Weapon leveling - again I guess...

[Tattersail]

I've asked around a bit, but can't really get any straight answers, plus typing in short sentences which are soon spammed away, makes getting an overall picture kinda hard. Oh and I'm not talking about relayering but melee and bow weapons for fighting (early to mid range gettability)

From the top:

Melee - Why do most people hot have inc. hit chance? I'm assuming nothing procs and you do 0 dam with every miss, so shouldn't this be maxed out? (maybe swing speed too to increase dps and chance of procs)

Magic - Spell dam. Does this add to the spells I cast and/or to lightning/fireball/harm procs..?

Char stats - What would you take here and why (not)..?

Resists - Never mind

Weapon hits - Most ppl tell me lightning + fireball to 50-60, but what makes them proc and how much dam do they do? Is it affected by my hit chance and spell dam (see above) and if so, has anyone crunched the numbers on the best mix..?
And what above lower def? Last 8 seconds, max #swings in that timeframe is (8/1.25) 6 so 17% should in theory keep it up always.

I'd love your thoughts on this, cause it's causing my head to ache...

[Asmodean]

http://uoex.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1 ... oor#p48569

[Miranda Ventrata]

If it can be added to a relayer most folks see it as a waste of points. Especially if it is a stat that can be capped.

[heyyo]

The main point of a weapon is to deal damage. All the other stats can be placed on relayers or be obtained from other gear. So, the object is to maximize the damage you can deal with your weapon. To do this you need:

-strength (adds base damage regardless of weapon)

-weapon hits (lightning, fireball, and harm/magic arrow if you have the points)

-spell damage increase (this will increase the damage of the magic hits, but is also something you can place on relayers) - you don't need this, but if you have the extra points it doesn't hurt

-the leeches (mana/life/stamina) mana leech is necessary to let you spam your weapon specials (for a bow I have 45% and almost never run out, a whirlwind weapon you would only need 25-30% as you hit so many mobs on a whirlwind). Life leech is like a magic hit spell, but it gives you hp, which is a huge bonus if your poisoned or have mortal strike on you. Stamina leech is ok, but not necessary. If you don't play the chivalry route then it's an absolute must to restore your stamina, but with the divine fury spell you can just regain stamina that way.

-hit lower defense is a must for single targets with high hp. It lowers their defense, and thus increases your offensive hit chance and total damage (I think total damage, but not 100%). On a whirlwind weapon it's not bad, but usually you use whirlwind for a bunch of low hp creatures. On the other hand with a double axe or war hammer you can both do whirlwind and do massive damage to single targets, so lower defense is recommended on those as well.

-hit lower attack - Not a fan, once you get insta heal and high enough hp with several relayers with the reflect physical damage stat when mobs hit you, you can deal several times that damage back. If you have lower attack the mobs won't hit as hard or often, and lower your dps

The only non damage stat many use is adding 8 to hit points because once you get insta heal and all your other stats maxed that's the only thing you cannot max out. The % magic hits refer to the likelihood that that magic spell will hit on a successful strike with your weapon. So if you have 60% lightning you have a 6/10 chance on a successful weapon strike, 40% fireball would give you a 4/10 chance. The higher the percent is the higher your average damage will be.

[Tattersail]

Thanks for the input guys, I'd like to stress that I'm asking about pre-relayering here...I understand that once I start getting hundreds of millions of gold and relayer my gear, things will look differently as I'll be getting a lot of stats from the relayers, but for now I'd like to focus solely on weapons for young players like myself, who're dealing in hundreds of thousands of gold.

And nobody took a stance on hit chance..? I prolly shouldn't compare to WoW, but in that game hit chance is alfa omage, you can have all the procs and high dam you want, but if you miss an attack its all wasted on that particular blow. Is it the same in UO (if not I guess I can see why people ignore it, but if it is why aren't more people using it?)

[Asmodean]

You should cap hit chance increase on your re-layers. Save the hits for your weapons.

[Sailor Jerry]

You should cap hit chance increase on your re-layers. Save the hits for your weapons.

Exactly, focus your weapon on things only a weapon can deliver... hits/damage. Example but not limited to... your suit and jewelry can't deliver Hit L/F/H but it can carry HCI< DCI< DI< SDI<ETC.

Use your weapon points on hits only a weapon can deliver and your suit can't carry. This simple rule should filter most of the mystery.

[Wil]

Thanks for the input guys, I'd like to stress that I'm asking about pre-relayering here...I understand that once I start getting hundreds of millions of gold and relayer my gear, things will look differently as I'll be getting a lot of stats from the relayers, but for now I'd like to focus solely on weapons for young players like myself, who're dealing in hundreds of thousands of gold.

Then plan out what points will give you the best bang for the buck and (importantly) don't plan on leveling the weapon to 100. It takes a ferociously long time to level a weapon to 100, especially for pre-relayer players. Figure you'll make it to level 30 pretty fast and maybe as far as level 60 before something more worthwhile comes along. And then you're going to either lock it down on a display in your house or sell it for about what you paid for the level weapon deed.

Maybe str, dex, regens, LRC. Whatever gives you a good bang for your buck within those point constraints and understanding you'll discard this weapon by the time you get your first relayer.

[Tattersail]

Really good rule of thumb and excellent point about how many levels I can expect to gain. This was exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to gain from the question, thanks guys