was thinking about coming back but..

Caige

so made a new account today trying to get back into UO but seems as if you need 2-3 chars just to be  successful, was going to make a mage and was told that will fail if you dont have crafters for better stuff the way the game is now... so not ranting at all but any helpful tips on what to do would be greatly appreciated cause I'm lost on what to do since I wanted to roll a mage. 

Syrina

I think that really depends on what you want to do. If you want to pick up where you left off, you will probably be disappointed. A lot has changed. I recently returned and all my characters are out of date, with templates that no longer work. 

If you want to rebuild, there are many ways to go about it. People will help you get started. Players throw away great stuff at Luna bank! There are a couple bigger guilds around to help you get back into it. 

Good luck!

King_Greg

I'm not sure who told you that you need a crafter to make better stuff for a mage. Very few of the best gear for mages in the game come from crafting. 

An easy thing to do if you don't plan on going to Fel is to make your own guild and Join VvV through the guild menu. Then go to any of the tram banks and find the silver trader. You have 2,000 Free points you can use to pick up some antique artifacts. It's not the greatest thing in the world, but for 25k to make your own guild. It's easy. And so long as you aren't venturing out into Fel, you have 0 risk of being in VvV. 

Picking up the Inquisitors Resolution,Ornament of the magician, Rune beetle Carapace, and the Wizard Crystal Reading glasses gives you 

2 Faster Casting 
6 Faster Cast Recovery 
Lower Mana Cost 33 
Lower Reagent Cost 20 
Mana Increase 20
Mana Regeneration 9 
Spell Damage Increase 15 

You still have Neck, Arms, leg, and ring slot open. If you vendor search Greater Artifact and sort low to high and add in 20 Lower Reagent cost to the search criteria, you can find some armor for under 10k with high resists that work well with the suit. 

For instance 

Fortified Leather Shorts of Wizardry 
Price: 10,000 
Brittle 
Intelligence Bonus 4 
Lower Reagent Cost 20 
Physical Resist 17
FIre Resist 19 
Cold Resist 18 
Poison Resist 18 
Energy Resist 23 

^^ That's on Atlantic Right now. Gets you more LRC and a ton of resists. 

King_Greg

Also, for a "Free" Faster Casting +1, you go to the tram banks, there is a guildstone in front of them. Look for one with the "Bardic Collegium". On Atlantic Skara Brae has this buff. 

If you single click your character and open the Loyalty Rating, and then click City Loyalty, you can declare yourself a citizen of Skara Brae. Then by killing monsters in tram spawns, doing trade deals, or by donating resources to the crate at the docs of Skara Brae you can build up your reputation until you are respected with the city. Once you are respected you can single click the stone and get a free +1 faster casting buff for 24 hours. (Quickest way is to just buy 4,000 ingots and drop them in the crate at the docs next to the trade minister). You only have to build your reputation once. 
 

Evil_Pixie_Works

No way to recover your old account(s)?

Believe it or not, cheating is totally acceptable via the UO Store.  :-)

You can buy almost complete skills with tokens... where it took weeks and even months to get everything the way you want it.

As far as crafters?  Its not all that hard, without cheating.  Many malls still exists... where you can find what you need in bulk, OR sell things to help fuel your buying needs.

BUT... one of the best innovations to crafting is "Make Max" options to crafting things.  In a few hours, you can have your crafting skill up to a respectable range.

I mean, I mean no disrespect and all... I have to laugh.  I honestly dont think I've ever known anyone to make 1-3 guys to power out an entire account.  From combat alone?  You should have a few options!  For example... a mage of some kind.  A tamer.  Some kind of hand-to-hand expert.  Thats 3 without even thinking.  Never mind combinations.  A tamer with archery.  A tamer with discord.  A tamer with peacemaking.  The best part to UO game play is the fact you dont have to settle for a pre-set template.  Everyone has a different style.  So many different skills exist, its really all about how you like to play.  Thats not even talking about tamers.

Little did I know I'd have 6 accounts at my command when I started.  I could really work with 3 accounts, if I didnt have to worry about house ownership.  hehe.  Just thinking about crafting?  Again, different combinations come to mind.  However, not everyone needs every craft.  When you are a super-master merchant?  The more you have covered the better.  Even when you dont want to cover every possible vendor, you want to be 100% self sufficient.  Goodness knows how anyone really enjoys playing on a low-population shard!  Very little community.  Super high prices?  No wonder so many people move to Atlantic.  Granted, odds are you'll never own a keep or castle without laying down serious real money.  Last keep I saw selling was 4 BILLION gold.  First born wasnt good enough, I'm guessing.