Really helpful, thanks! Will dying restore your hunger to zero then? I've found a green potion, but don't know what it does.

Oh and that jump to the Ankh altar is absolutely infuriating. Especially when you bounce off the wall.

Without getting too spoilery, here are some hints.

There are two decent options for identifying magic items:
1. Raise your Lore skill at an Ankh. At lower skills you'll sometimes get a basic "magical" hint on the item, while at higher levels you can usually fully identify the enchantment on a magic item
2. There's a spell that will fully identify items (Name Enchantment) though one of the runes can be a little tricky to find.

Definitely agree here! One thing that can help here is the "standing jump" which will jump and launch you a consistent distance forwards (but not as far as if you were running full speed). To do this, press SHIFT+J

The shrine on the second level is much easier to access, so there's no need to come back to the shrine on the first level.

That makes sense. Pressing shift though, seems to make the game go all choppy in Dosbox. Not sure why.

I'll upgrade lore as soon as I find the chant and... this game is so unforgiving! And I don't necessarily mean that in a bad way.

While I'm at it, does Lore also help you see the power of armour and weapons? At the moment there's no way of telling how good items are.

Walk through lava? Has that even been an issue since Ultima 4? Obviously at that point you pull out a ranged weapon or spell. Several spells do "auto-attack" in U7 if you bookmark them and equip the spellbook in hand, or equip a wand for similar effect. I don't know what else to say but "get over it." Consumables are meant to be consumed. There's no cause to agonize over something easily replenished. I'm fairly certain there's a pause on death option as well, though I agree that the instant game over on protagonist death is stupid when you have so many spells and items that could reverse it. Again, this would be nice in a game that rewarded tactical thinking and planning. Unfortunately U7 is not such a game.

No, lore just tells you whether an item is magical and later what kind of magical enchantment it has.

If you want to know the ranking of weapons and armor you'll have to check the documentation.

I actually don't remember about the dying and hunger interaction; it has been a very long time since I've starved to death (and that sentence didn't feel awkward to write at all). I'm inclined to think that dying doesn't reset your hunger level in any way, since the scale runs from "Starving" to "Satiated". One way to find out!

All green potions look identical, and all red potions look identical. Note that they aren't all beneficial (though the potions of Hallucination can be amusing). There are several different ways to find out the effect of a potion:
1) Have a high enough Lore skill. Note that there is a random roll involved in identifying an item, and the roll is made when you right click to see what the item is. If you have a decent lore, and you aren't opposed to save/loading, then you can save just before looking at a piece of equipment, then reload several times until A) it identifies fully, B) you are content it isn't magical, C) you are content your skill isn't high enough to id it, or D) you get tired of reloading. Be advised you only get the one roll unless/until you raise your lore skill; extra right clicks will use the same result. Sometimes you get a partial id ("Magical green potion"), instead of the full name ("Green Potion of Restore Mana").
2) Use the "Name Enchantment" spell rmeakins mentioned. I don't know the rune combination off-hand, and I don't think it is specified in game. I can dig it up if you like, if you don't want to risk running across potential spoilers.
3) There is a single wand of "Name Enchantment" to be found. If you aren't adverse to save/loading, I'd advise saving before using it, then reloading. The wand has a limited number of charges, so it will eventually break if you don't preserve the charges via this method. Using this is an easy way to tell whether or not something is magical.
4) There is a mage on level 6 that will identify items for you, but he charges gold. While there is a lot of gold in the game, it is not in infinite supply.
5) Drink it and see what happens! Obviously, you'll need to save/load for this to be a useful option, and it may not always be apparent what effect the potion has (ex. if you aren't poisoned, then you won't be able to see the effect of a Potion of Cure Poison, regardless of how often you reload).

Method 5 (try to use the thing) won't work for all potential magic items. Most weapons and armor, for example, have passive effects.

This is true. I go into that first shrine area once, just to add it to my map. Then I leave and never come back on that play through.

Sadly, no. Lore is useful for telling you whether something is magical as well as what the specific magic power is called. It won't tell you what that power does (though the power name is usually self explanatory), nor equipment stats.

Better equipment is usually better at its job, but it is also usually heavier. Stronger weapons take longer to charge to full power as well.
Plate > Chain > Leather > Nothing
Tower Shield > Wooden Shield > Small Shield > Buckler
Broad Sword > Long Sword > Short Sword > Dagger
Battle Axe > Axe > Hand Axe
Flanged Mace > Mace > Cudgel (I think, not sure about this one)
I'm not sure where jeweled equipment fits into the rankings.

Weapons and Armor also have durability. Excellent > Serviceable > Worn > Badly Worn. This stat doesn't affect weight; I don't know if it affects the damage/armor value of the equipment. If something takes damage while Badly Worn, it may break (and be lost forever). With the Repair skill, you can repair most weapons and armor yourself at any anvil you find, though you may also damage them if your skill is low compared to the item in question; it is much easier to repair leather than plate. You can't repair jeweled equipment.
Shak will repair any weapon or armor (including jeweled) to Excellent for a price, but he won't work with anything that is Badly Worn ("goblin make, no doubt").

You'll need to balance the weight of your equipment against the general effectiveness of it. For example, most of the time I don't worry about wearing plate armor (too heavy), sticking with chain as a good balance between protection and being able to carry something besides the armor. For weaker characters, I may stick with Leather instead.

Bookwyrm, thanks. Very useful post once again.

Dying doesn't seem to reset hunger; unless dying from hunger does? The hunger scale is a bit hard to fathom- the difference between full, satiated, etc.

I'll increase Lore some more. Hopefully I'll find the right chant, cos the general chants require a load of save-scumming to get what you want :/ I regret the 'dumbing down' of modern games compared with this, Morrowind, etc, but in terms of RNG... these games were badly designed.

Name Enchantment in in the manual's spellbook, which I get the impression you're meant to use- given the lack of an in-game spellbook.

I was going to ask about wands. Do you equip them like normal weapons?

Shrine on Level 2 is much nicer.

I'm a mage character, who does some melee too. Chain seems a bit much for me. Is there any way to increase carry capacity?

Your chart of gear will come in handy. The game seems simpler than most RPGs in this regard though.

What affects the chances of an attack hitting or missing? Is it attack vs defence skills only? How much effect do shields have?

I think I'll invest in repair then, to a certain amount- so I can repair leather gear.

By the way, I just did the lizard-tongue translation quest with that prisoner and sseelath or whatever his name is. Incredible! Had to really think. One of the best quests I've ever done, and sold me on this game.

Edit: also found one of the healing fountains. They look the same as normal ones though.

You just left click on them in your inventory to use them.

No, there's not. Carrying capacity is determined by the strength, that you rolled at character generation. You can't change it later in your game.

The weapon skill also comes into play, when it comes to hitting. When it comes to defense, shields do help.
buckler < small shield < wooden shield < tower shield.
There are also jewelled shields, but I don't know where they fit in. Probably between wooden and tower shields. But since the game later gives you a quest item, that is a shield, you'll probably end up usig this one.

You could do that, but that would be a non-optimal way of spending your skill increases. Since the game has an xp cap, there is only a limited amount of skill increases for you in the game and spending them on something, that an NPC could do for you for mere gold as well, would be a suboptimal decision. If you are already on level 2, find the smith and let him repair stuff for you.

I only used smithing to pass time. When the smith said that an item would take one hour to repair, I would extinguish my torch and hammer on an useless leather gauntlet two times. Each attempt to repair takes 30 minutes of in-game time, so that is a convenient way to spend time while you're waiting.

Okay got it, so the wand appears to be the same as the regular magic arrow spell. Are they all like this?

Being a mage is really hard at this stage in the game. I haven't got the runes for fireball yet, so I'm stuck with magic arrow- that does very little damage.

The other issue is restoring mana- it's hard to do so without sleeping or dying. the former makes me hungrier and the latter costs a fair bit of XP (over 100 it seems). It regens reeeallly slowly too. Wish there were mana fountains :P

I'll avoid repair skill then. The smith is cheap, although it's annoying losing my weapon for 20 minutes at a time. The repairing to pass time is a clever idea though. Do I even need any points in repair skill to do that?

I'm on level 4 already actually and having a lot of fun, despite the learning curve.

I doubt it makes a difference, but once again, I don't actually know because it has been too long.

Don't use the general mantras that you found on the plaques in the first shrine area. Use the specialized ones that are dedicated to individual skills; as you explore, you'll find books, scrolls, and NPC's that will share the various mantras with you (the knights will share many of the weapon based ones, for example). They should all be in the game somewhere.

A lot of spells are listed in the game. I haven't looked in the manual's spellbook since I was very, very young (if then), so I don't know what is in there.

As stated later, left click on a wand to activate it. If the wand casts a targeted spell, then you should see the targeting icon pop up when the spell is cast. If the wand doesn't cast a targeted spell (ex. if it casts sheet lightning), then the spell will be cast (if the wand was used successfully). Wands suffer from the same issue as potions; you can't spam click to rapidly fire off the spell effect multiple times, even if it is a non-targeted spell.

As stated later. Your initial carry capacity is your total capacity for that play through. If chain is too heavy, then just stick with leather.

I believe the attack skill and relevant weapon skill play a factor in you hitting your opponent (ex, mace skill doesn't help when you are swinging a sword). Defense skill helps you avoid being hit. Shields help you avoid being hit, I believe.

I wouldn't worry about it, especially for your first play through. After you get some points into defense, your armor won't take a lot of damage in combat. If you are concerned, then head back to visit Shak when your armor reaches the "Worn" state; it will be fine if it is still Serviceable. Most of the armor you find early is replaceable anyway.

Yep. Most fountains don't do anything, but it is worth checking each one you find. You can add notes to your map to indicate the location of the ones that heal you.

Nope, that just happens to be a wand of magic arrow. There are three or four of them in the game. Other wands cast other spells. I think you can get a wand of acid from one of the lizardmen on the 3rd level.

Be careful with that fireball spell (or other AOE spells), as it can destroy equipment and stuff that is lying on the ground around where the fireball hits.

Hunger is a non-issue for even a poor mage. The Create Food spell is cheap in mana and the runes are available very early on.

Carry a spare weapon and you can still go adventuring and come back later. However, after you get some points in Attack and some points in your weapon of choice, your weapon should no longer be taking damage, so you shouldn't need to repair it very often. If you want to bash a door, just use your fist (you don't take any damage yourself). If you are using one of the weapons from the early levels (like a short sword from Level 1), just ditch it when you find another copy of the weapon. No need to spend or gold repairing something when you can just pick up a "new" one, if the old one isn't magical.

You don't need any points in the repair skill in order to use an anvil to try and repair something. Just be aware that you are likely to damage (or possibly straight up destroy) whatever you attempt to repair, so only do it on spare equipment that you don't care about keeping.

Even as a mage you will be relying on weapons in combat most of the time, because most monsters will try to close the distance and you can't cast most of your offensive spells, when the monster is right in your face.

On the first level there is a magical sceptre, that recharges your mana. It also only has a limited amount of uses, but still... it's useful. And once it's empty you can sell it.

No, you don't. And if you hammer on basic items like leather gauntlets or caps, you might still end up repairing them anyway. I always keep two or three of those at Shak's. More complicated stuff will break, though.

The specific mantras don't seem as good: they give 2 or 3 points in the 1 chosen skill, but the general ones give 5 points in 2 or 3 skills. As a result, the general one (after some reloads) gives the better result overall.

I can't find any of the in-game spell listings? Apart from curse...

One thing that seems inconsistent and I'm trying to work out is whether you have to keep your cursor over the enemy when swinging at them, and to what extent you do. Can't work it out for sure. Also whether to use swing or stab with my shortsword. Someone told me to stab because it's a shortsword (like daggers), the manual says swing with swords and I'm not sure myself.

My shortsword still takes damage against bandits and the Chaos Knight, despite levelling up my skills. Hoping to find a longsword soon :)

So magic is just a support thing; got that. In fact I'm getting good at backing up and running away to cast at foes, or to use healing spell.

Not found the magic sceptre :(

Btw thanks guys. You two seem to know this game really well.

How much your skill rises depends on how far you've risen so far in that skill compared to the stat, that governs that skill. In the beginning you'll get big increases, that will get smaller, the further you go in that skill. For instance if you have a high strength, you will longer get large increases in your attack or melee weapon skills.

But they do exists. Not as a list, but the game tells you the runes for individual spells.For instance you get large jumps and water walk quite early in the game.

You don't have to keep your cursor over the monster. The type of attack depends on whether you click in the top, middle or lower area of the window. You'll have to position yourself, so that the sword connects with the monster. Remember that you can also look up and down. Useful when fighting flying enemies or worms. But you don't really have to bother with those attack types. I mainly use stabs with swords, because they are easy to trigger while running forward and backwards. And although that is not the optimal attack with a sword, I always managed nicely.

You'll need to increase it further. Those skills go up to 30.

Have you found the master builder's grave on level 1? Korianous? That's where the sceptre is.

Well, that comes with finishing a game 15 times. But every now and then I still find something new.

In my opinion, there is absolutely no need to feel unconfortable to play UUW without having played one of the "real" Ultima-games. The bonds and references are very few and - at least for me - too superficial to be taken serious. I prefered the feeling of being a nobody thrown into a vast underworld instead of the oh-so-mighty Avatar. I myself played UUW way before I even tried the first "real" Ultima-game and I never missed anything. It's another thing for UUW 2, as they tried to develop a ultimaesque Storyline for that one - but it's too thin and illoglical to be a pleasure (in fact, I've never played UUW 2 for long). In the case of UUW 2, I follow Spoony in his verdict.
UUW 1 is a masterpiece in every discipline however. And so is Ultima VII, which is, by the way, the only "real" Ultima I finished. I'd recommend these two to anybody who wants to understand the Origin-credo "We create Worlds" as they are excellent examples of what immersion and believable world design is.