Discord tamer - template questions

[gortman]

I've read several of the threads where bard tamer templates are discussed but don't think I have the gist of it yet. As far as I can tell, for a PvM discord tamer you would likely want these skills:

animal taming (maybe swap out for eval int when not taming?)
animal lore
veterinary (although I've seen dissenting opinions on this)
music
discord
magery

1) Any skills that make more sense than those above for a disco tamer? If so, what?

2) What, in your opinion, are the optimum levels for those skills to get the most bang for the buck?

3) What about stats? What do most of you run and find success with?

Thanks a bunch for putting up with my newbie questions!

 

[DreadLord Lestat]

animal taming (maybe swap out for eval int when not taming?)

Unless you are getting taming only to be able to ride certain beasts, you cannot stone out taming. Without taming, you will not be able to control anything and it will go wild on the first command you give it, depending on what it is, it might turn around and attack you as well once it goes wild.

veterinary (although I've seen dissenting opinions on this)

Without at least gm eval, you won't be able to heal it much at all, especially if it is a higher level pet. Vet is great, lets you fight high end creatures that are long fights. You can always stone Vet if needed to put something else in a template but I really believe vet is needed for a tamer that has high end pets fighting high end mobs. I am sure there will be a lot that disagree with me but I have always had it and love it and I have never had to go around looking for another tamer to rez my pet.

Disco is nice for a tamer. The level of your music and discord depend on what you are going to fight. A good template is

120 Tame
120 Lore
120 Vet (can stone it and choose something else but I would have it around in case you need it, even if you only go 100)
the higher those 3 skills are, the more pets you can stable as well.
100-120 Music
100-120 Disco
Again those levels depend on what you are fighting but I personally would not go below 110 music and disco but 120 in each will allow you to disco most things. Under 110 and you cannot disco things like Swoops etc.
You can then go 100-120 Magery.
If you don't go with vet or you stone it, you can go evel here, the only problem is that you won't have any or much med/focus so it will be hard to keep up the heals with magery.

My template is
120 Tame/Lore/Vet/Music/Peace/
100 Magery
the rest in focus which I think is 20
My wife has the exact same template only disco instead of peace and loves it. You can also stone 120 peace and swap out with disco, use peace when taming most things and then swap out for disco when hunting

 

[jeza]

I don't have a disco tamer but a peace one, nevertheless i think i can answer some of your questions.

First the skills

animal taming 120
animal lore 120
veterinary 120
music 120
discord 120
magery 100
chivalry 25

None of the above have to be real skills, you can use jewelery.

You cant drop taming or lore as they are used to control your pet.
But you can drop vet to use peace 120 when taming.
And you could lower Vet to 100 and use extra points elsewhere, maybe some focus to help with the mana and stamina regen.

Magery is only to invis, heal, recall gate as you dont have eval.
But if you managed to add eval, without medit it would be useless pretty quickly.
Chivalry is to remove curse.

You need as much mana regen as possible and Hp and/or stamina regen would be a plus.

As for the stats something like
100 str
25 dex
100 int

And if you can go up to 255 add in dex.

Oh and as for class an elf of course to be able to tame Cu's

 

[gortman]

Thanks for the replies - very helpful for this newbie (well, someone who is back to UO after a nine year absence but never tried a tamer until now)!

 

[Gellor]

I'm an ancient disco tamer and my template hasn't changed in probably 6-7 years now

I run:
120 tame, lore, vet
120 music, disco
115 mage (will be 120 when I get mage scroll)

On to the discussion on this:
Taming and lore level. In theory, you can have 110 in both lore and taming to control anything(I believe the magic number is 110) Given that my tamer tames as well as controls big pets, 120 taming was a must. I put lore up to 120 instead of 110 because of the slight boost to vet.

Vet level. There are many debates over whether to run vet or not. I have found it to be useful in most situations. You can heal MUCH more damage than greater healing. I went to 120 because I didn't see a place where I needed 20-30 points.

Music and Disco level. What can I say, if you play with the big monsters, you gotta go all the way.

Magery level. Here is the sticking point and a bit of a debatable skill. I actually use it for two things: casting spells and using a mage weapon for "melee" defense.

Let's hit the spells first. I use invis, heals, cures, recalls, gates, marks, etc. I do not rely upon spells to keep my pet going... I use it to augment my vet skill. There are some monsters that can out damage my vet skill and the magery is a boon for a bit.

Let's hit the "melee" defense. In an ideal UO world, you would never get into a situation where a monster hits you. The reality is you WILL get nailed. A mage weapon is the only defense. I use swords of prosperity since I don't use potions. (also to augment my luck suit)

I gave SERIOUS thoughts to swapping magery for chiv and med. The rumor is 4/6 chiv with "max" karma will out heal a mage. The problem I had with that theory is the "melee" defense.

Please note, my tamer is used for champ spawns and with no melee defense would be a quick death to PvPers.

 

[Wenchkin]

My disco tamer has provo on too, which makes for a pretty tight template, but IMHO it's a lot of fun and gives you a very useful option for crowd control. It's not a template I'd recommend for you when you're freshly returned, as it isn't the easiest to build and run, but it's a possibility for you if you don't want to just be a disco bard or you want to think of something less conventional

Rough figures from memory on her template:

110 tame
110 lore
100 vet
110 real music skill + 10 from song woven mantle (armour arms)
120 disco real - I use disco a lot so I wanted it maxed.
80 magery - I have magery skill on a spellbook and some on one of the jewels I wear, so it's at or near GM for most hunts.
90 provo boosted to 120 if I need it with jewels.

I should probably add a talisman with skill increase, but I've never gotten round to it This is basically an old disco/provo tamer from back in the 7xGM days, but I didn't want to drop the provo if I could squeeze it in. I'd had fun with her and I was too stubborn to drop provo. I keep skill items off my taming skills when hunting, which is why my barding is boosted instead.

Because I tend to be quite a daredevil with this template, I keep vet on her. I've always been able to make the template work around having vet, and the convenience of being able to heal and rez a pet on the spot makes it worthwhile. But if you have soulstones it's possible to leave vet behind for the odd trip when you want to try it without. For general hunting though, I'd keep vet - always

In case you haven't already guessed, this isn't an easy or even sensible template, but I do love playing it lol.

Wenchy

 

[Scarab]

Without at least gm eval, you won't be able to heal it much at all, especially if it is a higher level pet.

amount healed is based solely on Magery

 

[gortman]

Thanks everyone for all the great info - it helps a lot!

 

[Llewen]

I'm an ancient disco tamer and my template hasn't changed in probably 6-7 years now

I run:
120 tame, lore, vet
120 music, disco
115 mage (will be 120 when I get mage scroll)

This is OT, but I just thought I'd point out something in this post that gives me warm fuzzies, and points out one of the reasons UO is such a great game. This character has been around and active for 6+ years, and there is still something to aim for with it (the 120 magery). I love that.

 

[Gellor]

This is OT, but I just thought I'd point out something in this post that gives me warm fuzzies, and points out one of the reasons UO is such a great game. This character has been around and active for 6+ years, and there is still something to aim for with it (the 120 magery). I love that.

lol... I think it is at the bottom of my list... just before logging out of UO for the last time

I've got 120 magery on other chars... just not this one.

 

[SoulKeeper]

I'm making a template wit jewls and mark of travesty
120 DISCORD
110 music & Provo +10 mark of travesty
105 taming & lore +15 on jewl
85 Magery & vet +15 mage spellbook + 15 mge jewl
20 Med + 15 each jewl
10 parry with heph
So after this you got

120 music
120 discord
120 provocation
120 taming
120 lore
115 magery
85 vet
50 med
10 parry

 

[Yadd of Legends]

I'm an ancient disco tamer and my template hasn't changed in probably 6-7 years now

I run:
120 tame, lore, vet
120 music, disco
115 mage (will be 120 when I get mage scroll)

Magery level. Here is the sticking point and a bit of a debatable skill. I actually use it for two things: casting spells and using a mage weapon for "melee" defense.

Let's hit the spells first. I use invis, heals, cures, recalls, gates, marks, etc. I do not rely upon spells to keep my pet going... I use it to augment my vet skill. There are some monsters that can out damage my vet skill and the magery is a boon for a bit.

Let's hit the "melee" defense. In an ideal UO world, you would never get into a situation where a monster hits you. The reality is you WILL get nailed. A mage weapon is the only defense. I use swords of prosperity since I don't use potions. (also to augment my luck suit)

I gave SERIOUS thoughts to swapping magery for chiv and med. The rumor is 4/6 chiv with "max" karma will out heal a mage. The problem I had with that theory is the "melee" defense.

Please note, my tamer is used for champ spawns and with no melee defense would be a quick death to PvPers.

I have no experience with mage weapons. How much good does a mage weapon do with no anatomy or tactics to give it some punch, as a dexxer would have, and a tamer not having the dexterity of a dexxer? What kind of mage weapon do you find useful, and what does it do for you?

 

[Herman]

For a disco tamer i would choose staff of magi
Reason
Mage wep -0 so if I have 120 magery i get 120 defensive skill same as 120 sword
Cure pots do not work so good in pvm anymore orange petails are just as good so no need for a 1 hander
Most disco tamers do not carry eval int so no need for the sdi bonus a spellbook can have
anatomy only come into play if u carry eval int,bushido or healing skill
Tactics is only DI

 

[scynx]

Sorry for the big necro on this post. I haven't played UO in the last 12 years, so all the stat/skill equipment in UO is new to me. I'm going for a Discord tamer aswell (maybe even try to shove in some provocation) and I realise I'm going to need some skill equipment to do that.
Now I know what the deal with power scrolls is, but what are the caps on +skill equipment? I can get a ring/bracelet/earring (not sure on the talisman?), and each of them can carry multiple skill combinations with up to +15 skill. Can you wear two different pieces with plus taming at the same time then? What about +skill on armor and imbuing?

I can't find a decent write-up on what's possible to achieve in plus skills from gear and if you go that route, does it mean your equipment won't have any LRC, manareg etc. I'd really appreciate some input on that, it's pretty rough to wrap your head around the game after all this time.

Edit: one more thing, does equipment with +skill allow you to exceed the skillcap of 700 points?

 

[DreadLord Lestat]

You can get them on the same ring and bracelet. It would be a max of +15 on each to total 30. It is a max of three skills on any bracelet and ring unless you get the shame loot which can have higher than +15 and also more than 3 skills on any piece but it will most likely be cursed and brittle.

 

[Llewen]

Yes, +skill allows you to surpass the 720 skill cap. And you can put as much +skill on as your suit will hold. The only limitations are that there are skill sets, and multiple skills from the same skills set cannot be on the same item.

edit: What he said. I guess there are caps on items. You can only imbue skill+ onto jewellery, and then a max of +15 per skill, and three skills at the most. There is no overall cap though, and there are artifacts that have skills on them.

 

[DreadLord Lestat]

Music, peace, discord, and prov are all on different skill groups so you can have any of those 3 on the same ring or bracelet if you have them imbued.

 

[Llewen]

The skill groupings are arranged in such a way that most of the time the skills that you would want to be able to combine on a piece will be possible.

 

[scynx]

Is there a reason then to actually go for 120 in either skill? Or do these jewelry pieces come with nothing but plus skills, so you lose out on other things, like mana-reg if you have to use skill items to make it all the way to 120? Can you get +skill on armor aswell, or only on artifacts? I suppose artifacts are what would be 'named loot' in other games, i.e. specific drops from boss-type enemies?

 

[Logrus]

The main reason to get 120 true skill on bard characters is if you plan to use the bard mastery abilities. otherwise enhanced skill from items is just as good as regular skill.

 

[The Old Man]

You can have up to 5 skills on a crafted ring or bracelet, just not all at 15.
3 skills at 11 and 2 at 10 fits on each piece or all 5 skills at 10.

I remember having a toon with 5 skills at 100 each that were all raised to 120 if he wore one set of jewels, or usable at GM with different jewels raising stats, depending on what he was going to do.

The Old Man

You can get them on the same ring and bracelet. It would be a max of +15 on each to total 30. It is a max of three skills on any bracelet and ring unless you get the shame loot which can have higher than +15 and also more than 3 skills on any piece but it will most likely be cursed and brittle.

 

[Llewen]

I have two different suits for my tamer, plus an extra set of jewels. My general purpose suit, and the one I use for taming has taming at 120 and lore at 110. My pvm suit has the skills at around 115/110, and when I have my general purpose suit on I can switch out the jewels to give me 120/120/120 which allows me to never fail at rezzing pets, or get maximum stable slots. The enhanced client makes that a lot simpler and faster than it is with the classic client.

 

[popps]

Please note, my tamer is used for champ spawns and with no melee defense would be a quick death to PvPers.

Is it really that practical to use a mage tamer for Champion Spawns ?

The reason I am asking, is that usually PvPers kill the pet as first and then attack the player. Now, upon dieing pets loose their skills and so one needs to train them back up. Mulptiple deaths of the pet might mean a quite annoying frequent retraining of the pet.

So I wonder whether it is much effective to use a mage Tamer on populated shards where the chances to bump into raiders at a Champ spawn are higher....

 

[Llewen]

It depends on the kind of tamer, and your choice of pet. Greater dragons can be useful because they can take a great deal of abuse before going down. Or a mystic tamer on a dread or a bane could work quite well. If I used a greater dragon I would want to be a gargoyle or have ninja. Personally even at a spawn with no pvp, I would still want the protection of at least a mage weapon because you can get surrounded and swarmed pretty quickly in a spawn.