Meditation

Information taken from 'Guide to Meditation', the Art of Mana regeneration, by Xena Dragon

Mana regeneration rate

Casting spells and scribing scrolls costs mana. If your mana level is lower than your Intelligence your mana will slowly raise until the mana level is equal to your intelligence again. The speed at which your mana goes back to full is called the regeneration rate. The regeneration rate varies depending on 3 variables:

• the type of armor you are wearing
• your intelligence
• your meditation skill

To have mana regenerate at the highest possible speed you need to wear a certain combination of armor (or no armor at all), a high intelligence and a high meditation skill.

The Meditation Skill

Meditation is a skill that is used by all characters that cast spells or scribe scrolls. There are two types of meditation, passive and active.

Passive meditation

Passive meditation kicks in when your mana level drops below maximum. The automatic process of gaining back lost mana is called passive meditation. You do not have to do anything to let this happen. The limits of passive meditation are as follows: The slowest possible passive regeneration speed of 1 mana point regained every 7 seconds applies to characters dressed in full plate armor or characters with 0 intelligence and 0 meditation skill. The highest possible passive regeneration speed of 1 mana point regained every second applies to characters dressed in cloth (or nothing) with 100 intelligence and 100 meditation skill. Between those minimum and maximum rate a gliding scale is used to determine the regeneration rate depending on armor, intelligence and meditation skill.

Active meditation

Active meditation is a skill that has to be started by clicking on the skill in the skill list or by use of a programmable macro key (UseSkill Meditation). Upon invocation the system will make a skill check. If the skill check passes then a sound effect can be heard and you will start to meditate. The following messages can be given:

• "Your hands must be free to cast spells or meditate". You have something other than a spellbook in your hands.
• "You are at peace". Your mana level is already at its maximum.
• "You cannot focus your concentration". The skill check failed.
• "Regenerative forces cannot penetrate your armor". The skill check passed, but you are wearing too much armor to meditate actively.
• "You enter a meditative trance". The skill check passed and you start to meditate actively.
• "You stop meditating". You performed an action while meditating or you reached full mana. Active meditation stops.

The active mana regeneration rate is double that of the passive regeneration rate, taking into consideration the armor worn, your intelligence and your meditation skill. The maximum possible regeneration rate is 2 mana points per second. While meditating you cannot perform any action, not even speaking. If an action is performed then a message "You stop meditating" is given and active meditation stops. Mana regeneration rate then drops back to the passive meditation level.

Gaining meditation skill

Like any other skill, meditation can be trained. You gain skill by using the skill or you can buy your first skill points in meditation from a wandering mage or mage guildmaster. From 0 to 12 points meditation will raise very fast. Whether you succeed or fail in the skill, you will still gain. From 12 points onward it becomes a little harder. The chance of successful meditation is directly linked to your mana level. When your skill is low you will only succeed in meditation if your mana level has dropped a little under maximum. The higher your meditation skill gets, the lower you can let your mana drop and still be able to meditate. This is what most people refer to as 'a difficulty based skill'. To actually gain skill you have to meditate when it is hard for you to succeed in the skill. Someone with 80 meditation skill will successfully meditate if he dropped 10 mana points below maximum, but he will not gain skill, the meditation attempt was too easy for that. To gain skill he would have to let his mana level drop much more before starting to meditate. To calculate at which mana level you should start to meditate for a high chance of skill increase use the following formula:

Mana level percentage for high chance of skill gain = 100 - meditation skill So at 80 meditation skill you would need to let your mana level drop to 20% of its maximum to gain skill while meditating. You can let it drop 10% more than that, but then you will most probably fail to meditate. The 'sweet spot' where you can gain skill seems to be between mana levels from (90 - meditation skill) to (120 - meditation skill).

The Runebook Meditation Method

What You Will Need

• A runebook with one recall scroll in it, with a rune marked on a town crier or other blocked spot.
• Plain leather suit. Total AR = 13, more is better at higher levels.

The Macro You Will Use - edit X to be the correct number from the chart below.

   if mana <= X
   Use meditation
   Say .
   wait 1 sec
   else
   Use runebook
   Press recall using a 'charge' onto your blocked rune. (don't cast it or you'll waste regs)
   Wait 1 sec
   end if

Copy and paste the below into a meditation.macro file, retarget your runebook. It uses the first rune slot.

   !Loop
   Assistant.Macros.IfAction|1|0|80
   Assistant.Macros.UseSkillAction|46
   Assistant.Macros.SpeechAction|0|52|3|ENG|0|.
   Assistant.Macros.PauseAction|00:00:01
   Assistant.Macros.ElseAction
   // Retarget this to your runebook. use first rune as
   // blocked Rune.
   Assistant.Macros.DoubleClickAction|1084029280|3834
   Assistant.Macros.WaitForGumpAction|1431013363|False|300
   Assistant.Macros.GumpResponseAction|2|0|0
   Assistant.Macros.PauseAction|00:00:01
   Assistant.Macros.EndIfAction

(120 - Current Meditation Skill) = X

   @30, X = 80
   @35, X = 75
   @40, X = 70
   @45, X = 65
   @50, X = 60
   @55, X = 55
   @60, X = 50
   @65, X = 45
   @70, X = 40
   @75, X = 35
   @80, X = 30
   @85, X = 25
   @90, X = 20
   @95, X = 15

More info about this technique can be found here: https://forums.uosecondage.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=65350

Wearing armor

The failure or success of active meditation is influenced by the type of armor that you wear. To make sure you can use active meditation try to keep the AR of your armor low and use as little metal armor as possible. Wearing any metal armor seems to drastically slow down the regeneration rate, even if you manage to meditate actively. Some examples of outfits that give up to 17 AR and allow you to meditate actively are:

• Magic Ringmail sleeves (AR 3)
• Chainmail leggings (AR 3)
• Chainmail tunic (AR 7)
• Leather tunic, Leather sleeves, Studded leggings, Studded gloves, Sandals, Robe (AR 13)
• Leather tunic, Leather sleeves, Studded leggings, Leather gorget, Sandals, Robe (AR 13)
• Leather tunic, Studded sleeves, Leather leggings, Leather gorget, Studded gloves, Sandals, Robe (AR 14)
• Magic Leather tunic, Leather gloves, Ringmail leggings (AR 17)

Some examples of outfits that have a low AR but will not allow you to meditate actively are:

• Any outfit with a Studded tunic (because of the metal on the tunic perhaps)
• Chain tunic, Magic ringmail sleeves (AR 10)
• Chain tunic, Chain leggings (AR 10)

Further notes and tips

• Meditating while hidden will un-hide you and hiding while meditating will make you lose focus.
• Casting the protection spell upon yourself will increase your AR but will not have any influence on your ability to meditate.