Ultima 1: The First Age of Darkness - Walkthrough
Written by: Plaid Dragon (joepran@telerama.lm.com)

Walkthrough - Revision 2 5/02/95

Note from the author - This is one of three hint files for Ultima 1. This file is called the walkthrough and should be U1WALK.TXT. The other two are the hint and the technical files, U1HINT.TXT and U1TECH.TXT. If you are stuck, please check the hint file for the answer FIRST. If that file does not cover the topic, check here. You should also send me (Plaid Dragon) a note concerning your question for possible addition to the hint file. Also, if you notice any subplot that is not covered here, drop me a note and I'll fix it right a way. Or faster.

Lands of Lord British

When you first start, you are somewhat south and east of Britian. Go there first. Talk to the man at the pub until he tells you about your quest. Go to the weapon shop and buy a mace. If you have enough money, buy chain armor. Leave and enter the nearby castle. Talk to the king and write down the quest. If necessary, buy some hit points.

To solve this quest, you will need a boat. To gain the required funds, you hafta kill creatures. It is better however, to go into a dungeon and battle the baddies for a while. While you are doing this, head to the north and west to the Lost King. (if you have enough gold, stop in Paws and get an Axe.) The Lost King asks you to kill a Gelatinous Cube. As this is easier to do than LB's quest for them moment, you should do it now. Head east to the dungeon of Montor. Save before entering and try to fight your way down to the 3rd floor where you may find a cube (you may need to enter and exit the cave many times to gain experience and gold so that you can make it all of the way...and survive.) If necessary, head back to Paws or Britain to get armor, weapons, or spells (not recommended unless you are a Wizard as they are too expensive at this point). (The Mines of Mt. Drash work just as well as Montour, so you can go there and use Moon as a "base" if you wish).

At the end of this quest, you should have reached level 2 and have both the Great Sword and Plate Mail. Go back to the Lost King, and he will give you a red gem. Now, back to your king's quest. Go back to Britain and buy an aircar (and, if you can afford it, a Reflect Suit) Fly northeast to the Land of Danger and Despair. On an island off the coast lies the grave. Enter it and complete the quest. Go back to Britain. You have now completed 1/4 of the game.

For the remainder of the game, do a bit of exploring. Just remember to buy food every time it falls below 100. Every time you see a sign post, enter it. That will help out later.

Lands of the Feudal Lords

Fly to the Castle Rondorin and enter it. He'll tell you to kill a carrion creeper. This can be found on the 5th or 6th floor of any dungeon. But first, head to the Castle Brataria. The quest here is to find the southern sign post. This should be no problem with the airship. Just fly east to the Lands of the Dark Unknown. It is on the northern coast. Fly back to the castle. Beating the Carrion Crawler will be too difficult at this point, so don't. Fly southwest to the Pillars of the Argonauts and enter it, you should get a weapon.

From here, fly south to the pillars of Ozymandias. Continue flying from one to the other (with occasional food stops) until you get a blaster. (You should now have almost full Wisdom as an added bonus. Instead, you could've gone to any of the other pillars, this one was the closest)

Flying north and slightly east will take you to Scorpion Hole.(If you haven't gotten the reflect suit by now, go and get it) Before you go, however, stop off in a town and get 5 ladder ups and 5 ladder downs. Also, sell all of the unneeded weapons that you got while getting the blaster and exchange them for hit points with the king. When you enter, cast the down spells to take you to level 5 and quickly search for a crawler. When you find and kill one, just use the ladder ups to ascend to the surface quickly. Return to the castle and collect the green gem. Congratulations! You are now 1/2 done.

From here on in, things will get more difficult.

Lands of the Dark Unknown

Fly east to the lands of the Dark Unknown and into the gulf where, on the east, the Black Dragon's castle may be found. Talk to the king and he will tell you to kill the lich. Before you embark on this however, fly a hop-skip-and-a-jump northeast to the Castle of Olympus. He will tell you to find the Pillar of Ozymandias. You have already done that, so just fly back west to it and return quickly.

The lich may be found on the 7th and 8th levels of a dungeon but, unfortunately, you are not yet powerful enough to even attempt it. You need experience. You can get a lot of experience by "rescuing" the princesses from the castles. Enter the Black Dragon's castle again and kill the jester. Run to the prison and unlock the door, if it doesn't unlock, restore and try again. Lead the princess outside and she will give you money and experience. Fly east to Stout and buy 7 ladder downs. From there, go to Clear Lagoon for the ladder ups. Trade in the remaining money for hit points and fly northwest to The End. Use the magic to descend, kill the lich, and return to the surface. Fly back to the castle to claim the gem.

My! You are so good at this!

Space

The king will tell you that the princess will help a space ace through time. Fly to Nassau and buy a reflect suit and a shuttle. (If you can't afford it, save a princess or fight in a dungeon.) Make sure that you have 1000 gold before you use the space ship, as you will not be able to come down otherwise.

You'll find yourself in space. Sail *carefully* into the nearby port. You must pick a ship to take along, either one will do. The fat one holds more fuel, while the smaller one has more shields. Some helpful tips while in combat: Aim high, If necessary (and you brought at least 500 extra), you can stop to refuel at a port (a + on the map). When you must return home, your planet is shown as a + towards the center of the map. Remember, you must bag 20 enemy
ships to become an ace.

Lands of Danger and Despair

Fly southwest to the land of danger and despair. (Remember that the king didn't say _which_ princess.) The first castle that you will find in that direction is Shamino's. Enter it and get his quest. He tells you to kill a Balron. But before you do this however, you must do a few other things...Reenter the castle and kill the jester (again...). Using the key, open the cell door and escort the princess outside. She will tell you that there is a time machine to the northwest. You can visit it, but you can't use it yet.

Fly southwest to the other castle here. The White Dragon will instruct you to find the Tower of Knowledge. No problem. It's east in the lands of Lord British. I'll wait for you here. To kill the Balron, just follow the same routine. This time however, the target creature is on the 9th and 10th levels of the dungeon. Ladder down can be found in the nearby town, and ladder up can be found to the west in Dextron. A convenient dungeon to use would be on the island to the east.

When you're done there, return to Shamino. He'll tell you to take 9 items from his stores. (I haven't figure out why...) Play along and
do that. I don't think anything happens tho. Now, are you ready for the final battle?

Almost Done!

1000 Years Ago

No, you aren't. Trade all of your money for hit points at this point, selling all unnecessary vehicles and equipment. Make sure that you are armed with Reflect Armor and a Blaster (NOT a Light Sword). I HIGHLY recommend having no less than 6000 hit point before you reach him.

Head to the Time Machine and enter it. You will be taken to Mondain's lab where he is making the gem. Attack him constantly from afar. STAY AWAY FROM THE GEM. And, while you're at it, STAY AWAY FROM THE FIRE THINGYS. When he turns into a bat, chase him to the far left. He won't be able to fly east while you are blocking, and he will be stuck there. Keep attacking until he falls unconscious. He may get back up, just attack him some more. When he doesn't get up, run over and get the gem. You will take a lot of damage so be careful. If you don't beat the game right then and there, go back and pound Mondain for a while. He'll die
eventually.

Congrats! You have beaten the game!!! And with no help from me :)
Now don't you feel special.

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