[Bushido] A few questions:

[Malkes]

I have been gone from UO for a while now and, having recently returned, was wanting to make a Chiv/Parry/Bushido character to try out in Doom (Doing it on my tamer is getting a bit boring, hehe), and I had a few questions. I am also looking for template advice.

With the changes that I have seen to Evasion, is Bushido worth keeping for anything other than Lightning Strike, or is would I be better served to drop (well, soulstone) Bushido and just pick up a shield again (can at least stack more DCI and resists that way)?

What would be the best type of weapon to look for to do Doom (as a swordsman) for both a build with Bushido and a build without (which would facilitate my using a one hander and shield). I'm looking for both weapon type and preferable stats that I should look for on it.

Now, as for template advice, keep in mind that I only have 715 skill points available:

My current build (well, what it WILL be, at any rate):

Swords : 115 (capped at 115)
Bushido : 115 (capped at 115)
Parry : 115 (capped at 115)

Anatomy and Tactics are both at 100 right now, but are scrolled to 115. Not sure if it's worth going to my max on them or not.

Chiv : 65, but will probably take it to 70

I also have a smattering of focus and necro on my template. The necro because I had been toying with the idea of the "Bushido-vampire" for the life drain.

I'm not looking for a template that would be able to solo everything in Doom, but would have decent damage output and survivability.

If I am advised to keep Bushido, should I start scraping together gold to take it and parry to 120, or does 115 suffice?

Is Chiv enough to keep myself alive down there, or should I consider adding healing to the build at the loss of some other skill?

Also, bear in mind that, currently, I don't really have access to "great" gear, hence my wanting to hit up Doom, hehe.

Thank you in advance to anyone that replies with information.

 

[Diomedes Artega]

I have been gone from UO for a while now and, having recently returned, was wanting to make a Chiv/Parry/Bushido character to try out in Doom (Doing it on my tamer is getting a bit boring, hehe), and I had a few questions. I am also looking for template advice.

With the changes that I have seen to Evasion, is Bushido worth keeping for anything other than Lightning Strike, or is would I be better served to drop (well, soulstone) Bushido and just pick up a shield again (can at least stack more DCI and resists that way)?

What would be the best type of weapon to look for to do Doom (as a swordsman) for both a build with Bushido and a build without (which would facilitate my using a one hander and shield). I'm looking for both weapon type and preferable stats that I should look for on it.

Now, as for template advice, keep in mind that I only have 715 skill points available:

My current build (well, what it WILL be, at any rate):

Swords : 115 (capped at 115)
Bushido : 115 (capped at 115)
Parry : 115 (capped at 115)

Anatomy and Tactics are both at 100 right now, but are scrolled to 115. Not sure if it's worth going to my max on them or not.

Chiv : 65, but will probably take it to 70

I also have a smattering of focus and necro on my template. The necro because I had been toying with the idea of the "Bushido-vampire" for the life drain.

I'm not looking for a template that would be able to solo everything in Doom, but would have decent damage output and survivability.

If I am advised to keep Bushido, should I start scraping together gold to take it and parry to 120, or does 115 suffice?

Is Chiv enough to keep myself alive down there, or should I consider adding healing to the build at the loss of some other skill?

Also, bear in mind that, currently, I don't really have access to "great" gear, hence my wanting to hit up Doom, hehe.

Thank you in advance to anyone that replies with information.

Whether you make a chiv dexxer, a sampire as they like to call it, or a straight up Samurai 侍, all 3 are viable solo artists for Doom.

Without great gear as you put it, or enough gold resources, it is plausibly a difficult decision as far as which skill you will want to scroll up. IDEALLY, all 3 main skills mentioned you would want at 120.

If it were me and I had to pick and choose, I would have to say: 1. bushido, 2. weapon skill, 3. parry.

The reasoning behind this, is the idea of honor and perfection. I recommend reading the Samurai 侍 FAQ if you have not done so already. In a nutshell, with 120 bushido vs. anything else, you achieve perfection sooner, greatest chance for critical hits, AND based on steps of perfection achieved you will receive back an applicable amount of life, mana, and stamina after each fight.

Weapon skill is pretty important since it takes into account your chance to hit. Higher the weapon skill, the better the chance to hit. It is also the first check done mathematically when calculating chance to hit in the PvP arena.

Last but not least, parrying. Especially with the Samurai 侍, you are at the top of the ladder when it comes to...yes, not getting HIT. For that matter, not getting hit at all. If your setup is good, combined with good tactics and macros, you can nearly nullify ALL damage.

Samurai 侍 using 2 hand weapon gives you a 40% chance to parry an attack. 120 Parrying in itself is pretty effective for the higher end mobs. Most of the higher end mobs have some important skill that will be around legendary. 120 parrying combined with 120 bushido will give you the greatest survivability over all.

Having 115 in both of the before mentioned skills will net you a 37% chance to parry an attack. Three percent difference may not seem like much, but you will get hit when you least anticipate it, and the 3% chance might have made the difference.

You will have to either use the perfection, life leech from necro, your leeches on your weapon, chivalry, confidence and potions (will have to macro out of vamp form depending on what potion you go to use), OR you will have to do most of the above combined with having healing.

You yourself will have to make the call what you are most comfortable with. I run both a chiv dexxer and a Samurai 侍. I've tinkered with the sampire template and its viable without having healing.

The chivalry dexxer in itself you would want to cap out on your weapon first and then parry...if you went that route. The chivalry dexxer is nice and you can solo all the rooms and Dark Father using it. The main disadvantage is, you won't be able to do as much as you would be able to using a Samurai 侍 based template. Honoring an opponent, achieving perfection as well as some of the spells that Samurai 侍 has are the main reasons why.

Chivalry dexxer though you can use a shield and not get penalized for doing so in terms of defensive capabilities. 35% with 2 hand weapon w/shield using bushido and parry at 120 in comparison to 40% with both at 120 and not using a shield (as well as using 2 handed weapon).

 

[Malkes]

I had read from a few sources of information about the whole samurai deal, and my biggest concern was that a lot of it seemed..."outdated". I have been playing my character a good deal as of late and have gotten used to the perfection system and all of that as well.

I think my biggest question was based around the thinking that: 120 parry with a shield = 120 parry/bushido with a two hander. I didn't realize that it actually gave a slightly better chance to parry.

Thank you for the information.

Can you give an up-to-date explanation of the changes that had been made to evasion, and how it currently functions (percentages would be nice), based on ones bushido/anat/tact?

Edit: It's just a tad difficult to find out which information is still valid, as I quit shortly after SE came around, and have just recently returned, and am trying to find out what my options are before coming to a full decision on the direction to take my character.

Further edit: As far as my equipment is concerned, I'm not doing "terrible". Through the use of GM Lore/Tailor armor and a couple tokuno artifacts, I'm sitting at 70 resist for phys and fire, and above 63 for the rest, but I will have to do better in terms of mana regen and the like before I think I would be comfortable heading to Doom (after my template is complete, of course).

 

[Diomedes Artega]

I had read from a few sources of information about the whole samurai deal, and my biggest concern was that a lot of it seemed..."outdated". I have been playing my character a good deal as of late and have gotten used to the perfection system and all of that as well.

I think my biggest question was based around the thinking that: 120 parry with a shield = 120 parry/bushido with a two hander. I didn't realize that it actually gave a slightly better chance to parry.

Thank you for the information.

Can you give an up-to-date explanation of the changes that had been made to evasion, and how it currently functions (percentages would be nice), based on ones bushido/anat/tact?

Edit: It's just a tad difficult to find out which information is still valid, as I quit shortly after SE came around, and have just recently returned, and am trying to find out what my options are before coming to a full decision on the direction to take my character.

Further edit: As far as my equipment is concerned, I'm not doing "terrible". Through the use of GM Lore/Tailor armor and a couple tokuno artifacts, I'm sitting at 70 resist for phys and fire, and above 63 for the rest, but I will have to do better in terms of mana regen and the like before I think I would be comfortable heading to Doom (after my template is complete, of course).

Publish 46 on August 29th, 2007, made it so that evasion could not be used back-to-back. Evasion had been handy before, because really you could almost never get hit AT ALL...if you knew what you were doing. PUB 46 made it so that you can only ACTIVATE evasion EVERY 20 seconds.

That said, evasion is still highly effective...in the right situation. It is not the be all end all type of tactic that should be used or relied upon however. Evasion is more of a countermeasure tactic.

Prior to publish 46, Publish 43 made it so that the evasion skill was tied to your bushido skill...hence, linked with anatomy and tactics (which you knew based on your question).

Evasion from what I recall gives about a 3 to 6 second duration. However, when your bushido is above 100 you get a 2 second bonus. To get the applicable bonus though you have to have BOTH GM anatomy and tactics.

As far as applicable percentages, I cannot say I don't have ready access to that information. With 120 bushido and GM anatomy and tactics you would be fine anyhow.

Just be more inclined to practice your countermeasures for nullifying damage and getting back your applicable 3 leeches (life, mana, stamina) then to rely on evasion. Which is difficult regardless due to the 20 second timer now. Evasion is handy...in the right situation. e.g. a Greater Dragon fire breath or something of that nature, when you are low on life and the Greater Dragon's life is near full.

 

[Malkes]

Ahhh, so basically the only change was the timer between uses and the duration being based on your build, got it. Was just making sure that the chance to avoid the damage through evasion hadn't been changed.

Thanks again.

 

[Diomedes Artega]

Ahhh, so basically the only change was the timer between uses and the duration being based on your build, got it. Was just making sure that the chance to avoid the damage through evasion hadn't been changed.

Thanks again.

Yep no problem. You gotta think though, even just 3 to 8 seconds of evading is pretty good. You can be getting spell-dumped at spawns or tight situations where you are trying to get some distance between you and whoever is pursuing you. It still is pretty nice. I have no complaints about the timer. Besides pretty much any other game, Samurai 侍 is a parry based warrior. Evasion is always thought of as more of an assassin or ninjitsu based tactic.

 

[Malkes]

Aye, I have no problem with the timer, I was just unsure whether it was effective as it originally was. Since it is, there is no problem, hehe.

 

[Malkes]

Alright, I think I'm going to go with a "Sampire"/chiv build here. How does this sound for that:

Tactics: 100
Parry: 120
Bushido: 120
Swords: 115 (will take to 120 when I get my 4th year vet skill points increase)
Anatomy: 100
Necro: 95 (taken to 100 with Bloodwood Spirit, to retain Vamp form, also, I have it scrolled to 110, so I can put on a ring to take me to 110 and have less failure casting Vamp)
Chiv: 65

I will end up getting some runic kits to try to make some decent resist/regen armor for him, and then find a good two hander with good leeches.

 

[Hildebrand]

I'm wondering if Spirit speak would be good to have rather than Anatomy?
Or is it too tempting to walk on the dark side and therefore mess up Karma.

 

[Malkes]

I think it would make playing the build a bit more difficult. As it stands, it's already enough of a pain to try and counteract the karma loss from necro (while training it) to make sure my pally abilities are useful. Also, while the damage increase from Anat may not be all that great, I like how it helps Evasion a little.

Being able to somehow fit SS into the build without having to drop anything would be great though, hehehe.

 

[Hildebrand]

Oh that's right, need bush, tact, & anat for evasion boost. Well, 2 seconds though, maybe won't be missed.
You can always train necro & SS on another char, then stone it over so karma won't get hit.

Here's something for the skill problem. Dread Pirate hat has +10 skill. Comes in tactics, anatomy, or swords. That helps a little. I have Captain John's Replica hat that has +20 swords and that helps me with the skill spread since I'm capped at 715 too.
I'm tempted to try sampire, but I can't take the hit on fire just yet. It means i need to give up the Storm Grips and find better jewels. That's expensive and an onging search.

 

[Diomedes Artega]

I'm wondering if Spirit speak would be good to have rather than Anatomy?
Or is it too tempting to walk on the dark side and therefore mess up Karma.

It's pretty viable depending on what you are fighting. For mobs that will polymorph into you, well not so good since then they will start healing with spirit speak and other nasty surprises. Other major bosses though it is pretty efficient. Better for a swap out type of skill template than a permanent one though.