New Player Guide

Welcome to the world of Ultima Online! If you are a new player this set of guides will help you get started in this vast and exciting place called Britannia.

What is Ultima Online?

Tomorrow, the world as you know it comes to an end ...

[I] have witnessed brave adventurers delve deep into deadly dungeons in search of danger. I have watched businesses and whole industries spring up to supply the needs of these adventurers. I have seen the blacksmiths auctioning off their wares in crowded squares, hiring miners with guard escorts to bring them metal to forge, hiring bards to calm the inevitable arguments and fights that break out in the fever of competition. I have seen intrepid crews take to the open ocean to seek new islands, only to be surprised by other crews on pirate ships armed with magic, ready to steal the contents of their cargo holds. I have seen people master the arcane and difficult arts of magic, and become powerful mages capable of transforming their shape and walking down city streets, terrifying the populace.

I have seen a group of artists hold auditions for their play. I have seen a wrestling pit marked off in the dirt, and crowds calling out bets from the sidelines. I have watched as scholars walked into moongates over and over, building tables of destinations, to try to unlock the patterns behind them. I have read the research into unknown magic, and waited for players to discover the hints left for them. Newspapers have sprung up, and great libraries have been founded to gather the books of the world in one place.

I have seen people build lives here. Build houses and businesses. Tame animals, and cry when they die. Bring old friends with them. Make new ones ...

[I]s it like other multiplayer games, with a clear goal to reach for? Is it just a huge medieval theme chat zone?

No, Ultima Online is far more than any one of these, it is more than all of these put together. It is an Ultima, with an epic plot as yet largely unrevealed. It is a world. It is now our second home. A living, breathing, changing place, that will provide constantly varying experiences.

Just like the real world, the virtual economy and ecology will change--even fail in places--as players either exploit or care for it. As developers, we will be challenged by keeping up with the "holes" in the "laws" of economy that players discover, just as a government must continue to pass laws to keep the economy and ecology of the real world on an even keel ...

[I]t grows over time. It lives, it changes. It evolves. It becomes a community.

[C]ome, join the development team, the gamemasters, Lord Blackthorn, and I, as we discover together where that evolution will lead. The world where the future of role-playing resides. The place where we have all found another home...

Come live with us in the world of Britannia in Ultima Online!

Lord British, Tuesday, Sept 23, 1997

Installing Ultima Online

Before you can take your first steps into Britannia, you must first install the game client. There are two different clients available for play, both of which can be downloaded from here:

Classic Client - Also referred to as "2D Client", this is the one available since Ultima Online launched over 14 years ago. It is still fully supported and used by the majority of players.
Enhanced Client - It has a highly customizable interface, new particle effects and creature models, along with other new control features. However, it is currently in open beta and contains some bugs.

Setting Up a New Account

There are several ways to set up a new account:

You can set up a new trial account from here.
You can purchase Stygian Abyss Expansion Pack which sets up a new account with 30 days of game time from here.

Selecting a Shard

Once you have loaded the game and logged in, you will be presented with the shard list. Each shard is a separate game instance. Any Ultima Online player can play on any shard around the world without restriction.

Generally you want to select a shard in your timezone to have the best connection and thus playing experience. If you don't plan on participating in PvP (player vs player) combat, then you can play on any shard in the North America or Europe. Choosing a shard far from your location will result in lag, which slows your gameplay (making it considerably harder to keep up in battle situations). As a general rule, the lower the "ping" or "latency" of a shard, the smoother your gameplay will be there.

United States East
United States East	Atlantic	Catskills	Chesapeake	Great Lakes	Lake Superior	Legends	Siege Perilous
United States West
United States West	Baja	Lake Austin	Napa Valley	Origin	Pacific	Sonoma
Japan
Japan	Asuka	Hokuto	Izumo	Mizuho	Mugen	Sakura	Wakoku	Yamato
Europe
Europe	Drachenfels	Europa
Korea
Korea	Arirang	Balhae
Australia
Australia	Oceania
Taiwan
Taiwan	Formosa

Keep in mind that selecting a shard is not a permanent decision. If you find that your initial choice is too laggy, or the majority of your friends are elsewhere, you can pick a different one any time by logging out then back in to the game.

It is possible to transfer characters and items to other shards (for a fee), but this does not apply to your house (which accounts for the majority of your item storage). Your account may only support one house at a time in total, so it's a good idea to make sure you know exactly which shard you'll be sticking with before placing a house there.

The shards of Siege Perilous and Mugen follow different rule sets to all others. You may only have one character on each (as opposed to the multiple characters you may maintain elsewhere), and these characters cannot be transferred in/out. Life is generally harder on Siege/Mugen, though many find this makes for more rewarding game play. Beginners are advised to learn the ropes elsewhere.

Creating your Character

After you've picked a shard, you'll be taken to the character creation screen:

Classic Client - You will first pick the name, sex and race of your character. You can also pick your hairstyle and color and the color of your starting clothes. On the next screen, you can select the starting template and later the starting location of your character. You can move to the next screen or return to the previous screen by pressing the arrows on the bottom right of the window.
Enhanced Client - You can select your character's name, sex, race, appearance, profession and starting location by selecting the appropriate tab on the top of the screen. Pressing the Next button on the Create tab will create the character.

There are five steps to character creation in Ultima Online:

Selecting a Race

Main Article: Races

Certain items can only be used by certain races, though it could be considered that Human characters are more robust and versatile. Race and appearance can be changed after character creation, but name and gender cannot. There are three playable races in Ultima Online each having unique racial abilities:

Humans

Main Article: Humans

Protectors of Britannia, Humans have adapted to their environment, improving many beneficial traits and abilities:

Elves

Main Article: Elves

Founders of Heartwood and attuned to nature, Elves have special traits and abilities:

Gargoyles

Main Article: Gargoyles

Presented as community-minded and strongly principled, Gargoyles have special traits and abilities:

Strong Back

Years of hard work allow more weight to be carried on strong backs.

Humans have an increased carrying capacity above what is determined by their strength.

Carry an additional 60 Stones of weight

Night Sight

Exceptional vision, even at night.

Elves always have the effect of a full strength Night Sight spell.

Night Sight is always on

Flying

A Gargoyle's powerful wings carry them over land as fast as a galloping horse and grant them access to special Gargoyle-only areas.

Flying makes it possible for Gargoyles to move at a speed equal to being mounted, or the equivalent being double the usual walking pace of Humans and Elves.

Tough

Adept at recovering from adversity, humans regain health more quickly than in times past.

Humans regenerate hit points faster than normal.

+2 Hit Point Regeneration

Infused with Magic

Resilient skin has an increased capacity to resist damage from energy attacks.

Elves have an increased energy resistance cap. Elven players must still increase their actual resistances through normal means (i.e. through equipment and magical effects).

+5 to Energy Resistance cap (75 total)

Berserk

In situations of great danger, a Gargoyle's natural ferocity will take over, granting speed and power at the cost of defenses.

15% Damage Bonus and +3% Spell Damage Increase for each 20% health lost from maximum health (60% weapon damage bonus cap and 12% spell damage bonus cap).

Workhorse

Enterprising techniques have led to breakthroughs in resource recovery.

Humans have a better chance at finding more resources while gathering hides, ore and lumber.

+1 Logs in Trammel
+2 Logs in Felucca
+1 Ore when mining at random
Additional hides

Difficult to Track

Difficult to track.

Elves are more difficult to track than humans.

Master Artisan

A strong cultural emphasis on art and craftsmanship grants the Gargoyles an increased chance to imbue and unravel magical items.

Gargoyles have an increased chance to imbue and unravel magical items.

Jack of all Trades

Diverse inclinations attune humans to a base understanding of nearly all learned behaviors.

Humans have a basic ability in all skills, even untrained ones.

20 minumum level in all skills (does not show on Skill Menu)

Perception

Increased perception of both hidden creatures and resources.

Elves gain an increased chance to passively detect hidden monsters and enemies.

Deadly Aim

All Gargoyles are trained from childhood in the skill of Throwing, giving them a basic competence with missile weapons.

Minimum Gargoyle skill in Throwing is 20.0.
Gargoyles receive a 5% bonus to hit that stacks with HCI and skill bonus.
Gargoyle’s hit chance cap has been increased to 50%.

Knowledge of Nature

and resources.

Elves receive an increase to their chance of acquiring special resources such as colored ore when mining or special boards when lumberjacking.

Mystic Insight

Gargoyles have an intuitive understanding of Mysticism, allowing them to cast basic Mysticism spells without further training.

Minimum Gargoyle skill in Mysticism is 30.0.
Gargoyles receive +2 Mana Regeneration which stacks with Meditation and Focus.

Wisdom

Wise in nature; harmonious affinity for casting spells.

Elves receive a bonus to their maximum mana.

+20 Mana Increase Bonus

Selecting a Profession

Main Article: Skills

Ultima Online has 58 different Skills currently in game and 3 different Statistics which determine the capabilities of your Character. However, since new players need some time to understand them all, there are also seven advised templates:

"Paladins are the holy warriors of the realm. These protectors of the virtues have a number of defensive as well as offensive abilities available to them."

"Necromancers wield the dark force of Death itself as a means to find ultimate magic power. They use the power of the other side to both attack their foes and to protect themselves."

"Warriors are physically the toughest of adventurers, battling their foes in all-out hand to hand combat. Such individuals require great strength to wear heavy armor and survive battles with dangerous foes."

"The Mage is an expert magic user. Though they have both defensive and offensive magic, mages are especially well-equipped to deal out damage in combat and are most effective at a distance."

"The Blacksmith's job is to locate and mine ore, smelt it into ingots, and forge the ingots into weapons and armor to sell at shops or to other players. A new blacksmith should first find a public smithy to use."

"The Samurai is an elite warrior who seeks to achieve perfection through battle. They strike with great accuracy, can handle multiple opponents, and have mastered the art of parrying with weapons."

"The Ninja is an assassin who uses stealthy tactics and summons deadly magic in combat to confuse and weaken their enemy."

Selecting one of these will give you a starting quest to familiarize you with that template's aspects. These templates grant you different skill layouts orientated towards your choice. Note that your character's class is is based on nothing other then these skill points, which can be changed in whatever way you like later on. For example, a stealthy rogue can later change disposition to that of a hulking warrior, and then switch again to that of an intelligent mage - or your character can take up aspects of many classes at the same time! Furthermore, you are not locked into using certain weapon/armor types by your choices - while some skills do directly relate to certain forms of equipment, this is more of a guideline then a rule.

It is generally a good idea to start with an adventuring character, as crafters rely on adventurers for the materials with which they work their trades. Granted, materials can also be bought from other players, but that requires gold (and usually lots of it). You may have multiple characters on each shard (with the excepts of Siege/Mugen), so you can always make a new one later if things don't work out (there are limits, but unwanted characters can also be deleted and replaced).

Customizing

If you want to try new skills, you can select the customize button to select up to three skills having no more than 120 skill points in total and adjust your statistics accordingly.

Name

Next you'll select your character's name and appearance, as well as starting clothing. Since your name is your character's most distinguishing characteristic, choose it wisely. Additionally, keep in mind that racist or derogatory names are prohibited. A good unique name will help you generate positive relations, which will help you in the long term.