Ultima II (The Revenge of the Enchantress) is Lord British's exciting sequel to Ultima I. In Ultima II, you are challenged to discover the secret of Minax, the evil apprentice of Mondain whom you defeated in Ultima I. Once again, you must create a player character who will roam land, sea, air, and even outer space, battling strange creatures and increasing your character's attributes and possessions. However, in Ultima II, you must also unlock the mysteries of the Time Doors.
By allocating 90 points among 6 attributes and choosing race, profession, and sex, you may create a player character who is initially powerful or weak. For example, relatively high strength is the key to being able to wear certain armour; high agility will allow your character to wield certain weapons and steal more easily. I had good luck with my Elf Thief ("Bugsy") who was able to steal plenty of food, weapons, and armour. However, the Dwarf Wizard ("Hirsutus") I created endured a long, slow battle to merely stay alive. Experiment with different combinations to find out which is more successful and enjoyable for you.
A note about spellcasters: Clerics and Wizards may purchase spells in Villages. However, spells are both very expensive and relatively useless. Spells can only be cast within Dungeons and Towers and, unfortunately, you can easily win the game without ever entering either of those places.
You start out with 400 hit points, 400 foods, and 400 gold. This may seem like plenty, but it isn't. Your food disappears quickly as you explore, your hit points diminish rapidly when you are attacked by creatures, and your gold pieces must be exchanged for supplies and equipment. However, you can always attempt to steal, and you can purchase additional hit points by transacting with a King.
Your first task is to obtain a weapon and armour. From where you are when you boot the game diskette, walk west and south into Towne Linda (it looks like a cloverleaf). You will find both an armoury and a weapons vendor there. After leaving Towne Linda, travel south until you reach Le Jester Village (it looks like 5 small circles). Villages are the only places where you can obtain additional food. Now you're ready to do some serious adventuring. But, before you begin your campaign in earnest, be sure to save the game. It's very easy to get killed, and you will want to be able to return to the status quo ante.
A word of advice: This game has an annoying "feature" involving the save game function. First of all, unlike Ultima I, Ultima II has no provision for two disk drives, so be prepared for frequent disk swaps. Secondly, if your character enters a Town, Village, Castle, Dungeon, or Tower (i.e., there has been interaction with the player diskette), and you are then gravely injured or, perhaps, have spent money on an item you are not allowed to use, and you then leave that location (i.e., another disk interaction), you will not be able to turn off your machine and reboot to find your earlier (healthier!) save game position. The solution to this problem is this: When you realize that your character has lost a lot of hit points while within one of those locations, turn off your machine then and there. Since no writing to the diskette is involved, you can then reboot and recover your earlier position.
In order to gain experience points, valuable items, and gold, you must slay many creatures. The universe of Ultima II is populated by Orcs, Devils, Daemons, Thieves, Fighters, Clerics, Wizards, Balrons, Sea Serpents, Guards, Merchants, Jesters, Seers, Oracles, Kings, Queens, and, finally, Minax. Some you must simply kill; others you must not kill but must transact with.
Transact with everyone you find in Towns, Villages, and Castles. Clues to solving the game will be revealed to you (occasionally, however, you have to offer gold to purchase a particularly valuable hint or item). In one Town, you will discover that offering gold results in significant increases to your character's attributes. As I mentioned earlier, you can obtain more hit points by transacting with a King (he pockets some of your gold as payment for this service). Be aware, however, that after 99 your attributes will roll over to 0! (Rollover occurs as well when any of your possessions total more than 99 and when your hit points, experience points, food, or gold climb above 9999). Don't be too greedy!
Utilize the "Z" (status) command frequently, especially after you have slain a creature. You will notice that there are certain items in your inventory which were not there before the battle. You will learn what each of these items is for (e.g., magical boots save you from a paralysis spell and tools allow you to escape from traps in Towers or Dungeons), and will discover which creatures are more likely to possess something you need.
There are a total of 20 objects for you to find, including: Torches, Keys, Tools, Quick Swords, Wands, Staffs, Boots, Cloaks, Helms, Gems, Ankhs, Red Gems, Skull Keys, Green Gems, Brass Buttons, Blue Tassles, Strange Coins, Green Idols, Tri- Lithiums, and Rings. Once you've obtained a particularly precious item (such as blue tassles which you'll need to board a frigate or strange coins which allow you to stop time), be sure to save the game state. Thieves just love to steal from you, and you may want to recover your earlier position. You will encounter an individual who claims to own "one of everything." Offer him gold and find out!
You may buy a horse in a Town in order to conserve food as you travel by land. However, frigates and planes are needed to traverse the oceans. You will need a rocketship to enter space.
Frigates may be boarded (as they pass by you on a coastline) if you already possess a set of blue tassles. However, planes and rockets must be stolen. Planes are available in only one Town; you'll need brass buttons and skull keys in order to fly a plane. Once you have a plane, you can "walk" it through a Time Door (Time Doors are discussed in the next file entitled "Ultima II -- Layout").
Rockets are found only in one Town and you'll need a number of items in order to blast off (if you need extra Tri-Lithiums, you can find hordes of the stuff on the highest level of a Tower or the lowest level of a Dungeon). Once in space, explore and transact until you discover the mysterious Planet X and the kindly Father Antos. A note about spaceflight: Landing is the trickiest part of this task; be extremely careful that you land on the grass, otherwise you'll be killed.
Ah, yes, the dread enchantress! She rules time and the universe, ever so confidently, from her chambers within her Castle on Legends. Do not attempt to destroy her until you have spent many, many hours developing your character's abilities and have obtained weapons, armour, and valuable items. One item in particular, a ring, must be in your possession if you wish to pass unscathed through Minax's force fields. She is unwilling to die easily and leads you on a not-so-merry chase from chamber to chamber while her minions attempt to kill you. You can deal with her lackeys by stopping time, but only if you have sufficient quantities of strange coins. Persist in your attack; she will ultimately succumb and she and all her works will be destroyed!
The cloth map and the pamphlet that come with the game are very helpful. Study both and make your own notes as you continue your quest. The map shows the world as it appears in the A.D. time period with symbols representing the 20 Time Doors that exist. The Time Doors take you from one time period to another, and there are five such periods: B.C. (1423 B.C.); A.D. (1990 A.D.); Pangea (9 million B.C.); Aftermath (2112 A.D.); and Legends (no time). Once you obtain a magical helm, you will be able to "V"iew your exact location (note, however, that your helm disappears when you "V"). The following is an outline of the various time periods and the locations of their Time Doors.
This is where you begin your adventure. You will find yourself in Eurasia with connecting passages by land to North America, Africa, and South America. Locations you'll visit include Towne Linda in Italy, Le Jester Village in Africa, a Tower in South America, a Dungeon in Greenland, Lord British's Castle in England, and a Signpost in Australia (islands may be reached once you board a frigate).
There are 4 Time Doors: 1) The NW Time Door in Europe takes you to England in 1990 A.D.; 2) The North Central Time Door in Europe takes you to the eastern peninsula in 9 million B.C.; 3) The NE Time Door in North America takes you to Legends; and 4) The SE Time Door in South America takes you to the north of North America in 2112 A.D.
Here you will visit Lord British's Castle and Port Bonifice in England, New San Antonio in North America, a Tower in Africa, a Dungeon in Greenland, and a Signpost in Australia.
There are 4 Time Doors: 1) The Time Door in South America takes you to North America in 2112 A.D.; 2) The Time Door by the Signpost in Australia takes you to the eastern part of the continent in 9 million B.C.; 3) The Time Door near Lord British's Castle in England takes you to Europe in 1423 B.C.; and 4) The Time Door by the Dungeon in Greenland takes you to the east of the continent in 9 million B.C.
In this ancient time, the continents as we know them have not yet separated. This land mass appears to be one great island. You will visit Baradin's Town, a Dungeon, and a Signpost.
There are 4 Time Doors: 1) The NE Time Door by the Dungeon takes you to Legends; 2) The eastern Time Door takes you to Europe in 1423 B.C.; 3) The southern Time Door near the Signpost takes you to England in 1990 A.D.; and 4) The north central Time Door (north of Baradin's Town) takes you to North America in 1990 A.D.
This is the world of the Aftermath, a time of high technology and destruction. Nothing remains in North America, South America or Africa, but there is a Town (Pirate's Harbour) in northern Europe, a Dungeon in Greenland, and a Signpost in Australia. You will need to bring an airplane through the Time Doors in order to fly from North America to Eurasia (where you will find a rocketship). There are 4 Time Doors: 1) In North America, the NW Time Door takes you to South America in 1990 A.D.; 2) The SE Time Door in North America takes you to Legends; 3) In Eurasia, the southern Time Door takes you to the east of the continent in 9 million B.C.; and 4) In eastern Eurasia, the Time Door takes you to Europe in 1423 B.C.
You will visit Legends often in an attempt to break through Minax's armies and into her sanctum. Her Castle in located in the center of the continent; besides numerous creatures, there is only a Signpost on Legends.
There are 4 Time Doors in a row south of the Signpost. Starting from the west: 1) This Time Door takes you to the northeast of the continent in 9 million B.C.; 2) This one takes you to Europe in 1423 B.C.; 3) This one takes you to England in 1990 A.D.; and 4) The eastern Time Door takes you to North America in 2112 A.D. [Note: Dates and Time Door locations may differ in various versions of Ultima II.]
Use your galactic map to plot the coordinates for space travel. You will know you have reached the planet you are seeking when you find Towne Basko and Castle Barataria. Be prepared to fight; the inhabitants are belligerent and the thieves tend to steal from you. Remember also to take extreme care in landing your rocket; instant death results from one careless move. There are no Time Doors in space.