Need some strategy guidance

[Tattersail]

So I've played for just under a month,got my house, got some money (pocket change compared to what I see ppl spending, but still enough to get me by, got 5 maxed out mules which pretty much wreck everything they touch. I'm in Mistvale halfway through the weapon quest (armours done, although I'm only wearing 2 peices, as I bought some nice leather for cheaps which has better stats). My important skills are around 100-110 and I'm doing ok with getting all the crafting skills going as well...

So, now what...I can see I need to run some Doom to grab some dex items and work on a 220 dex suit, but I'm unsure of the purpose of it, since my insanely OP mules clear everything for me in a heartbeat (no I haven't been to Fel Wrong)...If I go melee and spam WW with a nice area hit hally, how much better will that be than 5 mules attacking automatically..? And are there any strategic things I'm missing in that equation..? Like certain spells from certain schools which will boost my performance (I've got the healing down, but don't really use conc. weap yet as I try to just lean back and relax while my mules nuke)...

So, any advice on where to go, what to do and why the various schools of spells are worth using (if?) would be great, otherwise things seem a little easymode with no real rewards forthcoming atm (crafted gear pwns anything I've found and you buy all the addons for them with tokens or real cash)...

[Yoda]

220 dex is the gateway to instant healing, allowing you to more easily level weapons which leads to relayers which leads to eventually a life without managing 5 pets.

essentially the 5 mules will get you to a certain point and even make you rich off balrons and whatnot, but down the road you will get tired of hauling them around and yearn for the ability to survive without them

220 dex is step one of that path

[Tattersail]

Ok, so 220 dex get I must...Got it...

Anything else..?

[Melkor]

A lot of it comes down to what your UO goals are, what you want to do and achieve.

[Tattersail]

My UO goals...Well, my UO experience is from back in 97-98, so almost every feature of the game is new to me here and naturally one goal is to experience it all

Normally my goals would be 2 crafters, 2 pvp'ers with various skillsets (one would likely double as pve'er) and a PK, but seeing as how this server is easymode in those areas, I'm honestly not quite sure...I was originally lured here by the bag of holding, but all that takes is money so...

I get Yoda when he talks about becoming independent of your pets, I like the sound of that but don't really know what it entails...Do I need better armour..? Is it the weapon I'm lacking.. ? Am I using the wrong skills/spells or using what I have in the wrong way..? Figuring out all those things and maybe getting a post about it stickied in this section would be a goal for me, as I enjoy helping and teaching almost as much as PK'ing and exploiting the rules

[Wil]

grab some dex items and work on a 220 dex suit, but I'm unsure of the purpose of it, since my insanely OP mules clear everything for me in a heartbeat

Howdy,

There are higher level monsters with too many HP for anything to quickly drain. Some of them have area life drain. Area life drain pulls HP from anything you have nearby and restores the HP on the monster. If you have 5 high-HP mules nearby... it's not pretty. 220 dex with instaheal minimizes the impact of area life drain since you alone simply don't have that much HP for the monster to drain. So long as the monster doesn't one-hit you, you just keep on hitting and healing.

There are also occasional events where pets are not allowed, so if you want to participate, you have to be able to tackle the monsters on your own.

Regards,
Wil

[Nunja]

Yoda pretty much nailed it on the head.
You can do most things in the game with pets - although they are cumbersome at times and the game is more enjoyable if you can manage without them.

There are times when you will still use pets even when you can insta-heal with 220 dex. It is certainly not one or the other. There are things that you can't use pets for but they are pretty limited at the moment. I believe the new realms when released will have more non-pet content.

enemies with the area drain can generally be done with a Bio instead.

I think you've done the right move, get yourself set up with pets - get a decent income stream using them. Then concentrate on making yourself more sufficient without them.

As for staying alive... you want parry/bushindo to block incoming attacks, items with increased defense chance to increase block, armor with resists to mitigate incoming damage, increased HP to overcome damage spikes, 220 dex for instant bandaids to heal up quickly. Heal script to apply bandaids faster than you can.

[Tattersail]

you want parry/bushindo to block incoming attacks, items with increased defense chance to increase block, armor with resists to mitigate incoming damage, increased HP to overcome damage spikes, 220 dex for instant bandaids to heal up quickly. Heal script to apply bandaids faster than you can.

Awesome thanks, it was stuff like this I was also interested in. I'm only familiar with the original magic spells, so stuff like which spells to use and not to use from all those new schools is a huge help for me

[Melkor]

Awesome thanks, it was stuff like this I was also interested in. I'm only familiar with the original magic spells, so stuff like which spells to use and not to use from all those new schools is a huge help for me

Alright, I think you will find this thread of particular interest.

http://www.uoex.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3778

Also, if you haven't heard of relayers, check this out from the wiki

http://www.uoex.net/wiki/Relayer

[Tattersail]

That first link looks...Well...Awesome...!!

And I've heard about relayers, but seeing as how they cost 30 mill, I'm about 29.7 mill short atm...That said, I just got a beefarm So I might get there sooner rather than later hehe

Thanks man

[rainydays]

You might wanna check my gear guide:
http://uoex.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=9248&p=54513

[Styx]

Bare in mind when mules die, they lose stats, gradually becoming weaker.

Taming hierarchy tends to be Imps > Nobles > Mules.

So you have 2 options,

attempt to ditch the pets, as the slow movement speed & general awkwardness to use get's boring, plus manually healing 5-6 things is a snore. If you ditch them and go down the dex route you only heal yourself, In the event I want to use my imps I tend to tank for them while they do extra damage.

upgrade to Imps (or to nobles) You will see the benefits of changing your pack type to the more expensive breeds.

Personally I suggest skipping nobles, start working on the GOC quest (using the oints you earn on the way to buff your imps) and saving for a few dex pieces.

Use a maxxed mule to tank bosses for your squad of low hp imps until the ointing pays off.

Imps will be useful even at end tier of the game.

[Tattersail]

Very helpful replies, thanks guys

[rainydays]

I wouldn't advise using imps early without the financial background. Imps only work if you have 5 and you will need to oint them all with at least 400-500 oints. It's by far easier to use Mules to start with until you can afford the oints or until you collected them yourselves. Afterwards, the imps are of course fantastic, but it's quite frantic to use low HP ones.

In general, I would never do without pets. The 220 DEX way is 2nd way imho - there are tons of mobs which can be done in a fraction of time.

[Shindaril]

One thing to consider when upgrading to imps is their pack instinct which isn't unique, but shared with some other tameable creatures. The imps work well with Hell Hounds and their firebreath adds in a bit of damage. Another creature, which many don't even know well enough are Ice Hounds. While lacking the firebreath, Ice Hounds have paralyzing attack. All these creatures have canine pack instinct so one might even go with something as simple as dog or wolf even.

Naturally, choosing to utilize other canines to cover for the missing imps from a full pack might be tricky if one cannot find pets that have already been maxed.