So I have returned after a long long hiatus and decided to play my warrior again. Back in the day I used this warrior as my two weapon type guy. With the release of the UCS I am beginning to wonder if I should just drop the second weapon type and stick with the UCS. I like the system and it goes well with being in Voln.
Is there a disadvantage to the UCS such that having a second weapon type (be it THW or Shield based) is something that would be a good idea?
I am considering three options:
1. Keep current training
2. Drop Edged/shield
3. Drop Edged/shield, add Thrown
Just looking for advice on those three scenarios in the current system since I've been away for a couple of years or more. I'll be running spreadsheets on all 3 options and see what I can do. Your opinions are thanked in advance.
Race: Half-Elf Profession: Warrior (shown as: Soldier)
Gender: Male Age: 39 Expr: 491243 Level: 20
Normal (Bonus) ... Enhanced (Bonus)
Strength (STR): 90 (20) ... 90 (20)
Constitution (CON): 81 (15) ... 81 (15)
Dexterity (DEX): 91 (25) ... 91 (25)
Agility (AGI): 91 (30) ... 91 (30)
Discipline (DIS): 90 (15) ... 90 (15)
Aura (AUR): 84 (17) ... 84 (17)
Logic (LOG): 54 (2) ... 54 (2)
Intuition (INT): 50 (0) ... 50 (0)
Wisdom (WIS): 48 (-1) ... 48 (-1)
Influence (INF): 52 (6) ... 52 (6)
Mana: 2 Silver: 0
(at level 20), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Armor Use..........................| 163 63
Shield Use.........................| 144 44
Combat Maneuvers...................| 144 44
Edged Weapons......................| 144 44
Brawling...........................| 144 44
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 50 10
Physical Fitness...................| 143 43
Dodging............................| 96 22
Arcane Symbols.....................| 93 21
Perception.........................| 93 21
Climbing...........................| 50 10
Swimming...........................| 50 10
(Use SKILLS BASE to display unmodified ranks and goals)
DREAMRAIN
THROGG
Re: Returning looking for opinion
12/19/2013 08:44 PM CST
Suggest you try out the UCS first before you decide for good. One assumes you have fixskills? UCS works best for:
1) Ambushing rogues and rangers
2) Monks and other very light armor wearers
3) Folks who don't mind underhunting by 4-5 levels
4) There is no #4
You may or may not be able to get away with using a small shield and use the UCS. Otherwise you will want to pump up dodging and go shieldless. There are also UCS related CMans you would not ordinarily touch with a 10 foot pole; punch and kick mastery, certain martial stances etc.
You are over level 10, so you can use 4x weapons. Get yourself some gauntlets and boots and have a friendly wizard e-blade them, and go check out the various combat modes you have. You know OHE and shield as well as brawling, so go shieldless and kick or punch some stuff, wearing your usual armor, then go after the same critter with OHE/shield. For last comparison, try using the UCS with a shield in use. See which one suits you best.
Hmmm, actually I have an old warrior lying around who has brawling left over from the old Voln combat. She doesn't use a shield and wears MBP armor, so I could dust her off, take her out and see how she performs using UCS from the open. Might try it later tonight or tomorrow.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
1) Ambushing rogues and rangers
2) Monks and other very light armor wearers
3) Folks who don't mind underhunting by 4-5 levels
4) There is no #4
You may or may not be able to get away with using a small shield and use the UCS. Otherwise you will want to pump up dodging and go shieldless. There are also UCS related CMans you would not ordinarily touch with a 10 foot pole; punch and kick mastery, certain martial stances etc.
You are over level 10, so you can use 4x weapons. Get yourself some gauntlets and boots and have a friendly wizard e-blade them, and go check out the various combat modes you have. You know OHE and shield as well as brawling, so go shieldless and kick or punch some stuff, wearing your usual armor, then go after the same critter with OHE/shield. For last comparison, try using the UCS with a shield in use. See which one suits you best.
Hmmm, actually I have an old warrior lying around who has brawling left over from the old Voln combat. She doesn't use a shield and wears MBP armor, so I could dust her off, take her out and see how she performs using UCS from the open. Might try it later tonight or tomorrow.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
THROGG
Re: Returning looking for opinion
12/19/2013 08:52 PM CST
Oh, and forget thrown weapons unless you have one of those self-refilling bandoliers.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling for you
but not for me
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling for you
but not for me
THROGG
Re: Returning looking for opinion
12/19/2013 09:53 PM CST
OK, there actually is a #4: warriors without shield and wearing heavier armor attacking from the open. UCS can be used, but it's not the most effective method of attack, IMO. Nowhere near as effective as a claidh upside the head, or even a decent handaxe. It took a while to club the poor critter to a painfully prolonged death, and to keep from getting chewed up during the process, I made liberal use of warrior guild skills (disarm, feint, tackle, even warcry). Admittedly, my warrior has no UCS related skills, such as punch mastery, or various martial stances, which might have made it more effective.
However, there is nothing like personal experience. Since you already have the brawling skill right now, grab some hand and foot gear and try it out for yourself. Try the UCS first, then OHE/shield and compare.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
However, there is nothing like personal experience. Since you already have the brawling skill right now, grab some hand and foot gear and try it out for yourself. Try the UCS first, then OHE/shield and compare.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
DREAMRAIN
Re: Returning looking for opinion
12/19/2013 09:55 PM CST
Right now I am doing very well in Arch Wights with UAC using the 4x gloves both blessed and unblessed. Once I gather some more cash I will grab the footwear from Tykel. I am trying out the Punch/kick/Grapple cmans as well. Once I free up some more points I am grabbing evade mastery. Having some tackle ability does help out. The only drawback is dodging boil earth after a couple box drops. I really have yet to see any problems with UAC as a warrior.
THROGG
Re: Returning looking for opinion
12/19/2013 10:11 PM CST
>> I really have yet to see any problems with UAC as a warrior.<<
Try berserking with empty hands.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
Try berserking with empty hands.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
TROUBLE13
Re: Returning looking for opinion
12/20/2013 01:23 AM CST
Eh, for UAC I'd suggest you either go with a shield, or twc for offhand DS, contrary to what Throgg says you can hunt just fine with UAC, it is a bit slower then normal combat methods but it isn't horrible either. At cap I can kill most things just fine in any of the hunting grounds available and I am not even optimally trained for UAC. I've also leveled a monk up to 18, I have too many characters though, and it wasn't that bad although self spelled up until about 13-14 he'd get hit in defensive while up hunting. I'd suggest you find out if it is something you want to make your main focus or not. One of the biggest things I don't like about UAC is the lack of a real MoC option. You could pullout a brawling weapon and mstrike with it but the results are lack luster compared to most other weapon types you could be using.
>>Try berserking with empty hands.
Can always pull out a brawling weapon, like a fist-scythe.
>>Try berserking with empty hands.
Can always pull out a brawling weapon, like a fist-scythe.
THROGG
Re: Returning looking for opinion
12/20/2013 02:05 AM CST
>>Can always pull out a brawling weapon, like a fist-scythe.<<
Yes, of course; but that's not using the UAC system, and you yourself admit that brawling weapons aren't very hard hitting. You also agree it's a slower kill.
Also please note that at or near cap, you can kill critters using almost any spell/weapon/combat system; I've seen capped characters using UAC combat and it works fine. My comments are directed mainly toward younger characters who may well find it frustrating. This would be especially true for warriors who might like to M-strike or berserk.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
Yes, of course; but that's not using the UAC system, and you yourself admit that brawling weapons aren't very hard hitting. You also agree it's a slower kill.
Also please note that at or near cap, you can kill critters using almost any spell/weapon/combat system; I've seen capped characters using UAC combat and it works fine. My comments are directed mainly toward younger characters who may well find it frustrating. This would be especially true for warriors who might like to M-strike or berserk.
The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me
TROUBLE13
Re: Returning looking for opinion
12/20/2013 06:05 AM CST
This is a low level warrior that I have, rarely play him but his build works and could easily be tailored to lean towards UAC over brawling weapons, I rolled him up before UAC and he uses two fist-scythes.
(at level 22), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Two Weapon Combat..................| 148 48
Armor Use..........................| 148 48
Combat Maneuvers...................| 148 48
Brawling...........................| 148 48
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 120 30
Physical Fitness...................| 148 48
Dodging............................| 120 30
Harness Power......................| 50 10
Perception.........................| 102 24
Climbing...........................| 66 14
your Combat Maneuver training is as follows:
Skill name Mnemonic Ranks
Hamstring hamstring 4
Specialization I wspec1 4
Weapon Bonding bonding 2
It would be easy enough to drop the ranks of wspec and bonding for UAC mastery and swap the hamstring for twinhammer fist, least that is what I'd do if I went that route.
UAC could also be done easy enough with a shield, get shielded brawler, shield bash, and the other usual things, could even free up combat maneuver points for more ranks of UAC mastery or whatever else.
I like the TWC just because it would add more to your ability to mstrike when you wanted. And even though I am not optimally trained or geared for brawling weapons, I've crit killed bandits with them, which is quite amusing.
Being able to kill with brawling weapons is just about knowing how to use them, nothing to do with being capped. And no one has told this guy to just drop on the UAC train, he has been cautioned to use it first and see if he likes it.
>>This would be especially true for warriors who might like to M-strike or berserk.
No reason why a person can't have both, especially when they both only require that you train in brawling. I did my first 50 levels as twc/edge/brawl, and the last 50 levels as thw/brawl. Other warriors have trained more weapon styles too.
(at level 22), your current skill bonuses and ranks (including all modifiers) are:
Skill Name | Current Current
| Bonus Ranks
Two Weapon Combat..................| 148 48
Armor Use..........................| 148 48
Combat Maneuvers...................| 148 48
Brawling...........................| 148 48
Multi Opponent Combat..............| 120 30
Physical Fitness...................| 148 48
Dodging............................| 120 30
Harness Power......................| 50 10
Perception.........................| 102 24
Climbing...........................| 66 14
your Combat Maneuver training is as follows:
Skill name Mnemonic Ranks
Hamstring hamstring 4
Specialization I wspec1 4
Weapon Bonding bonding 2
It would be easy enough to drop the ranks of wspec and bonding for UAC mastery and swap the hamstring for twinhammer fist, least that is what I'd do if I went that route.
UAC could also be done easy enough with a shield, get shielded brawler, shield bash, and the other usual things, could even free up combat maneuver points for more ranks of UAC mastery or whatever else.
I like the TWC just because it would add more to your ability to mstrike when you wanted. And even though I am not optimally trained or geared for brawling weapons, I've crit killed bandits with them, which is quite amusing.
Being able to kill with brawling weapons is just about knowing how to use them, nothing to do with being capped. And no one has told this guy to just drop on the UAC train, he has been cautioned to use it first and see if he likes it.
>>This would be especially true for warriors who might like to M-strike or berserk.
No reason why a person can't have both, especially when they both only require that you train in brawling. I did my first 50 levels as twc/edge/brawl, and the last 50 levels as thw/brawl. Other warriors have trained more weapon styles too.
RATHBONER
Re: Returning looking for opinion
12/20/2013 06:55 AM CST
UAC is usable, but you'll be better off with a weapon against almost everything.
If this is a main character there is no way you should give up the weapon, but if its an alt where the focus is UAC, you could throw the points into more dodge/TWC/shield instead.
You should have a shield, for the manoevers as well as the DS, or TWC for the DS and extra mstrikes.
You won't see it so much at level 20, but get to level 40 and the degree to which manoevers and MOC power up a weapon is vastly greater than they do for UAC.
You wont notice it much solo, and it can be an advantage to take longer in combat and less long twiddling your thumbs for the next spawn, but in a group you'll feel feeble compared to a weapon user. Its not just the inherent advantages, being in a group does a lot more for a weapon user than it does for a UAC user. You can add a weapon user 10 levels below you to a bounty, but don't bother getting added to the bounty of a higher level character.
GY wights are the sort of target UAC does best against. Heavy defense can't neutralise UAC to the extent it can weaponry.
If this is a main character there is no way you should give up the weapon, but if its an alt where the focus is UAC, you could throw the points into more dodge/TWC/shield instead.
You should have a shield, for the manoevers as well as the DS, or TWC for the DS and extra mstrikes.
You won't see it so much at level 20, but get to level 40 and the degree to which manoevers and MOC power up a weapon is vastly greater than they do for UAC.
You wont notice it much solo, and it can be an advantage to take longer in combat and less long twiddling your thumbs for the next spawn, but in a group you'll feel feeble compared to a weapon user. Its not just the inherent advantages, being in a group does a lot more for a weapon user than it does for a UAC user. You can add a weapon user 10 levels below you to a bounty, but don't bother getting added to the bounty of a higher level character.
GY wights are the sort of target UAC does best against. Heavy defense can't neutralise UAC to the extent it can weaponry.
DREAMRAIN
Re: Returning looking for opinion
12/20/2013 06:25 PM CST
I did some reading in the UAC folder last night and I made a fourth spreadsheet with TWC/brawl specs. This character is by no means a "main" as I do not have one. I have other higher level characters. This one already fit the bill for trying UAC. So I am continuing to try out various things.
All the advice so far is sound and I thank you for it.
All the advice so far is sound and I thank you for it.
