Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar/Enemies

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Stronger enemies appear as the Stranger gains experience levels.

If a non-evil enemy is killed, the Stranger loses virtue points. Carry a stock of slings, in order to weaken such enemies without killing them, until they flee. Also, you can flee from non-evil enemies without losing virtue. In some ports, the game acts a bit odd in regards to non-evil creatures, sometimes inconsistent (e.g. lost valor for fleeing from non-evil, or taking no penalty for killing in an already started combat) as if the mechanic includes more complex, hidden variables (or just a small bug).

In the NES remake, the distiction between evil, undead, and non-evil enemies was omitted: the companions should defeat all enemies, and never flee.

The sprites for the MS-DOS are similar to those for Amiga & Atari ST, but with slightly different colors.

Land enemies[edit]

Undead enemies will flee when the "Undead spell" is successfully cast. This spell was omitted from the NES remake.

The NES-only "Reflect" spell fully protects from the physical ranged attacks by Trolls, Ettins, and Cyclops (as well as sea Nixies).

Atari ST
Amiga
SMS NES Name Exp Notes Dmg HP
.png .png .png Giant rat 4 NON-EVIL!
.png .png .png Python 4 NON-EVIL! Attack: poison shot
.png .png .png Headless 5
.png .png .png Wisp 5 Teleports; drops no chest.
NES: found almost only in dungeons
.png .png .png Orc 6
.png .png .png Rogue 6 Attack: steals gold
.png .png (n.a.) Whirlwind 16 Fight it with cannons or ranged weapons only.
~ Undead ~
.png .png .png Skeleton 4 Undead
.png .png .png Ghost 6 Undead
.png .png .png Phantom 9 Undead
.png .png .png Liche 13 Undead. Attack: magic
~ Physical ranged attacks ~
.png .png .png Troll 7 Attack: missile
.png .png .png Ettin 8 Attack: missile
.png .png .png Cyclops 9 Attack: missile
~ Magical ranged attacks ~
.png .png .png Lava lizard 7 Shoots before combat. Attack: fire breath
.png .png .png Daemon 8 Attack: magic
.png .png .png Mage 12 Attack: magic
.png .png .png Hydra 14 Shoots before combat. Attack: fire breath
.png .png .png Dragon 15 Shoots before combat. Attack: fire breath
~ Disabling magic ~
.png .png .png Zorn 16 Attack: "negate magic"
.png .png .png Gazer 16 Attack: "sleep" spell
.png .png .png Balron 16 Attack: "sleep" spell, magic

Sea enemies[edit]

Sea enemies leave no gold after combat. Pirates leave their ship.

Pirate ships start appearing when the Stranger reaches level 4 (800 experience points).

Atari ST
Amiga
SMS NES Name Exp Notes Dmg HP
.png .png .png Seahorse 9 NON-EVIL! Attack: magic
.png .png .png Pirate ship 0 Shoots before combat;
carries rogues and pirates.
.png .png .png Rogue/Pirate 6 Spoils: ship.
.png .png .png Nixie 5 Attack: physical missile
.png .png .png Giant squid 9 Attack: poison shot
.png .png .png Sea serpent 9 Shoots before combat.
Attack: fire breath

Dungeon enemies[edit]

Reapers become harmless if the companions cast the "Negate" spell.

In the NES remake, all enemies can move. Also, enemies labeled as "non-evil" only appear when the party is at a low experience level (i.e. they disappear before the party is ready to brave the dungeons).

Atari ST
Amiga
SMS NES Name Exp Notes Dmg HP
.png .png ? Insects 4 NON-EVIL!
.png .png ? Giant bat 4 NON-EVIL!
.png .png ? Giant spider 5 NON-EVIL! Attack: poison shot
.png .png .png Slime 4 -
.png .png .png Gremlin 4 Attack: steals food
.png .png .png Mimic 13 Motionless. Attack: poison shot
NES remake: leaves no spoils.
.png .png .png Reaper 16 Motionless. Attack: "sleep" spell, magic missiles