UO Cartography Skill Guide
Cartography is the skill used to decode treasure maps and craft world maps. It is essential for Treasure Hunters and plays a support role for Fishing (SOS maps). While often overlooked, it's a necessary skill for high-level loot hunting.
Cartography is a utility skill in Ultima Online, rated as Easy difficulty to train. This guide walks you through everything you need to raise Cartography from 0 to grandmaster, including the most efficient training methods, the targets and items to use at each skill range, and the gains you can expect along the way. Whether you are building your first character or optimizing a finished template, the breakdown below will help you train Cartography as quickly and cheaply as possible.
Below you will find an overview of what Cartography does, a step-by-step training guide, recommended skill ranges, any bonuses Cartography provides, and the templates that pair well with it. If you would rather skip the grind, UO King can deliver a ready-made character or the gear you need to support a Cartography build on your shard.
Cartography is the mapmaking skill, and it is the gateway trade for treasure hunting in Ultima Online. To draw a map you need a mapmaker's pen (bought from NPC mapmakers or crafted by a tinker) and a blank scroll in your backpack; double-clicking the pen opens the cartographer's crafting menu. The same skill also governs whether you can decode the treasure maps that drop from monsters and chests, so anyone chasing buried loot needs to invest in it before they can even read the higher-level maps.
Uses the standard UO formula (skill − item minimum) ÷ (100%-skill − item minimum). The 100%-success skill is usually about 30 points above an item's minimum; adjust it to match the exact item.
Train by creating local and world maps, then transition to decoding treasure maps once skill is high enough. Scrolls of Alacrity and Bulk crafting help speed things up.
| Skill Range | Recommended Method |
|---|---|
| 0.0 – 30.0 | Train from a Mapmaker NPC |
| 30.0 – 50.0 | Create Local Maps using Blank Scrolls |
| 50.0 – 70.0 | Create World Maps |
| 70.0 – 100.0 | Decode level 1–3 Treasure Maps |
| 100.0 – 120.0 | Decode level 4–7 Treasure Maps and Ancient SOS |
0.0 – 30.0
30.0 – 50.0
50.0 – 70.0
70.0 – 100.0
100.0 – 120.0
Cartography's value shows up in two places: the quality of maps you can craft, and the difficulty of treasure maps you can decipher.
- Talisman Bonus: A cartography talisman adds to your effective skill when making maps, which is why the original calculator asks for both your base skill and a talisman value.
- Treasure Hunting Access: Higher skill unlocks the ability to read progressively tougher treasure maps, gating you into the more rewarding dig sites.
- Support Skills: Cartography is typically paired with Lockpicking, Mining, and combat skills to form a complete treasure-hunter build.
When crafting, each map type has a minimum skill and a success chance that improves as your skill climbs above the requirement. The craftable map tiers are as follows:
| Map Type | Required Skill | Base Success Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Local Map | 0 | 0% |
| City Map | 25.0 | 0% |
| Sea Map | 35.0 | 0% |
| World Map | 50.0 | 0% |
| Tattered Wall Map | 50.0 | 0% |
Reading treasure maps is what most players actually care about. Each map is labeled with a descriptive phrase that tells you its level, and every level demands a minimum Cartography skill before it can be decoded:
| Map Level | Map Description | Skill Required |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Youthfully Drawn (no longer available) | 0.0 |
| 1 | Plainly Drawn | 27.0 |
| 2 | Expertly Drawn | 71.0 |
| 3 | Adeptly Drawn | 81.0 |
| 4 | Cleverly Drawn | 91.0 |
| 5 | Deviously Drawn | 100 |
| 6 | Ingeniously Drawn | 100 |