From the Developer's Corner at UO Stratics:

Player: Am i correct in that you can reach the necessary caps via items and the only way to exceed the caps is by using a proficiency.

And if so, how many do we get, one of each or more? ( i must have missed it)

I think this is a good first step in leveling the stacking of items.

Wilki: Yes, that is correct.

Without any proficiencies, you can get up to the value in the "cap" column in the first table for that item property. The value for each proficiency raises that cap by the stated amount. The proficiencies by themselves don't give you any sort of bonus to abilities, rather they just raise the cap, allowing you to take better advantadge of what your items give you.

Currently, the proposal says 1 proficiency per 100 skill points. So, you'd have 7 for a fully developed character.

Player: Cap Cap mod Prof
Skill bonus +10 +10 Worldly

Does that say that ALL skills will be capped at 110, and to for me to access any skill that ive trained over i will need a prof?
Will that be one prof per skill over 110 i want to be able to use?

Coz of so then that idea really isnt going down to well with me. Can anyone clear that up for me please before i start to really panic?

Wilki: This doesn't affect the normal skill system, just +skill items.

Player: For example.....Is the SDI bonus from, say, Eval. Int. or Inscrip. included in reaching the cap SDI cap? Dex and Stamina included in reaching the swing speed cap?

Wilki: No, proficiencies only affect bonuses you get from item properties.

Player: Are the items required for unlocking 2nd tier proficiencies going to be items you WEAR, and in wearing them you unlock that proficiency...

OR

Are said items going to be One-Use USEABLE items that you USE to unlock and activate the 2nd tier proficiency?

PLEASE say they're items that you use.. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!

Wilki: I'm pretty sure that they're items you would use, though how you get proficiencies is very much open to suggestion. That was just one idea, we're certainly open to listening to others.

Making them items you would wear would seem to be counter to the purpose of the system.

Ok, I've got to run for today, family is in town from out of town, etc.... but I do see a lot of confusion here, so I think come Monday I'll work on a FAQ, and perhaps some visual aids to explain the idea.

The basic concept is that everyone can use a certain amount of every capped item property for free, but after that you can choose to spend your proficiencies in the areas were you want to get the most from your item properties. All they do is raise the cap, that's all. By themselves, proficencies don't give you anything at all. They also do not affect abilities you get from stats and skills, for example:

- Damage increase from tactics
- Spell damage from inscription
- Mana Regen from Meditation

All of those are unchanged by the proficiency system.

The biggest impact seems to be in the area of resists, but keep in mind that high-end power is going down as well, so you directly compare 50 resist today to 50 resist post-pub41. Also, if other things need to be adjusted, like taming, bards, monsters, etc, then we'll take a look at those things as well. This system is just part of the overall solution.

Player: A final comment: The new changes are being proposed to balance PVPing, not PVM. Felucca was made specifically for PVPing. In my opinion, Felucca is where any changes should be made, if at all.

Wilki: PvP is the catalyst for these changes, however as we took a deeper look at all combat and how the item system and crafting systems work together, we realized that there were serious issues in all three that need to be addressed.

Please don't think of this as the "PvP change", because it's really changing combat in general.

I thought you were going to make it less item based this system still doesn't cap Lower Defense, Lower Attack, Hit Spell Attributes, and Leech abilities on the weapons themselves.

Now that you bring up Leech Weapons, Wilki stated that they are going to be looked into.