Hi. I am about 6 weeks into the shard. I am at a certain point and need to know what I need to do next. I will layout what I am looking for, where I am, and then ask from you what is the best direction going forward.




What I want


What I love to do in UO most is PvP. In this server I know that to PvP you need +skill more than anything, else you can't hit anyone. You can't just step in with 115-120 skills and Astro armor and expect to compete. Given that, I understand the best thing to do is to do whatever is most financially efficient to get what I need to start to venture into Fel. I love UO as a game, I have played it for it's entire existance and I just enjoy playing it so I don't need "just find what you like doing and just let it come to you" speech.



What I have

Right now I have about 8 mil gold, enough level scrolls for a level 100 weapon and 5 sockets and enough  with some ED to play with. My initial goal was to make a great weapon and use that to hunt something that is more finanacially efficient than fishing. It has taken 6 weeks of just fishing a LOT to make that 8 mil + 5 socket scrolls. I feel like that there are other things I can hunt that sell for more than the sum of the resources I have.



What do I do next?

My goal is to make as much gold as possible in the time I have to play. I know I am months away from being able to really compete with PvP so if I maximize my time in game by making the most I can to buy what I need.... what do you think that looks like?

This is what I don't know. Do I pour those 5 sockets, 8 mil gold and ED into luck deeds and luck augs to go from 2k luck to 4k luck and just keep fishing? Do I make a super slayer weapon and go hunt X and sell the drops? Is there a repeatable quest where you can sell the reward consistantly? Should I hunt for T maps and sell them? Should I get LJ cloths and farm frostwood fltch kits?

I know there are lots of things that bring in lots of gold. My question is... where does fishing fall in that list? Surely there has to be more lucrative things that are higher on that list that I can move into, I just don't know what those are. What are the methods of making gold that you use? How much does that make per day/week?

Thanks for the help/feedback.

For pvp, i am sure people in Red city can help you as they have much experience in thet regard. Their names are colored red.
I know that fishing can bring in a good amount of coin. Its not hard to make a million in a day, considering the nuggets and other loot you get from water. Merlina knows a lot about fishing and gold panning I am sure.


Good luck!

End Game Gear is a little difficult to rate, as it really depends on your play style.  Currently there are two "Meta Builds", stacking swordsmanship, or stacking magery.  The reason for these two being the most popular because the majority of high end items will increase one or the other.  Sure, there are other viable options, like stacking archery, or mace fighting, but the MAJORITY of the pieces out there will be set to either swords or magery.

Budget options for a Swords kit would be along the lines of:

Kas Gloves
Kas Chest
Kas Arms
Captain Johns Hat
Kas Robe
Cursed Pirate Pants
Swamp Boots

Example of a Budget Mage Kit would be something like:

Chest of the Magi
Arms of the Magi
Skull of Vecna
Antiquity Gloves
Magi Robe
Magi Cloak
(Not really any budget legs for this set, but Magi Legs, Cursed Pirate Pants, or even Astro Deamon Legs work well)

You get the idea.

Weapon selection also depends widely on game style.  If you are going mage, you are going to be hindered by the minimum of -20 Mage Weapon on any GM crafted item, and a maximum of -29 Mage Weapon for anything you add a deed to or have staff augment.  While if you go swords, the options are a little broader with Use Best Weapon Skill weapons.  Keep in mind, when utilizing a Mage Weapon, you will be loosing the amount indicated after the negative, so if I have natural 120 Magery, and I use a Mage Weapon that gives -20, my "combat" skill with that weapon will drop to only 100.

For blocking, you really have two options.  Bushido (requires a two handed weapon with no shield to make the best use of it) and parry (requires a one handed weapon and a shield), of course you can use a one-hand deed on any two handed weapon and also utilize a shield, but there are penalties involved.  You will never block as efficiently with a bow as you would with a sword.  Unfortunately there is (to my knowledge) no hard math on parry/dodge chance with Bushido here, as it's use is shrouded in mystery, but it is my preferred method of defense in both PvP and PvM, but I've fought with changing to parry for quite some time.

As for gold, I personally enjoy doing Treasure Maps, the gold and weapon experience is certainly not as great as it used to be, but with the addition of weapon level deeds and magical cloth deeds to the loot tables, it can still be pretty lucrative.  I know of many players who do nothing but pan for gold...this is mind numbing to me, but some enjoy it.  Many players also farm Elementals while mining to get Runic Hammers (using Gargoyle Pickaxes), although this is a little dangerous for newer players, it can be quite lucrative (60k per charge is the going rate for Platinum Runics it seems).

Champ Spawns do not offer the gold they once did, and the drop rate of +20 scrolls is really not enough to justify the risk, although it is still the best source for high end jewelry, and heart palpitating PvP experiences.

I hope this helps, and gives you a few ideas.  Good luck to you, and most importantly, have fun!

Thanks Emperor Norton for this informative message!
I myself use full bushido. And its just that I like the style, and the samurai lore. Also to note that the higher your bushido the better block chance and higher critical rate with lightning strike.