Ultima III Walkthrough

This is a walkthrough for Ultima III, which will go into the needed things to win the game and also give some gameplay tips. However, it will not go into all details of gameplay.

Useful Links

 * Character Attributes in Ultima III


 * Dungeon Solution for Ultima III


 * Ultima III Locations Map

Character Creation
You first off need to decide what kind of party you want. A party of pure spellcasters or fighters has low survival chances, so you need to create a proper mix. A good party would be:


 * A dwarven Paladin
 * An elven Thief
 * A bobbit Cleric
 * A fuzzy Wizard

This party can dish out in combat, has both kinds of magic available (very important) and can get loads of gold quickly. Once the character creation is done, you should right away use the little gold you have to get basic equipment from the nearest town and equip it.

Starting off
Your first problem is, that right now you have to worry about the fact, that your party are weak like kittens and badly equipped. Thankfully, higher level enemies only appear after you level up yourself, so you have time to train properly. Start hunting down overworld enemies to get experience and gold, while you constantly load up on food and equipment as well as slightly better weapons and armour.

This way you can grind until you've reached level 5, after which Lord British for now no longer wants to advance you further.

The Exotics and the Marks
After this is done, it is time to get some important things done. With you at level five, pirate ships now spawn and you should board one as quick as possible. One you have one, quickly sail to the islands with the Exotic Armour and Exotic Weapons and dig them up. The Exotic Armour is the best in the game and also has no class restrictions, so wear them right away. The weapons are a bit different, since they are melee. Equip only your magic users with them for now and let your fighters use missile weapons, which is more effective against most monsters.

Next on your list is getting all four of the marks, since you can't win without them. Note that each character needs all four of them.


 * The Mark of Kings is easiest found in the Perinian Depths on level 1. It allows the characters to be promoted up to level 25.
 * The Mark of Fire is easiest found in the Perinian Depths on level 8. It allows the characters to walk through lava without any ill-effects at all.


 * The Mark of Force is easiest found in the Dungeon of Doom on level 8. The mark allows the party to walk through force fields without taking any damage.


 * The Mark of the Snake of course is only found in the Dungeon of the Snake, which can be reached by the crescent waxing moon (1) moongate. The mark is gained on level 8 and allows passage of the Great Earth Serpent with the right password.

Once you have acquired the marks, it is time to face the next problem at hand.

Journey to Ambrosia
The next station of the journey is Ambrosia, but first, some things need to be done.

Before you visit Ambrosia, you need your coffers full with gold, since the shrines there are the only way to raise your stats, but demand gold for the job. That means you need to get the maximum gold for every character. There are several ways to do so. Besides looting dungeons, one attractive solution is, to visit the city of Death Gulch, bribe away the guards and then loot the insane amount of chests in the city (which make the bribes look like peanuts), then leave the city and re-enter it to repeat.

Once you have the needed gold, steer your ship into the whirlpool and you'll arrive in Ambrosia.

Ambrosia is quite dangerous of a place, since enemies like Balrons and Devils are quite plentiful on it, but by now you should have the means to deal with them. You also need a map of the place, as the layout is confusing and can easily mislead the unwary one. Your main goal in Ambrosia is to find the four shrines, as searching the shrines gives your the Four Cards, which are very important for the final battle. Offering gold at the shrines raises the attribute the shrine stands for. The more gold, the higher the gain, so donate huge sums (just be sure you won't be completely bankrupt) to quickly raise your stats.

Once that is done, you can leave Ambrosia with the ship you have found, by again steering it into the whirlpool.

If you need more stat raises, simply gather more gold and then repeat the journey for more shrine donations.

Fighting Exodus
Some final preparations need to be done.

Pray in the Circle of Light in Yew in order to get the password "Evocare". Also visit the Time Lord at the bottom of the Dungeon of Time (only accessible via moongate) in order to learn the right order of the cards: "Love, Sol, Moons, Death". Equip everyone with the Exotics, the sail to the Isle of Fire and the Great Earth Serpent and sail by with the password to enter the castle of Exodus.

Now, quickly enter the castle, or you'll be attacked by hostile greenery. Once inside, you have no time to lose, as random explosions happen inside the castle, that hurt quite a bit. The northern way is a decoy, instead take either the western or eastern way. Regardless which one, you'll get confronted by one horde of Balrons and no less than four waves of Dragons, which also can shoot you outside of combat, so better confront them right away. Making your way north and then through the force fields, you sooner or later should see water, meaning you are almost there.

There however is one last obstacle: living Floor! Yes, you can't see them and they can hurt a lot. And there are four waves of them. Your best bet is to line up your men at the bottom of the screen and let the floor come to you in order to destroy it. You should hope you have enough health left for this fight. Should you prevail, you can finally get your hands onto Exodus' main frame and need to sabotage it in order to stop the monster once and for all.

Insert the cards from left to right in the following order: Love, Sol, Moons, Death.

If you have done it right, Exodus explodes and is done for. If you did it wrong, he'll kill you.