Open UAC - Voln or GoS

[Viekn]

Trying to decide which way to go. Currently level 10 and my build is a giantman using open UAC. His personality isn't hardcore one way or the other, so either would fit RP wise. I'm wondering about the overall squishiness of undead being better than GoS enemies and making Voln easier for my build to not only master but maintain as well. Am I correct or not in that line of thinking?

Also, other than the undead gap which still exists to some extent, is there some other aspect I should be considering that might make one or the other harder/easier for my character?

And regarding the Kai's strike ability with Voln, can someone confirm how that works with UAC? Can I still wear blessable 4x gloves/boots and hit undead without a bless, but the gloves/boots would essentially be 0x?

Thanks for the help.

[Zarston]

I would agree with your assessment and go for Voln for open UAC. Warcamping in GoS is going to be rough for open UAC due to lack of access to Rolling Krynch Stance as well as high costs for Multi-Opponent Combat. In addition, many undead opponents are wars of health attrition due to the uncrittable nature of your oppoonent, and open UAC excels at that style.

If you were ever lured into the ambushing UAC style, however, then GoS shoots right back up into the mechanical running.

[cwolff]

Voln all the way. I've found GOS warcamps are tough on solo UAC characters. Voln on the other hand meshes really well with UAC. Corporeal Undead are as good as any critter for hunting. Non-corp are always going to be a pain in the ass.

I think you've got it right on Kai's smite. Maybe the only benefit is that if you have some kick ass 6x special gloves you use on hunting the living, but you happen to come across some undead, you can still defend yourself at 0x.

[Ososis]

I think you've got it right on Kai's smite. Maybe the only benefit is that if you have some kick ass 6x special gloves you use on hunting the living, but you happen to come across some undead, you can still defend yourself at 0x.

This is correct. Kai's strike blesses your HANDS and FEET but not your gloves or handwraps or anything else.

[Gelston]

Voln all the way. I've found GOS warcamps are tough on solo UAC characters. Voln on the other hand meshes really well with UAC. Corporeal Undead are as good as any critter for hunting. Non-corp are always going to be a pain in the ass.

I think you've got it right on Kai's smite. Maybe the only benefit is that if you have some kick ass 6x special gloves you use on hunting the living, but you happen to come across some undead, you can still defend yourself at 0x.

I'm UAC and kicking ass in warcamps. I'm a monk though. Open mstriking with UAC is pretty amazing though.

[Maerit]

I went GoS on my warmage who does open UAC. It ended up being a regret, and I'll probably switch him to Voln now. Since he's a wizard, I always planned to just bolt undead, but found that training path too difficult to manage pre-cap. Now that he's in his 60s, he's basically never hunted undead, and stuck primarily to living critters. I tend to turn down undead bounties, and hunt in areas with a lot of living critters.

If your character wants to hunt undead, I strongly recommend Voln. The mechanical benefits for UAC are significant.

1. UAC tends to swing more than other weapon types with faster RTs (plus boots&gloves). This means a bless wears off faster, so you'll want a way to bless on your own.
2. You can go without blessing anything as UAC
3. SMITE is a good way to make a non-corp become corp as UAC, and that makes killing those bastards easier

GoS would just give you some minor defensive advantages, but limits your ability to fight undead in favor of warcamping.

[khorpulent]

Handwraps and footwraps are light, just carry a few spares if you need a bless. Kai's strike is handy in a pinch if your bless wears off, but nobody wants to go around hunting stuff with 0x gear. Smite is cool, but I've never found it incredibly useful because the effects of smite don't last all that much longer than the 4 sec RT without a good endroll.

In the end, it probably doesn't matter which society you choose cause you'll be a bit gimped as a UAC ranger either way. The biggest factor is probably the mana/stamina requirements for GoS, which can be difficult at lower levels. You'll probably have enough stamina to go around, but you probably won't be able to run major bane/protection for quite some time because of the mana requirements.