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As I mentioned in several other topics, I have played these games practically my entire life (my dad already owned 1-6 on the original floppies, and watching him play 5 quite a bit as a kid got me interested). But I was always bad at them, then again I don't think he ever beat any of them either. Though in the case of 5, he at least made into Doom occasionally, but never made it to the bottom. A few years back, I finally started to beat some of the later ones, then a few days ago I decided to start from the begging, and to my surprise, finally beat 1 and then beat 2 the next day (with more ease than I thought, other than the garbage space mini-game in 1).

My progress as of starting this topic, all of them have been played various amounts of times:

Ultima 1 - Beaten.
Ultima 2 - Beaten.
Ultima 3 - Unbeaten, currently in progress.
Ultima 4 - Unbeaten.
Ultima 5 - Unbeaten.
Ultima 6 - Unbeaten.
Ultima 7 (Black Gate) - Unbeaten.
Ultima 7 (Serpent Isle) - Beaten.
Ultima 8 - Beaten.
Ultima 9 - Unbeaten (should be beaten, but my game crashed and computer died when I was at the start of the Guardian's castle. I hold a grudge against this game that makes it hard to return to, due to a combination of that and issues with the story/gameplay. It actually would have been the first to be beaten, if not for that).

Underworld 1 - Unbeaten
Underword 2 - Unbeaten (as the only spinoff connected to the main story, this will come first if/when I finish the main games up to Black Gate).

Worlds of Ultima 1 - Unbeaten.
Worlds of Ultima 2 - Unbeaten.

My intention is to try to make it through 3-Black Gate and Underworld 2, if I can, then probably the other spin-offs.

1 and 2 were surprisingly quick. I seem to be getting a better start than before at 3 too, but still considerably more grindy. I couldn't do the steal spree I did in 1 and 2 (and of course 3 is the last one before virtue/karma stops that), but I did the next best thing. Creating two sets of three characters to hand gold/food to the returning slayer of Mondain and Minax, then deleting them. Also got lucky to get a boat quickly and grabbed the exotics. Everyone uses the armor, only my cleric is currently using the weapon, everyone else has bows (and two of them will eventually be upgraded to +4 Bows, the returning hero can't do that though, she's following tradition, a thief in all three games).

That's the up to now report. From here on, the idea will just be one topic to confine all my progress/observations too (questions may or may not get separate topics, but I don't expect to have many).
You're missing console releases, which are often significantly different from the PC verisons.

In particular:

Ultima 3 NES: Similar to the PC version, but some significant differences, decent game
Ultima 4 NES: Differs from the PC version, good game
Ultima 4 SMS: Similar to the PC version with some improvements, good game (and my favorite non-NES version)
Ultima 5 NES: Differs from the PC version, bad game
Ultima 6 SNES: Similar to the PC version (but with some things removed), decent game
Ultima 7 SNES: Different from the PC version, decent game (but don't expect the same game)

Ultima: Runes of Virtue (Game Boy): More of a Zelda-like
Ultima: Runes of Virtue 2 (Game Boy/SNES): More of the same. To my understanding, the only significant difference between the versions is the graphics and sound quality.

I could also mention a couple other games out there that could be on the list:
Ultima: Escape from Mt. Dresh (really just Ultima in name only)
Akalabeth (could be considered Ultima 0)
I've heard of all of them console wise, played a few (3 and 4 for NES). I'm not inclined to go that far, just one version of each is fine. The DOS/PC series is enough for me, MAYBE the Runes of Virtue games too, since they aren't alternate versions of other games. I also considered including Akalabeth on the list, but decided not to.
Small Ultima 3 update. Grind is certainly slower than 1 and 2. After everyone hit level 5, made the first dungeon trip to get the mark of kings. Now everyone is level 9, low stats is becoming a pain, but want a LOT of gold before attempting Ambrosia. Also need a new boat, whirlpool stole my first as I was saving. Gave up on the +4 bows too after being reminded of the cost, but did get +2 bows for the two who could equip them. Probably not going to buy any other weapons/armor.
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suchiuomizu: Small Ultima 3 update. Grind is certainly slower than 1 and 2. After everyone hit level 5, made the first dungeon trip to get the mark of kings. Now everyone is level 9, low stats is becoming a pain, but want a LOT of gold before attempting Ambrosia. Also need a new boat, whirlpool stole my first as I was saving. Gave up on the +4 bows too after being reminded of the cost, but did get +2 bows for the two who could equip them. Probably not going to buy any other weapons/armor.
Don't forget keys for your Ambrosia trip!

Would you like to hear about a reliable way to get a ship (without relying on RNG to spawn a pirate ship)?
I've beaten a number of the Ultima games although most of that was originally on the Color Computer 2.
I've beaten
Utlima 1(Years later)
Ultima 3
Ultima 4
Ultima 5

I keep telling myself one day I'll go back and get the rest.
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suchiuomizu: Small Ultima 3 update. Grind is certainly slower than 1 and 2. After everyone hit level 5, made the first dungeon trip to get the mark of kings. Now everyone is level 9, low stats is becoming a pain, but want a LOT of gold before attempting Ambrosia. Also need a new boat, whirlpool stole my first as I was saving. Gave up on the +4 bows too after being reminded of the cost, but did get +2 bows for the two who could equip them. Probably not going to buy any other weapons/armor.
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dtgreene: Don't forget keys for your Ambrosia trip!

Would you like to hear about a reliable way to get a ship (without relying on RNG to spawn a pirate ship)?
I bought 15 keys earlier (and 3 powders, 23 torches), hoping that was enough for at least one trip over there, Assuming it is, at the moment food is the only thing left leeching on my gold saving.

Is the boat trick the one in the old ‘where are all the boats?’ topic involving Lord British’s castle? That’s something to consider, though I have the auto save disabled at the moment.
Well, I found a second boat before giving that trick an attempt, but may keep it in mind for the next one. Got levels of 14/14/13/12 in the process (and the 13 is just short of 14). Also grabbed the mark of fire after seeing there was a relatively safe dungeon for that. Can get back to the gold farm now, since the remaining 2 marks look too risky for low stats.
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suchiuomizu: Is the boat trick the one in the old ‘where are all the boats?’ topic involving Lord British’s castle? That’s something to consider, though I have the auto save disabled at the moment.
Yes, that's the trick I am talking about.

While it avoids RNG, it does have the disadvantage that one character has to die, but that may be preferable.
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abbayarra: I've beaten a number of the Ultima games although most of that was originally on the Color Computer 2.
I've beaten
Utlima 1(Years later)
Ultima 3
Ultima 4
Ultima 5

I keep telling myself one day I'll go back and get the rest.
What I've beaten:
Ultima 1
Ultima 3 (PC, never beat NES)
Ultima 4 (PC)
Ultima 4 (NES, only one I beat as a child, and only console port I've beaten)
Ultima 4 (SMS; I prefer this one to PC)
Ultima 5 (PC; the NES version looked so horrible that it turned me off from even trying the PC version for a long time)
Ultima 6 (PC)
[Ultima 7 (PC)], but using that one "cheat" room hidden in Trinsic to skip the entire game, so I don't think it counts.

(Worth noting that I didn't like Ultima 7. I've tried Serpent Isle, but didn't get far; excessive text and no spellbook for a while really hurt that game.)

(Also, haven't tried Ultima 8 and 9 because the Avatar is forced to be male in both of them.)

Also beat the first Ultima: Runes of Virtue as a child.
Post edited May 01, 2021 by dtgreene
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suchiuomizu: I bought 15 keys earlier (and 3 powders, 23 torches), hoping that was enough for at least one trip over there, Assuming it is, at the moment food is the only thing left leeching on my gold saving.
That's plenty, though you might want to bring a few gems if you're not yet familiar with the area (at least until you get that one Cleric spell).

Starvation isn't that bad in this game; I believe it just does something like 10 damage every 5 (or 20 if not on the world map) steps, and if you have decent healing capabilities, you can outheal the starvation. It's not like Ultima 1/2 where running out of food is instant death. Also, have you found a healing fountain in a dungeon? They heal you fully, and can be faster than just repeatedly casting healing spells (even considering the time it takes to reach the fountain). (Poison isn't dangerous either, and you can cure it in dungeons if you don't yet have the spell.)

There are tricks to getting tons of money. One involves stealing from a certain town, but I personally like going into a certain dungeon and taking advantage of the fact that ladder up/down spells take you to a random spot on the target floor.

Also, in Ambrosia there are no random encounters or respawns while you're there; every enemy you encounter there spawns as soon as you enter, and the same enemies will be there every time you return to Ambrosia. This means you can just walk around to recover your MP if you need to.
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suchiuomizu: I bought 15 keys earlier (and 3 powders, 23 torches), hoping that was enough for at least one trip over there, Assuming it is, at the moment food is the only thing left leeching on my gold saving.
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dtgreene: That's plenty, though you might want to bring a few gems if you're not yet familiar with the area (at least until you get that one Cleric spell).

Starvation isn't that bad in this game; I believe it just does something like 10 damage every 5 (or 20 if not on the world map) steps, and if you have decent healing capabilities, you can outheal the starvation. It's not like Ultima 1/2 where running out of food is instant death. Also, have you found a healing fountain in a dungeon? They heal you fully, and can be faster than just repeatedly casting healing spells (even considering the time it takes to reach the fountain). (Poison isn't dangerous either, and you can cure it in dungeons if you don't yet have the spell.)

There are tricks to getting tons of money. One involves stealing from a certain town, but I personally like going into a certain dungeon and taking advantage of the fact that ladder up/down spells take you to a random spot on the target floor.

Also, in Ambrosia there are no random encounters or respawns while you're there; every enemy you encounter there spawns as soon as you enter, and the same enemies will be there every time you return to Ambrosia. This means you can just walk around to recover your MP if you need to.
I made an early trip to Ambrosia, with less gold than I wanted to, but got my two biggest priorities out of the way, max MP for my cleric and dexterity for my thief. I’ve been running around floor 1 Dungeon of the Snake for gold (except in my boatless period, where I did not feel like dealing with moongates). Did not help that I realized after the fact I screwed up in character creation, felt the MP was rather low, that was because I gave the cleric intelligence at the start, instead of wisdom. Hopefully with the dexterity, I won’t keep getting hit by chest traps and that part will be less annoying.

Got 3 out 4 cards while I was there, avoided the temple of strength, since that would have had battles.
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suchiuomizu: Hopefully with the dexterity, I won’t keep getting hit by chest traps and that part will be less annoying.
You have a thief in your party; therefore your thief should be the one opening treasure chests (unless you opt to use the spell for safety). Also, put your thief in the first slot while in dungeons; this will help with dungeon traps.

Specifically, the chance to avoid traps, out of 256, is as follows:
Thief: DEX + 128
Half-thief: DEX + 64
Others: DEX

(Half-thief includes Barbarian, Alchemist, Illusionist, and Ranger.)

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suchiuomizu: Did not help that I realized after the fact I screwed up in character creation, felt the MP was rather low, that was because I gave the cleric intelligence at the start, instead of wisdom.
Fortunately, training a new character isn't that bad, if you chose a bad race for your Cleric (or anyone else). A character with high DEX and a strong bow, or one with a screen clearing attack (Cleric 70 or Wizard 65/75) can gain a lot of experience easily, and Wizard 70 will reliably reduce every enemy to just 1 hit point.

Edit: Also worth noting that 99 DEX means that you'll almost never miss, which is handy. (Barring a certain rule that only affects the final area of the game.)
Post edited May 01, 2021 by dtgreene
I had the right race for the cleric, I just got confused on which stat was wizard and which was cleric when making the character. I'm done with Ambrosia now, all 4 cards and any further stat increases would be a waste (intelligence on anyone and wisdom on the two who can't cast at all). All that is left is getting the marks of force and snake, and maybe a little last leveling, just because I am already so close to the cap on everyone (23/25/22/25). Will see what the two lower level characters have when the marks are done.

For reference, the party is:

Human Fighter (level 23)
Dwarf Paladin (25)
Elf Thief (22)
Bobbit Cleric (25)

Part of the reason those two are lower is the enemy always seems to be heavier in numbers on the other side (which meant the paladin got a lot of the kills, the cleric caught up after Ambrosia and being able to hit things with 'Zxkuqyb'.
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suchiuomizu: 'Zxkuqyb'
What a strange name, though I think I like the name of the Wizard's final spell better.
3 is done. Speaking of wondering what was going through Garriot’s mind, I finally had the legendary battle with....Exodus’ floor.