WonDumBaldGuy
Adventurer
Using new gear, new and old techniques, and some template tweaks, I consistently nail sub 20 rikki runs, pop to drop, even from 2 candles. Course, the gear is expensive as all heck. I returned with nothing 6 months ago and was able to boot strap myself up doing champ spawns. And... It's with a macer! I'll post the template and gear in a video and link it here, plus write it up if there is interest. My fried DC and I worked for some time to get both our champion spawn times down. We made a bet on speed runs, and then (because we are fair) helped each other with ideas and tips to lower times. This is the result. Little did I realize that by tearing this apart I would find ways to shave off about 20 seconds more!
Please note, I Know I run 90 DI. It is on purpose. I only lose 1 point of damage (3 with damage modifier). I can run VVV mace and shields to get it, but would rather have the refinements. Or you could use Prismatic. This works for ME, and I am happy with my times.)
I am still working on getting the refinements for helm and legs. So it's not quite maxed yet.
Build and suit decision matrix: The basic rules of building a sampire are:
1) Hit more
2) Do more damage
3) Leech more
4) Get hit less
5) Take less damage.
If we break these priorities down into our suits and skills, we can create a checklist of how each property of our suits contributes to them. And we can start to see the balancing act required. For example, counterattack lets me hit more and do more damage and leech more. But I get hit more and take more damage. Does the end outcome equal survival or death robe?
*edit 10 Nov*
Additional technique discussion. The video was a perfect storm. Rikki ain't always that easy. I always expect the RNG to bite me, so I use this framework to standardize my fights. I think of toe-to-toe with a single target as a 3 phase process. SET, Stand, Reset.
Set. I prepare my chosen Bushido ability, evade or war cry or counterattack, or weapons mastery (Onslaught, Stagger, etc). Normally, I use counterattack. (Note, you have to activate bushido before the primary or it cancels the primary)
Then I prepare my Primary. It is essential to have these set before the initial exchange.
Whether I approach the MOB or it closes with me, I anticipate the first exchange. If I get significantly hit (50+) I Reset. If I hit first or the hit is less than 50, I Stand.
Stand. There are two parts to this.
Monitor stam/ health. Monitoring, I set my Stamina floor (90 stamina) and my HP Floor (max damage I can expect +1). Rikki's nominal top damage against me (not during EQ) is 56. My HP floor is 57. If I hit either floor, AFTER my next swing, I Reset. This is a timing thing. I know that I have at minimum1.25 seconds to decide whether to run off or not. If my next swing connects and takes me above my floors, I Stand.
Keep on top of ability use. DPS is directly dependent on several factors. Contact time, where you stay in range for consecutive hits. Mana, which allows you to use your abilities from bushido and weapons. And activating them in time before each next swing.
Counterattack with 120 Parry is a very efficient way to significantly raise your DPS and lower your overall time. In the video, I landed 24 counterattacks in 3 minutes, which is actually low average for me. 8 attacks per minute at an avg damage of 150 gives me about 20 extra damage per second. Essentially, I shaved off 30 seconds of fight time by using counterattack.( Huge props to Sadok's template thread, he mentions the same thing) (Awesome post @Sadok) You will notice I was lagging behind a bit in the video. I could have probably landed 3-4 Counter Attacks more if I had been faster. If I fall out of sync too badly with my ability use, or need to swap to a 100% cold damage weapon for mana leech, I Reset.
Reset. If I hit any of my floors, or hit a mana flat (RNG decides I don't need to leech as much as I want to), or whiff 3+ times in a row, I have to regroup.When trying to reduce your overall times and maximize your runs, it is essential to control just how far off you run! EC offers a tremendous advantage here, with the range to target display. I KNOW that the range of Rikki's EQ is 10 tiles. I KNOW that his EQ procs after he takes damage 15 times. I KNOW that there is a sound cue., and I KNOW that it takes him 5 seconds to proc it once the wing flap begins.(There is a hint to a trick in those numbers). I can guesstimate his movement speed from the amount of life he has left. At full health, he is gonna be on me like glue. At 72% (with the stam drain) I know he is at walking speed. There is little to no point running from him at full health if you are cast healing. This is where the heal macro I use below will save me.. It takes 4 seconds to get the full effect. If Rikki is NOT in EQ mode, then I know I only have to move off far enough that he won't reach me for 4 seconds. If he is in EQ mode, I have 5 seconds to heal up or run off 11 tiles. The riskiest part is when he is at full speed, it can be difficult to get 11 tiles away form him then. These are all things I take into account. Basically, I am always ready to scoot off, and just looking for when I have to. Once healed up, I go back to Set.
Damage Multiplier (DM) discussion:
First generation sampires, and new players, will be constrained by lack of resources. You CAN do spawns just fine, if slower, with super slayers. We did it for years.
To get to the 300 Damage multiplier cap for most of the spawn, we stack the super slayer came with the same super slayer on the AI or WW weapon. This is why I do not use chivalry and stone it off for anatomy when spawning Rikktor, Semidar, Primeval Lich, Abyssal Infernal or Mephitis. I don't really need enemy of one as a cushion.
Individual slayers (specific) will get you to 300 DM for that type. This is useful for Rikktor or Mephitis.
With Baracoon, stacking vermin slayer (talisman) with a repond weapon can be useful, as you will hit 300 when he goes into rat form. Stack Vermin slayer with repond for most of the spawn, and switch to reptile slayer weapon for the silver serpents. Switch to a flame slayer (talisman) for the hellhounds.
Enemy of one will NOT get you to 100, the average sampire get 50%. Max is 84 at 120 chiv. Honor step 10 will get you to 100. Enemy of one is a cushion, stacked with super slayer weapon, until honor step 10 is reached. If you whiff a lot, you won't lose all your damage.
For non slayer enemies, like Neira or the Harrower, Enemy of One, Honor, and Crushing blow will stack to give you 200 damage multiplier. 150 without crushing blow. It is not "currently" documented, but verified, that crushing blow gives a 50% damage multiplier. To optimize crushing blow, use either consecrate weapon or a 100% elemental damage weapon for the lowest resists. @Mariah has graciously updated the Specials Moves on the UO.com Wiki with more information on crushing blow. *edited 14 November*
Bushido + Whirlwind gives a damage multiplier as well. This will get you to 300 DM cap when spawning if you use the paperdoll method to aggro everything. Since it is based on Bushido skill, the higher your skill, the fewer enemies you need to reach 100 DM. @Mariah has updated the Bushido skills pate on UO wiki with formulas and is adding more. Bushido – Ultima Online
This page on stratics contains (outdated) nuts and bolts info on all Bushido skills. I consider it a must read. The Samurai - Old Stratics
Counterstrike gives a damage bonus to second target, which can be very useful. Currently no exact information from dev's on whether this is a damage multiplier or double the dealt damage to the target. Question submitted. @Mariah has been very helpful in getting this updated.
DPS
I would also like to take the soapbox on Damage Per Second. With some numbers. My math is horrid, but hopefully this will illustrate why counterattack is at least as effective in raising DPS as adding LJ, anatomy, or any of that. And saves a ton of skill points.
First, Counterattack, when it applies the special AI, is double the original damage. As I mentioned above, this was about 8 total extra AI's, for a total (mid range) of 8*150= 1200 damage. per minute. or 20 per second.
The DI bonuses are percentage of the base weapon damage. For Anatomy, that is 5% of the weapon damage. If we assume a difference of 0 anatomy to GM anatomy (which most sampires don't reach), 150 str, 120 tactics, 100% Damage Increase. The base damage is 43-56. I am going to compare top end only, even though we KNOW it will average out to a median of 50 ish.
UO Stratics - Combat
UO Stratics is the only UO resource you'll ever need. Containing the most definitive strategy and statistics for UO anywhere, UO Stratics will provide a better playing experience to both new and longtime players alike. With daily news for all shards, a multitude of forums for players, various...
uo.stratics.com
With 100 anatomy the base damage is 50-65. Again, I will use the top end only, but the median is 57 ish.
56 damage per hit. 48 (possible) hits per minute. * 3 damage multiplier = 8064 damage per minute. 134.4 per second. With Counter attack. this would be 154.4
65 damage per hit, 48 hits (possible) per minute. *3 damage multiplier = 156 per second. This would equate to about 2 extra hits per minute for the 100 anatomy sampire over the one using counterattack.
Just food for thought. Counterattack makes the most advantage of the default sampire template of 120 bushido/120 parry and effectively uses it to reduce incoming damage and raise DPS. Simultaneously. Counterattack is also the ONLY way to hit more than every 1,25 seconds. Between that and the option to chug potions, you have the means to continue standing longer, which inevitably increases your DPS. Every time you back away, your DPS goes to 0.
More on DPS
There appears, from the threads I have read, to be a confusion on DPS. First, DPS is NOT single hit damage. People focus on that with the "glass cannon" build. It is ALSO not the DPS that stratics shows, that is not modified for times you whiff, or for time away from the target.
I prefer to use REAL DPS, which is HP / Time from pop to drop. This calculation will tell how how effective you are. For example, I normally kill Rikki in 3 minutes or less. Rikki lores as having about 15k hp. Divided by 3, thats 5k damage a minute. Now there are two different calculations you can do here. Damage per swing, with misses included, would be 60 / 1.25 (or your normal swing speed) for swings per minute (48 at 1.25). Then
divide damage per minute / (60/1.25). That is your damage per swing. Mine is averaging 104.6. over the duration.
You can also calculate damage per second as damage per minute / 60. Mine is averaging 83.333.
REAL damage per second can be maximized by any method (or combination) that lets you extend your toe to toe time with out backing away. Heal pots, confidence, evade, feint, HPR, life leech (vamp or weapon or spell), counter attack, all fall into this category. they do not (except counterattack) by themselves increase your damage output, but by extending contact time they by default increase your REAL damage per second.
I am not in this template to be a real sampire, but to be a really EFFECTIVE one, which means I seek out and find any edge I can get. While I find myself having to retreat and regroup in a fight at times, those have become fewer as I find more way to increase my toe to toe time. Hope this helps out at least one person!
Priority 3 - Leech More
I have noticed on several sampires the presence of SSI on a weapon. Per the HML / HLL descriptions, the possible range of leech is 0 to the max on your weapon. When dealing with a range anchored at 0, I tend to think that the higher the median, the better. I also consider that the median return should be higher than my highest mana need, which is chained specials. Looking at a double axe, a 3.25 base speed weapon, the highest possible HML/HLL is 81%. with 30 ssi, it drops to 62%. My question is, what does this do to the median return, and does it leech back enough at 30% SSI at median to chain specials? And does the proc chance decrease of 19% hurt?
For this, I'm assuming the following : 120 Swords, 120 tac, 70 anat, 150 str, 180 stam, 100% DI, 300% damage multiplier. I'll calculate for both 0 and 30 SSI and compare the median leech return.
Using the stratics combat calc, it tells me the base damage range for the (* the damage multiplier) is 54-65. or 162-195. I'll pick the median again, 178.
Using the formula from UOGuide,
178*.81*.4 = 57 for 0 SSI wep. Median is 28 mana returned. 81% chance to proc.
178*.62*.4 = 44 for 30 SSI wep. Median is 22 man returned. 62% chance to proc. To me, this means I leech less and proc less, which doesn't seem to follow the priority.
If both swings hit on a double, then the mana is more than sufficient. However, if only a single hit lands, we might have a problem. A lot depends on suit LMC of course.
The mana cost for double strike, following my assumptions is 30 base - 10 for 300+ melee. 20. It doubles to 40 if used (and unparried) within 3 seconds of last hit.
Assuming 40% LMC, this is a base mana cost of 26. 50 LMC drops it to 20.
So, the 30% SSI on the weapon gives HML unsustainable returns (unless we factor in any MR on the suit), if we miss the second hit.
The bladed staff (3 sec swing) is even worse. With a base damage of 51-62 or 153 - 186, the median is 169. 0 SSI max leech is 75. 30 SSI is 57.
169*.75*.4 = 50 mana for 0 SSI. median is 25 returned. 75% chance to proc.
169*.57*.4 = 38 man for 30 SSI. median is 19 returned. 57% chance to proc.
AI costs the same as double strike, so even with 50 LMC on the suit, chain AI is unsustainable with 30 SSI on the weapon.
TEMPLATE (real skill) And Stats
I use two sets of jewels. They are linked in EC to the equip weapon macro. (note, ALL the equip actions re interchangeable. They are only differentiated for visual recognition. They all function the same though.)
Whirl Wind set
SSI 60 reached with town buff/cameo/Epaulettes.
Double slayer for 300% modifier cap.
My good buddy DC ALSO came up with the idea of different jewels for the WW set.
Another good friend, Richard Sharp, has this YouTube Channel for Sampire 101, now up to episode 6. I have found great information in his guides, and hope you do too!
This is how I have it set up in my equip macro. If I am in a situation that calls for double slayer, like Destard Level 2, which has dragons and demons, I use the equip weapon macro, then equip the other slayer needed. Gives me infinite combinations if needed. This will equip the weapon, the jewels, and the came all at the same time. This ensures I don't get the wrong gear on.
AI Set
I used two different weapons in the video. First, the double reptile slayer to get to step 10 of honor. Then the Pick with 30 ssi and 70 fatigue.
The SSI 30 and the Hit stamina leech 70 are the main reason I can stand toe to toe with Rikki like I do. My stamina floor for 1.25 swings is 150. My floor for 1.5 swings is 90. I do not break contact unless I go below 90 stamina.
I strongly urge any Sampire to know know their stamina floors cold. (Stratics Combat Calc)
The hit lower attack on the Double slayer pick makes him miss enough until I swap over to the fatigue wep. Then I have him swinging at a crawl by 75% health, and the rest is a cake walk.
Chivalry set
What about Chiv you ask? You can't do Niera or Harrower (or roof bosses) without EOO effectively!. Yup, so I use this. (note, I am looking for a 20 chiv ring. But 75 works well enough)(Forgot the Mark, added now)
Suit Build
Arties
VVV Crimson (easy to get by just joining VVV)
Mace and shields Blackthornes (preferred, since it is plate and reduces stam loss) with plate mail refinements, or mace and shield, or VVV mace and shield, or prismatic. Update 13 May, I used a head slot transmog potion on my VvV glasses and put them a heavy platemail Jingasa. It looks cool, gives me the stam protection, and freaks people out that I would use a potion on an antique. All wins!
Gloves of feudal grip with Dragon refinement (same stamina loss prevention as plate)(Or you could go with Storm Grips if you are short on money)
Britches of Warding with chain refinement (chain, in between LMC and stamina loss). Or tinker Legs. Or, if you want DCI, VvV Fey legs.
Juumu's sacred hide
Shanty waders
Full set of Cameo's (Or Duelist's talisman)
Arms/Tunic/Gorget
Legendary artifact, Arcane of Haste OR Mystic of Haste OR Animated of Wizardry OR Animated of Sorcery. Shopping tip!!!! You can search for these each terms (ex. Arcane of Haste) in Vendor Search. Sort by high to low price. I found some great deals on multiple shards doing this.
+4 or Int and Dex
+8 or better Stam/Mana
MR preferred
Stam regen preferred
LMC 8%
Use forged metal of artifacts with spined / gold for luck bump. Or other material to fill in resistance gaps.
Strip mage armor off at Moonglow mage guild for 250k.
I chose hide tunic (counts as studded for LMC bonus) and studded arms to raise my LMC. I could not find a good studded (or alternate) Gorget, so went with plate for the stamina loss mitigation.
Since my resists are well over 75, I enhanced (using forge tool) with spined / gold for the modest luck bump. I am hoping to find armor that has MR on it too with the same stats.
*edit 4 November* Necro Set
I found that being able to get back into a fight is critical. Faster you can rejoin, the better. I ate a 120 necro scroll and use the below items to cast Vamp Embrace.
*Swords variations.
Longsword (no ssi) if you have the 40SSI on suit for 1.25 swings. Broadsword otherwise. Longsword will hit with this template around 204 to 218 ish.
Double axe for double hits, IMO, is chancy. You have a (basic) 50% chance to hit with both hits. With Onslaught, you are doing 50% damage. So If only one hits, you do 25% of regular. Not good for leech dependency. AI leeches more per single hit, and with counter attack at 35% (for single hand block attempt) you do at least as much damage per second as double hits.
Halberd instead of war hammer. With my same skills, they see Hally hits of 220+. Area hits of 110+]. SSI 30 is required though, and you wont swing faster than 1.5. BUT lots of damage, one hit kills on most spawns tiers 1-3.
Hit fatigue really helps, you can get it AND 100% elemental with shadow or copper reforge. If you get lucky.
EC Macroes: (inspired by Snugg's Question)(Anti-troll note: I know there are more and different ways to do these. They work for ME, and I will gladly use your ideas if you can do a spawn faster (with video proof). Also inspired by Snuggs, I created a discord channel for EC macros. I have a few videos and other neat info there.
Join the Mutt's Enhanced Client Macros Discord Server!
Check out the Mutt's Enhanced Client Macros community on Discord - hang out with 144 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.
Attack current Target. I do NOT use auto attack. I have seen too many instances where that can bite you, like when a party member uses summons, or you go to heal someone. It tends to circumvent the "Block war on party members."
Bag of sending. If you use one, have it hot keyed on your bar. I drag the bag to the hot bar, and have gold stack next to it. You CAN target the gold through the hot bar, so it saves time.
Bushido spells Lightning strike, evade, Counterattack, Momentum Strike. I put them in order across a single row of keys like this: Evade (A); Counterattack (S); Primary (D); Secondary (F); Momentum Strike (G); Lightning Strike (h).
Chiv Macroes.
- Close wounds- target self
- Remove Curse - target self
- Cleanse by Fire - target self
- Enemy of One
- Dispel Evil (for necro spawns),
- Divine Fury (rarely used)
- Consecrate (rarely used)
- Noble Sacrifice (when in party hunt),
Dress macros. I have one for my chiv gear, one for my necro gear, and one for my sampire suit.
Dismount and Mount (Edit 14 Nov) I ONLY recommend a regular swampie for Rikki. The extra 8% damage decrease is huge. You will find the need to dismount to reapply barding. And Remount. Plus, very handy if you get dismounted in PvP. Since sampires are almost always in war mode in a spawn, having block war on pets is essential. And makes it hard to mount through mouse action. I made this macro to dismount, all follow me, apply barding, and remount.
Dismount command, Follow me command. Target by type, select swampie barding in pack. Wait for target. Target Swamp /Bane dragon mount (you will get a cursor when you drag it, target pet). Wait 1s (from other list). Target Swamp Dragon / Bane Dragon (yes, again). Use targeted object. This can be used as an all in one.
Drop into open Container. I got this from Richard Sharpe here (clicky click). Drag the icon from actions to your hot bar. Set target to your pack (or any other container). Assign a hot key. Pick up any item on a corpse with cursor, hit the hot key, and it goes right into your pack. Saves a ton of drag time!! This also works for sorting your scrolls into container OR PS OR SOT OR Alacrity books! I have mine set to alt + the corresponding number. I sort my scrolls by Combat+ Thief 110, Magery 110, and Bard/Tamer 110. 115's have their own book, as do 120's. Same system for SOT's (3 books), with another for MISC / Craft. Tamer and bard go into magery book. Just a suggestion. I know others do it alphabetically.
Drop what you are currently holding. Ever find that you can't pick anything up in your pack? This handy action will clear the cursor. Items get stuck when moving them during lag spikes. Hit this on your hot bar, and your cursor will clear.
Equip cameos. Being able to swap cameos and weapons on the fly to suit what you fight is very helpful. My default cameo is reptile, but I can hot key swap to any other. Helpful in dual slayer situations.
Equip weapons. Unlike many sampires, since I don't do the random altar spawns in T2A often, I only carry weapons for the spawn, my default super pick, and my PvP weapons.
Greater Heal Pot + Confidence + Anticipate hit. Super powerful heal combo. I had to use the store selected item to select my heal pots, and put target stored item in macro chain. Macro looks like this: Target stored object 1, use targeted object, delay .5, confidence, delay 2s (so confidence casts), anticipate hit.
Greater Refresh pot. I just drag to the hotbar from pack and assign a hit key.
Kill Health Bars. When I get health bar grabby and want to close them all.
Mastery Macroes. When I use a melee mastery, I place it in the same row as the other attack hotkeys. I use bushido mostly, and have War Cry above the evade key. I use it vice evade at times. I have tried (and am still working on ) parry 3. With the parry boost to 45% with a single hand, it should raise my DPS a bit with more counterattacks. Yet, I feel overwhelmed trying to keep counter attack active with the sheer volume of parries. I can keep up much better at 35%. I want to improve my reaction times so I can effectively use parry3. If I couple with Divine Fury with the parry 3, It feels almost like you get as many counterattacks as regular attacks. Eventually I want this to be my primary mode of attack.
*UPDATE 5/12/21* Open corpses and loot items macro: This macro uses the organizer agent and vacuum action to open a corpse and loot whatever you have in the agent. You can set it to anything, but I generally have it just loot stackables. This is VERY handy at the belfry when you are looking for the wing!
Open Door. GOTTA HAVE IT. A few friends have this in their greater heal pot chain. And carry a two hand wep most times to avoid using pots. Just an Idea, I don't use it myself.
Paperdoll. I assigned a hot key (P) to the default in the hot bar. This is used to aggro the spawn.
Primary and secondary attack macroes. Updated 7 May 2021. This macro chain uses Select nearest enemy, attack current, toggle Counter Attack, wait .5, toggle AI. Counter attack is an exception to most spells, as toggling it when it is active does NOT deactivate it. This allows you to use this macro in all situation where you would use your primary.
Select nearest enemy. Since I use paperdoll to aggro, I do not have a select next enemy/attack current macro to cycle through enemies in range. The range is less than the paperdoll. But it is an option. I use nearest instead and continually step forward to change targets.
Toggle Scale mode. After setting the UI to .8 in user settings / options, I further reduce my macro bars, health bars, paperdoll, and container gumps using Toggle scale mode. NOTE: This may cause crashes, so turn it off and log out after changing stuffs!!!!
More screen real estate improves your chances of seeing PK's before they see you. I have used this many times to navigate around them and scoot out. PK's using packet stealers or refresh hack can cause the EC to crash!!!!!!
Wraith form. For the anti-life leech monsters. Or mana drain ones like Cora.
Vampiric Embrace
Virtue icons: Valor and Sacrifice I use the most. Justice for when I do champs with my buddies. We rotate protection each round so we all get the 6. I mostly do this when I am training on how to do spawns, since my time is as fast as most 2-3 person hunts.
For party situations, I use change the health bar button options in user settings. Saves hot key space.
I think that is all the ones I have set in the video.
Sampire link list:
Armor Stamina Loss
Artifacts A-Z
Bushido + Perfection
Champion Spawns or Champion Spawns - UOGuide, the Ultima Online Encyclopedia
Champion Spawn Artifacts
Chivalry
Damage Increase and Multiplier caps
Effects of WEAPON based SSI on Leeches
Enhance Potions
Honor Virtue
Imbuing
Item Properties A-Z
Justice Virtue
Lower Mana Cost
Magic Item Properties (HML, HSL, HLA, HLD, HLL, Hit area)
Material Bonuses
Monsters A-Z
Resisting Spells
Runic Reforging
Parry
Potions list
Powder of Fortifying
Sacrifice (best place to gain is fel, Destard level 2, Shadow Wyrm
Slayer Types
Special moves
Stat caps
Swing speed / Damage calculator
Swing Speed Increase
Valor Virtue
Vampiric Embrace
VvV Items List
Weapons and their Specials
Whetstone
Attachments
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