Hi, the name is Vendrin!

[SMLayne444]

Hello everyone! I had played UO from about 97-98 until a few months after Trammel came in. I've tried a few other free shards in the span of time from then to now, but I haven't found one I really enjoyed. I've done some reading around the boards, and on the site itself, and this place seems like it would be a lot of fun.

However, I find that I am a bit out of my element with all these new things I'm seeing(Talismans, new weaponry, new mounts, Egads!) and don't feel like I really know what I need to do. I've been playing for a couple of days now and with that 90% LRC suit(which, by the way, wow) I have been able to GM my magery, eval int, meditation, and focus. Unfortunately, I'm not kinda at an impasse as far as where to go next. Anyone have any advice? I still haven't used my 75 skill ball so I have that option still open.

I am Vendrin in game, and I can most frequently be found in Moonglow or around Brit.

Thanks for reading, and giving me the opportunity to play here!

[Opaloka]

Hi and welcome.

I am having a similar "out of my depth" feeling as you, seems we played and quit UO around similar times, so all this new stuff is overwhelming.
I have been playing here only a few days also, and much of the "new" stuff is still beyond me, but by reading world chat, and now and then asking things there I am picking it up bit by bit.
I think a few more days, or at least weeks we will at least know how most of it works, or what things are for, even if we havent got to own or use these new items and/or skills.  Give it time, think you'll pick it up.

As for your build, the age old answer - only you can decide what to include and how you will make use of it.
What I have been doing is GMing the "pure mage" build of old, then throwing in other things that seem helpful, for instance i have also done some weapon skills (mostly for a backup, like running out of regs or something), also ive added healing/anatomy as extra way to heal cant be a bad thing, hiding as escaping bad situations can also be handy, and intend to work on taming and possibly some Bard skills.

The great thing is having no cap means you can do this, the downside (i suspect) is some dungeons/mobs will not be possible without having as many skills as are useful.
Me personally i am looking into and training skills that may only have 1 or 2 things that are actually useful , for example the Evasion "spell" from Bushido, the heal, cure and teleport from Chivalry etc.
Im not suggesting I will need all these skills, but since GMing them isnt hard, I figure its worth doing then i can pick and choose which abilities/spells I will use on a daily basis.

I doubt my approach is unique, I am sure many (if not all) players have Mage/Bard/Tamer builds, with Warrior skills and have also GM'd most tradeskills too.
I guess the only difference between most players is the order in which they GM them, and the frequency they use them all.

For now, GM what you know, and add the others as time goes by.

Dont forget that as well as the Pandora Wiki pages, there are also sites like Stratics to help fill our gaps on all this "new" stuff (which someone on these boards reminded me about), and UO main site too.
Its a lot of catching up to do, but for me, its been a lot of fun learning it, and since GMing skills AFK is permitted here you can be reading such things while you train.

Hope you enjoy it as much as I have been, and hope this reply has been of some help

[Lithium66]

I would use your skill ball for taming first off then one of these skills imbuing,poisoning,scribe, them ones are either the most difficult or most costly most other skills are not to hard to train hope that helps ya.

[flippers]

Hello Vendrin,

I second (or third) your feeling. It's a bit overwhelming at first, but my best advice would be to not try to take it in all at once. Start with what you're familiar with. For instance, I was a craftsman 10 years ago when I quit, so I took a pickaxe, went to my old favorite mining spot, and got to work. Then I try to learn new features gradually. I'm really curious about the new combat skills (bushido, chivalry, etc.) but I'm keeping learning them for later, when I have a better understanding of the system.

If I try to learn 6 new expansions of content all at once, I'll go crazy. So I'm bringing in new stuff gradually. Having helpful guildmates that have the patience to explain this stuff to you is also a great help, so in that sense, I was very lucky to have been picked up by the New Players Alliance.