Dex Monkey Suggestions
Patrick B Fisher
Well, Gabriel is now a Dex Monkey on chesapeake, though probably not for
long. I'm looking for suggestions on how to best handle elementals and pks
on my own.
My relevant skills are:
90.5 Swords
95 Tactics
49 Magery
38 Resist
42 Healing
53 Anatomy
56 Parry
I can handle Water elementals solo, but don't have much life left
afterwards (unless I run away, hide, heal, and come back, which is
cheesy...) Is raising resist the only solution here? I use archers armor
(which doesn't do much against waters, but it doesn't lower my dex) and a
GM katana. Is there a better solution given that my dex is so high
anyway? Are halberds or other more powerful weapons better at high dex?
Should I just buy a good magic weapon?
Additionally, PK mages are still the bane of my online existence... As
soon as An Ex Por hits, I'm dead, 7/10 times. I don't have time to get
over the panic, open a pouch, and KOP before the 55 HP EBolt or 70 HP
flamestrike hits me. If I try to KOP, with my 49 magery I still fizzle
every once in a while, and I die. If I try to rush at them with my katana,
hoping to interrupt them and kill them quickly it's useless. They teleport
away, cast another flamestrike, and I'm dead. Or they whip out their own
sword, and since I'm now down to about 30 HP anyway, I'm an easy target.
Add to that the problem that many of the dungeon pks I've seen lately are
blue anyway, and without a group of people with me, I can't live through
level 1 of a dungeon anyway...
So, basically, does anyone have suggestions for surviving PK GM Mages, and
how best to utilize my high dex and strength?
Also, any good places to go for money relatively quickly? My lockpicking
is only 60 now, but I'm practicing, so perhaps when I reach 90ish I'll be
able to get dungeon treasure...
Thanks in advance.
Quentin
The best way to survive in my opinion is to be with a group of people that
will help you and that you can trust. It also help if they are not worried
about attacking some one who is attacking you. For example if your hunting
with a group of people and some one attacks you and all you see is Kal Ort
Por comming from your friends. Wich I have seen this alot. Then you are
hunting with the wrong people. If you just see them stand there an watch you
get butchered your with the wrong people. If they attack the person that is
attacking you then you might be with an ok group.
Now for the monsters and survival.
1. Elementals are not that tough if you finish them quickly. I have several
melee char that don't have much of a problem with them. I would hit them a
few times with a heavy weapon then switch to a fast one. The big thing is
surviving the magic. Drink a heal potion if you have to. Once they are down
on mana if your damaged throw on a bandage and keep your distance for a few
seconds. Run in circles if you have too but don't get more monsters on you
this would just make it worse. Also if you just run in and jab then back off
again this will work also since monstly they are slower then you. Practice
this some it works great for my mage. He only has 2 ar and can still finish
of most monsters.
2. on your skills work on GM swords and Tact. this won't make a word of
difference but you will feel so much better when you a GM and still miss 6
times in a row. I would leave magery at 50 makes it ok for recall and heal.
Use a scroll for escapes tho. get resist to atleast 50 this is easy just
cast flame field and walk through it. Raise healing to 60's or 70, Anatomy I
would take to some place between 80-100 depending on how much time you want
to spend.
3 Surviving pks This is the tough one it takes practice more then anything.
The best way to survive but the less fun way is to just bug out at the first
sign of danger. This was my method for about the first 8 months. This works
well for the most part to keep you alive but is not all that much fun. For
this if you have UOA I would set up a macro to recall to a safe location.
with a scroll. As soon as you see An Ex Por hit your recall macro.
Other way this is less reliable is get better at PvP and fight back. You
will still die alot of the time but some times you will win. The feeling of
winning is much better then the feeling of running. For me even if I die
and I know I fought well I don't mind it as much. If I mess up and die do to
my stupidity then that is dif.
Well enough rambling
Good luck
Quentin of Atlantic
Patrick B Fisher <pbfi...@blue.seas.upenn.edu> wrote in message
news:82mjfe$blg$1...@netnews.upenn.edu...
Brandy
Patrick B Fisher <pbfi...@red.seas.upenn.edu> wrote in message
news:82mrom$i3q$1...@netnews.upenn.edu...
<snip>
> The big thing is
> : surviving the magic.
>
>
Gm resist is VERY nice against monsters....but really not worth the cost for
only pvm. If you can get it into the mid 80s or 90 it would help you quite
a bit though.
> : again this will work also since monstly they are slower then you.
Practice
> : this some it works great for my mage. He only has 2 ar and can still
finish
> : of most monsters.
>
> Is this assuming slow swings? I swing the katana so fast it wouldn't make
> any sense to run around - just more time to be casted upon.
>
> : 2. on your skills work on GM swords and Tact. this won't make a word of
> : difference but you will feel so much better when you a GM and still miss
6
> : times in a row. I would leave magery at 50 makes it ok for recall and
heal.
> : Use a scroll for escapes tho. get resist to atleast 50 this is easy just
> : cast flame field and walk through it. Raise healing to 60's or 70,
Anatomy I
> : would take to some place between 80-100 depending on how much time you
want
> : to spend.
>
> I'm planning on working healing high enough to res, so maybe 85, and GM
> anatomy for damage/healing bonuses. I've got skill points in carpentry
> and lumberjacking to burn, so I should be able to...
> As for magery - you don't see a point in raising magery any more? I
> would never get into PvP, and I don't feel like macroing eval int and
> meditation to be good at anti-PKing with magery, so even GM Magery won't
> be very useful, will it?
> Oh well. Maybe it's time for a Mage character...
50 magery is fine for pvm. Lets you cast recall and cure just fine.
> : 3 Surviving pks This is the tough one it takes practice more then
anything.
> : The best way to survive but the less fun way is to just bug out at the
first
> : sign of danger. This was my method for about the first 8 months. This
works
> : well for the most part to keep you alive but is not all that much fun.
For
> : this if you have UOA I would set up a macro to recall to a safe
location.
> : with a scroll. As soon as you see An Ex Por hit your recall macro.
>
> I still feel like with my character I should be able to kill these PKs.
> I've put a lot of time into my character, and there's not a whole lot
> else I can do for him skill wise, other than GMing resist, so I feel like
> if I can't survive (without recalling) a pk encounter now, when will I be
> able to? Do I have to be a GM scholar/mage to have any chance of winning
> in PvP? Or is it mostly in playing ability?
>
> : Other way this is less reliable is get better at PvP and fight back. You
>
> The other problem is that the last few times I've been pkd, it's been by
> a blue in a dungeon. I don't see the "Jack is attacking you" until he's
> cast and targeted his An Ex Por, so I'm stuck between a rock and a hard
> place. If he's casting it on a monster, and I run up to him (even without
> attacking) I'll seem the aggressor. If he's casting on me, and I give him
> the benefit of the doubt, I'm 8 tiles away and frozen while he's warming
> up an e-bolt... I guess I just need to stop trusting people and save my
> benefit-of-the-doubt :-/
>
No, a good warrior can win in pvp. But if you are going to focus on pvp you
would need a slightly different skill set. If you just want to kill (or
survive) a lone jerk that attacks you, the key is to be prepared.
Carry at least one magic trapped pouch. Carry a few gheals if you are
planning on fighting instead of recalling. Carry a recall scroll (for no
fail recall at 50 magery) and a safe rune (slightly out of town is handy if
you are gray for some reason (like looting a dead friend's corpse)).
If you use UOA set up a macro to recall using the scroll and your safe rune.
Set hotkeys for bandaging yourself and drinking potions.
As soon as you get paralyzed, pop the pouch and either recall out or
1) Start a bandage
2) Drop the shield (assuming the attacker is a mage) so you have a free hand
to drink potions
3) If you are carrying a dp weapon for such situations, equip it.
4) Charge the attacker. When the explosion/ebolt combo hits you, drink a
potion. The goal is to interrupt any other casts by whacking the crap out
of him.
5) Keep your head. Remember you still have the option to recall out if
things start to go badly.
Keep in mind a couple things. You cannot be paralyzed if you are casting a
spell yourself, so when you see someone you suspect of not having your best
interest at heart casting para, try casting reflect or heal on yourself to
try to avoid the initial para.
As you can see, UOA is pretty handy for this type of situation. Between the
one key potion drinking and bandaging, the arm/disarm abilities that are
MUCH better then those in the client, and the ability to set a macro for
recall, I consider it essential for pvp. If you don't have it, I highly
recommend you get it.
> Patrick
> Gabriel, Chessy
Brandy (WE, LS)
Austin
wrote:
>My mages all have a hotkey macro, "Open Inventory"/"Disarm Left Hand"
>/ "Disarm Righthand"/ "CastSpell Recall". All I have to do is hit the
>panic button and there's a rune to a safe, rarely visited spot in town
>I can KOP to. It's a little bit tougher for the warriors but they
>still manage. Usually.
So you use UOE then.
Patrick B Fisher
Quentin (tobias...@spam.csi.com) wrote:
<snip>
: hunting with the wrong people. If you just see them stand there an watch you
: get butchered your with the wrong people. If they attack the person that is
: attacking you then you might be with an ok group.
Yeah, the group thing is tough without a party system too. I'm in a guild
now, but it takes forever for us to get going on any guild-related
activity, and by the time we do, most people have logged off and it's just
me and the guildmaster... Since my free time is kind of sporadic
throughout the day, I'm trying to find ways to solo for money and skill
without too much risk. I've found a few spots, like the water elemental
room in shame, that is not crowded at the times I go there, and the spawn
is healthy. Enough time to kill a water ele, heal, and fight another
without waits or gang-banging.
: Now for the monsters and survival.
: 1. Elementals are not that tough if you finish them quickly. I have several
: melee char that don't have much of a problem with them. I would hit them a
: few times with a heavy weapon then switch to a fast one.
This sounds like a good idea, but it seems I whiff 9 times out of 10,
despite my skill. I would switch to a faster weapon, but I'd rather have
1 katana hit every 60 seconds than no halberd hits... I'm especially
curious about how my dex will affect weapon usage. I haven't had
time/money to experiment too much, but it still doesn't seem like a
halberd is a viable weapon for me (especially since I use parry)
The big thing is
: surviving the magic.
True. Is GM resist worth striving for against monsters?
: again this will work also since monstly they are slower then you. Practice
: this some it works great for my mage. He only has 2 ar and can still finish
: of most monsters.
Is this assuming slow swings? I swing the katana so fast it wouldn't make
any sense to run around - just more time to be casted upon.
: 2. on your skills work on GM swords and Tact. this won't make a word of
: difference but you will feel so much better when you a GM and still miss 6
: times in a row. I would leave magery at 50 makes it ok for recall and heal.
: Use a scroll for escapes tho. get resist to atleast 50 this is easy just
: cast flame field and walk through it. Raise healing to 60's or 70, Anatomy I
: would take to some place between 80-100 depending on how much time you want
: to spend.
I'm planning on working healing high enough to res, so maybe 85, and GM
anatomy for damage/healing bonuses. I've got skill points in carpentry
and lumberjacking to burn, so I should be able to...
As for magery - you don't see a point in raising magery any more? I
would never get into PvP, and I don't feel like macroing eval int and
meditation to be good at anti-PKing with magery, so even GM Magery won't
be very useful, will it?
Oh well. Maybe it's time for a Mage character...
: 3 Surviving pks This is the tough one it takes practice more then anything.
: The best way to survive but the less fun way is to just bug out at the first
: sign of danger. This was my method for about the first 8 months. This works
: well for the most part to keep you alive but is not all that much fun. For
: this if you have UOA I would set up a macro to recall to a safe location.
: with a scroll. As soon as you see An Ex Por hit your recall macro.
I still feel like with my character I should be able to kill these PKs.
I've put a lot of time into my character, and there's not a whole lot
else I can do for him skill wise, other than GMing resist, so I feel like
if I can't survive (without recalling) a pk encounter now, when will I be
able to? Do I have to be a GM scholar/mage to have any chance of winning
in PvP? Or is it mostly in playing ability?
: Other way this is less reliable is get better at PvP and fight back. You
The other problem is that the last few times I've been pkd, it's been by
a blue in a dungeon. I don't see the "Jack is attacking you" until he's
cast and targeted his An Ex Por, so I'm stuck between a rock and a hard
place. If he's casting it on a monster, and I run up to him (even without
attacking) I'll seem the aggressor. If he's casting on me, and I give him
the benefit of the doubt, I'm 8 tiles away and frozen while he's warming
up an e-bolt... I guess I just need to stop trusting people and save my
benefit-of-the-doubt :-/
Anyway. Thanks a ton for the input. I'll play around tonight and see if I
can kill my next would-be-murderer. There should be no problem getting
attacked :-)
Patrick
Gabriel, Chessy
Ronald In 't Velt
>Additionally, PK mages are still the bane of my online existence... As
>soon as An Ex Por hits, I'm dead, 7/10 times. I don't have time to get
>over the panic, open a pouch, and KOP before the 55 HP EBolt or 70 HP
>flamestrike hits me. If I try to KOP, with my 49 magery I still fizzle
>every once in a while, and I die. If I try to rush at them with my katana,
>hoping to interrupt them and kill them quickly it's useless. They teleport
>away, cast another flamestrike, and I'm dead. Or they whip out their own
>sword, and since I'm now down to about 30 HP anyway, I'm an easy target.
>Add to that the problem that many of the dungeon pks I've seen lately are
>blue anyway, and without a group of people with me, I can't live through
>level 1 of a dungeon anyway...
Recently there seem to be more PKs around on Europa (anyone else
notice that too?), so I have taken the habit of carrying a rune and
recall scroll in my (open) backpack. I have my sword equipped but not
my shield, and arm/disarm macroed, so I can either equip my shield or
have both my hands free, in an instant.
So when I encounter a PK, I lose the shield, hit the recall scroll and
I out of there in a flash. Call me coward, but the other day I got
nailed by a PK mage again so I decided to be more careful.
Happy hunting!
Martigan (Europa)
ps.
Another habit I had to drop on Europa was rushing in for battle
whenever I saw red characters, thinking "brigands!".
-------------------------------------------
Please remove MUX from my address to reply.
Tobias
Patrick B Fisher <pbfi...@red.seas.upenn.edu> wrote in message
news:82mrom$i3q$1...@netnews.upenn.edu...
> now, but it takes forever for us to get going on any guild-related
> activity, and by the time we do, most people have logged off and it's just
> me and the guildmaster... Since my free time is kind of sporadic
> throughout the day, I'm trying to find ways to solo for money and skill
> without too much risk. I've found a few spots, like the water elemental
> room in shame, that is not crowded at the times I go there, and the spawn
> is healthy. Enough time to kill a water ele, heal, and fight another
> without waits or gang-banging.
That is unfortunate but still not terrible I hunt solo most of the time.
With my mage or warrior either way you can survive.
> This sounds like a good idea, but it seems I whiff 9 times out of 10,
> despite my skill. I would switch to a faster weapon, but I'd rather have
> 1 katana hit every 60 seconds than no halberd hits... I'm especially
> curious about how my dex will affect weapon usage. I haven't had
> time/money to experiment too much, but it still doesn't seem like a
> halberd is a viable weapon for me (especially since I use parry)
The Halberd is a good secodary weapon. its great as a first hit weapon then
after the first hit wich if your the attacker is a faster hit.
> True. Is GM resist worth striving for against monsters?
Well it would be nice but hard to get. I have been playing for 15 months the
highest resist I have on any char is 62. But if you want to spend the money
and time to do it its worth it or atleast 80 or so.
> Is this assuming slow swings? I swing the katana so fast it wouldn't make
> any sense to run around - just more time to be casted upon.
No its not assuming slow swing. Its just that if you dash in and out you
won't get hit as much by the monster. Its just asuming slow swing rate by
the monster. So that you take less hits.
> I'm planning on working healing high enough to res, so maybe 85, and GM
> anatomy for damage/healing bonuses. I've got skill points in carpentry
> and lumberjacking to burn, so I should be able to...
> As for magery - you don't see a point in raising magery any more? I
> would never get into PvP, and I don't feel like macroing eval int and
> meditation to be good at anti-PKing with magery, so even GM Magery won't
> be very useful, will it?
> Oh well. Maybe it's time for a Mage character...
Not really a skilled warrior is just as deadly as a mage can be if not more
so.
> I still feel like with my character I should be able to kill these PKs.
> I've put a lot of time into my character, and there's not a whole lot
> else I can do for him skill wise, other than GMing resist, so I feel like
> if I can't survive (without recalling) a pk encounter now, when will I be
> able to? Do I have to be a GM scholar/mage to have any chance of winning
> in PvP? Or is it mostly in playing ability?
PvP is mostly playing ability. I have serveral char. none of wich are the 7x
GM types. and all of them do well in PvP. It just depends on your playing
ability. Try reading some of the PvP boards for ideas on how to handel
things.
> The other problem is that the last few times I've been pkd, it's been by
> a blue in a dungeon. I don't see the "Jack is attacking you" until he's
> cast and targeted his An Ex Por, so I'm stuck between a rock and a hard
> place. If he's casting it on a monster, and I run up to him (even without
> attacking) I'll seem the aggressor. If he's casting on me, and I give him
> the benefit of the doubt, I'm 8 tiles away and frozen while he's warming
> up an e-bolt... I guess I just need to stop trusting people and save my
> benefit-of-the-doubt :-/
If you have not gotten it try to get UOA it is definatly worth the $15 and
its legal now. Also keep atleast one magic traped pouch on you at all time.
If you see some one come up and see the An Ex Por just get ready to double
click the pouch this will break the spell and then shove a Katana up his
butt or recall out. Also if you can get ahold of a deadly poisoned weapon
that would help also.
Well good luck
Quentin of Atlantic
Carol Ou
: On Wed, 08 Dec 1999 19:36:27 -0800, OrionCA <ori...@earthlink.net>
: wrote:
Um, I believe you can actually do this with the in-game hotkey macros.
I'm not positive, since I used UOA (another legal app) to set up my
get-outta-Dodge hotkey. On Sonoma that is. Not an option on SP. :)
Ria di Sonom (SP)
Perilous Adventurers Guild
Kim Rivers
My two cents:
//90.5 Swords
//95 Tactics
//49 Magery
//38 Resist
//42 Healing
//53 Anatomy
//56 Parry
Assuming you don't have a lot of other skills you want, work on those INT based
skills NOW. You will find your DEX and STR dropping like a sonuvabiatch
but you can raise 'em back up.
Get anatomy and resist up. Get anatomy to like 90 if you can; after that
GM if you like, but it will take a while. Anatomy at 90 is only 2% less
the bonus you see at 100; good enuf if you're primarily socking monsters.
Anatomy WILL RAISE INT. Do it now and not after you get DEX/STR where you
want it. :)
And the odd DEX/STR.
Get resist up. If you don't want to take magery up, get a friend to help you
by casting fire fields in a safe location (aka, house) for you to run through.
You can work on your healing, too by bandaging up the damage. FF work good to
about 52-55, then go to fireballs. You can cast those yourself.
Resist is always nice, vs. monsters or PCs. Lots of the "good" monsters will
zap you. Gazers are nice for raising resist in the field. GM resist is good;
75 is probably a low compromise if you don't care about GMing it. Opinions
vary.
Below 50 it doesn't help much.
Get parry up. That will help you vs. meleeing monsters. Make sure you got
arm/disamr on for potion drinking.
I'd GM swords/tactics 'cause it's easy. :)
//I can handle Water elementals solo, but don't have much life left
//afterwards (unless I run away, hide, heal, and come back, which is
//cheesy...) Is raising resist the only solution here? I use archers armor
//(which doesn't do much against waters, but it doesn't lower my dex) and a
//GM katana. Is there a better solution given that my dex is so high
//anyway? Are halberds or other more powerful weapons better at high dex?
//Should I just buy a good magic weapon?
If you are alone, you don't wanna be below 2/3 - 1/2 health in a dungeon.
It's almost crying out "Kill me!". BAcking off to heal may be cheesy
but it can save your life.
Katanas swing fast, but give relatively little damage. If your DEX is still
high
using a hally will deliver more punch in an acceptable rate of time. Same
with some of the bigger swords.
//Additionally, PK mages are still the bane of my online existence... As
//soon as An Ex Por hits, I'm dead, 7/10 times. I don't have time to get
//over the panic, open a pouch, and KOP before the 55 HP EBolt or 70 HP
//flamestrike hits me. If I try to KOP, with my 49 magery I still fizzle
Once you get magery past, oh, 55 ish, you tend to fizzle recalls a lot less.
A scroll is a much more certain thing; just make sure you keep 11 mana around
for it.
Make sure you have show incoming all names on. Use all names, use it often. At
first sign of red, get ready. Remember, they have to see you too.
Have your backpack open and those trapped pouches ready to click. Mine are
colored reddish from UOA. I think you can set up a macro key for this
in UOA, but I've yet to quite figure out how.
GH potions are your friend. Drink fast, drink as often as you can.
You can have a "drink heal" key in UOA.
Slap bandages on (you can use UOA to Bandage Self with a keystroke, mine is END)
as fast as you can, anticpating damage.
Basically you need to try to heal through the mana dump. I bust para as they
wind up for the next spell and run at them, ready to or already healing knowing
if I can't interrupt, they'll hit me again. Any fights I've had has been
outside tho.
Recall scroll + rune + emergency macro key may help you get the hell out of
Dodge. If you can start whacking the mage, you'll make them back off, perhaps
long enough for you to zap on out of there.
Frequent trips to bank to deposit loot is a Good Thing. That "just one more
water ele" will be the one where Joe PK shows up and snags your loot.
//every once in a while, and I die. If I try to rush at them with my katana,
//hoping to interrupt them and kill them quickly it's useless. They teleport
//away, cast another flamestrike, and I'm dead. Or they whip out their own
//sword, and since I'm now down to about 30 HP anyway, I'm an easy target.
You need to heal RIGHT AWAY from that first blast, so you are *not* at 30hps.
//Add to that the problem that many of the dungeon pks I've seen lately are
//blue anyway, and without a group of people with me, I can't live through
//level 1 of a dungeon anyway...
This game breeds paranoia, unfortunate but true. Anytime I'm in a spot,
even outside, and an unfamiliar blue name comes hoofing near, I 'get ready'
just in case. I also never carry things I hate to lose.
//So, basically, does anyone have suggestions for surviving PK GM Mages, and
//how best to utilize my high dex and strength?
Heal fast and fight back or recall. Those 7xGM PvP mages require you,
as a warrior, to stay on their butts; make them run off so you can leave.
You'll need to do good damage tho.
DP helps. They take a moment to cure; that's a moment you can use.
Watch out for the usual magic/hally whack thing.
//Also, any good places to go for money relatively quickly? My lockpicking
//is only 60 now, but I'm practicing, so perhaps when I reach 90ish I'll be
//able to get dungeon treasure...
Orc camps in Delucia (not the fort, tho you can happily tromp around there until
the usual reds show up to wipe out newbies). Lockpicking the treasure
chests nobody else bothers with AND killing the orcs will net you about 500
gps per camp if you sell the loot you get too.
Easy money, not that dangerous.
Cheers,
kim
Whisper, God Bless All Names, Europa