Ultima I Walkthrough

Special thanks to Prescient Dragon, from The Complete Guide to Ultima VIII (http://www.pdragon.net/u8.php) for allowing us to host this walkthrough here.

Interesting Encounters

 * Grave of the Lost Soul - Stamina
 * Southern Sign Post - Charisma
 * Pillar of Ozymandias - Wisdom
 * Tower of Knowledge - Intelligence
 * Pillars of Protection - Agility
 * Eastern Sign Post - No Bonus
 * The Sign Post - Stamina
 * Pillars of the Argonauts - Weapons
 * A good way to get experience and get gold is to rescue Princesses. There is one in every castle, 8 in all. You must kill the Jester, fight the guards, and use the key you get to unlock the Princess's cell. If the key doesn't work, exit the castle, and try again.
 * IMPORTANT: If you decide to do this before you do your 3rd monster killing quest, you MUST leave one Princess to rescue for after this or you will never be able to finish the game!
 * Name of the bard in some of the towns sound familiar? ;)
 * For those of you who have played the later Ultima games, one of the continent's shapes may look familiar to you. No, it's not Lands of Lord British. That actually looks nothing like Britannia. It's the Lands of Danger and Despair. It's the same shape as Serpent Isle from Ultima VII Part Two.
 * Some of the locations have familiar names, too. They are all in one of the Ultimas somewhere, some more than one, although their names may have changed. If you've played the games, you should know what they've changed to. If you can't remember, go back and search for them. I won't tell you, but trust me, they're there somewhere! :) If I've missed one, please let me know: Britain, Yew, Linda, Doom,  Perinia, Paws, Montor, Fawn, Moon,  White Dragon's Castle,  Gorlab, Spinebreaker, and the Grave of the Lost Soul.

Spells

 * Blink - Physically teleport a short distance in dungeons.
 * Create - Creates a magical wall in front of the Caster.
 * Destroy - Removes a magical wall in front of the spell caster.
 * Kill - A powerful spell which completely destroys your enemy.
 *  Ladder Down - Creates a magical ladder that will let you travel one level down in a dungeon. The ladder dissipates after one use.
 *  Ladder Up - Creates a magical ladder that will let you travel one level up in a dungeon. The ladder dissipates after one use.
 * Magic Missile - Throws a ball of magical force at your enemy. The more skilled the magic user, the more powerful the spell.
 * Open - Opens a coffin and negates any traps that may be on them.
 * Prayer - This is a cleric spell by which you can call on the aid of your deity to help you. You start with it and have unlimited casts. It can only be used in dungeons and produces random effects to aid you.
 * Unlock - Allows someone to open a chest and negates any traps.

Lands of Lord British
You start the game just east of Castle Britain and the City of Britain. Go into the City, and buy a Mace and some Chain Mail. This'll give you a good start with fighting the monsters of the land. Leave and enter the Castle and speak with Lord British. Offer to do him some service and he will tell you to search for the Grave of the Lost Soul. A good strategy is to keep your food level above 100 at all times throughout the game. You'll need a vehicle that can travel over water to reach site, so this means you need to earn some funds. The best way to gain funds, and hitpoints in the process, is to go fight in dungeons. You can also buy hitpoints from Kings by offering them Pence. All dungeons have different maps, but each level has the same type of monsters.

With this in mind make your way Northwest to the Castle of the Lost King and speak with him. He will send you on a quest to kill a Gelatinous Cube. These can be found on the third floor of any dungeon. Your goal here should be able to make it down to the third level of a dungeon and back out again without using magic "Ladder" spells. This will ensure you're building your character to a decent level before moving on. You'll also need this money to buy some transportation. Save your money and buy an Aircar. This can travel on land and water, but not through forests or over mountains. It is the most versatile vehicle in the game, though. Return to the Lost King and he will reward you with some strength. By the end of this quest you should have the Aircar, a  Great Sword, and some  Plate Mail.

As soon as you can afford it, buy the Reflect Suit. Wait on getting a better weapon. Something better is available for free eventually. Travel to the Southeast towards the Lands of Danger and Despair. Just Northwest of it is an island with what looks like a sign post. This is the Grave of the Lost Soul. Enter it and return to Lord British for your reward: the Red Gem.

Lands of the Feudal Lords
Travel East to the Lands of the Feudal Lords, and search out Castle Barataria. He will give you a quest to search out the Southern Sign Post. Travel Southwest to the Lands of the Dark Unknown. The Southern Sign Post is along it's West Coast. Travel back to Barataria and get the King's Strength Bonus. Now is another good time to do a special kind of level building. You may have noticed that at the places the Kings send you give you Status Point points.


 * There's a nice trick you can do with these. When you enter one, then enter another, that other one resets itself, and you can re-enter it and gain more stats. You can do this all the way up to 99. See the General Info section for info on which place gives you which stats.

None of these give Strength. You can only get Strength by completing the Kings' quests over and over again until you hit 99. One of these places is different, though. The Pillars of the Argonauts in the Feudal Lords' Lands will give you weapons. Each time you re-enter it (after visiting another place first of course), you will get a new weapon, each more powerful than the last, all the way up to the Blaster. You can then sell the weaker weapons for some more cash. Now head to Castle Rondorin and he will send you on a quest to kill a Carrion Creeper. These can be found on the 5th or 6th level of any Dungeon. First off, search around the towns for some Ladder Up and Ladder Down spells. Buy at least 6 of each. Head out to a dungeon and use the spells to go down, kill a Creeper, and come right back up. Go back to the King and he will give you your reward: The Green Gem.

The Lands of the Dark Unknown
Travel Southwest to the Lands of the Dark Unknown and find the Castle of Olympus. The King here will send you on a quest to find the Pillar of Ozymandias. This is found on the Southwest corner of the Lands of the Feudal Lords on an island. Return and get your Strength bonus, then head to the Black Dragon's Castle just to the southwest. He will have you go and kill a lich. These can be found on the 7th or 8th level of any dungeon. Do the same thing again with the Ladder Up and Ladder Down spells. Return to the King and he will give you your reward of the Blue Gem and also some valuable information. A princess will help a Space Ace travel through time! Remember this information for later.

Lands of Danger and Despair
For your final quests before heading into Outer Space, travel to the Lands of Danger and Despair. Find the Castle of the White Dragon and the King here will send you on a quest to find the Tower of Knowledge. This can be found on the Northeast corner of the Lands of Lord British on a island. Return and get your strength bonus. Travel a short distance to the NE and enter Shamino's Castle. He will send you on your final monster killing quest. This time you must travel to the bottom of a Dungeon (level 9 or 10) and kill a balron. Use the ladder strategy yet again, and return for your final reward: The White Gem.

Outer Space
Go to the town of Nassau just south of Shamino's Castle and buy a shuttle.


 * IMPORTANT: Make sure you have at least 3000 gold to refuel your shuttle! The more gold the better, as you don't know how long it will take you to complete your adventure in space. Refuels cost 500 gold. Board the shuttle, and a countdown will begin.

Fly very carefully and dock with the station near you. The shuttles fit in the docks like a key. Missing the dock will cause you to crash and damage your shields. Personally, I use the small ship. It has better shields, but lower max Fuel. The large one is opposite. Once you've docked, just hit the arrow key in the direction of the ship you want, and fly away from it. To refuel, just dock and pick your ship again the same way. Overhead view: Up = Thrust, Down = Breaks/Reverse, Left/Right = Rotate. In first person view, the arrows move the target around the screen. To change views hit "V". To get a map of Space hit "I". On this map, H's are places where enemies are, pluses are docking stations, diamonds are stars, and the colored dots are empty space. The last two are useless. Remember that Earth is in the exact center of the map. You will return here once you've become a Space Ace.

To become a Space Ace, face your ship in the direction of the area you want to go in Overhead view, and switch to first-person view. Hit "H" to jump to Hyperspace and travel to the new area. If there are enemies here, you will immediately go into battle. The enemies are very easy to keep on the screen. Whichever side of your cursor they are on, they will move in the opposite direction. Just keep them moving in circles until they get closer to you. Aim slightly high, and you will get direct hits. Kill 20 enemies and you'll become a Space Ace. You don't have to keep track of how many you've killed. If your fuel level drops to around 900 or 800, it's a good idea to find a refuel station. If you run out of fuel, you'll be stranded in space. Once you kill the 20th one, a screen will come up telling you of your accomplishment. Head back to Earth's area.


 * IMPORTANT: Only your original shuttle can re-enter Earth's atmosphere! Either of the other two will burn up and you'll die! Enter the shuttle, and fly straight at the Earth.

End Game
You must now rescue a princess in order to travel back through time and stop Mondain before he became all powerful. Princesses can be found in any Castle.

You may have heard the jester yelling "I have the Key!" This is the key to the princess's cell. Kill the jester and you will get a key. The Guards will come after you, but if you've been level building like I've suggested, they should be no problem for you. Try and unlock the princess's cell. If the key doesn't work, exit the castle and repeat the same thing again until you free her. Get her outside, and she will tell you that a time machine can be found to the northwest. It may be quite a ways to the northwest, but it will be there. It will look like a Blue and Yellow Sphere with a door. Make sure you have a ton of hitpoints before coming here, and have all your stats maxed. At least 5000, but the more the better. All four of the gems you got are required to activate the time machine.


 * Red Gem
 * Green Gem
 * Blue Gem
 * White Gem

Board the time machine and you will be taken back in time to Mondain's Fortress. Go up to him and start attacking. He'll eventually turn into a bat. Chase him to the west, and he will stay against the west wall. Be careful of the fire spouts. They do A LOT of damage! Keep pounding Mondain until he collapses. Make your way over to the Gem of Immortality. If he gets back up again, go back and pound him some more until he collapses. Keep trying to get back to the Gem. Mondain must be unconscious before you try and get it. Keep going back and forth until you get next to it. Once you do, "Get" the Gem and you've won!