[Evaluating Intelligence] Evaluating Intelligence + Anatomy = Dodging?

[DJAd]

So I've been trying out a few skills on my mage recently. I had inscription using the last 100 points on the template, mainly for the 10% SDI. I cant say I noticed much difference so I then trained up resisting spells to 100 to give this a try. I again couldn't really notice any major benefits, so I stoned it up and decided to try yet another skill.

Having a read around it appears that when a template contains Evaluating Intelligence, you can then add anatomy to create a "dodging" skill.

"When combined with Anatomy, these two skills can be used to replace Wrestling or other melee skills for defense. At 100 in both you will have the equivalent of 120 in dodging skill."

I added anatomy and got this up to GM. Having a run around in some dungeons to see what this setup was like I was thinking there maybe some kind of alert or message to show when an attack is dodged. Maybe something like when you see *evades* appear when using Bushido. It's hard to tell if its actually working at all!

I was wondering if anyone else runs these two skills together and have any thoughts. I'm basically trying to use up the last 100 points on this template.

I currently have:

120 mage
120 mystic
120 med
120 focus
120 eval intel
100 anatomy

100 resisting spells (soul stone)
100 inscription (soul stone)

 

[Hex_Europa]

I have done in the past but it's not as common as it once was. You will not see any notifications, only that you should be getting hit less.
Not a big fan myself.
Use a mage weapon and put the 100 skill points elsewhere.

 

[DJAd]

put the 100 skill points elsewhere.

This is what I'm trying to figure out.

 

[Hex_Europa]

No problem, i won't tell anyone where to put their skill points but i will offer advice.

Firstly decide whether you want more offense, defence or a mixture.
This is massively dependant on whether you PVP or PVM.

Example of an offensive skill - Poisoning
Example of a defensive skill - Parrying

Tell us what you do with your char and i'm sure the suggestions will come flooding in. )

 

[DJAd]

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking offensive would be good, so I can pack a bit more of a punch. I'll have a read up about poisoning. I might have parrying on a soul stone so will check. Would you say parry is better option than using the anatomy+eval intel (for defense)? Oh, all PvM.

 

[Hex_Europa]

Parrying would stack with your defense.
I would personally use a mage weapon with your 120 Magery (-0 if poss, if not offset with crystaline ring), you would have 120 defensive capability. (Allowing you to drop the anatomy)

Parrying carries it's own problems such as dex requirement and the need for a shield but if you fulfill these requirements then it would stop you getting hit as much.

Parrying & poisoning are just 2 skills of many you could sink the skill points into, each with varying effects (pros & cons)

Offensive wise a few viable options for a mage would be: Inscription, Poisoning, Spellweaving

 

[DJAd]

I'm very tempted by poisoning. Having a read up about it now. I can't see it listed on the skills list though. Do I need to buy from NPC?

 

[Hex_Europa]

I'm a big fan of poisoning , unfortunately it's not an easy skill to train.
Buy as much as you can from a thief Guildmaster.
Grab a weapon that can be poisoned such as a kryss, cleaver etc and fire away.

It'll be very time consuming and expensive due to you having to buy bulk poison or nightshade to make your own.
Stratics should have a poisoning skill guide here somewhere.
I'll have a look and see whats around.

 

[Hex_Europa]

UO Stratics *New* | Poisoning

 

[Zero Day]

I'd prolly go with wrestling over anatomy, since dodging is nice but wrestling offers para hit and disarm

 

[Hex_Europa]

IMHO not on a PVM temp

 

[Driven Insane]

I'd prolly go with wrestling over anatomy, since dodging is nice but wrestling offers para hit and disarm

My Mystic/Mage PvM Temp:

120 Magery
120 Eval
120 Med
120 Mysticism
120 Imbue
120 Wrestling

Not to disagree with Hex, but this is a good PvM template. The thing that Wrestling allows you to do is use Slayer spellbooks, which in my opinion are an absolute neccesity.

 

[Hex_Europa]

I agree with Driven when he mentions the advantage a slayer spellbook can give, so if you go down this route then as he quite rightly mentions wrestling is going to have to be the way forward. Although i do understand you only have the 100 skill points to play with.
Deffo do NOT go for wrestling because of the special moves para/disarm.

120 Focus (rather than imbueing) would give you the same Mysticism spell output as Imbue but in addition the extra mana & stam regen (6-12 respectively) so keep the Focus

 

[Driven Insane]

Yeah I don't even have macros set up to use the Wrestling special moves.

And good point about Focus vs. Imbuing.

 

[DJAd]

Thanks for the tips guys. I had a read up about mystic beforehand so went with focus. Imbuing on my crafter.

I've got parry 100 on a soul stone so was thinking about giving this a try for the defense.

I don't have any Wrestling, I always thought it was a nice skill to accompany a mage from what I had read. I might have to train this up.

 

[Ivor_MacGregor]

120 mage
120 mystic
120 med
120 focus
120 eval intel

120 resisting spells (soul stone)
120 wrestling (soul stone)
120 spell weaving (soul stone)
100 poisoning (soul stone)

Hey there. I have played a mystic mage for some time. I don't have to tell you how much fun it is. Personally, I find it one of the most well rounded magi templates out there. I tend to do mostly pvm but also engage in defensive pvp for champion spawn reasons. I find myself running 120 spell weaving when in trammel and swap this and meditation out for wrestling and resist when going to felucca. For a while I was just running wrestling instead of spell weaving. I crafted my suit around the concept of running 2/6 casting even in stone form (4 faster casting total) while having my non-spell book hand free for the use of the healing stone. I found this to be an extremely resilient template that was awesome for teamwork oriented play. However, spell weaving is just plain superior over wrestling in pvm when it comes to damage output. As for poisoning, while it is fun to setup poison fields everywhere, I just do not find myself using it much at all anymore.

Just remember, your play style is what will decide how you go about your template. Lets just be happy we have soul stones!!!

 

[Heimi]

Remember if you're going to use Parrying then you'll need at least 80 Dex to block a reasonable amount of blows.

 

[DJAd]

Remember if you're going to use Parrying then you'll need at least 80 Dex to block a reasonable amount of blows.

Good point. Looks like I won't be going for parrying then!

 

[Driven Insane]

If you want more defense, go with Wrestling.

If you want more offense, go with Spellweaving.

 

[Heimi]

Personally I would take GM Spellweaving over a 'defensive' skill for PVM any day

 

[PlayerSkillFTW]

Yeah, for PvM, i'd use a -0 Mage Wep. The Staff of Enlightenment can work too if you can fit a total of +10 Magery on your jewelry. For PvP, i'd go with Wrest for defensive. With the introduction of reforging, it's actually possible to make a pretty good Parry Mage now. Have 100/50/105 base, then reforge +5 DEX onto 6 of your armor pieces, and that's the 80 DEX needed for Parry right there. Combine it with 120 Wrest and a spellbook, and Warriors/Archers will cry.

 

[DJAd]

With the introduction of reforging, it's actually possible to make a pretty good Parry Mage now.

This is something I'd like to try, I've only just got my head around imbuing though! Is there any good guides to reforging?

 

[RazicGL]

I am running this for my PvM caster.

120 mage
120 mystic
120 focus
120 eval intel
120 Necro
120 SS

Jeepers creepers this guy is powerful, I run in wraith form... this means i get back a good chunk of mana for the damage i deal out with spells. I am running a suit that gives me all 70's in resists in wraith form, about 30 mana increase, about 10 HPI, lcm 40, lrc 100 and mr 15 as well as a few other random things that the RNG threw my way while reforging!

I use a -0 mage wep (staff of the magi,i have a macro to un/re equip this for if i want to use my healing stone or potions) I also use greater str and dex potions for a little extra damage with the mage wep for if i find myself needing to use curse wep for a little extra healing power!

Tactics i use with this guy.... ok so say I am going to do the rat champ spawn, i grab my repond slayer book... i leave it in my pack for now ... for the first level I would drop a couple of EV's then run around and agro as many of the critters I can... i then stand there with my mage wep laughing at the million slimes and rats chewing my robe (shrowd of the condemned ) i have a few choices now... I can either let the ev's work through the ranks decimating the poor things or I can either wither the hell out of the whole group in around 5 seconds, Orrrrrrrr I can Nether Cyclone the hell out of the whole group in around 6 seconds....

anyhow its all good, I do this untill I pop the next level of the spawn.... Same tactics again, EV's (for a wider killing area) and run around agro as many ratmen and Dire wolves as I can... this time I pop a curse wep, and wither them to death... I pop curse wep so as I am swinging I am auto healing any damage the rats/wolves may (or may not) manage to do....

The next level is a little more tricky but with practice its still no bother.... I keep an eye on the lvl 2 spawn and just before its ready to pop I head towards top of the spawn area (i do fel despise) the entry way to the north west of the spawn is a good place to start from here. When the spawn pops I precast a RC... i run down the souh west side of the spawn and back up even though I am in Fel in wraith form you can just run through the monsters. You will take a lot of random foreballs and get hit with poison by the hellhounds and rat mages. as i get towards the top of the spawn area again I drop my RC, stop, cast cleansing winds and then cast invis... as stuff starts gettig towards my RC (close enough for it to engage) I invis. by doing this the RC should now work its way down the line of spawn
and kick all their butts, once they are busy I speed things up with nether cyclone or wither... I do this all around the spawn area working my way around to the alter to check the spawn... when I get to the alter I retarget the idol with Valor option... this means there are less of the higher level spawn to deal with. I stay towards the top of the spawn area again as it progresses and then once the ratmen archers and silver serps spawn i simply work my way towards the alter then clear the spawn around barracoon... barracoon take me a little while, about 15 to 20 mins to kill him... what I do is make sure i kill the spawn towards to the top of the bridge... Once the area around barracoon is clear i drop my staff of the mage and switch to an old invasion spellbook with 30% SDI, I then cast animate dead on the silver serps and ratmen that i just killed, my new undead friends will follow me over the bridge and start beating on barra' he takes them out fairly fast but its all extra damage.... Once Barracoon goes into rat form I switch to my repond slayer book (in human form he is not effected by slayers) and continue to blast him with spells! When he summons rats to me I wither them to death and animate them to attack their former master... then i basically just do this until he is dead...

all in all it takes me around 45 mins to an hour to do the spawn solo start to finish.... Sorry if i went off on one a bit but I thought rather than just putting a template and saying "for me this is teh roxxors" I thought If i gave an idea of how I use the template then its may help.