Imbuing, the life blood of the shard

[Cronk]

And a real pain in the toosh to get rolling as a new player.  I've been playing a little under two weeks now, and a number of people and the shard in general has been very helpful and kind in getting me rolling. 

But... the way things are set up, it's REALLY hard to be self-sufficient.  I don't WANT to depend on others for things.  I should be able to build up power like the established community, and work my way forward.  UO for a lot of us is setting up self-sufficiency, not dependency.

Here's the problem: I can't advance imbuing.  my imbue fails are rugged, since you can fail at various parts of the process.  I can't get imbue PSs because the NPCs for imbue quests were removed.  No one is selling the imbue PSs (i've tried since i started).  I can't do champs alone because I don't have the imbues.  what I *DO* imbue is obviously not going to be the best gear anyways, since I don't have the base artis or gears yet. 

Yes, I can continue to throw away valuable mats at imbue attempts, but I don't see why I shouldn't be allowed to advance the most important skill on the shard, and forced to struggle with such horrific fail rates when i can't farm efficiently yet.  if i had imbue PSs, i wouldn't feel like i'm "throwing away" mats... i'd at least be advancing even when i fail.  i'd be feeling like i was progressing.  it just doesn't atm, not without at least being able to raise imbuing.  and yes, i could get other people to do my imbues for me, but like i said before, a lot of us play UO to be independent, not dependent.  I don't like imposing on others, and i'm sitting on probably 10-15 imbues atm and would rather look through my crafting menu and do it myself, not have someone sit there while i slowly pick out my best options.

[Cronk]

sorry it's hard to see the point in all that whine.

the point is if i had access to imbue PSs, i feel like i could be advancing the main path to power on the shard.  without those scrolls, i feel a lot more hamstrung and wasteful, throwing away piles of crystals and other valuable mats that are supremely difficult for me to get.

i think part of the reason the population is low here is because new people don't have that feeling of advancement.  i'm not advancing my characters in the main area (imbuing), and it's frustrating watching piles of mats disappear to fails with no gain to myself.  whereas if i could be character building in this area, i'd feel like i was making constant progress, even if it wasn't fast and extremely expensive time and resource wise.

[Horns Nigel]

We have all been in your position, beleive me its alot easier now then it was over 2 years aao, back then we didnt get to start our journey for imbuing at GM level like it is today.  Relics were like crystals back then, very hard and expensive to get our hands on.
Be patient, join a guild willing to help or buy the scolls thru donations, you do have options, beleive me when i say you will not find faster gains for imbuing on any other shard, its designed to be this hard....Nigel

[Electo Jason]

Best way now to level up Imbue is making unravel runes only lose rough stones and it gains fast if u create a macro to do it for you.

Also good to make your house industrial for the 5% gain in imbue.

I also will help if needed give me the mats and I will do what I can.

115 Imbue on Garg + house bonus 5% I fail very rarely.

[Cronk]

thanks guys, i appreciate the help.

I'm just wondering if this is part of the reason there's a low pop here, and not a lot of new people.  it's pretty easy for established people to farm whatever they need to, but pretty hard for new players to start building up their power.

i'm sure it was harder back before the 100 allskills stuff, but it also makes it so there's not as much advancement.  it'd be more enjoyable to me if i could advance imbuing... the actual climb would be far harder than for established (as it should be), since i don't have their powerbase, but at least it would feel like a climb.

[zaxarus]

Like it has been said:

Imbuing is and was always designed to be hard and a long term project - for everyone. When I've started here I depended on Imbuers, like it's the way it is today and always has been. While time progresses, you will realize that it's not a thing of always and only depending on others: It's giving and taking. That's the spirit of a community.

It was MUCH MUCH harder than it is now. For everyone. And it's "easy for established people" because they have worked for it. And they were also in the same exact position you are now. Why should it be easier for you, when it wasn't for us, i could ask?

I'm just wondering if this is part of the reason there's a low pop here, and not a lot of new people.

I seriously doubt that this is the reason for anything but hard work.^^
You just have to accept that Imbuing is in fact one of the "main aspects" of the game, but that there are sacrifices to make and things to do.
I wouldn't like a shard where i get everything done in 2 weeks. If you are looking for this, then maybe you are in the wrong place (nothing personal).

I had to raise Imbuing when we did not get GM skill right from the start. I had to raise it by Unraveling and Imbuing when this was much harder, and i had to buy my PS's. That's the way it works.

[Keeblerboy]

We were all there at one point. No point in giving you the old story of walking to school in the snow up hill both ways...  With that said  1. I recommend learning where some good farming spots are for crystals.    Farm them like crazy as the are hard to come by.  2. Buy a few low level runic hammers and make for example some soul glaves out of bronze or dull copper ingots.   Unravel for imbuing mats.  3. As Nigel said join a guild and ask for guidance.  I recommend a Pvm guild.  Time for pvp after your geared.  Be patient  and work smart by asking question. No point spinning your wheels if your not accomplishing anything.  4. If your a non garg I suggest 3 weapon to eventually get. Double axe , comp bow and perhaps a hammer pick.  All need to be imbued.  5. Start champing go with guildies. Good money that way.  Some champs are better/easier than others.  A few are best left alone as you will soon find out.  Good Armor and jewelry are a must. You don't need to start with the best. It's a work in progress. I continue to work on mine.  Minor Tot farming and turning in for possible stormgrips(only human/elf), heart of the lion chest are very nice. Custom dyes can sell for 3 million +\-     Lastly when you need imbuing do not ask over and over.  Try to have enough mats for several imbues at a time. Your fellow guildies will appreciate it.  Tough typing on the iPhone. 

                   Friendly help
                   Keebler

[Ladibug]

I can assure you that the difficulty for imbuing is not just a Pandora thing, and is not the reason for a lower pop. Imbuing has always been difficult no matter what shard I was on and when I started UO again, I had no clue what it even was. I quit OSI before imbuing was introduced so I was lost. I had to rely on people to imbue gear for me until I was able to do my own.

I respect and understand wanting to be independent because that's how I generally play as well, but it's okay to need help sometimes. And we have very helpful players here that can help you out with imbuing your gear. I'm sure if you got the materials, anyone that can imbue will help you out for free.

[Cronk]

hmmm... i guess i have to either accept that UO is no longer a game you can play solo, or move on to something else.

but man it ruffles my feathers that the sandbox "play it your way" UO isn't really a thing anymore.  i can't really play it my way... i have to treat it like some sort of WoW raiding guild/grind.

thanks for the responses all, especially the people typing on their phones!

[Electo Jason]

thanks guys, i appreciate the help.

I'm just wondering if this is part of the reason there's a low pop here, and not a lot of new people.  it's pretty easy for established people to farm whatever they need to, but pretty hard for new players to start building up their power.

i'm sure it was harder back before the 100 allskills stuff, but it also makes it so there's not as much advancement.  it'd be more enjoyable to me if i could advance imbuing... the actual climb would be far harder than for established (as it should be), since i don't have their powerbase, but at least it would feel like a climb.

Not as hard as you think I bought all my Imbue runes until right before the last patch and took me 3 days to make a garg and get it to 115 imbue.  So it isn't as hard as you think and plenty of people sell imbues.

Sell your mats buy imbues.

[Keeblerboy]

Once your  geared decent you can most certainly play solo if you choose.  It will not take as long as you think.  Stick around and see.  Pandora can grow on you.   Lots of friendly peeps and staff that keep the shard growing.  Issues pop up from time to time but always fun.   

[Cronk]

ya i'm sticking it out.  someone actually pointed out some imbue scrolls for sale on vendors for a few mil and i spent my fortune on those.

i'll feel better now that i'm more self sufficient, thanks all!  i can actually feel power increasing which is what was really missing before now!

[King Kong]

ya i'm sticking it out.  someone actually pointed out some imbue scrolls for sale on vendors for a few mil and i spent my fortune on those.

i'll feel better now that i'm more self sufficient, thanks all!  i can actually feel power increasing which is what was really missing before now!

Awesome.

[Horns Nigel]

Agreed, Awesome...  you will see Pandora will grow on you, soon you will join the rest of us addicts for your daily dose     Its the staff and the players here make this shard so great I was on Napa for almost a decade and 1/2 and i never made the friends or had such great staff response as I have experienced her in the last 819 days..... Nigel   BTW, look me up in game, would like to assist and talk to you more...

[Cronk]

hahaha you've all assisted me already.

I'm Soda Popinski in game.  for the record, this is where the character name came from (it's an old nes game called Mike Tyson's Punchout) -