character to learn how to PvP. I know I will get destroyed initially. That's a given. What I would like your thoughts on is the template.

This is what I am thinking:

120 Magery
120 Evaluate Intelligence
120 Meditation
120 Resisting Spells
120 Macing
120 Bushido

The first 4 are no brainers. The last two are up for debate. I've also been toying with Parrying and Wrestling. I don't like the fact that I can't carry a spellbook with the macing, but I suppose I could when I'm doing distance PvM and then throw on the macing weapon and lighting strike/confidence away as necessary. The dex requirement of 80 to make the parrying worthwhile throws my stats way out of alignment.

What do you think?

-OBSIDIAN-

 

[GFY]

The easiest template to run in PVP is an archer. Point, click, chase, and heal. I recomend an archer form (Bushido, Ninja, or Paladin) to start with. This will get you used to pvp without overwhelmming you with spells & special moves.

Next I would consider an inscribe mage. These are powerful templates and good to learn spell casting from.

I'd then go with Necro/mage. This template (along with arcanist) has many, many spells and combinations to learn. But it is also one of the most powerful templates in PVP.

 

[Obsidian]

Good advice. Funny thing is I already have a mage-scribe. I wanted to build a new char to try out some PvP specific skill sets. I figured if it went sour and I didn't like it that I would split the guys skills into a ABC Archer and a Tamer (I love soulstones). I keep hearing that to be the best at PvM, you have to know a thing or two about PvP. Plus, I really want to do Champ Spawns to get Power Scrolls. That is actually why I re-entered the game after a 4 year break. But to do Champ Spawns, you have to be able to handle the PvP Raid that I hear breaks out at the end.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. So again, what do you think -- Bushido and Macing in additional to the normal 4 skills -- feasible?

-OBSIDIAN-

 

[GFY]

My champspawn template is a bit different from the "norm". I went with:

Magery 115
Eval 110
Med 115
Resist 120
Wrestle 120
Hiding 100
Stealth 80

I have some nice mods on my suit to get the skills to this level. THis template does the early rounds very well and when the reds show up I go to stealth mode and pick my targets.

 

[Shanna]

Good advice. Funny thing is I already have a mage-scribe. I wanted to build a new char to try out some PvP specific skill sets. I figured if it went sour and I didn't like it that I would split the guys skills into a ABC Archer and a Tamer (I love soulstones). I keep hearing that to be the best at PvM, you have to know a thing or two about PvP. Plus, I really want to do Champ Spawns to get Power Scrolls. That is actually why I re-entered the game after a 4 year break. But to do Champ Spawns, you have to be able to handle the PvP Raid that I hear breaks out at the end.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. So again, what do you think -- Bushido and Macing in additional to the normal 4 skills -- feasible?

-OBSIDIAN-

I think it's the other way around. To be good at pvp, you need to know a thing or two about pvm. But that's neither here or there.

If you're wanting to get good at Champ spawns, the perfect spawner character is a necro mage. So you're going to want to get good at use that template.

I suggest:
Mage - 120
Med - 110
Eval - 120
Necro - 110
Spirit Speak - 110
Resisting Spells - 120

The thirty point extra is up to you. My hubby prefers dumping and item raising wrestling. I prefer hitting 120 with all.

Use wraithform and wither to clear spawn. When you're on the champ, summon a familiar (dark wisp), corpse skin for extra fire dmg, evil omen for even more dmg, and spam flamestrikes.

For the pvp side, remember to use your LastTarget option on your marcos and stick to small spells.

 

[Obsidian]

I suggest:
Mage - 120
Med - 110
Eval - 120
Necro - 110
Spirit Speak - 110
Resisting Spells - 120

The thirty point extra is up to you. My hubby prefers dumping and item raising wrestling. I prefer hitting 120 with all.

Shanna, thanks for the input. You caught my attention...

Now, can you clarify your comment on wrestling. It's not in your template at all. So If I put 30 in wrestling, even with items (+30 from ring/brace and +10 from gloves of the puglist)... I only have 70 wrestle and would get owned if touched.

Also, when you say dumping, what do you mean? Thanks! I am interested in trying this.

-OBSIDIAN-

 

[GFY]

My necro mage is a work in progress. I keep swapping in and out wrestling and resist. I have played my stealth mage extensively and (IMHO) a mage template without wrestling is asking to be killed by a dexxer. Many necros use a Staff of the Magi (-0 mage weapon with spell channeling) for defense, but you'll be disarmed easily by a dexxer and then your toast.

The biggest problem now with Tank mage templates is the compromise you have to make between dex (for max swing speed) and mana (for spells)

The template you mentioned with bushido and macing might be better with tactics and macing. There is an artie called the Berserker's Maul that is wicked fast and may be what your looking for. With tactics in stead of bushido you gain the use of your weapons specials. With a good mace weapon you'll drop your opponents stamina quickly (he won't be able to run away) then finish him off with spell combos. If you find a very fast mace for disarming pesky dexxers you may be able to make this template workable. It will take very specialized items and you may never be really happy with it, since it is a compromise.

You might want to consider a necro macer. Necro has some nice stamina dropping spells that could make your mace even more effective.

Mace 120
Tactics 100
Bushido 120
Magery 100
Necromacny 100
Spirit Speak 120
Meditation 60

Use magery for healing and traveling necro for its debuffs and bushido and macing.

(I might look into this one myself)

 

[xStrikerx]

Although I dont PvP much my template works for me. It is pretty tight though.

110 Magery
110 Eval
100 Med
75 Necro
100 SS
120 Wrestle
100 Resist
=715 points

Use Bloodwood Spirit and Midnight Bracers to reach 100 Necro or drop the tailisman and put the last 5 points into Necro. Try to find a decent HCI/DCI SC shield to help with defense and disarm/para blow.

 

[Obsidian]

Well, this seems to be the question on the Necro-Mage template... do you reduce some skills from 120 to fit in Resisting Spells and Wrestling or drop one or the other.

I did the numbers... I can make the following work with some items that aren't to hard to find:

110 Magery*
110 Eval Int*
110 Meditation*
90 Wrestle
110 Necro
100 Spirit Speak
90 Resisting Spells
(720 total skill points)

The Magery, Med, Eval triumvirate (identified with the *) can be raised +30 to max all three with mods on spellsbooks, rings, and bracelets combined. I can raise the Wrestling to 100 with Gloves of the Pugilist. I can raise Resisting Spells to 100 with Aegis of Grace (plus has a nice DCI mod). I can increase Necro to 120 and Spirit Speak to 105 with a Bloodwood Spirit.

So my totals after items will be the following:

120 Magery
120 Evaluate Intelligence
120 Meditation
115 Necromancy
110 Spirit Speak
100 Wrestling
100 Resisting Spells

That sounds like a workable template to me. Of course going with the item based approach will make it harder to get LRC and FC/FCR into the suit, plus good resists & DCI mods.

The other option is to go all 120s with the above skills and drop either Wrestling or Resisting Spells outright. I'm having a hard time deciding which one to drop. I'd be in Wraith Form (not sure if that matters). What do you recommend among the three options:

A) Item based template above (with 100 resist and 100 wrestle)
B) 120s for all and 0 Resisting Spells
C) 120s for all and 0 Wrestling

Thanks for your input! I won't start out with 120 power scrolls for anything, but a mix of 115s and 110s. It will at least get me started. Thanks.

-OBSIDIAN-

 

[Sir Kenga]

Well, this seems to be the question on the Necro-Mage template... do you reduce some skills from 120 to fit in Resisting Spells and Wrestling or drop one or the other.

100 Wrestling is not pvp playable. 115 Minimum.

I can raise Resisting Spells to 100 with Aegis of Grace (plus has a nice DCI mod).

Good idea to kill your 120 meditation lol.

 

[Obsidian]

Ok, I had not thought about removing meditation. How are you regenerating mana other than items? Is it from spell damage leeched back as mana in wraith form?

-OBSIDIAN-

 

[Sir Kenga]

I mean Aegis of Grace is not medable, so there is no point to wear it for pvp mage.
And u don't wanna walk around in wraith form in pvp for sure. Though for pvm forms are ok.

 

[Obsidian]

Ok, got what you meant now. Aegis of Grace makes my suit non-medable. I was wondering how this character could be played without meditation.

Any other comments (minus the Aegis of Grace issue) with the template? A, B, or C?

-OBSIDIAN-

 

[Another Lamer]

You could try somthing like this: -

Magery 120
Eval Int 120
Spirit Speak 120
Magic Resist 120
Necro 105
Anatomy 100
Healing 100

Anything left over put in meditation

I admit, your suit will be expensive and would have to include: -
Necro Mark of Travesty
Bloodwood Spirit (necro/ss)
Midnight Bracers
Stitchers Mittons
Max Skill Brace with 1/3 (ring/brace or both)

Lots of fun..........

 

[Obsidian]

Interesting thought... but I still am leaning toward wrestling or resisting spells. I think I'm going to first try the wrestling with 0 resisting spells and see how the PvM and Champ Spawns go. I can tweak accordingly as I get experience.

-OBSIDIAN-

 

[GFY]

The final decision should be based on what you plan to do with your template. If your going to be a wither grinder at champ spawns you probably don't need wrestling. You can also use blood oath for defense. Just remember to heal because blood oath doesn't block damage it deals it to your attacker as well.

My bid stigma with wrestling is because I do a quite a bit of dueling. If your going one on one with a dexxer and you don't have wrestling... well... it usually doesn't end well!

In a champ spawn environment a necro mage without wrestling you shouldn't be too handicapped. You should be able to wither, poison strike, strangle, etc... :gun:

Lastly if your in a bad way you can always invis and wait for friends to help you out of your jam.

 

[Obsidian]

Thanks for the response, GFY. I exclusively solo because my work schedule is so erratic. I'm not in a guild and haven't really made any close friends to journey with in game.

So I'd be at champ spawns and pretty much on my own... or receiving the good will help of some nice folks. So I think the likelihood I get into a 1 vs 1 situation is likely.

What tactic do you recommend to keep the monsters off you? Yes, I do plan on running wraith and withering everything I can. I'll corpse skin/evil omen and flamestrike away on bigger monsters.

-OBSIDIAN-

 

[GFY]

If your on a shard that doesn't have champ spawn raiders you should be able to solo Barracoon in Despise. You'll probably need wrestling so you don't get hit too often by the rats. Try to get as much DCI on your suit as possible to help with this. Use a repond slayer spellbook and you should be able to blast away without too much problem. The extra damage from the repond slayer makes this spawn much easier to deal with. My mage can just about solo Barracoon but I'm on Atlantic and you get raided here quite often. :gun:

On the lower levels stick with the area spells like wither. From ratman archers on up switch to spells that do more damage like chain lightning, meteor swarm, and earthquake. Keep a couple of EV's up and running to help with the spawn and to absorb some damage. When Barracoon finally spawns hit him hard but keep your mana fairly high incase you need a heal or cure. When he spawns more rats as he takes damage hit them with a chain lightning to kill them quickly.

If your on Atlantic check out The Syndicate. We're the largest guild in UO and there's always someone online to do stuff with. If not check us out anyway, maybe you'd consider relocating to Atlantic.

 

[Sir Kenga]

What tactic do you recommend to keep the monsters off you? Yes, I do plan on running wraith and withering everything I can.

You can try running in protection mode, it will reset your FC to zero, but no spell interruptions. So you can wither/spirit speak on champs even without curing (and needing wrestling). Raiders WILL be a problem then, unless you have a very good team.

 

[Obsidian]

Protection causes -2 to faster casting. So using a 1/3 ring and a 1/3 bracelet I'd be 0/6 with protection enabled.

Can Protection cause your faster casting to go negative? Or should I just find the best 0/3 ring/brace. Those are a little easier to find with SDI and DCI.

-OBSIDIAN-

 

[Sir Kenga]

Protection now set your FC to zero. Well you could get FIVE Faster Casting, thats orny (2), ring (1), Shield from doom or vesper museum (1), Scrappers (1). So if they left Protection -2 to FC, you could still easily benefit from 2/6 for magery.

 

[GFY]

Protection now set your FC to zero. Well you could get FIVE Faster Casting, thats orny (2), ring (1), Shield from doom or vesper museum (1), Scrappers (1). So if they left Protection -2 to FC, you could still easily benefit from 2/6 for magery.

Protection sets a hard cap of 0. It won't howver lower your FC below Zero.

Try 0/6 ring and bracelet and 2/6 ring and bracelet, you shouldn't notice a difference. With protection on.

As far as tactics go, if you have a repond slayer and spam wither, you should kill everything around you quickly. Just keep protection on so your spells don't get inturupted and you shouldn't have too many problems from monsters. Keep an eye out for raiders though!

 

[Obsidian]

Ok, I will test the two (2/6 ring brace vs 0/6 ring brace) with Protection on and see the results. Like I said, I know I can find a better 0/3 ring and 0/3 bracelet with DCI and SDI.

The reason I thought you might be able to go negative fast casting is that you can go negative on resists. I had a training armor suit (high LRC & LMC) on and cast Magic Reflection. I watched as my physical resist dropped from 22 to -2. Good thing the suit was just for training as the resists were very poor.

I'm starting my character with focus and inscription (no spirit speak or necromancy) until I can craft some super slayer books (repond especially). Then I'll soulstone the inscription and focus to another character and start the necro/ss training.

Now if only I could find magic related power scrolls at reasonable prices...

-OBSIDIAN-

 

[Sir Kenga]

You can go negative on FC, if u wear weapon or shield SC -1 FC.

 

[GFY]

The reason I thought you might be able to go negative fast casting is that you can go negative on resists. I had a training armor suit (high LRC & LMC) on and cast Magic Reflection. I watched as my physical resist dropped from 22 to -2. Good thing the suit was just for training as the resists were very poor.

-OBSIDIAN-

When ever you cast protection cast reactive armor as well. RA will give you your physical resist back but lower each of your elemental resists to make up for it.

Are you sure your at -2, because I thought reflection lowered your resist by 20 and RA gave you back 20 at a cost of 5 from each elemental resist.

 

[Arch Magus]

You can go negative on FC, if u wear weapon or shield SC -1 FC.

AFAIK, you can't go below 0 casting. Protection keeps you at 0.