[Magery] Is this a good (PvP) build?

[Valentina]

Hi! I played the game for about 6 weeks waay back in... I think I forget when! XD Anyhoo, I'm coming back, and trying to build a good mage. Mostly for PvP but has to be able to PvE too.

So far, this is what I've got...



Magery 100 (106)
Evaluate INtelligence 100 (120)
Inscription 100 (100)
Spellweaving 100 (120)
Resist Magic 100 (120)
Anatomy 100 (80)
Meditation 100 (54+)*

Strength 90 (120)
Dexterity 10 (10)
Intelligence 125 (125)

*hoping to raise meditation above 54 since I am hoping to ahve some +skill items for various things.

The first columb is without any scrolls, and the second collumb is with them.

I was wondering if anyone whos been around more could let me know what they think.

I especially wonder if I should have a dexterity higher than minimum.

Also, should I spend the extra 40 points for Wrestling? I'm not sure I see the point. It has disarm, but how often am I actually going to use/hit with that? Wouldn't I rather have the 40 points of meditation? *shrug*


Thanks, all, in advance!

 

[SyKo of GL]

Magery 100 (106)
Evaluate INtelligence 100 (120)
Inscription 100 (100)
Spellweaving 100 (120)
Resist Magic 100 (120)
Anatomy 100 (80)
Meditation 100 (54+)*

well i dont know your budget for scrolls, the 120 scrolls for a mage can get pretty pricey.

But u will want magery as high as u can afford 120 being best. ur eval, resist, and inscribe look like they are going in the right way, but u will need more meditation. anatomy is not very useful alone, i would put up wrestle instead. and spellweaving, someone correct me if im wrong, but spellweaving is a good skill but not one to base a pvp mage around, you can get away with MUCH lower spellweaving. depends on how much u wanna pvp, or how much u wanna pve.

easy build, and suit for it is cheap too is: (but scrolls are not)
120 mage
120 eval
120 med
120 resist
120 wrestle
100 inscribe
(0-20) in spellweaving depending on ur accnt age.
this is one of my fav temps for fun, but u might want to take wrestle down some more to put more in weaving =/ ur call, hope this helps some.

only problem is there are too many people that will destroy this because their suits allow them to spread skills out perfectly with inq, crystaline, orny, and a mage weapon the possibilities are endless. =)

 

[Lynk]

Spellweaving can actually be pretty nice if you have a good circle. Casting 4 pixies with one spell can really save you if you are getting jumped. Stick the 4 pixies on one of them and heal yourself up. Plus the benefits of attunement and gift of renewal are huge at high spellweaving with a good circle.

As for anat, people tell me that [(Anat + eval) / 2] + 20 is equivalent in evasive defense to 120 wrestle. I have never tested it so I can't say.

You definately want higher med, maybe 80ish. What I did was use a 30 skill spellbook for my tamer mage when I was tight on skills, managed just fine with it too.

 

[Valentina]

I thought about grabbign a mage weapon too, but I wanted somethig that couldn't be disarmed. I read the same formula that link did. According to... this website, actually, Evaluate Intelligence and Anatomy grant defence together (the equivalent of 120 weapon skill if you have a combined 200 points of them). Thats why I took anatomy on the build. Is that not true? If it is, is it really worth 40 points more just so I can disarm? After-all, if I'm trying to disarm people doesn't that add another catagory of item enhancements I need (or do I not need Increased HIt Chance in order to make it work)?

Spellweaving, I sort of just want to try out, honestly. Maybe I'll replace it with other things later.

The magery guide at this site also said that there was no point to having 120 magery since 8th level spells are all cast outside of combat. Looking at the 8th circle spell roster, they're all summons, so that seems to be true. According to the website, spell damage no longer depends on magery, but on evaluate intelligence. Why do you recommend spending the extra 14 points there?

 

[Lynk]

With 120 magery your heals will be more effective. The chance to successfully poison someone is based on your Magery vs their Resisting Spells.

Ressurection/EVs and even EQ are used regularly. I'd say as high as you can get it within your budget is what you should do.

 

[Valentina]

Hmm, allright then. I was just trying to scrounge some more points for Meditation.

 

[Lynk]

Hmm, allright then. I was just trying to scrounge some more points for Meditation.

I'd knock Spellweaving down to GM and put it into magery to at least 115, whatever is left should go to med.

 

[Valentina]

Allright. Ill loose my 100% chance to cast Word fo Death, but not the end of the world.

 

[Chiera]

even with dropping SW to GM and raising Med you'll need maxed lmc and plenty of MR on the suit since SW spells are generally rather costly in terms of mana.

 

[Lynk]

Allright. Ill loose my 100% chance to cast Word fo Death, but not the end of the world.

WoD is useless in PvP anyways.

 

[Valentina]

WoD is useless in PvP anyways.

How does it work in PvP? The descriptions of spellweaving effects are all a little vague, if you ask me, but it seemed like a good finisher.

 

[Valentina]

By the by, DOES Anat+eval boost defence like it says on theStratics mage guide? I've been training it up and my enemies never do seem to miss (though that could just be because I don't have it high enough yet).

 

[The Lox]

It works, been running it on a mage for years.

 

[Valentina]

Keen! And is it Ev+an/2 +20, or is it Ev+an+20/2 I have heard several people tell me different things and for the difference of 20 points it is not insignificant (if I need 100 anatomy instead of 80 to make it work then perhaps its worth to pay a full 120 points for Wrestling and learn Disarm).

 

[The Lox]

I've always run with the impression it was Eval + Anat +20/2, I think wrestle would be better unless your running a healer mage temp, which I know alot of people dont like, but I love.

 

[Valentina]

I'm actually a little curious as what exactly a healer mage tem,palte invovles. That is to say: in what sense is it build differently then a normal mage template? Obviously I woulnd't need Inscription (since its only there for the damage buff) and I would probably put those points into meditation. After that, though, what else? ARE there any skills besides magery that affect the potency of my heal and cure spells?

 

[Chiera]

basically you would try to cramp in healing and anatomy in your mage template so you've got an additional uninterruptable way of healing and curing. Add parry to that and you are really hard to kill. Downside would be the template doesn't do too much damage.

 

[rockkandy]

ok so I'm reading this and wondering why not one person has mentioned the straight Necro scribe Mage or necro Mage with resist. Both are equally potent in their own way. Scribe has the +10 sdi but needs pots/ trap box. And resist needs a little higher sdi suit build. All in all the 2 temps out there that seem to be the most effective are


120 Mage
120 eval
120 necro
120 ss
120 med
100 scribe
20 pts in ur choice of skill

Or

120 Mage
120 eval
120 med
120 resist
120 necro
120 ss

 

[Chaosy]

(anat + eval + 20) / 2

And WoD is useless in PvP because of its cast time and its next to zero damage.

 

[Lynk]

ok so I'm reading this and wondering why not one person has mentioned the straight Necro scribe Mage or necro Mage with resist. Both are equally potent in their own way. Scribe has the +10 sdi but needs pots/ trap box. And resist needs a little higher sdi suit build. All in all the 2 temps out there that seem to be the most effective are


120 Mage
120 eval
120 necro
120 ss
120 med
100 scribe
20 pts in ur choice of skill

Or

120 Mage
120 eval
120 med
120 resist
120 necro
120 ss

You should pretty much never run a mage template without resist. If you want to run a scribe/necro use the following (with mage weapon)

120 Mage
120 Eval
120 Resist
100 Necro
100 SS
100 Resist
60 Med

I have one mage like this and the damage output is insane. You need ALOT of LMC/MR on your suit, and mana is still a little short for extended 1 v 1's. Whenever I get low on mana I wait for them to try to get explode up and I omen/mana vamp them to get mana back. Works for me.

 

[Valentina]

Dont you find it difficult to fight warriors without a real defensive skill? Mage weapons seem like a dubious thing to relly on, to me.

 

[Lynk]

It's no different than having 120 in a weapon skill (or wrestle aside from being able to be disarmed).

 

[Valentina]

But thats what I meen - seems too vulernable to disarming. *le pause* Also... wouldn't that limit your ability to quoff potions (and enchanted apples, and such), since disarming your primary hand for a few seconds makes you vulnerable?

 

[Lynk]

But thats what I meen - seems too vulernable to disarming. *le pause* Also... wouldn't that limit your ability to quoff potions (and enchanted apples, and such), since disarming your primary hand for a few seconds makes you vulnerable?

I use 1 handed mage weapons and crystalline ring to make up for - mage penalty.

As for disarm.. ya, but that's true for every template except for a wrestle mage. If I get disarmed I don't stick around to play, I'll run until weapon is equipped again. If they keep disarming I'll keep running and spamming heal pots. Eventually they will actually want to fight.

 

[Valentina]

Why? If your enemy runs, then youve won. If you were actually attacking something, then they've left it to you. If you were actually defending something, then they've failed to take it. In the more likely scenario (in video games) where you're just fighting to see who's better, they've conceded the match.

 

[rockkandy]

there are a lot of ways around no resist via pots trap box apples petals and such and it seems like the heavy hitters don't need the resist. I personally run the 2nd temp I mentioned. And have a heavy dci suit built. The thing with - Mage weaps is that EVERY trammy and their mom wants one so they are pricey. People do not realize that most of these peoples don't care about them unless they have 10+ dci on them. This helping ur defence chances as well. I personally don't worry too much when disarmed I just make sure to keep my distance till I can rearm and worry a fraction less. Heavy lmc/mr suits are also very good to have but with a wisp an the omen vamp aren't 100% necessary. The Mage weap resist necro Mage temp is IMO the best team field fighting temp. Meteor swarm wither painspike ftw

 

[rockkandy]

If u are looking for a more solo approach to pvp like the "head turner yew gater" then a good tact Mage would suffice quite nice. I also run this temp and find that most people do not expect it now days.

120 Mage
120 med
120 eval
120 resist
120 weap skill
120 tact


With this u can run a lot wider variety of weaps and get ur own disarms off on the opp. I tend to run a nice sc ubws mace for disarm/ conc blow. Also great to have a bone harvy or a mortal weap to make em use up their apples. I usually run 4 weaps with an arm/d-arm macro for each.

Try to cover the special spectrum with weap choice so u can fight any temp. Bleed/mortal/d-arm/heavy hit are a must. And a nice poison (even without poisoning) still makes em chug or use an extra aid

 

[Valentina]

On the subject of necromany, I'm curioous: are the formulas given for the duration of debuffs like Corpse Skin and Blood Oath on this website accurate? The formulas seem odd to me. Corpse skin, in particular, seems to last a very long time regardless of how high your spirit speak or your enemy's spell resistance is.

 

[Lynk]

On the subject of necromany, I'm curioous: are the formulas given for the duration of debuffs like Corpse Skin and Blood Oath on this website accurate? The formulas seem odd to me. Corpse skin, in particular, seems to last a very long time regardless of how high your spirit speak or your enemy's spell resistance is.

Very true. I have a few templates that are 1/2 necros. I use just 60 necro and the human JoAT 20 spirit speak. Never fail EO, Pain, Oath, or Corpse. EO is like 2 seconds, pain roughly 14-16 dmg, corpse lasts a good bit.

 

[ZidjiN]

Im getting more confused about this Eval/anatomy thing every time i read something about it. I was under the impression that it was Eval+anatomy/2+20.
Wasnt this answered in a FoF a long time ago? Cant find it anywhere.

I run:
120 Magery
120 Eval
90 Meditation
120 Resist
105 Necro
120 SS
80 Anatomy

635 total. I use the tome of lost knowledge and a bloodwood spirit to make up for the skills.

 

[Valentina]

According to this website, and these fine fellows, it is (Ev+An+20)/2 Therefor at 100 EV and 100 an you will have 110 defensive wrestling. The build above would have 100 defensive wrestling.

Getting back to spellweaving for a moment: where do I go to find Exodus minions to complete the patience quest? I found some overseers in a cave near Honour, but I cant find minions. Running aimlessly around the wildness of Ilshanar looking for them is turning out to be a surprisingly dangerous (and thus, expensive) proposition.

 

[BajaKurgan]

where do I go to find Exodus minions to complete the patience quest?

The Exodus Dungeon

 

[Valentina]

Thanks! I dont see the Gargoyle City that the article speaks aobut on my map. How do I find it?

Also, will I need to round up a posse somehow in order to venture there, or can I solo it long enough to kill the two minions I need?

 

[BajaKurgan]

Ilshenar

I've only been to the Exodus Dungeon once, for the sole purpose of finishing the Patience quest, and I found it to be fairly easy.

With the exception of finding the gate into the dungeon with all spawn around, actually killing the two Exodus Minions was simple.

I turned left down a hall once I was in the dungeon and ran into a room where they spawned, popped two EV's and it died, another one spawned and EV's gobbled him up too.

 

[Valentina]

Hmm, I WAS looking in the right area. I've just never been able to find the pyramid thing the articles describe. I suppoe I shall have to look harder and try not to get ganked by any paragon spawns in the process. Thanks!

 

[BajaKurgan]

If you hover over the skull, just north of the Honor gate, on the Ilshenar map, it will say:

Entrance to Central Ilshenar

That's the one you want.

Once in Central Ilshenar head for the skull that says:

Entrance to Exodus Dungeon

 

[Valentina]

I shall! thank you very much for the help!

 

[Valentina]

Success! Now I just need to find a complete Spellweaving spellbook somewher,e but that will come in time.

I like the half-necro template idea. AT the moment, my build is looking like this:

106 Magery
120 Evaluate Intelligence
120 Spellweaving
60 Necromancy
120 Resisting Spells
120 Wrestling
54+ Meditation

I will get my magery up to 106 and try it out. If I find that I really want 100% chance to cast EV (which is an AWESOME spell, dont get me wrong) then I will go higher at the expense of my "base" meditation skill.\

I ditched Inscription for Necromancy since the 15% fire resistance debuff from Corpse Skin is worth more damage than then 10% boost from inscription.

I been toying with the idea of ditching Wrestling instead, and taking GM inscription after-all. Then I would take 120 Magery, and carry a mage-weapon. I'm still skeptical though (I know, I know, obstinant doubter that I am), that thats a good plan - an extra 10% damage is nice, but is it worth the loss of Wrestling (that can disarm and stun people, as well as provide un-disarmable melee defense and free me up to use spellbooks instead of mage-weapons)?

Perhaps I should carry Inscription on one of these soul-stones I keep hearing about (though I'm still not clear on where I get one or how they work)?

 

[BajaKurgan]

Perhaps I should carry Inscription on one of these soul-stones I keep hearing about (though I'm still not clear on where I get one or how they work)?

Funny, because when I started reading your post about your struggle with ditching this skill and adding that one I thought to myself...

This woman needs a Soul Stone.

Soul Stones just might be the single best invention in UO history. They facilitate the transfer of all UO Skills. That means you can train any skill to any level on any player and then transfer the skill to your Soul Stone.
Once you transfer the skill to the stone you have 4 options...

1. Leave the skill on the stone indefinitely
2. Transfer the skill back to Player A at any time
3. Transfer the skill to Player B at any time
4. Purge skill completely

Couple of notes on Soul Stone use:

1. Soul Stones are bound to your account. That means you can't transfer skills from a player on account A to a player on account B. Also if you see a Red, Green or Blue Soul Stone on a vendor, they are for decoration only, these Soul Stones have already been tied to an account and you will not be able to use them. The only Soul Stone you will be able to use, when purchased from a vendor, is a round account token Soul Stone
2. If you purge a skill from the Soul Stone they are gone forever
3. If you want to transfer more than 100.0 skill points from Player A to Player B both players will need to have 'eaten' the appropriate skill scroll
4. To transfer a skill to a player the skill must be set to raise and you must have enough space in your skill cap to accept the incoming skill
5. To transfer a skill from a player you must have the skill set to lower
6. Soul Stones come in two flavors
A. Soul Stones - Full height unblemished stones that have an unlimited number of uses
B. Soul Stone Fragments - Broken bits of Soul Stones that only have 5 uses
7. And my favorite rule, the more Soul Stones the merrier!!!

You can purchase Soul Stones from in game vendors, but by far the best way to get one is to purchase an Ultima Online Legacy Token Directly from EA.

Now I just need to find a complete Spellweaving spellbook somewher,e

You can't get a "complete" spellbook without finishing the Friend of the Fey Quest and the Fiendish Friends Quest

 

[Valentina]

Those quests only give me that one spell, though, right (Summon Faeries and Summon Imps respectivley)? Is there a quest I can complete to get the other 12 spells, or do I need to find and buy a full spellbook?

As for soul stones, thank yoU! When I see them, they seem HUGE! and are in peoples' houses. DO I need a house in order to have one, or will the giant person-sized stone magically fit into my backpack?

 

[BajaKurgan]

Those quests only give me that one spell, though, right (Summon Faeries and Summon Imps respectivley)? Is there a quest I can complete to get the other 12 spells, or do I need to find and buy a full spellbook?

You can purchase a full Speallweaving spellbook, but until you complete the quests you can't cast those two spells. The other 12 spellweaving scrolls can be found as loot on peerless as well.

...will the giant person-sized stone magically fit into my backpack?

Magically fits in your backpack.
Suspension of disbelief Baby, suspension of disbelief!!!

 

[Valentina]

Well, its obviously an /enchanted/ backpack. I AM a sorceress, after-all. *nod, nod*

In my traditional eclectic fashion, a questiona bout Pain Spike sans spirit speak. The description on this site says it does a minumum of 30 damage even without spirit speak and that the damage is "direct damage" (which, if I understnad correctly, means it is untyped and therefor unresistable). That sounds awesome! As I blow away skelitons in New Haven to train it up, though, the damage seems to vary between 25 and 30. Not only is that less then it shoudl be according to Stratics, but the fact that it varies implies that it CAN be resisted.

How DOES pain spike work, and should I bother with it with a spirit speak of 0?


P.S. Necromancy is ROUGH on your Karma! I suppose I can forget about my dreams of Glorious Lady-ship.

 

[Valentina]

Another fun question: someone said earlier that even withotu spirit speak, Evil Omen lasts a good 2 seconds. When I test-cast it on myself it seems to last maybe half a second, if that. Not long enough to get off another spell. Am I missing something here?

 

[Valentina]

Well, I had some fun today testing out low level necromancy spells. It ws a bit disapointing. Evil Omen, which I had been SO looking forward to, never lasted long enough to affect the next spell. From its discription on this site I had the impression that it would affect the next thing I did to them, no matte rhow many seconds passed in between, but thats obviously not the case. I tried boosting my Spirit Speak to 20 to see if it was the lack of JoaT that was making the difference, but that didn't make any noticeable impression. I tried casting it summoned pets and things too, but it never lasted long enough against any fo themto affect a spell cast immediately afterwards, even with full 2/6 faster cast rate.

*le sigh*

Blood Oath, and Curse Weapon also don't last long enought ob e useful but I was expecting that.

At the end of the day though, if I only ever use Necromancy for Corpse Skin, the occasional pain spike as a cheap finisher, and maybe a skeliton or two when I feel like it for fun, its still arguably a better plan than inscription.

But that begs one more in my cavalcade of questions: how long do debuffs (curses) really last in PvP? I know there are ways to break them now, and Enchanted Apples, or Orange Blossoms, or whatever it is (I forget which) dont seem hard to make or acquire. If I lay Corpse skin on someone cna I expect it to actually last the full 35 second SS-less duration, or will I ahve to re-apply it ever second spell becuase they'll be constantly chugging down or casting things to break it?

Also, tangent time: is it just me or does anyoen else find Mana Drain useless? It never seems to drain more mana from its target than it restores to me. I currently have 97 Evaluate Intelligence, and its still only recoverying somethign like 50-60% of the 34-35 mana casting cost (with 13% LMC) - I doubt that the remaining third to a half of that mana will be made up by the remaining 23 points that stand between me and legendaqry scholarship (23 points and Avatar alone knows how much money for a scroll, but I digress)

 

[Green Meanie]

I like your new template Much more. I would agree that if your not 120 weaving you should be 96 (spell weaving gets a small bonus every 24 real points) and witch is better is agruble. WOD usless in pvp. 106 magery is plenty unless your running a mage weapon template. Yes you heal more and cure easier if you have higher magery but is the bonus worth the 14 skill points for 1-2 on a mini heal 5-6 on a g heal and unnoticable amount on cures?

54 med isnt very good but workable. you will need 14 or so mr.

Running from disarm is not losing the fight if that was the case then y not make any special a 1 hit kill to a non wrestler

 

[Valentina]

Thanks.

In as far as wrestling: someone said that they would run awa anytime someone disarmed them. They would return whent hey could re-arm, but if they were disarmed again they would run again. They would only stand and fight if their opponent stopped using disarm against. The logical conclusion of that behavior is that if someone refuses to stop using Disarm against them, then they will never be able to overcome that opponent. Surely a better tactic is needed.

As for the rest, I am still curious to know an answer on the real usefulness of Corpse Skin (how easy it is to actually keep active on someone). Poison has a long duration too, after-all, but that does't make it good as far as most of the people around here seem to say. Since curses can also be cured by items (and even spells - Chivalry has one that does it, I think) that canb e carried in quantity and used without fear of interruption, I wonder what makes a debuff like this different? Is it just that most people, for reasons passing understanding, don't USE the appropriate countermeasure? Or am I missing something?