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- ULTIMA II Strategy
-
- Ultima II (The Revenge of the Enchantress) is Lord British's exciting sequel
- to Ultima I. In Ultima II, you are challenged to discover the secret of
- Minax, the evil apprentice of Mondain whom you defeated in Ultima I. Once
- again, you must create a player character who will roam land, sea, air, and
- even outer space, battling strange creatures and increasing your character's
- attributes and possessions. However, in Ultima II, you must also unlock the
- mysteries of the Time Doors. The strategy tips presented in this file should
- assist you in your difficult quest.
-
- I. CREATING A CHARACTER
-
- By allocating 90 points among 6 attributes and choosing race, profession,
- and sex, you may create a player character who is initially powerful or
- weak. For example, relatively high strength is the key to being able to wear
- certain armor; high agility will allow your character to wield certain
- weapons and steal more easily. I had good luck with my Elf Thief ("Bugsy")
- who was able to steal plenty of food, weapons, and armour. However, the
- Dwarf Wizard ("Hirsutus") I created endured a long, slow battle to merely
- stay alive. Experiment with different combinations to find out which is more
- successful and enjoyable for you.
-
- A note about spellcasters: Clerics and Wizards may purchase spells in
- Villages. However, spells are both very expensive and relatively useless.
- Spells can only be cast within Dungeons and Towers and, unfortunately, you
- can easily win the game without ever entering either of those places.
-
- II. BEGINNING THE QUEST
-
- You start out with 400 hit points, 400 foods, and 400 gold. This may seem
- like plenty, but it isn't. Your food disappears quickly as you explore, your
- hit points diminish rapidly when you are attacked by creatures, and your
- gold pieces must be exchanged for supplies and equipment. However, you can
- always attempt to steal, and you can purchase additional hit points by
- transacting with a King.
-
- Your first task is to obtain a weapon and armour. From where you are when
- you boot the game diskette, walk west and south into Towne Linda (it looks
- like a cloverleaf). You will find both an armoury and a weapons vendor
- there. After leaving Towne Linda, travel south until you reach Le Jester
- Village (it looks like 5 small circles). Villages are the only places where
- you can obtain additional food. Now you're ready to do some serious
- adventuring. But, before you begin your campaign in earnest, be sure to save
- the game. It's very easy to get killed, and you will want to be able to
- return to the status quo ante.
-
- A word of advice: This game has an annoying "feature" involving the save
- game function. First of all, unlike Ultima I, Ultima II has no provision for
- two disk drives, so be prepared for frequent disk swaps. Secondly, if your
- character enters a Town, Village, Castle, Dungeon, or Tower (i.e., there has
- been interaction with the player diskette), and you are then gravely injured
- or, perhaps, have spent money on an item you are not allowed to use, and you
- then *leave* that location (i.e., another disk interaction), you will not be
- able to turn off your machine and reboot to find your earlier (healthier!)
- save game position. The solution to this problem is this: When you realize
- that your character has lost a lot of hit points while within one of those
- locations, turn off your machine then and there. Since no writing to the
- diskette is involved, you can then reboot and recover your earlier position.
- My first player character lost 2,000 hit points in one Town before I learned
- this little trick.]
-
- III. THE INHABITANTS
-
- In order to gain experience points, valuable items, and gold, you must slay
- many creatures. The universe of Ultima II is populated by Orcs, Devils,
- Daemons, Thieves, Fighters, Clerics, Wizards, Balrons, Sea Serpents, Guards,
- Merchants, Jesters, Seers, Oracles, Kings, Queens, and, finally, Minax. Some
- you must simply kill; others you must not kill but must transact with.
-
- Transact with everyone you find in Towns, Villages, and Castles. Clues to
- solving the game will be revealed to you (occasionally, however, you have to
- offer gold to purchase a particularly valuable hint or item). In one Town,
- you will discover that offering gold results in significant increases to
- your character's attributes. As I mentioned earlier, you can obtain more hit
- points by transacting with a King (he pockets some of your gold as payment
- for this service). Be aware, however, that after 99 your attributes will
- roll over to 0! (Rollover occurs as well when any of your possessions total
- more than 99 and when your hit points, experience points, food, or gold
- climb above 9999). Don't be too greedy!
-
- IV. ITEMS
-
- Utilize the "Z" (status) command frequently, especially after you have slain
- a creature. You will notice that there are certain items in your inventory
- which were not there before the battle. You will learn what each of these
- items is for (e.g., magical boots save you from a paralysis spell and tools
- allow you to escape from traps in Towers or Dungeons), and will discover
- which creatures are more likely to possess something you need.
-
- There are a total of 20 objects for you to find, including: Torches, Keys,
- Tools, Quick Swords, Wands, Staffs, Boots, Cloaks, Helms, Gems, Ankhs, Red
- Gems, Skull Keys, Green Gems, Brass Buttons, Blue Tassles, Strange Coins,
- Green Idols, Tri- Lithiums, and Rings. Once you've obtained a particularly
- precious item (such as blue tassles which you'll need to board a frigate or
- strange coins which allow you to stop time), be sure to save the game state.
- Thieves just love to steal from you, and you may want to recover your
- earlier position. You will encounter an individual who claims to own "one of
- everything." Offer him gold and find out!
-
- V. TRANSPORTATION
-
- You may buy a horse in a Town in order to conserve food as you travel by
- land. However, frigates and planes are needed to traverse the oceans. You
- will need a rocketship to enter space.
-
- Frigates may be boarded (as they pass by you on a coastline) if you already
- possess a set of blue tassles. However, planes and rockets must be stolen.
- Planes are available in only one Town; you'll need brass buttons and skull
- keys in order to fly a plane. Once you have a plane, you can "walk" it
- through a Time Door (Time Doors are discussed in the next file entitled
- "Ultima II -- Layout").
-
- Rockets are found only in one Town and you'll need a number of items in
- order to blast off (if you need extra Tri-Lithiums, you can find hordes of
- the stuff on the highest level of a Tower or the lowest level of a Dungeon).
- Once in space, explore and transact until you discover the mysterious Planet
- X and the kindly Father Antos. A note about spaceflight: Landing is the
- trickiest part of this task; be extremely careful that you land on the
- grass, otherwise you'll be killed.
-
- VI. DEFEATING MINAX
-
- Ah, yes, the dread enchantress! She rules time and the universe, ever so
- confidently, from her chambers within her Castle on Legends. Do not attempt
- to destroy her until you have spent many, many hours developing your
- character's abilities and have obtained weapons, armour, and valuable items.
- One item in particular, a ring, must be in your possession if you wish to
- pass unscathed through Minax's force fields. She is unwilling to die easily
- and leads you on a not-so-merry chase from chamber to chamber while her
- minions attempt to kill you. You can deal with her lackeys by stopping time,
- but only if you have sufficient quantities of strange coins. Persist in your
- attack; she will ultimately succumb and she and all her works will be
- destroyed!
-
- ULTIMA II THE LAYOUT
-
- The cloth map and the pamphlet that come with the game are very helpful.
- Study both and make your own notes as you continue your quest. The map shows
- the world as it appears in the A.D. time period with symbols representing
- the 20 Time Doors that exist. The Time Doors take you from one time period
- to another, and there are five such periods: B.C. (1423 B.C.); A.D. (1990
- A.D.); Pangea (9 million B.C.); Aftermath (2112 A.D.); and Legends (no
- time). Once you obtain a magical helm, you will be able to "V"iew your exact
- location (note, however, that your helm disappears when you "V"). The
- following is an outline of the various time periods and the locations of
- their Time Doors.
-
- I. 1423 B.C.
-
- This is where you begin your adventure. You will find yourself in Eurasia
- with connecting passages by land to North America, Africa, and South
- America. Locations you'll visit include Towne Linda in Italy, Le Jester
- Village in Africa, a Tower in South America, a Dungeon in Greenland, Lord
- British's Castle in England, and a Signpost in Australia (islands may be
- reached once you board a frigate).
-
- There are 4 Time Doors: 1) The NW Time Door in Europe takes you to England
- in 1990 A.D.; 2) The North Central Time Door in Europe takes you to the
- eastern peninsula in 9 million B.C.; 3) The NE Time Door in North America
- takes you to Legends; and 4) The SE Time Door in South America takes you to
- the north of North America in 2112 A.D.
-
- II. 1990 A.D.
-
- Here you will visit Lord British's Castle and Port Bonifice in England, New
- San Antonio in North America, a Tower in Africa, a Dungeon in Greenland, and
- a Signpost in Australia.
-
- There are 4 Time Doors: 1) The Time Door in South America takes you to North
- America in 2112 A.D.; 2) The Time Door by the Signpost in Australia takes
- you to the eastern part of the continent in 9 million B.C.; 3) The Time Door
- near Lord British's Castle in England takes you to Europe in 1423 B.C.; and
- 4) The Time Door by the Dungeon in Greenland takes you to the east of the
- continent in 9 million B.C.
-
- III. 9 MILLION B.C.
-
- In this ancient time, the continents as we know them have not yet separated.
- This land mass appears to be one great island. You will visit Baradin's
- Town, a Dungeon, and a Signpost.
-
- There are 4 Time Doors: 1) The NE Time Door by the Dungeon takes you to
- Legends; 2) The eastern Time Door takes you to Europe in 1423 B.C.; 3) The
- southern Time Door near the Signpost takes you to England in 1990 A.D.; and
- 4) The north central Time Door (north of Baradin's Town) takes you to North
- America in 1990 A.D.
-
- IV. 2112 A.D.
-
- This is the world of the Aftermath, a time of high technology and
- destruction. Nothing remains in North America, South America or Africa, but
- there is a Town (Pirate's Harbour) in northern Europe, a Dungeon in
- Greenland, and a Signpost in Australia. You will need to bring an airplane
- through the Time Doors in order to fly from North America to Eurasia (where
- you will find a rocketship).
-
- There are 4 Time Doors: 1) In North America, the NW Time Door takes you to
- South America in 1990 A.D.; 2) The SE Time Door in North America takes you
- to Legends; 3) In Eurasia, the southern Time Door takes you to the east of
- the continent in 9 million B.C.; and 4) In eastern Eurasia, the Time Door
- takes you to Europe in 1423 B.C.
-
- V. LEGENDS
-
- You will visit Legends often in an attempt to break through Minax's armies
- and into her sanctum. Her Castle in located in the center of the continent;
- besides numerous creatures, there is only a Signpost on Legends.
-
- There are 4 Time Doors in a row south of the Signpost. Starting from the
- west: 1) This Time Door takes you to the northeast of the continent in 9
- million B.C.; 2) This one takes you to Europe in 1423 B.C.; 3) This one
- takes you to England in 1990 A.D.; and 4) The eastern Time Door takes you to
- North America in 2112 A.D. [Note: Dates and Time Door locations may differ
- in various versions of Ultima II.]
-
- VI. SPACE Use your galactic map to plot the coordinates for space travel.
- You will know you have reached the planet you are seeking when you find
- Towne Basko and Castle Barataria. Be prepared to fight; the inhabitants are
- belligerent and the thieves tend to steal from you. Remember also to take
- extreme care in landing your rocket; instant death results from one careless
- move. There are no Time Doors in space.
-
-
- xtreme care in landing your rocket; instant death results from o