Ultima The Ultima Underworld I & II Thread

[Gord]

It might be that burning alone is not enough, I'm not sure about it as it's been a while, but you probably have to "meditate" as well, i.e. sleep.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Use incense on torch, you'll have a piece of incense with smoke coming from it.
Use lit incense.
If nothing happens, then sleep.
Regardless of that, you should sleep after having slain the evil wizard, if you haven't already.

As for the Bullfrog puzzle... you don't have to complete it properly. It's just a means to an end. You can use any other means of expedited movement available. But what you're looking for on Level 5 is easily accessible from whereever on that level.

In other news, with the added info provided here, I was finally able to get both games running with MT-32 music. And with the SVN Daum build, I even get them in fullscreen on a 16:10 screen! Thanks again, everyone!

There's only one problem... I don't like having Roland sound in UUW1.

The music sounds brilliant, but as many have pointed out, there's no volume control on it, so it drowns out the effect sounds. And turning off the music in UUW1 is not only robbing you of one of the best soundtracks ever made for a RPG, it also left me with the realization that the MT-32 sounds, while better than the Sound Blaster/Adlib noises I had grown up with, are also too loud. I ran down the first hallway, stopped, listened, and could hear the rat moving about in its room to the west. Through a closed door. And 5 feet of stone. I re-installed UW1 from scratch, and am now playing the game with the standard Sound Blaster/Adlib configuration that I had all those years ago. I'll download the soundtrack in MT-32 format from somewhere for my own enjoyment later on. But right now I'm about halfway through the first floor and I'm already at Level 5. I gained a level just by walking close to the Green Goblin King. Weird. IIRC, I was Level 9 by the time I finally descended to the second floor the last time I played.

Meanwhile UUW2 works brilliantly, with the digital samples complementing the MT-32 soundtrack wonderfully. I rolled a high Strength Druid and named him Garrett, because I was suddenly reminded of one very interesting fact: All those items in the castle that do not belong to you, are being left unattended at the start of the game, because almost everyone has gathered in the throneroom for a meeting. I'm gonna play this game with the notion that every item that isn't "belonging to a XXX" belongs to me, and the other items will soon belong to me. I'm gonna raid the other worlds for everything of value and fix the Britannian economy all by myself!

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I gave up on looking for more artifacts and focused on clearing out levels 7 and 8. I would attack some creatures, run low on hit points, and then shift to puzzle solving while my mana restored itself so I could heal, then I'd go back to killing. Level 7 is now free of those damned fire elementals. Can you wear necklaces? I found ankh pendant on level 8 that I tried to click onto my character's neck, but it didn't take. Now that I am proficient in magic, travel to hard to reach areas full of treasure is a lot easier. Too bad there's not much of an economy in game for all the golem treasure I found and had to leave due to weight concerns.

I made some pretty good progress and freed some prisoners who told me about three important keys I needed to collect. These puzzles were not too tough, though I had to put together two different hints to figure out how to get the one Imolo guides you to. I feel kind of clever that I figured that one out in only a couple of minutes of sorting through my notes. I solved these puzzles before I found the ring and the cup.

I couldn't solve the Bullfrog puzzle, so I took the above hint and tried some magic to bypass it, and it worked! Funnily enough, I did try this solution earlier, but you have to be precise when trying to circumvent the puzzle, and so I missed out until I tried again. Triumphantly I walked in to the hidden area and... didn't find the Ring of Humility as I had hoped. I got a little frustrated, and went through my list of notes and puzzles I hadn't solved. Then I realized I was in the wrong location entirely. I discovered I was misinterpreting my own notes and went to the correct spot. A few trials and errors later, and I got the puzzle right and had the ring. I immediately tried some incense with a torch I discovered along the way, and received the image of a cup. So the cup is my last objective before heading back down to level 8. The problem is I have no idea where to look. Here are the puzzles I have yet to solve, which might help:

- Get four emeralds for the VAS rune. I have two, and need two more, but I already found all the possible runes in my rune bag.

- Get a flute to a ghoul. I still haven't found a flute. I have no idea where to look.

- Ask gray lizards about a pool. There's a gray lizard on the fourth floor, and the rest are on the third. When I talk to them I have an 'other' option, but they don't respond to pool or pools. I tried ring much earlier, just for kicks, but that gave no useful response either.

- Find a golden suit of armor. I forgot who told me this one, but I haven't found anything.

- Find what the crazy wizard prisoner had hid in the lava flows. If this isn't the small orbs I used earlier to destroy an artifact or the golden armor, then I don't know what this is. Maybe the cup on level 7?

- Get inside the undead area of level 7. Again, maybe cup is here.

- Use the Kill Everyone spell. I'm not doing this.

- Find the bones of the ghost that brought me here and bury him properly. Haven't found bones.

This game is huge. I can't believe how many hours I put into it and have yet to find all the secrets and locations. I doubt I could finish without the hints everyone has helped me out with, but I'm also pretty proud of the solutions I have figured out on my own, especially when I figure them out quickly.

 

[Gord]

The cup is maybe a bit tricky.
You need some "information" to point you in the right direction and to then retrieve the cup.

I will give you some more hints, it's no solution, don't worry, but don't click it if you don't want to read them:

Spoiler

Solving the riddle of the cup requires at least two things - first you should check out what happens when using the incense again. Remember what you have seen there.
And secondly, you have to remember some special clue you should have got already, but maybe you haven't connected it to the cup. The name of the cup may be taken as a hint there.

 

[octavius]

I gave up on looking for more artifacts and focused on clearing out levels 7 and 8. I would attack some creatures, run low on hit points, and then shift to puzzle solving while my mana restored itself so I could heal, then I'd go back to killing. Level 7 is now free of those damned fire elementals.

I hope you used the resist fire spell when dealing with the fire elementals?

Can you wear necklaces? I found ankh pendant on level 8 that I tried to click onto my character's neck, but it didn't take.

I checked all my saves and my character has no necklases at all. But it's possible it has some effect if placed in one of the shoulder slots.

I immediately tried some incense with a torch I discovered along the way, and received the image of a cup. So the cup is my last objective before heading back down to level 8. The problem is I have no idea where to look.

Maybe meditating at at a shrine will help, if you know the right mantra? Hint: check the image of that cup carefully.

Here are the puzzles I have yet to solve, which might help:

- Get four emeralds for the VAS rune. I have two, and need two more, but I already found all the possible runes in my rune bag.

Hmm...can't remember anything about that one.

- Get a flute to a ghoul. I still haven't found a flute. I have no idea where to look.

There should be several flutes in the Abyss. Isn't there one already on the first level, in the human colony?
EDIT: on second thought, that may have been a mandolin. But I checked my screenshots of the game, and I had a flute when talking to Derek the Knight on lvl 4.

- Ask gray lizards about a pool. There's a gray lizard on the fourth floor, and the rest are on the third. When I talk to them I have an 'other' option, but they don't respond to pool or pools. I tried ring much earlier, just for kicks, but that gave no useful response either.

Can't recall this one either, but did you ask in ye olde English or in lizardman language?
Did you find the remains of one of the tribes' previous leader, and the quest to find him?

- Find a golden suit of armor. I forgot who told me this one, but I haven't found anything.

Heh, the Golden Plate? That is not a suit of armor, but a gold dish. You have probably already found it and returned it to the Knights.

- Find the bones of the ghost that brought me here and bury him properly. Haven't found bones.

Just keep searching. It's not in a hidden area.

 

[Excidium]

Stop checking this thread until you finish the game FFS

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Get four emeralds for the VAS rune. I have two, and need two more, but I already found all the possible runes in my rune bag.

Then you can safely skip this puzzle, as the only reward is the Vas rune. (On a related note, if you can remember where you found the other Vas rune, you might want to revisit that location now.)

Get a flute to a ghoul. I still haven't found a flute. I have no idea where to look.

Level 2, King Goldthirst's bedroom, just in front of the bed, on your left when you enter. He won't miss it.

Ask gray lizards about a pool. There's a gray lizard on the fourth floor, and the rest are on the third. When I talk to them I have an 'other' option, but they don't respond to pool or pools. I tried ring much earlier, just for kicks, but that gave no useful response either.

That pool is probably only intended as a source of fish. A quest requires you to give 10 fish to someone, but odds are pretty good you've completed that quest by now.

Find what the crazy wizard prisoner had hid in the lava flows. If this isn't the small orbs I used earlier to destroy an artifact or the golden armor, then I don't know what this is. Maybe the cup on level 7?

Not sure of this one, but I don't remember there being anything of note there except the locked door leading up.

If you hadn't solved the puzzle with the golden plate on level 4, two hints: There are three secret doors in the NW cemetery, and one of them requires a key that Sir Roderick was carrying.

Get inside the undead area of level 7. Again, maybe cup is here.

Kallistan, one of the prisoners in the prison, mentioned an object and its bizarre properties. If you have this item, take a cruise around level 7 again and see if anything happens. If you do get in there, watch your back...

Use the Kill Everyone spell. I'm not doing this.

Save, try it. Reload. Try casting it in the center of Level 8. Tell me if it 'worked'.

Find the bones of the ghost that brought me here and bury him properly. Haven't found bones.

The Abyss's loneliest individual can give you clues on this. I'll give you another clue based on game mechanics: Garamon's bones don't stack with other bones.

This game is huge. I can't believe how many hours I put into it and have yet to find all the secrets and locations. I doubt I could finish without the hints everyone has helped me out with, but I'm also pretty proud of the solutions I have figured out on my own, especially when I figure them out quickly.

I'm replaying it now for the first time in roughly 10 years and I'm working on maxing out Lore. It's such fun to pick up half-battered pieces of junk, only to find out that they're magical. I butchered some bandits by the lizardman area, for example, and one of them dropped a ring that my Lore skill identified instantly.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Hmm. I'm starting to get the "Underworld internal error. Problem in item list." message now and again when I go between levels. This is different from the other error I got with the unpatched UUW games, where I was prompted whether I wanted to continue or not. No problems detected so far, and I keep the plot-vital items seperate, within my sight and outside of containers, just in case.

I'm down to level 4, and I had a look at the pool area that frequently gets mentioned. Except for being a good source of fish, there are three things of note here:

Spoiler

# A locked chest containing some gold, the Corp and Grav runes and a (still unidentified) wand.

# A Deep Lurker, the first one you encounter in the Abyss. These things are tougher than they look, and their poisonous bite hurts a lot, and the poison even more so. Fortunately it's mellow.

# A magical chainmail in excellent condition. I've yet to identify it, but it can't be bad.

 

[Excidium]

You always get that error regardless of version after changing levels or loading a save at some point, but as long as your UUW is patched or the CD-ROM version you should have no issues.

Deep Lurkers aren't that tough...but then again the avatar, valorous and honorable as he is, just keeps going back and forward on the shore while stabbing them in the face giving them no chance to retaliate.

 

[octavius]

You always get that error regardless of version after changing levels or loading a save at some point, but as long as your UUW is patched or the CD-ROM version you should have no issues.

I never got any error messages on my last playthrough of UU1 (GOG version) last year.

 

[Excidium]

Then you were lucky. I played the same version and had the error:

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I learned to stop messing with some of the deep lurkers because of my lighter armor and their penchant for poisoning. I tried killing them from a distance, but it was less frustrating and less time consuming to just swim on by them. I learned if you move fast enough they are a non-factor. Those effin' fire elementals and beholders who attack from range on the other hand... I go out of my way to hunt them down and kill them on sight.

To answer a previous quetion, casting resist fire allowed me to hunt the elementals easily enough. After spending too many hours getting the Cup of Wisdom the rest of the game is going fast again. I found that to be the toughest quest.

I had a yelling, rage inducing moment late last night. After I found a torch from the above levels, I remembered there was some incense down by where I killed the evil wizard. I used the incense I left next to where he was killed to get some visions of the cup and write down some notes. After I got the cup, I got curious about whether or not I would see a vision of other artifacts or the BBEG himself. So I went downstairs to the left over incense, clicked the torch, activated and moved it over, but in my rush and accidentally clicked on the upper center portion of my screen because of the mouse sensitivity. I watched as the lone torch flew into the air and disappeared over the ledge. I couldn't find it and so I think it fell into the lava. I hadn't saved in 40 minutes...



Anyway, I have no idea if you get any other visions from the incense after collecting all the artifacts. I think I have everything. Will give an update soon, I hope.

 

[Excidium]

Incense only gives you the 3 visions with the mantra for the cup I believe.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

But if you want to see some... interesting things, eat mushrooms.

Ignore toadstools, they only poison you.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Too late. Beat the game. As requested, I did try the Armageddon spell before the finale, once in front of the BBEG and the second when confronting him at his home. The first time, he is disappears along with everything else. So it has no overall effect on the game except to make it unbeatable. The second time it doesn't work at all. In fact, I'm not sure any of the magic functions. As for my impressions:

I'll start off with the bad, because there isn't much of it:
- Clunky UI: I liked the first person interface when you consider what 1st person RPGs looked like before 1992, but because such a game was new the controls seemed clunky and the UI was aggravating. If I used the look icon to view something, I had to put my weapon away. If something jumped out at me, it took some time for me to respond by entering into attack mode.
- Later game boredom: The dungeons were not easy to get around, especially towards the later levels. This was actually a huge plus in the beginning because it felt like a huge accomplishment to clear out enough of the level to take the next step down. It became frustrating towards the middle and end when you had to backtrack in order to complete puzzles you had previously skipped or because of the large amount of backtracking the later quests required. The moongate helped a little, but not enough. I started getting frustrated towards the end because I was spending most of my time walking around the empty, trash-strewn wasteland of passages I had previously cleared out, just so I could reread a clue or retalk to one particular NPC.
- Character skills: I went with the first character I had rolled up because what the hell. A 19 strength looked pretty good for a paladin, and I figured a 22 dexterity was also pretty solid. I didn't realize that a 19 strength was on the lower end of the totem pole, but still no big deal. I intended to play a melee/rogue hybrid anyway. So I had some points in lore, swimming, pick locks, charm and so on. By the end of the game I had 15 points into charm. All these skills were wasted. I'm glad I at least also loaded up on sword and attack and defense by mid-game. By the end I am also glad I loaded up on magic. I could hardly hit anything moving with ranged weapons and I gave up on offensive magic. The sword was, as predicted, the most important weapon skill in game. I never did try sheet lightning, though.

The good:
- Magic: The defensive and utility spells were great. I loved being able to fly, take a bird's eye view of the area, and walking on lava. I would buff up on my armor spells and fire protection so I could kill fire elementals, which were my most hated enemies. Open was also a useful spell, although I did get annoyed that it had no chance on working on so many doors. I really still love the rune system after all this time.
- So Much to Do: This game is packed with stuff. There were places I never did figure out how to access and quests I never did defeat, and that's after I beat tons of regular quests and sub-quests. Just when I thought I was coming up to the end, I found out there was more to do and more to explore. It's amazing to me that the writers had such great imaginations. I really want to know what their influences were. The last part of the game reminded me of Dr. Strange comics from the 80s.
- The BBEG: I'm not going to spoil who he is or what he does, but the final confrontation was perfect. I died going toe to toe against him, but figured out what I needed to do the second time around. He isn't used too much, and only alluded to briefly by some characters. Because he is used so sparingly and because you find out first hand how much of a threat he is, he is a villain that stays with you after the game is over.
- NPC Interactions: Maybe the best part of an already awesome game. Each group of people had their own personality and motivations, and if you understood them psychologically and tailored your responses appropriately you received different responses and overall reactions. Your choices mattered more than your skill in Charm, which means my character points were wasted, but the fact that every conversation felt like a puzzle game made me get over my butt hurt.
- Loot: I loved the fact that you start out with a puny weapon and little armor, while building up you arsenal slowly over time. At the end I did find more magical weapons and equipment, but the fun part of the beginning was trying to figure out what to carry and what to leave behind, especially for my middle-strength character. The ending falls apart in this regard, however, as there is so much gold around but very little to do with it.
- Flexibility: The puzzles I enjoyed the most had multiple ways in which to solve them. Although there were a few quests that were annoyingly complex and linear, there were more that had more than one solution and a few different clues in the ways to accomplish them. The bullfrog puzzle is a good example. I had trouble until I built up my magic and learned an alternate solution of solving it from an NPC.
- Quests Intersected: A number of seemingly unconnected quests ended up being connected because you would have to do one in order to solve a later one. This helped make the game feel like a complete whole and not just several separate levels.
- The Map: I can't decide whether or not the NPC interactions or the Map function is the best part of the game. My maps are covered with notes from '<--- Left Jewelled Sword here' to "Down, Level 8" to "Locked Door" to "Fishing Spot". I even used the empty section to the right to write notes specific to the level instead of on my notepad, like "Must rescue man's brother from prison this level". When I accomplished a task or finally opened a door, I could erase my note. Why don't more games use this?

I already created my Ultima Underworld 2 character. A fighter instead of a paladin, strength of 30, dex of 18 and intelligence of 12. Oh, and my skill points went into attack and defense instead of charm.

 

[Excidium]

- Clunky UI: I liked the first person interface when you consider what 1st person RPGs looked like before 1992, but because such a game was new the controls seemed clunky and the UI was aggravating. If I used the look icon to view something, I had to put my weapon away. If something jumped out at me, it took some time for me to respond by entering into attack mode.

You know you don't need to use any of the UI icons, right? Right click examines, right click hold and drag interacts and picks up, left click an item you carry to use or on your weapon to go in combat mode.

- The BBEG: I'm not going to spoil who he is or what he does, but the final confrontation was perfect. I died going toe to toe against him, but figured out what I needed to do the second time around. He isn't used too much, and only alluded to briefly by some characters. Because he is used so sparingly and because you find out first hand how much of a threat he is, he is a villain that stays with you after the game is over.

Spoiler

He stays with you because you need to destroy all the amulets you worked so hard to get to banish the fucker.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

Already into UUW2? Brilliant, you can go mushroom tripping there. You also get MORE ways to trip on drugs, and there's even a drug addict in UUW2! The potion bottles are now colour-coded for your convenience... now you only have to figure out what each colour stands for. ;-)

I completely agree with you on the UI and interface being clunky and the character creation overall needing an overhaul. While UUW2 improves the UI (and the graphics), the interface is unchanged and the same applies to the character creation process. Instead of chanting at shrines, you seek out trainers for your skills. To make things worse, some trainers come and go, confusing the situation further (Protip: Train Search early.) At least you get to see how many skill points you have in UUW2.

I didn't mind the backtracking much, as by the time you're running back and forth, everything that should stand in your way should be dead and gone, so it's just a case of running through empty passageways. You'll also be backtracking frequently in UUW2 from a certain location in the Britannian Sewers up to the castle, but it's not as bad as it sounds. Gold serves more of a purpose in UUW2 as inflation has caught up and things can cost as much as 100 gold. Shak the smith charges way too little for his services, I've started abusing him like an indentured servant because of this, he's ALWAYS fixing something for me.

One of my biggest peeves with UUW2 is one you'll spot early: The pacing. At the start of the game you have to pretty much talk to EVERYONE in the castle. That will take quite a while, and you'll be anxious to go do some exploring after you're finally talked everyone's ears off. Then you have to regularly check up on the inhabitants of the castle (fortunately you'll be pointed out who of them want to talk to you), which means running around and looking for them as some of them just LOVE to play Hide 'n' Seek.

If the people in the castle seem unfamiliar to you, go play Ultima VII. As has been said many times before, UUW2 is an interrim chapter between Ultima VII and Ultima VII: Part 2, and touches upon characters and events from those two games. You don't really need to have played them, though.

 

[octavius]

- Clunky UI: I liked the first person interface when you consider what 1st person RPGs looked like before 1992, but because such a game was new the controls seemed clunky and the UI was aggravating. If I used the look icon to view something, I had to put my weapon away. If something jumped out at me, it took some time for me to respond by entering into attack mode.

As Excidium said, you don't have to use the icons.
I completed both the UU games by 99% use of mouse only, and using the right mouse button to attack, look at things and use things.
I thought it was quite an elegant UI after I got used to it. Only flaw was having to use keys to look up and down.
For UU2 I strongly advice using the right mouse button instead of left clicking on the icons. It becomes second nature after a while, and is so much quicker than using the icons.

- Later game boredom: The dungeons were not easy to get around, especially towards the later levels. This was actually a huge plus in the beginning because it felt like a huge accomplishment to clear out enough of the level to take the next step down. It became frustrating towards the middle and end when you had to backtrack in order to complete puzzles you had previously skipped or because of the large amount of backtracking the later quests required. The moongate helped a little, but not enough. I started getting frustrated towards the end because I was spending most of my time walking around the empty, trash-strewn wasteland of passages I had previously cleared out, just so I could reread a clue or retalk to one particular NPC.

Yeah, the backtracking was for me the most annoying part of the game.
Personally I screenshot every single piece of dialogue. That way I don't have to keep notes or revisit NPCs so much.
Keeping notes will be even more important in UU2. Fortunately backtracking is quicker in UU2, though.
BTW, I hope you took a screenshot of your victory page and will share it with us?

I already created my Ultima Underworld 2 character. A fighter instead of a paladin, strength of 30, dex of 18 and intelligence of 12. Oh, and my skill points went into attack and defense instead of charm.

Magic is more important in UU2 than it was in UU1, so a Fighter will have a hard time, I think. I recommend learning repair skill so that you can repair your gear. Someone more heavy on the magic can use a spell to mend things, which is more reliable (the spell may backfire, but failure won't ruin the weapon or armour). Lockpicking may also be a good idea, since many massive doors have no keys.

Before playing UU2 you may want to read a summary or Let's Play of U7 part 1 if you haven't played it, since UU2 is not so much a sequel to UU1 than as a chapter in the U7 saga.
In UU2 there is a merchant who will recharge wands for you or identify items. Being a fighter certain wands will be very useful, and since there isn't much else on which to spend gold, the best use of it is to spend it on things you'd otherwise need precious mana or skill point for.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

# While the Lore skill works on all items that the Avatar looks at, it works best when the Avatar looks at items he has in his inventory. In other words, distance penalizes the skill.

I can confirm, though playtesting, that this is bogus. The Lore skill does not work on items that the Avatar is not holding in his inventory.

In other news, I'm now on Level 5, have reached Level 13 and have garnered enough magic items and raised skills so that nothing I've encountered can stand against me. Sir Rodrick went down in 3 hits, and I 'only' had a Broadsword.

Which got me thinking... exactly whom are you required to kill to complete the game? Sir Rodrick, of course, in order to get one of the Talismans, but the only other one I can think of is Tyball, and I'm not even 100% certain of that. You have to fight a golem to get another Talisman, but you don't have to (or are unable to) kill him. I'm wondering how much of a 'pacifist' playstyle is possible in UUW1. Just dodge or avoid monsters, go straight for the needed items and use meta-knowledge to skip needless parts of the game.

Would be an interesting playthrough, to say the least.

EDIT:

Spoiler

That magical chainshirt I found? Missile Protection. Wonder if that counts against spell projectiles as well.

 

[Sceptic]

Which got me thinking... exactly whom are you required to kill to complete the game? Sir Rodrick, of course, in order to get one of the Talismans, but the only other one I can think of is Tyball, and I'm not even 100% certain of that. You have to fight a golem to get another Talisman, but you don't have to (or are unable to) kill him. I'm wondering how much of a 'pacifist' playstyle is possible in UUW1. Just dodge or avoid monsters, go straight for the needed items and use meta-knowledge to skip needless parts of the game.

The golem is unkillable (IIRC you have the option to continue fighting him after you beat him - it doesn't end well for you). You have to kill Tyball for a couple of reasons: to get magic back, and to get a required key from his corpse. You could skip the key if you could cast Open... which you can't until you kill him. Otherwise I believe everything other the Roderick is skippable. Ironically the most efficient way to get the Key of Courage is to, well, run through like a coward.

I think UW2 also has only 3 required kills: the Listener and Mors Gotha.

Spoiler

And Patterson.

I don't remember though, can you skip fighting Loth's 3 advisers? I know it is totally impossible to avoid combat with them, but I think you can run past them or something.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

Here's my endgame screen for Ultima Underworld 1. After some consideration, I decided that this is the best game I've played in the last year, to include the Might and Magic series. I based it on an easy test. Which game would I rather start playing tomorrow with a new party or character. Might and Magic 1 was fun, but if I was to start a game all over it would be Ultima Underworld before the M&M games.

I said I wasted some points in Picklock, but it looks like I had a bad memory. I wasted points in repair, which I never used. Ultimately I found track, charm, and swimming to be useless. Repair and Missile and unarmed I never used. I had lore, but it never really told me anything about an item except a couple of times I found an object in my inventory to be magical. Maybe if I had more points.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

You have to kill Tyball for a couple of reasons: to get magic back, and to get a required key from his corpse. You could skip the key if you could cast Open... which you can't until you kill him. Otherwise I believe everything other the Roderick is skippable. Ironically the most efficient way to get the Key of Courage is to, well, run through like a coward.

I'm not sure if you have to kill Tyball at all. You don't have to kill Tyball to get magic back, just smash the orb. Once the orb is gone, Open will deal with the door. If Open doesn't deal with the door, then the only reason to kill Tyball would be to get the key for that door.

But what about springing Ariel? Doesn't that need a key? More importantly, does she need to be freed to be able to complete the game?

I think UW2 also has only 3 required kills: the Listener, Mors Gotha and X.

I don't remember though, can you skip fighting Loth's 3 advisers? I know it is totally impossible to avoid combat with them, but I think you can run past them or something.

Spoiler

The Ice Golem in Anudunos holds the key to the door behind it. Can the door be opened another way?

The Bliy Skup Ductosnore on Talorus must be killed to gain access to the Ductosnore chamber, which is the Guardian's point of power. Can you get close enough to sever the connection without killing the Ductosnore?

As for X, must he be killed? How about trapping him in a room by spiking the door?

So that's 2 confirmed kills, 3 possibles. Something to look into.

 

[SCO]

I had the idea from my playthoughs a decade ago that UU1 had many more secret doors that UU2 (and they were a great part of moving around the levels fast).

UU2

btw, you can run past the lich generals or use that limited fov teleport spell. I felt bad for them so did that last time.
There is also hidden stuff on that tomb i think i've never got too... on the ceiling or something, hadn't the fly spell yet.

 

[Unkillable Cat]

I said I wasted some points in Picklock, but it looks like I had a bad memory. I wasted points in repair, which I never used. Ultimately I found track, charm, and swimming to be useless. Repair and Missile and unarmed I never used. I had lore, but it never really told me anything about an item except a couple of times I found an object in my inventory to be magical. Maybe if I had more points.

IIRC, I have about 9 points in Swimming, which I later regretted because I'm Water Walking all over the Abyss once I got the Por stone on Level 2 (Hello Lurkers! SPLAT!). I put a few points into Acrobat, as it reduces damage you take when you fall and/or collide into things. Very useful when you have the Ring of Leap like I do. I currently have Lore at 26, and it's still only telling me that some things are magical. For those I use the Identify spell, or whatever it's called. I have about 9 points in Search to cover secret doors and switches. 15 points in Casting to prevent misfires, 13 in Mana (with more to come later) to boost my Mana amount (currently 35) and 19 in Attack & Defense and 20 in Sword. I was going to go Unarmed, until I dug up the stats for damage. Let's just say Fists = Bitchslaps.

And much to my surprise, I found a secret door in UUW1 I had never found before! I was rounding up some stuff I had left behind due to weight constraints, and found a secret door

Spoiler

in the pool area on Level 4, where the chest is, it is on the south wall. Inside is a scroll with the Fireball spell, a Longsword of Damage and a flute.

I've played this game to death, and I'm STILL finding new stuff!

 

[Sceptic]

I think all the dors in Anu can be Open-ed. Forgot about the Bliye, which is definitely required. So is X, plot won't advance until he/she/it is offed (one of the annoyances of UW2 compared to UW1 - script triggers that prevent the plot from progressing until you do something completely unrelated. The whole business with the Listener is the worst example).

And SCO thanks for confirming you can indeed get past the liches.

After some consideration, I decided that this is the best game I've played in the last year, to include the Might and Magic series. I based it on an easy test. Which game would I rather start playing tomorrow with a new party or character. Might and Magic 1 was fun, but if I was to start a game all over it would be Ultima Underworld before the M&M games.

As much as I love MM1, and as different as the games are, I also feel the same way about UW1.