Monsters using weapons, and Blacksmithing issues

[mdubb]

One thing I've noticed that I don't remember from T2A, or even UO:R is monsters actually using the weapons they carry. The different sprites from varieties of the same monster on OSI shards never affected the damage they do, but I seem to take a hell of a lot more damage from monsters with weapons, and if they have a mace weapon, it trashes my gear/stamina just like players and npc's. The same goes in the opposite direction as well. Unarmed monsters do almost no damage to armored players.

Generic Ettins, Orcs, Ratmen, etc, all did the same amount of damage regardless of whether they spawned with an armed or unarmed sprite. Most of them don't even have weapon skills, and use wrestling to determine their hit chance. Furthermore, monsters have ridiculous stats to offset the fact that they are unarmed. That makes them do way more damage than intended. Also, monsters didn't actually drop the weapon they showed on their sprite as loot, except by random chance. For example, I get a warhammer every time I kill an Ettin with an armed sprite. They would occasionally drop clubs, but it didn't depend on whether they spawned with a club in their hand. Higher level monsters, like Orc Lords and Rat Archers, did have static loot drops for the weapons on their sprite, but the generic ones never did.

I've also noticed that blacksmithing seems to have incorrect chance to succeed or fail, and gain skill compared to T2A. For example, a Blacksmith on OSI would gain skill from repairs until they became trivial. At around 50-70 skill a blacksmith could repair pretty much anything, although they still had a chance to fail on badly damaged item with say less than 10% hp. Any item with more than 30% of it's hp remaining should be able to be repaired by a 50 skill blacksmith with little or no chance of failure. I haven't tested it enough to know exactly what's different on UOSA, but my guess from what I've seen so far is that either it won't let you repair an item you don't the skill to create, or the tables for difficulty are way off. Also, for difficult repairs, non-GM smiths require ingots. You weren't even allowed to attempt the repair without the ingots, and I haven't gotten those messages either.

[nightshark]

Agreed.

Don't know about repairing.

[OhSnap]

...Higher level monsters, like Orc Lords and Rat Archers...

Rat Archers aren't in our era. Other than that, I agree with this argument from what I remember

[mdubb]

Yeah, I was just using Rat Archers as an example. I can't think of any monsters in T2A aside from Orc Lords that actually use the weapon they appear to be carrying, unless you count red NPC's.

Anyway, I found this chart on Stratics. Don't think it's changed since 1997, aside from the mention of repair contracts at the bottom.

http://uo.stratics.com/content/misc/repairing.shtml

Code: Select all

   Skill Level 	          Skill 	   Success 	   Fail
Apprentice Smith  	51.5% 	80%-90% 	10%-20%
Journeyman Smith 	61.5% 	90%-93% 	7%-10%
Expert Smith 	        71.5% 	93%-96% 	4%-7%
Adept Smith 	        81.5% 	96%-98% 	2%-4%
Master Smith 	        91.5% 	98%-99% 	1%-2%
Grandmaster Smith 	100% 	99% 	         <1%

1. The Tips noted above under the Blacksmithy Essay are also valid for Repairing.
2. Some smiths do not seem to get the messages below. This is a feature.
* If you receive the message *You fail to repair the item* you have weakened the item and it has not been repaired.This will reduce the items hps by 1 for Master/GM Smiths, 2 for Expert Smiths and 3 for Apprentice Smiths.
* If you receive the message *The item has been repaired* you have weakened the item but repaired it. This will reduce the items hps by 1 for all levels of Smiths. 
3. It is seldom at higher Skill levels that an item is destroyed, but it can and will happen even for GM smiths as items are weakened even on successful repairs. It is however very seldom that this happens.
4. Difficulty is based on full item hp - current item hp. Magical enhancements only affect difficulty if they have durability modifiers. (ie. Full item hp is increased and difference to current item hp can be larger)
5. The current condition of the weapons/armor affects the difficulty of repairing the item. It is much harder to repair a Plate chest that is falling apart, than a Plate chest in Fairly Good condition
6. If you are not a Great Lord/Great Lady do not attempt to repair Order/Chaos Shields. They will *poof* if you try to repair them. 

[Rhis]

One thing I've noticed that I don't remember from T2A, or even UO:R is monsters actually using the weapons they carry. The different sprites from varieties of the same monster on OSI shards never affected the damage they do, but I seem to take a hell of a lot more damage from monsters with weapons, and if they have a mace weapon, it trashes my gear/stamina just like players and npc's. The same goes in the opposite direction as well. Unarmed monsters do almost no damage to armored players.

Generic Ettins, Orcs, Ratmen, etc, all did the same amount of damage regardless of whether they spawned with an armed or unarmed sprite. Most of them don't even have weapon skills, and use wrestling to determine their hit chance. Furthermore, monsters have ridiculous stats to offset the fact that they are unarmed. That makes them do way more damage than intended. Also, monsters didn't actually drop the weapon they showed on their sprite as loot, except by random chance. For example, I get a warhammer every time I kill an Ettin with an armed sprite. They would occasionally drop clubs, but it didn't depend on whether they spawned with a club in their hand. Higher level monsters, like Orc Lords and Rat Archers, did have static loot drops for the weapons on their sprite, but the generic ones never did.

Bringing this back from the dead because it still seems to be an issue. Orcs with clubs are fucking me up.

[Malaikat]

I actually recall this being the case, at least in 97-98. Didn't do a bunch of melee pvm afterwards, but I distinctly recall axe wielding trolls to hit much harder than those without a weapon.

[Pied Piper]

If you use reactive armor spell you can make it last a lot longer.

[Berock Shagando]

I actually recall this being the case, at least in 97-98. Didn't do a bunch of melee pvm afterwards, but I distinctly recall axe wielding trolls to hit much harder than those without a weapon.

I started playing when T2A launched. I remember a time when the orcs with clubs didn't do any more damage than the ones without. But before I drastically decreased my amount of UO play (shortly after Third Dawn's launch), I recall them and the double axe wielding Orc Captains giving me additional damage. I just dont know when this took effect.

[Malaikat]

I started playing when T2A launched. I remember a time when the orcs with clubs didn't do any more damage than the ones without. But before I drastically decreased my amount of UO play (shortly after Third Dawn's launch), I recall them and the double axe wielding Orc Captains giving me additional damage. I just dont know when this took effect.

I was actually thinking it was earlier rather than later. Like 97-98 when I would melee trolls in wrong as a newbie. Maybe it was just my imagination.

[fancy shirt]

An Corp

Was this ever looked into? I recall the same as the OP. That is, to the best of my knowledge, I don't recall monsters doing different damage based upon their animation, let alone doing stam damage or destroying armor as they do now.

I remember the orc forts being popular back in the era, they were a great place to start new chars off. But here, it's just not feasible with the AR and stam damage....something seems off.

[Mikel123]

+1 on the monsters carrying weapons, although something in the back of my mind recalls that perhaps Ogre Lords used their weapons?

Theoretically, if monsters carried weapons back in the day, you'd occasionally find a damaged weapon on the corpse right?

[Tyler Durden]

I agree with what has been said about monsters with weapons in the animation actually using those weapons and dealing excessive damage, and damaging armor. I dont remember orcs ever being this hard. It kinda makes it so dexxers are not a viable option early on for PvM, and also tougher for new players to fight overland spawns, dungeon, etc.

[Kyrie]

This needs to be bumped.

I've always thought that my armour gets trashed incredibly quickly on UOSA compared to what I remember on live. Used to be able to go out for a couple hours adventuring before needing to head back for repairs, now it seems my AR drops from 40 to 20ish within 15 mins of fighting random orcs and ettins outside Cove.

I kinda figured that it was just my memory but I'm glad to see there are others that think the same. If it is a case of the monsters wielding the weapons they drop that would explain it.

Really annoying having to constantly repair my armour all the time. I've taken to clearing out graveyards for bone armour so I have a big stash of stuff that I don't have to worry about repairing.

[Blaise]

Primary reasons for why I generally avoid Bloodrock Orc spawn. Not that I can't repair or craft armor on my own, but I don't think I should be doing that every time I go drop loot from a hunt.
Especially full plate suits. I run Dex suits most often because they're easier to craft when destroyed but I would think plate would at least hold up to a couple hours of battery before being 'about to fall apart'. This is certainly not the case and it saddens me because I love rocking my Verite plate suits

[ZombieFever]

Going to have to agree that I don't recall weapon wielding monsters doing more damage.

Back in the day I used to farm for the ringmail tunics at the Cove Orc Fort. I was decently successful at it so no way could it have been that punishing.

As it is on the server now, Orcish Lords give me a run for my money.