Professions – The Mage

 

Magery Arsenal | Magery Alone | Skill Levels | Magery & Eval | Magery & Inscription | Meditation & Focus | Meditation & Armor | Item Properties | Resisting Spells | Magery & Melee | UO Spellcaster Forum

The Mage, edited by Petra Fyde

From information supplied by Hex of Europa; June 2009

Magery is one of the most complex skills within Ultima Online, nor is it a ‘stand alone’ skill, a competent mage will require the addition of evaluate intelligence and meditation, many mages also consider inscription to be a ‘must have’ skill.

The Mage’s Arsenal

The 64 spells of magery, neatly contained in a mage book, are divided into eight circles. Each circle progressively requires more skill, more mana expenditure and more time to cast. A full description of the spells, their effects and costs in terms of time, reagents and mana can be found by following the ‘spells’ link at the top of this page.

Magery Only Spells

There are a few spells that call only on the mage’s skill in magery and his intelligence for full effect. Intelligence gives 1% spell damage increase for every 10 points, or (intelligence / 10). These spells include:

• Mind blast (Damage based on Magery + Intelligence)
• Poison (Chance of poisoning = Your Magery vs Targets Resisitng Spells)
  • (Strength of poison = Magery + Poisoning / 2)
  • Less than 65.1 : Level 1 poison
  • 65.1 to 85 : Level 2 poison
  • 85.1 to 99.9 : Level 3 poison
  • 100 and higher : Level 4 poison
• Poison field (Strength calculation same as Poison spell)
  • (Duration 3 + (Magery * 0.4)) seconds
• Heal (Hit Points healed = Magery/10 + 1-3)
• Greater Heal (Hit points healed = Magery*0.4 + 1-10)
• Cure (Chance to cure % = (Magery * 0,75) + (110 – (Poison level * 33))
• Arch Cure (More reliable at higher levels of magery)
• Unlock (Magery determines what level of chests it can open)

What Skill Level To Cast?

The minimum skill needed for each circle can be found on the magery skill page together with a calculator which can be used to find your percentage success chance.
It is worth noting that when casting the spell from a scroll the magery requirement is two circles lower. For example it is possible to cast gate ( a level 7 spell) from a gate scroll with only 50 magery, though it may take several attempts. Failure to cast will not consume the scroll.

Without a scroll the skill requirements are  20 skill points above the minimum requirement to be cast 50% of the time, and 40 skill points above the minimum requirement to be cast 100% of the time.
The spell scroll ‘recall’ is a special case, when used to charge a rune book. Casting recall by using a runebook charge requires no magery skill.

Magery with Evaluate Intelligence

Eval Int is the skill that allows a mage to function offensively, without it spells will do less than 10 damage. The formula for damage increase through evaluate intelligence skil is: ((Evaluate Intelligence * 3) / 100) + 1.
Which means that if you have 120 Evaluate Intelligence, your base damage would be more than quadrupled, ((120 * 3) / 100) + 1 which would be 4.6.

Even bless and curse type spells rely on Evaluate Intelligence for their powers, a grand master mage can fizzle casting a simple 3rd circle bless.

Bless stat spells = (Your Evaluate Intelligence)/10 + 1 = % Increase

Example:

• Caster has 120 Evaluate Intelligence, and 100 Intelligence, and casts “Cunning” on himself.
• Spell bonus is calculated (120/10 + 1) = 13% Increase.
• Then applied to the caster’s intelligence
• (100+13%) = 113
• Caster’s new temporary intelligence score is 113

Curse stat spells = 8 + (Your Evaluate Intelligence/10) – (Targets Resisting Spells)/10 = % Reduction

Example:

• Caster has 120 Evaluate Intelligence
• opponent has 100 Strength and 100 Resisting Spells
• The spell “Weaken” is cast on the opponent.
• Spell ‘damage’ is calculated (8 + (120/10) – 100/10) = 10%.
• and applied to the opponent (100-10%) = 90
• The opponents strength is temporarily reduced to 90

Magery with Inscription

Inscription can add spell damage increase to your spells as well as affect the result of buffs.
Grandmaster Inscription adds 10% to damage spells. This is not on a pure sliding scale,
the damage bonus is 1% for every 20 points of Inscription with a 5% GM bonus.
This 10% SDI bonus at GM isn’t part of the PVP SDI from items cap.
Which means if you take the 15% SDI cap in PVP and add the 10% from GM Scribe on
you get 25% SDI.

More details of which spells are affected, and how, can be found on the Inscription skill page.

Meditation and Focus

These skills provide the mana the mage requires in order to cast his spells. Traditionally mages use meditation and warriors use focus, however the two skills do stack. Some mages will train both skills to give them the extra ‘fire power’ With 120 medi/int and 120 focus, you will have 2.1 passive mana regen. Focus is a totally passive skill, unlike meditation which can be passive or active. Mana regeneration can also be enhanced by using armor which has the mana regeneration property. This is not capped however it is subject to diminishing returns.
For example the difference between 0 MR and 3 MR is substantially greater than the difference between 15 MR and 18 MR
The meditation skill page includes a Mana Regen Calculator

Meditation and Armor

Some armor types impede active meditation. Leather armor, whether plain, spined, horned or barbed will not hinder meditation but studded leather, bone armor, ringmail, chainmail and plate will prevent it unless it has the magic property “Mage Armor”.

Item Properties Applicable to Mages

• Lower Reagent Cost (LRC): This property can be found on both jewelry and armor.
  Each 1% LRC gives a 1% chance of a spell not requiring ANY reagent to cast.
  So at 100% LRC you will not require ANY reagents to cast any spell whatsoever.
• Lower Mana Cost (LMC): lowers the mana it costs by adding up however much LMC you have.
  and subtract that from the total mana cost.
  Example, if you have 35% LMC and cast a flame strike, you will only have to pay 40 – 35% = 26 mana for it.
  This ability is capped at 40%
• Spell Chanelling: An item with Spell Channeling lets you retain the item in your hands whilst you cast a spell.
  Items that are Non-Spell Channeling will unequip when you cast a spell.
• Mage Weapons: Mage weapons are weapons that use your Magery skill as if it were the appropriate weapon skill. Mage Weapons -0 such as the Staff of the Magi do this without affecting your Magery skill level.
  Others may lower your Magery skill.
  Example: A kryss with the property Mage Weapon -25 would lower your magery by 25. i,e 120 – 25 = 95 Magery whilst it is equipped. You would be capable of melee fighting as if you had fencing skill of 95. If fencing skill is set to rise you could gain in that skill, however if fencing is locked it is possible to gain magery skill while melee fighting with the weapon.
  How you gain basically relies on the same gain chart as melee.
  Special Moves associated with the weapon will still require the wielder to have the required amount of skill points in the actual weapon skill.
• Mage Armor; Mage Armor items eliminate an item’s Meditation penalty.
  For example, a plate tunic with the Mage Armor property will no longer reduce the effectiveness of the wearer’s use of the Meditation skill to regain mana.
• Faster Cast/Faster Casting Recovery: Faster casting reduces the casting time of spells, each point of this effect reduces the time by a quarter of a second. The cap for magery is 2, so the maximum casting time reduction is half a second. Faster cast recovery reduces the time you have to wait before casting your next spell. The unadjusted time between spells is a one and a half seconds. Each point you have in this ability will reduce that time by a quarter second. The most you can have of this effect is 6, which negates the wait time completely.

Spell Casting Times Modified by Faster Casting
Circle	Faster Casting Level
	-2	-1	0	1	2
1st	1.00 s	0.75 s	0.50 s	0.25 s	0.25 s
2nd	1.25 s	1.00 s	0.75 s	0.50 s	0.25 s
3rd	1.50 s	1.25 s	1.00 s	0.75 s	0.50 s
4th	1.75 s	1.50 s	1.25 s	1.00 s	0.75 s
5th	2.00 s	1.75 s	1.50 s	1.25 s	1.00 s
5th (summons)	8.25 s	8.00 s	7.50 s	7.25 s	7.00 s
6th	2.25 s	2.00 s	1.75 s	1.50 s	1.25 s
7th	2.50 s	2.25 s	2.00 s	1.75 s	1.50 s
8th	2.75 s	2.50 s	2.25 s	2.00 s	1.75 s
s = seconds.Note: negative casting speed is the result of equipping spell channeling weapons or shields with the property FC -1 or from being under the effects of some spells, for example – essence of wind.

 

Faster Cast Recovery
	Faster Cast Recovery Level
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6
Delay	1.50 s	1.25 s	1.00 s	0.75 s	0.50 s	0.25 s	0.00 s
s = seconds.

Resisting Spells

The skill resisting spells adds a “minimum” resist level based on your resisting spells
skill; this minimum resist will not stack with armor.
At 120 skill this minimum is 44. The skill allows you to resist poison spells, paralyze, mana draining spells, curse type spells such as curse, feeble mind and weaken as well as the necromancer spells, blood oath, corpse skin, mind rot and pain spike. The spells ‘protection’ and ‘arch protection’ lower the caster’s resist spells skill for the duration of their effect.

Magery and Melee

Ideally the mage should avoid his/her opponents getting close enough to melee, however Sosaria, like most others, is not an ideal world. Anatomy, when added to evaluate intelligence, gives a mage defensive wrestling.

(Anatomy + Evaluate Intelligence + 20) / 2 = defensive wrestling (capped at 120.0)

However it does not give any offensive capability.

A similar defensive capability can be achieved by carrying a mage weapon, preferably with the spell channel property and no faster cast penalty.

The drawback to traditional weapons skills, ie Fencing, Swordsmanship, Archery and Macing is the need to use a Spell Channeling weapon if you are not te be disarmed and without defence every time you cast a spell. Also executing the special moves of these weapons not only requires the appropriate level of weapons skill, but also a matching level of tactics skill. The Tactics requirement isn’t applied to Wrestling.

The Wrestling skill allows you to equip spellbooks with stats and buffs which can contribute to the building of the mage’s suit, or slayer spellbooks to do more damage to certain monster types.