No Item Magic Templates
Ahh. The School of the Right Hand. Well, I don't know about you, but I like a big ass sword in my right hand. Wands? pshh. This is a guide to surviving without Item Magic. Specifically, how to mitigate the disadvantages of not having recalls.
Things which really hurt:
- Until you get a no-bane set of armor you will need a buff bot. Alot.
- Impossible to bane clothing without a buff bot.
- No Portal Recall. Big disadvantage on quests.
- Only one lifestone. Potentially 3 less tiable locations than someone with Item Magic (easily mitigated... See alternatives section).
- No ability to debuff weapons. (i.e. a useful strategy against Vaeshok)
Things which really help:
- GoArrow
- Portal gems. Especially Town Hub.
- A allegiance with a Portal Bot.
- Really helpful to find a Max % Melee D mod wand WITH a defender spell. (If you NEED a wand... see lenses, Alchemical Throwing Phials)
- Use quest armor until you can find Covenant, Olthoi armor, or a high level quest suit.
Recall Spells
Recall Spells use Item Magic to transport the caster to a fixed location. Many low magic templates still choose to take item magic for one big reason: recalls. Specifically Portal Recall. Portal recall is a extremely valuable spell during quests. Having item magic on your character also gives you access to the following spells: Aerlinthe Recall, Bur Recall, Call of Mhoire Forge, Colosseum Recall, Glendon Wood Recall, Lifestone Recall, Lifestone Sending, Mount Lethe Recall, Paradox-touched Olthoi Infested Area Recall, Portal Recall, Primary Portal Recall, Recall Aphus Lassel, Recall the Sanctuary, Recall to the Singularity Caul, Secondary Portal Recall, Ulgrim's Recall,
Alternatives
Alternative Characters or "alts" are other characters which fill up the slots on your account. Having your Alts summon portals has been a method of transportation ever since the first portals were summoned.
Buff Bots are community bots found in popular locations such as allegiance mansions, allegiances home towns, and starter towns. Bots often have portals to popular hunting grounds such as EO and Eaters.
Portal Bots are community bots which often have a full account of bots specifically devoted to summoning portals. These bots often have portals to many popular locations.
Portal Gems many buff bots also stock a collection of portal gems. Portal gems are gems bound to a specific location which cannot be changed.
The Town Network is a newer creation which has over 50 portals to common towns and even special locations. The town network replaces most of the Portal Gems, but not all.
Portal Items such as the Whispering Blade Chapterhouse Recall Orb provide portals to specific locations.
Banes
Playing without Item Magic trained might be feasible, but melee combat without banes would be impossible. Banes can provide up to 200% protection against a specific attack. There is quite a bit of quest armor that can be used with relatively low buffing, but the best stuff is:
These armors can reach Armor Levels of 400-500 (509 max). The rule of thumb for collecting no-bane armor is that the pieces should be greater than 400 AL and have at least TWO banes on the piece. Two banes will generally allow you to tinker the other protection level up to Unparalleled. The more native banes, the easier it is to tinker.
Note that the following is probably one of the hardest pieces of armor to find in the game: AL 440 + Impen 7 or 8 + 2 banes + Epic or Major + set
Thus, be prepared to pay higher prices.
Buffs
Weapons with buffs like Incantation of Blood Drinker are actually easy to find *compared* to finding armor. Weapons from MFK chests tend to come loaded with spells. Now, actually getting a full range of buffs (BD, SK, HS, D) is not all that easy... :)