UO Blog - Felucca: A Niche Facet - June 9th, 2009

I was "born" in Felucca. I've been playing UO since the release and experienced all the excitement and trouble of a gaming world where the safe zone "Trammel" did not exist. Today, I am an 80% Trammel player and I miss the risk and challenge of the Early Days. That's why every now and then I venture to Felucca to join into some real PvP action. But PvP has changed. A lot. Let me explain what Felucca is like today, so we can understand how PvP in Felucca works, and what it takes to compete.

Skill is Secondary

One of the most drastic changes in PvP is that the game has become extremely item-based. You could exactly copy the skills of a successful Felucca-Killer, put on some decent equipment and still die after 5 seconds. Why? Because other factors have become more relevant. Your success in PvP is determined by:

• Weapons:
  You think you have a good weapon, because you spent half a million for a runic crafted blade with nice attributes at some Luna vendor? Then I tell you, you are wrong. The stuff you can buy at the player vendors are the masses of leftovers from some crafter who burned a dozen of runic hammers in order to create the one perfect weapon. You NEVER will find the perfect weapon on such vendors, because high-level runic hammers are extremely rare, have only a few uses before they break, and often do not even yield a perfect weapon after all. A crafter probably spent 100 million gold coins or many months of BOD-crafting before he is finally lucky enough to craft the weapon he needs. And you can be sure that this weapon is not meant for selling. PvP weapons should be crafted with golden, agapite or verite runic hammers. Valorite would be a waste (has only 15 uses) and lower runic hammers do not yield enough properties. The crafter should have 100 Arms Lore, of course. The material of the weapon is not really relevant.

 
• Equipment:
  Dump your exceptionally crafted armor! It cannot compete. What you need is a combination of the best runic-crafted items and high-level artifacts. All pieces of your equipment need to be perfectly tuned and balanced to support your skills, stats and tactics. Finding the perfect suit can take years, or will require more gold than the average player will ever possess. Good armor is crafted with barbed runic tailoring kits. Another big imbalance has appeared since Faction Artifacts have been introduced to the game. Players who are in a Faction now have access to artifacts with extremely good properties that outmatch any regular artifact.

 
• Tactics and Dirty Tricks:
  You know everything about skills, stats and equipment. You still will die fast because you do not know the "secrets of PvP" yet. In the Early Days, combat was mostly about using the right combination of weapons/spells, and good timing. Today, this knowledge will not suffice. You need petals against poison, enchanted apples against curses, trapped boxes against paralyze, coordinate a number of different weapons and special moves to bring down your opponent, different kinds of potions, an obligatory (ethereal) mount, and knowledge about every glitch and bug in the game (flagging, guard-zone issues, paralyze fields, exploit of physical reflect armor to flag you as agressor, etc.). Because an experienced Felucca-Murderer will know all those things and will use them against you.

 
• Timing:
  You can have the best equipment and know all the tricks, you still have no chance when you hit your heal macro five seconds too late, when you forget to use your weapon special move, or forget to cast the right spell at the right moment. PvP is all about timing. There are many things you have to do, decide and consider at the same time during combat: When to hit your healing macro. When to chug which potion, when to switch to which weapon and use a certain special move, when to cast which spell, when to run, when to disarm your opponent, etc. And while you're doing that, you always have to watch your own health, your mana and stamina, and watch your enemy's health as well. A mortal strike or infectuous strike at the right moment can be crucial and determine who wins. Using attacks/spells at the wrong time can be a waste of mana and can determine who loses. All this you cannot learn by reading or watching others. It can only be trained by exposing yourself to dangerous PvP situations over and over again.

 
• Cheats:
  Of course, not every Felucca player is a cheater. However, as it is so difficult and (to most players) almost impossible to compete (see above requirements), some people exploit game bugs and use cheat tools for their advantage. So, you are faced with:
  - Opponents who outrun you on foot while you're on horseback.
  - People who run macros that automatically chug the right potion.
  - Multiple shots being fired at the same time.
  - People who see you although you're hidden.
  - People who use tools that help them navigate around blocking tiles.
  - People who use a tool to exploit an insurance bug (that's why you should change the game options so the context menu of your character opens only with Shift+Click, see screenshot).
  - Speedhacks that cause you unexpected lag.
  - People using automated mass targeting systems for their advantage.
  - Instant target change scripts.
  - Hackers who can run through trees and other blocking objects.
  And so on. Basically, cheats are used by people who are not good at fighting. You do not need cheats to beat them. Cheating is for losers, and cheating will probably get you banned.

 
Teamwork:
In many cases you will notice a perfectly coordinated behavior within successful PvP guilds. Voice chat tools are a obligatory. Each player in the group needs to perfect his own tactics and coordinate it with his friends. One dismounts, the other disarms, the next paralyzes, and you cannot even get away anymore or defend yourself. This is followed by attacks like Mortal Strike, Poison or a few spells, and you'll find yourself face down in the dust within 5 seconds, while your enemy hasn't even received a scratch from you. While you probably can do well in a 1 vs 1 combat, you stand no chance if your enemy outnumbers you and coordinates his actions. Lessons learned: Never be defensive! Never be outnumbered!

 
Skills:
Of course, skills do play an important role. They are the foundation that enables you to participate in combat. Don't worry too much about your character template, because there are many many different skill combinations that work well in PvP. Skills really are not the #1 issue if you want to learn how to PvP. You just have to find the skills that you're comfortable with. You may have to switch a few times before you find the combination which suits you best. Soulstones are a prerequisite to experiment with skills. Once you learned the skills, you don't have to worry about them anymore. And everybody, even a player who's not rich, can learn the necessary skills. 110 powerscrolls usually suffice, and they are not expensive.

 
Stats:
Concerning stats, the only thing you have to do is balance them. The distribution of your stat points depends on the type of fighter you play (melee, spellcaster, hybrid). It also depends very much on your equipment. For example, armor pieces can boost your stats. A weapon with swing speed increase saves you some Dexterity points. And so on. Stat increasing powerscrolls are very useful, but also expensive. As the champ spawn bosses that yield such scrolls are usually controlled by big PvP guilds, your only chance will be to buy those scrolls from overprized player vendors.

 
Your Thick Skin:
Too sensitive persons should consider not visiting Felucca. Not only will you be faced by people named "PWNS YOU", "YoBiAtCh", "mAsTeRbAiTeR" and the like. Some people will also insult you, annoy you, harrass you and provoke you. While not all Felucca players are like that, you can be sure to meet such "wordsmiths" a lot more often than in Trammel. If you can ignore their insults and don't give anything about other players' names, then you should be fine.

 
Gold:
Thanks to unlimited insurance, Felucca has lost all of its risk. If you go there, make sure you have enough gold to never worry about insurance losses anymore. You should have a minimum of 2 million in your bank, and all your items insured. Everybody in Felucca does that. Felucca fighters usually don't care about gold anymore. They just have enough.

 
Training:
You can read these lines and know them by heart, it still wouldn't help. Because all these facts have to become second nature to you, so you don't have to think too long before acting during combat. If you do not train under realistic conditions, you will forget about important things when you're suddenly face to face with your enemy. This determines whether you'll live or die. Start training with your guild mates! Even if you die over and over again, analyze your mistakes, your skill and equipment, and trie again. It takes time, but one day you'll finally start to win fights. Then go to Felucca and fight. Watch how you bite the dust. You'll be frustrated, you'll curse those who cheat, you'll think you're totally inapt. But those who win fights do not give up, even if they died 300 times and lost millions of insurance money.

PvP action by the Yew Moongate in Felucca

Felucca - A Niche

Now you have an idea what it takes to compete in Felucca combat. Due to game mechanics and item-dependance, Felucca has become a niche for a rather small group of players. The entry barrier for new players or normal players is extremely high. Groups of murderers usually control the Felucca champ spawn areas, and thus control the market of high-end powerscrolls and especially stat scrolls, which they sell for insane amounts of money through their vendors. I already wrote about the Trammel/Felucca-Dilemma and a possible solution in my previous column. I would like to see this problem solved one day. Why? Because Felucca like it is today, is a waste of space. Only the rich and very experienced players venture there. The majority won't even consider to go to Felucca. Many other players should be able and motivated to explore the risk of PvP without having to spend an insane amount of gold or time on equipment. Without having to face cheats, borderline cheating, or people abusing game glitches. Skill, teamwork and coordination should count more than items or the use of dirty tricks.

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