Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (NES)/Magic


 *  See also: Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar/Magic

Classes and MP
The Shepherd has no Magic Points, but in the NES remake she is the only character who can use the Sheep Flute, an item that casts the Sleep spell on all opponents.

Still in the NES remake, when the Stranger becomes an Avatar, his/her maximum MP promptly becomes 99. This holds true for every profession (in the subsequent episodes of Ultima, the Avatar will always be the character with the highest MP).

Reagents

 * '' See also the Britannian Yellow Pages #Apothecaries.

Six reagents can be purchased in every apothecary shop, but the remaining two are the subject of side quests.

In the spell lists below, the following abbreviations and prices are used for the reagents:

NES spell list
In the NES remake, the prices of reagents are different (as well as some recipes). Furthermore, four spells were removed: Undead (no enemy sets), Open (no trapped chests), Up and Down (game breakers). On the other hand, three new spells were introduced, bringing the total to 25: Reflect, Squish and Defeat.

Prompt specifies whether a spell is available since the beginning of the game ("yes") or if the characters should find something during the game (the recipe and/or some rare reagents). After one or more characters told you about a new spell, it can be learned by going to "Spells Unlimited" in Moonglow, and telling the shop owner the proper ingredients.

In the original versions each of the 26 spells names start with a different letter. In the NES version some spell names were modified: for this reason, some spell names in the table below are preceded by the initial letter of the original and a slash (e.g. the original "Resurrect" spell is listed in the table below as "R/Life").

Spell analysis
In the NES remake, some recipes and the price of reagents are different. Furthermore, four spells were removed: Undead (no enemy sets), Open (no trapped chests), Up and Down (game breakers). On the other hand, three new spells were introduced, bringing the total to 25: Reflect, Squish and Defeat.

Healing spells

 * Cure poison: necessary; at game start, the Stranger starts with enough reagents to mix three of them; in battle, use it after all poisonous enemies have been defeated.
 * Heal: an emergency spell; otherwise, camping or resting at an inn restores more health to all companions (and all MP) for a similar price.
 * Resurrect/Life: sometimes necessary; highly recommended in Dungeon Hythloth.

Field spells

 * Dispel: necessary.
 * Wind change: necessary to direct the "lighter-than-air device".
 * Blink: in the NES remake, it can only be used to flee from battle, without losing Virtue Points.
 * Gate travel: useful for shortcuts to any of the eight towns.

Dungeon spells:
 * Light: more convenient than torches.
 * View: less convenient than magic gems, because of the scarcity of reagents to cast the spell; both View and the Gems are very useful in dungeons, although they can be cast on the surface, too.
 * X (Exit): useful to escape dungeons when the companions are very weakened.

Support spells

 * Awaken: use it strategically, e.g. after all enemy "sleep"-casters have been defeated; when facing a large number of "sleep"-casters, split your party in two: some attack the enemies, others keep waking up the asleep allies.
 * Protection: especially useful when the party is low on health points.
 * Quickness: useful to speed up a combat, thus reducing suffered damage.

NES-only spell:
 * Reflect: useful when the party is low on health points.

Disabling spells

 * Energy field: in the NES remake, a large 3x3 fire field is the only available option. If an enemy receives fatal damage from a field, the companions earn no experience points (the field itself deserves them...).
 * Sleep: easy to cast, but enemies killed in their sleep grant just 3 experience points.
 * Negate magic: useful against powerful spellcasting enemies, especially reapers.
 * Jinx: when it affects many enemies, it becomes a great defensive-offensive spell: less damage to your party and more damage to enemies.

Attack spells

 * (Sorted by power) Magic missile, Fireball, Iceball, Kill/Destroy: damage a single opponent; ranged weapons are more convenient, because they have infinite ammunition and they consume no reagents.
 * Tremor: damages all enemies at once; good to speed up battles against large numbers of enemies.

NES-only spells:
 * Squish: an alternative to "Tremor": it brings all enemies down to near death (actually identical to the "Necorp/Rot" spell from Ultima 3).
 * Defeat: damage all close enemies (up to 4); if you focus on ranged weapons (tactically advantageous), this close-range spell becomes almost useless.