Idiot's Guide To UC (in General)

My current strategy despite being good, is very dull and has no room for changes. I planned it too thoroughly and now can't change it or I'll risk it's long term success... so I need to change soon to a new strat. UC sounds very nice to me.

Seeing as I'm still a newb after all this time, I really have very little understanding of UC.
I'm just looking for some opinions on this strat and peoples' ideas of how to get it to work effectively.

My questions are:

1: Is it possible to run a successful low NW single UC tank? - How?/Why not?

2: Equip? Axbow, Exbow? ELbow?

3: Enchants? What's best (and why)?

4: Tattoos? Do I really need a ToA or can I survive without? What other tattoos would you recomend?

1. No, I don't think it's possible to run a low NW single UC tank. First of all, like all tanks, you need to increase it's networth. UC itself is really weak, you need the specialty armor to pump it up. And, AC keeps you alive, of course. Second, I don't believe a single UC tank is a good idea. It needs other minions to support it. Because of the high DX and the inert Evasion, the only thing your single UC tank will do is evade a lot. You need at least one other minion to carry a tattoo. I'll further explain that in the answer on your fourth question. AS, VA, GA, AMF/DM, you'll need a variation of these to aid you in battle. So, yes, you need NW, and no, single UC tank is not a good idea.

2. This one's quite easy. I would and have gone with the Axbow. Especially in multi-minion teams, your UC tank needs to be able to hit other tanks. To be effective, your DX should be equal or higher than theirs. Therefore, an Axbow would be the best choice to make sure you'll land a few hits. (especially against enemy single tanks) Exbow only lowers his damage done, which isn't very helpful if you can't even hit him. Elbow does do more damage than the xbows, but I believe the DX-drainage does your team way more good.

3. Enchantments. No team can make it without them. AS is probably a good way to go. Same goes for VA. AMF or DM, well, that's up to you. If you choose for two minions, I'd suggest an AS/AMF enchanter in front of your UC tank. But, it's all up to you.

4. You really don't need a ToA. What you do need, is an Elven Cloak and a Combat Gi. The Gi boosts your UC with 10 points and gives a third of it's plus-to-hit to the inert Evasion. You'll be better off with these two items than a ToA. However, if you use more than one minion, one of the others can carry a tattoo. It all depends on the specific strategy you are using, but that tattoo could be anything. A ToE further strengthens your UC tank, but you can also use a RoS for an enchanter. FF, SF, IF or ToJ for more damage? Anything is possible. Just don't use a ToA on the UC tank. :p

At very low MPR you can run a good single UC tank with a base Gi. Ask Sefton! ;)

This is just very quickly outpaced, and up into the hundreds of thousands MPR you will be out performd by everything else. No matter how high you pump your UC, if you use a ToA over a Gi, or the size of your ranged weapon.

:(

Don't know how to insert links. :(

Have a look through a topic of mine called "Understanding UC". It was made at a time myself, Brandon and NK were trying to run UC based strats. NK had the better, with multiple minions, I stayed solo. :)

Independenz, thanks for posting that :)

It's very much appreciated. :)

And GL, I was aware of sefton's strat. I was looking for something a little more long term though.
I'll take a look for the thread you mentioned in a minute, thanks.

Thanks for posting about that thread GL.

For the record, reading all of that made my head hurt. >.<
Very helpful though :)

Anyway, it's added a few questions to my list.

1: Why the heck is VA so important to this strat?
It's got to be one of the least cost effective stats in the game. Why not just train some extra HP and not worry about overtraining VA to combat your opponents DM?

2: Is this strat really that target specific? (i.e, ToA tanks will beat it, mages will beat it, Jon's grandmother will beat it...)
If so, any ideas for being able to beat mages or ToA tanks?

3: Independenz, you're probably right that a single UC tank isn't going to work, but I'll give it a shot anyway. If it doesn't work I'll hire one more minion and at 500k MPR or so hire two enchanters and make an EEET. Anyhow, so I'm staying solo for a while, are there any math nutters out there who can tell me what percentage of my EXP I'd have to train into DX to beat a ToA tank on a four minion team (assuming all minions hired at the beginning and no haste)?

What's your definition of "work?" Will you have a score larger than your PR most of the time? Yes. Will you Gain experience and money at a decent rate? Yes. Will you be able to overcome most opponents around your PR? No.

I ran Brock for a long time and I'll share these tips with you:

VA is important because you won't hit nearly as hard as most tanks. Even non-ToA tanks. However, if built correctly, you should be hitting them more often and evading a few attacks. But to stand up to the damage a tank can dish out, you'll need to be able to gain HP back during the fight. Sure, you could train loads of HP, but you'll be deficient in other areas.

Elbow if you're just looking to dish out damage. Exbow if you're wanting to soften the blow from tanks. Axbow if you're going for a high DX strat and want to overwhelm your opponents DX. It's more of a personal choice and how you want to build the tank.

ToA or ToE is the only way to go. The Gi is only useful in multi-minion builds where you're utilizing another tattoo on another minion.

Let me hash over something that's been brought up multiple times -- UC is not a straight substitution for a tank. By that, I mean it'll never be on par with a tank just because of gear costs. Why? Because "true" tanks have a lot more gear to keep up with. Your weapon is a skill; their weapon requires upgrading via monetary sources to stay competitive. I've succumbed to the fact that Jon isn't going to change this. Yes, UC is a poor man's tank. Now don't get me wrong, it's a very viable strat in a multi-minion setup where you have the UC minion with high DX and HP going for avoidance, but even after awhile, you could do better training Evasion and buying a true weapon.

Again, thanks for the tips. :)