Magical Almanac: Tips & Tricks

Rikket_The_Rogue

Grandmaster
I haven't seen one of these, and people newer to UO might need to know a few things about spells beyond what the in-game tool-tip says or tips on how to use them.

Dispel Field: This spell states that it can be used to clear one tile of a field spell, but it also can be used on yourself to clear away 'Magic Reflection', 'Protection', and 'Reactive Armor'. Useful if you have a small amount of charge left, and want to reapply the full strength.

Invisibility: Works exactly like hide, and you can stealth in the same way; one of the more common knowledge things, but useful. You still need 80 hide to stealth, but with the spell you can become invisible even if you are standing directly next to a combatant.

Protection: More useful than you might think. Stand in a fire wall and cast spells; you will get off a G.Heal 75% of the time. Consider that flame wall hits faster than any dexxer/monster/caster and you will get most of your spells off in combat. I would consider this best for melee characters with GM-inscription (GM inscription gives a 75% chance to avoid interruption instead of 25%).

Arch-Protection: You didn't think all tips would be to your benefit? If you like to sneak about AVOID casting this spell at all. The extra AR it gives you will actually make you fail stealth checks (10 AR is the limit at GM-stealth, enough for most of a suit of vendor-bought leather). And regardless of what the tool-tip says, it does NOT apply 'Protection' to the subjects of the spell. Casting this then standing in that fire-wall will not give you a chance to ignore interruptions.

Energy Field: Great for archers in PvM; monsters don't usually (truthfully I've NEVER seen them teleport) use teleport, and bows have a higher range than magic (by about 2 tiles). Find a choke point, put up the field, and laugh as that angry ancient/lich/lord dances on the other side as you fill it with arrows.

Poison Field: Monsters that dispel summoned creatures are pretty common, even your deamon buddy can be sent back in an instant leaving you alone in a big scary dungeon. But, a lot of creatures (like Succubi) are vulnerable to 2nd level poisons and up. Throw the field on them before they dispel your summons and they will be to busy curing poisons to bother with your deamon/elements/EV's/Blade Spirits/Summoned rabbits. This works even better if you GM poisoning for more potent poisons. I've seen Skeletons and Lich's get poisoned; how the fuck does that even work!?

Mind Blast: Does not take into account Evaluate Intelligence, making this spell just as good for you as that mage that just e-blot railed you into the ground.(shoulda had protection up, foo!) The damage is based on the difference between the targets highest & lowest stat. By lowering the targets lowest stat you can make this spell even more effective, but the stat differs based on your target. Generally speaking a dexxer will have weak INT making 'Feeble Mind' a great choice, while mages will have low DEX making 'Clumsy' ideal. Avoid 'Curse' unless you don't plan to use 'Mind Blast' since you want your target stat as low as possible while keeping the others as high as possible.

Harm: This spell is based on range; the closer you are the more it will hurt. Pairs well with 'Protection' since the best range for this spell is melee.

Magic Lock: This spell is a good thief deterrent. It prevents chests from being lock-picked as long as the spell holds. It can be unlocked via the unlock spell. Testing shows that only player crafted chests can be Magic Locked while vendor chests seem to be immune (or they need a key to be made for them; needs testing). You can not, both, lock a chest with a key AND Magic Lock it. You can, both, Magic Lock and Magic Trap a chest. Since chests in general are safe with the current housing rules (7/28/2016) in days past it was an important spell that served to deter thieves when they broke into your house.While housing chests are safe, thieves can get at your regs in the field, but if you have a box that is magic locked it makes this MUCH more difficult for the thief (I don't know yet if you can snoop then magic unlock another players chest; needs testing, but the casting would give away a stealthed thief anyways). Regs are not the only thing you can safe-guard in your precious lock-box; you can store crafting materials (but not the tools needed) in your lock-box as well! Bandages, and potions can NOT be used while in a magic locked box, but....

Magic Trap: Aside from it being comical that this 'massive explosion' does only 1 damage, this spell saves lives and helps protect against thieves! A thief can not get past your trapped pouch/box without setting it off, letting you know that a thief is there; making a trapped pouch/box layered (trapped pouch/box inside of a trapped pouch/box, and so on) makes stealing difficult especially if you weigh down the last pouch/box in the line with something heavy like armor. And as I said this spell SAVES LIVES; that 1 damage that the trap does will BREAK the magic spell 'Paralyze' (not stun punches, or paralyzing strikes from spears, however). Make a macro 'Say: [pouch' and your character will search his or her backpack and open a trapped chest, freeing you of a 'Paralyze' spell.

Magic Untrap: For the most part it serves the same function as Telekinesis; the removal of traps on treasure chests. BUT! this spell is faster to cast, the scrolls are cheaper, and it disables rather than sets off the trap in question. You can stand next to a chest while targeting a chest with this and be perfectly fine, at least as far as the trap is concerned....

Always keep 7th & 8th Circle spell scrolls. Aside from not costing reagents you will never fail to cast if you also GM Magery; scrolls cast 2 levels lower than the spell itself (treat a 6th level as a 4th, or a 1st... as a negative 1?) Anyways, with GM magery you will never fail an 8th level spell if you cast from 8th level scrolls, and they're pretty cheap too. Players sell the most useful ones (#EnergyVortex), or you could just make them yourself via Inscription; which has the added bonus of buffing your defensive spells Protection, Reactive Armor, Arch Protection, and Magic Reflection. But it adds the bonus only at GM Inscription.

Will add/correct with input from people if information is found to be reliable. Happy casting!
 
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Helvinr

Neophyte
Dispel Field: This spell states that it can be used to clear one tile of a field spell, but it also can be used on yourself to clear away 'Magic Reflection', 'Protection', and 'Reactive Armor'. Useful if you have a small amount of charge left, and want to reapply the full strength.

My god. This is amazing.
 
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