Hey, im a bit new to this shard still and i definately dont want to step on anyones toes but i couldnt help to have noticed something that makes a whole trade useless. Im talking about the problem with plate, wich is naturally worn by dexxers obv. having a giant impact on swing speed. Now im not saying that it itself should be changed, cause ppl running around in full invul plate might not be super cool and all (unless you loot them), but it does ruin the whole point to mining rare ores doesnt it? Thats a whole trade out of the window wich isnt really acceptable in uo. Ive talked with people about what to wear as a dexxer and everyone says to wear studded leather, well that says enough. Maybe staff could make it so that exceptionally crafted plate doesnt have the dex reduction? (so that still gives a reason to mine and craft with it, but doesnt make invul drops overpowered either) It would save the blacksmithing trade. Hope you guys agree. Thanks for reading my plea. -Haob.
From my experience, some people still wear and use metal dex suits - ring, chain, even some plate combos. There is still a mild dex penalty. That itself would make high quality ore still viable I would think. Plate is not the -only- option of armor for blacksmiths to make. Studded will always surpass metal armor in a trade environment, I think, because it is an easier resource to attain and no need for a special skill to acquire it.
Agreed, OP. But, even though it renders it useless, people like the dex penalty for 'reality' and era-accuracy reasons. You'll never get overwhelming majority support for it. Another option is to give heavier armors some kind of trade-off for that dex hit. Maybe adding some kind of magic resistance or other defensive bonus. But again, chances of that happening are probably 0%. Even if its a change for the better, players overwhelmingly don't want core systems to change here because ERA ACCURACY. We UO vets are not exactly known for their willingness to try new things. (Which, coincidentally, is partly why we're still playing UO)
Loosing dex with any metal armor is less for me about the swing speed as it is for the heal timer going higher. If the armor class rating of metal armor was to mitigate enough dmg to make loosing heal timing worth it, then maybe it wouldnt be so bad. But the real problem then gets into, the risk is always going to be a casting monster and/or another player. Now with your heal timer longer and a slower swing speed, you have no chance. I still love dexxer chars, but I have come to think of them as a glass cannon if you will. Kill what ever is in front of u with more dmg and faster then it can get you.
It would be nice if there was some kind of "dex suit" you could wear in which you lost 0 Dexterity. Most likely this would make sense to be Ring. That way you're still giving something up (the ability to passively and actively regenerate mana quickly), versus Studded, but you're not getting hit with the meditation loss AND dex loss. Right now, a med dexer wears leather or studded leather, and a pure melee dexer wears studded leather too. If ringmail had 0 Dex loss, at least those two archtypes could make different tactical decisions and wear different armor. My proposal: 1) change plate dex loss to have only chain dex loss, chain dex loss to have only ring dex loss, and ring has no dex loss. 2) (if necessary after #1) consider AR nerf of crafted leather armors.
I have suggested some less dex hit to some of the armors previously: Currently: Tunic - Dex Hit Plate - 8 Bone - 6 Chain - 5 Ring - 2 Leggings: Plate - 6 Bone - 4 Chain - 3 Ring - 1 Would like to be: Tunic: Plate - 6 Bone - 3 Chain - 3 Leggings: Plate - 3 Bone - 2 Chain - 2 I do not think Ring armor needs a change. Bone and Chain have the same AR range from 13-28 for tunic and 5-9 for legs (basic exceptional to invuln), I don't see why bone should be hit extra so I dropped it down even. Per set dex hit: Plate Set - was 20 now 15 = 5 savings! Bone Set - was 13 now 8 (add 1 for plate gorget) = 5 savings! Chain+Ring Set - was 10 now 7 (add 1 for plate gorget) = 3 savings! Ring - 5 (add 1 for plate gorget) = 0 savings
I remember that the only armor that gave a dex penalty during this era was plate armor. I absolutely hate how all the heavier armor gives a dex penalty and I feel like it makes them a poor choice to use most of the time. This also shows that only plate gave a penalty.
Hopefully this will be looked at as well as the one-handed weapon damage which currently sucks vs. any armor type lol
hmm didnt know about that, my younger brother uses a katana, but atleast it can poison, right? I personally will use a exec axe, maybe sometimes a bardiche for the big crits, unless lj covers that already on a 2h axe, havent yet mathed it.
There's no such thing as a crit here. You can hit at the high end of your damage range, that's it. The closest thing to such a term, would be the crushing blow of a war hammer, that actually does extra damage occasionally, like a 'critical hit'. Bardiches and Halberds get no bonus from Lumberjack skill. On my Lumberjack, I occasionally use a halberd for a chance at a big opening hit. It barely ever is, so once the fight is engaged, I always toggle right to my axe. When it's time to hit the pots, I toggle the katana (occasionally poisoned). Again, not trying to tell you what to do, or that you have to. Just trying to help you get adjusted to this era and understand what is and isn't possible (like crits).
Ok, then I urge you to consider the halberd, in lieu of the bardiche. Bardiche has great DPS, if you plan to keep it in hand. The halberd however has a higher damage range (5-49 versus 5-43 of the bardiche). http://www.uorenaissance.com/itemlist/Weapon So yeah, it's always worth a shot to try and get a big opening hit with either. The axes are best for your LJ so after that opener, just bring up the axe and keep chopping.
Thanks for the info, had not looked at that yet. Im not planning on going full rotation with weapons, i want to specialise but yeah i already considered a axepole for a deathblow Back on old xuo everyone used a vanq bardiche (or a bardiche of flames as those dropped from balrons sometimes, wich was a custom bard with a flamestrike effect on it) so its a bit of a matter of old sympathies that i thought about the bardiche. Halberds are fine for that matter too, just a shame i cant do a paralysing blow on them (its still a spearlike thing) Anyway back to the actual topic now please.
Bumping topic since it is a great idea Imo and needs consideration.. There should be dex penalties but the problem is there is no real advantages that make it worth while to take the dex loss and still wear the heavy armor. I hated how in uo osi and virtually every other shard basically the strongest of warriors ran around with 2h swords and leather armor.. plate was obsolete. I played a sampire and was able to tank dragons effectively in combat better with leather than I could plate. I think despite era accuracy having items and skills balanced should be a main concern. I agree that heavy armor and smithing for that matter is rendered almost useless. The more diverse players can make their skillset or play styles the better in my opinion.. otherwise you end up with the template characters where everyone rolls for the same stats skills and armor to minmax
