Mystic Archer for solo PvM fun

[Cadburylion]

Hi all!

I've played UO off and on for years. I've typically played solo, and have barely touched any of the (group) "end game" content. Mostly I camp Miasma and hunt for treasure.

I have two characters I really enjoy: a Bard Tamer and a Mystic Treasure Hunter.

I want to make a third: a Mystic Archer.

Could I get some help with the template? I have no crafter, very little money, and am less interested in min/maxing my build as I am in making one that's unique, strong enough, and fun. As far as suiting him up, I'm probably just going to do that through artifacts I find treasure hunting.

My template so far:

Elf, for the extra mana and because I don't have one (plus the radical hair).

120 Mysticism
120 Focus
100 Archer (120 with Hunter's Headdress)
90 Tactics

This leaves me with 290 points to spend! Where should they go?

Ninjitsu. I want it for the animal forms (I like animals, and also can I get increased movement speed without using a control slot?), but I realize I don't get much else, and it conflicts with Chivalry. Speaking of which...

Chivalry. I have this on a not-great warrior of mine, and I like it! Do I take it? 65 points? What about my animal forms! I don't have a way to teleport around except for recall scrolls without it.

Hiding. A bunch of points just for an insta-cast invis. But hey! If I get on the bad side of Miasma or some ornery Paragon, it'd be useful. Plus, synergy with Ninjitsu?

Meditation. I really want this so I can quickly replenish my limited mana supply. Take it?

And I know there's plenty of other options, like Anatomy and Healing and Resisting Spells and everything else. Come at me with some ideas, and thanks!

P.S. I'm weirdly uninterested in Bushido.

 

[Fwoosh]

You could make a Wraith Myst archer if you wanted to with a build like:

120 Mysticism
120 Focus
100 Archery (+20 from Hunter's Headdress)
120 Tactics
120 Anatomy
120 Spirit Speak
20 Necromancy

And if you're not dead set on going Elf you can go human and still use this build as you will still have 20 Necro from Jack Of All Trades. You could then put the extra 20 points back into archery and use a different head piece or put them somewhere else. You can also lower you tactics/anatomy by 10 if you wanted to use either a Soldier's Medal / Duelist's Edge and have 10 more points to play with.

 

[Cadburylion]

Hey, I like that a lot! What does the 20 Necromancy give me? I think Spirit Speak is one of the coolest abilities and would happily incorporate it into my build. Plus I didn't even know about Soldier's Medal and Duelist's Edge. I better up my cleanup game!

EDIT: I just realized you said a "Wraith Mystic Archer"; I didn't know you could get Wraith Form out of 20 Necromancy. Nice!

 

[Cadburylion]

Iv'e had an idea.

120 Mysticism
120 Focus
120 Tactics
120 Chivalry
120 Anatomy
100 Hiding
20 Necromancy

Having no Weapon Skill, I instead use Mysticism Mastery III and Mystic Weapon to give me 115 weapon skill in whatever weapon I'm using (would this be 120 if I had +5 Mysticism in my suit?).

Will this work?

 

[Fwoosh]

Yes and no. Yes having no weapon skill and using Mystic Weapon will allow you to use the weapon but it wont allow you to use special attacks which is usually what you'd want to use most weapons for. So if you didn't want to use any special attacks then you could do it that way but it's not the best.

 

[Cadburylion]

Oh I didn't realize that. Thanks for letting me know! I definitely do like the special attacks.

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

You can't Hide in combat. If you're on foot in Stone or Wraith Form you can't really off screen to Hide. Without SS Wraith Form won't leech very much. You won't be able to use special moves without 90 real weapon skill/60 Tactics. You obviously can't be in both Wraith and Stone Form, Stone Form is probably one of the best things about making a Mystic dexxer.

 

[Cadburylion]

So if I'm in combat, get aggro from what my RC is tanking, I can't run and hide? It'll fail?

This is what I read on the matter:

Hiding - UOGuide, the Ultima Online Encyclopedia

"The chance of hiding successfully is directly equal to that of the Hiding skill. Characters may not hide close to creatures that are actively hostile towards them, although at higher levels of Hiding the distance between the character and the monster may be lessened. At GM Hiding, a character may hide in plain sight of a hostile monster or other player only 8 tiles away. Having creatures neutral nearby to a character has no effect on the chances of concealment, just hostile ones."

 

[Herp!]

So if I'm in combat, get aggro from what my RC is tanking, I can't run and hide? It'll fail?

This is what I read on the matter:

Hiding - UOGuide, the Ultima Online Encyclopedia

"The chance of hiding successfully is directly equal to that of the Hiding skill. Characters may not hide close to creatures that are actively hostile towards them, although at higher levels of Hiding the distance between the character and the monster may be lessened. At GM Hiding, a character may hide in plain sight of a hostile monster or other player only 8 tiles away. Having creatures neutral nearby to a character has no effect on the chances of concealment, just hostile ones."

So long as you can actually out run the monster you can hide at 8+ tile range. However, creatures such as Juo'nar or Virtuebane will not allow you to get too far typically unless they are extremely low on hp/stam.

 

[Cadburylion]

That's my fear, Herp! I was initially interested in Ninjitsu to gain animal forms for speed, but didn't know if they used a control slot (incompatible with Rising Colossus if they do) and you can't cast Chivalry abilities in them. I think I'll try Hiding, and stay at around 10-11 tile range, and Hide if my Colossus loses aggro.

Lots to consider! Still tinkering with it.

 

[Zalan]

Ninja forms do not take control slots. Mirror images do take control slots. If you have Ninjitsu you can use smoke bombs to hide even if your being attacked.

 

[Cadburylion]

Oh, that's so good to know! Thank you Zalan. If only I could cast Chivalry spells while in Animal Forms, I'd certainly take it.

 

[Cadburylion]

Update:

I've tweaked my plan for a Mystic Archer into a Mystic Warrior who can use any weapon.

120(125) Mysticism (+5 on gear)
120 Focus
120 Chivalry
110(120) Tactics (+10 on talisman)
100 Hiding
100 Necromancy
50(60) Stealth (+10 on robe)

I removed my weapon skill (Archery) and learned Mysticism Mastery III for a more resilient Rising Colossus (my tank and damage buddy) and for Mystic Weapon.

Mystic Weapon enchants my current weapon so that it uses my current Mysticism skill (with a -5 to Mysticism, thus my +5 on gear to stay at 120) as its required weapon skill. I lose access to weapon abilities, but I free 100 skill points. These I put into Necromancy for Vampiric Embrace. It plays kind of like a Sampire, but with access to any weapon I like and having Rising Colossus fight by my side.

Originally I had planned on using Rising Colossus to tank for me, while I stayed back firing into the fray with Archery. I can still do that, but now I'm able, whenever I like, to join the battle with a melee weapon and stay alive should I draw the enemy's attention.

I like Hiding a lot. This is a new character, and also the first time I've ever used Hiding. It's so much fun to slip away from pursuing monsters and simply disappear. This was much easier as an archer, as I need to be 8 tiles away from an aggressive monster to hide. I'm considering swapping it out, however, and taking up Anatomy for the extra 65% base damage.

This build would look like this:

120(125) Mysticism (+5 on gear)
120 Focus
120 Chivalry
110(120) Tactics (+10 on talisman)
120 Anatomy
100 Necromancy
30 Meditation

Either way, this character is FUN. I absolutely love it. It feels unique to me, and it perfectly satisfies a theme or idea for a character that I really like--a Mystical Warrior who conjures a mighty rock Colossus from the shadows, and leaps into battle alongside it with a magically enchanted weapon. I care more about playstyle than min/maxing, but I do try to make my character's as strong as they can be within the theme I have for them.

Thanks for helping me out, and thanks for reading!

 

[Demethar]

Are you able to use weapon special moves like Armor Ignore or Double Strike with that build? Losing special moves and gaining 100 extra points wont help you that much.

 

[CorwinXX]

120(125) Mysticism (+5 on gear)
120 Focus
120 Chivalry
110(120) Tactics (+10 on talisman)
120 Anatomy
100 Necromancy
30 Meditation

Drop Chivalry/Anatomy to 100, drop Meditation and get 70 weapon skill. As to Necromancy I believe 20 Necro + 80 SS for Wraith form would be better (because AI costs you 60 mana).