Combat Guide PVE

Star Combat Guide & Tips (PVE) [intended for new players] written by LosstarotItalic text

Combat is a major element in Teiravon 3, so here is a little guide to help you grasp the basics of Player Vs Enviroment combat. If you are totally new to UO or Teiravon 3, this is for you. I will try to cover the general mechanics, then give a brief description of combat style for each base class. I hope this guide helps you get ready to kick some arse! Enjoy the read.

[Basics]

In the game, your character has a number of actions depending on which 'Mode' he is on. There are two modes: Peace Mode and War Mode. Toggling between the modes is usually associated with the TAB key. You can change your configuration in UO Options: whether you just click TAB once to toggle between modes or if you have to hold it down to remain in War Mode. When in War Mode, your avatar takes on a battle stance and the "Peace/War" button on your paperdoll turns red.

To initiate an attack, you must be in War Mode and double-click on a mobile. Rather than click on the actual enemy avatar, it is a lot easier to simply 'drag' their HP bar off them and d-click on it, instead. To drag a HP bar out, you click once on a mobile, hold and drag out. The HP bar will show. You can also hold down CTRL and SHIFT to see name bars over characters; you can d-click on name bars as well or drag HP bars out of them.

When you 'Target' (attack) a mob, more often than not it will turn aggressive (aggro) towards you and will charge in your direction. Monsters will aggro if you remain in their Line Of Sight (LOS) too long (usually few seconds), whether you target them or not. When two combatants target one another and meet the range limits of their weapons, they will continuously and automatically attack one another. Attacking from either Melee or Ranged is the same: enter War Mode and d-click your target. To stop attacking, simply 'leave' War Move, by tapping TAB again. But be careful! That doesn't mean monsters will stop pursuing you!

Spellcasting, however, is different. To cast spells, you must use the skill associated with them to open your spell list. That would be 'Magery' for Arcane Spells and 'Prayer' for Divine Spells. You can use these skills in several ways: create a hotkey for them, click the blue dot next to them in the skills list (which you can open pressing ALT + K) or click and hold over their names in the skills list, then drag out a quick use button. When the skill is used, it displays your available spells. To cast a spell, click on its icon. This will bring up a Target. Click on the mob you wish to cast the spell on. Casting also aggroes mobs.

Of course, you can facilitate all the processes described above with Razor Macros and Hotkeys, but that is an extensive topic, better saved for another time.

[Mechanics]

Now that you know how to initiate an attack, let's delve deeper into the mechanics behind that attack.

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Stats & Skills:

There are seven stats in T3: Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Hit Points, Stamina, Mana and Luck. Each stat helps you a little bit in combat.

Strength => Increases your attack damage and carrying capacity

Dexterity => Increases your swing speed and sneak attack damage

Intelligence => Increases your arcane spells damage and how fast you learn common skills

Hit Points (HP) => How much damage you can take before you get knocked out

Mana => Used to cast arcane spells and perform special weapon attacks

Stamina => Used to move, attack, dodge and cast divine spells

Luck => The only stat to have little application in combat, Luck is more commonly used to improve monster's loot

Not only stats, but certain skills function as passive support bonuses for combat. Two in particular - 'Tactics' and 'Anatomy' - both increase melee damage. Anatomy also improves healing with bandages and Tactics is a pre-requisite for special attacks (more on this below).

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Weapon Skills:

There are four weapon skills in T3: wrestling, swordsmanship, mace fighting and fencing. Having a weapon skill contributes to two things and I want to talk about them separatedly.

1) Defense:

Contrary to normal UO, on T3 Weapon Skills do not increase your chance to hit. With 0 Fencing your chance to hit is just as good as with 100 Fencing, for example. That is because Weapon Skills help you defend, not attack. That's right, the higher your skill with a weapon type, the better you defend with that weapon type equipped. Think of it as the ability to defend yourself with a weapon, like using a weapon to deflect an attack. Weapon skills contribute to defense against all melee attacks, meaning it's irrelevant what weapon your opponent uses for the purposes of defense with your own.

Example: You have 100 Swordsmanship and 50 Fencing. You equip a dagger - you're now using 50 Fencing for defense. Since your skill with swords is higher, you decide to equip a Longsword - you're now using 100 Swordsmanship for defense.

2) Special Attacks:

Each weapon has two special attacks and in order to use them you must meet the minimum requirements. Your weapon skill and tactics are the pre-requisites. You need a certain level in a weapon skill and tactics to unlock the special attacks. For the primary special attack, you need at least 42.5 in a weapon skill and tactics. For the secondary special attack, you need at least 87.5.

Example: You have 30 Fencing, 50 Mace Fighting, 95 Swordsmanship and 100 Tactics. This means you can not use any special attacks with Fencing weapons. You can use the primary special attack with Mace Fighting weapons. You can use both the primary and secondary attacks with Swordsmanship weapons. Another situation: you have 100 Fencing, 100 Swordsmanship, 100 Mace Fighting, but only 30 Tactics. You cannot deal any special attack, with any weapon.

In order to use a special attack, d-click on the small dagger on your paperdoll, next to your backpack. It will open a book. In the very first pages, there are 2 cliclable squares - your two specials. You can click and drag both squares out. The actual symbols in the squares will change depending on the weapon you equip. Thus, in order to make use of several different special attacks, one must carry several different weapons. To activate a special attack, d-click on the one you wish to deliver, the square will highlight red and the effect will be delivered in your next swing against a target.

Conclusion: It is strongly recommended that you select weapons that fall into the category of your highest weapon skill. For obvious reasons: you'll defend better and be able to deliver special attacks.

Aim:

You might have noticed I didn't cite Archery as a Weapon Skill above. That is because Archery was replaced by 'Aim' on T3 and while Aim could still be defined as a weapon skill, it functions differently from the others. Aim does not contribute to defense, it is all about hit chance. The more Aim you have, the greater are your chances to hit. Whereas the farther you are from your target, the harder it will be to hit them. To put it simply, the skill itself improves your chance to hit from range, while the difficulty to do so is based upon the distance from the target. Aim is used to attack outside of melee range (that being Range 1, you and your foe adjacent to one another), be it with a bow, a crossbow, throwing weapons or polearms. To attack using Aim, you need to be at least at Range 2 (with 1 tile between you and your foe). Every weapon that allows attacks from distance will display the item property 'Range'. Keep it in mind and respect the range limitations to get the most out of aiming in combat.

To qualify for special attacks using bows, crossbows and throwing weapons, Aim is the skill checked. Range 2 weapons (polearms), however, still take into account their own weapon skill to qualify. For example, with 100 Aim and 100 Tactics, but only 50 Swordsmanship, equipping a Halberd would unlock only the primary special attack, since halberd is a swordsmanship weapon. Additionally, striking with a polearm at melee range does not prompt an Aim skill check. It is just a normal swing. Aim goes into the equation and influences your chance to hit with a polearm the moment you move into Range 2 (1 tile away from enemy). Melee attacks at Range 2 still get normally defended by weapon skills, whereas attacks that are purely ranged and rely on Aim alone, do not.

Spellcasting:

Several classes in T3 are able to cast spells of either arcane or divine nature, not just the classic mage and cleric types. Before going into each separatedly, let's first have a look at the generalities they have in common.

Casting will not unequip your hands, but you can not attack while you cast. Spells do not have a chance to miss: once they are cast and targeted, they always hit. However, if you get struck during the casting time, unless you have abilities to prevent it, your spell will be interruped and ruined. Each spell has a range limit. If your target is past the range limit, your spell won't cast either. Since your target can't be too close, nor too far from you, spellcasting is all about timing, as you also cannot move for the duration of the casting time. The price spellcasters pay for their 100% chance to hit with their magics.

1) Arcane: Arcane Spells cost 'Mana' to cast. Mages determine their casting time, because they are able to control the amount of mana they channel into their spells. The more mana you channel, the stronger will be the effect of the spell. You can channel all your mana into a super powerful version of a simple spell such as magic missile. But be careful! When you are channeling mana, you can't move! And also be mindful, for if you run out of mana, you will have to wait for it to recover before you can cast again. A mage does not have access to all spells at the same time, he must choose the tomes they wish to memorize and those will be the repertoire they'll bring into battle. The quantity of spells a mage can memorize is governed by their Magery skill, as well as the amount of mana they can channel into spells. Therefore, spells do not fizzle. If a spell's minimun mana requirement is higher than what your Magery allows you to channel, you will simply not be able to cast that spell. Arcane Spell damage is augmented by Intelligence stat and Evaluate Intelligence skill.

2) Divine: Divine Spells cost 'Stamina' to cast. They have a very short casting time, however their effects are not seen immediately. The gods answer prayers faster only to the most dedicated followers, which is represented by your Prayer skill. The higher your Prayer skill, the faster the spell effects take place. Divine Spells are always at their maximun effect, since the power does not come from the cleric himself, but from a god. After the spell is cast, the cleric is able to move around, retreat or attack normally, while he waits for the spell to hit. Since Divine Spells cost Stamina, you should always keep an eye on it, don't forget you also need your stamina to attack and to move! You can only have one active prayer at a time. Casting a new prayer before your last one is answered will cancel the first one and activate the second. Which of the 7 Prayers are available to a cleric is governed by the Prayer skill. With high enough Prayer, you can get access to all 7. Divine Spell damage is fixed, it is always as good as it can be and, therefore, it does not scale off any stat or skill.

Receiving Damage:

If you fight, sometimes you're going to get hit. No way around that rule. When you receive damage, it gets reduced by your armor resistances first, then by your base resistances next, before finally being subtracted from your HP. On T3, armor is locational. That means when you are hit, the attack will target a specific part of your body and is resisted by the armor that protects that area only. Your gloves offer no protection if you are hit on your legs, for example. Each part has a likelyhood to be struck. The progression is: Chest > Legs > Arms > Hands > Head > Neck.

''Blocking and Dodging: ''

Block and Dodge are defensive skills and they're favored by different classes. Investing in classes in order to have both is usually not a good idea, since you can not use both at the same time. It is recommended to adjust your class combination to favor the one that most benefits your playstyle. For example, trying to play a Rogue that relies on Block would be complicated, since levels spent in Rogue increase Dodge. To use Block as your defensive skill, all you have to do is equip a shield. When you have a shield out, you don't get Dodge checks, only Block. Likewise, if you have no shield equipped, be it with a one-handed weapon, two-handed or bows, you will be using Dodge as your defensive skill.

1) Block: Shields have resistances. When you successfully block an attack, the damage gets reduced by the shield's resistance, even before it goes through your armor and base resistances. It is like adding another damage filter, essentialy.

2) Dodge: Dodge is a chance to completely avoid an attack. When you successfully dodge an attack, you take no damage at all. The formula that calculates your chance to dodge is not based on the skill only, but also on your current Stamina. Therefore, the more Stamina you have currently, the more likely you are to avoid hits. For each time you dodge, however, there is a Stamina cost. Meaning with every dodge, you become progressively easier to hit.

Recovering:

Oh no! HP is low! Time to retreat and recover. There are a few ways of accomplishing that.

1) Camping: The most common method of recovering - the 'Camping' skill. The skill allows you to start 'campfires'. A campfire is a welcome sight that brings comfort to all who sit close to its warmth. Every adventurer has fond memories of campfires, it is by the campfire they share stories, fill their bellies with a warm meal and sweet mead, or simply lay to rest and treat their injuries. In-game, this is represented by a great bonus to all regeneration rates (HP, Mana and Stamina) when you're close to a campfire and the camp is 'Secure'. The skill itself measures your chances to start a campfire successfully (meaning, you can fail), as well as how long it takes to secure the camp. If you are presently in combat or under attack, that means your camp cannot be secured and thus you don't get the bonus. You really must retreat to use Camping, because you have to be away from all and any danger in order for it to work.

Campfires are started by d-clicking 'kindling', which can be obtained by d-clicking a dagger or a sword and then targeting a tree.

2) Potions: The classic RPG restoratives. Since 'Alchemy' is a common skill, any character can become an alchemist. Potions are quick restoratives and curatives, but bear in mind once you drink one, there will be a short cooldown until you can drink another.

3) Divine Spells: Several Pantheons offer means of healing or curing via their Prayers, usually through the Aid prayer.

4) Bandages: Some classes (usually associated with Cleric) get 'Healing' as a class skill. Healing allows you to use bandages to heal yourself or comrades. Though reliable, it is not the most effective or quickest healing method at low Healing skill levels.  5) Simply waiting: Your HP slowly regenerates itself, but at a very slow pace. You can simply wait for it to regenerate if that is your only option, but it will take some time.

Uncosciousness and Death:

If your HP reaches 0, you get knocked out. Your screen will go black and your character will fall to the ground. The damage you took will do battle with your regeneration rates, representing the characters' wounds bleeding. The world is full of dangers and adventuring alone is ever more riskful. When hunting with a partner or a group, if you fall unconscious, they can light a campfire near you and lure the monsters away, thus accelerating your regeneration and guaranteeing you get up safe. You remain unconscious until you regen a sufficient amount of HP and Stamina, at which point you wake up and struggle to your feet.

Conscious or unconscious, if your HP gets below -50, your character dies. Moreover, if you are unconscious and another character uses a dagger on your body, you die instantly. Upon death, your corpse is left behind with all your items and you turn into a ghost. There are two ways to resurrect:

1) Having a cleric in your party: Since clerics have access to the Resurrection prayer, it is always a good idea to bring one along in hunts. The spell itself changes effect based on the Pantheon of the cleric, but they are all associated with bringing someone back to life in some way or another.

2) Shrines: You can travel as a ghost to the nearest shrine and d-click on it to resurrect as well. But you face the risks of walking all the way back, without your items. In every city there is at least one shrine. There are other shrines scattered and hidden around the world.

Once you are alive again and get back to your corpse, d-click on it to automatically pick up everything. Needless to say, dying on your own inside a dungeon or hunting spot can lead to disastrous situations.

Now you know all the basic mechanics of combat and is ready to rumble! So let's take a quick look at each base class combat playstyle, just to get a sense of each classes' flavour.

[Styles]

The Fighter:

A resilient warrior proficient with many weapon types and capable of delivering special attacks with most weapons. They tend to favor heavy armor. The Fighter can withstand a lot of damage and can hit hard, but slow. They fight on the front lines, luring enemies towards themselves, thus creating opportunity for their party members to act. Fighters usually perform better with a shield equipped and any weapon type really. If there is a Cleric in the group to keep the Fighter healed at all times, the Fighter is unstoppable.

The Rogue:

An agile and quick opportunist. Rogues are cunning and full of tricks, and they definetely should use a few if they want to get the upper hand in a fight. They tend to favor light armor. They hit fast, but cannot withstand much damage. Rogues fight in the flanks, where they can get some hits in with an easy escape route. They should try to avoid getting the enemies' attention at all times, so mobility is very important for a Rogue. 'Stealth' is a great way to remove aggro or simply to get away, recover and strike back. Rogues perform better with fencing weapons and no shield.

Rogues have access to sneak attacks (Backstab). You can find a guide about that here.

The Barbarian:

A wild and furious beast master, who can tame and train animals to fight alongside them. Barbarians have a lot of HP, meaning they can disregard most damage and just keep fighting. They have access to 'Veterinary' skill, which allows them to heal their pets. Barbarians favor any kind of armor they are able to wear. They fight in the front lines, or commanding their pets from the back. They possess limited knowledge of weapon skills, which hinders their defense capabilities as well as limits the scope of special attacks they can use. Barbarians perform better with pets they can rely on and without a shield.

The Archer:

A natural leader and sharpshooter strategist, taking advantage of the distance between them and the enemy. Archers specialize in ranged attacks and, therefore, must always be moving in order to maintain that distance. Mobility is important. Archers favor light armor. They have access to 'Peacemaking', 'Provocation' and 'Intimidation' (Discordance), representing the Archer's commanding prowess even over their enemies. They fight from the back, keeping themselves safe and away from the heat. Archers perform better from range, with bows, crossbows or throwing weapons, and without a shield.

The Mage

A scholar of the arcane arts, able to channel mana into devastating spells. Mobility is also very important for the Mage, since they cannot move while channeling mana. They fight from the back, away from the risk of harm or spell disruption. Mages tend to favor clothing, since any armor type hinders their Mana Regeneration from 'Meditation' skill (but not other sources of mana regen). However, they can use spells for personal protection, such as 'Mana Shield'. Mages perform better spellcasting from range, without a shield.

The Cleric

A soldier of faith and a zealous follower of the Pantheons. The Clerics commune with the Gods through their prayers. They must spend their stamina wisely, as it is used for Prayers, moving and attacking. Clerics have access to 'Healing' skill, which allows them to heal themselves or others with bandages. In combat, a Cleric's role shifts from 'support' to 'offense', and vice-versa, as the situation arises, considering they are at once a source of damage and healing. Because of that, they can usually be found in the middle of formations, from where they can attack and cast, without placing themselves in danger. Clerics tend to favor medium armor and perform better with mace fighting weapons and a shield.

[Final Considerations & Tips]

Of course, I just covered the very basic combat concepts of each base class, but since they mix and match into hybrids and prestige-classes, the concepts also merge. For example, the Assassin, despite being a Rogue-based class, since they have levels in Fighter too, they can wear armor heavier than light without problems. It is up to you to try out the many combinations and find your preference.

Here are a few tips.

- Always check your kindling reserves. Running out in the middle of a dungeon is not good.

- If you've just started, I recommend checking out the donations chests near the Bank in Alcarin. They were put up by the community and usually contain useful items for novice adventurers. A huge initial help.

- Repair your equipment often. This can be achieved by using any blacksmithing tool near an anvil and forge, then clicking the 'Repair' button and targeting the item you wish to repair. The more damage an item takes, the more maximun durability it will lose upon repair. For example, if you repair a sword at 10/50, it will likely drop a lot, down to 30/30ish. However, if you repaired at 49/50, it would not lose max durability at all, remaining at 50/50. Repairing at 48/50, would bring it down to 49/49, and so on. You do not need Blacksmithing skill to repair gear.

- Travel in numbers. Of course, hunting solo is possible, just not easy.

- Your equipment also plays an important role in combat. Try out different weapons, armors, enchantments and find the ones that best suit your playstyle.

- Be mindful of your Encumbrance and weight. Your stamina will drop very quickly if you're way past your Encumbrance or carrying capacity limits.

- Found an area too hard to hunt in? Don't stress over it. If you can't find companions to assist you, hunt elsewhere. And when you are more experienced, revisit that spot for a pleasant surprise.

- HUMANOID MONSTERS CAN LOOT CORPSES. So if you die near some, check your items when you return. If a mob took anything, you will have to kill them to get it back.

- Seek advice from the veterans, they know the world and the ways around it. You can ask your questions here at the forums or in our IRC channel, #teiravon, at irc.darkmyst.net.

And that is all. I hope this guide has shed some light into T3 combat for you and helps you to have a great experience. Cheers and see you in-game!