New to the game. Questions / Looking for advice

[Bakuryu]

Hello~ I decided to try out UO after reading many many good things about it, and since I love the old single-player Ultima series, I don't know why I haven't tried it before.
So, I make a trial account first to check it out to decide to buy the game or not.
I made a Sampire, since it seems the type of char I usually like playing in MMOs (melee char with magical stuff to enhance their melee). I was having fun and all, did starter quests and etc. I go to Luna since I read that's like the Main city where players gather, I see the vendors outside and then my jaw drops D= I saw nothing below the price of 500k, and most things were 5m+ - sure I'm not expecting being able to afford some good armor in a few days or weeks, obviously.
But I was not able to find any kind of armor for a newbie, I also looked around vendors in other places. But no one seems to bother to make some decent armor for a newbie.
The game seems to be pretty hard for someone new like myself, all the guides I read for a sampire expect you to already have millions of gold.
Am I just looking at the wrong place, maybe that kind of money isn't really so crazy after a while? But what am I supposed to do if all I can kill are some ettins, which takes me a while since I have to run back to heal every time they hit me, or Maybe this char is not very good for a newbie.
I really feel like getting into this game, since I'm loving the fighting and skills system, and pretty much all the other stuff, but it doesn't seem to be newbie-friendly which scares me, since it seems to be pretty hard to get started.
Will I be able to get some decent gold to get started with this kind of char? Or will I need to make some resource gatherer / crafter to get started (I don't really like crafting x_x)
Maybe I'm worrying too much since I just started =D ~ but any kind of advice for a newbie would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Beer_Cayse]

In the main, Luna vendors are overpriced as compared to identical or close-to-identical of the same items at independent vendors.

You may be well beyond the skill set needed for the three dungeons I'm thinking of, but all have some reasonable methods of gold accumulation, the possibility of a Virtue Armor piece dropping and perhaps some armor pieces you can at least sell to NPC vendors if nothing else.

Deceit, Despise and Shame are the three I'm thinking of. You can check the Stratics dungeon list for details on what to expect in each. Fire, Ice, Hythloth and Demon Temple might be challenging for you ... Destard as long as you can dodge any Greater Dragons (nasty, nasty critters).

I used all the above (Destard prior to the GD introduction) as training grounds for my Paladin and Mage. Also, cemetaries are good for some fun sometimes as you train up.

What shard are you on?

 

[Bakuryu]

Ah, so overpriced because of placement, makes sense.
Thank you, I'll be checking those dungeons out.
I'll be whacking ettins at despise for now until I get a few more skillups =]

And I'm on Atlantic

 

[Beer_Cayse]

Tip: Despise ... enter and go upstairs for Lizardmen. Carve the corpses and grab the spined hides. Use scissors on them to cut into leather. Bank the hides ... when you have a few K of them, get commodity deeds and then sell them to tailors who need might need/want them.

Lizzies are decent enough and a couple areas can allow for you to use area spells, special moves and so forth as you will have several on you at a time. Whatever shard you are on, check here in the forum for pricing and make sure you get Luna and non-Luna pricing!

This level is Despise 1, you enter on 2 - only Lizardmen are on 1, so it's rather safe. When I restarted in '05 I did this and found a buyer who'd take all I could farm at 25% under Luna prices. In no time I had enough for a small custom plot S of the Trinsic swamps.

Earth Elementals carry gems that you can sell to the NPC provisioner or (I think) the Jeweler in W. Britain. Provisioner for sure.

In Deceit 1, there is one item COULD get you mangled ... and that's the brazier in the first room to the character left (West). If you double-click it and get a monster spawn, it can be anything from a Mongbat to a Dragon (not Greater as yet). Call it an Easter egg if you will, but it can be fun with Dragons, Fire Steeds, Drakes ... for sure.

Lemme see if I have any ATL characters ... it's been a while since I checked any shard other than LA (home shard).

EDIT: Yup - a wimp Elf Paladin in New Haven. BTW, New Haven offers lots of starter quests to get skills up to 50 at least. Rewards are some armor or other things that may serve you well. If in New Haven, check for K'Neth in the old town area - he'll be working Chivalry, Healing, Anatomy, Tactics and Swords ... not all at once but as cash allows! <grin>

 

[Bakuryu]

Thanks for all the tips ^^.
Lizardmen seems like a good spot, will try that in a bit.
And yeah, I've done a few instructor quests, finishing bushido to 50 right now at old haven.

 

[Beer_Cayse]

Well, I got Swords and Tactics done ... Chivalry is almost complete (48+). Next up will be Anatomy and Healing.

I forgot Elves have a bit higher Mana pool so could last a bit longer with casting! Lots of stat gains, INT is almost where I want it. Gotta love accelerated gains.

 

[Harlequin]

Remember to check out the stickied thread by Sarsmi:

http://vboards.stratics.com/showthread.php?t=136673

Has great newbie tips too!

 

[hawkeye_pike]

You made the mistake of going to Luna. You should have gone to New Haven instead. A lot of players will supply you with decent equipment for free (not the top-end stuff, but equipment that will take you VERY far nevertheless).

Once you figure things out, you will soon find out that
a) it is quite easy to earn gold in UO
b) most items in Luna vendors are not even worth 10% of what they cost.

UO is a community game (or is supposed to be one), so the best way to go is to join a guild or a group of players, where you help out each other. If you know a crafter, all you have to do is supply him with the material and he will make you good equipment.

 

[Bakuryu]

Thanks for the info all =]
I found a 70 resist armor for 50k, managed to get the gold from all the ettins killing, now it's much better, killing ants atm.
Any other place someone can recommend maybe? now that I have better resistance. Skill gains at ants is nice atm tho, hate their acid =[

 

[Beer_Cayse]

Try Shame ... Earth Elementals on level 1 can hit nicely and the area near the moongate to level 2 usually has more than 2 very close by. They drop gems, some small iron ore ...

Level 2 you can get air elementals and if you wander around in there will also find dull copper elementals, maybe a kraken or something. Then there is Despise level 4 - titans, ogre lords and cyclops I think. Amongst other stuff.

Hedge Maze is good for some Daemons in the center once you get past any pesky Imps. Also, go to the Hythloth dungeon ... nice stuff there and if you wander Fire Island long enough you will get close to the Daemon Temple. Daemons, Dragons and similar foe.

Also keep drilling into the lower levels of Deceit for Liches, poison eles and more. Bone Knights do deliver a beat-down even with all-70s armor. Been there and lived thru it ... t'was fun.

 

[Lightning 1]

Go to Wind. Outside are the valleys filled with non-acid shooting black ‘ants’
The red solen underground hive is a place to meet the red matriarch (after you rush past many acid using red ants) and drop a seed on her to make yourself a friend of the hive. Then go kill black ants for Zoogi fungus, and bring it back with 8 pitchers of water to the now friendly queen matriarch.

The reds will no longer attack and you get valuable Translocation Powder AND 500 gold. The powder sells for up to 2,000 gold each. It is used in the Bag of Sending and Pet Summoning crystal ball, and the old Binding Bracelets.