All About Sampires: a PVM Warrior Guide for Ultima Online

The Sampire, is one of the more popular templates used in Ultima Online because it is extremely powerful in PVM (player vs. monster) combat. Some Sampires are able to solo peerless bosses and champions without help and make powerful tanks for just about any monster encounter. If you're looking for a template that offers a lot of action and will give you soloist bragging rights, Sampire might be right for you. If you like the idea of killing the hardest monsters in Ultima Online toe to toe without being a tamer or relying on a party, keep reading.

How it works

Sampires, short for samurai vampire, do 300% damage to a champion or peerless boss and quickly regenerate health and outright steal hit points, mana and stamina to stay alive. Effective in champion spawns, Sampires can use whirl wind attacks and wither to kill massive amounts of monsters, then move on to tank the champion solo. Sampires are able to maximize their damage by using the Honor Virtue, which is enhanced by Bushido and hit chance increase.

The Template

Bushido, Necromancy, Spirit Speak, Swordsmanship, Tactics, Parry, Resisting Spells and Chivalry (optional)

Bushido gives the Sampire the moves he or she needs to maximize offense and defense against tough bosses. The confidence spell, will allow the Sampire to generate health rapidly in tough situations as he or she parries blows. The lightning strike spell, grants maximum HCI (hit chance increase) and also raises the Sampire's ability to land a critical hit. If you have 50 Bushido you can honor an opponent and gain up to 100% extra damage and extra luck.

Necromancy is one of the core skills of the Sampire because it is required to use the transformation spell of Vampiric Embrace. The Vampiric Embrace spell allows you to turn into a vampire, 20 -24% life stealing and immunity to poison but also reduces your fire resistance by 25%. Necromancers can also turn into wraiths using the wraith form spell which allows you to drain 20-24% mana from monsters. See my guide on how to raise Necromancy and Spirit Speak here.

Spirit Speak provides a powerful heal which works through any kind of poison and can't be interrupted if you have the protection spell, for tough situations, it's a great skill to have. Spirit speak also increases the effectiveness of all necromancy spells just as evaluate intelligence increases magery spells. By having spirit speak, the effectiveness of your life and mana drains is also increased, for example with 100 spirit speak you will drain 20%, if you have 120 Spirit Speak you will drain 24%.

Swordsmanship is listed as a skill here because it will allow you to use some of the better Sampire weapons but mace fighting and fencing are also viable options. Tactics is necessary because it increases the amount of damage that you deal to monsters; you want your damage to be as high as possible so that you can drain the highest amount of life and mana out of your victim as possible. The Sampire build is dependent on doing massive damage and draining attacks, you will definitely want to have as high of tactics as possible. Read my guide on how to raise melee skills here.

Parry is a defensive skill that works well with Bushido. For example, if you use the Bushido spell confidence, you will regenerate hit points each time that you parry. Instead of using a shield, you will most often be using a two handed weapon as a Sampire because two handed weapons work best with Bushido and you can parry just as if you had a shield. Parry allows you to directly avoid damage and block it entirely, it's essential if you are going to be tanking a peerless boss or champion. Like parry, resisting spells helps Sampires because it increases your chances of survival in a tough fight and will help you stay alive. Note that your chances to parry with a shield are actually reduced by Bushido!

Chivalry is an optional skill that you may want to consider using for your Sampire. To be effective I would recommend about 70 skill. If you choose chivalry, you will benefit greatly from the enemy of one spell which will give you another 50% damage increase to the monster you are fighting. Note that damage is capped at 300%.

As a Sampire, you will not have high karma and the duration and effectiveness of your chivalry spells will suffer somewhat. I found that at Dread Lord karma, the direct healing from close wounds was reduced by an average of 8-10 points and spells lasted 1-2 minutes less than when cast by a Glorious lord. The 50% damage increase from enemy of one is definitely something to consider for your Sampire to maximize your effectiveness.

Gear Choices:

Gear makes or breaks a Sampire. If your Sampire doesn't have the right kind of items you are going to die and have no chance to take out any kind of Peerless boss or Champion, in fact you will die to just about any kind of monster! If you don't have the right gear, forget it! You might as well be playing a naked mage dressed in a red kilt and muffin cap.

Soulseeker is an excellent choice for a Sampire because it is a cheap weapon with whirlwind, mana and life drain, it's a good example of the type of weapon a Sampire should consider using. In the Doom Guantlet, I found a 97% life and mana drain halberd, another example of a nice Sampire weapon! Mix up the highest damage with the best draining and slayer properties for maximum effect.

Your armor should have the following properties:

45% HCI (Hit Chance Increase), 45% DCI (Defense Chance Increase), 70 Resistance, HPR (Hit Point Regeneration) , MR (Mana Regeneration), SR (Stamina Regeneration) are also desirable because the Sampire template does not have points for meditation, healing and anatomy and success in playing this template is all about staying alive, when you miss you still need to be able to keep your hit points and mana high.

Hit chance increase is necessary because when you honor an opponent, your level of perfection will only advance if you hit. Your Sampire will only be able to do damage and drain life and mana if they hit. In short if you can't hit, you will die, horribly playing a Sampire, so make sure your gear has HCI on it and use the bushido spell lightning strike to enhance your chances to hit.

Defense chance increase is also another must have for your set because DCI is checked separately from parry. For example in order to hit you the monster must make a skill check against your weapon skill, if that succeeds then parry is checked, if the monster makes the parry check, they must next succeed against DCI. So if you have maximum DCI you will be able to avoid a lot more damage than a Sampire that does not have DCI, it makes all the difference between being the Sampire who can take out a peerless boss solo instead of being the newbie guy who takes many dirt naps trying to kill a succubus.

Suggested Sampire Gear:

Folded Steel Reading Glasses (15% DCI and Resists), Heart of the Lion (15% DCI and Resists) Quiver of Infinity (5% DCI and 10 % Damage Increase), Crimson Cincture (Hit Points, Dexterity and Regeneration), Conjurer's Trinket (10% HCI, 20% Damage Increase, 2 HPR, Undead Slayer) and the Ring of the Vile (15% HCI, Resists and Stats) with the rest being crafted resistance gear and jewelry.