Ultima Few questions about Ultima IV.

[Zerth]

This is my first Ultima. I've downloaded the game and all the resources from GOG. Started the game, read the book of britannia astold by kyle the younger, answered the ethical question and now I'm a Druid, then my immediate goal is to speak with Lord British about the Quest of the Avatar...

Anyways, I'm taking a look at the game goodies and there are some stuffs that left me wondering:

1) The cluebook. I just skimmed through it and I didn't find anything about clues, but seems It tells what exactly are you going to find inside a dungeon or a town. Obviously a game guide and I don't wanna read further or use it whatsoever, or do I'm missing something?.

2) It's worth the trouble of translating the runic words on the map?.

That's pretty much it. I'm going to read The book of mystic wisdom for the time being.

 

[Sceptic]

1) "Cluebook" back in the days was what you'd call "game guide" today, some had hints and clues, but all had maps and walkthroughs. They almost never shipped with the game and had to be bought separately, and you really shouldn't be looking at it.

2) Not for U4 IMO, it should be relatively easy to figure everything out for yourself.

 

[octavius]

A piece of advice:

Don't forget that in combat it's the character who deals the killing blow that gets the XP.
This means that strong fighters like Dupre may hog lots of the XP from The Avatar. The Avatar must be at least lvl 8 to access the final dungeon.

 

[Neanderthal]

Translate the Futhark, its quite easy and becomes second nature after a while.
You have to have all eight companions to enter the last bit of the game so don't forget em.
Note things down, follow clues and explore, you'll come across hidden things such as reagents, mantras etc.
Take your time, experience the game and all it has to offer.
Your answers to the ethical questions decides your class and starting location, as a Druid you're focused on Justice and start near Yew, while a Fighter would focus on Valor and start near Jhelom for instance.

 

[Zerth]

Well then. I'll delete the cluebook, and I suppose can learn the runes quickly enough.
I'm actually taking notes already. My first entry on my journal is to not forget I have to find this famed Lord British first and foremost. And indeed, I've started near Yew.
Didn't know last hitting counts here for XP gain, fortunately, according to the Book of Britannia, Druids favor the bow besides blunt weapons, I hope attacking from distance would make it easier.

 

[Leitz]

Play Ultima 3 instead. It's much better.

 

[Zerth]

Play Ultima 3 instead. It's much better.

Why It's much better?

 

[Martyr]

Play Ultima 3 5 instead. It's much better.

fixed !

 

[Darkzone]

Play Ultima 3 instead. It's much better.

Why It's much better?

He is fucking around with you. Ultima 4, 5 and 6 is "the" trillogy to play. UIV is not that good compared to 5 and 6, but it is the start of the trilogy and don't stop playing the UIV just because it is not so good. And yes learning the Futhark is part of the game.

 

[taxalot]

Ultima III is absolutely terrible ; I tried to replay it legitimately the other day, but holy fucking shit, that save system. No. NO. NOOO.

 

[Zerth]

....

I gave it Ultima IV a go because I found its premise compelling, so, no way I'm gonna stop playing this. I didn't create this thread to find out which one is better anyways.
Didn't know this is part of a trilogy though.

 

[groundhog]

I've recently completed Ultima IV and I really enjoyed it. The best part is slowly uncovering the clues relating to the virtues and the items and tasks required to complete the adventure. So try not to use a walkthrough unless you get absolutely stuck, otherwise you'll lose much of the satisfaction that the game can provide. The combat unfortunately is dull and becomes very repetitive, but it doesn't stop it being a great experience.

The best advice I would give is to make lots of notes. For each town, castle and village, make careful notes of what is there, the name of everyone you spoke to, where they can be found and exactly what they said. It will save you an enormous amount of time and frustration!

 

[c2007]

When you get to the palacial home of Lord British, save before entering.

Then, go to his court, and attack that son of a bitch. Kill him, take his crown, and rule Brittania in his stead as Bane of the Avatar.

Good luck!

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Don't level up until you have banked a lot of XP. Enemies scale so if you level up too much you may end up fighting demons in random battles and that's no fun.

 

[Irata]

I always thought Ultima 2 was the best... I thought it was cool going through time and then to space. I was a wee lad though so maybe that had more to do with my imagination than the actual game.

 

[Max Stats]

I always thought Ultima 2 was the best... I thought it was cool going through time and then to space. I was a wee lad though so maybe that had more to do with my imagination than the actual game.

You go to space in Ultima 1 as well. Ultima 7 has an easter egg that implies

Spoiler

it and Wing Commander are in the same reality.

 

[Daemongar]

Eh, look. Ultima IV is a great game. Just play it organically. Not with a walk through, but try to experience it without trying to see what comes next. I'm ok with using a walk through for dungeons, as the world has moved beyond hand-mapping so don't beat yourself up over this.
Trust me, try to learn the runes. You'll be reading runes as a second language if you just spend a little time on it, and it's worth it for V, VI and VII. You'll be part of an elite cadre of folks, so don't take this lightly. When I played Ultima VI I walked through a huge cemetery in Yew reading about 40 tombstones without breaking a sweat, with 8 years between Ultima IV and Ultima VI.
Take notes on conversations. It involves you with the story as it progresses.
A cluebook may have you doing things out of order. Try to resist if you can. Ultima IV is an experience, not something to be rushed through for bragging rights.

 

[Monk]

I remember finishing the game, and it said that it took me two million moves.

 

[Zerth]

Well, U4 is being quite a pleasant surprise so far, the more time I spend in Britannia the more I wish have discovered this series far earlier. More precisely, when I was a preteen during early 2000's, with vastly more free time in my hands than I have today, which spent playing a crap ton of JRPGs, because this genre was a novelty to me and didn't know anything better than console stuffs.

Anyways, always been a huge fan of epics, delving in hazardous worlds and fulfill quests, etc. And my media exposure sold me that Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy,pokemon and such were the quintessential epic roleplaying shit. Yet, I ended up forcing myself to finish most of them. Pretty artwork but overall sterile games, cuz on these I only found: empty static overworlds, NPCs that mostly don't tell anything, lack of options(except for pokemon but nvm)...

In contrast, the few hours in britannia has been more engaging than the hundreds I spent on most classic squenix jrpgs back then:

1) Overwold isn't a glorified board. I ventured inside deeper forest, I moved slower and my range of vision was noticeably reduced.

2) The most dangerous encounter I stumble across so far was a party of a Orc and a axe hurling troll. The orc approached and troll
was hurling crap as it was in a bullet hell or something. I took cover behind a rock, wait up until the orc approached and 1v1 him
until drop dead (most times they run away after a few hits). I stayed in cover until the troll stopped spamming shit, then I shorten distance, stab him and won. Opened the chest and ended up poisoned, WTF, fortunately, I started with some few reagents, mixed them up and created a cure spell. My reward were measly 65 coins, but it was fun nonetheless.

3) In Yew, almost everybody is eager to explain what justice is about and ended up taking notes like a journalist with OCD. After talking with some few wandering druids, I learned I needed a rune, and after getting the rune, I should look for a shrine northeast, chant the mantra, and seek the green stone in "Wrong"!.

No idea what they're talking about, but not matter right now, since latter I obtained the 'j' rune after Talford told me how to get it. Also, I found a few druids chanting around a pyre which turns out to be an elemental called flamis, withholding the "fabric" of justice.

​

I noticed druids were chanting "Beh", and assumed that was the mantra. I went northeast and found an altar, I meditated for justice and input "Beh" as mantra. As It turns out, to my suprise, it was actually a mantra, I got revelations about how to remain just: pretty much not stealing and refrain from killing non-evil creatures. I'm yet to find out how to use the rune.

Btw, getting the hang of futhark. Has a few quirks like "HE" instead of "THE" when translated, or "HERES" or "UVALORIAN". I translated the entire map to find out where is Yew, I assume is whitin he deep forest...

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

During my Amiga days I could read those runes fluently.
I remember me and my younger bro writing secret messages using those.

 

[octavius]

There's no "Nerd" emoticon, so "Prestigious" will have to do.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

There's no "Nerd" emoticon, so "Prestigious" will have to do.

Quenya was too sophisticated to write in with.

 

[Bruma Hobo]

A piece of advice:

Don't forget that in combat it's the character who deals the killing blow that gets the XP.
This means that strong fighters like Dupre may hog lots of the XP from The Avatar. The Avatar must be at least lvl 8 to access the final dungeon.

This is not very useful since the Avatar will gain enough experience to get to level 7 just by collecting quest items, it's quite easy to hit level 8 long before the Abyss. Companions on the other hand need to last-hit monsters in combat if you want them to level up.

 

[octavius]

Last time I played it was a problem for me.

 

[Jack Dandy]

Haha, this thread takes me back. I have a notepad in which I jotted down all kinds of dungeon sketches and in-game tips like the ones you found.
"Alkerion knows about a stone!"
"A hidden shepherd in Minoc knows about the sacrifice mantra!"
"Chuckles knows about a secret!"

So on, so forth. I had a little habit of marking hints with a "Done!" sign once I investigated them. Strangely addictive.
Such a lovely game. Aged well. Played it about 7 years ago, now.