Ultima VI: The False Prophet/Companions

You can have the Avatar and up to seven companions in your party. The avatar starts at level 3 and can always use magic. The next chart shows the values of the characters at the point you acquire them. This guide contains a few spoilers.

Character creation
When creating a character, the player has to answer a series of questions about virtues. Each answer gives a specific bonus to the starting attributes of the character. Pay attention to the capitalized keywords in each question!

Every time you answer a question, one of the two virtues is given to your character, and the other one is discarded forever. In the end, 4 virtues will be discarded for the character creation, 2 virtues will be taken once, 1 virtue will be taken twice, and 1 virtue will be taken three times.



Character portrait
Twelve different character portraits are available for the Avatar.

Actually, the game makes a specific choice. In the introduction cutscene, the Avatar is shown with long brown hair. Furthermore, the Avatar sprite is always dark-haired and wears no headgear.

Experience and levels
When a character in the party has enough experience to reach the next level, he/she can talk to a shrine and meditate at it to gain a level. Depending on the shrine, the character will gain a different upgrade in the three attributes (Dex, Str, Int). Experience maxes out at 9999.

Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence max at 30. Keep in mind that the Avatar gets Dexterity +1 for training with Loubet in Serpent's Hold for the first time.


 * Dexterity affects how fast a character moves and attacks; it also determines the hit rate of most weapons.
 * Strength affects how much equipment a character can carry. The total weight of equipment (weapons and armors) a character can wear is equal to a his/her Strength, the total weight he/she can carry is equal to twice his/her Strength. Strength also determines the hit rate of the few blunt weapons.
 * The Avatar's magic points are equal to twice his/her Intelligence; companions who can use magic have magic points equal to half their Intelligence; still, magic is ruled by the amount of gold that is spent to buy reagents, and only subsequently by the Intelligence and the amount of MP. Intelligence also determines the hit rate when using one of the three magic staves.

Dexterity and Strength are the most important; Intelligence is important for the Avatar only, because he is by far the best spellcaster in the game.

In the table below, the columns to the right show the total upgrade received by each character class at each shrine. The difference is due to the different amount of Magic Points that each class receives.

The ant mound east of Sacrifice shrine (sextant location 22°N, 70°E) is a good place to earn experience. The ants are very easy to kill and you should be able to go into solo mode and roam the dungeon without any problems. If you use a moongate to get there, the gargoyles at the shrine could be a problem.

Companions
Locations are grouped in four sets:
 * (a) Mainland: locations that can be accessed since the earliest stage of the game;
 * (b) Peninsula: locations beyond poison swamp; swamp boots are recommended;
 * (c) Islands: locations that require a skiff or ship to get to;
 * (d) Quest: locations with further requirements.



Beh Lem, Shamino, Iolo and Dupre will not willingly leave the party. You have to let them die if you want them out, but that would be against the spirit of Ultima (Ultima are games about practicing virtues). Beh Lem is required when you reach the gargoyle city. He will join you only if you know the Gargish language.

Julia and Blaine get mad if you tell them to leave the party and refuse to rejoin. If you have them in your party and think you will want them back at a later time just kill them and leave them somewhere you can easily get to.

Sherry is required to get one of the runes. You need to give her cheese in order for her to join. She can fit through mouse holes, portcullises, and fences which can make some puzzles easier. She can carry any equipment that other characters can, as long as you raise her Str. If you want to train her so you can use her I suggest equipping her with a wand, boomerang, or sling. Healers will not resurrect her; you will need to cast the eight level spell in order to revive her.

Suggested party
The initial party is made of four members: the Avatar, Shamino, Iolo and Dupre. They will not leave if asked to.

There is room for four more party members (two more only in the SNES port). It is advisable to always leave one free slot in order to recruit less useful characters, just to access their equipment and then dismiss them.

There are 9 different character sprites, but only 8 slots in the playable party. In order to avoid confusion during battles, it would be advisable to have characters with different sprites.

Dexterity is probably the most important attribute: it rules hit rate, stealth and perhaps evade rate. Sherry, Blaine and Jaana are the recruitable characters with top dexterity.