S
Scar Tissue
Guest
So, here's how i get 8x8 to work. Please Kofu can you add this to the FAQ as it is certainly a Frequently asked question!
OK, Some starting points on various things that may not be known.
1
Power hour is the 1st hour a Character (not an account, it is per character) logs on AFTER midnight LOCAL server time. e.g, i play AOL legends, it is hosted in NY state so Midnight EST is the power hour reset time.
2 UO-Automap is a FREE download from Stratics reached from here: http://uo.stratics.com/uoam/index.html
4 The Red grid squares shown on the above web page are NOT in the downloaded program, all grid lines are WHITE, the red lines are used to emphasise the grids as an example on the web page.
5 You can cast on yourself (and take damage obviously), the Tillerman or a Crystal ball. Tillerman and Crystal Ball casting does not show a graphic for a successfully cast spell, but mana is used up. Any casting attempt uses up regs, success or fizzle.
OK, now on to what you'll need to have before a new days power hour:
Regs, and lots of them. (types detailed later)
A Boat. (it DOES work on land, but is far easier at sea)
A spellbook with at least Energy Bolt, Flamestrike and, ideally, Earthquake. The more other spells the better.
A copy of UOAutomap with the 8x8 Resource squares shown
Armed with the above you are ready to commence.
I find Moonglow is the best place to start, go to the SE corner and get in the boat. Raise the anchor and set a Macro to Say "Forward One" and another to say "Left One". Face the boat South and centre yourself in the resource square that is best viewed in UOAM at 2x Zoom.
At 50-63ish skill (magery) cast Energy Bolts on either the Tillerman, yourself or even a friend. You'll need around 300 each of Black Pearl and Nightshade for this.
You will fizzle as your magery is low, but cast up to 3 times and see if you get a gain. If not, go "Left One" 8 times. UOAM will confirm you are centered in the next resource square, but if you haven't got it just make sure you use the macro with a short delay to make sure each move is registered by the tillerman.
Alternatively you can "Drift" left/East and have "Stop" pretyped for when you get a gain. This is easier to do, but you can miss a gain run due to being out of mana as you pass over it.
Cast again up to 3 times. Any gain? If not, repeat until you get a gain by continuing Left (West to East) until you do. Again, if "drift"ing then you don't have to stop in each square and cast 3 times, but be poised to stop when you do gain. Some prefer casting just once per square before moving on. How you do it doesn't really matter as you're after the 1st gain spot. Use whatever works for you.
When you do gain then go "Forward One" 8 times to go to the resource Square to the South of the original Gain spot. Cast again up to 3 times and you should gain. If you fail to gain then go "Back One" 16 times. In other words, to the resource square that is North of the Original Gain spot and try there. You WILL gain at either the North or South resource square from the original spot.
At lower magery levels you will always fizzle and will gain skill during power hour from this. Once you start a run and find which way the run is going (North-South or South-North) then just follow the same direction casting up to 3 times in each resource square, basically cast until you gain or have cast 3 successful spells.
A run can keep you going all power hour (very unlikely at over 75 skill though), but may occasionally skip a resource square or double back. If you cast a max of 3 times per square you should always gain, but if not, go 1 resource square further on and try there, if nothing, go back to the last gain square and then ANOTHER square back in the direction you came from. Some of the time the "run" has changed direction or skipped a square rather than just run dry...
If done correctly you should get to maybe 65 Magery from 50 in the 1st power hour and will find the 1st gain spot very fast as you are at low magery. I would guess around 300-400 of Black Pearl and Nightshade would be sufficient to achieve this. If a run does end, then recommence the "left one"/"Drift left" method to find a new run.
When you have finished for the 1st power hour, i advise swapping to Flamestrikes as you'll probably be at around the 65 Skill mark and will be succeeding with Energy Bolts and using up Mana. Flamestrikes require Sulphurus Ash and Spidersilk to cast and i advise 300-400 of each for the next Power hour.
Next power hour do the same method with Flamestrikes and you should go to anywhere around 75-80 skill providing the run is a good one. After around the 72-73 skill mark you'll start to slow down as FS will be casting occasionally. If you have Earthquake then swap to that as you can gain off of fizzles until around 81 skill from that. It is possible to GM off of FS, but it will take longer as the mana needs to be regened which takes time (but builds Meditation skill).
If you use earthquakes (not sure of regs off hand) then continue with them until GM in the 3rd power hour, but once you go over 85 Skill the casting success gets better and you'll have to stop and regen mana pretty often. This slows it down a lot.
If done correctly then it is possible to GM in 4 power hours, but requires the regs to be pre-bought. Logging out at Moonglow SE corner with Regs and Boat is probably a good plan to maximise the Power hour usage.
This 8x8 Method will work for Eval Int, Meditation (passive med is best and a "slow forward" command whilst casting to keep mana used up is VERY fast for GM'ing, maybe even possible to get GM in 1 hour!), Resist (hard to be sure on this, but i think it works, but hard if casting on yourself), Healing (again, hard to get, especially at higher skill (78 )), Musicianship based skills, Hiding, Maybe Stealth (not personally tested yet) and pretty much any other skill subject to the Anti Macro Codes that isn't Target based.
If it doesn't work for you at High skill levels then do not assume it has been "nerfed" by OSI. The resource squares are tied to the Anti Macro coding and cannot be changed without a patch. IF, and i say IF, it is nerfed, expect ALL skills to become REALLY hard to gain.
Any time you spend a power hour trying it and it fails then you've just been unlucky (or are doing it wrong). The gains are not guaranteed, but experience tells me it works well 90 % of the time. Simply wait a day or 2 and try again after doing other things. Finding the 1st gain is the key at higher levels and often takes 30 mins plus at 95 skill.
Note that skills are harder to gain if everyone else has them so a packed Shard will be harder to GM on than a quieter one.
If you are lucky you'll get a run that gives gains in multiple skills. I often got Eval Int, Magery and resist when i was using it, but the resist obviously requires a successfully cast spell on you to gain.
For resist concious mages try casting Energy Bolt until 75 magery and swapping to FS after that. Always cast on yourself and use healing to bandage yourself if you haven't a healer friend to do it for you. Wasting regs on Magery Heals is unwise as it uses up mana and costs a lot more.
I think that covers it, but let me know if i missed anything. Also note that this is what *I* do to get it working and on my sparsely populated Shard it works wonders.
According to OSI this is NOT an exploit or Bug. It is "using the games mechanics to maximise skill gains" and is not really liked by GM's, but they can't do anything about it. Before Anti macro Coding was introduced we had unnattended Macro'ers gaining Magery etc, now we have 8x8...OSI don't seem to bright to me, but at least we Mage's can, if we choose to, gain skills as fast as the poxy dexers!
Last note, it is NOT much fun, it IS antisocial (unless you have mates along for the ride), but it does the job damn fast! I reckon 2K of BP, NS, SA and SS would allow you to GM. If you use Earthquake then reduce SA and SS regs and add 2K of each of the EQ regs. This is actually a conservative estimate, so maybe you can do it with less...I'd be surprised if it took more, but on full shards it may do.
Anyone who is unclear or can't get it to work then please Re-Read the post and try again. If you still get no joy then send me a Private and i will try and help you.
Scar Tissue
Are Avengers hard? <**Whack**> "You begin to spasm uncontrollably" Ahh...<swigs Cure potion> "the potion has not cured the poison"
OooO ooO<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Kofu on 11/23/00 10:04 AM.</FONT></P>
OK, Some starting points on various things that may not be known.
1
Power hour is the 1st hour a Character (not an account, it is per character) logs on AFTER midnight LOCAL server time. e.g, i play AOL legends, it is hosted in NY state so Midnight EST is the power hour reset time.2
UO-Automap is a FREE download from Stratics reached from here: http://uo.stratics.com/uoam/index.html4
The Red grid squares shown on the above web page are NOT in the downloaded program, all grid lines are WHITE, the red lines are used to emphasise the grids as an example on the web page.5
You can cast on yourself (and take damage obviously), the Tillerman or a Crystal ball. Tillerman and Crystal Ball casting does not show a graphic for a successfully cast spell, but mana is used up. Any casting attempt uses up regs, success or fizzle.OK, now on to what you'll need to have before a new days power hour:
Regs, and lots of them. (types detailed later)
A Boat. (it DOES work on land, but is far easier at sea)
A spellbook with at least Energy Bolt, Flamestrike and, ideally, Earthquake. The more other spells the better.
A copy of UOAutomap with the 8x8 Resource squares shown
Armed with the above you are ready to commence.
I find Moonglow is the best place to start, go to the SE corner and get in the boat. Raise the anchor and set a Macro to Say "Forward One" and another to say "Left One". Face the boat South and centre yourself in the resource square that is best viewed in UOAM at 2x Zoom.
At 50-63ish skill (magery) cast Energy Bolts on either the Tillerman, yourself or even a friend. You'll need around 300 each of Black Pearl and Nightshade for this.
You will fizzle as your magery is low, but cast up to 3 times and see if you get a gain. If not, go "Left One" 8 times. UOAM will confirm you are centered in the next resource square, but if you haven't got it just make sure you use the macro with a short delay to make sure each move is registered by the tillerman.
Alternatively you can "Drift" left/East and have "Stop" pretyped for when you get a gain. This is easier to do, but you can miss a gain run due to being out of mana as you pass over it.
Cast again up to 3 times. Any gain? If not, repeat until you get a gain by continuing Left (West to East) until you do. Again, if "drift"ing then you don't have to stop in each square and cast 3 times, but be poised to stop when you do gain. Some prefer casting just once per square before moving on. How you do it doesn't really matter as you're after the 1st gain spot. Use whatever works for you.
When you do gain then go "Forward One" 8 times to go to the resource Square to the South of the original Gain spot. Cast again up to 3 times and you should gain. If you fail to gain then go "Back One" 16 times. In other words, to the resource square that is North of the Original Gain spot and try there. You WILL gain at either the North or South resource square from the original spot.
At lower magery levels you will always fizzle and will gain skill during power hour from this. Once you start a run and find which way the run is going (North-South or South-North) then just follow the same direction casting up to 3 times in each resource square, basically cast until you gain or have cast 3 successful spells.
A run can keep you going all power hour (very unlikely at over 75 skill though), but may occasionally skip a resource square or double back. If you cast a max of 3 times per square you should always gain, but if not, go 1 resource square further on and try there, if nothing, go back to the last gain square and then ANOTHER square back in the direction you came from. Some of the time the "run" has changed direction or skipped a square rather than just run dry...
If done correctly you should get to maybe 65 Magery from 50 in the 1st power hour and will find the 1st gain spot very fast as you are at low magery. I would guess around 300-400 of Black Pearl and Nightshade would be sufficient to achieve this. If a run does end, then recommence the "left one"/"Drift left" method to find a new run.
When you have finished for the 1st power hour, i advise swapping to Flamestrikes as you'll probably be at around the 65 Skill mark and will be succeeding with Energy Bolts and using up Mana. Flamestrikes require Sulphurus Ash and Spidersilk to cast and i advise 300-400 of each for the next Power hour.
Next power hour do the same method with Flamestrikes and you should go to anywhere around 75-80 skill providing the run is a good one. After around the 72-73 skill mark you'll start to slow down as FS will be casting occasionally. If you have Earthquake then swap to that as you can gain off of fizzles until around 81 skill from that. It is possible to GM off of FS, but it will take longer as the mana needs to be regened which takes time (but builds Meditation skill).
If you use earthquakes (not sure of regs off hand) then continue with them until GM in the 3rd power hour, but once you go over 85 Skill the casting success gets better and you'll have to stop and regen mana pretty often. This slows it down a lot.
If done correctly then it is possible to GM in 4 power hours, but requires the regs to be pre-bought. Logging out at Moonglow SE corner with Regs and Boat is probably a good plan to maximise the Power hour usage.
This 8x8 Method will work for Eval Int, Meditation (passive med is best and a "slow forward" command whilst casting to keep mana used up is VERY fast for GM'ing, maybe even possible to get GM in 1 hour!), Resist (hard to be sure on this, but i think it works, but hard if casting on yourself), Healing (again, hard to get, especially at higher skill (78 )), Musicianship based skills, Hiding, Maybe Stealth (not personally tested yet) and pretty much any other skill subject to the Anti Macro Codes that isn't Target based.
If it doesn't work for you at High skill levels then do not assume it has been "nerfed" by OSI. The resource squares are tied to the Anti Macro coding and cannot be changed without a patch. IF, and i say IF, it is nerfed, expect ALL skills to become REALLY hard to gain.
Any time you spend a power hour trying it and it fails then you've just been unlucky (or are doing it wrong). The gains are not guaranteed, but experience tells me it works well 90 % of the time. Simply wait a day or 2 and try again after doing other things. Finding the 1st gain is the key at higher levels and often takes 30 mins plus at 95 skill.
Note that skills are harder to gain if everyone else has them so a packed Shard will be harder to GM on than a quieter one.
If you are lucky you'll get a run that gives gains in multiple skills. I often got Eval Int, Magery and resist when i was using it, but the resist obviously requires a successfully cast spell on you to gain.
For resist concious mages try casting Energy Bolt until 75 magery and swapping to FS after that. Always cast on yourself and use healing to bandage yourself if you haven't a healer friend to do it for you. Wasting regs on Magery Heals is unwise as it uses up mana and costs a lot more.
I think that covers it, but let me know if i missed anything. Also note that this is what *I* do to get it working and on my sparsely populated Shard it works wonders.
According to OSI this is NOT an exploit or Bug. It is "using the games mechanics to maximise skill gains" and is not really liked by GM's, but they can't do anything about it. Before Anti macro Coding was introduced we had unnattended Macro'ers gaining Magery etc, now we have 8x8...OSI don't seem to bright to me, but at least we Mage's can, if we choose to, gain skills as fast as the poxy dexers!
Last note, it is NOT much fun, it IS antisocial (unless you have mates along for the ride), but it does the job damn fast! I reckon 2K of BP, NS, SA and SS would allow you to GM. If you use Earthquake then reduce SA and SS regs and add 2K of each of the EQ regs. This is actually a conservative estimate, so maybe you can do it with less...I'd be surprised if it took more, but on full shards it may do.
Anyone who is unclear or can't get it to work then please Re-Read the post and try again. If you still get no joy then send me a Private and i will try and help you.
Scar Tissue
Are Avengers hard? <**Whack**> "You begin to spasm uncontrollably" Ahh...<swigs Cure potion> "the potion has not cured the poison"
OooO ooO<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Kofu on 11/23/00 10:04 AM.</FONT></P>
