Shrine of Balance room puzzle solution

The Shrine of Balance in Ultima VII Part Two features a highly challenging room puzzle, a significant obstacle within the larger Shrine of Balance complex that players encounter late in the game. This article provides a detailed solution to navigate this intricate challenge.

Solution

The puzzle involves manipulating various buttons, doors, chests, and teleporters.

A visual reference for the puzzle's components and their interactions.

Buttons		Doors		Chests		Teleporters
B1	opens D10	D1	opened by B9 closed by B12, B7	C1	contains ice key (trapped)	T1	teleport from T6
B2	opens D4	D2	opened by B10	C2	contains fire key (trapped)	T2	teleport to T7
B3	closes D10	D3	opened by fire key from C2	C3	contains key	T3	teleport from T5
B4	closes D6	D4	opened by B2	C4	empty	T4	teleport from T8
B5	closes D10	D5	opened by ice key from C1			T5	teleport to T3
B6	has no effect at all	D6	opened by B11 closed by B4			T6	teleport to T1
B7	closes D1	D7	opened by B8			T7	teleport from T2
B8	opens D7	D8	stays closed			T8	teleport to T4
B9	opens D1	D9	opened by key from C3
B10	opens D2	D10	opened by B1 closed by B3, B5
B11	opens D6
B12	closes D1

The exact solution is as follows:

1. Cast Dispell Illusion to reveal an opening under the western stairs. Walk through and press button B1 to open door D10.
2. Walk up the stairs and press buttons B8 and B9 to open doors D1 and D7.
3. Go back downstairs and step onto teleporter T2 to be teleported to T7.
4. Press button B11 to open door D6, then enter teleporter T6 to return to T1.
5. Take the key from chest C3, then again use teleporter T2 to get to T7.
6. Unlock door D9 with the key, then walk downstairs.
7. Open the secret door right next to the stairs and enter the teleporter T8 to get teleported to T4.
8. Press button B10 to open door D2, then enter teleporter T5 to return to T3.
9. Go upstairs and enter teleporter T6 to return to T1, then press button B2 to open door D4.
10. Use teleporter T2, then go downstairs. Disarm chest C2 with Destroy Trap, then take the fire key from it.
11. Use teleporter T6, then go downstairs and unlock door D3 with the fire key. Take two Order cubes, then use Destroy Trap to disarm chest C1 and take the ice key from it.
12. Use teleporter T2, then go downstairs and unlock door D5 with the ice key. Take two Chaos cubes.
13. Finally, leave the room puzzle by using teleporter T6 and proceed to the main hall.

Trivia

• As a rule of thumb, all buttons on the western Order side must be pressed, while on the eastern Chaos side, only button B11 should be pressed, as all others on that side only close doors.
• Using the spell Telekinesis, one can make the process significantly easier by simply pressing the correct buttons (B1, B2, B8, B9, B10, and B11) from a distance, thus saving the Avatar considerable backtracking between the sides. However, obtaining the cubes with the Fetch spell is not possible.