Template: Weapon/Halberd Mage (할바드 마사)

Unverified — community/era build, adapted

A classic Korean-community mage variant adapted to this shard. The 700/225 caps are source-verified against ServUO; the build shape and “open with a weapon special then cast” tactics are era wisdom and field verification is pending. File discrepancies per wiki conventions.

In the Korean UO community a mage was called 마사 (masa, from 마법사 mabeopsa, “magus/mage”). The Weapon/Halberd Mage (할바드 마사) is the 마사 variant that, instead of leaning on Wrestling for its off-hand, wields a heavy two-handed weapon — classically a halberd — and opens the fight with a weapon hit or special before falling back to spells. It is the hybrid “war-mage.”

This is one of three 마사 templates here, alongside the Alchemy Mage and the Stun Mage. For the high-level PvP picture, see PvP builds; for the from-scratch caster storyline, see the Mage template.

The idea: weapon opener, then cast

A pure tank mage punches with Wrestling so it never has to draw a weapon. The halberd mage makes the opposite trade: it carries a real two-handed weapon for a heavy opening hit (and a weapon special), then casts. The big up-front weapon damage softens the target before your Eval-boosted spell combo, and the weapon keeps applying pressure / interrupting the enemy’s casting between your spells.

The weapon of choice is a halberd or similar heavy two-handed weapon, which uses Swordsmanship. The cost is in your hands: a two-handed weapon blocks your off-hand, so you can’t carry a shield with it — your defense is your spells and your hit points, not a parry.

The 7 skills (≈700 total)

Seven Grandmaster (100.0) skills sum to 700.0 — this shard’s total skill cap (Config/PlayerCaps.cfg):

• Magery — spells and mobility.
• Evaluating Intelligence — raises spell damage.
• Resisting Spells — survive enemy magic.
• Swordsmanship — your halberd weapon skill.
• Tactics — weapon-damage multiplier (with Anatomy).
• Anatomy — more weapon damage (and feeds healing).
• Meditation — refills mana between casts.

(With seven slots full, Tactics+Anatomy already do a lot of weapon-damage work; some players swap one of them for Healing or a flex depending on how melee-heavy they want to play.)

120s come from power scrolls

The seven-GM (100.0) ceiling is the base cap. Individual skills go to 120 via Power Scrolls, which on this shard drop from champion spawns and treasure — see treasure hunting.

Suggested stats (225 cap): ~75 STR / ~35 DEX / ~115 INT (the 225 stat total is the shard cap, Config/PlayerCaps.cfg) — enough STR and DEX to swing a halberd and survive, with INT leading for the mana pool.

How it plays

• Open with the weapon. Land a heavy halberd hit (and a weapon special if available), then start your spell combo while the target is already hurt. See advanced combat for weapon specials.
• Alternate weapon and spell — the swing keeps pressure and interrupt potential on the enemy while your spells reload; the spells finish what the weapon started.
• No shield. A halberd is two-handed, so you have no free hand for a shield — lean on Resist, hit points, and Greater Heal for defense.
• Re-arming costs a beat. Unlike a wrestling tank mage, drawing/sheathing the weapon takes time; decide before the fight whether you’re opening with steel or with a spell.

Money

Farms the Mage template ladder with extra melee punch for tougher, slower targets — the halberd shortens fights against high-HP monsters that a pure mage would have to kite for a long time. Recall logistics and elemental/undead farming are the same.

See also

• Mage template — the underlying caster storyline.
• PvP builds — the 마사 variants in player combat.
• Swordsmanship, weapons, advanced combat.
• Sibling builds: Alchemy Mage, Stun Mage.