Skill Templates

Developing Your Character

When starting a new character, there are two things that you should decide before ever hitting CREATE CHARACTER: "What does this character wish to be?" and "How am l going to get there?" The fact that these questions require thought at all is one of the great innovations of Ultima Online. Because the system is skill-based, characters are not locked into anyone career, but may follow any path, or series of paths, that they choose. A little thought before characters are introduced to the rigors and joys of Britannia can produce much more well-rounded and self-sufficient careers in the long run.

"What Does This Character Wish To Be?"

That's the easy question to answer. Most players have an idea of what their character will be. Whether it be a Doughty Fighter, a Powerful Mage, a Cunning Thief, a Skillful Ranger or something less mainstream, the game has templates set up with useful skills for all these professions. However, the skills in the templates are sometimes more reflective of the skills that a fully formed character of the profession should have. The player who dives right in (presses CREATE CHARACTER, selects a template and runs with it) may be in for a bit of a rude awakening. Character templates often lack skills that the new character will need to make a start in the game.

Pros and Cons

For example, a Mage starts out with Magery, Inscription and Resisting Spells. All well and good for a spellcaster at the height of her career, when people ask her to join them on grand quests for a share of the loot. Unfortunately for the lowly Apprentice Mage, there is very little potential for self-sufficiency in those skills. The same goes for the Thief template: Snooping, Stealing and Lockpicking are all the necessary skills for a good thief. But in the beginning, while the thief is at best mediocre with one of these skills, and near-pitiful with the others, he is going to spend many hours of game time seeking the services of healers for resurrection.

Similarly, unless our apprentice Mage is fortunate enough to have a band of friends who are willing and able to support her in the early stages of her career (find her spells to add to her book, give her reagents, protect her from harm when outside the city), so they might reap the benefits of having a high-circle Mage in their company later on, she's going to need a plan that gives the character time to grow, from "infancy" through adolescence to maturity. The template reflects the necessary skills of a mature Mage, but consider changing it to address the needs of an infant character.

Modifying Templates

What an infant character needs most is the ability to make money needed to purchase equipment and training. Our apprentice mage could replace Resist Spells with Tailoring (or, if she wouldn't stoop to something outside the magical arts, Alchemy). Tailors can buy cloth and dyes, make clothes and sell them to shopkeepers and others without ever leaving the safety of the town. (Alchemy can also make the mage money, but the market for potions is smaller. On the other hand, Alchemy will probably be more useful to the mage later in her career.)

Similarly, someone who wants to be a Ranger might start with a Bowyer template (Parrying, Archery, Bowyer/Fletcher), since a self-sufficient ranger will want to craft her own arrows anyway, and bows and arrows can be sold or traded. However, bows are crafted from wood. If you don't have the means to collect wood, you have to trade for it or by it, and the increased overhead lowers your profit margin and results in a longer 'infancy' for your character. One solution: replace Parrying in the Bowyer/Fletcher template with Lumberjacking. Now you've got the skill and tools to produce marketable goods with only time and effort invested.

Saving For A Rainy Day

Once you start acquiring gold and training in the skills of your profession, build a nest-egg. Never spend everything an infant character makes - always put half of it in the bank. In the unfortunate event of an unplanned death, a penniless infant character has a harder time recovering than one with a few hundred in the bank.

Growth and Maturity

The character can now begin to venture out more often, take more risks, delve into the unknown, and train the skills that the mature character will require. Fighting monsters will raise skills far faster and farther than hitting the practice dummy or shooting at the archery butt. But don't be taken in by the headstrong enthusiasm of adolescence. Pace yourself. Don't dive headlong into the depths of Covetous the first trip into the wilderness. The adolescent character is still training, learning skills by experience, and making money along the way.

Eventually characters will approach the original conception, and become mature characters. Full-fledged characters are well-rounded, possessing the skills to ply their crafts, support themselves in time of need, and contribute to the plans and aspirations of their cohorts.

Sometimes, over the course of their growth, characters become something entirely different from what was originally sought. That's the beauty of this game, that growth and change is possible. So, when you hit that CREATE CHARACTER button, give some thought before you hit DONE. What do you want the character to be, and how are you going to get there?

Popular PvM Templates

A lot of templates are based around certain skills that define the player and template type. Some examples are:

Bards - The use of musical instruments to confuse monsters with peacemaking, or to entice them to attack other monsters and enemy players.
Tamers - Animal tamers that have mastered the art of beast mastery can use deadly wyrms and steeds to aid and protect their master.
Thiefs - Pickpocketing is just another method of finding valuable treasure, right?

Provoke Tamer

If played correctly this can be a very powerful Player vs. Monster template. It can be suggested to train Musicianship, Provocation before training Magery or Animal Taming.

100 Strength / 100 Intelligence / 25 Dexterity
Animal Taming
Animal Lore
Veterinary
Magery
Meditation
Musicianship
Provocation

Pure Tamer

While this may take additional effort to master, it is one of the most powerful templates seen in Britannia.

100 Strength / 100 Intelligence / 25 Dexterity
Animal Lore
Animal Taming
Resisting Spells
Magery
Meditation
Evaluating Intelligence or Hiding or Veterinary
Wrestling

Dungeon & Treasure Map Hunter

A versatile treasure hunter that looks for loot in dungeons from locked boxes, and from from treasure maps dropped from enemy monsters.

100 Strength / 100 Intelligence / 25 Dexterity
Magery
Meditation
Cartography
Lockpicking
Hiding or Resisting Spells or Evaluating Intelligence or Wrestling
Provocation
Musicianship

Survival Mage Bard

This build is recommended to begin from the start that will also take you into endgame based content.

100 Strength / 100 Intelligence / 25 Dexterity
Magery
Meditation
Resisting Spells
Evaluating Intelligence or Hiding
Wrestling
Musicianship
Provocation

Warrior Bard

A popular template to build early one, a weapon master can confuse their foes with music while beating on them with an armed weapon.

100 Strength / 100 Intelligence / 25 Dexterity
Swordsmanship or Mace Fighting or Fencing or Archery
Anatomy
Tactics
Healing
Resisting Spells
Provocation or Peacemaking
Musicianship

Popular PvP Templates

Hally Mage

The most popular PvP template of this era, the Hally Mage takes advantage of weapon cycling that allows you to swing your weapon more frequently. This is normally referred to as Hally Cycling, but other slow weapons can be effectively cycled as well.

100 Strength / 100 Intelligence / 25 Dexterity or 90 Strength / 100 Intelligence / 35 Dexterity
Swordsmanship
Wrestling
Tactics
Magery
Meditation
Evaluating Intelligence
Resisting Spells

Meditation Warrior or Anatomy Mage Tanks

While a Hally Mage may use Wrestling for defensive reasons, Anatomy is used offensively for increased physical damage.

100 Strength / 100 Intelligence / 25 Dexterity or 100 Strength / 25-40 Intelligence / 85-100 Dexterity
Swordsmanship or Mace Fighting or Fencing
Anatomy
Tactics
Healing
Resisting Spells
Magery
Meditation

Stealth Mage

When being hunted, this build will allow you to be a few steps ahead of your enemy at any given moment without them being able to easily track you.

100 Strength / 100 Intelligence / 25 Dexterity
Magery
Evaluating Intelligence
Meditation
Resisting Spells
Wrestling
Hiding
Stealth

Stealth Warrior

Similar with the Stealth Mage, this focuses heavily on physical combat but reserves a chance at surprising your foe with a long-ranged attack from a bow.

100 Strength / 25 Intelligence / 100 Dexterity
Swordsmanship or Mace Fighting or Fencing
Archery
Anatomy
Tactics
Healing
Hiding
Stealth

Pure Warrior

This deadly template can be dependent on the armor you wear and the weapons you wield, but ultimately leaves little room for mercy. Some may use Magery instead of Parrying for quickly escaping combat when necessary.

100 Strength / 100 Intelligence / 25 Dexterity or 100 Strength / 25-40 Intelligence / 85-100 Dexterity
Swordsmanship or Mace Fighting or Fencing
Archery or Parrying
Anatomy
Tactics
Healing
Resisting Spells
Parrying or Magery

Poisoning Warrior

As master of poisoning bladed weapons, this template allows quick applications of deadly poison in the heat of combat.

100 Strength / 100 Intelligence / 25 Dexterity or 100 Strength / 25-40 Intelligence / 85-100 Dexterity
Swordsmanship or Fencing
Poisoning
Anatomy
Tactics
Healing
Resisting Spells
Parrying or Magery

Pure Thief

An art of sleight of hands, this is a basic but effective template for pickpocketing the unsuspected.

100 Strength / 100 Intelligence / 25 Dexterity
Stealing
Snooping
Hiding
Stealth
Magery
Wrestling
Resisting Spells or Meditation

Fighter Thief

More offensive than a pure thief, this template encourages you to fight back when caught stealing.

100 Strength / 100 Intelligence / 25 Dexterity
Stealing
Snooping
Swordsmanship or Mace Fighting or Fencing
Anatomy
Tactics
Healing
Hiding or Resisting Spells