Wrestling question

[HeathBar]

I have some questions about wrestling. I'm getting conflicting info from the people I've asked.

It was my understanding that wrestling on a mage gave defense bonuses as if you have swordsmanship and have a sword equipped. But I've had people tell me that this isn't so, and wrestling is only useful for interrupting spells and negligible damage.

Also, on the UO website it says:

Hint: Mages not interested in gaining Wrestling skill would be wise to keep their spellbooks in their hands when in battle, rather than in their backpack.

Does that mean that when I hold a spellbook it's not using my wrestling skill? What if I'm using a spellbook and a shield?

Thanks.

 

[Bardie]

wrestling is counted as a combat skill therfore using it gives you the same defense chance as a weapon with the same skill level. I can tell the difference between my 120 wrestle mage vs my mage w/o wrestling not using a mage weapon.

 

[aarons6]

right, but if you hold a -0 mage wep, its supposed to give you that same defense chance.. so wrestling is not really needed..

also holding a spell book still uses the wrestling skill..
the uo website is wrong.

holding a shield with no parry is only needed for the mods of the shield. if you have a nice sc no -1 shield with high defense chance its good to hold.

 

[Doomsday]

The only reason for a mage to hold a book in their hand is to benefit from the properties the book has, if it has no properties you might aswell hold a torch (unless you have wrestling of course), otherwise like the other guy said use a boomstick or something it will be way more beneficial to you. I'm thinking of souling wrestling on my thief on siege so i can take up animal taming and just use a boomstick for death strike so we will see.

 

[Nyses]

Stratics has outdated information. It used to be that if you were a mage and did NOT want to gain magery, you could hold your spellbook in your hands. After the introduction, well a bit before, of spelbooks with properties, mages could arm thier spellbooks to gain the properties and use the wrestle skill.

 

[Obsidian]

right, but if you hold a -0 mage wep, its supposed to give you that same defense chance.. so wrestling is not really needed..

What's a -0 mage weapon (with spellchanneling) that doesn't cost a fortune? The only one I know is the Swords of Prosperity, but they go for well over a million gold. For a new player without the cash to back it up, I think Wrestling is the way to go. It can easily be dropped for a weapon skill later when one obtains a proper weapon.

-OBSIDIAN-