Ultima IX: Ascension
- July 11, 2003 16:22 PM PST
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Britannia on 100 Gold a Day or general strategies, plot references and dungeon guide for the Avatar in all of us.
Surviving in the Britannia of Ultima IX: Ascension is a tough deal. It's a huge place, filled with traps and enemies-so many, that's easy to go down in flames (quite literally) practically from the moment you arrive. That's why we've put together a strategy guide offering general hints, some useful combat and training tactics, and dungeon-specific tips. Follow along with us, Avatar, and your path to defeating the Guardian will be lot less stressful.Character Creation and Statistics
Statistics
Your choice of profession only has a significant impact on the early game. Since there are four accomplishment levels of three statistics (Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence) and solving major quests lets you raise a statistic, you'll eventually max out in nearly everything by the game's end no matter what your starting stats were.
With that said, note that most magic is "disabled" in Britannia until you free it up, step by step, finishing one shrine's freedom at a time. It follows from this that the Intelligence statistic (which governs how much magical mana you've got) is pretty useless at the game's beginning, and professions which grant early boosts to Intelligence (notably mage and druid) are less effective at that point than professions which give you more strength or combat ability (bard, fighter, tinker).
Shepherds
Shepherds (whose virtue is Humility) are a special case. They start with literally no statistical boost in any category, unlike the other professions. (Too humble to claim one, I guess.) This gives shepherd Avatars great difficulty in the early game, and helps explain why they're such a bad insurance risk. But to make up for this, they receive the Crook of Charming, and a +15 karma.
What's the Crook of Charming? It's simply one of the best bashing weapons in Brittania, and has a chance to cast the Charm spell on an opponent when it hits. (Bashing weapons are less effective against armored foes, but do very nice damage against skeletons, which you'll encounter en masse in the tougher dungeons.)
Karma
What's Karma? Karma is a major "hidden" factor in your Avatar's success that becomes more important in later levels, as the mana cost for spells increases. Karma helps govern the amount of mana you have at any time, and you're rewarded with karma bonuses for finishing side quests. Moral: solve as many side quests as you can. Some of those high circle spells require a lot of mana to invoke.
Tricks of the Trade
Getting Gold:
A good way to increase your revenues early in the game is to kill those enormous crustaceans that bask on the shores near Buccaneer's Den. Use the Flaming Sword you'll find in Britain's Hedge Maze on them, and keep circling. Crustaceans have a powerful claw attack, but they're slow and ungainly. Somehow, they manage to keep a good stock of gold buried in their carapaces.
Food:
If you don't eat, nothing bad will happen: good news for Avatars suffering from anorexia. But if you're wounded, food will help rebuild your body. It's always a good idea to stock up on food if you're near the Castle in Britain, because the stuff is free: just go to the kitchen/dining area. If you've emptied the place out before, cast Ignite on the table candelabra, and a new buffet will magically appear.
Potion Creation:
With all those reagents scattered everywhere, you can do your bit to Help Keep Britannia Clean. Potion creation involves nothing more than placing a flask of water along with an appropriate reagent on an alchemy set.
Linear Spells:
Speaking of Ignite brings up the matter of Linear, or so-called 0 Circle spells. They are the only spells which work when you arrive in Britannia, and they cost absolutely nothing. The only thing required to cast one of these is to place the spell's icon in one of the function-key slots of your inventory bar. Stone is perhaps the most useful, since it can operate as a ranged attack without requiring you to swap out weapons (which doesn't always work). This lets you strike at an opponent with a sword, then throw rocks when they retreat (this latter being a tactic employed by several humanoid foes, including bandits and pirates).
