Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar/Starting the Quest

The hero starts the game near a different town, according to the virtue he/she chose. First thing to do is to get to Britain and to the nearby Britain Castle, so that an unified walkthrough can be written starting from there.

From the mainland

 * Compassion: Bard
 * He starts near Britain already.
 * Justice: Druid
 * She sarts in Yew. Britain is to the South-East.
 * Sacrifice: Tinker
 * She starts in Minoc. Britain is to the South-West.
 * Honor: Paladin
 * He starts in Trinsic. Britain is to the North.

From the islands
The character will need to use the Moongates to get to the mainland.
 * Honesty: Mage
 * She starts near Moonglow on Verity Isle. Enter the moongate after it blinks once to get near Britain, then walk west.
 * Spirituality: Ranger
 * He starts near Skara Brae. Enter the moongate after it blinks once to get near Yew, then walk South-West.
 * Humility: Shepherd
 * She starts near the ruins of Magincia. Enter the moongate as soon as it appears to get near Trinsic, then walk North.
 * Valor: Fighter
 * He starts near Jhelom in the Valorian islands. He needs two Moongate travels to get to mainland, because the Jhelom Moongate only connects to other island towns. The shortest route is to enter the Moongate after it blinks twice to get to Moonglow, then enter the Moonglow Moongate after it blinks once to get near Britain, then walk West.

Get equipped
The items are listed here sorted by price. Traveling by land (without using the moongates) allows to fight enemies and earn the necessary money to buy the items. Also, the characters will earn experience and levels until the pirate ships will start appearing in the sea.
 * 1) Buy a sling in Britain (recruit Iolo, who is already equipped with another sling);
 * 2) Buy a bow in Trinsic, south of Britain;
 * 3) Buy a crossbow in Minoc, north-east of Britain;
 * 4) Buy some keys in Vesper, south-east of Minoc (in the NES port, buy one magic key);
 * 5) When you get to level 4, fight the pirates to win their ship.

Suggestion: recruit new companions only if you have ranged weapons for them. Remember that the hero's level determines the number of companions that can be in the party.

Once both keys and ship are acquired, the Companions can access almost every area in the game.

Questing to become an Avatar
Now, before entering the dungeons, you should better do some adventuring on the surface of Britannia. Two things necessary to clear the game can be completed before the Dungeons: These two tasks can only be accomplished in a non-linear way, and require you to walk around and fight to pass time. Luckily, you can wander with a purpose: complete the various Side Quests.
 * 1) Master the Eight Virtues;
 * 2) Gather the Companions.

The whirlpool and the village of Cove
The hidden village of Cove holds several important pieces of information, and it is also necessary to get there for one vital item.

The only way to get to Cove is by driving your ship into a whirlpool (not a twister!). The ship will be sent to Lock Lake, and from there you can access the canyon between the mountains where Cove is located.

Question: how can the whirlpool be found? Unfortunately, the whirlpool moves randomly in the seas, and there is no easy way to locate it. Therefore, as soon as you spot the whirlpool, forget whatever you're doing and drive your ship in it.

After visiting the village of Cove, you can leave the ship on the northern shores of Lock Lake (it's somewhere between Britain and Minoc), so that finding the whirlpool will not be necessary anymore. Your ship will be "blocked" in Lock Lake, but you can get another ship for open sea travels.