So I decided to solo my way through the first part of the game, before descending into the Stygian Abyss. Since I only started hiring companions after hitting level 8, attaining partial avatarhood in every virtue and acquiring all quest items, I have no choice but to grind random trolls and headless for experience, which is a mind-numbing prospect, to say the least—to the point where I'm considering giving up altogether.

Now an alternate route would be to fiddle with a hex editor and artificially increase my companions' experience, except my party.sav file is identical to its .new counterpart despite all the progress I made (it was last updated on Aug. 16, which is when I installed the game, yet my most recent save is from yesterday). Does anyone know where the 'real' party.sav is located on OS X or am I missing something here?

For reference, here is its location on my computer:

/Applications/Ultima 4/Contents/Resources/game/Ultima 4/Contents/Resources/Ultima IV- Quest of the Avatar.boxer/C.harddisk/Party.sav

Boxer shadow writes the files under ~/Library/Application Support/Boxer/.

<i><span class="bold">READ FIRST (MAC OS X):</span> FAQ and solutions for known issues</i>

There's a third option: Don't bother training the rest of the party, and just let everyone else die.

It might not be *easy* to solo the Stygian Abyss, but it is *possible*. It helps if your character can equip the Wand and if you Mix 99 Tremor spells first. (Mage is actually the best class for this, because she can use the Wand and, with the help of dungeon orbs, reach 99 MP.)

If your main character is of a bad class for this, consider maybe leveling up Mariah (only) to a decent level and give her a Wand. You could also do that with the other Wand users (Jaana and Iolo).

Also, Level 8 is not *necessary*; reaching level 6 takes 1/4 the XP and gives you 3/4 the HP, and you can use orbs (like the one near the exit of Hythloth) to boost other stats. Unlike later Ultima games, there is no level requirement for using powerful spells.

Yes, that is true.

*However*, the number of enemies in a room doesn't depend on your party size at all, and all (IIRC) of the combat in the final dungeon is in rooms. (There's a reason I recommend having 99 Tremors mixed, and you might want the ingredients for 99 more casts, in case it's needed.)

Don't forget that, if there are no enemies remaining in a room that can attack you, you can just skip turns to recover all your MP.

Incidentally, in the Famicom/NES adaptation of the game, you *had* to go through the final dungeon solo. However, the dungeon was easier in that version to compensate.

You are doing it wrong. It's not the system-wide Application Support. It's rather the one under your User folder ~/Library/Application Support or $HOME/Library/Application Support (didn't check the 2nd one). Now, that may actually be hidden by default (User Library folder).

It worked this time. Thanks again!