Hello,

it is said that for the Shrine of Spirituality, one must enter a moongate at double full moon. But there is no moongate at double full moon.

At Skara Brae, there is absolutely none and at Yew, it closes directly before double full moon. Does that mean they operate in different ways and I have to find the one that opens at double full moon?

It is also said that I should ask at The Tap in Trinsic about the White Stone. But the barkeeper does not react to any of the keywords "white" or "stone", not even with a tip of 99 gold. Also, I still found noone who tells me what the stones are about in the first place.

Further, it is said the candle lies at Cove, but noone seems to tell me where exactly.

Number 2 and 3 I can override with walkthroughs of course, but it would still be interesting.

PS. I did not even meet someone telling me more about the HMS Cape after the guy who initially told me about it. It is odd - I sill have no clue about so much in this game although I think I talked to everybody (of course, obviously I did not...)

Yup. The moongates near different cities will appear during different phases of the moon. For example, near Britain, the first moongate appears when Trammel is at waning crescent and Felucca is at waning gibbous, but near Jelom, the first moongate appears when Trammel is at third quarter and Felucca is at first quarter. So...look for a moongate that appears when both moons are full.

There is a moongate just north of Skara Brae that will appear during certain phases of the moon. Try "white stone."

I've attached 4 screenshots here that show the progression for the barkeep in Trinsic.

Regarding NPCs that tell you about stones, talk to X in Jhelom, Alkerion in Minoc, Skittle the Skeleton in Trinsic, Tymus at the Lycaeum, Shyra at Serpent's Hold, and Durham at Serpent's Hold. Nobody there knows it's hidden in Cove. It's been hidden in Cove for a long, long time. It's there, but you'll have to do a great deal of searching to find the candle.

Here is a spoiler. You can find more specific clues about the H.M.S. Cape in Serpent's Hold.

You may have talked to everybody, but you may not have talked to everybody about everything. In this game, taking notes is crucial. In order to answer your questions, I went back to my Ultima IV notebook to find the answers. ^_^

The moongate opens at a spot dependent on the phase of the first moon, and will take you to a place depending on the phase of the second moon. For example, if the first moon is full, the moongate will open near Minoc. If the second moon is in the phase after the full moon, you will warp to near Trinsic when you go through the gate.

I believe the game originally came with a physical map that showed the phases of the moon and which cities they correspond to; in fact, if you have either GOG version, it appears you can find a map with the phases of the moon as one of the extras.

I believe that NPCs typically have 4 words they respond to other than the ones everyone responds to (NAME, JOB, HEALTH, BYE, don't remember if there's anything else). Lord British is an exception here.

Also, only the first 4 letters you enter matter, so instead of HEALTH, you can type in HEAL, HEALADON, HEALAJA, HEAL**** (replace the asterisks with the 4 letter word of your choice), and it makes no difference. Similarly, you can use WHIT instead of WHITE and STON instead of STONE.

Worth noting that, in at least one other version of the game, you can't get the white stone unless you're in a certain vehicle at the time you search; standing on that spot on foot does not work. (In the DOS version, you need to be on foot.)

By the way, in other versions:
* The NES version doesn't have this conversation system at all; you talk to someone, and they say just one thing, occasionally asking you questions (which may (or may not) affect your virtues).
* In the SMS version, you don't type; instead, you choose from a list. This means that you can't just talk to everyone about "rune", "stone", "mantra", or other terms you might want to ask about; rather, somebody needs to tell you to talk to them about something before the option will appear in this list.
* (Also worth noting that these versions handle getting the Sextant differently.)

Thank you :o)

So I wrongly assumed that NPCs respond to a) just the first four letters only (white OR stone instead of white stone) and b) only to the key words they give after name, job or health...

And the moons, not so complicated after one knows.

So this is solved (I might use that topic for further inquiries).

I am playing the DOS-version.

Technical stuff

My horse and many of my ships dissapeared after I did not open chests because I already have much money and I wanted to save the chests for later. Could it be that the game can only manage so many object and erases the ones that are too many? But otherwise I read that some players did whole chest streets and ship fleets.

If I encounter the dungeon bug where an exit is missing: I guess the patch can be installed and the savegame is still usable, right?

Some further thoughts:

I was also puzzled that even in the Lycaeum no one knew about "air", "device" or "theft" as it is mentioned in the manual that a "lighter-than-air device" was stolen there. Only after reading spoilers I knew that it is no red herring but you just find it, for getting home after Hythloth.

The "axiom" might be the letters from the shrine avatarhoods (in which order?), but the "word" is still unclear. And I thought "stones" and "orbs" where the same because they might be synonyms until I researched the internet (punktually, for not too many spoilers).

So testing *every single* question with all of the people? No wonder some people spent a year with those games back in the day.

Sound like I am complaining, but no problem. I love Ultima, escpecially Ultima VI.

They usually don't "disappear," They usually get attacked by sea creatures. There are things that can occur to object in the game that aren't presently on the screen. That's why I usually try to park my horse over the castle so it can't be hit by an errant fireball. ...maybe so? But it's safer just to keep a bunch of "Y"up or "X"it spells in case you hit that spot. I've never tried patching a game in progress before. You're on the right track. Remember that there are 8 shrines. If you can't figure it out on your own at the end, you can use an anagram solver to figure it out. I don't really remember "testing every single question." The only real common ones I tried with all characters were "name" "job" "mantra" and "rune." In each town I asked about the virtue, like "honesty" in Moonglow and "compassion" in Britain. It didn't really lead anywhere, but I do remember blindly asking about virtues. All other words I only really tried if there was a specific hint that led me to that character, like how one NPC asks you to talk to a specific NPC in a specific town about "skull" or another NPC asks you to talk to a specific NPC in a specific town about "nightshade."

Regarding stones, I believe I asked each character "name" and "job," and their answer to "job" would lead me to ask them additional follow-up questions, the answers to which gave me information about the stones. I only knew to try to talk to Skittle the Skeleton after I spoke to the Wizard who was searching for the Skeleton, and I think one of the guards in Serpent's Hold told me to ask Durham about altars.

There's also an ordering of the virtues, which the game makes apparent in a few ways. (Hint: One of them has something to do with the moongates.) I don't remember the PC version having feasibly reachable limits, but in the NES version there are limits to the number of chests and player ships that can be reached. (Also, in the NES version, casting the Gate spell destroys your ships, something that fortunately doesn't happen in the PC version. Worth noting that ships are easier to get in the NES version once your level is high enough for them to spawn, though it's quite irritating when you get into a random encounter waiting for the ship to reach you, at which point the shop despawns.)

As for that dungeon bug, it's not going to threaten your save file, because:
* You can't save in dungeons, so you can't save in a situation where you're in trouble.
* You can use the spells X, Y, and Z in dungeon hallways to avoid the problematic room.
* Worst case, get your entire party wiped out and you will be warped back to Lord British. Doing so resets your food and gold to 200 and causes you to lose any equipment that isn't equipped, but otherwise you can continue playing just fine. (Also, if you can make your way to the entrance of that dungeon, there's that orb that will kill characters who touch them (though that orb does something else as well).)

Oh, I never knew that! Haha, thanks for the lesson!

You're welcome.

Hm, neither Tymus nor Skyra or Durham know about stones. And I don't know the color if they would react to this.

What I meant is, not knowing the "word", I have to ask every single person in this world, hoping anybody knows or starts the info chain.

Also, some say a stone is used in an dungeon's altar. But for what purpose? To get a key part, of which someone spoke? What to do with the skull (I know from a walkthrough, but not in-game)? And they tell me about the codex, but afaik not that I am supposed to find it. The quest is about avatarhood, and this is done, although neither Hawkind nor British seem to notice it.

Maybe there is no person for every question (like about the balloon) and I am supposed to more figuring things out or experimenting by myself, but it all seem so confusing.

Beside this, a lot of grinding (leveling, getting 99 of all spells, reagents, gems, torches etc.) - I know one does not need everything, I am kind of a completionist / safe side guy.

THX and have a nice week!

Isn't there someone who tells you about the Skull's destructive power? In which case, just use the skull and it will kill everyone in the area. (It might have been a monster in a locked room Lord British's castle, but I don't remember for sure.)

Yes, you can just go into any town you want, use the skull, and everyone there will die. (I don't think it works on Lord British, however.)

Disclaimer: The advice given in this post might not be virtuous, and therefore might not be the best course of action. Worth noting that level 8 is the max. Once you reach that level, more XP won't do you any good, except that you keep 10% of your XP when transferring to Ultima 5 or 6.

If you're a completionist, you will also want to raise everyone's stats to 50. (There's a way to do that without having to re-roll level ups, and it's in fact something I mentioned in a previous post.)

There are some spells that it's worth trying to get 99 of, like Heal and Tremor. (Tremor is a really good offensive spell, but note that it doesn't work on enemies with high HP.) On the other hand, there are spells you might only be using situationally and out of combat, like Gate. (Do note, however, that you may need Dispel during combat.) There's also some spells, like Missile and Open, that are not worth using at all because of the need to mix reagents for even the most simple of spells.

By the way, have you been able to figure out the Undead spell? Nobody in the game tells you about it, but the manual (and, in particular, the book that describes the spells) offers a few hints. Aside from that, you actually are expected to figure out the recipe for that particular spell.

OK, I found a text dump of the Sega Master System version, which is similar enough in this regard to the PC version. (One difference is that you can't ask people about things unless somebody has suggested that you do so.)

Seems there's someone (Sebastian might be the name?) who suggests to ask at the Buccaneer's Den pub about the skull.

Then, it looks like there's someone (maybe a beggar in Minoc?) who says: The text dump, which has a lot of other spoilers in it, can be found here:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/sms/588164-ultima-iv-quest-of-the-avatar/faqs/57997

There's also (again spoilers):
https://wiki.ultimacodex.com/wiki/Ultima_IV_transcript

Also, looks like you might need to spend 99 gold at the pub to get the information.

So, looking at the transcript I'm thinking the rout you need to take is something like this:
1. Talk to Sebastian in Britain (perhaps in the healer's place) and ask him about the skull. Apparently, asking about the reaper about "think" will also lead you to the next step.
2. Go to the Buccaneer's Den pub and ask about the skull. You apparently need 99 gold for this. This will lead you to a beggar named Jude.
3. Find the beggar Jude (who appears to be in Minoc), and ask him about the skull. He then tells you what you need to do with the skull, and will also give you the location of it.

If the enemy's HP is too high, the enemy won't be affected at all by Tremor. Note, however, that enemy HP is random, and if you damage the enemy before casting the spell, the enemy might then be affected, since enemies don't have a max HP stat.

Any enemy that flees after you cast the spell was affected and is now at low HP.

(I believe that Undead also reduces affected enemies to low HP.)

I find that these spells aren't worth the trouble of mixing the ingredients in most cases. Ranged weapons work very well in this game, particularly if your dexterity is high enough to always hit. While I believe non-magical weapons don't work in the Abyss, the characters who can't use magic ranged weapons can't use spells either (meaning the Fighter class is actually terrible in this game), so that option isn't present.

The best magic users happen to be capable of using the Magic Wand, which is the strongest ranged weapon. (It's expensive, but if you're not playing the NES version money isn't hard to get, and it's clear from what you're saying that you're not playing the NES version.) Second strongest is actually the Magic Axe, with the third strongest being the Magic Bow.

I actually don't think any of the spells that require Nightshade are worth the trouble of gathering that reagent.

So I was told to destroy it in the Abyss but forgot, own fault, sorry for complaining.

;o)

And thanks again, I know I could research the internet, but it is often better to ask concrete single questions or even generally exchange some topics about the game.

Yes. You recover 1 MP every step.

Max MP depends on Int and class:
* Mage gets 2 * Int
* Druid gets 1.5 * Int (but note that Druid has low Int growth for some reason, so time to boost it some other way)
* Bard, Paladin, and Ranger get 1 * Int
* Tinker gets 0.5 * Int (so can't ever use more powerful spells like Tremor, Gate, and Resurrect)
* Fighter and Shepherd get 0 MP

(Worth noting that, in the NES version, the stats are misnamed, so you need Dexterity; also, the NES version gives the Avatar 99 MP, something that other versions don't do.)

One tip: A poisoned character can't be put to sleep by enemies, as a party member can only have one status aliment at a time. (The reverse also applies.) You can use the Energy spell to get poisoned on purpose, or to use a sleep field to remove that poison.

With that said, be aware that stepping on a sleep panel may cause you to fall asleep and stop being poisoned. Watch out for that, particularly since there's at least one spot where there's sleep fields followed by a room with enemies that put you to sleep.

I mention this because the most common cause of a party wipe, not counting intentional party wipes, is being put to sleep and not waking up before the battle is over.

(Remember that poisoned characters lose 2HP every step outside of combat.)

Here are the conversation trees for Tymus, Skyra, and Durham:

TYMUS
"name" - "Tymus"
"job" - "To welcome thee!"
"welcome" - "Yes, welcome to the Lycaeum, the keep of truth! Know ye how many cities follow the principles of truth?"
"yes" - "how many?"
"four" - The dungeon altar rooms need 4 stones each!

Oh, I forgot that in order to figure out the word to use for Skyra and Durham, you need to first talk to the Ranger

RANGER
"name" - "A ranger"
"job" - "I am training!"
"training" - "I train so that I might survive the dungeons!"
"dungeons" - "I plan to conquer the secret of the altar rooms. Dost thou?"
"yes" - "Ask our teacher about the rooms for she knows much!"

SKYRA
"name" - "Shyra"
"job" - "I train warriors to fight with courage!"
"train" - Train well and thy courage can grow with confidence. Wilt thou train?"
"yes" - Bravo!"
"rooms" - "In the altar room of courage, use the red, orange, purple, and white stones!"

DURHAM
"name" - "Durham"
"job" - "I quest for glory!"
"quest" - "I feel that when on a quest my life has purpose! Art thou on a quest?"
"yes" - "Then thy life has meaning!"
"dungeons" - "The altar room of courage gives the third part of a key." Oh, yeah. You need to talk to every NPC and ask them their name and job, which teaches you words to use with them, and with other NPCs. Yup, it's confusing by design. Ultima IV is more a quest of exploration and piecing together what the quest is from multiple sources and conversations. It slowly comes together only after putting together all these seemingly random different pieces. In the end, it's supposed to feel that much more satisfying b/c of this meandering design. Looks like dtgreene covered the skull explanation. Have you found Cove yet? There are some "more complete" hints over there, which combine well with what Lord British first explains to you when you ask him for "help." I know what you mean. I'm also a completionist, and I like being overprepared and being OPed in a game before I get to the bosses. Attached is a comic that I relate to pretty well. Here are the spells that I like, from the most to the least useful:
- Cure
- Xit
- Wind Change
- Dispel
- Gate Travel
- Heal
- Negate (I hate magic users in U4 and U5)
- Awaken (may never need if you Negate)
- Resurrect (may never need if you are good at healing)
- Tremor (all other combat spells kinda suck, IMO...Kill is kinda nice, but I'd rather Tremor and take out a bunch of Foes than Kill and take out one)
- Light (may not need if you have lotsa torches)