Ultima Online Healing and Suit Building Guide

Ultima Online Healing and Suit Building Guide by Jessica Stareye

As some of you are aware Templates and skill comes and goes in trends around expansion releases, combat in fel etc… this here is just to give some advice, but ultimately the best advise I can give you is use whatever template you yourself feel comfortable using.

PART 1 Healing…

If you are making a pvp character the number one thing to think about (or what I myself always think about) is number of ways to get back Hit points or ways of healing.

Why you may ask? The point is this, if you are in pvp combat and only have one way of healing then you are mostly to be killed. I normally think with skill and armour mods of healing ways as major ways and secondary ways. Major ways of healing being the ones that will heal massive amounts of damage and take longer, secondary ways being healing not so much but can use them quickly.

Major ways of healing…

Bandages: uses the skill Healing and Anatomy along with the stat dex. This is a timer based healing method, the count between heals depends on skill of healing and anatomy along with how high your dex is. With this you can resurrect a fallen player if your skill is 90 and over. I always carry enhanced bandages which can be obtained by either buying them from a player run vendor or soaking a bandage in the fountain of life.
The thing against bandages is that if you are poisoned it will cure the poison but not any hit points.
Bandages will stop bleeding.
You won’t be able to use them if you have been mortal striked.
An enhanced bandage gives you +10 in healing skill if you have the space for it, for example you have 100 healing, and you keep the skill at 100 but use a 110 powerscroll. With enhanced bandages to now have 110 healing.

Greater healing spell: This spell is used by those that have magery, the amount it heals for is based on evaluate intelligence and of course magery… I have been told that SDI also increases its effects (SDI = Spell Damage Increase) but I am not sure if that information is accurate. It won’t cure poison, won’t work if you have been Mortal Striked and won’t stop bleeding. If you are facing someone that hits fast or casts fast spells then you will find that the spell gets interrupted and therefore you won’t be able to cast it unless you have precasted protection on yourself, this is where the Fast cast and Fast cast recovery mods on amour will come in handy. The Cap for FC for magery is 2, with protection however it gives you -2 FC so it you have 0 fc on your armour then you fc will be -2 etc.

Secondary Healing Methods…

Close wounds: This spell is used with the Chivalry skill, it is based on the amount of chivalry you have and Karma you have from Player verses Monster combat (PVM). The higher the karma the more you can heal essentially. This spell can be interrupted but unlike magery with a FC cap of 2, chiv spells have a FC cap of 4, also close wounds is a faster spell to pull off. It won’t work however if you have been Mortal Striked, Poisoned and it won’t stop bleeding.

Spirit Speak: This Skill heals on the amount of skill points you have, this works in two ways however, if you are standing by a dead body you will suck the energy from it into yourself and heal or if you are not it will use your life force to heal. It is generally best to use it by standing next to a dead body as you will heal more. This skill can be interrupted but you can heal if you have been mortal striked, poisoned and bleeding, at most it is used as an last ditch resort or when you are really low and waiting on a timer based healing method to kick in.

Confidence: This spell is of the Bushido, it is based on the amount of bushido the user has, and its effects is like HPR (Hit point regen). Once hit however the effects of your hit points will stop but it is still working cause if you have parry every time you parry an attack you will gain back hit points. This spell will heal through mortal, poison and bleed. There is no timer on it barring when you come out of the pose so you can spam this skill. It also is not interruptible.

HPR or Hit point Regen: This is a mod on armour, the cap on it is 12, the ninja forms of cat and dog however will push this cap unto 18, however the downside to using ninja forms is that you won’t be allowed to use any over skill based abilities and some items. The abilities that you can use are the ninja mirror image and shadow jump.

Potions, Heal and Greater Healing: These can be used by anyone, for greater effect however it is best to have the skill alchemy which gives you 30% enhanced potions mod at GM level, it is usually good to have 50% enhanced potions on your suit. The cap for total enhanced potions is 80%. These potions can be used when bleeding but can’t be used when mortaled or poisoned.

Heal spell: This is a smaller and lower circle spell of greater healing it is however alot faster to cast but it won’t heal a large amount of damage, you can use it when bleeding since the spell will be castable between the damage gaps but can not be used if mortaled or poisoned. It can be interrupted however but chances are you can use it against dexxers.

Hit Life Leech: This is a weapon mod that basically does what it says on the tin, it will leech hit points when you hit someone with a weapon. There are some spells that gives you this mod, Necromancy Curse weapon is an example of this and can be used when under mortal, poison and bleed.

Gift of renewal: This is a spellweaving spell, and will heal hit points in short clumps periodically over a space of time or cures a poison once and the spell ends, there is a timer on when you can cast this again but even with the spellweavers cap of 4 fc it is still a long time in casting an in combat you will not be able to find any use to it barring say the beginning of a spar. It will heal through mortal and bleed and will try to cure poison.

What I tend to do when making a template up is to pick one major healing method and then pick 2 or 3 secondary ones to go along side it. For an example in my ninja archer necro weaver’s case she has 1 major method with bandages, and 5 secondary methods with HPR, Potions, gift of renew, curse weapon and spirit speak.

Armour properties run down

First let’s take a look at some of the important properties you might want on a suit:

-Defense Chance Increase (DCI): This property makes it harder for people to hit you or land special attacks. If you have the parrying skill on your template, it is very important you make use of this property. The maximum allowed DCI is 45.

-Hit Chance Increase (HCI): This property modifies the percentage of the time you are able to hit your opponent. If you are a warrior, or especially if you are a mage that uses a weapon, this property is important as once you start fighting the more experienced players with good equipment- you won’t be able to hit them unless you’ve got some of this behind your swing. The maximum HCI is 45.

-Reflect Physical Damage: This property, as stated by the name, reflects a portion of the physical damage an opponent deals to you, back to them. It works much like blood oath except that this property returns -only- physical damage. This property is especially useful on characters that use necromancy as it will stack with blood oath, leaving any warrior afraid to touch you at all. The maximum attainable is 105.

-Lower Mana Cost (LMC): Lower mana cost reduces the amount of mana to perform special attacks, as well as the mana required to cast any spell. This property is essential for Mages and warriors alike, and can double the number of attacks you can make or spells you can cast with your allotted mana. The maximum attainable LMC is 40.

-Mana Regeneration (MR): Mana regeneration does just that, it helps your mana to replenish itself more quickly, just like meditation or focus does. To know how effective each point of mana regeneration is, remember that for every 20 points of focus, you are essentially gaining one mana regen and two stamina regen. Thus, five mana regen on a suit is equivalent to having GM focus. The maximum attainable mana regen on items is 12.

-Stamina Regeneration (SR): Stamina regeneration is also granted by focus, 2 per every 20 points. 100 focus = 10. Stamina regeneration is useful because all the running you do, attacks you make, how fast you swing, hits you take, and etc- all take from stamina. Without any stamina regeneration all it takes is a couple hits from a warrior, or certain spells from a mage, and you will find yourself unable to move. Stamina regeneration is not as critical, but is useful and helpful none the less.

-Lower Reg Cost (LRC): Lower reg cost is a useful modification to have on a suit because it reduces the regs required to cast any spell, this includes paladin and necromancy spells. While it can be used in pvp and may save you a great amount of regs, (trust me you burn them quick in pvp), it is not vital. More over – LRC is a very hard modification to max out on a pvp suit so doesn’t make it a priority. The Maximum attainable LRC is 100.

-Strength/Dexterity/Intelligence Bonus: (Str/Dex/Int):
These modifications are very beneficial to have on a suit. These days mana makes a very big difference in determining victory or defeat, in terms of spells for mages or special attacks/spells for warriors. Dexterity also means a great deal as you warriors can heal in 4-5 seconds with bandaids at 125 dex, not to mention faster swinging and more potential to hit special attacks. No matter what stat bonus you have- if you can fit them into the suit you will be much better off, as you can change your stats accordingly to work with stats granted by use of armor and jewelry. There is no limit to stat bonuses, however each stat themselves caps at 150. (Thus you can not have over 150 strength even if you have enough strength bonuses to do so).

-Hit point/Stamina/Mana Bonuses:
These modifications are nice, and they can make a big difference, but keep in mind that they are not the main stats themselves, they are the by product. Strength gives you hit points, Intel gives you mana, Dex gives you stamina. If you can fit these into your suit, especially mana, by all means do so. But they are not as important as the main stats listed above. There is no limit to these modifications.

-Faster Cast Recovery (FCR): Faster Cast Recovery shortens the time you have to wait between casting spells. For every point of Faster Cast Recovery you have the delay is shortened by 0.25 second. Although there is no cap on how much Faster Cast Recovery you can have there is no benefit of having more than 6, because the delay cannot be less than 0 seconds. Any mage or Paladin should make it their goal to have 6 FCR, as most other advanced mages/paladins out there are and if you aren’t- you won’t get a spell off unless you are too.

-Faster Casting (FC): Faster Casting makes you able to cast Magery and Paladin spells faster than normal. For every point in Faster Casting you have the casting time is shortened by 0.25 second. This is just as important if not more important then FCR and should be used in conjunction with it. Faster Casting is capped at 2 for magery spells and 4 for paladin abilities. This property is also vital to be maxed for mages and good for paladins to have.

-Hit Lower Defense: Hit lower defense is an amazing property that sometimes goes off when you strike an opponent. It temporarily lowers their defense chance and makes them much easier to hit. It is absolutely recommended for any character that uses a weapon. It is mostly found on weapons, but is also found on artifacts or items such as Mace and Shield Reading glasses.

-Swing Speed Increase (SSI): Swing speed increase helps you swing your weapon faster, increasing your potential for hitting more often and having more opportunities for special attacks. It is located mostly on weapons and jewelry but is sometimes located on armor or artifacts.

-Spell Damage Increase (SDI): This helps your spells do more damage, it is critical for mages when fighting other players. Against monsters there is no cap but against players (in pvp), there is a limit of 15.

Last But Not Least – Resists!

The maximum attained resist for any element (Phys, fire, cold, poison, and energy) is 70. Unless you are an elf in which case energy can be 75.

An important thing to note when building a suit is that all 70s is not required, and in most cases will distract you from getting in those important mods on your suit. So when you build a suit, the number you should aim for is 60 or higher across the board. I say this because when any mage uses the spell ‘Curse’ on you, your resists automatically drop to sixty. They will not drop below sixty but will drop to sixty if they are any higher. At 60 you get good protection and can still work in some of those mods without only worrying about resist.
In short, aim for your resists to be as close to 60/60/60/60/60 as possible, or higher. Do NOT worry about making all 70s. All 60s with max DCI or LMC is alot better off then all 70s with nothing.

Part II- With all of these prosperities and their high limits, how do I know what to look for and include?

When you build a suit, it’s a good idea to have a clear goal to begin with as oppose to working things in as you go. There is no way you will work in all the modifications to their maximum limit, so it’s important to focus on the ones you really want.

1) Warriors:

For warriors I would recommend the following mods as I feel they are most critical:
-Defense Chance Increase
-Hit chance Increase
-Lower Mana Cost
-Mana Regeneration
-Hit Lower Defense
-Stat Bonuses
-As much Fc/Fcr as possible.

Now, is it easy to fit all this in? No, it isn’t. And truth is told it’s rather expensive. For starters, I’d try to make your suit maximum DCI (45), or as close as possible, and good resists. From there, try to work in HCI and LMC as they are both very important. The more advanced you get, the more you will realize the benefit of hit lower defense, fc/fcr, and extra mana regen.

2) Mages

When it comes to mages you’ve got a whole lot of variation. Chiv mages, tank mages, necro mages, Mages with inscribe an alchemy, hiding and stealth, parry, etc. Depend on what kind of mage you are , certain modifications will be more or less important and you should be able to determine which you need by the list in part one. However, I will list some standards that any and every mage should have:
-Lower Mana cost -critical
-Mana Regen -important
-Faster Casting -critical
-Faster Cast Recover -critical
-Spell damage Increase -Important
-Stat bonuses

For Starters, aim for Lmc and maximum Fc/Fcr. As you get more advanced and do more work on your suit, try to include the others and any other mod that may be appropriate for your template. (I.E. Def chance for a mage with parry, or hit chance for a mage who uses weapons).
Part III: Using Shields and Jewelry:

Jewelry and shields can be a great help to a warrior or a mage when it comes to many mods. Certain mods, such as hit chance and defense chance, only come on jewelry, shields, and weapons exclusively – aside from certain artifacts or special items.

While using Jewelry and Shields is not only useful but heavily recommended, it comes with a warning. As you build your suit, try to make the jewelry and shield the last thing you worry about. Need to use them for a few resists? Fine. Need it to finish up your HCI or Fc? Go right ahead.

-BUT DO NOT- leave yourself overly dependent on them if you can help it. I admit my shield does help my resist, as does my jewelry. But you are always better off if you reach your goals relying on them as little as possible, as you will find in your futures that jewelry and shields come and go much more often than the rest of your suit- and its best if your suit is compatible with several shields or jewelry pieces, aside from something overly specific

Part III & 1/2: Stats

Your stats will largely be determined by you and your use of any stat scrolls. But as I included stat bonuses as useful mods, I will make a few notes here about stats.

STR: This stat is something to keep in mind for pvp because it determines your hit points and what you can carry. Some weapons, shields, and armor have Very Heavy strength requirements. Keep in mind that if you are cursed or weakened, if your strength drops below any equipment requirements, they will drop off your body and INTO your pack, leaving you armour less. ALWAYS try to have at least 15 more strength than any item you wears require. Thus= Sword Requires 80 Str? Try to have 95.

Dex: Dex is an all important attribute for warriors, and even helps mages. Influences your stamina, how fast you swing and how much you can run. More importantly, with 125 dex and high healing, your heals only take five seconds. This makes a BIG difference. While it’s not so important for mages, it’s nice to have if you have a weapon or wrestling, as if you ignore dex completely you will only swing once every two years. *an exaggeration but you get the point*

Int: Int is all important for mages and warriors. Believe it or not specials require alot of mana. If you get off one special attack and you’ve got no mana left, you’re screwed. As a mage, if you don’t have enough mana to get off some good spell combinations, your entire template is pretty much wasted. Any mage should try to have at least a hundred, if not much more.