Returning after 10+ years, questions about builds and locations

[lennh]

HI all, I recently returned to Britannia after more than 10 years and are totally overwhelmed by the changes.

Played for a couple weeks, been reading lots of stuff and enjoying my return so far, but I have a few questions, hopefully someone could give me a hand:

1. For PVM Warrior only, Is there any warrior build that does not involve Chivary/Necromancy?
I see a lot of sampires, and of course various chivalry builds, sometimes mixed with buishido.
but I don't think I have seen any build that does not use with necro/chivalry. I don't think I have seen
any bushido only build, ninjitsu seems primarily used for pvp purpose and is non existent in PVM builds,
at least from what I have read.
Is there any non-main stream build that could work effectively without chivary/necro? I have no problem
with them, just want to know if there is anything special I could try.

2. Is there a rough difficulty rating for the various places? I have only played T2A, never seen ilshenar or
any other new lands. All the new locations are overwhelming to me. It doesn't need to be in detail at all.
just some very rough guideline.
I assume the anti virtual dungeons, along with other places in Britannia are considered relatively easy?
T2A probably would be similar in difficulty too? What about ilshenar vs malas vs tokuno vs Ter Mur? Do they just scale in difficulty according to timeline? Or perhaps the line is not very clearly defined?

Thanks

 

[Basara]

Chivalry was designed with PvM in mind, and was originally Karma-based when it was introduced 13 years ago. It's been since corrupted by demands it be made more useful for PvP, where they made it skill-level-based, and cut the heart out of the skill.

Bushido's limited number of spells tends to lead to its combination with other skills, not be a stand-alone. Chivalry is the more natural combination; but...

Necromancy used with Bushido was a mistake the devs never should have made, but now it's the go-to "easy" button for PvM, and all they've done to correct it is make it slightly harder to maintain a suit for. Originally, one could put a suit on to raise Necro 50-70 points, cast Vampiric Embrace, then take the suit off and stay Vampire. They made it to where you had to keep the skill on to maintain the change, but all that did was alter the builds - some went for a suit that kept the necro on, others changed to Archery (or throwing for Gargoyle), and switched from using vampire form to wraith form (saving skill points, and allowing the user to keep high Spirit Speak for healing, and powering spells like Wither). Either one dominates weapon combat, and can do damage equal to an older party of several people.

Necro supercharges Bushido, which is why the two are used together.
Chivalry optimizes combat.

So, Bushido/Necro or Chivalry (or all 3 combined) is used by most melee PvM. A build without any of them really won't cut it for PvM weapon combat anymore. Use New Haven's skill quests to add the ones you choose (I'd recommend starting with Chivalry, and getting used to it before trying Necro and Bushido), then acquire the jewelry and other equipment to boost skills further. Especially, if you have Time of Legends and Stygian Abyss, try to get the new ring from the Kotl event (costs 50 items turned in), as it will allow you +20 in a casting skill of your choosing, plus bonuses to meditation and spell resist. Or, get jewelry custom imbued for you with 40-50 points of skills specific to your template on each. As you get more used to the modern system, you can adjust things further.


As for difficulty, Ilshenar has various levels of difficulty. Certain areas are safe for positive karma, but dangerous for negative (Sacrifice and Spirituality regions). The others are various danger levels, ranging from so-so near the virtue gates, to very dangerous at chaos gate, and as you get further from the gates everywhere else. The dungeons are fairly high-risk, and the Ilshenar champion spawns have a thicker spawn level than the Fel ones (even if the terrain was safer). The addition of Paragons
about 11 or 12 years ago make Ilshenar even more dangerous. Some of the areas in Ilshenar from 3D & LBR no longer exist as a result of the return of the "True Blackthorn" 4 years ago, though some of the minions of Exodus & Minax, who created the false Blackthorn cyborg remain.

Note that several of the Trammel Dungeons have been altered several times over that period, with Wrong undergoing a change during LBR that wasn't undone until a few years ago, then the spawn types of Wrong, Covetous, Despise and Shame altered radically (though still loosely based on their old types).

Age Of Shadows added very little dangerous overland areas in Malas (most dangerous were the lost pyramid in the Umbra desert, or outside Doom), but added the Doom dungeon, which is very dangerous, and has a key-entry sub-dungeon called the Gauntlet. Other Malas dungeons were added in Mondain's Legacy.

Samurai Empire added Tokuno, based on the lands of the Feudal Lords from the earliest Ultima games. Tokuno has the most dangerous overland spawn in the game. The dungeons are even more dangerous. There is a boss fights that require keys (see ML below), and an Ilshenar-type champ spawn using Tokuno monsters.

Mondain's Legacy added Elves (which had been a part of Ultima lore prior to Ultima IV), two elven cities (one of which, Sanctuary, is at the back of a lethal dungeon, the other in the middle of a Yew that the Elves restored from its near-destruction in LBR), and a bunch of dungeons with lethal boss monsters to all the continents. Malas got The Labyrinth on the island between the two continents and Bedlam under the Umbra healer, Tokuno got the Citadel of Travesty (I don't think it existed before then), Ilshenar got The Twisted Weald, T2A (both sides) got Paroxysmus' lair, and Tram/Fel got the Blighted Grove. All are dangerous in their own right, just going into them to fight to get the keys, let alone the boss fights (some require keys, some advance like a champ)

Stygian Abyss added Ter Mur, the gargoyle homeland, and Gargoyle PCs. The Underworld and Stygian Abyss were inspired by Ultima VII's side game elements, and have several many boss fights, two Fel-style champs, and a couple of full scale boss fights. The overland spawn can be dangerous (especially if the void creatures are present, and the areas that hosted global events in the past).

Eodon is the Time of Legends expansion, influenced by the Savage Lands of the Ultima VII era games. Several boss fights, and Dinosaurs that are a nightmare to fight.

 

[Diomedes Artega]

Wow Basara, lol awesome tidbit summary of each one.

I've used ninjitsu in pvm templates but it's just not very strong by itself and lends itself to being a supportive skill just like bushido is so to speak.

 

[lennh]

Wow I did not expect expect such a detailed response at all, I am truly awed. Thanks a lot for the info!

 

[Drakelord]

A Summary for Returning Players – Ultima Online