My First Bard/Mage - Any Advice?

[RavDragon]

I'm playing around with my first bard/mage and I was hoping to get some pointers. I should note that I haven't played UO in a long time, so I am still readjusting and have very limited resources.

Right now I am running a 100% LRC suit with mixed resists (25-50 per element). It's not that great as far as other bonuses either. The only special item I have is a Pendant of the Magi.

Here's my current skills and where I think I want to take them:
Magery 100 --120
Eval 21.3 -- 100
Med 59.4 -- 60
Music 99.7 -- 120
Peace 98.6 -- 120
Disco 50.2 -- 100
Provo 50.3 -- 100

Here's my list 'o questions:

Does the final skill template look decent? What would you change? I thought about dropping Disco or Provo altogether to create a full 120 template. Which of those would you drop?

I wonder how to balance my stats. I know I'll need a high Int for magic. But what about the balance of Str and Dex for a Mage/Bard?

Could anyone tell me what I'm probably going to be aiming towards in regards to artifact gear? I don't expect you to spec out my full set, but any key items or attributes that I really shouldn't try to live without?

Thanks for helping me out and sorry if these questions seem noobish. I'm studying threads as well, but I really just wanted to ask my own questions right out for input.

 

[dragongunner]

As a newbie with a 4 year account this is what I would go with:

Magery------------120
Eval---------------120
Med---------------100 (you will want this high depending on how much MR you can put into your suit, If you can squeeze at least 8-9 MR in your suit then IMO you wont need med as high as 120. GM or less would be fine. I think med works best in increments of 10).
Music--------------120
Spell Weaving------100 (gift of life, Word of Death)
Peace/Disco/Provo-120
_____________________
680 (leaves you with 20-40 skill points to use as you wish depending on your account age)

As far as the music skills Peace, Disco and Provo, I would skill them all up to 120. If you have soulstones or soulstone fragments I would stone the skills that you won't need and keep the skill you would need on your template according to the nasties you plan on fighting. To only have GM in any of these skills is fine but in my experience they dont work quite as effectively when fighting tougher nasties (peerless, Dark Father, para bally's ect...) due to barding difficulties. Make sure to read the barding calculator.

Stat wise I will have to defer to other players as I can quite remember what mine are (all I know is that my dex is around 15-20). Both Strength and Intel are above 100. If you havent done so already buy and eat one of those ultimate stat scrolls (if you can afford it).

As far as your suit you will most definitely need to up your resists as high as you can as 20-50 resists is way too low IMO (an all 70's suit is a great goal to attain, but you should do fine of your resists are in the mid 60's (you should try to get your phys as high as possible). I would also try to max out LMC to 40 which will cut down on mana costs (using arti's below will do this).

Artifacts that I personally use and would consider (if you can afford as it could be costly) would be:

-Rune beetle carapace (most important IMO... gives you MI 10, MR3, and LMC 15)
-Kasa of Raj-in (as it gives GREAT resists and SDI 12)
-pendant of magi (30 lrc)
-stichers mittens (if your an elf) gives you 30 lrc
-ornament of magician (gives you 20 lrc, 3/2 casting, LMC 10)
-broomstick (macing weapon) that gives you (i think) 30 lrc, MR3 and either FC1 or FCR1
-scrappers compendium (gives you SDI 25, LMC 10, FC1, FCR1)
-Totem of Void (gives you LMC 10 I believe)

*All the above accompanied with some good trousers, sleeves with LRC, MR, and decent resists, along with a bracelet and a ring with additional properties as needed would make a well rounded suit.

I hope that this has helped out some and I apologize in advance if any of the item stats are incorrect. I am sure that the real vets of the game could probably help you out a bit more. Like I said I am just a 4th year newbie of the game Good luck with getting Peace, Disco, and Provo up to 120 and happy hunting.

 

[dragongunner]

Sorry RavDragon I didnt read your part on your "limited resources". If you just GM all what I previously posted you will be fine to begin with.

Once you have GM'ed these skills you will be more successful in your hunts. As I mentioned though check the barding difficulty for what you will hunt. I dont know if its up to date but I occassionally use the stratics hunters guide database.

As magery will be your main offence you might want to consider working magery and eval intel to GM first. After which you should be able to buy at least a 110 magery scroll fairly cheap. With 110 magery you should not fail on any of the 7th circle spells with an occasional fizzle on 8th circle spells (I think).

Then go out and farm some gold to begin saving up for some of the arti's I suggested. The first arti's that I would consider buying would be the Rune Beetle Carapace and the Kasa of Raj-in.

If you should decide on Spell Weaving then you will have some extra power to punch out at some of those tougher nasties. GM SW should do you just fine. I have never went higher than that and I have been pretty successful.

Again these are just my opinions. I hope others post replies to either confirm or to correct any bad suggestions that I might have given to you.

 

[Adelina]

Well Peaceing and Provo are two really different things. I would make prvov 120 and peaceing 100 because prvocation will still keep things from targeting you and you can just area peace if things get real bad. other than that, i'd say a pretty good template

 

[jelinidas]

I ended up dropping peace. I found I never used it much. Casting a hide workrd just as well to save my rear.

 

[HD2300]

If you mainly play solo go for a full bard and drop EI. If you hunt more often with others, drop either peace or prov. If you have 2 or more full soulstones you can swap in either EI or peace depending on whats needed.

With a suit aim for 2fc 6fcr with 100 lcr, 40 lmc and high resists. I normally use Swords of Prospersity or similar for defense, but might swap for a spellbook if its safe and I have EI to do more damage.

 

[RavDragon]

Awesome, that's a lot to chew on and consider! Thanks everyone!

Having an idea of what to shoot for suit/arty wise is really going to help a lot...

Sounds like a lot of it just depends on playstyle and that there are a lot of options here. I think getting some soulstone frags and trying several different things will work best for me. Now, if I can only find time to grind up those skills!

One last question... I GM'd Peace recently and my Music is working up towards a 110 cap. I have mainly just been practicing in town. It's getting boring! Where do you think I should hunt at this point in my career to start hoarding some gold and maybe get some nice items?

 

[Old Man of UO]

Awesome, that's a lot to chew on and consider! Thanks everyone!

Having an idea of what to shoot for suit/arty wise is really going to help a lot...

Sounds like a lot of it just depends on playstyle and that there are a lot of options here. I think getting some soulstone frags and trying several different things will work best for me. Now, if I can only find time to grind up those skills!

One last question... I GM'd Peace recently and my Music is working up towards a 110 cap. I have mainly just been practicing in town. It's getting boring! Where do you think I should hunt at this point in my career to start hoarding some gold and maybe get some nice items?

If you promise to share as others come along.... next step is to get out of town.

I hunt Miasma a lot. Get a spellbook and/or instrument of scorpion/arachnid slayer and discord it for a fast kill.

Balrons or succubi in the Fan Dancer Dojo are almost as good or even better for gold, not so much for items. A demon slayer works wonders.

And then dragons in Ilshenar if you can handle the occasional greater dragons and paragons, with of course a dragon/reptile slayer. And you should eventually work up to ancient wyrms for better loot.

Next try the painted caves. I know several people who do quite well here playing solo as bard/mages.

All that said, experiment to find what you enjoy doing and won't die often. My dexxer does better at Miasma than any others, but tamer/bard handles all the rest more easily. When EA/Mythic made the bag-of-sending changes, it forced me to find something other than swoops, and I make more gold now than ever before. Try new things, enjoy the journey!