Another PvM template question :)

[Zultan]

Hi there all!

Well im returning to UO, stopped playing it at 2001, so theres tons of changes i know.
Ok. My question is, i was looking for a good mage template for PvM only! And i think ill go for this one:

Spellweave/necro/mage
120 Magery
120 Eval
110 Resist
105 Necro
120 Spiritspeak
85 Spellweaving
60 Meditation

Sounds good? Any tips?

Thanks for all!

 

[karnax]

the temp i use with my necro mage is
95 necro
95 ss
110-115 magery
115 eval
120 weaving
with 110 magery i use 115 eval

this template works phenominal for me plus u have points left over to put in whatever

 

[Farsight]

My advice is drop resist and bring weaving up all the way, use remaining points for meditation.

Resist isn't a very useful skill for a PvM mage, as not many things should be casting spells at you, especially if you have an ogre lord in tow.

 

[Taylor]

Agree w/ Farsight re: resist vs. pvm. Here's what I do on my necro/mage:

120 Mage
120 Med
120 Eval
120 SS
120 Resist for PvP, Weaving for PvM (soulstone to swap them out)
110 Necro

Beautiful template, indeed.

 

[Zultan]

Ok then

Ill drop down resist, but ill need a decent mage armor dont i ? what armor set i should look for?

And stats ? im with 100 str 10 dex 115 int

Since its been a long time i dont play it, ill appreciate if soemone tells me what are the best SW spells and how to use them.

thank for the help so far guys

 

[Favith]

As far as spellweaving is concerned you obviously will get use out of:

Gift of Life
Gift of Renewal
Dryad Allure

These are obviously good for PVM regardless of what focus you get (although Gift of Renewal at a level 6 focus is like...insane).

The rest of the spells, IMO anyway, really require a decent focus to be worthwhile. If you know you can get a level 3 or better focus easily..then drop Wildfire, Essense of Wind and even WoD. If you can't get a good focus then those spells are going to be a waste of time, especially in light of all the other mage/necro spells your template allows you to cast.

I think most (maybe all?) servers have the circle in front of Brit bank now? I know on Atlantic getting a level 6 focus is pretty easy and getting at least a level 3 is doable nearly 24/7 just from the people who are nice enough to afk in the circle (I know I afk there when I have to afk in-game).

 

[Taylor]

There is a great deal of consensus re: armor mods, but not so much when it comes to their order of importance. I add mods to my armor in this order: 100 lower reagent cost (obviously), 40 lower mana cost (lmc), faster cast/faster cast recovery (2/6 for mage or necro, 4/6 for spellweaver), 10 to 12 mana regen, resists in the 60s.

For PvM, you can throw together a suit pretty easily. My PvM suits usually include the following arties: kasa of the ra-jin (head), pendant of the magi (neck), rune beetle carapace (chest), stitcher's mittens (hands), ornament of the magician (bracelet), quiver of infinity, totem of the void (tally), cloak of death, arcane boots (to invis w/o lrc, if self-rezing), crimson cincture, scrapper's (book), chaos shield museum of vesper replica. I then add custom arms, legs, and ring that will bring me to 100 lrc, 40 lmc, 4/6 (or 2/6 without weaving), and around 10 mr. You definitely want AT LEAST 100 lrc, 40 lmc, and 2/6. You can probably get away with less mana regen, as wraith form will keep your mana pretty full. These items aren't cheap, but are readily available. You can probably put this suit together for around 30 mil. Of course, if you go with more custom pieces and spend more time shopping around, you can probably do a similar suit for 15.

________________________

If you move into the PvP realm, a necro/mage suit can be quite expensive. Typically includes crystalline ring (16 mil on atlantic), ornament of the magician (10 mil), armor of fortune (12 mil), folded steel reading glasses (10 mil), inquisitor's resolution (30 mil), one-handed mage weapon w/ dci and no casting penalty (20+ mil), and custom pieces. This is a pricey suit, indeed.

 

[Zultan]

About Dryad Allure, an excellent spell, whats the best monster to "take" on your side ? is there any skill check to allure em ?

 

[Taylor]

Ogre Lords or Arctic Ogre Lords are good choices.

 

[Farsight]

Spellweaving spells you'll use a lot:
Arcane Circle: gets a focus when you have other people standing on an arcane circle
Gift of Renewal: heals up to 16 points every 2 seconds for a short time
Immolate weapon: You'll likely never use it. Mana cost is too high for the effect, especially for a low-mana warrior
Attunement: Possibly the most under-used spellweaving spell. It absorbs extra damage giving you extra hit points for a short time.
Thunderstorm: You won't use it because essence of wind is so much more powerful. I have yet to do thorough testing of the fast cast recovery penalties.
Nature's fury: a NF with a level six focus is more powerful than an energy vortex, but they're notoriously easy to dispell. You'll get a lot of milage out of this one.
Summons (fey/fiend): for PvM, you won't likely use these at all. The fiend is useful if you're hunting with a pair of fire steeds (but who does that anyway?)
Reaper form: VERY useful in long fights where you don't have to run away (most peerless, for example). Gives a huge SDI bonus.
Wildfire: I've found one place where wildfire is useful as more than an annoyance. When fighting Travesty it eliminates all mirror images for a time and when it isn't killing mirrors, it's about as good as repeatedly casting fireballs.
Essence of wind: with a level six focus, it hits everything that you can see in the 2d client. If it weren't so slow to cast, it would be vastly overpowered. Extremely useful in heavy spawn zones.
Dryad allure: get your arctic ogre lord (or ogre lord, or orc brute). You won't be sorry.
Ethereal voyage: get to your body without being attacked. Get past the spawns in order to key Travesty. Get a few free taming attempts without being attacked. The uses of not being attacked for a short time are many. The problem is that Mondain's Legacy named monsters, most notably the named undead in Bedlam, ignore ethereal voyage.
Word of Death: at a base 300 points of damage, this is THE reason most people bring spellweaving all the way to 120.
Gift of life: never have to depend on other people to ressurect you.
Arcane empowerment: enhances your summons, gives you extra SDI

Spell combinations:
Gift of renewal + protection + essence of wind (or wither or earthquake) means you can run directly in the middle of a thick spawn, kill everything, and not worry about interruptions or healing yourself.
Arcane empowerment + reaper form + SDI on your suit + Word of Death means up to 700 points of damage for the last 30% of the fight. You'll always get looting rights in peerless/doom unless everyone else is a bushido-archer.
Dryad allure an ogre lord for a cheap way to train high level melee skills and healing (you can heal your ogre lord with bandages). I trained from 80-120 wrestling this way.
Dryad allure an ettin or troll for lower level melee and healing training.
Wraith form plus essence of wind or word of death means you never run out of mana.

 

[Zultan]

Farsight, thats the kinda SW guide i was looking for. U nailed it, thx.

And thx for all about the tips too.