Posted November 17, 2024
Just something curious I've noticed about Ultima 4's mechanics over the years:
* At 39 DEX, your attacks still miss frequently, more than I'd like.
* At 40 DEX, your attacks don't miss. No matter what, if the attack is capable of hitting (enemy on the path, in range (if playing the SMS version), not trying to use a non-magic weapon in the Abyss), it is going to hit. Now, it might only do 1 damage, but at least you're guaranteed that hit.
* Yet, the stat can still go up to 50.
Needless to say, this means that, if you can reach 40 DEX, combat will become much easier. Hence, it may be worth taking this into account when deciding whether to reload a level up (if you're that sort of player), or whether to go for an orb. (The first orb in Despise isn't too hard to reach; don't try to fight in the second room (the room with Gazers), have Tremmor ready for the Gremlin room, and expect to lose a lot of food), though if you're willing to die for it, you might prefer the Hythloth orb.)
(Note that the NES version works differently; in this version, 40 DEX (well, INT is what the stat is labelled, but I call it DEX, because that's what it's *supposed* to be) is not magic. At 40, the miss counter for the enemy slot increases by 11, while at 50 it increases by only 1. (A miss happens when the 8-bit counter overflows.))
* At 39 DEX, your attacks still miss frequently, more than I'd like.
* At 40 DEX, your attacks don't miss. No matter what, if the attack is capable of hitting (enemy on the path, in range (if playing the SMS version), not trying to use a non-magic weapon in the Abyss), it is going to hit. Now, it might only do 1 damage, but at least you're guaranteed that hit.
* Yet, the stat can still go up to 50.
Needless to say, this means that, if you can reach 40 DEX, combat will become much easier. Hence, it may be worth taking this into account when deciding whether to reload a level up (if you're that sort of player), or whether to go for an orb. (The first orb in Despise isn't too hard to reach; don't try to fight in the second room (the room with Gazers), have Tremmor ready for the Gremlin room, and expect to lose a lot of food), though if you're willing to die for it, you might prefer the Hythloth orb.)
(Note that the NES version works differently; in this version, 40 DEX (well, INT is what the stat is labelled, but I call it DEX, because that's what it's *supposed* to be) is not magic. At 40, the miss counter for the enemy slot increases by 11, while at 50 it increases by only 1. (A miss happens when the 8-bit counter overflows.))