Mining for Saltpeter... what determines the amount of saltpeter produced ?

While it is my understanding that the size of the "Deposit" of Saltpeter is detemined by Luck, worn in the suit or in real life.... go figure.... i fail totally to understand what detemines the amount of Saltpeter "produced" when mining the Saltpeter Deposit that one has found...

I get from 0 Saltpeter mined per hit, to 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 but I cannot, for the life of me, understand whether this figure is detemined by anything or whether it is pure RNG....

Anyone knows ?

Also, the changing of the Deposit size while mining, seems to vary without any predictability. From Gigantic down to Clumsy down to Huge, down to Large and down to Small, sometimes it takes a good number of mining hits, sometimes only a few.... it looks as random....

Anyone knows whether there is any possibility to influence, other then getting a given size of Deposit by Luck, the amount of Saltpeter mined by getting "more" 4 Saltpeter hits as compared to just zero (or 1 or 2 or 3) and to affect the persistance of the Larger Deposits' sizes for longer and not just go away after a few hits ?

In order to take down a Plunder Beacon with an Orc Ship, it takes 11 shots.

This means, 11 Charges+11 Fuses besides the Cannonballs... now, to make 1 Charge it takes, among others, 4 Black Powders and each Black Powder takes 6 Saltpeters... to make 1 Fuse Cord it takes, among others, 1 Black Powder which is another 6 Saltpeters...

All this, to say that, therefore, among other things and the time to make and gather the components, just to shoot once, it takes some 30 Saltpeters are needed....

Now, to take down 1 PlunderBeacon it needs 11 shots which it makes it, in Saltpeter, 11 x 30 = 330 Saltpeter....

Now, to earn 140,000 Doubloons to claim a Triton Statuette, it is necessary to take down 14 PlunderBeacons which it makes it, in Saltpeter, some 14 x 330 totallying 4,620 Saltpeter and, of course, the time to do all that....

"On average" I have heard from various players that, even with high Luck, in an hour of mining Saltpeter usually the maximum Saltpeter obtained is about 2,000 Saltpeter which it makes, only in Saltpeter, some 2+ hours of gameplay (plus all the rest that is needed....) to make it up for the necessary Saltpeter to then earn a Triton Statuette...

Just for 1 single Triton Statuette....

Considering how the spawning of the Tritons is random, and they can come out with very low stats or good ones, quite a high number of Triton Statuettes are needed to be claimed if one wants to get an above average one...

That means, a lot of time not just to find those Plunder Beacons to be taken down, but also time to mine for all that Saltpeter....

TL:DR. It would be quite beneficial if one could have a way to "increase" the amount of Saltpeter produced (i.e. get more 4 Saltpeter produced when hitting the Deposits rather then zeros...) AND if one could affect, also, the staying at bigger Saltpeter Deposits instead of seeing them shrink down to the next smaller size after just a few hits.....

Anyone knows if there are ways to increase Saltpeter production or is it all in the hands of the RNG ?

Thanks !

no there isnt its pure RNG whenever you farm it, like anything worthwhile in the game if you want it you have to work for it which is fair enough. i just knuckle down and enjoy it and so far have 3 good tritons

lol

You are right Popps, who would want to play UO for a long time!

You can buy it now.  The price is higher now on LS than I showed before.

And didnt you make a thread about how saltpeter should cost more from that vendor?

I take my Giant Beetle and just buy buy buy and put the ones I cant carry on the bug.

I can do 7 Beacons a Night when I decide to do them.  So two nights on my ship and the passengers have a new Statue and it cost them nothing but time.

Wait til Popps does Doom or Shadowguard.  He will learn how horrible the RNG is for us.

Pawain said:

Wait til Popps does Doom or Shadowguard.  He will learn how horrible the RNG is for us.

There is quite a difference, though, at least to my viewing, when the RNG decides the drop of an item which can be sold for MILLIONS of in game gold or when it needs to determine how much Saltpeter one should mine, even with high Luck....

It is comparing Apples and Oranges, to my viewing....

While I can accept the RNG for items "potentially" earning a huge amount of worth, in-game, I cannot accept it for ordinary, low value items...

Take for example returning lost items to NPCs (to build the Honesty Virtue...).

To my viewing, it is RIDICOLOUSLY time consuming and for what benefit in the end ?

Even at Knight of Honesty a miniscule 30% savings of ONE single purchase from a NPC....

Save a few thousands of gps from that purchase but then have to spend HOURS of gameplay to build the Honesty Virtue back to Knight because that single one purchase dropped it so much that the time spent to then search for the NPCs to return the lost items to is so much time consuming that it ain't worth it and that time be much better spent doing else in the game, more rewarding ?

If at least Tracking had a much larger search Range, like capable of covering an entire Town or at least half of it, then the investment in the Skill points for GM Tracking would be worth it as one could track the NPC to return the items to throughout the entire Town.... but as of now ? It is pointless given how short the Tracking Range is, even at 100.0 skill.... it is much faster to just run around the town fast spamming ALLNAMES and look for the name of that NPC....

It is all a matter of BALANCE, I think.... in where the benefit is an item drop worth LOTS or some ordinary, low level benefit....

Yes, I DO am convinced that Saltpeter on NPCs is WAY cheap, considering how much time consuming it is to mine it....

The current "balance" in between extended time to mine Saltpeter and cheap NPCs' prices for Saltpeter currently largely benefit, to my opinion, wealthy players in UO who have gold to burn and disadvantages poor players in the game (usually new or returning players) having to mine for their Saltpeter because they do not have that much gold to burn, yet...

The 4,620 Saltpeter needed to earn 1 Triton statuette (aside the other ingredients and time, of course), even at 300 gps per, is some 1,386,000 gps which a wealthy player can easily afford and burn to purchase Saltpeter but a new or returning player ?

They "usually" cannot burn that much in-game gold like that and, so, they need to mine for their Saltpeter.... only, as it currently plays out, it take an extensive time to mine it up...

So, I think, either the yield of mined Saltpeter should be higher, to better reflect the time spent to mine it, or the price of Saltpeter on NPCs should be higher, to more reflect the extended time worth to mine it...

I think there should be more balance in how and where the RNG hits a player....

When it is for items drops which are potentially of a high value, then it is welcome.

But for Low, ordinary items like mining for Saltpeter ?

It should not be so much influential...

At least, that is how I see it.

Ask Mesanna at the Meet and Great next week.  I'm sure she will change the RNG formulas for you.

Pawain said:

Ask Mesanna at the Meet and Great next week.  I'm sure she will change the RNG formulas for you.

Well, they could "fine tune" the production of Saltpeter per hit to increase the yield of mining for it, no need to change the RNG as a whole....

Or, they could also increase the price of it on NPCs so as to "more reflect" the extensive time it takes to mine it up....

I can generally mine about 3k saltpeter in 45 minutes to an hour... in Trammel. I believe it's doubled in Fel... so that's about 6k in an hour.

It's not that bad if you don't want to pay for saltpeter. If it's so ridiculously time consuming for you, just buy it. Can you please stop making pointless complaints about every aspect of the game that is not an issue?

@popps, I have some data about saltpeter mining that I collected in 2014 for you to view:  

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QjOKLZDayaJ2K4e7x5Q12FcrZ2w0_6UuWXicsWArvl0/edit?usp=sharing ;

Faeryl said:

I can generally mine about 3k saltpeter in 45 minutes to an hour... in Trammel. I believe it's doubled in Fel... so that's about 6k in an hour.

It's not that bad if you don't want to pay for saltpeter. If it's so ridiculously time consuming for you, just buy it. Can you please stop making pointless complaints about every aspect of the game that is not an issue?

Not doubled in Fel.

popps said:

Pawain said:

Ask Mesanna at the Meet and Great next week.  I'm sure she will change the RNG formulas for you.

Well, they could "fine tune" the production of Saltpeter per hit to increase the yield of mining for it, no need to change the RNG as a whole....

Or, they could also increase the price of it on NPCs so as to "more reflect" the extensive time it takes to mine it up....

Its costs near 200k for 500 saltpeter on LS!  that is already too much!

Pawain said:

Faeryl said:

I can generally mine about 3k saltpeter in 45 minutes to an hour... in Trammel. I believe it's doubled in Fel... so that's about 6k in an hour.

It's not that bad if you don't want to pay for saltpeter. If it's so ridiculously time consuming for you, just buy it. Can you please stop making pointless complaints about every aspect of the game that is not an issue?

Not doubled in Fel.

Still, 3k in an hour isn't bad if you don't want to pay for it.

Pawain 

Its costs near 200k for 500 saltpeter on LS!  that is already too much!

Depends on whether you’re buying or selling 

Seriously Popps how many beacons have you sank or how many doubloons have you earned?

Like I said in another post. When you have collected over 5M than come back and complain.

The ones that have done over 5M are not complaining.  

The Scales of Ultima Online

Tim said:

Pawain 

Its costs near 200k for 500 saltpeter on LS!  that is already too much!

Depends on whether you’re buying or selling 

NPCs, when buying from players, pay considerably less as their asking price...

Faeryl said:

I can generally mine about 3k saltpeter in 45 minutes to an hour... in Trammel. I believe it's doubled in Fel... so that's about 6k in an hour.

It's not that bad if you don't want to pay for saltpeter. If it's so ridiculously time consuming for you, just buy it. Can you please stop making pointless complaints about every aspect of the game that is not an issue?

I have been trying to keep track of Saltpeter mining yields and even with 3,000 Luck, it is hardly likely that it goes over 2,000 Saltpeter in 1 hour of mining for it....

I am not sure how you can get 3,000 Saltpeter in 45 minutes....

Pawain said:

Seriously Popps how many beacons have you sank or how many doubloons have you earned?

Like I said in another post. When you have collected over 5M than come back and complain.

The ones that have done over 5M are not complaining.  

"The ones that have done over 5M are not complaining." 

To earn 5,000,000 Doubloons' points, it means some 500 Plunder Beacons to take down (5,000,000 / 10,000) ....

Aside from the time to search and take down 500 Plunder Beacons, in Saltpeter alone needed for that many points, it would be at 330 Saltpeter per Plunder Beacon some 330 x 500 totallying 165,000 Saltpeter needed....

At an average of 2,000 Saltpeter mined in an hour of gameplay, it means, ONLY for Saltpeter, some 82.5 hours of gameplay just to get the Saltpeter, "if" mined up....

Then add the time to search for 500 Plunder Beacons and take them down....

Maybe, just maybe, those having those many points rather then "wasting" time in mining it up are buying it and using that time "freed up" to hunt the Plunder Beacons, instead ?

And if my assumption was to be correct, wouldn't this bring one to conclude that the current Design of this particular content is UO wealthy players' friendly and hostile to UO less wealthy players who need to mine for their Saltpeter ?

That is why I am keeping saying that either Slatpeter on NPCs is darn CHEAP, or the yields for mining it, are too conservative....

Either way, to my viewing, it hurts less in-game wealthy players who need to mine for their Saltpeter....

The price for Saltpeter should go way higher..... or the yields for mining for Saltpeter, be increased.

At least, to my viewing.

Just mined 2903 saltpeter in about 3 hours' time (minus 30 minutes for three 10 minute breaks).  This was in Trammel.  The yield of the various deposits  is documented in the spreadsheet I linked to above.

Margrette said:

Just mined 2903 saltpeter in about 3 hours' time (minus 30 minutes for three 10 minute breaks).  This was in Trammel.  The yield of the various deposits  is documented in the spreadsheet I linked to above.

Which it makes it, then, 2,903 Saltpeter in 2.5 hours or, an average of 1,161.2 Saltpeter per hour...

That's even less as compared to my indication of 2,000 Saltpeter per hour that I mentioned in my posts...

popps said:

Aside from the time to search and take down 500 Plunder Beacons, in Saltpeter alone needed for that many points, it would be at 330 Saltpeter per Plunder Beacon some 330 x 500 totallying 165,000 Saltpeter needed....

How are you getting 330 saltpeter per plunder beacon?

If you use an orc ship, you fire the cannon at it 10 times.  That means you need 10 cannonballs, 10 fuse cords, and 10 powder charges.

For each fuse cord, you need 1 black powder, which was made from 6 saltpeter.  So that's 6 saltpeter per fuse cord and for 10 of them you need 60.

For each powder charge, you need 4 black powder, each of which was made from 6 saltpeter.  So that's 24 saltpeter per powder charge and for 10 you need 240.  

So, if you use an orc ship and have to make both your fuse cords and your powder charges, you need 300 saltpeter.  HOWEVER, if you're doing High Seas content, you should have one of the ship paintings that gives powder charges.  And if you haven't been regularly going out and hunting down merchant or pirate ships or doing ship PvP, you are more than likely sitting on a big stockpile of powder charges and don't need any for this event.  

If you're using a Tokuno or gargoyle ship, you fire the cannon at plunder beacons 14 times, so you need 84 saltpeter for the fuse cords and 336 for the powder charges (assuming you don't get them from the painting), for a total of 420.

Popps, if you have a ship's painting and a stockpile of powder charges from it and are using an orc ship, you shouldn't need to use more than 60 saltpeter per plunder beacon. Or 84 if you're using a gargoyle or Tokuno ship.  

Do you have a ship's painting?   I've seen people with a whole wall of them.  

popps said:

Margrette said:

Just mined 2903 saltpeter in about 3 hours' time (minus 30 minutes for three 10 minute breaks).  This was in Trammel.  The yield of the various deposits  is documented in the spreadsheet I linked to above.

Which it makes it, then, 2,903 Saltpeter in 2.5 hours or, an average of 1,161.2 Saltpeter per hour...

That's even less as compared to my indication of 2,000 Saltpeter per hour that I mentioned in my posts...

Well, I'm also getting ingots for cannonballs.

popps said:

Faeryl said:

I can generally mine about 3k saltpeter in 45 minutes to an hour... in Trammel. I believe it's doubled in Fel... so that's about 6k in an hour.

It's not that bad if you don't want to pay for saltpeter. If it's so ridiculously time consuming for you, just buy it. Can you please stop making pointless complaints about every aspect of the game that is not an issue?

I have been trying to keep track of Saltpeter mining yields and even with 3,000 Luck, it is hardly likely that it goes over 2,000 Saltpeter in 1 hour of mining for it....

I am not sure how you can get 3,000 Saltpeter in 45 minutes....

So are you calling her a liar or what?  I can get the same amount in about the same time. it takes a good luck suit, a luck statue, a plan, and the desire to actually play the game.

Victim_Of_Siege said:

popps said:

Faeryl said:

I can generally mine about 3k saltpeter in 45 minutes to an hour... in Trammel. I believe it's doubled in Fel... so that's about 6k in an hour.

It's not that bad if you don't want to pay for saltpeter. If it's so ridiculously time consuming for you, just buy it. Can you please stop making pointless complaints about every aspect of the game that is not an issue?

I have been trying to keep track of Saltpeter mining yields and even with 3,000 Luck, it is hardly likely that it goes over 2,000 Saltpeter in 1 hour of mining for it....

I am not sure how you can get 3,000 Saltpeter in 45 minutes....

So are you calling her a liar or what?  I can get the same amount in about the same time. it takes a good luck suit, a luck statue, a plan, and the desire to actually play the game.

Yeah, today it seemed like the amount of salpeter I was getting was a bit on the low side.  Plus I was doing it in Trammel and mining for all the ingots I could get and not wearing that much luck (775 and didn't hit the luck statue).  I think some people just run along, hit a mineable spot once and then move on if they don't bring up a niter deposit.  

Margrette said:

Victim_Of_Siege said:

popps said:

Faeryl said:

I can generally mine about 3k saltpeter in 45 minutes to an hour... in Trammel. I believe it's doubled in Fel... so that's about 6k in an hour.

It's not that bad if you don't want to pay for saltpeter. If it's so ridiculously time consuming for you, just buy it. Can you please stop making pointless complaints about every aspect of the game that is not an issue?

I have been trying to keep track of Saltpeter mining yields and even with 3,000 Luck, it is hardly likely that it goes over 2,000 Saltpeter in 1 hour of mining for it....

I am not sure how you can get 3,000 Saltpeter in 45 minutes....

So are you calling her a liar or what?  I can get the same amount in about the same time. it takes a good luck suit, a luck statue, a plan, and the desire to actually play the game.

Yeah, today it seemed like the amount of salpeter I was getting was a bit on the low side.  Plus I was doing it in Trammel and mining for all the ingots I could get and not wearing that much luck (775 and didn't hit the luck statue).  I think some people just run along, hit a mineable spot once and then move on if they don't bring up a niter deposit.  

Some days are like that, you just average the good with the bad. 🙂 if you are wanting to maximize your Niter mining, hit it 1-2 times and move to the next spot.  If you are mining for ingots as well, you will get low yield of Salty Peter at times.  me personally, i mine for everything, i have mine set for jewels at times, and then granite at other times. 

popps said:

Margrette said:

Just mined 2903 saltpeter in about 3 hours' time (minus 30 minutes for three 10 minute breaks).  This was in Trammel.  The yield of the various deposits  is documented in the spreadsheet I linked to above.

Which it makes it, then, 2,903 Saltpeter in 2.5 hours or, an average of 1,161.2 Saltpeter per hour...

That's even less as compared to my indication of 2,000 Saltpeter per hour that I mentioned in my posts...

You are getting 1000 an hour?  Thats over 200k in gold when buying it. Sounds like the ratio is fine to me.  The NPC price is too high.

LMAO You people are assuming that the OP is even doing stuff in UO.  He has no clue where to mine saltpeter or how to effectively mine it.  Now you are all assuming he is even doing these beacons but has zero clue about the resources needed to do them.  Alls he does is read what others post and then comes up with these I really do not know what to call them posts and no matter what you say you are always questioned as to why you are lying.  When asked a direct question he NEVER gives an answer but will always question your responses. 

Sir if you know so damn much then why are you even doing this, you act like you already know the answer and your responses are nothing more the appearing to call people lyers.  Anybody that plays UO knows that the RNG has always determined every thing in UO and you come on here, like a i do not know what to call it, with a whaa why do I get different amounts every time I hit a saltpeter deposit and then question the person that says RNG.  You are worse than a valley girl saying the word "like" with your "I think" what are you trying to make us believe that you can think. 
WE ARE NOT LYERS SO PLEASE STOP CALLING US ALL LYERS.  TYVM

why mine unless it is something you enjoy ?? i was given thirty each powder fuse and cannon balls by a guild mate now i have so many i don't just hunt the plunder beacons loot ships take their supplies soon you will have more than enough...

Margrette said:

popps said:

Aside from the time to search and take down 500 Plunder Beacons, in Saltpeter alone needed for that many points, it would be at 330 Saltpeter per Plunder Beacon some 330 x 500 totallying 165,000 Saltpeter needed....

How are you getting 330 saltpeter per plunder beacon?

If you use an orc ship, you fire the cannon at it 10 times.  That means you need 10 cannonballs, 10 fuse cords, and 10 powder charges.

For each fuse cord, you need 1 black powder, which was made from 6 saltpeter.  So that's 6 saltpeter per fuse cord and for 10 of them you need 60.

For each powder charge, you need 4 black powder, each of which was made from 6 saltpeter.  So that's 24 saltpeter per powder charge and for 10 you need 240.  

So, if you use an orc ship and have to make both your fuse cords and your powder charges, you need 300 saltpeter.  HOWEVER, if you're doing High Seas content, you should have one of the ship paintings that gives powder charges.  And if you haven't been regularly going out and hunting down merchant or pirate ships or doing ship PvP, you are more than likely sitting on a big stockpile of powder charges and don't need any for this event.  

If you're using a Tokuno or gargoyle ship, you fire the cannon at plunder beacons 14 times, so you need 84 saltpeter for the fuse cords and 336 for the powder charges (assuming you don't get them from the painting), for a total of 420.

Popps, if you have a ship's painting and a stockpile of powder charges from it and are using an orc ship, you shouldn't need to use more than 60 saltpeter per plunder beacon. Or 84 if you're using a gargoyle or Tokuno ship.  

Do you have a ship's painting?   I've seen people with a whole wall of them.  

"If you use an orc ship, you fire the cannon at it 10 times.  That means you need 10 cannonballs, 10 fuse cords, and 10 powder charges."

Victim_Of_Siege said:

popps said:

Faeryl said:

I can generally mine about 3k saltpeter in 45 minutes to an hour... in Trammel. I believe it's doubled in Fel... so that's about 6k in an hour.

It's not that bad if you don't want to pay for saltpeter. If it's so ridiculously time consuming for you, just buy it. Can you please stop making pointless complaints about every aspect of the game that is not an issue?

I have been trying to keep track of Saltpeter mining yields and even with 3,000 Luck, it is hardly likely that it goes over 2,000 Saltpeter in 1 hour of mining for it....

I am not sure how you can get 3,000 Saltpeter in 45 minutes....

So are you calling her a liar or what?  I can get the same amount in about the same time. it takes a good luck suit, a luck statue, a plan, and the desire to actually play the game.

Margrette said:

Victim_Of_Siege said:

popps said:

Faeryl said:

I can generally mine about 3k saltpeter in 45 minutes to an hour... in Trammel. I believe it's doubled in Fel... so that's about 6k in an hour.

It's not that bad if you don't want to pay for saltpeter. If it's so ridiculously time consuming for you, just buy it. Can you please stop making pointless complaints about every aspect of the game that is not an issue?

I have been trying to keep track of Saltpeter mining yields and even with 3,000 Luck, it is hardly likely that it goes over 2,000 Saltpeter in 1 hour of mining for it....

I am not sure how you can get 3,000 Saltpeter in 45 minutes....

So are you calling her a liar or what?  I can get the same amount in about the same time. it takes a good luck suit, a luck statue, a plan, and the desire to actually play the game.

Yeah, today it seemed like the amount of salpeter I was getting was a bit on the low side.  Plus I was doing it in Trammel and mining for all the ingots I could get and not wearing that much luck (775 and didn't hit the luck statue).  I think some people just run along, hit a mineable spot once and then move on if they don't bring up a niter deposit.  

McDougle said:

why mine unless it is something you enjoy ?? i was given thirty each powder fuse and cannon balls by a guild mate now i have so many i don't just hunt the plunder beacons loot ships take their supplies soon you will have more than enough...

popps said:

Tim said:

Pawain 

Its costs near 200k for 500 saltpeter on LS!  that is already too much!

Depends on whether you’re buying or selling 

NPCs, when buying from players, pay considerably less as their asking price...

So Sell to players. I am getting a migrain Popps.

Is there a way to block post for certain people? I am asking for a friend. <span></span>

popps said:

Victim_Of_Siege said:

popps said:

Faeryl said:

I can generally mine about 3k saltpeter in 45 minutes to an hour... in Trammel. I believe it's doubled in Fel... so that's about 6k in an hour.

It's not that bad if you don't want to pay for saltpeter. If it's so ridiculously time consuming for you, just buy it. Can you please stop making pointless complaints about every aspect of the game that is not an issue?

I have been trying to keep track of Saltpeter mining yields and even with 3,000 Luck, it is hardly likely that it goes over 2,000 Saltpeter in 1 hour of mining for it....

I am not sure how you can get 3,000 Saltpeter in 45 minutes....

So are you calling her a liar or what?  I can get the same amount in about the same time. it takes a good luck suit, a luck statue, a plan, and the desire to actually play the game.

Not at all.... just trying to find out what another player is doing right that another might be doing wrong....

The purpose of this Thread, is precisely to ask for guidance on how to INCREASE the yield of Saltpeter from mining....

It would be beneficial to know "how" other players can achieve high yield of Saltpeter mined....

As I said, 3,000 Luck worn is quite high (it is not an usual Luck achieveable by the average, casual player, especially a new or returning player, I would imagine....), and, yet, it only gave me 2,000 Saltpeter in an hour of mining...

Does that mean that the 3,000 in 45 minutes were done with Luck "higher" then that ?

I have no idea, because it was not explained in the Post the "how" the 3,000 Saltpeter were obtained in 45 minutes so as to allow other players to try replicate that Saltpeter yield....

it was done by playing the game . . .

What we do differently is play the game and not create long winded pointless posts just because we want to stir up arguements over something that wont get changesd anyway, its a game to play that we enjoy and accept for what it is so just get on with it

Victim_Of_Siege said:

popps said:

Victim_Of_Siege said:

popps said:

Faeryl said:

I can generally mine about 3k saltpeter in 45 minutes to an hour... in Trammel. I believe it's doubled in Fel... so that's about 6k in an hour.

It's not that bad if you don't want to pay for saltpeter. If it's so ridiculously time consuming for you, just buy it. Can you please stop making pointless complaints about every aspect of the game that is not an issue?

I have been trying to keep track of Saltpeter mining yields and even with 3,000 Luck, it is hardly likely that it goes over 2,000 Saltpeter in 1 hour of mining for it....

I am not sure how you can get 3,000 Saltpeter in 45 minutes....

So are you calling her a liar or what?  I can get the same amount in about the same time. it takes a good luck suit, a luck statue, a plan, and the desire to actually play the game.

Not at all.... just trying to find out what another player is doing right that another might be doing wrong....

The purpose of this Thread, is precisely to ask for guidance on how to INCREASE the yield of Saltpeter from mining....

It would be beneficial to know "how" other players can achieve high yield of Saltpeter mined....

As I said, 3,000 Luck worn is quite high (it is not an usual Luck achieveable by the average, casual player, especially a new or returning player, I would imagine....), and, yet, it only gave me 2,000 Saltpeter in an hour of mining...

Does that mean that the 3,000 in 45 minutes were done with Luck "higher" then that ?

I have no idea, because it was not explained in the Post the "how" the 3,000 Saltpeter were obtained in 45 minutes so as to allow other players to try replicate that Saltpeter yield....

it was done by playing the game . . .

Indeed, but there is ways and ways of "playing the game".... some are more rewarding, some are less, they are not all the same....

Gauge said:

What we do differently is play the game and not create long winded pointless posts just because we want to stir up arguements over something that wont get changesd anyway, its a game to play that we enjoy and accept for what it is so just get on with it

Well, I see players' feedback on what is felt, of course in a different way since different players may have differying opinions, quite important in order to "adjust" what might not be working towards having players be happy with their playing....

I mean, I do not see "how" the Developers could get what players feel may not be working well for their gameplay, unless they hear it from the players...

And, personally, I think that feedback from quitting players or from unhappy players might be more important as to hear what players are happy with if the end goal is to maintainand increase a good numbered players' base...

But, of course, that is just the way I see it.

@popps, do you want some advice on how to maximize your enjoyment of this event?  If you do, maybe you could let us know a few things:

1. How many shards are you planning to do the event on?  Are there a lot of other people on this/these shard(s) who are also going after plunder beacons when you're able to play?
2. How many tritons or other rewards do you want to get per shard?  In other words, how many points do you need on each of the shards where you plan to do the event?
3. Do you have more than one active UO account?  
4. If you have more than one active UO account, what kind of characters can you simultaneously log on each of the shards where you plan to do the event and can they cause their own damage to the orc crews/lighthouse or will they only be able to cause damage with cannons?  
5. Can you simultaneously log on any bard characters and which masteries can they run while characters on your other accounts are dealing out damage?
6. What kind of ship will you use on each shard where you plan to do the event?
7. Do you have a miner, an alchemist, a tailor, a blacksmith, and a ship's painting on each of the shards where you plan to do the event that can support making cannon supplies?
8. Do you have guildmates that you can party with for the shipboard fighting and trade with or pay for making cannon supplies?

Margrette said:

@ popps, do you want some advice on how to maximize your enjoyment of this event?  If you do, maybe you could let us know a few things:

1. How many shards are you planning to do the event on?  Are there a lot of other people on this/these shard(s) who are also going after plunder beacons when you're able to play?
2. How many tritons or other rewards do you want to get per shard?  In other words, how many points do you need on each of the shards where you plan to do the event?
3. Do you have more than one active UO account?  
4. If you have more than one active UO account, what kind of characters can you simultaneously log on each of the shards where you plan to do the event and can they cause their own damage to the orc crews/lighthouse or will they only be able to cause damage with cannons?  
5. Can you simultaneously log on any bard characters and which masteries can they run while characters on your other accounts are dealing out damage?
6. What kind of ship will you use on each shard where you plan to do the event?
7. Do you have a miner, an alchemist, a tailor, a blacksmith, and a ship's painting on each of the shards where you plan to do the event that can support making cannon supplies?
8. Do you have guildmates that you can party with for the shipboard fighting and trade with or pay for making cannon supplies?

1. Just one Shard as I think that the time necessary to fully participate is quite intensive.... I simply do not have the time to do it on more then 1 Shard...
2. I have been told to set aside at least 5 millions Doubloons points (which it means some 500 Plunder Beacons or, in Saltpeter, some 165,000 Saltpeter to mine....) if I want to be able to get a decent Triton, which is basically what I would like, to have a Triton with whom to then be able to play a Tamer with...
3.No
4.Skipped
5.No Bard Masteries... I only recently returned to Ultima Online and I have yet to catch up in many things, Masteries being one of them....
6.Orc Ship which I put together at the start of the Event by hunting NPCs Dread Pirates
7.Yes, I have a miner, an alchemist, a tailor, a blacksmith. The Ship's painting I only got it at the start of Rising Tide and, as I mentioned already, the Charges that I get are not sufficient to "keep up" with the amount of shooting that I need to do in order to move towards those 5 millions Doubloons points for a good Triton...
8.Still looking to find fellow players to party up with, with less players around, and those established players already being quite well-sufficient in all of their needs and UO necessities, it is not easy to be of any realistic and significant help to them.... I am more of a burden and a weight in UO, currently, then of any pratical help in any UO hunt.... people do not like to hang around with noobs, usually.....

@popps, what do you intend to hunt with your triton(s)?  I'm still not very familiar with animal training, but I think another question to ask is what's your tamer's karma.  

@Pawain, does he really need to open 35 triton statues to get a decent triton or two or three?

Margrette said:

@ popps, what do you intend to hunt with your triton(s)?  I'm still not very familiar with animal training, but I think another question to ask is what's your tamer's karma.  

@ Pawain, does he really need to open 35 triton statues to get a decent triton or two or three?

I have opened 12 so far and still haven’t gotten one with 120 or more wrestling. 117 is the highest so I would say it is likely, unless the RNG smiles down on Popps. 

Margrette said:

@ popps, what do you intend to hunt with your triton(s)?  I'm still not very familiar with animal training, but I think another question to ask is what's your tamer's karma.  

@ Pawain, does he really need to open 35 triton statues to get a decent triton or two or three?

That's what I understood.... that in order to get a Triton with like an 85%+ intensity Rating that was the amount of Tritons one had to spawn... of course, there might be the odd luck of the draw where one gets it the first try, but we are talking on average....

Margrette said:

@ popps, what do you intend to hunt with your triton(s)?  I'm still not very familiar with animal training, but I think another question to ask is what's your tamer's karma.  

@ Pawain, does he really need to open 35 triton statues to get a decent triton or two or three?

Margrette said:

@ popps, what do you intend to hunt with your triton(s)?  I'm still not very familiar with animal training, but I think another question to ask is what's your tamer's karma.  

@ Pawain, does he really need to open 35 triton statues to get a decent triton or two or three?

It depends on RNG.  Should be able to get an over 120 wrestling in 5 tries.

But could take more.

And he just needs 1.

Pawain said:

It depends on RNG.  Should be able to get an over 120 wrestling in 5 tries.

But could take more.

And he just needs 1.

I'm trying to just get one each for 10 different tamer characters I have spread out on a couple of shards.  I have 4 of them so far (2 on Sonoma and 2 on Balhae) and they are still in statue form. 

I know I'll never have time to get more than those 10 and so I'll just have to settle with what comes out of the statues.  If wrestling skill on any one of them is under 120, can I still use animal training to make them into acceptable pets?  I am so befuddled about animal training, I honestly don't know.  All I know is that I'll never be able to afford power scrolls for any of my pets, so they'll just have to be GM in most skills unless they come out over GM naturally. 

Are tritons going to be an "okay" pet within those parameters or am I really just wasting my time trying to get any because the ones with less than 120 wrestling aren't worth putting in the effort to train them without also using power scrolls on them?  I'm not a super-ambitious UO player and I seldom make it to EM events, so chances are really, really slim that I'd ever need to use them in a competitive situation against other players to gain "prize" loot.

110 scrolls will make them fine pets.  120 the chosen magic if you can.

If you have higher scrolls use them

Margrette said:

Pawain said:

It depends on RNG.  Should be able to get an over 120 wrestling in 5 tries.

But could take more.

And he just needs 1.

I'm trying to just get one each for 10 different tamer characters I have spread out on a couple of shards.  I have 4 of them so far (2 on Sonoma and 2 on Balhae) and they are still in statue form. 

I know I'll never have time to get more than those 10 and so I'll just have to settle with what comes out of the statues.  If wrestling skill on any one of them is under 120, can I still use animal training to make them into acceptable pets?  I am so befuddled about animal training, I honestly don't know.  All I know is that I'll never be able to afford power scrolls for any of my pets, so they'll just have to be GM in most skills unless they come out over GM naturally. 

Are tritons going to be an "okay" pet within those parameters or am I really just wasting my time trying to get any because the ones with less than 120 wrestling aren't worth putting in the effort to train them without also using power scrolls on them?  I'm not a super-ambitious UO player and I seldom make it to EM events, so chances are really, really slim that I'd ever need to use them in a competitive situation against other players to gain "prize" loot.

" All I know is that I'll never be able to afford power scrolls for any of my pets, so they'll just have to be GM in most skills unless they come out over GM naturally.  "

This is PRECISELY what "in theory" is very nice about the Triton, that it "potentially" can come with 130 Wrestling and 190 resisting Spells thus, not needing any powerscrolls...

The problem is, that because of the RNG, the chances to get a Triton with those 2 Skill numbers are very remote.... that is why it is necessary to spawn a high number of them, to have more chances at a good spawn....

Victim_Of_Siege said:

Margrette said:

@ popps, what do you intend to hunt with your triton(s)?  I'm still not very familiar with animal training, but I think another question to ask is what's your tamer's karma.  

@ Pawain, does he really need to open 35 triton statues to get a decent triton or two or three?

I have opened 12 so far and still haven’t gotten one with 120 or more wrestling. 117 is the highest so I would say it is likely, unless the RNG smiles down on Popps. 

I only opened one and it is at 139 wrestling and 179 Resist

Arron said:

Victim_Of_Siege said:

Margrette said:

@ popps, what do you intend to hunt with your triton(s)?  I'm still not very familiar with animal training, but I think another question to ask is what's your tamer's karma.  

@ Pawain, does he really need to open 35 triton statues to get a decent triton or two or three?

I have opened 12 so far and still haven’t gotten one with 120 or more wrestling. 117 is the highest so I would say it is likely, unless the RNG smiles down on Popps. 

I only opened one and it is at 139 wrestling and 179 Resist

I thought that the max was 130 Wrestling....