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Magery

Magery is the heart of every mage template: it decides which spells you can cast reliably, how fast you can throw them, and even adds a little to your spell damage. Spells are cast from a spellbook and consume reagents and mana.

Getting started

  • Buy a spellbook and your first spell scrolls from a mage NPC. Dropping a scroll onto your spellbook permanently adds that spell to the book.
  • Reagents (Black Pearl, Blood Moss, Garlic, Ginseng, Mandrake Root, Nightshade, Spider's Silk, Sulfurous Ash) are sold by mage and alchemist vendors. Every cast consumes the spell's reagents from your backpack.
  • Your hands must be free to cast — spellbooks, Grimoires, torches and lanterns don't count as occupied hands.

Spell circles

There are eight circles of 8 spells each. Your Magery skill sets your chance to cast without fizzling — the chance rises linearly from 0% at the minimum skill to 100% at the value in the last column:

Circle Mana Minimum skill 50% success 100% success Cast time
1st 4 0 20 40 0.50s
2nd 6 10 30 50 0.75s
3rd 9 20 40 60 1.00s
4th 11 30 50 70 1.25s
5th 14 40 60 80 1.50s
6th 20 50 70 90 1.75s
7th 40 60 80 100 2.00s
8th 50 70 90 110 2.25s
  • A fizzled spell still consumes reagents (but no mana) — you get a fresh try after a short recovery.
  • After any cast there is a 0.8 second recovery before you can start the next spell.
  • At Grandmaster (100.0) you still fizzle 8th-circle spells 25% of the time — that is by design; even the best mages misfire an Earthquake now and then.

Scrolls and wands

  • Casting from a scroll is two circles easier — an 8th-circle scroll only needs the skill of a 6th-circle book cast. Scrolls are also how non-mages use magic.
  • Wands never fizzle and cost no mana; they just burn charges.

Spells unique to UO Sagas

Two enhanced defensive spells exist beyond the classic eight circles. They cannot be scribed, bought or learned — they belong to the Scribe's Fortitude perk of the Inscription Mastery:

Spell Circle Reagents
Greater Reactive Armor 1st Garlic, Spider's Silk, Sulfurous Ash
Greater Magic Reflection 5th Garlic, Mandrake Root, Spider's Silk

With Scribe's Fortitude unlocked, double-clicking an ordinary Reactive Armor or Magic Reflection scroll casts the greater version instead. The upgrade happens at cast time only — the scroll stays a normal scroll, so stacks remain tradeable and nothing is lost if the cast is disturbed.

The greater strength applies to the monster-facing charge only. Both spells keep separate PvP and PvM charge pools, and the PvP pool always uses the normal values — see PvP Overview for how the pools behave against players.

The bard songs are the shard's other custom casting system, driven by Musicianship rather than Magery.

Poisoning with magic

The Poison spell (3rd circle) applies a poison whose strength depends on how close you are and your Magery skill. Standing next to your target is markedly better than casting from range:

Magery Adjacent (≤1 tile) Close (2–3 tiles) Further away
120+ 50% Lethal / 50% Deadly 50% Deadly / 50% Greater Greater
100+ 50% Deadly / 50% Greater 50% Greater / 50% Regular Regular
80+ 50% Greater / 50% Regular Regular Regular
40+ Regular 50% Regular / 50% Lesser Lesser
20+ 50% Regular / 50% Lesser Lesser Lesser
below 20 Lesser Lesser Lesser

Applying poison with the Poisoning skill on a weapon works differently — see that page.

Curing poison

The Cure spell's success chance is:

100 + Magery × 0.75 − (poison level + 1) × 28 — plus 17 percentage points for every previous failed cure attempt on that target.

Poison levels count 0 Lesser, 1 Regular, 2 Greater, 3 Deadly, 4 Lethal, so each step up costs 28 points of chance. At Grandmaster Magery a Lesser poison is a formality, while Lethal is close to a coin flip on the first try.

The fourth cure attempt always works

After three failed cure attempts on the same target, the next Cure cannot fail — the roll is skipped entirely. Combined with the +17% per failure, a badly poisoned player is never stuck waiting on the dice. No other cure method has this safety net.

Cure Simulator — compare the spell against bandages and cure potions at any poison level, skill and number of failed attempts.

Bandages and cure potions are the other two routes, each on its own formula — see Healing.

Magery and damage

Spell damage is mostly driven by Evaluating Intelligence, but Magery itself contributes: below Grandmaster your spells hit noticeably softer (up to -25% at very low skill), reaching the full effect at 100. Against monsters and animals all spell damage is doubled, and a held Grimoire can multiply it further in PvM.

Skill cap and training

Magery caps at 100 — there are no Magery skill scrolls, and it has no Skill Mastery of its own (the mage masteries belong to Evaluating Intelligence, Meditation, Resisting Spells and Inscription).

Gains come from casting spells that are still challenging for you — once a circle reaches its 100% line it stops teaching you anything. A proven path:

Skill What to cast
0 – 30 Pay a mage NPC for training, then 1st–3rd circle spells (Magic Arrow, Cure, Fireball)
30 – 55 4th circle (Lightning, Greater Heal, Recall)
55 – 75 5th circle (Paralyze, Summon Creature) — Blade Spirits doubles as Resist training
75 – 90 6th circle (Energy Bolt, Explosion, Invisibility)
90 – 100 7th–8th circle (Flame Strike, Gate Travel, summons)

Training in a dungeon is 20% faster, towns and houses are slower — see Skills Overview for all gain modifiers.