New player question regarding PK-ing

[Disturbedjake]

Hi Everyone!! im new to the UOSA community and my main concern is getting the crap kicked out of me by PK's. How often should I expect to be attacked and as a newer player what steps can I take to prevent this? Thanks in advance! -Taerin

[the bazookas]

The frequency that a PK raids a dungeon depends on the popularity of that dungeon and the time of day. I've farmed some places for a few hours and never seen one. I farmed others and seen several in an hour. It also is a bit random; even the PK "hotspots" won't have a PK for a few hours at times.

In order to avoid PK's, it's good to
1) keep magic reflect up as much as possible (not easy when you are meleeing air elementals, etc) since this will often give you enough time to recall without having your spell be disturbed.
and most importantly
2) have an "escape" macro assigned to a hotkey, where that macro is basically you casting recall and targetting your getaway recall rune. Helps escape quickly Have to reassign the rune every time you get a new one though.

If you are a mage, having GM wrestling will make it so they hit you only 50% of the time with their melee attacks, which helps you get your recall off. If they are spamming the harm spell to continually disrupt your recall, it might be good to run for a bit, especially to some kind of "teleporter" like stairs or a dungeon entrance, and THEN hitting them recall hotkey.

[Disturbedjake]

Alright, thank you very much, now I feel a little bit safer running around Britannia!!

[Mikanele]

The pks with ghosts watching spots at like 10am gets really old.

[EVeee]

In my experience here, you'll almost always get attacked by two or three reds at once. Generally two mages, one dexer. Even with magic reflect up this leaves you almost no hope if you're out in the open when they approach. Fortunately I've never seen any of these gank squads over-farm any PvM spots. They don't perma-camp and kill everyone who comes in; they just recall through once and then wait at least several hours before returning again. The biggest exception I've seen to this is the Balron Room and surrounding keep, including the large open field out front. The guilds TG and T-G are very frequently camping reds there while using their blue characters at the same time to farm the monster spawn.

Welcome to UOSA; have fun!

[Hicha]

Always keep magic reflect up, #1 rule. Also, if you're a bard or are farming with EVs, always keep Recall precast. A lot of people don't realize it, but having Recall precast costs you zero regs, is good for 30 seconds, and you can loot corpses without losing the reticle.

1. Provoke monsters/throw out EV
2. Cast Recall
3. As soon as mobs die, run up near corpse, hit Esc to cancel Recall, double-click corpse to open, then immediately recast Recall
4. Hold shift while looting allows you to drag items without targeting/clicking them

If a PK shows up, you simply click on your rune in your pack (or better yet, have a macro to auto target a rune for you and make it an easily accessible key (F12.) Is constantly recasting Recall a pain? Yes. Is not dying to PKs worth it? Yes.

[Nefarity]

In my experience here, you'll almost always get attacked by two or three reds at once. Generally two mages, one dexer. Even with magic reflect up this leaves you almost no hope if you're out in the open when they approach. !

My experiences differ vastly from yours. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you say in another thread that you never use mounts? That alone leaves you at a severe disadvantage. My PK escape rate is at about 90% I would say and that includes my very early days when I would even fizzle recall sometimes. If you hit your emergency recall key as soon as you see a red name popping up I really don't see how you can die to PKs very often, even on foot.

Of course there are times when they literally pop up right next to you, but even then you have options. If it is just one, you still have the option to fight him or at least trade blows with him for a bit until there's a good opportunity to recall. Also if he pops up right next to you, he won't have a spell precast and neither will he have a weapon drawn. Thus if you're really quick you might even get away with an instant recall. If there is more than one PK the only way they can pop up right next to you is through a gate which leaves you time to act. Just run away from the gate as far as you can, and if a red name pops up hit your recall macro.

As you have probably concluded by now, I also cannot share your opinion that PKs never hunt alone. In my experience it's a least 50/50, but that might also depend on what times of the day we usually play.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want imply that you are not skilled or quick enough to escape PKs. I just don't want a new player to think that it's just 'bend over and wait till they're done with you' when PKs appear. There's a lot you can do even if you mess up that initial recall.

[EVeee]

My experiences differ vastly from yours. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you say in another thread that you never use mounts? That alone leaves you at a severe disadvantage. My PK escape rate is at about 90% I would say and that includes my very early days when I would even fizzle recall sometimes. If you hit your emergency recall key as soon as you see a red name popping up I really don't see how you can die to PKs very often, even on foot.

Of course there are times when they literally pop up right next to you, but even then you have options. If it is just one, you still have the option to fight him or at least trade blows with him for a bit until there's a good opportunity to recall. Also if he pops up right next to you, he won't have a spell precast and neither will he have a weapon drawn. Thus if you're really quick you might even get away with an instant recall. If there is more than one PK the only way they can pop up right next to you is through a gate which leaves you time to act. Just run away from the gate as far as you can, and if a red name pops up hit your recall macro.

As you have probably concluded by now, I also cannot share your opinion that PKs never hunt alone. In my experience it's a least 50/50, but that might also depend on what times of the day we usually play.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want imply that you are not skilled or quick enough to escape PKs. I just don't want a new player to think that it's just 'bend over and wait till they're done with you' when PKs appear. There's a lot you can do even if you mess up that initial recall.

Like you said in the first sentence, our experiences have differed greatly. If the point you're trying to make is that not everyone necessarily goes through the same thing, that's a valid statement. But I'm not making anything up or exaggerating and there are tons of posts from other players that echo my statements about PKs, so I'm far from being the first or only person to say that three-man gank squads are their typical PK experience here. I *did* say in one post that I never rode a mount; later in that same thread I said that I had given up and started riding them because certain spawns are impossible on foot. The only difference for me so far being getting ganked on foot or on horseback is that now I lose a horse in addition to all my loot. I also said in another post about how I seem to get bombed by a spell milliseconds after I even visually register a red name on my screen. The only thing I can think of is that these guys recall into PvM spots, precast, and run around spamming Target Closest Innocent. Not much you can do there except have magic reflect up at all times. I always get jumped on my non-combative bard so there would be no fighting back in any case, but in yet another post I said - truthfully - that only once have I been attacked by a solo red on this server. That's not an opinion, it's an unfortunate fact. That time I had magic reflect up, he cast FS at me and it rebounded on him, and I started running away on my horse immediately [I didn't cast recall because I didn't want to insta-screw the first "decent" PK I encountered here]. Well, he bombed me with two explosions *as I was running away on my horse* and then I got stuck on a rock, he hally whacked me, and it was over. If you can't escape explosions at almost a full run on horseback, I'd say fighting or recalling are your only real options when getting attacked by PKs.

I'm not mad that you seem to have better experiences with PKs and sound like you handle them better when you do run into them; that's good news. But your experiences don't make mine invalid (or vice versa). Apparently either one can happen. Who knows what he's going to end up with.... but if you really want to be helpful, tell the man what times you play, where to go, how to build a character, and how to make some decent macros. I think we could both use that advice. Just saying that I'm mostly wrong and "Oh, it's pretty easy to get away from PKs" isn't going to make anyone a master at it.

[Moppety]

Recall macro, and pay attention. Only time I've been had is when reading irc so I miss the red name. Must have escaped atleast 90% of pk attacks including blues walking up willing to take a count to move me on. And I don't fight back.

[Disturbedjake]

Thanks to all of you for the tips! il be sure to remember them! Now if this skill would hurry up and raise Il be able to actually kill stuff!

[Nefarity]

My experiences differ vastly from yours. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you say in another thread that you never use mounts? That alone leaves you at a severe disadvantage. My PK escape rate is at about 90% I would say and that includes my very early days when I would even fizzle recall sometimes. If you hit your emergency recall key as soon as you see a red name popping up I really don't see how you can die to PKs very often, even on foot.

Of course there are times when they literally pop up right next to you, but even then you have options. If it is just one, you still have the option to fight him or at least trade blows with him for a bit until there's a good opportunity to recall. Also if he pops up right next to you, he won't have a spell precast and neither will he have a weapon drawn. Thus if you're really quick you might even get away with an instant recall. If there is more than one PK the only way they can pop up right next to you is through a gate which leaves you time to act. Just run away from the gate as far as you can, and if a red name pops up hit your recall macro.

As you have probably concluded by now, I also cannot share your opinion that PKs never hunt alone. In my experience it's a least 50/50, but that might also depend on what times of the day we usually play.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want imply that you are not skilled or quick enough to escape PKs. I just don't want a new player to think that it's just 'bend over and wait till they're done with you' when PKs appear. There's a lot you can do even if you mess up that initial recall.

Like you said in the first sentence, our experiences have differed greatly. If the point you're trying to make is that not everyone necessarily goes through the same thing, that's a valid statement. But I'm not making anything up or exaggerating and there are tons of posts from other players that echo my statements about PKs, so I'm far from being the first or only person to say that three-man gank squads are their typical PK experience here. I *did* say in one post that I never rode a mount; later in that same thread I said that I had given up and started riding them because certain spawns are impossible on foot. The only difference for me so far being getting ganked on foot or on horseback is that now I lose a horse in addition to all my loot. I also said in another post about how I seem to get bombed by a spell milliseconds after I even visually register a red name on my screen. The only thing I can think of is that these guys recall into PvM spots, precast, and run around spamming Target Closest Innocent. Not much you can do there except have magic reflect up at all times. I always get jumped on my non-combative bard so there would be no fighting back in any case, but in yet another post I said - truthfully - that only once have I been attacked by a solo red on this server. That's not an opinion, it's an unfortunate fact. That time I had magic reflect up, he cast FS at me and it rebounded on him, and I started running away on my horse immediately [I didn't cast recall because I didn't want to insta-screw the first "decent" PK I encountered here]. Well, he bombed me with two explosions *as I was running away on my horse* and then I got stuck on a rock, he hally whacked me, and it was over. If you can't escape explosions at almost a full run on horseback, I'd say fighting or recalling are your only real options when getting attacked by PKs.

I'm not mad that you seem to have better experiences with PKs and sound like you handle them better when you do run into them; that's good news. But your experiences don't make mine invalid (or vice versa). Apparently either one can happen. Who knows what he's going to end up with.... but if you really want to be helpful, tell the man what times you play, where to go, how to build a character, and how to make some decent macros. I think we could both use that advice. Just saying that I'm mostly wrong and "Oh, it's pretty easy to get away from PKs" isn't going to make anyone a master at it.

Yes, as I said, I don't claim you experiences aren't valid, I was just pointing out that there are different opinions about this and in MY opinion and experience things don't look as grim. Furthermore I did point out some things you can do, how you can react, etc. Btw. might I ask what your ping is? Getting bomb by two explosions while running at full speed does seem a bit strange to me, but it's entirely possible if you have like 250-400ms or something. Or 150ms with minor packet loss for example.

As far as advice goes, here is another response from me that I posted in your very own thread when you were asking about PKs =)

I realize it's not what you're asking, but I'm guessing the core question that lies within is "How am I supposed to escape these guys?"

While I admit they are pretty damn quick sometimes, an emergency recall macro should do the trick. If your reflexes are as good as you claim you should be able to escape most of the times. Just be mindful to use a rune location which is unlikely to be blocked and generally considered a safe place. The best thing about an emergency recall macro is that it will work even when your target rune is covered by loot for example and would be otherwise untargetable.

If it's just one PK coming at you, you should consider fighting if you're not too heavy on loot. In my admittedly little experience with PKs on this shard I noticed many are just out looking for easy prey and are ill equipped for a lengthy fight themselves. So basically if you're fighting back it is entirely possible that they are going to recall instead of you. Doesn't mean you should stay in the dungeon obviously, as they will probably return with help.

Should I have presumed too much and you're perfectly comfortable with PKs in general, just ignore this post =)

If it's just one PK coming at you, you should consider fighting if you're not too heavy on loot. In my admittedly little experience with PKs on this shard I noticed many are just out looking for easy prey and are ill equipped for a lengthy fight themselves. So basically if you're fighting back it is entirely possible that they are going to recall instead of you. Doesn't mean you should stay in the dungeon obviously, as they will probably return with help.

This is VERY true.

I also added a post from Pirul who confirmed at least part of what I said. By now I can say that what I said back then has been confirmed so far. There are also multiple threads in the guides section of this forum concerning escaping in general and avoiding to get PKed in particular.

However as I said earlier, in my experience a standard escape recall macro + quick eyes and hands usually does the trick. It also depends on where you're farming obviously, but as a rule of thumb I would say that as long as there is at least one door they have to pass through before they get to your location you should be fine.

Maybe this whole getting PKed // escaping thing depends heavily on ping too, but I wouldn't say I have the best connection to UOSA either. Since I'm from Europe my ping is only at 117ms but very stable at that and without packet loss. Recently though I had a problem with my TCP/IP config which dropped my ping to about 125-130 ms + 3% packet loss and it was a noticeable difference, especially because the packet loss caused me to stop for half a second after every screen length or so. Had I entered a dungeon with my con like that I'd have probably been easy prey for any group of PKs.

[EVeee]

Big reply

That was all sensible talk. Thanks for the discussion. It sounds like a great idea, but I have no clue how to check my ping or packet loss (unless I'm just suppoed to ping uosecondage.com).

[Nefarity]

Big reply

That was all sensible talk. Thanks for the discussion. It sounds like a great idea, but I have no clue how to check my ping or packet loss (unless I'm just suppoed to ping uosecondage.com).

Download uotrace.exe, it's a really small program that lets you ping different servers with a single mouse click. Just don't let it retrieve the OSI server list and activate advanced mode under options. Then you enter login.uosecondage.com in the blank field left of the 'DNS' button and press 'Link Test'

You can easily find sources to download uotrace by googling it.

[EVeee]

Download uotrace.exe, it's a really small program that lets you ping different servers with a single mouse click. Just don't let it retrieve the OSI server list and activate advanced mode under options. Then you enter login.uosecondage.com in the blank field left of the 'DNS' button and press 'Link Test'

You can easily find sources to download uotrace by googling it.

Thanks - with three clients running and this board open my results were average 79ms ping/ 0% packet loss. So I guess I just need to accept that I have the reaction speed of a blind sloth.

[yetti82]

So I tried to mine and every time I did I was ganked an hour or so in. So heres what I have done to help in resolving the PK problem for me...GMing hiding lol...I'm at 97.3 and I have it setup so that it fires off every 11 seconds. so if I see red I run a few steps away and I'm go invisible.

EDIT: also as an fyi at this level I have been as close as 5 or 6 squares from something I'm in combat with and had a successful hiding...supposedly 100% would be even closer. Can anyone verify that?