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neosapian: I rarely use ranged attacks(unless a monster is out of reach) since Iolo and Shamino do it by choice)
I find that, for much of the Ultima series, ranged weapons are the way to go. Thing is, the enemies typically start at the opposite side of the battlefield, and each turn you have a choice between either moving *1* square *or* attacking. This situation favors ranged attacks heavily, and you can get to the point where you can kill most enemies before they reach melee range. (Note that you may need to boost Dexterity to minimize the chance of repeatedly missing, though I note that melee attacks are just as inaccurate.) (I note that Nox Archaist also has this issue with ranged attacks being much better than melee; my one melee character rarely gets a chance to attack.)

I even tend to use ranged weapons in melee because switching is too much trouble, and even costs you a turn in some of the games. The only times I use melee weapons in Ultima 3/4 are:
* When the character can't use ranged weapons. (Not a concern in 4.)
* When in Ultima 3's final dungeon, where only the strongest weapon, which happens to be melee only, has any chance at all of hitting the enemies. (In Ultima 4, any magic weapon can work in the final dungeon, and the two characters who don't get magic ranged weapons (who are also the two who can't cast spells) can just be left dead to avoid slowing down combat.)

In Ultima 5, I like to dual wield a magic axe and a morning star. Can't dual wield two of the same weapons, but with this setup, the axe gives me long range and the morning star, while only having 2 range, ignores obstacles entirely, which is really convenient in some dungeon rooms (to the point of being able to sometimes kill enemies that can't fight back because there's a wall in the way).

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neosapian: killing yeah, that is a real bad thing that won't go away. you are a bad person after that for the innocent are killed by your hand.
Actually, in the earlier Ultima games, up through (and including) Ultima 5, killing is something that will go away. Kill an NPC, leave, and come back, and the NPC will no longer be dead. There's plenty of ways to regain virtue/karma in Ultima 4 and 5.

I remember, in Ultima 3, killing the townspeople of Yew for the treasure chests they drop. Because there are no guards, there are no consequences for doing so. Also, using high level magic against guards is a great way to get lots of XP. (Hint: Wizard spell O (Necorp/ROT in NES) will reliably bring every enemy down to 1 HP, allowing you to use whoever you want to inflict the killing blow.)
Post edited February 14, 2021 by dtgreene
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neosapian: I rarely use ranged attacks(unless a monster is out of reach) since Iolo and Shamino do it by choice)
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dtgreene: I find that, for much of the Ultima series, ranged weapons are the way to go. Thing is, the enemies typically start at the opposite side of the battlefield, and each turn you have a choice between either moving *1* square *or* attacking. This situation favors ranged attacks heavily, and you can get to the point where you can kill most enemies before they reach melee range. (Note that you may need to boost Dexterity to minimize the chance of repeatedly missing, though I note that melee attacks are just as inaccurate.) (I note that Nox Archaist also has this issue with ranged attacks being much better than melee; my one melee character rarely gets a chance to attack.)

I even tend to use ranged weapons in melee because switching is too much trouble, and even costs you a turn in some of the games. The only times I use melee weapons in Ultima 3/4 are:
* When the character can't use ranged weapons. (Not a concern in 4.)
* When in Ultima 3's final dungeon, where only the strongest weapon, which happens to be melee only, has any chance at all of hitting the enemies. (In Ultima 4, any magic weapon can work in the final dungeon, and the two characters who don't get magic ranged weapons (who are also the two who can't cast spells) can just be left dead to avoid slowing down combat.)

In Ultima 5, I like to dual wield a magic axe and a morning star. Can't dual wield two of the same weapons, but with this setup, the axe gives me long range and the morning star, while only having 2 range, ignores obstacles entirely, which is really convenient in some dungeon rooms (to the point of being able to sometimes kill enemies that can't fight back because there's a wall in the way).

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neosapian: killing yeah, that is a real bad thing that won't go away. you are a bad person after that for the innocent are killed by your hand.
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dtgreene: Actually, in the earlier Ultima games, up through (and including) Ultima 5, killing is something that will go away. Kill an NPC, leave, and come back, and the NPC will no longer be dead. There's plenty of ways to regain virtue/karma in Ultima 4 and 5.

I remember, in Ultima 3, killing the townspeople of Yew for the treasure chests they drop. Because there are no guards, there are no consequences for doing so. Also, using high level magic against guards is a great way to get lots of XP. (Hint: Wizard spell O (Necorp/ROT in NES) will reliably bring every enemy down to 1 HP, allowing you to use whoever you want to inflict the killing blow.)
the OP was not referring to power gaming tactics. though in Ultima IV and V I switch a lot! it isn't that difficult to swap weapons. In Ultima III yes it is a hassle so I just do it D&D using the methods I described above. the RP choice I make is purely for RP purpose. But I can still win the game. You can get by killing without consequence in Ultima III I just chose not to. although cheating to steal a ship by using bug exploits I have no problem with.(LB's castle pond) if the game is so bugged as to make getting a ship near impossible in that game then I'll cheat for that purpose alone! same with Ultima IX if the game crashes so much that it costs me time in real life I will steal from people. but I RP mostly for pure fun. and if the game is bugged I take the short cuts necessary to compensate.
Post edited February 14, 2021 by neosapian
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neosapian: the OP was not referring to power gaming tactics
Honestly, I don't think the term "power gaming" really means anything in this context. The way I see it, it's just playing the game (and I note that the games are *much* more tedious if you don't use ranged weapons).

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neosapian: cheating to steal a ship by using bug exploits I have no problem with.(LB's castle pond) if the game is so bugged as to make getting a ship near impossible in that game then I'll cheat for that purpose alone! same with Ultima IX if the game crashes so much that it costs me time in real life I will steal from people. but I RP mostly for pure fun. and if the game is bugged I take the short cuts necessary to compensate.
I don't consider exploits to be cheating. The way I see it, it's only cheating if you modify the game or save file in some way.

(Even then, those "cheats" could be seen as just playing a modified version of the game normally.)

In any case, using the exploit to get a ship still takes some work, does involve having to find a suitable strategy, and will end up with one of your characters dead.

I do, however, note that you will need to do something illegal (in the game world) in order to get into combat here, and watch out because Lord British, who is invincible during battle, might come after you! (Note: He's only invincible during battle.)
Post edited February 14, 2021 by dtgreene