Poisoning

Poisoning is the alchemist-assassin's skill: applies poison to weapons and food, scales the Poison and Poison Field Magery spells, and grants natural poison resistance equal to 20% of the skill. In modern UO, classical applied poison is gated behind specific weapons and the Infectious Strike weapon special — but the skill remains central to assassin templates and the Greater Poison-on-hit damage profile.

Skill effects

The skill carries four effects:

1. Apply poison to weapons and food. Standard use; applies a poison level the wielder has trained to.
2. Boost Magery Poison spells. Poison and Poison Field do more damage and last longer with high Poisoning skill.
3. Natural poison resistance. Resists incoming poisons by 20% of the Poisoning skill — at GM, a 20-point bonus to poison resist beyond armor.
4. Replaces Tactics for poison-special probability. When firing Infectious Strike or Serpent Arrow, the Poisoning skill stands in for Tactics in determining whether the special lands its poison effect. The standard 70/90 weapon-skill threshold for primary/secondary specials still applies, however — Poisoning does not bypass that gate. Mage Weapon does not substitute for the weapon skill on poison specials.

Poison levels

Poisoning has five levels of toxin, applied progressively as the skill rises:

Higher Poisoning lets a character apply a level higher than what's on the weapon — a 100 Poisoning character with a Greater Poison kryss can deliver Deadly Poison on Infectious Strike when the skill check passes.

Cure dynamics — and the PvP problem

Greater Cure Potion or the Magery Arch Cure spell will fully cure most poisons on a successful application. In PvP, the cure-cycle defeats the poison cycle: a Greater Cure potion downed by the opponent immediately after the Infectious Strike lands erases the poison damage before the next tick fires.

This is the perpetual criticism of Poisoning in modern PvP — the build invests heavily for an effect easily countered by a 5-second potion drink. Poisoning remains highly effective in PvM (where boss creatures rarely cure) and role-play contexts, but is a niche pick for PvP tournament play. Build mitigation: combine Infectious Strike with Mortal Strike (cancels healing for a window) or with Bleed Attack to compound the damage profile.

Weapons that accept Poisoning

Most fencing weapons accept the poison apply — that's why Fencing pairs naturally with Poisoning. Specific weapon categories:

Fencing weapons (one-handed)

Fencing weapons (two-handed)

Swordsmanship weapons (Tinker-craft only)

Archery weapons

The Kryss + Infectious Strike is the classic poison-assassin weapon: 2-second swing, Armor Ignore opener, Infectious Strike follow-up. Kryss alone does most of what the build needs.

Shuriken and Fukiya Darts (Ninjitsu projectile weapons) can also be poisoned and apply poison regardless of skill level — the only ranged delivery options outside the Elven Composite Longbow's Serpent Arrow.

Pre-rework poisoning

Originally, poison applied to any weapon, persisted indefinitely on hits, and would slowly corrode the weapon's durability. An Oil Cloth was needed to clean the poison off without destroying the weapon. The corrosion mechanic was removed in a later publish; modern poisoned weapons keep durability normally.

The current rule: poison apply only works on Infectious Strike-eligible weapons (Fencing primary line + Tinker-craft swords + Elven Composite Longbow), Shuriken, and Fukiya Darts. To use poison on any other weapon, the wielder must activate Poison Mastery (a temporary mastery effect), or use the Mysticism Injected Strike spell (works through any weapon).

Training

There is no New-Player accelerated quest for Poisoning — uniquely, poisoning skill must be trained the long way. The cost: roughly 80,000 Nightshade worth of brewed poisons to reach GM through standard apply-to-weapon training.

Each apply attempt has a small chance to accidentally poison the trainer. Carry several Greater Cure potions during training; the self-poisoning is more annoying than dangerous but interrupts the cycle.

After 70 weapon skill, every Infectious Strike activation rolls a Poisoning gain check — Tactics is not required for the gain to fire. After 90 Archery + Tactics, Serpent Arrow casts roll a gain. This is the in-combat training path: dual-skill an Infectious Strike rotation in PvM and gain Poisoning passively.

The Satyr Trick (see Lockpicking) also accelerates Poisoning — Discord drops effective skill, lower-skill apply rolls produce gain checks faster.

A creative training path: use Dryad Allure to control an Arctic Ogre Lord, equip a 100% poison-damage weapon, and pound it with Infectious Strike or Serpent Arrow. The Ogre Lord absorbs hits, Infectious Strike chain delivers poison, gain rolls fire on each cast.

Alchemy is required to brew poison from Nightshade. Most aspiring poisoners either build Alchemy alongside Poisoning, or buy poison kegs from Alchemists in bulk. A poison keg holds 100 charges, drastically cutting click time during training.

Build context

• Poison Dexer. 120 Fencing + 120 Tactics + 120 Anatomy + 100 Poisoning + 120 Healing + Bushido or Chivalry. Kryss + Infectious Strike + Cure Potion cycle, paired with Vampiric Embrace if Necromancy is in the build.
• Stealth Assassin. 100 Hiding + 100 Stealth + 100 Ninjitsu + 80 Fencing + 100 Poisoning + Tactics + Anatomy. Smoke Bomb in, Infectious Strike out. Greater poison-on-strike-from-stealth opener.
• Mage-Poisoner. 120 Magery + 120 Eval Int + 100 Poisoning + Resist + Med + Wrestling. Boosts Poison and Poison Field damage; mage-PvP variant.
• Mystic-Poisoner. 120 Mysticism + 120 Focus + 100 Poisoning + 120 Throwing + Tactics. Pairs Injected Strike (Mysticism spell-on-weapon) with Throwing-class poison delivery.
• Alchemist-Poisoner. Alchemy + Poisoning + Tinkering — self-sufficient on poison kegs and trapped boxes.

Strategy notes

• Buy poison by the keg. A 100-charge poison keg from a partner Alchemist saves clicks and reagents. Greater Poison kegs are the standard middle-tier; Lethal kegs are rare drops.
• Self-poison hazard. During training, especially when stepping up to higher poison levels, the apply-attempt may poison the trainer. Carry Greater Cure potions on a hot bar.
• Mortal + Poison stack. Infectious Strike on a Mortal-Strike-applicable weapon (Pike, Crossbow) means the mortal-window blocks the cure, and the poison ticks through. The classic PvM debuff combo.
• GM Poisoning's poison resist. The 20% skill bonus means GM Poisoning grants +20 poison resist passively. Stacks with armor poison resist; useful for any character that engages Greater Dragons or Lich Lords.
• Poison Mastery is the universal unlock. Activated mastery ability that lets the user poison any weapon for the duration. Useful for mace-fighters or swordsmen who normally can't poison their primary weapon.

See also

Alchemy, Nightshade, Magery, Infectious Strike, Serpent Arrow, Mortal Strike, Bleed Attack, Tactics, Mage Weapon, Mysticism, Injected Strike, Ninjitsu, Shuriken, Fukiya Dart, Greater Cure Potion, Arch Cure, Oil Cloth, Kryss, Pike, Cleaver, Butcher Knife, Elven Composite Longbow, Dryad Allure, Arctic Ogre Lord, Satyr Trick, Poison Mastery.