Modern Skill Gain method for Stealing? (UOA Macro?)

[Sedreh Sudre]

Hello, I have returned to UO after a LONG absence and I have taken up residence on the Catskills shard.

I am having trouble with skill gain for the Stealing skill.

I am stealing empty bottles and after gaining 10 points (50 to 60 skill) I am developing carpaltunnel. So I would like to setup a UO Assist macro to get rid of a few clicks.

Here is what I do, but it isnt working correctly.

Hit Record on UOA.
Hit F1 (USe Skill Stealing)
Target one of the stacks of bottles on the packhorse

I do this like 20 times or so.

Then I insert a pause 11000 after the targeting.
Then I change the target to "Target Type".

Leaving me with a macro that looks like this

Use Skill
Target Type
Pause 11000
Use Skill
Target Type
Pause 11000
Use Skill
Target Type
Pause 11000
Use Skill
Target Type
Pause 11000

ect

Now this macro isnt working and I can not figure out why.

It keeps seemingly trying to steal the bottles from my pack if I have some there. Or if they are ALL on the packhorse I get no targeting cursor and no error message, it just doesnt work.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[Black Sun]

A macro like that doesn't work well with piles. Each time you break or combine piles it gets a new id assigned to it, so the macro is looking for an item with an ID that may no longer exist.

That's the exact same macro I used to GM stealing on my thief, but instead of piles I would fill a bag with 20 items of the target weight I wanted (ie, at 60 skill I was stealing 6 stone items). I would put the items in a bag (UOA organizer agent), but the bag on the packhorse and directly target each one when I tried to steal it. Once the macro finished I would put the back back in my pack, run the UOA organizer agent and start over again. You only have to change the macro when you change item weights (roughly every 10 full skill points).

I believe there's a chart around here someplace that will tell you the weights of common items you can use. I'll see if I can find it when/if I get a few minutes break (I'm at work right now).

 

[Sedreh Sudre]

The problem I am having is that UOA will not look at the packhorse inorder to steal from it.

ie: If I have the item type in my own backpack it tells me "You catch yourself red handed" but if it is on the packhorse it doesnt even look there to try and steal it. It just says "Item type not available for target".

How do I get UOA to 'see' the packhorse as a pack to steal from?

 

[Black Sun]

when you make the macro are your items already in the horse's pack (or a sub pack in his)?

I load up my bag of (for example) shovels, put that bag of shovels on the packy. I open all the packs so I can see all the shovels. I hit record, then steal the items one at a time. Once I have gone through the items I stop recording, add my pauses, refill the bag of shovels and replace it on the horse. It should work if you follow those steps.

 

[Sedreh Sudre]

All the items are in the packhorse.

I record the macro, then go back and change target to 'target by type'.

I also insert the "pause 11000" after each target.

I am also annoyed because you can't gain skill from stealing armor/weapons from NPC chests or the barrels on the Wall of the castle in Britain.

Hope I get this macro working soon

Ill try it using those steps.

 

[Black Sun]

There's your problem, Don't target by type. That's screwing your macro up. 2 of the biggest problems with stealing macros are stealing 'by type' or stealing from piles. When you don't have the macro looking for a specific item ID you start to run into problems.

What is your current skill?

[Edit]
Here's the post I mentioned before listing the weight of most common items.
http://vboards.stratics.com/1108162-post5.html

Find an item on that list that is equal to your skill divided by 10. (so at 70 skill steal 7 stone items)

Make a macro like you have been doing, target the items directly. No target type. You want each line of the macro to look for a specific item. If you do that you're going to eliminate 90% of your problems right there.

Also, make sure you're in Fel stealing. In Tram you can't steal from pack animals.

 

[Sedreh Sudre]

I am in Fel, and I am at about 60 real skill, but I am buffed to about 86.

Does eating a 120 scroll hinder skill gain, or improve it, or have no effect (by having a higher cap)?

Ill try it with the specific Item ID.

Thank you.

 

[Black Sun]

Some people say eat the scroll now and you will gain easier to GM, others say wait until you're ready to use it because it makes gaining to GM harder.

I have never noticed any difference. My advice would be to do whichever makes you happy. We have yet to see any concrete proof that scrolls make it harder or easier to gain if they're eaten or not.

The other thing I would suggest is to keep your overall skill points as low as possible. When I work a new character I always try to keep my total skill points at 300 or lower if possible.

 

[Sedreh Sudre]

Thank you for the help.

Looks like I was attempting to make this a bit more difficult than it needed to be

Got it working now.

Now if only Stealing Aclarity scrolls were not so expencive, we poor thieves can't handle it! Not all of us start out rich!