With about 50 skills available in Ultima Online, you can customize your character in any way you want. Play a master chef who pickpockets his own tips from the customers, or perhaps a blacksmith? apprentice who secretly practices her lute in hopes of one day becoming a famous bard. The choice is entirely yours. We?e compiled the following list of useful information about each skill, both statistical and informational: what the skill does, where to train in it, what statistic (Strength, Dexterity, or Intelligence) is needed for the skill, and more. We?e also included a few complementary skills, those that work well with each skill, to help you form a well-rounded character.

Improving Skills
You have a base competency with all the skills in the game. The only way to master a skill is to succeed in using it. You won? succeed very often with low-level skills, but if you want to improve, you must keep working on the skill until you gradually start to get it right. Skills are rated from 1 to 100, but a 0 skill does not mean automatic failure, and a 100 skill does not mean you?e guaranteed to always succeed. Skill success can be modified by your applicable attributes, and can sometimes be affected by external conditions beyond your control, in addition to your raw skill level.

NPCs can train you in skills they know, but such training is quite expensive for the new player. To ask an NPC to train you, you will need to say the name of the NPC followed by ?rain ? For instance, if you wish to learn from Crowth the fighter, you might say ?rowth train swordsmanship? He would respond with an amount if he was able to train you. Drag that amount of gold onto the NPC and your skills will raise.

Skill Use
Some skills are used automatically in appropriate situations. For example, your weapon skill is checked every time you try to hit somebody with a weapon of a given type, and your Magery skill is checked whenever you try to cast a spell. Most skills, however, must be deliberately evoked from the skill list in your Character Window, or from an in game Macro. You can also evoke some skills by using an item exclusively devoted to that skill - for example, using a shepherd? crook evokes the Herding skill. Your skill list can be rearranged by clicking and dragging skills, allowing you to put the skills you use most at the top, or to group similar skills together.

Included in this section are notes on using the many skills found in Ultima Online.

WEAPONS & EQUIPMENT

FINDING AND PURCHASING

Looking to bravely venture forth wielding a fearsome battle axe? Or perhaps you?e curious about the benefits of a good set of plate mail? Our weapons and equipment guide contains all you need to know about many of the common weapons and armor found throughout Britannia.

Most cities and towns in Britannia have Armorers and Blacksmith shops. Major cities, such as Britain, have shops specializing in heavy armor. If you?e far from a town and you need to buy some armor, or have it repaired, you can often find skilled blacksmiths among the miners in mountain areas. Most of these mining areas have outdoor metal smelters and anvils. Hang around one, and you?l likely meet some skilled smiths who can create armor for you.

REPAIRING

Skilled blacksmiths can repair damaged armor. In order to repair weapons or armor, a smith will need tongs or a smith? hammer. Using either of these tools near a forge and anvil will allow you to select the Repair Item from the Blacksmith menu. Once you select Repair Item, a targeting cursor will appear. Place this cursor over the weapon or armor you wish to repair and double-click.

MAGIC

Spell casting is not an easy skill to acquire, and for good reason! Spells can be the most destructive weapons in the world of UO, and some of the most spectacular. Magic spells can also be used for non-militant purposes, such as healing and increasing night vision. Those who seek to practice the magical arts would do well to wield their powers with discretion and caution.
The Circles of Magic
Spells are ranked into circles (First Circle through Eighth Circle) that signify their power and the magic ability required to cast it. These eight concentric circles of magic correspond to vortices within the ether, all spinning one within another as they expand through the universe. The more powerful a spell you wish to cast, the deeper into the inner circles of ether you must penetrate. The deeper you go, the more mana (magical energy) each spell requires you to expend. Spells of the Eighth Circle require great measures of both skill and mana, while spells of the First Circle are much easier and require less energy.

Gaining Skill in Magery
To use the higher circles of magic, you must first have the requisite amount of skill in magery, as well as have a high amount of intelligence, since the advanced spells call for quite a bit of mana.

To have a better chance of gaining skill from successfully casting a spell, you should focus on the circles of magic that give you a 25%-50% chance of success, versus choosing circles that offer a higher success rate. The lower your chance of success when casting a spell, the higher the probability of actually gaining a skill point when you eventually succeed and cast the spell.

The table below shows the approximate success chance for circles of magic at different skill levels.

Magery Skill Chance for Success

*Skill over 100 only possible through use of Skill Scrolls of Power