Forgive me if there are other threads on this. I'm surfing from my phone at work so my forum searching abilities are a bit gimped. So I finished off my first pvp toon last night. Template is GM magery, med, eval, resist, anat, macing, and tactics. I haven't done any pvp since 2001 or so in factions on Sonoma and that was with UO assist and I know Razor has some subtle differences. I know this is a rather vague inquiry but I really don't know the specific questions to ask, but I'd really like to jump in with all the shit set up right, using the correct strategies, and avoid the whole "get slaughtered for 3 months" learning curve I had back on Sonoma. Any advice I could get would be beneficial. Also, once I get razor all set up, would it be possible to rent some tutor time with some of you to help me develop my pvp game? I would consider it gold well spent. Again I apologize for the broad "How do I OMGLEETPVP" topic but really I am that clueless. Thanks guys.
There are certainly others much better than I at pvp, so take this for what it's worth. First, you're gonna want to set up commonly used spells (exp, eb, MB, gheal, mini heal, debuffs etc etc) to hotkeys that are comfortable for you. You're also gonna want to set hot keys to all your pots. Next up is to make dress agents for gheal wands and mana drain wands. I set mine up before I go out pvping each time instead of doing a general by type, that way I'm not limited to only a certain type of gheal wand or mana drain wand. You're then gonna want a hotkey for use item in hand and to toggle your different wands. Next is to setup a dress agent for your weapon types and then bind toggling your different weapon types to a hotkey. You will also need to get last target on a hotkey as well as target self. Most people seem to also bind clear target queue to a hotkey as well so you don't accidently target your buddy instead of you're enemy. You can also set up hotkeys to target closest enemy humanoid and target closest murderer or target closest innocent humanoid if you plan on pking. I also have made macros for casting miniheal, gheal and cure then targeting myself so I don't have to hit my target self key everytime as well as just hot keys to precast gheal and cure, so I can heal teammates or hold them for myself. Also gonna want to setup a hotkey for resyncing your client if you haven't already. Need to setup a use once agent for para pouches. Just trap a bunch of pouches stick them in a bag then under agent, click add container. Then set use once agent to a hotkey. That's all the comes to the top of my head at the moment. You're certainly welcome to pm me on IRC if you have questions about how to specifically do any of the above mentioned things.
Thank you. This certainly helps. I can't say i have ever cast mana drain before, how effective is it? Got a bunch of mana drain and lightning wants, few gheal though. I have most of the primary spells set up on the f - keys now but was contemplating setting macros to cast - last target them with a ctrl modifier and map those to my nostromo for one touch cast/targeting or would that not work well? I'll set keys for the target red/enemy as you suggested and will macro the heal/gheal/cure - target self also as you suggested. Resynch client isn't something I have ever done or realized needed to be done. I'm not sure I'd even know when to but I will set a key. The dress macro I will have to play around with. I was contemplating using qstaffs and war hammers but would like to find a 1 handed option too. I used to like keeping a hand free for pots, especially against mages and poisoners. I'm probably going to end up in factions as I used to have so much fun with it. Most of my pvp back then was with dexxers, had a pvp mage but was never any good with it. I'm pretty lost when it comes to mages.
You resynch when you "think" you're next to an enemy and oddly aren't swinging your weapon. Resynch and you'll notice you're like a tile away even though you've been running around 'next' to them for a couple minutes. lol
That's Jupe's template too! I use mouse wheel down for last target, mouse wheel up for closest murderer, side mouse for closest grey, alt+ side mouse for closest enemy.
Haha awesome. We can go cane people together! I forgot about mouse buttons. Shit. All this mapping to do.
I had this exact conversation with Mes last week -- and yes, when you're approaching from a 'I'm not even sure where to begin' position, figuring out and mapping hot keys is daunting. I'm currently on my 2nd revision of key layouts, and I'm still not satisfied with it. I don't have anything actually helpful to add, just that I feel your pain -- and if I can get it to a setup I'm comfortable with, I can finally take my stun mage out thats been finished for months.
I skipped over all the hot keys and spells stuff, seems it's been explained enough. My only concern is your template. Although it's effective in PvP, jumping into PvP as a tank mage is probably not the best idea. You're going to be killed, and you're going to be looted... repeatedly. Unless you don't mind losing magical weapons over and over I guess you'll be fine. My advice is to start off with a stun/healer mage or a stun/scribe mage. I had a macer mage several months ago that has since become a stun mage. I loved the sudden 50+ crushing blows from the war hammer but did not like losing my vanq hammers every time I died, and just starting up again I died frequently. On a macer mage you'd want a war hammer at minimum and I liked to carry a Qstaff as well. Hope this helps.
Was going to say what Cynic did. Healer-mage will help you survive a bit more, which might be nice. Stun mage is more powerful, so good for long-term potential.
The concerns are noted. I have no doubt that I will die plenty and lose stuff. Macing has always been a favorite of mine and I've always wanted to try a tank mage so I figured I'd give it a shot. I am hoping that with a proper setup from the get go and some practice and good tutoring I can keep the losses down compared to just jumping in thinking that I'm good to go from watching Neira videos and trial and error. I have to give it a shot though. Pvp is a whole facet of the game I have been missing out on and I need to learn to do it. Perhaps one day I might be able to do more than stand there accepting my fate when attacked. Stuff is just stuff. As long as I'm having fun I understand the cost of doing business. Balla can confirm just how bad I was at factions back then but it was still some of the most fun I ever had in this game and I stuck with it as costly as it was. I do have a dexxer being fleshed out now. Just need to decide on his remaining 2 skills. I'm not a fan of magery on dexxers but it's becoming apparent that there's really no way around it. I'll throw together a stun mage and try that as well. Still have plenty of character slots available. Thank you guys for all the great advice!
i think healing mages are pretty terrible for everything but duels. Just the same i agree with cynic about not becoming a mace pinata. However, my best advice is just to get out there. Join a faction or a guild or a group. Be in communication with players that are pvping, whether that is pking, noto'ing, or factioning. Stop trying on bikinis and get in the pool. It's like going to the gym, you can talk about it going and plan a schedule but the best way to get into it is to just go. Find people or friends that are pvping. Become included in their pvp news (where fights are, over irc or however) and get to them. Get attacked, get chased, get killed, but be a part of it. And don't worry about dying. You're learning anyways. Just get killed, assume your loot and mount are gone, and go resupply.
I just started up myself played Sonoma when the server was released. Been almost 3 years since I played on a free shard and it's like riding a bike when it comes to pvp (although when you change all your hot keys to a better set up and keep trying to push the old school F keys I used to have mapped it can really suck). I did what Mes said and just got out there. I don't care that I'm sucking right now, I just want to get into it and get rid of the rust. It's really the only way in my opinion. You'll get better the more you fight. I've also been trying to do more duels to get used to it. Dexers here seem to be terrible, it's unfortunate because UOR was the age of Dexers. With barely a 50% hit chance on all the weapons I've tested it seems that tank mages aren't as reliable her eithere. Stun Mage is definitely where it is at and I'm in the same boat as you trying to get used to a new one. It's probably been 8 years since i played a stun mage, maybe longer. Resynch key is extremely important. I don't know if it's the server or my screen reso, but every time I fight I end up having to use it multiple times. I get stuck on invisible walls quite often and have to resynch. Another thing to note is if you accidentally hit it twice really fast it can screw it up worse and make you have to hit the resynch a third time. If you're going to be doing factions expect to never fight a 1v1, join up with a group of people. I've only had one 1v1 in the week that I've been in factions. If you think you're going to keep 1v1ing that person you found solo, you're wrong, they are calling in others. Oddly enough I've only been looted once and it was one of my Vanq weapons. I'm sure that will change, but the people in factions seem to be pretty cool and just want fights. They'll loot your regs and pots every time. Speaking of pots, have a ton of kegs or an alchemist, because you'll need them. You almost can't compete without them. I just GMd my Alch today . I'd recommend a "Set last target" key as well. I used all my mouse buttons. Target self , set last target is middle mouse button, last target is mouse wheel up and clear target queue is mouse wheel down. Oh and one more thing, I'm not sure how people survive a stun dump by 2+ people that synch it perfectly, but it seems damn near impossible here. On UOSA I could fight 2-5 people at a time no problem, this server you seem to rarely ever resist Explode and EB and they typically do 33 dmg a pop so good luck with that one. If you figure it out let me know .
