Excelsior

I love Excelsior Shard; it takes me back to the days when I used to play the game after it first came out. All the nostalgia of playing again, I've grown to kind of lament the fact that Mages really aren't a viable standalone role that one can play in the game to any great effect, and owning strong pets has taken over the power slot. Im not at all sure if this would be possible, or if such a sweeping change would be accepted by the longtime Excelsior players or the staff, but I wanted to put forth a proposal for a game alteration that might help bring back the good ol' days of Magery, without completely unbalancing the game. I humbly submit this to the Excelsior Staff and players for consideration:

1) That there be bonuses to Magery if a player has a NATURAL 200 Int and 100 Magery. This would preclude some styles of playing, and give something extra for players to try out.

2) Some of these bonuses could be extra increased spell damage, stronger summoned pets or pets that were resistant to magic using mobs being able to dispel them.

3) If a player has a NATURAL 200 Int, they could also receive a bonus to decreased casting times. Im not sure about this but it seems to me that no matter a players decreased casting time and increase in recovery time, spells that take 3 gestures to cast still take 3 gestures, so really there is no way to make Magery truly fast.

4) An additional bonus to the casting disciplines (Magery, Necromancy, Druid spells...), perhaps somewhere along the lines of an additional floating %20 to the skill. Perhaps this could raise it higher than powerscrolls, or just make it easier to reach the final cap with a lesser scroll.

5) If this concept gets approved, perhaps there could even be a quest that once completed could earn the player these traits, since if incepted achieving it would be as simple as some more macroing and chugging a few essences for the more established players, and after all we dont want to make anything too easy. Maybe the quest could even provide a small set of armor that would provide the spell damage bonuses, as raising Int to 200 would preclude players from using some of other decent equipment in game without some MAJOR item stat bonuses to Str and Dex.

I know that most players on Excelsior have been with it quite a long time, and most people are resistant to change. This is NOT something I need to see done in order to continue playing on this shard, as I already love it more than any other shard Ive played on before. This request I am simply making because I rather miss maining Magery and being able to think of myself as an all powerful wizard, and it seems that in its current state the ONLY ways someone can rise to the top tier on this shard is by Donating a lot to strengthen their character and equipment (which I think is a good thing) or by Animal Taming/Training so that you can run around with a troupe of maxed Nightmares. I truly hope that the staff and players will consider and support this concept, but if they dont, I fully understand and will pursue the matter no further. Thankyou greatly for your time and for running such a wonderful Ultima Online Shard...LONG LIVE EXCELSIOR!

OMG, so sorry guys, I wasnt signed in when checking the forums for the first time, and once signed in went straight to writing this post and DID NOT SEE the Use of This Forum post by +Colibri...I SHOULD have posted this in the general section, apologies all around. If you see this +Colibri could you move my post into the proper section? Sorry for any inconvenience...I owe myself a few *headsmacks* for this one. Talk about getting off to a rough start! ^^

Well, that biggest problem I see with what you proposed is that you cannot have 200 base int (that's what you mean by natural right? your int with no buffs or gear)

Yeah I guess that would be a big problem...I wasnt aware there was a stat cap for single stats, just thought it was an overall 300 total cap....well, guess that throws the plan out the window lol. That aside, is there some other goal you could suggest to set instead of a natural 200? Also, Im assuming that by biggest problem you mean you also see some additional problems with it...I'd love your input if you're able to give it; thanks for the post! ^^

Interesting post, I like seeing people use their brain to come up with new ideas rather than the same old same old. But, I have to say your feelings on magery may be misplaced. I know many people on the shard talk about how magery is mostly useless here, but I could not disagree more. Is it a standalone skill? No way, but then again it never really has been (a pure mage in the old days was usually geared towards either PvP or PvM, PvP one would die from one hit of a dragon's fire breath while PvM would run out of mana before nuking his opponent). The answer is still the same as it was back then, tank mage. You really don't NEED tons of relayers or a group of mules/nobles/imps to run around with you either; I do the bulk of my hunting solo with melee and only have 1 relayer (Omni Mage Spellbook, 100% LRC makes me smile ^_^) and my intelligence is far and above my highest stat. Just gear yourself towards that specifically like maxing out poisoning for Poison Field, get armor with Spell Damage Increase, max either Parry and Bushido (or just Parry if you have a shield), and most important max your skill in all types of spells (Spirit Speak, Necromancy, etc). Now, you won't be able to stand still and take knocks from big opponents (1 hit from a Balron can still kill me if he actually lands the hit) and you will have to practice active fighting; but that is the whole reason you do it. If you want the easy way, you can go down the typical path that you mentioned and you will probably be able to get large amounts of cash and raise through the 'tiers' like the rest. But believe me, you can make a fair sum of cash without a single relayer or a single animal. As far as your suggestions, as much as I like seeing people use their brain, I can't stomach the thought of another overpowered skill set; so I politely disagree with you on increasing the benefits. Just keep at it bud, you can be an all powerful wizard, but magery is what it is; a thinking man's skill. If you need any help, drop me a line and I will be more than happy to show you a few techniques that work fairly well here. But just repeat after me: Smite is my friend ^_^.

Though there is one thing that needs to change on magery....FIX PARALYZE. 120 Magery, 120 Eval, and an orc shrugs off paralyze >< (Yes, I know Grasping Roots works in it's place, but still :p).

What us Bloodrock Orcs do is gain all combat skills so we can choose the weapon that best suits what out needs at the time will be as well as mixing it up with magery. I go solo many times and there are certain spawns I wil never do alone yet theres a wide range of others that are do-able with a combination of magery/archery/and good old fashion melee. Some may take a while to kill but it can be done. And we do it with only leather or ringmail armor...

Reading your post made me EXTREMELY happy Oromis! I had been straight-up told by so many end-game players on this shard that stand-alone magery was worthless, and that the ONLY way to be good was to GM Taming/Animal Lore. If this is indeed NOT the case, as you say, then I retract my request for magery changes (except that bit about paralyze, that would make me sad too). If it still is possible to main out magery, even though it would surely be a much more difficult path less taken, I feel driven ta give it a shot! Thanks for the wonderful post, and thanks for all the excellent information, I will definitely be looking forward to discuss mage tactics for this shard in depth.

There are many ways to play on the EX shard, using some or all of the skills, since there is no skill cap.

Magery is very viable, stand alone or coupled with a weapon skill. I'd say 'used' with pets, but having pets out usually means you're healing more then casting any damaging spells. The choice is still up to you of course.

The old days are long past, and yet, we can still play as we did. But only if we work at it and find out how on the EX shard.


I say to you, this Phrase: Shadow Necro-Nox Mage

Shadow: This requires high Hiding and Stealthing, and either high Bushido or Ninjitsu (I'd go with Ninjitsu first)

Necro-Nox: This requires high Necromancy, Spirit Speaking, Alchemy, and Poisoning

Mage: This requires high Magery, Evaluate Intelligence, Inscription, Parrying, and Fencing or Mace Fighting {I'd go with Fencing first)


The reasons why:


Shadow: Hiding grants you the ability to hide of course from the enemy. It is a prerequisite for Stealth. Stealth lets you move around unnoticed by the enemy, as well as allows you to get away from or rather close to your enemy. Stealth is a rerequite for many Ninjitsu spells. Ninjitsu grants you the spells: mirror image, back-stab, shadow jump, and death strike; plus a few others. Ninjitsu is also one of the prerequisites for a weapon ability called Shadow Strike. Shadow Strike spell: this spell does moderate extra damage to the target and immediately hides the target (the latter part is the bread and butter play here, because it takes you out of combat and hides you)

Necro-Nox: Necromancy is the Necro portion and grants a larger supply of spells then simple Magery allows; such as Curse Weapon, Blood Oath, Vampiric Embrace, and Wither to name a few. Spirit Speaking bolsters the effectiveness of several Necromancy spells, and is also a Prerequisite for all Cleric spells. Cleric spells grant the best healing spells in the game, without the use of a druid book. You will find Smite, Angel Form, Touch of life, and Banish Evil very useful. Alchemy and Poisoning make up the Nox portion. Alchemy grants potions of various types, all useful. In this case, the Deadly poison potion. Poisoning allows the wielder two things. First the ability to apply poison to a selection of weapons (most are fencing weapons), and second the ability to increase the damage and effectiveness of the: Poison and Poison Field spells by a considerable amount. There is also a weapon ability called 'Infecting' that can promote the poisons level even further upon successful use. (we are talking 5th level poison here! Now that's 'Lethal')

Mage: Magery is probably what you already know the most about. But on the Ex Shard mages are usually 'Battle Mages' of old. Weapons in hand and some awesome armor caging them in like an energy field spell. Magery has many great spells, but E-bolt, Explosion, Lightning, Magic Arrow, Fireball, Mind-Blast and the occasional Flame Strike are most used. Evaluate Intelligence grants increased damage for just about all offensive spells, especially Mind-Blast. Inscription increases a mages spell damage significantly at high levels. (as of now, there is no current spell damage cap versus monsters) It also allows an inscriptionist the ability to craft exceptional spell books, which grant stats to the book itself, and possible allow the book to be considered a "Slayer" weapon when held.

Other things to consider: Bushido, Parrying, Wrestling, Fencing, Mace Fighting, and Stat set up.

Bushido: actually replaces parrying in just about all features, granting both the ability to block incoming blows with one or two handed weapons. Its down side is making parrying with a shield rather useless. There are also a few Bushido spells granted to the skill wielder as well; namely Confidence and lightning strike, and later on Evasion, Counter Attack & Momentum Strike. But this skill is more inclined to a fighters nature, rather then a quick in and out lethal punch like Ninjitsu tends to be. (most mages are frail if you know what I mean, with big egg heads)

Parrying:allows the use of a shield which is useful to a mage because of its ability to block or take damage instead of the mage.

Wrestling: may not be useful on this shard, but if you forgot to cast protection before you go off adventuring it might save your life, 1 out of 10 times.

Fencing: is rather useful if used with Stealth, Ninjitsu, Poisoning, a Shield or without a shield. It ups a mages range of abilities far and wide; limited only to the wielders imagination.

Mace Fighting is some what like fencing but in a different mannerism. Instead of hide and seek its more smash and bash and be still. Then sneak in a spell or two and smash bash and be still the enemy all over again.

Character Stats: these will most likely change as you increase in power, or figure out which combination or combinations work for you the best. but a good start is 100/100/100.

The Mage Inquisition Quest is going to be your long term goal in completion. The reward is a mages dream come true, in armor form.

That's all for now, there are some gaps that I haven't filled in completely. Done for you enjoyment purposes of course. Wouldn't want to ruin the fun of figuring them out on your own now would I?.. If you would like to ask me questions or learn more about the Shadow Necro-Nox Mage personally just PM me in game, when I'm online of course.

...and finally in closing; this is only one mans opinion. I'm sure there are other ways to do the Magery thing on the EX shard.

I really like this post and some of the ideas the topic creator have about magery.

I came from another shard about 2 years ago and primarily played mages on those shards. These are the reasons why I have given up being a mage as my primary play style for this shard:

1. Ping: Sadly this shard is very far away from where I live and if your ping is very high you can't really pull off spells in succession without fizzling. (This has to do with my connection and response time and not my magery skill)

2. Slayers books: Slayer spell books do not work with spells on this shard. This really hampers mages and they can't really keep up with meleers, archers, and tamers in terms of dmg without having super high SDI.

3. Wraith form: This form does not leech mana while the caster hit their target with spells like fireball or wither for example. On the other servers I played on this worked for spells too. Also according to Uoguide it does work with offensive spells. http://www.uoguide.com/Wraith_Form

4. Dmg: I rather do 125+ dmg with a yumi with the combination of enemy of one+consecrate weapon+ armor pierce over a measly 30 dmg with a fireball spell.

5. Spell speed: Most spells can be pretty slow compared to a person that swings or fires at 1.25 secs with their weapons. Also magery spells lock you in place when you cast them and can be disrupted without protection.

It would be nice to see some fixes to slayer books and wraith form for this shard. Having wraith form fixed to leech mana for spells would make the form more viable for mages at champs. Also we would see more negative karma players on this server. (Majority of players have good karma and are glorious lords and ladies because of druid spells and chivalry)

Wow guys, I gotta say I was worried when I started this post...I just KNEW that all it was gonna do was bring a bunch of flak down on my head for my noobish old UO views...but I have been pleasantly surprised. Thanks to everyone for the wealth of information contained in their posts, not to mention the patient nature with which it has been delivered. I REALLY appreciate everyone's input on this and will DEFINATELY be sending some of you in game messages...maybe I was a bit hasty to assume magery was dead on this shard, but maybe by the same token I was hasty in saying I should retract the concept of magery changes...it seems that there still are a few things that could use a bit of tweaking. Does anyone know of any other magery tactics/spells that DO or DONT work on this shard. I think it would be awesome to get as much of it in here as possible, to help enrich the playing experience of old and new players alike. Thanks again for all your time and consideration!