Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar/Starting the Quest

See also: Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (NES)/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, the only place where a character can level-up.

Any party member can earn a level when he or she has the sufficient amount of experience points. Talk to the king, and he will raise the Companion's level by 1, the health points by 100, and the three attributes by a random number between 1 and 7.

First of all

First of all, open the Magic menu and Mix all the garlic and ginseng you have to make as many Cure spells as you can. After every fight, the defeated enemies drop a chest containing some gold; the chest is often trapped, and one of the possible traps inflicts poison to the character; the Cure spell removes the poisoning.

If your character cannot use magic (Fighter or Shepherd), then you should not open chests until you get to Britain. Once there, the town healer can cure your poisoning in exchange for some of the gold you just got. Anyway, try to get a spellcasting companion as soon as possible.

From the mainland

	Compassion: Bard He starts near Britain already.
	Justice: Druid She starts in Yew. Britain is to the South-East. Travel straight south until you see a mountain pass. From there, follow the mountains to the south-east; when they start curving to the south-west, go straight east.
	Sacrifice: Tinker She starts in Minoc. Britain is faraway to the South-West. First, travel south: get around some swamps, keep a river to the east of you, then keep mountains to the west. When you reach the sea, backtrack a little, and cross a forest in a large mountain valley. From there, follow the lake coast and the edge of the forest, then the coast again. Alternatively, the tinker can use two moongate travels. The Minoc moongate is straight east, across the mountains, and it appears when both moons are full. As soon as the right-hand moon phase changes, enter the gate to emerge near Trinsic. Step aside, and another moongate will soon appear; its third destination is Britain.
	Honor: Paladin He starts in Trinsic. Britain is to the North. For a shortcut, the moongate is south of the city, across a river. When the right-hand moon phase changes twice, it connects to Britain. From the destination, walk west.

From the islands

The characters who start on an island will need to use the Moongates to get to the mainland.

	Honesty: Mage She starts near Moonglow on Verity Isle. Enter the moongate as soon as the right-hand moon appears to get near Britain, then walk west.
	Spirituality: Ranger He starts near Skara Brae. Enter the moongate as soon as the right-hand moon phase changes 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, or walk around the south river and use the moongate. The shepherd is the weakest class: run from all fights until you reach the safety of the capital city!
	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 the right-hand moon phase changes twice to get to Moonglow, then enter the Moonglow moongate after it changes once to get near Britain, then walk west.

Next steps summary

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 Jhelom, on an island accessible from the Yew moongate;
4. Buy some keys in Vesper, south-east of Minoc;
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. Three things necessary to clear the game can be completed before the Dungeons:

1. Master The Eight Virtues;
2. Gather the Companions;
3. Follow all the threads about the Great Stygian Abyss.

These quests 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.