Ultima III: Exodus/Sosaria

''Sosaria is the world which Lord British calls home, and it is the world which is under threat from the mysterious and enigmatic Exodus. It contains many features, including towns, castles, and dungeons. Some areas can be reach on foot. Others must be sailed to, and other still can only be accessed via the mystical Moon Gates, whose positions change according to the phases of the two moons.''

''You will find many sorts of aid in the various towns of Sosaria. Some are in the form of shops and pubs where you can buy items and information. Others are in the form of the very citizens that populate the town. It's a good idea to have an understanding of what to expect when paying a visit to a town.''

Getting equipped
You start the game near the town of Britain and Lord British's castle.

First of all, enter the town of Britain and purchase weapons for your characters. Afterwards, pay a visit to Lord British.

Town of Britain
''This city has grown up around the castle of Lord British. It is both well guarded and populous, as well as being a safe haven for the harried traveller. While it lacks the exotic amenities of some townes, Britain is well served by its pub, grocery, weaponsmith and armourer.''

Services: Armor shop, Weapon shop, Pub, Grocery store

Every character starts with 150 Gold Coins, a dagger and clothes. Right now, purchase only one bow/blowgun (F), then one sling (D) for every character who can equip it, then one mace (C) for who can use it. Finally, give all the throwing daggers to the wizard or the alchemist.

Best weapon by profession:
 * Sling or bow (NES blowgun): thief, ranger, lark, paladin, barbarian, fighter;
 * Mace: cleric, druid, illusionist;
 * Throwing knives: wizard, alchemist.


 * The armory and the weapons dealer: buy fine armour, or trade in captured booty for gold. Please note that anytime you sell armor or weapons, you need to re-equip yourself afterwards. The two shops of weapons and armors are
 * In the NES port, no enemy drops weapons or armors.
 * The grocery: while the typical fare here would never be considered gourmet, the food does not spoil on long adventures.
 * The Pub: Relax from a hard campaign and enjoy a cold draught. Bartenders head strange rumors some times. A few pieces of gold may loosen a tongue. Remember though, gossip is rarely totally truthful.

NES notes:
 * The girl Sherry (Noriko Hasegawa) gives you a Heart Compass if you bring her some flowers (found in ../Ambrosia/.
 * Sherry (Noriko Hasegawa): Once you have visited the lost continent of ../Ambrosia/ and collected a flower, go to "Royal City" (town of Britain) and give the flower to Sherry. In return she gives you a Heart Compass. Details in the ../Ambrosia/ page.

Cizitens:
 * Merchants: The mainstay of Sosaria's prosperity. They operate the shops in town to the benefit of all. Some are not very clever, and if a sharp Thief is in your Party, then a chest or two might be stolen from under the Merchant's nose. If the Thief is caught stealing, the entire town guard will assault you.
 * Guards: They resemble big bouncers at tough bars: all brawn and no brains. If a crime is detected within a town, or Lord British's castle, each Guard will pursue you to the boundaries of the place. Most Guards are very difficult to overcome, but rumors have been circulating that some Guards are not completely honest.
 * Monster type: Very rarely are renegade monsters seen in towns. These monsters no longer serve the Dark, but now serve Light.
 * Jesters: They entertain Lord British with their antics. Occasionally they even harass visitors.
 * Player type: Any of the regular Player types may appear in the towns and castle. Speak to all of them, some hold valuable clues to the locations of hidden items.

Castle of Lord British
''The Capital of Sosaria during these troubled times, this Castle is the home of Lord Cantabrigian British. Within its strong walls lies a Healer, an Oracle, and those who may possess knowledge of value to thee. Lord British himself will grant thee increased skill as thy deeds warrant it.''

Services: King, Healer, Oracle, (NES: Inn)


 * Lord British: The august ruler over all the People. Widely regarded as a fair ruler, he will richly reward those who serve by his side. Talk to Lord British in order to raise levels and the maximum health points. However, you need the mark of Kings to increase past 550 HP (obtained later in the game).
 * Some rooms are beyond locked doors. They can only be accessed with keys, which can be bought later at guild shops.
 * Avoid the fire and force fields unless you have the respective marks.
 * The healer: his restorative powers can be purchased, although the tariff is steep; a healer can cure poison, "heal health points", and even resurrect a dead patient; if the resurrection fails, the patient turns into ashes: he/she can still be revived by "raising" the remains.
 * In the NES version, the healers cannot resurrect a patient turned into ashes; you have to go to the Temple in Moon for that.


 * NES only
 * Give Blood: You can give blood to the some healers (notably, the one in the castle): the character lose 100 HP and earns 30 GP. Repeated giving blood & healing allows to raise money faster.
 * Inn: Exclusive to the NES versions of the game, you must manually opt to save your game by staying at an Inn. The original computer versions of the game save your progress every time you enter or exit a town, castle, or dungeon.

Fighting and exploring Sosaria
As soon as all characters have a weapon, their first goals should be to earn experience points (EXP) and gold pieces (GP). Every 100 EXP gained, a character gains a level; then, he/she should talk to Lord British, and the king will increase the max HP by 100. The four attributes are improved in a different way (later, in ../Ambrosia/.

Gold pieces can be used to purchase food and armor. Occasionally (not in the NES port), defeated enemies will also leave behind some equipment. Equip the better armors and sell the rest; sell melee weapons, as they are less useful than ranged weapons.

Best armor by profession:
 * Clothes (but shooting spells): wizard, druid, alchemist, lark;
 * Leather armor (but innate dodging bonus): thief, illusionist, barbarian;
 * Chain armor or better: cleric, fighter, ranger, paladin.

Most services are available in Britain and in the nearby castle. Therefore, there is no need to visit the other towns right now. Actually, the result would be to consume food, thus increasing your expenses.

Leave Britain and explore the mainland of Sosaria.


 * Always use four characters. Despite what the manual says, you can't recruit from the game ( never trust a game manual!). There are no advantages to playing with less and many disadvantages.
 * If your party gets poisoned near Castle Britannia anyone with the clerical skills to cure and don't want to spend the gold at a healer, you will find a curing fountain almost immediately inside the Dungeon Dungeon of Fire, hidden in the alcove directly south of the towne of Britain.
 * The quickest way to gain experience is to kill first level enemies (goblins, orcs, skeletons, and ghouls) using the A rank spells (Repond and Pondori) which will kill multiple enemies simultaneously.
 * Cast B rank Cleric spell Appar Unem on the chests left behind by enemies and in the dungeons to avoid the traps.
 * Increasing your levels will make more powerful monsters appear. In most versions, you have no control over the moment you rise in levels, but in the NES version, you cannot level up until you speak with the king. You can use this fact to control the rate at which more powerful enemies appear.
 * You will obtain health points automatically when you talk to Lord British as your experience increases. You can get up to 550, unless you have the Mark of Kings, in which case you can get up to 2550.

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Combat tactics
Some enemies are more powerful than others. Every enemy can move and attack diagonally, but the four heroes cannot.

An effective tactic is to put your characters in a square formation: two characters with maces or daggers on the front line, two characters with ranged weapons behind them. This way, a character can be attacked by no more than two enemies.

Of course, this formation shows the priority when purchasing and equipping armor. That is, the "frontmen" need an armor as soon as possible.

In the NES port, the artificial intelligence of the enemies is more limited. If you put your characters in a vertical line, all enemies will line up to attack the frontman. The other party members can then back up the first one with ranged weapons and magic missiles.

Pirate ships and sea enemies

 * From the manual: Ships are very scarce. The Pirate fleet has sunk most of the regular ships. When you have a ship, you need to maneuver it. To sail a ship, one must learn the ways of the winds. Your ship may not sail against a wind, but must tack around it. Watch out for sudden shifts in the wind for the wind is a fickle elemental force.

In order to get a ship, you have to fight a pirate ship. Approach the pirates so that their cannons cannon cannot hit the party (no cannon fire in the NES port).

While onboard a ship, you can [F]ire cannons to wipe out enemies that are too strong for your party, or enemies that won't drop a chest. The characters earn no experience when they fire cannons. Fighting coast enemies from aboard a ship gives a tactical advantage to your party: enemies have to line up on the boarding bridges. On the other hand, enemy encounter rate is sensibly lower when travelling by ship: the gold you earn will barely cover food expenses. Better leave the ships where the whirlpool cannot easily engulf them (e.g. a river) and proceed on foot.

Not so in the NES port. First of all, enemy encounter rate is not lowered onboard a ship and food consumption is slower. Secondly, pirate ships (and some strong enemies) start appearing only when a party member reaches level 5. Therefore, it is advisable to stay onboard as much as possible when you conquer a ship. In the NES port, the party can only have one ship at a time.


 * In spite of the scarcity of ships, it will often be to your advantage to park one between the mainland of Sosaria and the island where the town of Death Gulch is located. Because of the convoluted water ways around here, you can often leave a boat at this location for a long time before it is swallowed by the whirlpool and it is very convenient to just walk across the boat and gain access to the place where all the gold is. It is also handy to have a boat waiting near castle Britannia. Even given this advantage though, it's not recommended to place one there unless you have at least one reserve boat parked in the safe area near the Castle of Exodus.

Gathering information
''Sosaria contains many secrets, most of which are designed to be discovered by you throughout your journey. You can learn much by talking to citizens of the towns, or through thorough exploration of the land itself. Beyond here, many of Sosaria's secrets will be revealed. If you do not wish to have them spoiled, do not read below this section.''

As soon as all your characters have 550 health points, a good weapon and a decent armor (the most expensive armors are unnecessary), you can step to the next part of the adventure.

Talk to the townsfolk in all the towns of Sosaria. Apart from flavor text, people know about some specific subjects: (1) Ambrosia; (2) Dawn and the exotic arms; (3) the four marks and the silver snake; (4) the four cards.

Unfortunately, the information is fragmented and scattered; your duty is to collect all such information and put it back together. In the NES port, dialogue is four times more extended, and vital pieces of information are often heard in a different town.

Furtherore, some areas in some towns are restricted. First of all, you should buy a sufficient amount of keys. The following table divides the town services found already in Britain and those exclusive to other towns.


 * Casino: the Casino is a place where you can relax and gamble some of your gold. Win a bet, and you increase your wealth. Lost a bet, and it's gone for good.
 * Temple: temples contain priests that are prepared to aid a Party on their journey to rescue Sosaria from the evil of Exodus. However, they do prefer those who are willing to leave a donation. In the NES port, thes are the only places where a character ashes can be returned to life after a healer's resurrection failed.

Mainland towns
Listed traveling clockwise around Sosaria, starting from Grey, where you can purchase door keys.

Grey (guild shop)
Services: Armor shop, Weapon shop, Pub, Guild, Grocery store (NES: Casino)

Grey is noteworthy as being the only easily accessible mainland town with a Thieves Guild. As well as this feature, the towne has shops selling weapons, armour, and rations, as well as the Taphouse pub.

Be careful: some thieves may attack you. After the fight, all the guards in town will attack, too.


 * The Guild Shop: The Thieves Guild offers, at a high price, tools of their trade. The guild shops are difficult to locate as most towns have driven them out.

Town of Moon
Services: Pub, Grocery store, Healer (NES: Temple)

Description: Mysterious Moon has a reputation for being the home of Magic, yet the Magi are far and few between in this towne. The amenities are simple, with a grocer, a pub, and a healer

Notes:
 * None

Town of Yew


Services: Grocery store, Healer (NES: Temple)

Description: Nestled within a near complete ring of mountains, and concealed within the depths of a great forest, Yew is a quiet towne, where many come for contemplation and prayer. Concealed within the forest within which the towne has been constructed lie the Aliment Grocery, a Healer, and the Circle of Light, a place where prayers are reputed to come true.

Notes:
 * Yew is hidden deep in the Mountains to the west of castle Britannia. Enter the pass on the west side of the mountainous area going east toward the castle.
 * Very limited view because of the dense forest. Beware of some lava pits.
 * If you have the Mark of Fire (or a lot of HP), approach the priests in the temple. They will give you the "Pray" command which can be used at the "Circle of Light". You then get the "Silver Horn" which allows you to pass the "Great Earth Serpent", guarding the entryway to "Castle Exodus".

Britain and royal castle

 * The Oracle: In secluded sections of some towns dwell gifted Oracles. With their vision they can provide much understanding of the occurrences in the world around you. Knowledge is a costly thing, so bring a heavy purse.

Town of Fawn
Services: Guild, Pub, Grocery store, Healer (NES: Casino)

Description: Lying upon a northern Island, the Towne of Fawn can not be reached save by ship. Within the towne are a healer, a grocer, a pub, and a Thieves Guild.

Notes:
 * Fawn can only be reached with a ship.

Town of Death Gulch
Services: Armor shop, Weapon shop, Pub, Grocery store

Description: Upon an eastern island, this towne of wretched villains is carved back into the mountains themselves, making it nearly impregnable for any normal foes. Once thou hast entered the towne (bribery is useful here) thou canst seek out those with valuable knowledge, or visit the various stores. The Armoury may be raided, but take care to bribe the guards before thou doth enter.

Notes:
 * There is a big field of lava. But there is no need to talk with the person there.
 * For 100 Gold you can bribe the guards. Before you can do this however, you have to get the "Bribe" command from a person in "Devil Guard".
 * For 100 Gold you can bribe the guards. Before you can do this however, you have to get the "Bribe" command from a person in "Devil Guard".
 * You can also use the way through the forest labyrinth if you don't want/can't bribe the guards.
 * There are lots of treasure chests near the armory. But be careful of the guards when you open the chests! It's an easy way to get much gold. Just leave the town, then re-enter and all the chests are back again.

Moon gates and landlocked valleys

 * For more information, see the Moongates page.

Moon Gates allow to reach two destinations inaccessible by any other means: the lake town of Devil Guard and the dungeon of the Moon/Time.

Services: Horse stables, Guild, Pub, Grocery store, Healer

Description: This towne is concealed within a valley entirely surrounded by impassable mountains, which can only be entered through a moongate. Within the towne are a Stable, an establishment offering both Rations and Healing, a Thieves Guild, and the Le Grogshop Pub.

Notes:
 * Devil Guard is in a hidden mountain lake area, and the only way to reach it is via the Moongates.
 * Speak to the woman in the hospital twice to learn the 'Bribe' command. (To access this command on the NES, press Select when viewing the main list of commands to reach a second list.)

Horse stables

 * From the manual: Most of thy Party's progress will be on foot. If you art fortunate, you could capture some of the wild horses that roam the plains. Travel on horseback is much faster than on foot.


 * The stable: In two towns the fine horses of Lord British may be purchased. However, they are only sold in lots that match the number of the party, so they are quite expensive.

Despite what the manual says, horses never appear in the wild ( never trust a game manual!). They can be only purchased in the town of Devil Guard (or in the magic town of Dawn).

Horses simply allow to outrun enemies. They are lost whenever you enter a dungeon. They are too expensive at game start, while they are unnecessary later.