Ultima: Quest of the Avatar Cheat Codes (for NES)

[final kaoss]

How do you get into the Abyss

First of all you have to collect all the runes. Then you have to raise your virtue levels by doing things like giving the beggar money which raises your sacrifice. (The way you see if your level is rising is that you go visit Hawkwind at the castle.) Then when there maxed out you go find there shrines and meditate there and you'll get afterhood. After you have visited all the shrines you go find the caves and search them until you find the stones. Now you're ready to go to the Abyss.

[final kaoss]

Short walkthrough and hints

Locations of the runes

Compassion - At the foot of the stairs in Britain's inn.
Honesty - In Moonglow, three steps south of the brick square (near Mariah).
Valor - On the "ouchie floor" in the basement of the Jhelom inn.
Justice - In Vorpal's cell in Yew.
Honor - In the field in Trinsic.
Sacrifice - In Zircon's furnace in Minoc.
Spirituality - Walk through a secret door to the right of the mage on the first floor of Lord British's castle. Search the space between the treasure chests.
Humility - Behind the stable in Paws.

[final kaoss]

Virtues - their colors, compositions, cities and characters

Compassion - yellow love Britain Iolo, the bard
Honesty - blue truth Moonglow Mariah, the mage
Valor - red courage Jhelom Geoff, the fighter
Justice - green truth and love Yew Jaana, the druid
Honor - purple truth and courage Trinsic Dupre, the paladin
Sacrifice - orange love and courage Minoc Julius, the tinker
Spirituality - white truth, love, and courage Skara Brae Shamino, the ranger
Humility - black none of the above Magincia Katrina, the shepherd

The left moon is called Trammel the right, Felucca. Trammel governs when a gate opens at a location Felucca controls where the gate goes. Each town has a phase that both opens the local moongate and lets you warp there from a different place. They are as follows:

New - Moonglow
Waxing crescent - Britain
First quarter - Jhelom
Waxing gibbous - Yew
Full - Minoc
Waning gibbous - Trinsic
Last quarter - Skara Brae
Waning crescent - Magincia

Enter the moongate at Minoc at double full moons to reach the Shrine of Spirituality. At double new moons, enter the moongate at Moonglow and search immediately after reappearing to find the black stone. The white stone is in a cave in the Serpent's Spine Mountains.

Go to coordinates 149,46 and search at double new moons to find Fungus. Look for the single patch of swamp west of Vesper. Search it at double new moons to find Manroot. A far easier way to acquire Manroot is to buy it. At the Buccaneer's Den, press Select when talking to the herb salesman, and you can buy Manroot at $20 a pop. Note: In either location, don't waste your time standing for more than one moon cycle - the herbs are only regenerated when you stay at an inn. A good Fungus-harvesting technique is to keep a ship at Skara Brae, sail to the Fungus forest from there, and collect. Return to Skara Brae, stay at the inn, and repeat. The enemies you meet while waiting for the correct moon phases will more than finance your trips!

At the guild in Vesper, press Select and you can buy the Sextant for $900. This is the most practical way to find the "fungus farm", so it's well worth the cost.

Instead of buying torches, purchase Ash so you can use the Light spell to illuminate dungeons. It costs far less. Don't even bother seeking the remote dungeon entrances - simply descend to the 8th level of Hythloth (from Lord British's castle) and enter through the altar rooms.

How to rack up tons of $$$: Go to Shame through Hythloth. Ascend to the 6th floor. Push on the east wall to find a roomful of treasure chests. Get them all, descend to level 8, go into the altar room, and return to Shame. The chests will reappear. You can get at least $1000 every time. When you get tired, use Exit and Gate to return to Britain. (Gate uses Manroot, so buy more at the Buccaneer's Den when you run low.)

If you must deal with a crowd of tree monsters, use Negate ASAP so they don't put you to sleep turn after turn after turn after...well, I think you get the idea. They're not very powerful, but it is a real PITY to keep getting put to sleep.

Tremor is a macho help in the Abyss, and it even works on sea monsters.

The strongest party consists of characters you can get right from the beginning. I recommend starting out as a Paladin (choose Honor every time you are able to). Warp to Britain and pick up Iolo. Warp to Minoc and get Julius. Warp to Skara Brae and recruit Shamino. Lastly, warp to Jhelom and get Geoff. (He'll go to the hostel in Britain's castle where you can have him join you later on if you choose.) Make sure you have both Iolo and Shamino because they can fight with swords and bows as well as use magic. Julius is a strong fighter, but you might want to use Geoff instead because he's the only one who can wield the Axe of Legend (Zircon makes it for you when you give him the scale from the mountain cave)

Cove is difficult to find - it's off the inland lake northeast of Britain. If you try to balloon there, take along TONS of herbs for the Wind spell. You can also sail your ship into a whirlpool, but these do not appear until late in the game. Look for whirlpools off the coasts of Britain and Trinsic.

[final kaoss]

Locations of some important items

Key - Purchased at Buccaneer's Den or Vesper.
Horn - Search the island north of Magincia.
Bell - Search the shallows north of Serpent's Hold.
Book - Search the shelf of the Lyceum library.
Candle - In a treasure chest in Cove.
Skull - Search between three volcanoes in the south sea.
Awesome Avatar sword and armor - In the Lyceum and Empath
Abbey (the stairway is endless if you're not an Avatar yet)

[final kaoss]

Tips on attaining Avatarhood in virtues

Honesty - Give the blind salesman the correct amount each time
(I haven't seen an advantage in overpaying). Don't open treasure
chests in towns or castles (the one in the temple in Cove is OK, though)
Compassion - Give money to all the beggars you see, even if it's just a dollar.
Valor - Don't run away from battle.
Spirituality - Talk to everybody you see. Visit Hawkwind, the seer, often.
Sacrifice - Give tons and tons and tons of blood until the healer won't take anymore from you. See Lord British and tell him you're not in good health. He'll heal you for free. Repeat the process till you're worthy of Avatarhood.

I haven't figured out exactly how to speed up the process for Honor, Justice, and Humility. It just happens as you go through the game. Caveat: Don't steal/refuse to give blood/etc. once you've attained Avatarhood, or you'll lose it and have to build up your credentials again.

Important dungeon note: In the stone rooms, answer yes to the question you're asked, no matter how strangely it's worded. Make sure to give the beggar in Despise money.