Swordsmanship
This guide is for those who are looking for a fighting class to venture into or for those who have already chosen swordsmanship for their template.
First off, why should I pick swordsmanship? Well, swordsmanship is the most balanced fighting skill in the game as far as damage to speed. It also has the most weapons from fast knives to powerful halberds. When hunting monsters, more swordsmanship weapons will be dropped by monsters than any other weapon skill due to the fact that there are so many different weapons in the “swords” class. In UO “sword” weapons include knives, swords, axes, and pole arms. A lot of times people get confused with what weapons are not sword weapons, common mistakes are made on the kryss (fencing), daggers (fencing), and war axes (mace fighting).
How do I get better at swordsmanship? The obvious answer is, by using it! But there are some things that you should know. UO checks for a swordsmanship gain every time you swing a swords weapon at something that is living. So to gain faster, use faster weapons, like a katana or a skinning knife. Also, you do not need to actually hit your target to gain, so if your fighting with a friend and you don’t seem to be able to hit them, don’t worry, you’ll still get better.
How do I know what my chances are to hit? Well, in UO all weapons skill are the same where, your chance to hit is your skill vs. their skill. The weapon you are fighting with is the weapon skill you are currently using, same goes for your opponent. So, if you have the same skill as them, it will be a 50/50 chance to hit your target. But as the gap differs so do your odds. So if you are 75 skill and your opponent is 100 then they will have a lot better chance to hit you. But remember! You don’t have to hit them to gain skill!
Why do I do so little damage? Well, the swordsmanship skill is for one purpose, hitting your target. The better you are the more often you hit. A grandmaster swordsman and a neophyte swordsman will do the same exact damage, it’s just the grandmaster will hit a lot more often. There are 4 things that improve damage:
1) A stronger weapons
2) Tactics - At 100 skill you do 50% more damage.
3) Anatomy - At 100 skill you will deal an extra 30% damage.
4) Lumberjacking - A grandmaster will do an extra 30% damage, but ONLY with axes!
A good warrior will combine all 4 of those to do plenty of damage to his/her target.
What!? Lumberjacking!? Yep, you heard right! Lumberjacking will improve your axe damage by an extra 30%. But don’t get confused, the halberd and the bardiche are pole arms! Those weapons don’t need the extra boost anyways!
So now that I have swordsmanship, am I ready to go? Hold on there little buddy, you may want to look into other skills such as Parrying or Healing. Look around and explore all your possibilities, you can’t be wrong. Pick and choose what skills you want for YOUR character. The most important thing is not winning, but having fun! Good luck!
First off, why should I pick swordsmanship? Well, swordsmanship is the most balanced fighting skill in the game as far as damage to speed. It also has the most weapons from fast knives to powerful halberds. When hunting monsters, more swordsmanship weapons will be dropped by monsters than any other weapon skill due to the fact that there are so many different weapons in the “swords” class. In UO “sword” weapons include knives, swords, axes, and pole arms. A lot of times people get confused with what weapons are not sword weapons, common mistakes are made on the kryss (fencing), daggers (fencing), and war axes (mace fighting).
How do I get better at swordsmanship? The obvious answer is, by using it! But there are some things that you should know. UO checks for a swordsmanship gain every time you swing a swords weapon at something that is living. So to gain faster, use faster weapons, like a katana or a skinning knife. Also, you do not need to actually hit your target to gain, so if your fighting with a friend and you don’t seem to be able to hit them, don’t worry, you’ll still get better.
How do I know what my chances are to hit? Well, in UO all weapons skill are the same where, your chance to hit is your skill vs. their skill. The weapon you are fighting with is the weapon skill you are currently using, same goes for your opponent. So, if you have the same skill as them, it will be a 50/50 chance to hit your target. But as the gap differs so do your odds. So if you are 75 skill and your opponent is 100 then they will have a lot better chance to hit you. But remember! You don’t have to hit them to gain skill!
Why do I do so little damage? Well, the swordsmanship skill is for one purpose, hitting your target. The better you are the more often you hit. A grandmaster swordsman and a neophyte swordsman will do the same exact damage, it’s just the grandmaster will hit a lot more often. There are 4 things that improve damage:
1) A stronger weapons
2) Tactics - At 100 skill you do 50% more damage.
3) Anatomy - At 100 skill you will deal an extra 30% damage.
4) Lumberjacking - A grandmaster will do an extra 30% damage, but ONLY with axes!
A good warrior will combine all 4 of those to do plenty of damage to his/her target.
What!? Lumberjacking!? Yep, you heard right! Lumberjacking will improve your axe damage by an extra 30%. But don’t get confused, the halberd and the bardiche are pole arms! Those weapons don’t need the extra boost anyways!
So now that I have swordsmanship, am I ready to go? Hold on there little buddy, you may want to look into other skills such as Parrying or Healing. Look around and explore all your possibilities, you can’t be wrong. Pick and choose what skills you want for YOUR character. The most important thing is not winning, but having fun! Good luck!