[Magery] Looking for advice for a returning Mage player.

[nvmvoidrays]

yo.

so, i haven't played UO since pre-AoS days, so, pretty much EVERYTHING i know is... more or less useless, haha.

anyway, i'm just wondering... other than the obvious, what are good skills to compliment mages? so far, all i know:

Magery
Evaluating Intelligence
Meditation

that's it.

i'm trying to figure out what else i'd benefit from. i believe that Inscription is good? Spellweaving looked interesting too.

i used to do Taming too, but, it seems like they've made Animal Lore/Vet more or less necessary, meaning that i'd be impossible for me to probably squeeze Taming in with the three necessary Magery skills and Spellweaving, unless I dropped, say, Inscription. Can Inscription even get to 120 (or is there any use to hit 120?)

how much dexterity should i be shooting for? mine is currently at 32. i was thinking about capping at 35. i'm guessing i could go lower, yeah?

thanks for any help.

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

Kinda hard to say where to start. There's no end of Mage templates. You can easily hybrid with pretty much everything depending on what sort of character you're looking to end up with. You don't necessarily NEED Eval, or Med, on a template you can use Magery just for the Healing/Curing/traveling/Invising/Summoning/melee defense aspects.

Spellweaving is fantastic but I think at this stage I'd probably not make much sense to you trying to explain why.

You don't really need any Dex on a caster for PvM, so 10-15 is usually plenty. I usually have 10 these days, though it's sometimes better to have 15 for if you get Cursed/Clumseyd and damaged you can end up walking when you need to run.

Inscription can only go to 100. It has a few uses besides Inscribing scrolls/books. The most useful of which are 10 Spell Damage Increase for Mage spells at 100 Inscription, 5% Casting Focus (chance not to be interrupted while casting), crafting Scrapper's Compendium's (a spellbook with several mods, if you get a slayer one they can be worth a good amount)

I would read UOguide on any terms you hear that you are interested in and then ask more specific questions about them.

Also look into mastery's, these are like a specialisation in one of the skills you have once you have over 90 skill (usually 2-3 extra abilities/spells)

I would suggest deciding on how you want to fight/hunt/heal/defend if you're going to be a Tamer that sticks a Greater Dragon on the target and sits back until it wins (which is more possible than ever with Taming mastery consume damage), plus Greater Dragons high resists.

The best Magery templates hybrid with; Necro (you're a caster you kill things with spells this compliments Magery very well), Bards (you're a Bard you kill things with spellsongs Bard mastery's/summons/spells), Mysticism (you're a summoner, you use Rising Colossus it's like a summonable Greater Dragon that Armor Ignores), Taming (you use pets for attack or defense or both, with or without added support from spells and other skills). Spellweaving (many support spells plus Word Of Death a big damage finisher, plus great mastery's) You can combine more than one of these such as a Mage/Discord/Tamer, Necro/Mage/Spellweaver.

You probably need to familiarise yourself with item properties more than anything; in general you're going to want equipment with Lower Reagent Cost (LRC) you can get 100 of this and you don't need reagents to cast spells, Lower Mana Cost (LMC) you can get 40 of this (more if you're non med/Focus based but not going in to that now) this reduces the mana your spells cost, Mana Regen (MR) helps restore your mana works better with Med/Focus on your template maximum is 30 on your gear, Faster Casting & Faster Casting Recovery (FC/FCR) you can get 2/6 respectively, 4/6 for Spellweaving this allows you to cast faster and recover faster after casting (at 6 there is no delay before you can cast again). Most likely some sort of melee defense there is a whole explanation of this in another thread somewhere near the top of this forum that I wrote out not too long ago. You also want resists which are now split in to physical/fire/cold/poison/energy you want 70 of each minimum. Those are probably the essentials for the time being. With LRC and FC/FCR being the top priority.

 

[Merus]

yo.

so, i haven't played UO since pre-AoS days, so, pretty much EVERYTHING i know is... more or less useless, haha.

anyway, i'm just wondering... other than the obvious, what are good skills to compliment mages? so far, all i know:

Magery
Evaluating Intelligence
Meditation

that's it.

i'm trying to figure out what else i'd benefit from. i believe that Inscription is good? Spellweaving looked interesting too.

i used to do Taming too, but, it seems like they've made Animal Lore/Vet more or less necessary, meaning that i'd be impossible for me to probably squeeze Taming in with the three necessary Magery skills and Spellweaving, unless I dropped, say, Inscription. Can Inscription even get to 120 (or is there any use to hit 120?)

how much dexterity should i be shooting for? mine is currently at 32. i was thinking about capping at 35. i'm guessing i could go lower, yeah?

thanks for any help.

I would recommend a mystic/Mage/spellweaver template. If you have the Stygian Abyss expansion make a new gargoyle (they can move at mounted speed by flying even with a Rising Col cast).

Start with magery, eval, med, and focus... Then add mystic... Then add spellweaving.

Lock your dex at 10 and let both strength and Intel max out (both will hit 125 with a 25 stat scroll). Once you get a good suit going you can adjust those based on the 150 stat cap.

It's a pretty easy character to train with an lrc suit, a pretty easy template to gear up with nice items, and one of the most versatile characters there is (IMO). I have built one on every North American shard.

 

[nvmvoidrays]

Kinda hard to say where to start. There's no end of Mage templates. You can easily hybrid with pretty much everything depending on what sort of character you're looking to end up with. You don't necessarily NEED Eval, or Med, on a template you can use Magery just for the Healing/Curing/traveling/Invising/Summoning/melee defense aspects.

Spellweaving is fantastic but I think at this stage I'd probably not make much sense to you trying to explain why.

You don't really need any Dex on a caster for PvM, so 10-15 is usually plenty. I usually have 10 these days, though it's sometimes better to have 15 for if you get Cursed/Clumseyd and damaged you can end up walking when you need to run.

Inscription can only go to 100. It has a few uses besides Inscribing scrolls/books. The most useful of which are 10 Spell Damage Increase for Mage spells at 100 Inscription, 5% Casting Focus (chance not to be interrupted while casting), crafting Scrapper's Compendium's (a spellbook with several mods, if you get a slayer one they can be worth a good amount)

I would read UOguide on any terms you hear that you are interested in and then ask more specific questions about them.

Also look into mastery's, these are like a specialisation in one of the skills you have once you have over 90 skill (usually 2-3 extra abilities/spells)

I would suggest deciding on how you want to fight/hunt/heal/defend if you're going to be a Tamer that sticks a Greater Dragon on the target and sits back until it wins (which is more possible than ever with Taming mastery consume damage), plus Greater Dragons high resists.

The best Magery templates hybrid with; Necro (you're a caster you kill things with spells this compliments Magery very well), Bards (you're a Bard you kill things with spellsongs Bard mastery's/summons/spells), Mysticism (you're a summoner, you use Rising Colossus it's like a summonable Greater Dragon that Armor Ignores), Taming (you use pets for attack or defense or both, with or without added support from spells and other skills). Spellweaving (many support spells plus Word Of Death a big damage finisher, plus great mastery's) You can combine more than one of these such as a Mage/Discord/Tamer, Necro/Mage/Spellweaver.

You probably need to familiarise yourself with item properties more than anything; in general you're going to want equipment with Lower Reagent Cost (LRC) you can get 100 of this and you don't need reagents to cast spells, Lower Mana Cost (LMC) you can get 40 of this (more if you're non med/Focus based but not going in to that now) this reduces the mana your spells cost, Mana Regen (MR) helps restore your mana works better with Med/Focus on your template maximum is 30 on your gear, Faster Casting & Faster Casting Recovery (FC/FCR) you can get 2/6 respectively, 4/6 for Spellweaving this allows you to cast faster and recover faster after casting (at 6 there is no delay before you can cast again). Most likely some sort of melee defense there is a whole explanation of this in another thread somewhere near the top of this forum that I wrote out not too long ago. You also want resists which are now split in to physical/fire/cold/poison/energy you want 70 of each minimum. Those are probably the essentials for the time being. With LRC and FC/FCR being the top priority.

whew, that's a lot of good info.

i'm actually gonna use Magery as my main damage source, so, i've heard that i need Evaluate Intelligence, otherwise Magery does crap for damage. i suppose i should keep Meditation for now since i have... very little mana regeneration. it's good to know that I only need very little DEX. i have it at 32, atm, but i put it to lower, so, it'll start going down when i hit the stat cap, yeah, to be replaced by STR, right?

i didn't realize that Inscription can only hit 100, so, that's nice to know. i was mostly interested in Taming because that's what I used to do and having pets to defend me is always nice.

thanks for letting me know what i should look for. i do have 100% LRC. i kinda made sure to get that ASAP via farming the earth elements in the New Haven Mines.

I would recommend a mystic/Mage/spellweaver template. If you have the Stygian Abyss expansion make a new gargoyle (they can move at mounted speed by flying even with a Rising Col cast).

Start with magery, eval, med, and focus... Then add mystic... Then add spellweaving.

Lock your dex at 10 and let both strength and Intel max out (both will hit 125 with a 25 stat scroll). Once you get a good suit going you can adjust those based on the 150 stat cap.

It's a pretty easy character to train with an lrc suit, a pretty easy template to gear up with nice items, and one of the most versatile characters there is (IMO). I have built one on every North American shard.

whats the advantage of Mysticism? wouldn't getting all three spell schools be... overkill? wouldn't they start overlapping?

 

[Merus]

whew, that's a lot of good info.

i'm actually gonna use Magery as my main damage source, so, i've heard that i need Evaluate Intelligence, otherwise Magery does crap for damage. i suppose i should keep Meditation for now since i have... very little mana regeneration. it's good to know that I only need very little DEX. i have it at 32, atm, but i put it to lower, so, it'll start going down when i hit the stat cap, yeah, to be replaced by STR, right?

i didn't realize that Inscription can only hit 100, so, that's nice to know. i was mostly interested in Taming because that's what I used to do and having pets to defend me is always nice.

thanks for letting me know what i should look for. i do have 100% LRC. i kinda made sure to get that ASAP via farming the earth elements in the New Haven Mines.



whats the advantage of Mysticism? wouldn't getting all three spell schools be... overkill? wouldn't they start overlapping?

The two big advantages of mystic is cleansing wind (heals, cures & removes curses all in 1 spell) and RC (5 slot very powerful summons that can AI). Other useful spells include nether cyclone (cold damage AOE spell) and stone form (75 in all resists and poison immunity).

Spellweaving has WOD. With a level 6 focus and high SDI, I regularly do 900+ damage per spell. Gift of renewal and gift of life are also very good protective spells. Essence of wind is one of my favorites for large groups of low level spawn (level 1/2 of champ spawns, etc).

Personally, on my main shard I have a Mage/spellweaver and 3 sets of soulstones: taming/lore, mystic/focus, and Necro/Spirit speak. Depending on where I am going I swap out for what works best.

 

[nvmvoidrays]

The two big advantages of mystic is cleansing wind (heals, cures & removes curses all in 1 spell) and RC (5 slot very powerful summons that can AI). Other useful spells include nether cyclone (cold damage AOE spell) and stone form (75 in all resists and poison immunity).

Spellweaving has WOD. With a level 6 focus and high SDI, I regularly do 900+ damage per spell. Gift of renewal and gift of life are also very good protective spells. Essence of wind is one of my favorites for large groups of low level spawn (level 1/2 of champ spawns, etc).

Personally, on my main shard I have a Mage/spellweaver and 3 sets of soulstones: taming/lore, mystic/focus, and Necro/Spirit speak. Depending on where I am going I swap out for what works best.

hmm, i see. i'll look into those further, then, but i do know i want Magery/Spellweaving, at least.

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

hmm, i see. i'll look into those further, then, but i do know i want Magery/Spellweaving, at least.

Chances are then, that you're going to want to use the Spellweaving mastery's when you get to 90. They are very good, you have Summon Reaper, which is a 5 slot summon, it can cast Word Of Death (a non buffed/SDI version still 300 damage), and does an area damage that tends to be good at pulling aggro from monsters. Plus Mana Shield which has a chance to reduce damage by using some of your mana, this is great because it works on all damage types including some that otherwise can't be blocked, like breath, Minotaur stomps, specials, etc. Try and get a level 3 Spellweaving mastery primer as soon as you can.

I'd recommend 100 Anatomy 120 Eval, this will give you 120 Defensive Wrestling which will mean you can hold spellbooks/shields (which can have some great mods) in your hands and not get hit/interrupted by melee as much.

 

[nvmvoidrays]

Chances are then, that you're going to want to use the Spellweaving mastery's when you get to 90. They are very good, you have Summon Reaper, which is a 5 slot summon, it can cast Word Of Death (a non buffed/SDI version still 300 damage), and does an area damage that tends to be good at pulling aggro from monsters. Plus Mana Shield which has a chance to reduce damage by using some of your mana, this is great because it works on all damage types including some that otherwise can't be blocked, like breath, Minotaur stomps, specials, etc. Try and get a level 3 Spellweaving mastery primer as soon as you can.

I'd recommend 100 Anatomy 120 Eval, this will give you 120 Defensive Wrestling which will mean you can hold spellbooks/shields (which can have some great mods) in your hands and not get hit/interrupted by melee as much.

ha, i'm still working up my skills. i'm only sitting around 64~ magery, so, i don't think i could complete the spellweaving quest, especially since i don't have a lot of money to buy all the items i need to complete it.

i honestly didn't realize that Anatomy + Evaluating Intelligence added defensive bonuses. i'll see if i can fit it into my build. i wanted to do:

120 Magery
120 Spellweaving
120 Evaluating Intelligence
100 Meditation
100 Inscription

i wasn't sure what else to get since that's only 560/720. i have 100 Focus atm as well, but, i was gonna drop it when i figured out what else i wanted. is the Anatomy + EI defensive bonus good?

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

The full explanation can be found here in post #4:
weapon defense

In short 120 Eval, 100 Anatomy is the same as having 120 Wrestling (without the ability to hit anything, or use the special moves), this means that anything hitting you with 120 Wrestling/weapon skill has 50% chance to miss, this can then be tipped further in your favour by having DCI (up to 45) on your equipment. Most monsters have less than 120 Wrestling to begin with. With no melee defense you will get hit 100% of the time by anything with over 40 Wrestling (rough guess) if you are human (because of Jack Of All Trades racial ability you have effectively 20 in every skill), or 20 on any other race.

The Spellweaving quest is extremely easy, and the things you need to buy cost very little (a few k), you will also need to do separate quests for Summon Fiend/Summon Fey the Fey one is worth doing and not too difficult I'd do the Fiend one just for completeness at a later time. Magery is also extremely easy to train and can be GM'd in about an hour, use a -29 Mage Weapon to lower your skill and train at a lower level the gains are faster.

 

[nvmvoidrays]

The full explanation can be found here in post #4:
weapon defense

In short 120 Eval, 100 Anatomy is the same as having 120 Wrestling (without the ability to hit anything, or use the special moves), this means that anything hitting you with 120 Wrestling/weapon skill has 50% chance to miss, this can then be tipped further in your favour by having DCI (up to 45) on your equipment. Most monsters have less than 120 Wrestling to begin with. With no melee defense you will get hit 100% of the time by anything with over 40 Wrestling (rough guess) if you are human (because of Jack Of All Trades racial ability you have effectively 20 in every skill), or 20 on any other race.

The Spellweaving quest is extremely easy, and the things you need to buy cost very little (a few k), you will also need to do separate quests for Summon Fiend/Summon Fey the Fey one is worth doing and not too difficult I'd do the Fiend one just for completeness at a later time. Magery is also extremely easy to train and can be GM'd in about an hour, use a -29 Mage Weapon to lower your skill and train at a lower level the gains are faster.

hmm, i see. it might be worth getting up, then, since i don't really have much else i'd like to get, since, Taming requires both Animal Lore and Veterinarian. i could go for Mystcism as the other poster suggested, but, I wouldn't have enough points to flesh it out, really.

i'm guessing the defensive bonuses work even if i have an actual weapon equipped, correct?

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

hmm, i see. it might be worth getting up, then, since i don't really have much else i'd like to get, since, Taming requires both Animal Lore and Veterinarian. i could go for Mystcism as the other poster suggested, but, I wouldn't have enough points to flesh it out, really.

i'm guessing the defensive bonuses work even if i have an actual weapon equipped, correct?

Not for Anat + Eval no. If you have a weapon equipped, that isn't a Mage Weapon, you would need the corresponding weapon skill such as Swords. If it's Mage Weapon then you would need +Magery on your equipment to negate the penalty. If you rely on a Mage Weapon and switch to spellbooks for the slayer bonus then unless you have Wrestling or Defensive Wrestling you have no melee defense. Ssome people switch between books/Mage Weapons but then you need your suit/template equipped for both. As there is no SDI cap in PvM using slayer books is often the preferred choice,

Taming doesn't really require both these days. There is a mastery called Consume Damage which practically makes them invulnerable. If they are losing you can simply log out to automatically stable them/get them out of danger. There are also pet summoning balls which bring them to your location. Pet resurrection potions and the stable master NPC resurrects dead pets. The most you really need for anything is 110 Taming/110 Lore.

Mysticism is hugely defensive and mostly about summoning Rising Colossus. It's a lot of skill points for one useful offense spell. Healing/curing with Magery is quicker, as Cleansing Wind is a 6th circle spell and becomes less effective the more effects it removes at the same time. It's pretty hard to die on a Mystic, but it's also pretty hard to die on a Spellweaver, which is ultimately more useful and cost effective in terms of skill points. If you were going with Mysticism you would have 120 Mysticism/Focus and could remove Med from the template, make the armour non medable, and have 55 LMC. You would have less regen in general but would use less mana on bigger spells such as Arcane Empowerment/Rising Colossus/Word Of Death.

Bard skills, Resisting Spells, Poisoning, Necro, are all other good options. You might even consider taking off Inscription for something else.

 

[nvmvoidrays]

Not for Anat + Eval no. If you have a weapon equipped, that isn't a Mage Weapon, you would need the corresponding weapon skill such as Swords. If it's Mage Weapon then you would need +Magery on your equipment to negate the penalty. If you rely on a Mage Weapon and switch to spellbooks for the slayer bonus then unless you have Wrestling or Defensive Wrestling you have no melee defense. Ssome people switch between books/Mage Weapons but then you need your suit/template equipped for both. As there is no SDI cap in PvM using slayer books is often the preferred choice,

Taming doesn't really require both these days. There is a mastery called Consume Damage which practically makes them invulnerable. If they are losing you can simply log out to automatically stable them/get them out of danger. There are also pet summoning balls which bring them to your location. Pet resurrection potions and the stable master NPC resurrects dead pets. The most you really need for anything is 110 Taming/110 Lore.

Mysticism is hugely defensive and mostly about summoning Rising Colossus. It's a lot of skill points for one useful offense spell. Healing/curing with Magery is quicker, as Cleansing Wind is a 6th circle spell and becomes less effective the more effects it removes at the same time. It's pretty hard to die on a Mystic, but it's also pretty hard to die on a Spellweaver, which is ultimately more useful and cost effective in terms of skill points. If you were going with Mysticism you would have 120 Mysticism/Focus and could remove Med from the template, make the armour non medable, and have 55 LMC. You would have less regen in general but would use less mana on bigger spells such as Arcane Empowerment/Rising Colossus/Word Of Death.

Bard skills, Resisting Spells, Poisoning, Necro, are all other good options. You might even consider taking off Inscription for something else.

yeah, i meant while using a Mage Weapon, sorry. that means the Anatomy + Evaluation bonus still applies, yeah?

i actually wanted Inscription for the bonus spell damage increase, which, seemed useful. plus, i can make that one special spellbook since i'm guessing the good ones on the vendors are probably absurdly expensive for my new status, so, i don't have much in the way of money.

i think i'll go with the Anatomy idea, especially since I have no other clue what else to get. I could fill the last points with Resisting Magic. i know its not as useful in PvE due to less status effects, but, Mage NPCs are brutal.

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

yeah, i meant while using a Mage Weapon, sorry. that means the Anatomy + Evaluation bonus still applies, yeah?

i actually wanted Inscription for the bonus spell damage increase, which, seemed useful. plus, i can make that one special spellbook since i'm guessing the good ones on the vendors are probably absurdly expensive for my new status, so, i don't have much in the way of money.

i think i'll go with the Anatomy idea, especially since I have no other clue what else to get. I could fill the last points with Resisting Magic. i know its not as useful in PvE due to less status effects, but, Mage NPCs are brutal.

No, while using a Mage Weapon it uses your Mage skill only, and Anatomy would only serve to increase the weapons base damage.

Inscription gives 10 SDI at 100, but those 100 points could also be put towards getting Necro/SS or Music/Discord which would give scope for a lot more damage and versatility.

Poisoning is better at curing poison than Resist is at preventing it, plus you need less points for it, and can cast deadly poison fields.

Up to you obviously, just trying to give you the full picture.

 

[nvmvoidrays]

No, while using a Mage Weapon it uses your Mage skill only, and Anatomy would only serve to increase the weapons base damage.

Inscription gives 10 SDI at 100, but those 100 points could also be put towards getting Necro/SS or Music/Discord which would give scope for a lot more damage and versatility.

Poisoning is better at curing poison than Resist is at preventing it, plus you need less points for it, and can cast deadly poison fields.

Up to you obviously, just trying to give you the full picture.

yeah, that's something i was gonna ask: assuming i go with 100 Anatomy and use the last 60 points on either Resist or Poisoning, but, i don't know how useful Posioning is in PvE nor what high-level monsters look like, so, i have no idea how useful Resist would be. for all i know, 60 could be utterly worthless (and might be).

if the formula on the wiki is right, its Magery + Poisoning / 2. so, 120 + 60 / 2 would be 90, effectively giving me level 3 skill, yeah? if i can get +20 to either Magery or Posioning, that'd give me the last bump to use Deadly Posion, right?

btw, thanks for answering all my questions. you've been a huge help.

 

[Merus]

If you are human/elf I think the anatomy thing is kinda wasted points:

If you find yourself in need of defensive capability, you just need the new shaman staff... 0 Mage penalty. Holding that one item gives you just as much defense as 100 anatomy and is easily swapped out for a slayer or sdi spellbook for casting at range.

IMO, the only time defense is really critical is PvP... Between EV or the summon reaper from Mage/Spellweaver, it's just too easy to not get close to the monster. Even without the staff on my gargoyle (since there isn't a gargoyle version) I almost never die to a PvM melee attack.

 

[Merus]

yeah, that's something i was gonna ask: assuming i go with 100 Anatomy and use the last 60 points on either Resist or Poisoning, but, i don't know how useful Posioning is in PvE nor what high-level monsters look like, so, i have no idea how useful Resist would be. for all i know, 60 could be utterly worthless (and might be).

btw, thanks for answering all my questions. you've been a huge help.

Resist is useful for about 3 spells in PvM: Paralyze, Mana Vamp, & Blood Oath. Para is easily countered by a trapped box. Apples counter Blood Oath. Mana regen handles Mana Vamp pretty easy for a Mage. Out of 20+ PvM mages across the shards, none of them run resist (or anatomy)... There are just too many other options that yield better returns.

PvP would be a different story... ALL of my pvp mages run 120 resist.

 

[nvmvoidrays]

Resist is useful for about 3 spells in PvM: Paralyze, Mana Vamp, & Blood Oath. Para is easily countered by a trapped box. Apples counter Blood Oath. Mana regen handles Mana Vamp pretty easy for a Mage. Out of 20+ PvM mages across the shards, none of them run resist (or anatomy)... There are just too many other options that yield better returns.

PvP would be a different story... ALL of my pvp mages run 120 resist.

hmm, i see. i don't plan on doing PvP (yet), so, Resist isn't too important for me at this exact moment.

do you have any suggestions on what i could do to round out my build, keeping in line with the skills i listed above? Poisoning does sound interesting and i wouldn't need to hit 100 with it, either, if the Magery + Poison / 2 is true. i could take it to 80 and get Deadly Posion applied.

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

yeah, that's something i was gonna ask: assuming i go with 100 Anatomy and use the last 60 points on either Resist or Poisoning, but, i don't know how useful Posioning is in PvE nor what high-level monsters look like, so, i have no idea how useful Resist would be. for all i know, 60 could be utterly worthless (and might be).

if the formula on the wiki is right, its Magery + Poisoning / 2. so, 120 + 60 / 2 would be 90, effectively giving me level 3 skill, yeah? if i can get +20 to either Magery or Posioning, that'd give me the last bump to use Deadly Posion, right?

btw, thanks for answering all my questions. you've been a huge help.

Poisoning is very good in PvM, you would want 120 Magery, 80 Poisoning. Aside from offense it is very good at Curing you.

60-80 Resist is not worth having imo, it is one of those skills that is either 120 or 0, as it is so easy to gain I would throw your spare points in it while you're training up the other skills (after Med/Focus that is) for if you do decide to do the Spellweaving quest it's semi useful.

Melee defense is always worth having and should be a top consideration when building anything, people that don't have it die often, usually because they're pretty bad at mobility, positioning and spell timing to begin with. There are ever more monsters being added to the game that will put you on foot or in forced walk and outrun you and that use Archery (think Blackthorn Captains, Medusa). Defensive Wrestling allows you to pretty much stand and fight in most situations, it also allows you to do things like Harm spam Rikktor or a Parragon Greater Dragon without too much issue, it is also useful on templates like Necros and Spellweavers that use area spells for clearing large groups of spawn some of which have long cast times, with Anatomy you will have the bonus SDI from holding a book and the defense at the same time. I currently have a Necro/Mage/Weaver who clears an entire screen of spawn with 2 Thunderstorms, without melee defense he would get hit and fizzle. Yeah you can play in Protection but then you're that much slower at casting and take the damage from spells instead and then spend your time healing instead of attacking. Another huge plus to having Anatomy over Mage Weapons is that you can't be Disarmed (well, you can have the book Disarmed from you, but you still maintain the defense), there are monsters that Disarm.

As a returning player I doubt you'd have the money or need for the Shaman Staff, it's not a particularly good item mod wise for PvM or PvP, and as a returning player it's another macro to think about switching between book/weapon.

 

[Merus]

hmm, i see. i don't plan on doing PvP (yet), so, Resist isn't too important for me at this exact moment.

do you have any suggestions on what i could do to round out my build, keeping in line with the skills i listed above? Poisoning does sound interesting and i wouldn't need to hit 100 with it, either, if the Magery + Poison / 2 is true. i could take it to 80 and get Deadly Posion applied.

A lot of that is really dependent on what you do (or do most) with the character.

Starting with a base of:
120 Magery
120 Eval
120 Spellweaving
100 Scribe
20 Med

The options I would can see:

120 Mystic/120 Focus - This gives you the most powerful summons ingame plus a more powerful healing spell for you and a party. Stone form is great for high poison encounters. This is a great template for playing in a group... you can drop the RC against whatever mobs are around, use Cleansing Wind for group heals, etc. Focus helps ofset the low med in the template and provides the SDI bonus for offensive Mystic spells. Most useful as a gargoyle.

120 Necro/120 SS - Gives you wraith form for awesome mana leech. Great with wither, but really kicks butt with Essence of Wind/WOD. Corpse Skin is also nice. Probably the best mage template for champ spawns. Takes me about 19 minutes to solo a despise with this template. You could also consider swapping out scribe for poisoning with this template. With the newer mob AI, even deadly poison fields aren't all that useful in PvM... DP fields are really a PvP thing. I would stick with Scribe for the SDI boost.

120 Taming/Lore - For those times when you need something with a little more oomf than a RC. Most useful as a gargoyle

120 Music/ 120 Provoke - For crowd control of higher end mobs.

 

[Merus]

Poisoning is very good in PvM, you would want 120 Magery, 80 Poisoning. Aside from offense it is very good at Curing you.

60-80 Resist is not worth having imo, it is one of those skills that is either 120 or 0, as it is so easy to gain I would throw your spare points in it while you're training up the other skills (after Med/Focus that is) for if you do decide to do the Spellweaving quest it's semi useful.

Melee defense is always worth having and should be a top consideration when building anything, people that don't have it die often, usually because they're pretty bad at mobility, positioning and spell timing to begin with. There are ever more monsters being added to the game that will put you on foot or in forced walk and outrun you and that use Archery (think Blackthorn Captains, Medusa). Defensive Wrestling allows you to pretty much stand and fight in most situations, it also allows you to do things like Harm spam Rikktor or a Parragon Greater Dragon without too much issue, it is also useful on templates like Necros and Spellweavers that use area spells for clearing large groups of spawn some of which have long cast times, with Anatomy you will have the bonus SDI from holding a book and the defense at the same time. I currently have a Necro/Mage/Weaver who clears an entire screen of spawn with 2 Thunderstorms, without melee defense he would get hit and fizzle. Yeah you can play in Protection but then you're that much slower at casting and take the damage from spells instead and then spend your time healing instead of attacking. Another huge plus to having Anatomy over Mage Weapons is that you can't be Disarmed (well, you can have the book Disarmed from you, but you still maintain the defense), there are monsters that Disarm.

As a returning player I doubt you'd have the money or need for the Shaman Staff, it's not a particularly good item mod wise for PvM or PvP, and as a returning player it's another macro to think about switching between book/weapon.

I think if you're trying to stand and fight as a mage you're doing it wrong...
As far as poisoning... it has its uses, but a single wither from a necro or nether cyclone from a mystic is going to do way more damage.

To each his own I suppose.

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

I think if you're trying to stand and fight as a mage you're doing it wrong...
As far as poisoning... it has its uses, but a single wither from a necro or nether cyclone from a mystic is going to do way more damage.

To each his own I suppose.

I think that's tremendously naive. There's no try about it if you're set up right to begin with. There are many situations where you are much better off being able to stand and fight than you are failing at running away. Like vs Parragons, like vs Dismounted, like vs Splinter, like vs Archers, like vs anything who's weakest resist is cold when you are a Mage, even when you're not a Mage Wither doesn't work off SDI or Slayers, (I'm assuming you meant Hailstorm as Nether Cyclone is Chaos damage, read: useless) Hailstorm is a top circle spell (meaning high mana cost and cast time) compared to Harm, so while you blow your mana in 4-6 Hailstorms the person using Harm can do it indefinitely and generate more damage. Also, who wants to be out of mana on a Weaver, when you're coming up to WOD time?

Completely disagree with the Poison comment too. A single Wither at best is going to do 50-70 damage to a 5x5 area of spawn, a DP field you can drag spawn through for several minutes with each tick usually doing 30+, while it's not instant damage you can setup multiple fields even in areas where other players are. They can be used defensively to both draw and make spawn flee, overall Poison does more.

My current Spellweaver template is:
100 Magery, 100 Med, 120 Eval, 120 Weaving, 60 Necro, 60 Spirit Speak, 100 Anatomy, 60 Parry.

With the suit bringing Magery to 120, Spirit Speak and Parry to 70.

The suit gives: 86/95/99/83/86, 100 LRC, 40 LMC, 16 MR, 96 SDI, 45 DCI, 4/7 Casting, 8 HPR, 15 HP and 8 Casting Focus.

Is Corpse Skin/Protection/Wraith proof to all 70's, can use multiple books for slayers, or higher SDI or mods with no loss of defense, can use Wraith Form, Corpse Skin, and Omen to heavily bump spell damage in conjunction with Spellweaving, for example vs Melisande with a Fey book, Empowerment/Corpse/FS/Omen combo for 700+, with 900+ WOD's after halfway never running out of mana. Parry is on there because I also spawn in Fel on this character. Tons of defense and offensive capabilities. Didn't use any overpriced new artys either.

Discord is another good option.

 

[Merus]

I think that's tremendously naive.

With 20+ PvM mage templates, naive has nothing to do with it. I have been playing mages since 1998, and IMO wasting 100 skill points for something you can get with a single item is poor skill management. Not a single one of my PvM mages has any trouble killing stuff, and doing it without dying to melee attacks.

Things like dismount, splinter, etc... those are PvP issues, which is a completely different story.

I promise I can outdamage any poison field you through with necro or mystic, any time any place.

I'm not saying those are bad options... if you make use of them, that's great. But for straight PvM, you can get more bang for your buck putting the skill points in something else.

 

[Eärendil]

The previous posters have ALOT expertise, I would do what they suggest. On my 23 chars on Prodo Shards and my 3 Chars on Siege I got in summary 18 Spellcasters of which 16 are Mystics.

Due to one single spell called Raising Colossus Mysticism is the backbone of all my spellcasters. On 120 Mystic/Focus and added Mysticism or other spellcasting masteries your Raising Colossus hits like a hammer, wont be dispelled by many opponents and doesnt need care like a pet.

Everything else is a question of your playstyle. Are you a loner or a group player? Are you part of a large PVM-guild or are you rather hunting in a small group? Are you planning to kill the high-level Monsters? Peerless? Champs?

Examples:

Maximum-Damage+Endless-Mana-Template = Mage + Necro + Spellweaving (one of the few temps without mysticism)

Maximum Versatility-Template+Maximum Damage = Mage + Mystic + Spellweaving

Dungeon Explorer-Template for Solo-Player = Mage + Mystic + Stealther

Mob-Controlling Fast-Killer for large low-/medium-level Critters = Mage + Mystic + Provocation

Top-Monster Killer = Mage + Mystic + Disco OR Mage + Spellweaving + Disco (depending on Solo/Group-Hunt)

Nice versatility also with Mage + Mystic + Necro

The Ultimate Spellcaster-Template is combining all schools: Mage + Mystic + Necro + Spellweaving. You will need all the great armor and jewelry artifact pieces for it, especially those which give you high levels skill boni. Once you have finished this template you might never want to play another toon. This template would imply high levels of Mysticism and Focus, a low level of Necromancy (wraith form is most important) and a bit skill boni, spirit speak considerably high for mana leech, magery + eval on a medium level with skills on items, Spellweaving above 100 for WOD and a bit Meditation (not too much, because MR on the suit and wraith form will help alot). 100 % fun temp.

Dont bother with inscription, anatomy, wrestling or stuff like that. IMHO not necessary, a good suit is more important. If you PVP, however - thats another story.

 

[Merus]

The previous posters have ALOT expertise, I would do what they suggest. On my 23 chars on Prodo Shards and my 3 Chars on Siege I got in summary 18 Spellcasters of which 16 are Mystics.

Due to one single spell called Raising Colossus Mysticism is the backbone of all my spellcasters. On 120 Mystic/Focus and added Mysticism or other spellcasting masteries your Raising Colossus hits like a hammer, wont be dispelled by many opponents and doesnt need care like a pet.

Everything else is a question of your playstyle. Are you a loner or a group player? Are you part of a large PVM-guild or are you rather hunting in a small group? Are you planning to kill the high-level Monsters? Peerless? Champs?

Examples:

Maximum-Damage+Endless-Mana-Template = Mage + Necro + Spellweaving (one of the few temps without mysticism)

Maximum Versatility-Template+Maximum Damage = Mage + Mystic + Spellweaving

Dungeon Explorer-Template for Solo-Player = Mage + Mystic + Stealther

Mob-Controlling Fast-Killer for large low-/medium-level Critters = Mage + Mystic + Provocation

Top-Monster Killer = Mage + Mystic + Disco OR Mage + Spellweaving + Disco (depending on Solo/Group-Hunt)

Nice versatility also with Mage + Mystic + Necro

The Ultimate Spellcaster-Template is combining all schools: Mage + Mystic + Necro + Spellweaving. You will need all the great armor and jewelry artifact pieces for it, especially those which give you high levels skill boni. Once you have finished this template you might never want to play another toon. This template would imply high levels of Mysticism and Focus, a low level of Necromancy (wraith form is most important) and a bit skill boni, spirit speak considerably high for mana leech, magery + eval on a medium level with skills on items, Spellweaving above 100 for WOD and a bit Meditation (not too much, because MR on the suit and wraith form will help alot). 100 % fun temp.

Dont bother with inscription, anatomy, wrestling or stuff like that. IMHO not necessary, a good suit is more important. If you PVP, however - thats another story.

RC with the passive level 3 mastery bonus is a beast! With its ability to AI, it make a great tank for most mid/upper mobs in the game. It's easy to move with (you can dispel and resummon rather than dragging a GD along behind you). All around, the mystic/mage/spellweaver is (IMO) the most versatile template. It may not be the best for every encounter, but can participate and be useful for just about anything.

 

[Eärendil]

This! Best Allrounder ingame!

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

With 20+ PvM mage templates, naive has nothing to do with it. I have been playing mages since 1998, and IMO wasting 100 skill points for something you can get with a single item is poor skill management. Not a single one of my PvM mages has any trouble killing stuff, and doing it without dying to melee attacks.

Things like dismount, splinter, etc... those are PvP issues, which is a completely different story.

I promise I can outdamage any poison field you through with necro or mystic, any time any place.

I'm not saying those are bad options... if you make use of them, that's great. But for straight PvM, you can get more bang for your buck putting the skill points in something else.

Naive has everything to do with it. Look at the poster you're actually advising. "Just returned" "since AOS" and your advice is 'go and buy the latest arties' worth mils that he can't afford and will be too inexperienced to use effectively. It is completely irrelevant how many Mage templates you've had/have or when you started. They are not PvP issues, the Dragon Turtle champ spawn has monsters that Disarm and Dismount, and is one of the few spawn locations that regularly gets done therefore a good place for someone returning to make some money. The latest publish has monsters that put you on foot and are faster than you. If you make use of things like Wraith Form/Stone Form you are regularly on foot, most champs and things worth killing will be faster than you. Holding your Repond book while fighting Medusa without defence you get hit with it you don't and can spend your time attacking rather than defending. It is not a single item as you usually need +Mage items to negate the penalty.

It's not poor skill management, it is an informed choice, that makes greater suit variation possible. Your comments are absurd and naive.

The most versatile template is a Necro/Mage, as it covers all the damage types, Mysticism is more of a one trick pony Summon and hide/forget playstyle not conducive to high damage output. In many situations an RC is less effective than other summons/pet options.

 

[Eärendil]

If he is new and cannot afford alot of good armor pieces, a simple 100 LRC suit with MR and LMC for 200k will be enough for the start. That's the beauty of the RC: You don't need alot of mama or MR as the RC keeps the monsters busy while your mana pool regenerates or you cast fireballs or you simply hide.

You argument is contradictive me GOD, because a newcomer will not be able to do the new encounters with a high level necro-mage alone anyways. He will - like all newcomers - try to fight all kinds of lower and mid lev monsters alone and maybe later try the stronger bosses. And there is absolutely nothing more relaxing than running into a mob and let the RC do the dirty work while e.g. hiding, checking corpses in stealth, casting spells on the enemy and so on. This tactics work for 90 percent of all spwans and is ultimatively cheap and brings a quick success. He wont fight the dragon turtle alone anyways in his first weeks.

Just my 5 cents. 110 in all skills is cheap and easy and enough for the start. Or even 115...

Relax and have fun!

 

[nvmvoidrays]

damn, there's a lot of good information since i wasn't looking. i'mma have to read through it all and see what might fit best with my playstyle.

i really, really appreciate all the feedback/comments.

i do think i'll drop Inscription, but, i have it GM'd, so, i'll need to get a soulstone fragment (however much those cost...) and transfer to off to my potential crafter i'm pondering up.

 

[Eärendil]

Good idea!

 

[Merus]

Naive has everything to do with it. Look at the poster you're actually advising. "Just returned" "since AOS" and your advice is 'go and buy the latest arties' worth mils that he can't afford and will be too inexperienced to use effectively. It is completely irrelevant how many Mage templates you've had/have or when you started. They are not PvP issues, the Dragon Turtle champ spawn has monsters that Disarm and Dismount, and is one of the few spawn locations that regularly gets done therefore a good place for someone returning to make some money. The latest publish has monsters that put you on foot and are faster than you. If you make use of things like Wraith Form/Stone Form you are regularly on foot, most champs and things worth killing will be faster than you. Holding your Repond book while fighting Medusa without defence you get hit with it you don't and can spend your time attacking rather than defending. It is not a single item as you usually need +Mage items to negate the penalty.

It's not poor skill management, it is an informed choice, that makes greater suit variation possible. Your comments are absurd and naive.

The most versatile template is a Necro/Mage, as it covers all the damage types, Mysticism is more of a one trick pony Summon and hide/forget playstyle not conducive to high damage output. In many situations an RC is less effective than other summons/pet options.

Seems like you have a tough time sticking to a single theory...

A player who is too new to afford a staff that runs about 2.5 million or less prolly isn't out trying to solo the dragon turtle spawn or paragon greater dragons.

For the record, I regularly do the dragon turtle spawn on a mage/spellweaver/necro while holding a 30sdi spellbook and no wrestle/anatomy and do just fine. Wither casts fast enough that as long as you a kiting a couple tiles ahead of your targets you have nothing to worry about.
Furthermore... a RC on a paragon greater dragon will let you cast a whole lot safer than trying to stand next to it and rely on your defensive ability to not get fizzled... and that goes for just about any mob ingame.

 

[Eärendil]

100 percent agree

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

Seems like you have a tough time sticking to a single theory...

A player who is too new to afford a staff that runs about 2.5 million or less prolly isn't out trying to solo the dragon turtle spawn or paragon greater dragons.

For the record, I regularly do the dragon turtle spawn on a mage/spellweaver/necro while holding a 30sdi spellbook and no wrestle/anatomy and do just fine. Wither casts fast enough that as long as you a kiting a couple tiles ahead of your targets you have nothing to worry about.
Furthermore... a RC on a paragon greater dragon will let you cast a whole lot safer than trying to stand next to it and rely on your defensive ability to not get fizzled... and that goes for just about any mob ingame.

Other than that I didn't mention soloing anything that is an excellent point.

Which theory is it you think I haven't stuck to?

The staff is currently no less than 5m. But on top of the 120 Mysticism, 120 Focus for a worthwhile RC is an expense best left for down the line. Unlike skill based defense which is free and can be used at any time.

Also, an RC can only tank vs one monster at a time, at spawns you invariably get hit regardless of your ability to move, doubly so for a returning player who may not be as aware of positioning having not been spawning for the last x amount of years.

"For the record, I regularly do the dragon turtle spawn on a mage/spellweaver/necro while holding a 30sdi spellbook and no wrestle/anatomy and do just fine."
Good for you, but again, you're not a returning player that hasn't played since AOS.

Also, for the vast majority of spawns 2 EV's are far superior to an RC;
-They require less than half the skill points.
-Don't have depleted skills at minimum skill level to cast.
-Cover more ground.
-Are faster.
-Last longer.
-Having two up means if one gets killed/dispelled you still have one if you need diversion.

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

If he is new and cannot afford alot of good armor pieces, a simple 100 LRC suit with MR and LMC for 200k will be enough for the start. That's the beauty of the RC: You don't need alot of mama or MR as the RC keeps the monsters busy while your mana pool regenerates or you cast fireballs or you simply hide.

You argument is contradictive me GOD, because a newcomer will not be able to do the new encounters with a high level necro-mage alone anyways. He will - like all newcomers - try to fight all kinds of lower and mid lev monsters alone and maybe later try the stronger bosses. And there is absolutely nothing more relaxing than running into a mob and let the RC do the dirty work while e.g. hiding, checking corpses in stealth, casting spells on the enemy and so on. This tactics work for 90 percent of all spwans and is ultimatively cheap and brings a quick success. He wont fight the dragon turtle alone anyways in his first weeks.

Just my 5 cents. 110 in all skills is cheap and easy and enough for the start. Or even 115...

Relax and have fun!

It's not contradictive, I'm not sure you understand what that means, but that aside. You can do all encounters on low skill characters, if you couldn't powerscrolls would be unobtainable. I haven't said anything about soloing bosses though you can easily get rights without the need of expensive gear/scrolls, which when you're returning is imo where you are at, you can do this within a few days.

For an RC to be worthwhile (not be easily Dispelled/killed) you need powerscrolls Mysticism being one of the most expensive (not because it is inherently good, but because people play lazy templates, like Tamers/Archers/Mystics), personally I find sitting back letting a summon do all the work so mind numbingly boring that I wouldn't even bother to play if that was what the game was about for me, I much prefer to play interesting action templates that get involved and maximise all their damage output options. For EV's to be worthwhile you do not and they are faster at progressing spawn for the reasons listed in the above post.

You can do a lot more damage on a Necro/Mage unscrolled than you can on a Mystic scrolled:-
-Mystic has RC, offense wise that is pretty much it.
-Necro/Mage you have the option of 2 Skeletal Dragons from the Command Undead mastery, which self heal from the damage they do, plus you can heal them like regular pets. You can also bond and use Bake Kitsune's at lower levels, these have some of the best resists of any pet in the game and can dump an additional 800+ mana. Necro/Mage is a perfect synergy of skills complimenting each other to cover all damage types, with the ability to debuff resists, and boost spell damage.

One fight in particular that the OP will probably find himself doing a lot is Barracoon, it is the easiest and most frequently done spawn, Mysticism is completely useless in this encounter because the boss auto-Dispels. 2 EV's are faster at advancing the spawn.

 

[Merus]

Other than that I didn't mention soloing anything that is an excellent point.

Which theory is it you think I haven't stuck to?

The staff is currently no less than 5m. But on top of the 120 Mysticism, 120 Focus for a worthwhile RC is an expense best left for down the line. Unlike skill based defense which is free and can be used at any time.

Also, an RC can only tank vs one monster at a time, at spawns you invariably get hit regardless of your ability to move, doubly so for a returning player who may not be as aware of positioning having not been spawning for the last x amount of years.

"For the record, I regularly do the dragon turtle spawn on a mage/spellweaver/necro while holding a 30sdi spellbook and no wrestle/anatomy and do just fine."
Good for you, but again, you're not a returning player that hasn't played since AOS.

Also, for the vast majority of spawns 2 EV's are far superior to an RC;
-They require less than half the skill points.
-Don't have depleted skills at minimum skill level to cast.
-Cover more ground.
-Are faster.
-Last longer.
-Having two up means if one gets killed/dispelled you still have one if you need diversion.

None of this post has anything to do with using anatomy for defense.

Sure there are times with 2 EVs are better than an RC... A mystic mage has the option to use either.

If you do a lot of coon spawns, Necro is better than mystic...

Neither of those examples require anatomy to be successful.

 

[Eärendil]

@GOD: Correct, Mystic at Coon s useless. But Coon is so boring, I couldnt care less. Ever tried Cove 3 with EVs or a Necro-Mage? See, it depends on the spawns and there are far more places where RC is better. Think of Abyss Mini Champs, Navrey... 1000 more. A 115 Mystic Scroll is sufficient, don't talk about problems that do not exist. Call in GC for such a scroll and you will probably get it as present.

Ah, and I am playing it 100 percent of my time this way. You find it boring? I find it convenient. Let him decide. And please don't tell him that EVs are better than RC. That's only true for a very few number of encounters. With mystic mage, however, you can choose. So, that's no decisive point.

I think you are arguing from a champ -perspective and I am arguing from all other-encounters -perspective. Scalis, Stygian, Wyvern Renowned with EVs? LOL

So, this whole discussion leads to nowhere. He can simply build a Mage-Necro-Mystic and have the best of both worlds. Forget about Inscription, Anatomy and other nonsense. If you wand to merge the GOD and Merus Perspective make it this way: mage, eval, medi, mystic, focus, necro and ss. 7 skills, 110 is enough for most, you get them for 10k. Some jewelry. Have fun. This is a beast.

Last point: You are a Pro, Lord GOD, you are arguing from a Pro-perspective. For certain encounters and for your playstyle you have valid arguments. But your suggestions are not good for most encounters and for most of the newbs I know. Sorry.

 

[Eärendil]

@GOD, let me please add one thing: You obviously have ALOT of expertise and know the mechanics behind the spellcasting scholls VERY well. No doubt, you are right in many points. But during my time in UO I have learned that newbs/returners want to play around a bit and learn the different possibilities. Its important to them to be versatile so that they can hunt solo, in a small and a large group - and can help in all different kinds of fights. Concentrating on a pure mage/necro is a very specialist approach that narrows your possibilities and is less versatile. Not to forget that it is by no means easy to obtain those skeletal dragons (Ilshenar, Paragon-Spawn) and to keep them alive (in MANY peerless situations there are dead as quick as you can say: All follow me...). If he wanted to take care of pets, he would have chosen a tamer in the first place.

Nevertheless, with a Mage-Mystic-Necro he can have all three: EVs, RCs AND Skeletal Dragons. Its the ideal compromise, cheap and versatile. Call in GC and you have for almost all skills 115-scrolls, which are absolutely sufficient for the beginning.

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

None of this post has anything to do with using anatomy for defense.

Sure there are times with 2 EVs are better than an RC... A mystic mage has the option to use either.

If you do a lot of coon spawns, Necro is better than mystic...

Neither of those examples require anatomy to be successful.

My advice to the OP is get Anatomy, why? So you don't get hit as much. Simple, done.

The advice get the Shaman Staff, throws up further questions, why? So you don't get hit as much. Where do I get it? What does it cost? How does it work? Can it be repaired? What's durability, what's powder of fort and so on and so on...

As option 1 is free and simple, and option 2 isn't, I feel that it is better advice for a returning player they don't need to worry about Disarm or a dozen other issues like wait to perform another action when switching between book/wep. If they want to do that fine, but I wouldn't recommend it to a returnee when they've got enough other crap to be figuring out, by playing and enjoying the game.

He can get whatever he wants, any melee defense is better than none, but if you're building with the intention of using books constantly then Anatomy is the best option for numerous reasons already gone over.

 

[Lord GOD(GOD)]

@GOD, let me please add one thing: You obviously have ALOT of expertise and know the mechanics behind the spellcasting scholls VERY well. No doubt, you are right in many points. But during my time in UO I have learned that newbs/returners want to play around a bit and learn the different possibilities. Its important to them to be versatile so that they can hunt solo, in a small and a large group - and can help in all different kinds of fights. Concentrating on a pure mage/necro is a very specialist approach that narrows your possibilities and is less versatile. Not to forget that it is by no means easy to obtain those skeletal dragons (Ilshenar, Paragon-Spawn) and to keep them alive (in MANY peerless situations there are dead as quick as you can say: All follow me...). If he wanted to take care of pets, he would have chosen a tamer in the first place.

Nevertheless, with a Mage-Mystic-Necro he can have all three: EVs, RCs AND Skeletal Dragons. Its the ideal compromise, cheap and versatile. Call in GC and you have for almost all skills 115-scrolls, which are absolutely sufficient for the beginning.

In reply to the bit in bold specifically.

I agree, so have I, this is why I wouldn't recommend a setup that deprecates in value (such as buying artifacts when you can achieve the same result without them).

I rarely advocate any pure templates as there's usually a waste of points in there somewhere. However, Mage/Mystic/Necro is a) spread to thin, and b) rather a complicated mass of spells to figure out for a returnee, and c) doesn't particularly have good synergy with damage types. I imagine it would be extremely frustrating to build a Necro/Mystic/Mage only to find out that Corpse Skin+Bombard is a bad combo because it puts physical resist up on the target. There is too much detail to be explained to recommend end game templates here imo.

As far as I'm concerned the OP has decided upon Mage/Med/Eval/Scribe, I recommend Anatomy for melee defense, whatever he wants to do with the rest of the template is up to him. I only started arguing with you two because you seem (like a lot of people) to think Mysticism is a lot better than it really is. I'm not playing the big I am or anything, but I beta tested Mysticism thoroughly in SA beta for Sakkarah, who took my report to her boss who's response was wtf (in a good way), I've played numerous Mystics I know what they can and can't do and in PvM they are highly defensive and more or less 1-2 trick ponies. I'm not saying don't try it, just that it isn't the one template that rules them all, it is however, a long way before you're using them for that RC. Most people that have been playing some time work their skills up before playing the character so there isn't that lame 'all I can do is Eagle Strike' time. Again frustrating experience when returning could deter you from staying.

 

[Eärendil]

I have alot of respect for your knowledge and the way how you argue. I just disagree from my personal perspective and guess, that has to do with my playstyle.

I am all good, my best wishes for our new/returning player!