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

Name changes
The NES remake follows the old naming format for magic equipment ("+1"/"+2" instead of "magic"). 🇨🇴 🇨🇴 🇨🇴 🇨🇴

Weapons
Every character can equip up to three pieces of equipment: a ranged weapon, a melee weapon and an armor (respectively labeled as Bow, Sword and Armour in the menu). A character can carry up to 6 weapons and/or armors.

Characters in bold start the game with the corresponding piece of equipment.

"Shops (1)" are in towns on the mainland, and can be accessed since the beginning of the game, while "Shops (2)" are on the islands and can only be accessed when pirates ships start appearing in the seas, i.e. when the characters reach Level 4.

Bows
Ranged weapons give the strategic advantage of hitting the enemy before it can reach you. If all the party is equipped with bows, the battle will be often won before the enemies can land even one blow on the heroes.

The Axe+1 and the Wand are actually melee weapons that can double as ranged weapons if no bow is equipped.

Swords
If the enemies manage to get close the heroes, the melee weapons actually deal more damage and will finish them off quite quickly.

The Axe+2 can be obtained only by giving the scale to the smith in Minoc. For the scale, see the page about ../Side quests/.

The Sword of Paradise can only be obtained by the hero once he/she reaches Avatarhood.

Armours
The Robe can be obtained for free, but the player must cross a poison swamp and then open a door using the magic key.

The Exotic Armour can only be obtained by the hero once he/she reaches Avatarhood.

Combat strategies
Ranged weapons offer tactical advantage over enemies capable of melee attacks only, and also they remove the same disadvantage against long-ranged enemies. As Clint Eastwood and Sergio Leone could say: "When the man with the bow meets the man with the sword, the man with the sword is a dead man".

On the other hand, if the enemies manage to get close to the companions, they will use melee weapons, that deal more damage.

Support and disabling spells can be useful against the most powerful enemies. Direct attack spells, instead, can be avoided, being less reliable than long-ranged weapons and expensive on the long run.