you see: an Elder Fencer
Cyrus
Well, tonight i made it to Elder Fencer, after alot of intensive, late night
hunts, and a few sparring sessions with my guildmate, Bob.
Here's the basic breakdown for anyone struggling:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From 100-103.6, i fought Dull Copper elementals with a Copper weapon(though
anything granting +10 tactics would work)
From 103.6-104.2, i fought Earth eles with a GM iron dagger until i ran out of
bandages...
From 104.2-105.5, i sparred with Bob, he used a Dull Copper dagger to promote
his tactics to 105, and the gains were VERY regular.
From 105.5-106.4, Back to the Dull Copper Elementals until getting chased out
of the hunting ground by a mass influx of hunting parties...
From 106.4-107.5, back to sparring with that dull copper dagger, think i went
through three shields here...that thing hurt like heck...
From 107.5-108.2, Bob swapped to a Copper Dagger, and we sparred, that thing
hurt even more, and only through healing myself between his heals and my
healing him, did i manage to survive. Odd thing i noticed, though, as your
combat skill gains higher, you seem to be able to prevent finger slips to a
degree.
From 108.2-108.3, yeah, bothering to note that i gained off an earth elemental
here, shocked me silly...
From 108.3-110.0, back to sparring, back to that EVIL copper dagger,
relentlessly poking at my side...Took just over 1 hour to get from 109-110, the
gains spaced out to about one every two-ten minutes, and throughout the
training, i noticed lulls, usually of ten minutes, sometimes 30 or so, where
skill gain just didn't happen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes, i took the "easy" way out, but at the same time, i got a little nostalgia
fix out of this...i remembered the days when you could gain skill just from
standing near someone using a skill, and having to spar with guildmates just to
keep skills where you wanted them...(i STILL have wrestling on my smith from
the pre-skill lock days...)
I'd pretty much guess that you can do this with Earth eles to 105, dulls to
108+, then finish up with demons, cyclopses, fire eles, or any other high
tactics monster, if you prefer a straight PvM approach.
But if you have a friend willing to spar, it makes for a great bonding
experience, and REALLY good cross-healing training.(and Bob made it to 96
anatomy from 89 while poking me, so he was very happy.)
Well, that's it. I'm fairly confident this method would work for any combat
skill(you could probably just simplify things by getting a +5 & +10 weapon and
having someone hack you with them, though), as my own training was loosely
based on a Stratics post on the warrior board by "Legend of BC", in which he
used Swords, and sparred an archer with increasingly more accurate bows.
His chart flows like this:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
100.0-107.5, opponent uses a +5 weapon.
107.5-113.5, opponent uses a +10 weapon.
113.5-117.5, opponent uses a +15 weapon.
117.5-120.0, opponent uses a +20 weapon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
His method works over a four day period, and wowed everyone on the boards.
Anywho, good luck in your own training, and may good fortune favor thy
endeavors.
`Cyrus`
*please excuse any hurried look to this, and any babbling, i'm very tired*
Eric A. Hall
"Cyrus" <cyst...@cs.com> wrote in message
news:20020820025022...@mb-fk.news.cs.com...
> Howdy all,
>
> Well, tonight i made it to Elder Fencer
congrats
> His chart flows like this:
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 100.0-107.5, opponent uses a +5 weapon.
> 107.5-113.5, opponent uses a +10 weapon.
> 113.5-117.5, opponent uses a +15 weapon.
> 117.5-120.0, opponent uses a +20 weapon.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I got the swamp dragon to gm wrestling and tactics last night (one day).
It really does seem like the gains are fastest if you pick something
10-20 points below your skill. Here is some evidence:
1 orc trolls Orcish Bone
start camp ettins Lords Knight
wrestling: 54.6 71.8 89.0 98.1 100.0
tactics: 42.1 56.9 86.8 99.0 100.0
anatomy: 48.9 72.1 89.3 92.2 97.4
http://www.tamingarchive.com/pets/training.php has a table of monster
skills which shows that the big gain jumps all came from monsters 10-20
points lower than the trainee. Orcish Lords (the ones in the desert)
aren't listed but I think they are around 75/75. Anything closer than 10
points was really slow to gain from.
The on-topic question here is: why were you training with an opponent
whose skills were higher? You should have been able to gain the fastest
using a GM dagger against the earth ellies (up to about 110), followed
by a player with GM weapons. Did you try that? Did it not gain well?
Cyrus
>hunts, and a few sparring sessions with my guildmate, Bob.
>
http://my.uo.com/cgi-bin/my_chars.pl?52616e646f6d4956d717fe4de0ba5092562c4
1cb1dcb796cab0624a2cfd2bdab3b18b7732c58fffaaaf07aa717e19535
For anyone even remotely interested, you can now see my poorly dressed
characters, and the entire Wandering Vagrants Guild.
(just hit the WV link in Cy's page, sorry, no poorly made website for us yet.)
Sorry for such a long link.
`Cyrus`
Airen Cracken
> whose skills were higher? You should have been able to gain the fastest
> using a GM dagger against the earth ellies (up to about 110), followed
> by a player with GM weapons. Did you try that? Did it not gain well?
>
Do you use a low damage weapon so that the critter lives longer, hence more
hits and possible gains?
If so i'll probably change to a wand with my macer. I just bought a +10
macing scroll but i've only got to 100.7.
The funny thing about my gains is that that character normally fights
Daemons etc at the Daemon temple and gets no gains. I fight a harpy while
wandering and get a gain. Ive even had a gain off a lizardman!
Todd Bailey
Cyrus wrote in message <20020820025022...@mb-fk.news.cs.com>...
>Howdy all,
>
>Well, tonight i made it to Elder Fencer...
<snip>
Elder? Congratulations ya ol' fart! ;-)
Eric A. Hall
"Airen Cracken" <simons...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:w4t89.36024$IU4.1...@newsfep2-win.server.ntli.net...
> Do you use a low damage weapon so that the critter lives longer, hence
> more hits and possible gains?
That's part of it, but the real reason is that they swing faster, giving
you more skill checks per minute.
Attentive Dragon
> Howdy all,
>
> Well, tonight i made it to Elder Fencer, after alot of intensive, late night
> hunts, and a few sparring sessions with my guildmate, Bob.
Um... O've been gone longer than I thought.
ELDER? From your post it looked like you were talking about stats
-OVER- 100?
Is that what I think it is? If so, how does that figure with skill
cap? and what's the max?
Todd Bailey
Attentive Dragon wrote in message ...
He got a "power scroll". A power scroll lets you raise a given skill over
100 points. There are 105, 110, 115 and 120 power scrolls available IIRC.
It does not effect the 700 point skill cap so, if you use a PS and raise a
skill above 100, something else has to go down. OSI is talking about giving
a "vet reward" of 5 extra skill points per year of account age up to a 720
point max.
Cyrus
>whose skills were higher?
I tried earth eles, bone knights, and a few other things...the best gains i
recieved were from things near or better than my skill level.
Thus, from gm to 107.5, fighting an opponent with 105 tactics provided
exponentially smoother, steadier gains than fighting monsters that were simply
too easy to gain off of.
Just a quick note, animals/pets currently run on a double speed gain system, or
more specifically(and admitted by OSI, in a UOHOC chat, i think), they're still
using the powerhour skill system.(see? PH didn't go away!)
And based on some light testing with my own training warriors, it seems that
fighting gradually more difficult opponents increases the potential for skill
gain. Though going out to fight earth eles your first day now provides zilch,
no matter how long you train.
I like this little change, as it pushes a true warrior to seek to better their
skill by finding increasingly greater challenges.
I'd also surmise that two warriors, starting at identical skill levels/stats
and sparring each other, would GM at virtually the same moment.
`Cyrus`
Cyrus
>Daemons etc at the Daemon temple and gets no gains.
Their tactics are too high for you to gain off yet, probably around 108, and up
to about 115 skill, is the gain area for demons.(i based this on the fact that
fire eles can get you to 116+, according to the same post i saw Legend of BC's
guide to becoming Legendary in.)
>I fight a harpy while
>wandering and get a gain. Ive even had a gain off a lizardman!
These are entirely random, and maybe even GGS gains you're getting. At 108.2, i
gained .1 from an earth ele on my first swing at it, then figured i'd give them
a shot, fought earths for over an hour without anymore gains.
The best bet is to fight something that's just a tad above your melee skill's
level in it's tactics score(100-107.5, need something with 105 tacs), to insure
regular gains. Not rapid, mind you, took four days of sparring in three-four
hour shifts just to go from 103.6 to 110, for me anyway.
Good luck with your macing, though you might try using a store bought maul,
mildly fast, and does poor damage, perfect for sparring or beating on something
you want to live a little while.
`Cyrus`
*or even a smith's hammer...though that's a tad on the slow side...*
Cyrus
>
>
*chuckles*
Been waiting for that, you young whippersnapper!
Now all i need is a cane and an old rocking chair, and bread crumbs for the
squirrels & ducks...
`Cyrus`
Cyrus
>-OVER- 100?
>
>Is that what I think it is? If so, how does that figure with skill
>cap? and what's the max?
Well, Todd already covered the first question.
I got a powerscroll for +15 fencing, and raised my skill to 110, at which point
you attain a new skill title, in my case, Elder. For 120 skill, you become
"Legendary", and quite powerful, if 110 skill is any indication...
As for stats, players who battle the Champion Spawns long enough to attain the
6(?) skulls to summon the super champion, the Harrower, and defeat it, can gain
stat enhancing scrolls that incease your stat cap by +5, +10, +15, +20 or +25,
based on what scroll you get.
The current stat max, with a +25 scroll, is 250 stat points.
And like Todd said, there's a reward option in the works, based on your
account's age, that will grant you 5 more skill points per year, with a max of
720 skill points at four.
Included in that bundle of goodness are the fourth and fifth year rewards, and
god i wish i was heading into my fifth year for that ankh...
(the full list is in the 'in concept' section on UO.com, sorry i don't have the
exact link, but i tend to avoid the game's homesite like the plague...)
`Cyrus`
*oh, and you don't need a stat scroll to raise stats, individual cap is 125,
and it's all a matter of choice whether you raise them or not, especially
thanks to stat locks. I'm currently at 120 dex on my "main", with sacrifices in
both str and int...*
Eric A. Hall
> >The funny thing about my gains is that that character normally fights
> >Daemons etc at the Daemon temple and gets no gains.
>
> Their tactics are too high for you to gain off yet, probably around
> 108, and up to about 115 skill, is the gain area for demons.(i based
> this on the fact that fire eles can get you to 116+, according to the
> same post i saw Legend of BC's guide to becoming Legendary in.)
According to http://www.tamingarchive.com/pets/training.php, fire
elementals have 80 wrestling (note that 110 lore lets you get the stats
on monsters, so I believe these numbers). With the 20 point spread in
mind, they should only get you to about 100, although it would be
possible to train the fire ele up with you while you fight, meaning that
it would cap at 100 and you'd cap at 120 (give or take a few points).
Daemons have 75 wrestling, so 95 and up.
Eric A. Hall
> And based on some light testing with my own training warriors, it
> seems that fighting gradually more difficult opponents increases the
> potential for skill gain.
I'm not hearing this from anybody else. I'm not saying I don't believe
you.
At this point I am inclined to believe that the skill checks are
different when you are sparring a player versus a mob.
Cyrus
>you.
Well, i seem to get crapped on from time to time when it comes to skill
gain....
And as for the sparring, I didn't believe it myself until i tried it.
I'm just glad for the epiphony i had at work; that if an archer with
increasingly better bows was a good sparring buddy, surely anyone with
increasingly better weapons would do.
And you noted the Fire ele's skill range a reply or so back(in my newsreader,
anyway). I only mentioned them because, like i said, in a post on the Stratics
Warrior board by Legend of BC, someone mentioned fighting fire eles and gaining
well, they were at 116.3, i believe.
>At this point I am inclined to believe that the skill checks are
>different when you are sparring a player versus a mob.
You're probably right, as player and monster skills seem to function
differently, and i'm sure their vastly superior stats must also factor in there
somewhere...
I was gaining very well off of Dull Copper elementals at varying points(usually
a lull of 30 mins here and there, followed by a rush of .3-.5 gain, then a
lull, and the fact that i gained 3.6 from them overnight shows that they make
good training dummies.), but the most regular gains i experienced were during
sparring.
But the lulls proved too much for me, as i was wearing out shields and armor
like mad just trying to eek out a few skill points(and quite a few people that
were coming to the Dull's to fight seriously seemed to be becoming increasingly
annoyed with my presence.), so i chose to go with Legend's method and spar.
Nothing new to me, i sparred from 97-100 fencing about a year and a half back,
fighting against various elementals as my brother, who was working hard to
become a GM mage, summoned them, and my old guild was full of sparring nuts who
used it in the pre-skill lock days just to keep their skills where they wanted
them, as loosing your GM swords to a freakin' wrestling gain was becoming VERY
tedious....
And the sparring yielded quite a few healing and anatomy gains for Bob's healer
in training, so he didn't mind dealing with his own boredom for the game just
to help me out.
If i can just get him back in the game a bit more, that healer will be ressing
in no time!
`Cyrus`
Derek Lyons
>I got a powerscroll for +15 fencing, and raised my skill to 110, at which point
>you attain a new skill title, in my case, Elder. For 120 skill, you become
>"Legendary", and quite powerful, if 110 skill is any indication...
Hmm... I've been thinking of buying a +10 scroll for my Mace/Mage.
Worth it ya think?
D.
Archeon
"Derek Lyons" <el...@hurricane.net> wrote in message
news:3d660ec3...@supernews.seanet.com...
rewards), I think it depends on how your template's fixed. 10 points isn't
easy to find!! The other point is that these are only going to get cheaper.
Personally, I enjoy fighting Champ spawn for a giggle, but those in it for
business will soon flood the market for the "less desirable" skills. Haven't
seen a magery one going cheap yet...
Archeon
(Avatar)
Cyrus
>Personally, I enjoy fighting Champ spawn for a giggle, but those in it for
>business will soon flood the market for the "less desirable" skills. Haven't
>seen a magery one going cheap yet...
Probably won't see magery scrolls outside of vendor malls and Britain
bank...though good resist scrolls seem to be extremely common, i've seen +15's
for 130k...not really related to magery, but it IS an important scroll to note.
I'm still seeing alot of +5 scrolls out there, for rather useless skills...(is
there a forensics scroll, or did they finally get rid of that skill??)
And that fencing +15 scroll cost me a rather whopping sum i'd rather not
mention(pretty sure i got severely ripped, but it was still worth it.), and
yesterday i saw a +10 at well below half what i paid for the 15...
*grumbles*
Guess i should shop around more in the future...
Oh, and the last blacksmithy scroll i saw, for +10 skill, was selling at
795,000 gold, and was gone within an hour of my seeing it....
And there's a scroll vendor near the Britain Xroads, a few screens west, where
they're selling the champion skulls...so if anyone's missed out on a harrower
spawning anytime recently, you now know who has the skulls.
*chuckles*
Anywho, the fencing scroll was still worth it, and i'm glad i finally had the
chance to progress further in my training, been wanting something like this for
quite some time...
`Cyrus`
*though my own idea was something along the lines of a "Specialization" skill,
which would cost no real points itself, instead adding a potential 100 points
to a given skill, and open up new powers as you go along...Dual Weilding would
also be pretty cool...seeing someone coming at you with two katanas would just
about make me soil my trousers...*
Cyrus
>Worth it ya think?
It is if you have the spare points.
As i got further along, and continued being stabbed, i noticed that i deflected
blows to a degree, even without a shield, causing less finger slips while
healing(or i might've just imagined this, but when you slip once while fighting
another fencer, and self healing, you tend to get crazy notions), and there's
definately an increased ability to draw more of your weapon's potential power
out..
By the time i was at 107, my worn out GM dagger seemed to be doing damage along
the lines of a kryss, and through my sparring partner's platemail, no
less...(this might be the reason for my slow gains, as sucessfully stabbing
through plate does seem like it would be hard)
And like i said, if you have the free points, and a favored skill, it's
definately worth it.
`Cyrus`
*heck, i would've been satisfied with a +5, just to finally be a Grandmaster
Fencer on my paperdoll...but i think Elder's more distinguished anyway. :}*
John Vincent
mg.news.cs.com:
>
>
I'm feeling pretty daft now.
My first power scroll was a +15 magery. I then did the "circle of
transparency shuffle" at an inn to pass it to my mage. He used it right
away.
I didn't realize they were so valuable. I was just happy to get one on my
first outing. Mind you I haven't gotten one SINCE.....
--
John E. Vincent
Forge Greybrook of Chesapeake
Cyrus
Okay, odd thing to note, but after attaining Elder level, i went on a hunt
tonight to celebrate.
Needing a change of pace from the typical dungeon haunt, i decided on the
Necropolis near Delucia, i grabbed my favorite silver kryss and hopped on my
ethereal ostard.
About ten minutes into the hunt, and a few hacks into a bone knight, i gained
.1 fencing, 20 minutes later, gained another .1...
So i guess they weren't too easy to gain off of, i just wasn't skilled enough
to do so yet.
*smiles*
Now i have something to hunt to fill out a little more of that extra 15 points,
at least for a little while.
`Cyrus`
Derek Lyons
>"Derek Lyons" <el...@hurricane.net> wrote in message
>news:3d660ec3...@supernews.seanet.com...
>> cyst...@cs.com (Cyrus) wrote:
>> >I got a powerscroll for +15 fencing, and raised my skill to 110, at which
>> >point you attain a new skill title, in my case, Elder. For 120 skill, you
>> >become "Legendary", and quite powerful, if 110 skill is any indication...
>>
>> Hmm... I've been thinking of buying a +10 scroll for my Mace/Mage.
>> Worth it ya think?
>>
>> D.
>
>Until they decide what they are doing with the skill bonuses(for vet
>rewards), I think it depends on how your template's fixed. 10 points isn't
>easy to find!!
In my current template it'll be pretty easy if I get over my cowardice
and drop Healing (either entirely, or a good portion of it.)
>The other point is that these are only going to get cheaper.
They already seem to be for the 'less desireable' skills. I've seen a
+10 macing going for around 500K. As I know the owner of the vendor
that has it, if it's still there in a week I might be able to haggle
him down.
>Personally, I enjoy fighting Champ spawn for a giggle, but those in it for
>business will soon flood the market for the "less desirable" skills. Haven't
>seen a magery one going cheap yet...
Yup.
D.
Airen Cracken
> They already seem to be for the 'less desireable' skills. I've seen a
> +10 macing going for around 500K. As I know the owner of the vendor
> that has it, if it's still there in a week I might be able to haggle
> him down.
>
125K from 150K.
Derek Lyons
Seems to be the current going price on LS. But I'm patient on such
things.
D.