Choosing a Race
UO Evolution has seven exciting player races. Each comes complete with unique appearance as well as exclusive items and skillsets. The latter is of great importance when deciding upon a race. Only certain races may train certain crafting skills. However, each race has equal access to pvp skills. Of course, the roleplay potential in our race system is enormous and though not required, is supported.
Regarding skill gain in UOE, the developers were never fans of the infamous skill grind. That is not what UOE character development is about. Within the Character Creation process, you will have the ability to instantly GM pvp skills via custom gumps. Crafting skills may only be trained to level 50 at creation. You will also be able to adjust your stat-set. Any fine-tuning is at your leisure and will be significantly quicker than OSI results, or most any other MMOG for that matter.
One item of import, readers will note that each race has an exclusive proficiency in a craft or two. For instance, only an Elf can fletch bows and only a Half-Orc can mine ore. The ultimate intention of the UOE design team is for players to have significant control of their own economy. Once their is a large enough group of crafters to support the consumption rate of our playerbase as a whole, the npc vendor product will be eliminated or have drastically high prices. Ie. Once there are a few Half-Orcs selling enough iron ingots to suit the needs of all the smiths and tinkers and such in the world, npc vendors will no longer sell iron ingots. Read below for more on each race.
The Dwarves have long been a reclusive sort. Hiding in their mountain halls, pouring over their massive treasure hoards with great pride. Holed away in their private cities, they have mastered the skills of Blacksmithing, ItemID, and Arms Lore. With such a skillset, they excel in the crafting and use of all sorts of metal weapons and armor. Confined to such small spaces, and subsisting on limited resources in great numbers, Dwarves have founded their societies on strict adherence to Law and Order. Among the various clans, one may find both good and evil types. But all adhere to the laws and principles of the Dwarven way of life out of necessity. It is worth noting that Dwarves have a particularly ugly history with Half-Orcs, as detailed below.
The Elves have lived a cloistered existence among the woods of our land for time beyond reckoning. The fact that they've only recently been recognized in any municipal record is testament enough. However, no one can deny that evidence of their magic has long infiltrated our societies through artifact and myth. Unlike their stouter, hairier cousins, the Elves have chosen a life removed for less antisocial reasons. Rather than distrusting the world at large, they simply recognize that their way of life would be ill matched for the more aggressive and expansionist cultures of the social majority. Steeped in tradition and a profound respect for Mother Earth and Life, the Elves have learned to master a lifestyle that embraces the organic and arcane. Fletching, Inscription, and ItemID are their skillset.
Never has there been a more efficient race than the little red folk. Small in stature and large in aspiration, the Gnomish society knows nothing of the fear of failure or "cannot do". Their inquisitive minds and dextrous fingers lend to a propensity for amazing discoveries and creativity. They pride themselves on their inventiveness. These qualities are conducive to the chosen skillset of all Gnome characters, Alchemy, Tinkering, and ItemID. Ever the consumate haggler, the average Gnome prefers to barter much of their lesser work for raw material with the "more mundane" races, as they like to refer to everyone else. Their greatest inventions they keep to themselves, promoting their self-proclaimed dominance over others. Both good and evil, Gnomes tend toward Chaos over Order. Profit is King!
As in all things, Humans have assumed mastery of the quick and quickly profitable. Living shorter average lifespans than most other races, they have developed into a much more aggressive society. One that is attracted to fast progress and faster payoffs. Tailoring, Cooking, Carpentry, and TasteID are their trade. Though rather amicable in most of their relationships, Humans are quick to pass judgement when their progress is threatened. In an effort to continue their pursuit of increasingly rarer resources, they've become excellent ambassadors. Through persuasive exchanges, they acquire all that is needed to maintain their trainwreck pace toward the ever elusive carrot called progress.
Half-Orcs are more prolific than any other race. Bent and bitter, they have no higher aspiration than to establish complete and utter dominance over every other living thing. Once the enslaved miners of Dwarves, they extracted precious ore from the deep and dank bowels of the earth while their masters practiced more sophisticated crafts. There inevitably came a day when one Half-Orc realized that the masters could no longer recall the intricacies of the "dirty trade", however irrevocably dependent upon its fruits they were. This was the day that Azgrat the Terrible began to organize the revolution. Since, the Half-Orcs have been very secretive over their knowlege on deep ore Mining. In exchange for this most precious resource, they have negotiated acquisition of the Arms Lore and Spirit Speak skills.
Dark and sinister, the Shade is the only creature that shares with the Half-Orcs a tendency for Evil naturedness. Organized or acting alone, all Shades harbor an eagerness for caustic and ill-gotten accruments. Poisoning, Stealing, Stealth, Lockpicking, and Spirit Speak are their tools. Trickery and deception are their game. Despite their unfavorable disposition, many a Shade can be found in the employ or partnership of other races in that their skills are utilitarian, however distasteful. Their lineage is constantly in question as more than one historical reference draws associations to the Vampires of old. Drawing twisted conclusions of abominable cross-breeding and tortured perversions. Whatever the case, no one can deny the innate hatred they share for and with Werewolves.
Werewolves are universally known to adopt hermetic lifestyles. Prefering to live out their lives in the company of their (at least partial)animal kin, they shy away from most civilized establishments. Animal Taming, Spirit Speak and TasteID are their chosen passions. Shades are their destined adversaries. Werewolves are the greatest proponent of the common ancestry between Vampires and Shades. Living off the blood of livestock and wild beast from coast to coast, Vampires were deemed the greatest threat to all that the beastmen hold dear. By assumed association, Shades are regarded as equally abhorrible and are attacked on sight as often as they are tolerated.
Skill List by Race
Race related skills deal exclusively with non-pvp skills. It is important to remember that with many skills, only one or two Races have a skillcap of GM or the ability to train it at all. Below is a list of what each Race excels at.
- Human: Tailoring, Cooking, Carpentry, Taste ID
- Gnome: Alchemy, Tinker, Item ID
- Halforc: Mining, Spirit Speak, Arms Lore
- Dwarf : Blacksmithing, Arms Lore, Item ID
- Shade: Poisoning, Stealing, Stealthing, Lockpicking, Spirit Speak
- Elf : Fletching, Inscribe, Harvesting Wood, Item ID
- Werewolf: Taming, Spirit Speak, Taste ID
Bold text signifies absolute monopoly on higher end product (Ie. Deadly poison, Valorite Ore, etc.).
Italic text signifies skill that is a shared monopoly with other Race(s).
Noteworthy Tips re: Skills
There are many new artifacts and systems that require previously unimportant skills to employ, making these skills more valuable than expected.
- Locked chests will offer many custom and valuable items, making Lockpicking a valuable skill. The Unlock spell will not work on treasure chests.
- Food will be a limited and expensive resource so Cooking is valuable. This skill is also used in the Harvest system.
- NPC Vendors sell tools at a premium, making Tinkering a valuable skill.
- Item ID and Forensics are needed to Spellcraft.
- Spiritspeak and Magery allow for Voodoo magics.
- Many of the custom and more powerful weapons will be usable only with Arms Lore skill. Most of the custom monsters have special drops. These custom mobs are especially vulnerable to one or more Arms Lore type weapons. Most of these mobs, and therefore their Arms Lore weapon drops, appear in the Exclusive Hunting Grounds of a territorial Region.
- Harvest System skills include TasteID and Cooking.
