I played Ultima 1 as a really young kid in 1981. Back then I played an elf wizard because that's where my head was at. I didn't know or care about things like max/min optimizing a character.

Going to start playing this game again after 40 years, and I'm just curious if anybody has put any thought into the best race and class for Ultima I.

From what I remember:
* Race has only a minor impact on starting stats, and is not significant.
* Wizards can buy spells that other classes can't. This includes the Kill spell, which will instantly kill anything except the final boss IIRC.
* Strength is easily increased when it's low; this is not the case for other stats. Therefore, if you can get to the point of completing a suitable quest, you can start with low Strength and put the points elsewhere.

Thank you! It seems like Wizard Elf with maximum Strength is the optimum thing to choose.

I've been playing a lot the last few days, and strength is clearly the most tedious stat to improve. I'm at 60 something and it's just going up by 3 right now. The other stats are easily cranked to 99 by ping-ponging between two landmarks and donating pence at the fountain.

Thing is, Strength is only tedious to increase when it's high, so it makes more sense to start with Strength *low*, as it won't significantly increase the effort needed to increase the stat.

For other stats, it's the other way around.

Don't forget that one spot that gives you weapons, of course.

By the way, equipping a Triangle and casting Missile is a good way to do significant damage; I believe it outdamages the regular attack damage of any weapon.