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What is the hit point formula?
(Strength / 2) + 50 = hit points. Example, you have 78 strength: (78 / 2) + 50 = 38 + 50 = 88 hit points.
How much "spell damage increase" do I gain by having high intelligence?
1% per 10 intelligence you have. For example, if you have 67 intelligence, you gain 6% spell damage increase.
Do I really need dexterity as a mage?
Short answer is "no". However, there are a few exceptions to the rule. One is, if you have healing on your template, it may be a good idea to pick up additional dexterity for faster bandage times. Another is if you have a weapon skill, it may be a good idea to pick up dexterity for additional stamina for faster swinging of weapons. And, of course, if you venture Felucca often, it is a good idea to have a bit more than 10 stamina, as it'll cost you 10 stamina to push through someone.
Strength:
This is your hit points, your carrying capacity and your damage with a melee weapon (if you have one).
Hit points are calculated with this formula : (strength / 2) + 50. Basically, what this means is that your strength score should always be even. If you have, say 93 strength, you'll have the same amount of hit points as if you had 92. Waste of points that could be spent better really.
Carrying capacity is calculated with this formula : (strength * 3.5) + 40 - 14 (base weight). While not the most important feature of strength for a mage, it's still extremely useful for a pvm mage as you'll need to haul around some loot.
And lastly, there's the damage bonus on melee weaponry, defined by (strength * 0.3) (add 5% for above 100). Definitely not the most important for a mage either, and in fact, many warriors skip out on this to up their stamina and mana levels as well.
So, the most important function of strength for a mage lies in hit points; you will probably want to have at least 80 strength for this alone (80/2 + 50 = 40 + 50 = 90), unless you have items that supplement your hit points (e.g., hit points through armor).
Dexterity:
This stat basically only determines 2 things in all of UO. How fast you heal and your base stamina level.
Which, of course, means that if you're a healer mage, you'll want to bump your dexterity to heal faster.
And then there's stamina level which only really matters if you have a melee skill or archery (or, if you prefer, upping wrestling speed (Weapon speed of wrestle is 50). Of course, you can also bump your swing speed by adding stamina through armor. Take a look at this page to find out how fast you'll be swinging a weapon.
There's one final thing that dexterity determines; and that's the damage of the necromancer spell "Strangle"; however, strangle damage is based on how much of a percentage your current stamina is compared to your max stamina, meaning, it's actually far better to have a low base stamina to avoid taking lots of damage vs. strangle.
So basically, for all mages except tanks and healer mages, dexterity is a moot stat. Keep it at 15 so you have a bit to run on, and be able to push through people if you go to Felucca often. Other than that, it's not worth points.
Intelligence:
The primary attribute for mages, and not for no reason at all, even if it is the stat that actually has the least effect; it determines your mana level and gives you a damage bonus on mage spells.
Basically, you determine your mana level by looking at your intelligence; 1 intelligence = 1 mana point. Mana can be further boosted through armor, but intelligence can only be boosted through jewelry and artifacts. There's a difference, despite what some people may think.
Intelligence adds 1% spell damage increase for each 10 intelligence; this is intelligence, not mana, and therein lies the major difference (other than curses affecting stats rather than derived stats). Adding 48 mana (max, without artifacts) through armor doesn't mean a thing for spell damage increase, whereas adding 16 (max) intelligence on jewelry is guaranteed to give you at least 1% spell damage increase, and possible 2% if, for instance, your intelligence is 125 (125 (12%SDI) + 16 (1%SDI) = 141 (14%SDI)).
So, for mages, intelligence is pretty important, specifically if you rely 100% on your mana/spells for offense and defense; unless you're a tank or a healer mage, odds are you'll want to bump this to 125 and try the best you can to stack spell damage increase alongside it.
Since Age of Shadows, all stats have raised equally - you can gain 1 stat point per 15 minutes, up to 11 per day. All stats will raise equally using any stat raising skill, so if you're looking for gains in a specific stat, make good use of the stat locks (on your status bar) - e.g., lock the two stats you do not wish to gain (or point them down if you want rid of them) and leave the one you want to raise pointing up. This will guarantee that the few stat gains you get per day go towards the stat you want. |