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suchiuomizu: I considered that, if I wasn’t at the end of game and not wanting to do unnecessary grinding I might have included them. As it is, I’m in Doom, down to level 7 before finding the first really unpleasant room (dragons, and demons, with no barriers and the invisibility ring trick no longer working). May need to put some of those glass swords to use.
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abbayarra: It is time to use the spells from your mages and then use the crown and pull out all the stops! This is it, the big battle, time to use all those toys you have been saving.
Why not use the crown first, and *then* use your spells?

(The crown does not interfere with spells cast by you or your party members.)
Mostly just avoid possession or nasty effects which have occasionally happening stepping into a room after forgetting to put the crown on first. Also it did always seem to my spells for some reason.

But done with 5 for the time being, got the 8,000 experience. Now playing around with trying to figure out the transfer again, 6 is finding my U4 character, but not the U5 one.

Edit: Got the U6 transfer worked out.
Post edited May 10, 2021 by suchiuomizu
Ultima 6 is going to be slower for new reasons, reasons that all the games share from this point on. I have played it before, but never especially long or getting very far. 1-5, I knew what to do and where things were, until now I had just never been able to get strong enough to do them.

The lack of world map is just strange too, though the Orb of the Moons is a big help, combined with have general idea of how to get one place to another from 5 and 6, just without the usual view. Also going to be just taking more time interacting with NPCs, neglected that in 1-3 due to how little they say, and 4-5, I already did a lot of that in previous playthroughs.

The game gives the obvious first steps (take the Gargoyle Book to Mariah and free the shrines). I'm starting with the later, Shrine of Compassion has been freed. Will work my way through the others as the start.
Making gradual progress on 6. All shrines have had the stones recovered. Took out the Gargoyles while doing it most of the time, but sometimes they were too strong, just used the Orb to sneak back out as soon as I got the stone. Also had a talk with Mariah. Still early in that quest line.

Haven't done much else. Walked to Buccaneer's Den through the sewers and finally bought a boat while I was there. Dupre is carrying around the skiff from the Sewers. Besides that my only spending has been on a few spells, swamp boots for everyone, and a little food.

Avatar is now level 7. Rest of the party is Iolo, Shamino, Dupre, Jaana and Sherry. The others are at 4 or 5, except Sherry at 2. Moving through the story, but not rushing quite as much as the other games. Working on getting the Avatar to level 8, and should probably improve equipment, which is still mainly a mix of what was started with, what found in Lord British's castle, and a little from monsters/treasure.
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suchiuomizu: Avatar is now level 7.
Which means your level is high enough for my favorite glitch, as well as pretty much every other glitch that involves magic.

(To do this glitch, place the spell that's not in the manual onto a staff, give the staff to a companion, switch to solo mode for that character, and then have them use the staff. It's a rather neat glitch IMO, but unfortunately puts the game into a state where no more actions can be performed. Also, you still need to find the Enchant spell, as well as that "not in the manual" spell.)

(If you don't know what "not in the manual" spell I'm talking about, here's a little clue: Casting that spell will make the game unwinnable, so do not save after doing so.)

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suchiuomizu: Rest of the party is Iolo, Shamino, Dupre, Jaana and Sherry.
I've always wondered why Jaana can't cast spells in this game, particularly since there is *no* explanation for this in-game.

With Jaana being unable to cast spells, and Mariah and Johne not joining your party, there's *no* good spellcaster companions in this game, and that's always felt wrong to me.
Post edited May 12, 2021 by dtgreene
Got the Avatar to level 8, ended up going to Destard, solo mode, putting an invisibility ring on and stabbed dragons until I got enough exp for level 8. Was a little disappointed at what dragons drop. That's done, last annoyance with magic is to find the wisps to unlock the 8th circle spells Xiao sells. That and getting the gold to buy all the spells. Currently have 1,044 gold , with 16 spells, mostly in the lower circles.

Edit: Spent most of that gold. But the Avatar briefly returned to her Age of Darkness ways. Looted the Britain bank at night, using the bag trick to minimize karma loss, have 3,000ish gold at the moment.
Post edited May 13, 2021 by suchiuomizu
Still looking for the wisps, annoying little things. But moving on too.

Ah, the map. I have been vaugely aware of this over all these years, but this is the first time I have actually been at the point to bother to start collecting the pieces. Two pieces down, including making the trip back to Destard for the egg. In the process my Avatar finally got magic armor/helmet as well as second shield (got one made in Serpent's Hold too, though I'm going to have to give up one them for another piece). That said, I usually have the hands occupied with a sword and the spell book.
Never did find the wisps. But Ultima 6 is done. Thankfully the abomination that is the balloon was much less annoying this time and only briefly needed. Would have like more time to catch up with my old buddies Mondain, Minax and Exodus.

Black Gate is now the last of the main games to do (since 9 as done, was close enough). Similar to 6, played it a number but never did much beyond get out of Trinsic, and did the Forge of Virtue questline at least once.
A little bit of repeat, a little new so far. Previous Black Gate playthroughs, I tended to cheat, both the secret room from Trinsic and the cheat mode you could do at launch. This time I am going fair.

Got out of Trinsic, went through the joining of the Fellowship, got a party of Avatar/Iolo/Shamino/Dupre/Sentri/Spark. Have done a few sidequests in a few cities and have been chasing after EA. Following them to Vesper, I decided to give Forge of Virtue a shot again, since the boat was there. A little stranger to be back on the Isle of Fire and read the references after actually doing all the previous games.

Made it through the tests of truth and love easily enough. Without the cheating, courage is proving much more difficult. May have to come back for that one, though I liked the idea of having the strength boost and Black Sword for more of the main game. Marked one of the stones in Castle Death, can at least get back easily enough.

Edit: Found a way to resolve that, with a single ring of invisibility I found earlier, temporarily kicked everyone else out of the party. Had to be careful with the one dragon part way through who could still attack me. But made to end, and with the help of the glass sword there, cleared the test and got the Black Sword. Forge of Virtue is recompleted. At this point I don't think there is anything else left in Black Gate that I have not previously done.
Post edited May 16, 2021 by suchiuomizu
Was not going to use the cheat rooms/codes this time, but did use the Buccaneer's Den casino to create a seemingly limitless pile of gold. Bought all the spells, 100 of all reagents, full set of plate armor for the non Avatar characters (Avatar picked up an almost complete set of magical armor in Test of Courage, only the helmet is not magic).

From here on the pile gold is harder to spend, maybe some more reagents/food later. Also training of the non-Avatar characters. Forge of Virtue maxed out her stats of course, only reason left to level her up is for casting the higher circles of spells (just reached level 6).
Post edited May 16, 2021 by suchiuomizu
Suspecting I won't hit level 8 before the game ends this time. Barely hit 7 with the completion of Skara Brae. Then the first reference to a previous game, I did not experience. Never did bother to meet the Time Lord back in Ultima 3. Maybe if characters had more to say back then, I would have.
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suchiuomizu: Suspecting I won't hit level 8 before the game ends this time. Barely hit 7 with the completion of Skara Brae. Then the first reference to a previous game, I did not experience. Never did bother to meet the Time Lord back in Ultima 3. Maybe if characters had more to say back then, I would have.
I believe you get a large amount of quest XP when you *do* reach the final boss.

By the way, after you beat the game, try using the cheat menu to go to the room where you're accused of cheating, then talk to Lord British in his castle after the event. (Don't save over your main save file if you do this.)
I have been getting a bunch of quest experience, it turns out. Level 8 is looking much more likely, though there will be little left to do at that point. I've knocked out 2 of the 3 generators, about 500 exp away from level 8. The loss of the Orb of the Moons is irritating, I was using that to get the majority of places (though it could be much more irritating to use than in 6, so many times I tried to get to New Magincia and it put me in Skara Brae instead), most common exceptions being Buccaneer's Den and Terfin, have stones marked for those. Guess it is time to finally grab the carpet too. Boat was left near Moonglow and don't have a way other than the carpet to retrieve it now.
It’s strangely appropriate level 8 finally came in Ambrosia of all places. Technically was about 50 exp short when finished with what needed to be done there. Since it was so close, ran around the cave killing things until I got it.
Black Gate should be clear tonight, Finished up in the Den. All that remains in the Isle of the Avatar.

And Black Gate is finished. Soon Underworld 2 for the last unplayed piece of the main story. Have played much less of the Underworld games than previous games, due to efforts to get used to the control system. Haven’t seen anything beyond the very beginning of either. World of Ultima at least has familiarity of the Ultima 6 system.
Post edited May 19, 2021 by suchiuomizu