Excelsior

Hey everyone.
I've been playing roughly for 3 weeks and so far really enjoying the game. However, I still have no idea about how certain things work. One of them is equipment such as weapons and armor. I'm unable to beat anything because I just have basic studded armor and a spear. My skills are going up pretty well but I feel like it's time to step up the game a bit.
I know there's a market right here on the forum, but I don't even know where to start. I have a ninja with the basic skills maxed out (I'm still working on ninjitsu, but those who have tried know it's no fun to level up). Therefore, I don't even know what kind of armor I can use and more importantly what kind of armor I SHOULD be looking for. So I do for stats like resistances, luck, bumped up attributes? What kind of armor can I wear and what is the best way to determine that?
Same with weapons. Would you guys recommend fencing, swordsmanship, archery, or macefighting? Should I look to buy weapons or level them up myself? (If that's even possible with a ninja).
If you have a second it would be great if you could help me. I appreciate all your efforts in advance. Keep having fun, I love this shard!!

Rackball

on this shard there is no cap on what skills u can learn, so you can be a ninja tamer archer macefighting swordsman. with that being said as far as armor and weapons go... you should start by using devlins guide to be awesome. it outlines what you need to become a dexxer at base stats ect. as a dexxer you can heal quickly using bandaids allowing you to fight stronger beasts. i hope this reply helps you.

Being a dexxer is VERY expensive, though. So I would suggest being a tamer first.
Then you'll start making money. Then you can be a dexxer.

Start levelling one weapon for you to test and learn about it. It's sorta costly, but no better way to learn about it than doing.

Read the wiki, read the forums. A lot. And then some more.

Look for a post about "things that are good to know" that explains "eggbombs". That'll throw a little ninja flavor on the game for you.

Many different equipment pieces out there, on countless prices ranges. Find whatever suits you and starting testing. You do want 220 dex, and that's possible on this shard, but its a pricey feat. I run aroun with a luck suit, even though a lot of people have been telling me this changes nothing.
BUT I did get 5 arties outta of Doom twice, and only one a third time - every single time with the same lucky suit. Each run of mine, to give other players an idea, was completed with about 250k, average.

Get experimenting, macro whatever you can without paying too much, and start earning money - oh, there are posts over it too. Read the wiki, read the forum, rinse, repeat.

For the beginners the staple armor set is a medable (armor that you can Meditate in - full leather or Mage Armor plate) 70-resist, 100 LRC suit - this will allow you to heal your pets for free and still be able to defend yourself. There used to to be players offering read-made suits, but I have no idea if anyone does that anymore. You may be forced to mix and match the pieces yourself. Other useful stats are hit Chance Increase (45% cap), Defense Chance Increase (45% cap), Hit Point Bonus (no cap, more hp is always good), Lower Mana Cost (40% cap, cheper spells means you'll run out of mana less often), Faster Casting and Cast Recovery (more spells = good). Somewhat useful (at this level) are Reflect Physical Damage (105%, nice to have, but with few hitpoints you don't really want to get hurt at all), Mana Bonus (no cap, if you have low mana or run out fast). Try to avoid +skills, since it will not go over your cap and since you can train skills pretty fast... Only exception would be +taming to bump that to 60 and allow craft-training. Regens might be helpful, but you'll most likely not get enough points for the regen rate to be of much use, so go for anything else if you have the option.

Thank you all so much! Now, the question is, where do I get all this? I remember when I played years ago, there used to be a "market". A place, where players would go and say what they're selling/need to buy and people would trade. Do I need to look at the market over here on the forum? Should I use the public chat? I have roughly 150k saved up right now that I'm willing to spend on gear. Thanks for your help again.

Rackball

You should go to Town Center and/or Makoto Zento and browse through player vendors. Visiting the player malls available via the Shops category on World tele might also be worthwhile. If you are looking for a specific piece or stats you can also use vendors.uoex.net (check out the advanced search function).

EDIT Huh, the link code seems to be broken.

Yeah, I noticed that the other day; the vendors link doesn't work. I really appreciate all your help again.