Would a template like this be effective?

[OMEN123]

I'm thinking about coming back to UO after a very long break. I've only ever played on free shards, but this time I'd like to give the officials servers (europa) a try because of the most up to date content, aswell as possibly using the enhanced client.

Now to the point. I would like to play a spellcaster with a very large array of spells, and I was hoping a more experienced player could tell me whether the template I've considered would work or not. Here's the starting template:

100 Necro
100 SS
100 Spellweaving
100 Mysticism
100 Focus
100 Magery
100 Meditation

and when I can afford it I would aim for something like this, with maybe some medi from jewelry thrown into the mix:

120 Necro
120 SS
120 Spellweaving
120 Mysticism
120 Focus
100 Magery

100 str
25 dex
100 int

I don't have a lot of experience from playing spellcasters in UO, and so I'd love to see as many aspects of spellcasting with one character as possible. I remember that back when I used to play UO on freeshards I always had several different characters for making money etc. for the characters that I actually wanted to play, and this is something that I definitely plan to avoid. Whether it is the most effective way to play or not can be debated, but nowadays I just don't have the time nor the interest to play a character for any other reason than to have fun, and regardless I would like to focus on one single character.

Having said that, I still wish my one character to have the potential to be a powerful character, and I'm not sure whether this build can work. Without the power scrolls I'm guessing I wont have trouble with mana, but how about when I drop meditation. Will wraith form, focus and some mana reg from gear be enough? Also keep in mind that I wont be able to afford any good gear, so my mana reg will probably not improve much with my gear.

Any help would be appreciated, thank you for your time.

EDIT: Coming to think of it this template lacks spell resist. How important is spell resist for pvm?

 

[OMEN123]

I've given it some thought, and I'd actually prefer one of these templates instead.

120 Necro
120 SS
120 Spellweaving
120 Magery
120 Evaluate Intelligence
100 Meditation (eventually 120)

or

120 Necro
120 SS
120 Mysticism
120 Focus
120 Magery
100 Evaluate Intelligence (eventually 120)

Which one of these specs would be more effective? My main interest is PVM, but I might want to do some PVP later on also.

 

[ReaperNI]

Mana Vamp is not fun! you get hit with that and no resist your a sitting duck. i did inter grizzle yesterday and instead of doing earth eles and eq like i use to i did rissing colouss and eqs. i had to do less rising then i would of earth eles and the combo of focus and med kept me right up at full mana. i would run this templete
120 mage eval resist mystic focus
100 med

if you can only do the 7x gm thing for now do all 100s and add in 100 spellweaving. for great spells word of deaths attunments gift of renewal and such.

BTW PVM is absolutly easy on a mage
TYR

 

[Taylor]

Your first template (necro/mage/weaver) is one of the most powerful PvM templates in UO. Soulstone weaving for 120 resist and you've got one of the best PvP templates (necro/mage). My only suggestion is: I'd go 105 necro, 115 mage, and 120 med, until you reach your 720 skill cap.

Second template also looks good, but I recommend dropping necro to 105, mage to 115, and go 120 eval int. Keep in mind that this template will be very mana-intensive. 40 lmc and plenty of mr is a must.

Note: if you plan to use a mage weapon, you'll need to keep mage at 120. If this is the case, go 110 necro/110 med in the first template and 105 necro/115 eval in the second template.

 

[ReaperNI]

although i preety leet with my necro mage. i dont mind using my mystic mage for pvm. my rissing colousses can tank just as well as any greater .TYR

 

[icm420]

I dont care the situation or circumstance no resist mage=fail in my eyes.
120 mage
120 eval
100 med
120 resist
120 mystic
100(120) focus
40-60 necro

Cant cast much on necro end but you can leech decent mana with slayer books in wraith, and for pvp you can use some necro spells vs a no resist toon.


Another thing to consider is mage suits are usually the most expensive and hardest to do, mage/caster scrolls are very expenisve and without a good set up most people have a hard time playing a mage. There is always ev and invis however.

As for pvp mage, now a days if you arn't a mystic you wont ever beat one. The game has sorta forced you into mystic mage since you can only counter mystic with mystic. (is always exceptions but if someone goes rock form and/or protection and you cant purge you should just run away cause you wont win.)

 

[OMEN123]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I have to say though that necromancy is the most important skill for me to have, and so dropping it for mysticism isn't acceptable for me even if that is less effective. Also, if what you are saying is true and mysticism is that powerful, then surely it will be nerfed at some point? Regardless, I'm not willing to drop necromancy even if it means I wont be able to pvp properly. As for spell resistance, would something like this work?

120 Necro
120 SS
120 Spellweaving
120 Magery
120 Evaluate Intelligence
70 Meditation (+30 with jewels to bring it up to 100)
30(later 50,+30 to bring it up to 60(80))

I'm guessing getting +30 to these two skills shouldn't be that expensive? And atleast this way I'd have some spell resistance. Anyway, tell me what you think.

 

[Taylor]

The reason that I recommend dropping necromancy a bit is that you do not gain much benefit by going over 105. Necromancy does not determine the damage of your necro spells - spirit speak does. At 105, you will not fizzle any spells, except occasionally vamperic embrace (which you shouldn't be using as a necro/mage, anyway). The only real difference between 105 necro and 120 necro is that your revenants will be weaker…but why on earth would you use revenants instead of EVs or Rising Colossus?

Thus, it is my assessment that you gain nothing from raising necro above 105.

 

[OMEN123]

The reason that I recommend dropping necromancy a bit is that you do not gain much benefit by going over 105. Necromancy does not determine the damage of your necro spells - spirit speak does. At 105, you will not fizzle any spells, except occasionally vamperic embrace (which you shouldn't be using as a necro/mage, anyway). The only real difference between 105 necro and 120 necro is that your revenants will be weaker…but why on earth would you use revenants instead of EVs or Rising Colossus?

Thus, it is my assessment that you gain nothing from raising necro above 105.

Thank you for clearing that up. My main interest in necromancy is animate dead, and also the caster forms. I was actually refering to the other posts though, as some people suggested to drop necromancy to 40-60, or even all together.