[Bushido] Template advice.

[Mr Mischief]

I'm still getting used to the correct terminology, but I believe I'm running a Vammy. Here's my template:

GM Necro
GM Spirit Speak
GM Swords
GM Tactics
GM Bushido
GM Parry
60 Chivalry

I'll be scrolling up when I can, and I know that Swords, Parry and Bushi are the ones I should be looking for. What I'm curious about is tactics that I should be using, what gear I should be looking for, or general template tweaking to make it more suitable for high end PvM.

What I've been doing is just sitting in VE with a good life leech weapon, but it seems like I'm wasting 100 points for one ability, since I don't use much else from Necro (I do understand that Curse Weapon is good, but is the karma loss worth it when so much of Chivalry's power comes from positive karma?)

I've read about Wraith form, where I'd switch to GM Chivalry and 60 Necro, and then CW to keep your mana/health capped. Again, is Chivalry still at it's peak level with all that karma loss?

What skills, abilities and gear should I be using to maximize my character? I'm concerned that the Fire Resist loss from VE is too much of a crutch to effectively solo most casters.

Tips, advice, strategy and any other info would be immensely appreciated.

 

[Diomedes Artega]

I would look at Connor Graham's advice for running a template. I completely agree with his advice if you plan on playing a Sampire...whatever you want to call it.

I will say this: You need Weapon as high up as you can get it for accuracy purposes. Need Bushido and Parry as high as you can get also. Template could look something like this:

Weapon 120
Bushido 120
Parry 120
Necro 100 (need 99 for Vamp form) might as well do GM.
Anatomy 100
Tactics 100 (need at least 90 to do secondary specials)
Chivalry 60

You can swap out anatomy for resist spells or spellweaving or spirit speak depending on what you are fighting. Spellweaving was just thrown in there for fun. Is just something different to do.

Chivalry just the thing with a lot of NEGATIVE karma is your spells don't last as long AND you don't cure for as much HP. Woopee...not a big deal in my book.

TACTICS:

1. Honor Opponent (make a macro for this to save you trouble)
2. Depends...me, I never do the same thing twice because of the situation.

i.e. other monsters around, so on. No monsters EoO and concentrate weapon.

3. Others will disagree perhaps but I use ornate axe and a few other 2 HAND weapons.

4. FCR/and FC are not a big deal in my book. Just stack on DI equipment, talisman or whatever to get as much DI as you can. Couple that with HCI/DCI +% and you will be good.

5. Lastly but not directly related, work on your honor. My dexxer I always keep knight of honor. Don't recall how much that helps, but eh oh well.

Carry trapped box and items if you're concerned about paralyze or poison or other debuff spells.

 

[Mr Mischief]

Do you think it'd be better to go Vamp form, or situationally go Wraith? I've seen templates that focus around both, I'm wondering what those would be best for. From what I understand, Wraith is better for longer fights because of the mana regen.

Also, what's the ideal monster for me to be fighting? Since I lack resist, I'm guessing I'll be slightly weakened against heavily caster based mobs, but since those are the main moneymakers, that poses obvious problems with a steady cash flow.

Lastly, I've been away for a very long time, how do I go about raising my honor?

 

[Diomedes Artega]

Good questions. First one meh, I would believe you are correct. I have tinkered with vamp form but never bothered with wraith form. I believe if you use wraith form though, you should have spirit speak in your template.

Ideal monster is...anything you can kill. Regular farming creatures I have done titan paragon, blood elemental paragon, succubus paragon and a few others and I did not have any trouble.

SIDE NOTE: Just remember for your weapon...2 hand if you prefer like me or not that's fine...to have mana leech, SSI, and stamina leech/life leech if you're concerned about those too. For 2 hand weapons I would not recommend a weapon with less than 20% SSI.

For raising honor, provided that you can kill these monsters...I recommend this method.

1. zero circle to seeker of honor: Ogre lord.

2. Seeker of Honor to Follower of Honor: Titan, Blood elemental, and Artic Ogre Lord. (pick all or pick your flavor).

3. Follow of Honor to Knight of Honor: Succubus.

All you do is honor the monster, then attack it. When its dead, you gain honor.

I have the above tree because that is the quickest for me to do it on a new character. I don't recommend FLYING creatures like demon, dragons or balrons because you can have a tendency or "chance" for a failure to find path...when trying to honor the creature.

You can't honor a creature if it is damaged already. Spellcaster mobs will sometimes bless themselves before attacking you. If they have, then you won't be able to honor them.

Honor is like fame in a way. The more difficult thing you can kill the more honor you gain. Honor gains slower the higher you go regardless of difficulty. i.e. just killing succubus, you will eventually gain honor at a slower rate.

Last but not least, honor can reach a point where if the creature is not difficult enough, you will not gain in honor. Just some food for thought.

 

[Mr Mischief]

Thank you for the tips.

 

[Diomedes Artega]

No problem, hope it is all of use to you

 

[Connor_Graham]

I'm still getting used to the correct terminology, but I believe I'm running a Vammy. Here's my template:

GM Necro
GM Spirit Speak
GM Swords
GM Tactics
GM Bushido
GM Parry
60 Chivalry

I'll be scrolling up when I can, and I know that Swords, Parry and Bushi are the ones I should be looking for. What I'm curious about is tactics that I should be using, what gear I should be looking for, or general template tweaking to make it more suitable for high end PvM.

The template you have right now is fine as long as you plan to scroll up the skills you mentioned before trying to take on anything high end. 120 weapon skill would be the first I would suggest as that dictates your hit rate, which is most important to a Sampire/Wammy template.

What I've been doing is just sitting in VE with a good life leech weapon, but it seems like I'm wasting 100 points for one ability, since I don't use much else from Necro (I do understand that Curse Weapon is good, but is the karma loss worth it when so much of Chivalry's power comes from positive karma?)

Try casting Curse Weapon while fighting. You'll see a dramatic increase in how much life you leech compared to just Vamp Form alone. You'll need to do a balancing act with your karma so your Chiv spells stay effective and maintain long timers. I'd also suggest you start either shopping for, or using runics to create, a different weapon which I'll describe next in answer to your question below.

I've read about Wraith form, where I'd switch to GM Chivalry and 60 Necro, and then CW to keep your mana/health capped. Again, is Chivalry still at it's peak level with all that karma loss?

You'll have to spend some time actively farming karma to keep it up to a useful level. I've found succubi in the Fan Dancer Dojo to be the best that you can get as far as karma gained and time spent to farm it.

What skills, abilities and gear should I be using to maximize my character? I'm concerned that the Fire Resist loss from VE is too much of a crutch to effectively solo most casters.

Tips, advice, strategy and any other info would be immensely appreciated.

First thing, you need a weapon that has Mana Leech, Stamina Leech, SSI & DI. These are a must have for this template. I would suggest both having a 1 hander and a 2 hander for your weapon skill so you have the option to drink potions in some cases. For your swords skill the Ornate Axe and Twinkling Scimitar would be the best, although a good Mages Rune Blade can certainly take the place of the Ornate Axe. I have all 3 so I'm ready for any situation, but it took me literally hundreds of Copper and Bronze runics to get my weapons, along with a couple of Gold hammers that I got lucky with for my Rune Blade. Anything else and you're not going to be able to function at peak efficiency. Dex should be capped at 150, with as much additional Stamina Increase as you can manage. Another must have is both HCI and DCI, preferably max with DCI.

Hope this helps. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

 

[Skelf]

I am a returning player (6 mths back now) and still getting to grips with all the changes. I have been messing about with a "Wammy" - decided not to template at this point for Sampire in light of the necro items nerf...but...

Can I ask those who run GM Necro what spells apart from Vamp they actually *need* the skill that high for?

How often do you use those skills and in what context?

I can see there might be a difference between PvP and PvM here - several of the mid range Necro spells look good in PvP

But if you are just using Vamp (and hence GM Necro) to turn yourself into a life leeching tank...I can do that in Wraith form/Curse Weapon with 40 Necro and leech through lvl4/5 poison and melee without having to cure on mobs like Miasma.

Will I need the additional leech from Vamp for top end mobs? Are current Sampires using Curse Weapon extensively?

With regard to weapon mods, I fully agree w Connor. Speed is almost the most inportant thing as you *will* go red and lose stamina and you absolutely need those hits to land and leech. With Wraith form, I can spam LS and very rarely miss, even when I have a weapon without inbuilt mana leech.

I have GM Necro stoned and can switch if advisable. One last thought is that balancing Chiv (karma) and Necro is pretty easy if you spend a little lime, as suggested, farming karma. If I were casting more necro spells due to options offered by GM Necro, I might find that balancing act more difficult.

 

[GFY]

Do you think it'd be better to go Vamp form, or situationally go Wraith? I've seen templates that focus around both, I'm wondering what those would be best for. From what I understand, Wraith is better for longer fights because of the mana regen.

Also, what's the ideal monster for me to be fighting? Since I lack resist, I'm guessing I'll be slightly weakened against heavily caster based mobs, but since those are the main moneymakers, that poses obvious problems with a steady cash flow.

Lastly, I've been away for a very long time, how do I go about raising my honor?

The best thing about is try one thing then if you deciede you don't like it swap to something else.

As for what to fight... I would start small and work my way up. Start with Cyclopean warriors, then take on a Titan. If you have a hard time with a Titan (because of they cast spells) switch to an Ogre Lord or an Arctic Ogre Lord. When you get good at these you can head over to Tokuno and try a Hiryu (70 physical resist in a must for Hiryu hunting and beware of them dismounting you) or some of the other things that spawn near them. (Be careful of Ninjas near the Hiryus, their sneeky buggers!) Then you can try Cu Sidhe hunting in Twisted Weald if you get bored with Tokuno.

Check out the monster guide on stratics for more ideas on what to hunt if you get bored.

http://uo.stratics.com/database/view.php?db_content=hunters&id=352