Magical items in Ultima Underworld I & II
Game Mechanics Warning |
While the encyclopedic nature of the codex means that many pages will have information that could spoil some minor aspects of the game for newer players, this page is known to contain information that provides major spoilers to elements of game mechanics.
Specifically, here you will find informtaion about item enchantments and identifications. Continue reading at your own discretion. |
The magical items in Ultima Underworld and Ultima Underworld II are mundane base items with one of many magical enchantments attached. Some of these enchantments have several possible enchantment strength levels. Some enchantments are passive while others are active.
Description[edit]
Note: The adjectives magic, magical, enchanted, and magically enchanted are used interchangably.
Unlike most of the Ulitma games' items such as magic armour which are distinct items, the magical items in Ultima Underworld I & II are more complex. They start with a mundane base item. That item could be a weapon or armour item, but could be one of several other items as well. That item will have one of many different enchantments attached to it. Some of those enchantments can have several available strength levels. The possible combinations of all those base items, enchantments, and strengths is quite extensive.
Ultima Underworld[edit]
In Ultima Underworld there are a preset number of magical items, and no way for the player to add or remove enchantments to or from items. There are no randomly generated magical items in the games, monster drops or otherwise. This results in a fixed list of magical items availale in the game.
This list can be viewed in this article:
Ultima Underworld II[edit]
Ultima Underworld II also has a fixed list of preset magical items in game, but the game includes an Enchantment spell that lets the player add or change the enchantment on an item. This means that each playthrough of the game could have different sets of magical items used by the player.
Enchantments[edit]
Passive Bonus[edit]
Some enchantments add a passive bonus to their base item. Examples of these are protection and toughness for armours and accuracy and damage for weapons. These enchantments also have these prefixes to note their enchantment strength:
- Minor
- (No prefix)
- Additional
- Major
- Great
- Very great
- Tremendous
- Unsurpassed
The exact amount of bonus applied for these strength levels is currently unknown.
It is believed that the protection enchantment increases the armor value of the item while toughness increases it's durability. The exact mechanics of this are unknown.
Passive Spell[edit]
Passive spell enchantments are similar to duration spells but they never time-out. They stay in effect the entire time their item is being worn/equipped/wielded. Examples include resist blows, flameproof, and levitate.
Active Automatic[edit]
Active automatic enchantments are usually attached to a weapon and are automatically cast when that weapon is swung and connects. Ultima Underworld does not have any of these but Ultima Underworld II has several. Examples include the Cudgel of Entry and the Axe of Firedoom.
Active Manual[edit]
Active manual enchantments must be manually activated by the player when their effect is desired. The item has a number of charges and one charge is spent each time the item is used. When the charges are exhausted, often the item becomes broken or destroyed, or merely disappears. This is the enchantment type for items such as wand, scepters, potions, and scrolls.
Observed in Ultima Underworld[edit]
The following enchantments have been observerved in Ultima Underworld:
- Passive bonus: accuracy, damage, protection, toughness
- Pasive spell: invisibility, leap, levitate, magic lantern, mana regeneration, poison resistance, regeneration, resist blows, slow fall, stealth, thick skin
- Active automatic: (none)
- Active manual: acid, ally, daylight, electrical bolt, fireball, flame wind, flameproof, fly, freeze time, gate travel, hallucination, invisibility, magic arrow, name enchantment, night vision, restore mana, restore mana, reveal, reveal, sheet lightning, summon monster, telekinesis, the frog, tremor
A list of the names of all spells in the game (thus all the enchantments) is in string block 6. (technical)
A list of all magical items in the game can be found in this article:
Observed in Ultima Underworld II[edit]
Identification[edit]
Items in the 3d world can be examined but will only display the description of their base item. Enchantments will not be noted, even if the item has been fully identified. If a Name Enchantment spell is cast on an item in the 3d world, the item will become identified, the full name with be displayed, but subsequent examinations of the item will still only display the basic item name.
When an item is picked up into inventory and examined there, the game does an identification attempt roll where the lore skill is applied as a bonus. If the roll is a failure, the item will only be identified as it's base item without any mention of any enchantment. If there is a partially successful roll against an enchanted item the item will be identified as a "magical" item without any mention of a specific enchantment. A fully successful roll will display the full name of the item and it's enchantment and count of charges, if any. When an item is examined, the game stores the player's lore store along the item. On subsequent examinations, the lore check roll is only done if the lore score has changed since the last examination. This prevents the player from spamming the examination action to get the desired result. However it doesn't prevent the player from performing a tedious save&load loop to get the desired result.
See Also[edit]
- Ultima Underworld Special Items Tables - some enchantable weapons and armours
- Name Enchantment - a spell that reveals the true nature of an object
- Enchant Item - a spell in UW2 to add or change an item's enchantment