ULTIMA
Exodus
Distributed by: FCI
Walkthrough by: Clint Kimball (
[email protected])
Version: 1.0
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Preface
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This game is the first NES version of the Ultima series produced
by Newtopia Planning and is somewhat a remake of Ultima III for
the PC. It falls under the category of Role Playing Game (RPG)
and is enjoyed by people who enjoyed similar NES games such as
Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy. Utlima, however, did not
achieve the level of fame those other games reached.
My theory as to why Ultima was never as popular is because it is
more difficult. Unlike Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy you
can’t just go to the nearest inn to get back all your hit points
and magic points whenever you’re in trouble. Ultima is more like
classic Tabletop Dungeons and Dragons in this fashion. The only
way to replenish your hit points is to do it very slowly by
walking around, or to use a magic heal spell. The only way to
replenish your magic points is to walk around. Thus in Ultima,
when you’re hurt in a battle, the consequences can be long-
lasting and severe.
Despite the apparent difficulty of the game, it can be passed
fairly quickly and easily if you know what to do. When I played
it I had to go through several tries and failures before I
figured out the best strategy. Thus, I suggest you follow this
walkthrough very carefully when you play this game. If you
enjoyed finding everything out the hard way, you wouldn’t be
reading this walkthrough.
One last note before I begin. Ultima, Exodus is a very non-
linear game. There are multiple different paths and options to
lead to the end of the game. You don’t need to follow this
walkthrough vigorously, though it explains what I believe to be
the easiest way to pass the game.
If you don’t use the sacrificial party technique, then do not
under any circumstances level your characters up past level 4 or
you will be sorry. Once they reach 400 experience points the
king is off-limits until the end of the game.
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Forming a Party
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The beginning menus of the game are pretty straightforward. You
must create at least 4 characters and select their races and
classes. A character’s race determines their maximum ability
scores, and their class determines what they can do. Choosing
your character’s race may not seem important at first, but later
on in the game when you start maxing out your abilities it will
begin to make a very big difference.
Use the following list to match races and classes.
Race Max Str. Max Dex. Max Int. Max Wis.
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Human 75 75 75 75
Elf 75 99 75 50
Dwarf 99 75 50 75
Bobit 75 50 75 99
Fuzzy 25 99 99 75
Class Gender Spells Magic Pts. Dex. Best Race
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Fighter Male None None Low Dwarf
Cleric Female Will Power WIS X 1 Low Bobit
Wizard Male Magic Power INT X 1 Low Fuzzy
Thief Male None None High Elf
Paladin Female Will Power WIS X 0.5 Med Bobit
Barbarian Male None None Low Dwarf
Lark Female Magic Power INT X 0.5 Med Human/Fuzzy
Illusionist Female Will Power WIS X 0.5 Low Bobit
Druid Male Both highest X 0.5 Med Bobit/Fuzzy
Alchemist Male Magic Power INT X 0.5 Med Fuzzy
Ranger Male Both lowest X 0.5 Med Human
Strength affects how often and how hard you hit your enemies.
Dexterity affects how often your enemies hit you and how well you
disable traps in treasure chests.
Intelligence affects how many magic points you have for Magic
Power spellcasters.
Wisdom affects how many magic points you have for Will Power
spellcasters.
Will Power spells are designed mostly to help your party, ie.
heal your wounds and cure your sickness.
Magic Power spells are designed to hurt the enemy.
For Druids, the amount of magic points you have is half of the
highest from either Int or Wis, so stack just one up. For
Rangers it’s the lowest, so spead your points evenly between
Wisdom and Intelligence. My recommended races are listed on the
far right, but use your own discretion from the above values if
you have something else in mind.
Here’s my recommended party to begin with:
Race Class Str Dex Int Wis
----------------------------------
Human Ranger 25 25 0 0
Elf Thief 25 25 0 0
Human Lark 25 5 20 0
Bobit Cleric 5 20 0 25
The Ranger is a good leader for your party – he can fight
reasonably well and also cast both kinds of magic. He is very
well-rounded.
The Thief if there to help you open up treasure chests, of which
there will be very, very many, and most of them have traps that
the thief is best designed to disable.
The Lark is your Magic Power spellcaster, and may end up being
the best fighter on your team as well.
The Cleric is there to patch up all your wounds which is an
unexplainably important task since there are few other ways in
the game to do this.
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Spells
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Here is a list of the spells you can use so you know the
advantages/disadvantages of Will Power and Magic Power.
WILL POWER SPELLS
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Spell MP Description
Undead 0 Kills skeletons and ghouls.
Open 5 Disables traps in chests before you open them.
Heal 10 Heals 20-50 hit points.
Glow 15 Works like a torch to light up dungeons temporarily.
Rise 20 Move up one level in a dungeon.
Sink 25 Move down one level in a dungeon.
Move 30 Move to a different place on this floor of a dungeon.
Cure 35 Removes poison.
Surface 40 Teleports you outside of a dungeon.
Star 45 Works like ‘glow’ but lasts longer.
Heal 50 Heals a lot more hit points that the other ‘heal.’
Map 55 Reveals a map of the overworld/dungeon.
Banish 60 Kills a chosen enemy.
Raise 65 Revives a character. If it fails, they turn to ash.
Destroy 70 Kills several enemies.
Recall 75 Revives characters who have turned to ash.
MAGIC POWER SPELLS
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Spell MP Description
Repel 0 Kills goblins and orcs.
Missile 5 Shoots a fireball in one direction for normal damage.
Light 10 Works like a torch to light up dungeons temporarily.
Descend 15 Move down one level in a dungeon.
Ascend 20 Move up one level in a dungeon.
Flame 25 Works like a ‘missile’ and does more damage.
Trans 30 Teleports you to a different place in the overworld.
PSI 35 Works like ‘missile’ and ‘flame’ but more powerful.
Bright 40 Works like ‘light’ but lasts longer.
Cleric 45 All the Will Power spells become available to you.
Poison 50 Does damage to all enemies.
Kill 55 Kills one enemy instantly.
Stop 60 Stops time temporarily.
PSIkill 65 Attacks several enemies at the same time.
Rot 70 Works like PSI Kill, but more powerful.
Death 75 Kills all enemies.
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Sacrificial Party
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This is my favorite strategy. It will add some time to your
game, but will make it easier in the long run and may even
shorten the overall game. Whenever you talk to the king and
level up, the only change made to your characters is an increase
in hit points. They do not get any stronger or faster. Plus,
the enemies in the overworld get significantly harder –
disproportionate to your gains in my opinion. Thus my best
strategy is to not level up past level 2 until the end of the
game (since level 3 is where the enemies start getting harder.
This presents a significant problem, though, and that is that you
need a ship for most of the game, and to get a ship your
characters must be level 3 where pirates begin to appear. Thus I
developed the sacrificial party strategy.
Simply create a party however you want and get a whole lot of
experience for one of them (all you need is one, prefereable a
ranger. The others can stand idly by during the battles if you
want). When and only when this character surpasses 200
experience points, talk to the king and level him/her up. Then
immediate go outside, confront a pirate ship on the coast. Even
if 3 of your characters die, don’t worry, this isn’t the actual
party you are going to use.
When you beat the pirates, go back into the inn at the castle,
save your game, and hit reset. Then, under your same profile,
create your real party. When you start the game the pirate ship
will be right there waiting for you. Fight enemies until all of
your characters have between 100 and 200 experience points, talk
to the king and level everyone up to 2, and you can stay there
fighting wimps for almost the rest of the game.
Remember when using your sacrificial party to have your main
character cast the ‘repel’ and ‘undead’ spells on the appropriate
enemies (as I will soon explain) to get through battles faster.
Also, do not delete your sacrificial party as you may need them
to get your ship back later.
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Gold
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In this game you will need lots and lots of gold, but it is very
dangerous since you will almost exclusively need to get it
through rigged treasure chests. If you have the time and desire
you can get gold more easily. Simply create lots of characters,
party them together, give all their gold to one member, start
over, delete the broke characters, create new ones, and repeat
the process indefinitely until one character has as much money as
you can dream of. This is by far the safest way to make money.
To give gold from one character to another press ‘a’, then press
‘select’ to open the second list of commands. The ‘gold’ command
should be right there for your use to transfer funds in
denominations of 10, 100, or 1000.
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Weapons
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Your weapons don’t have as large of an effect on your attacking
power as you may image, but they have some and are worth the
extra money. You particularly will want ranged weapons so you
can destroy your enemy before they even get to you, and you can
use them in melee situations just as well as melee weapons.
Begin by giving your characters Slings or Blowguns, since these
are the first ranged weapons you can get. You can find these
weapons in the Royal City, right next to the castle.
Refer to the following list when choosing your weapons:
Weapon Type Price Location Can be used by… Power
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Dagger Melee 5 Shop Everyone 1
Mace Melee 30 Shop B,D,F,I,L,P,C,R,T 2
Sling Ranged 60 Shop B,F,L,P,R,T 3
Axe Melee 125 Shop B,F,L,P,R,T 4
Blowgun Ranged 350 Shop B,F,L,P,R,T 4
Sword Melee 200 Shop B,F,L,P,R,T 5
Spear Melee 250 Shop B,F,L,P,R 6
Broad Axe Melee 400 Dawn B,F,L,P,R 7
Bow Ranged 1050 Dawn B,F,L,P,R 7
Iron Sword Melee 800 Dawn B,F,L,P,R 8
Gloves Melee 1200 Dawn B,F,L,P 8
Halberd Melee 2700 Dawn B,F,L,P 9
Silver Bow Ranged 6550 Dawn B,F,L,P 9
Sun Sword Melee 4550 Dawn B,F,L,P 10
Mystic Sword Melee Free Buried Everyone 10
Note, if you’ve chosen my recommended party then you can not give
your Cleric a ranged weapon. For starters the Mace is okay if
you desire, but before too long she’ll be getting the mystic
sword. For everyone else the Bow is the main goal, or the silver
bow if you’re ambitious enough to raise the funds.
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Armor
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You characters’ armor is fairly important, but I don’t recommend
buying any since one of our first orders of business will be
procuring the mystic armor for everyone for free. However, if
for some crazy reason you have other plans in mind you may refer
to the following list.
Armor Price Location Can be used by… Strength
--------------------------------------------------------
Cloth 75 Armory Everyone 1
Leather 195 Armory B,F,I,P,C,R,T 2
Bronze 575 Armory F,P,C,R 3
Iron 2500 Armory F,P,R 4
Steel 6130 Armory F,R 5
Dragon 8250 Armory F,R 6
Mystic Armor Free Buried Everyone 7
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Equipping
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Remember to always equip your weapons and armor once you buy or
find them. You may be carrying many different armors or weapons,
but only what you have equipped will ever be used. To equip
something at any time press ‘a’, choose ‘status’, choose the
character you want to equip for (one at a time if necessary),
then click on the weapon and armor successively that you want
equipped. An asterisk will appear next to what you have
equipped. Sell anything you don’t intend to use again at the
nearest Shop or Armory. Note that you can not sell something
that is equipped, and you can not sell something that is not sold
at that shop or armory.
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Food
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You must always monitor how much food your characters have. You
can see how much if you just stand where you are without pressing
anything for a couple of seconds. Your food will gradually
decrease as you walk around and should be frequently replenished
at the various grocery stores in most towns. You will lose 1
food every 10 steps in the overworld, and every 40 steps in a
town. I always like to replenish my food supply when it drops
below 100 at my nearest convenience.
Whenever you buy food ALWAYS pool it buy pressing ‘a’, ‘select’,
then choosing ‘food’. This distributes your food evenly amongst
your characters.
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Adventuring
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You’re now ready to begin adventuring. By the end of the game
you will want your characters to reach 2,400 experience points,
so there’s going to be a lot of walking around and fighting in
the meantime. You will also want vast amounts of gold, much of
which can be gathered by killing enemies and looting their
treasure chests. As long as you stay at level 2 by not talking
to the king like I recommend, fighting will be easy. If you’re
at level 4 then it still won’t be too bad but will take much
longer. If you’re higher than level 4 then you’re a fool.
Whenever you face Goblins or Orcs, use the ‘repel’ spell by your
Magic Power spellcasters, the ranger and lark in my suggested
party. This will only work about half the time, but will kill
most of the enemies instantly whenever it does, and it doesn’t
require ANY magic points. The enemies should almost never get a
chance to even touch you, and it will be easy experience points.
Whenever you face Ghouls or Skeletons, use the “undead’ spell by
you Will Power spellcasters, the ranger and paladin in my
suggested party. This works exactly like the repel spell.
As long as you’re at level 2, these should be the only enemies
you face. If you do chance to level up you’ll have to face
tougher enemies, and these instant wipe out spells will no longer
work. You’ll have to plink the tough guys away one shot at a
time, and you’ll get heavily punished in the meantime. You
actually gain experience faster by fighting only the easy guys.
If you’ve used my recommended party, you’ll have to always
remember to leave guys for your thief to kill, since he can’t use
any magic. At the end of the game you’ll want him to level up
with everyone else.
You may do your adventuring at any time, and explore any corner
of the continent you want on land or sea. Note that the world is
just one block shaped continent with a few scattered islands on
the north, east and south. When you sail between what look like
continents, they’re really just opposite sides of the same one.
Adventuring may not be necessary for a while, however, as you can
begin the rest of the walkthrough right away. You should
probably get up to level 2 before procuring the mystic armor,
though.
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Dawn
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First you must find the city of Dawn. From the Royal City it is
located 8 spaces to the west and 35 spaces south. However, it is
only accessible when both moons are new. The moons are seen in
the upper-left window. When both moons are completely black,
Dawn will appear. Simply walk back and forth in the
aforementioned spot until it does.
Dawn is the town in which you can go on a shopping spree. The
best weapons are sold here and nowhere else, including my
favorites, the bow and silver bow. You can also buy horses at
the stable for 800 gold pieces. They don’t help you move around
any faster but they do help you avoid battles when you want to.
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Items / Tools
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Here is the list of items and tools you can get in the game:
Item Price Location Function
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Torch 30 Guild Illuminates dungeons for a
short period of time.
Magic Key 50 Guild Opens doors.
Gem 75 Guild Shows a map of the overworld
or dungeon.
Sands of Time 90 Guild Stops time.
Tent 100 Guild Restore 100 hit points to
every character.
Silver Pick - Cave of Death Use it to dig for Mystic
Sword.
Gold Pick - Dawn Guild Use it to dig for Mystic
Armor.
Silver Horn - Yew circle Removes the Great Earth
Serpent.
Flower - Ambrosia Give it to Sherry to get a
Compass Heart.
Compass Heart - Royal City Teleports you to the castle.
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Mystic Armor
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Using the above directions, go to Dawn and find the guild. It
will be the shop where the guy has all the treasure chests behind
the counter with him. Feel free to buy some items if you wish.
They all (except the gem in your case) can be quite useful.
When you’re ready, press ‘a’ and choose ‘get’ while facing the
treasure chest on the far left. It doesn’t look like you can
take it from back there, but you can. You will find the golden
pick. Be careful though! You will likely be caught stealing
from the guild and will be chased by the red-colored guards.
Avoid them at all costs! If you’re caught, refer far below on
how to survive this deadly encounter. You have to back out the
front entrance since the city is walled-in on every side. If you
want to go to Ambrosia and get a Compass Heart first, that’s not
a bad idea as it will get you out of the city immediately. If
you’re caught and die you may feel free to reset and try again,
but you should be able to defeat at least one wave of guards if
you have full life and magic. When you get away you’ll soon be
in possession of the strongest armor in the game.
Get onto your ship and sail to the south side of the continent to
a bay guarded by an island with a large terrifying looking snake
on it. North-East of the snake island there will be a tiny
island of just two squares. On the right square press ‘a’ and
‘tools’ and use the golden pick. Voila! The mystic armor! Give
the pick to each character and have them all dig it out one at a
time. Equip your new armor and go sell your old obsolete stuff.
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Ambrosia
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Ambrosia is a critical part of the game. The shrines in Ambrosia
are the only way you can increase your base abilities, namely
Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wisdom. No, levelling up
does not increase these. In Ambrosia, for 100 gold pieces you
can increase any ability for any character by 1 single point, so
be sure you’re rich whenever you go. You must also go to
Ambrosia to find the cards to destroy the evil Exodus at the end
of the game, but we’ll discuss that much later.
To go to Ambrosia, get in your ship and find a Maelstrom, or
whirlpool. It looks like a swirling mass on the ocean. Sail
directly into it, and you’ll find yourself in the mysterious land
of Ambrosia.
IMPORTANT! If you’re following this walkthrough closely, then
you’ll still be at level 2. That means that you can not get
another ship. Thus, if you enter Ambrosia with the intent of
using a Compass Heart to get back out, then when you sail into
the Maelstrom, make sure that your ship is directly next to the
main continent. This way, when you return you’ll want your ship
to be accessible to the mainland. The first time you enter
Ambrosia, though, this is not an issue, so don’t worry about it.
If, by chance, you find yourself separated from your ship by
accident, you can get a new one using your sacrificial party if
they’re still around.
The Flower:
The first thing you want to do whenever you’re in Ambrosia is get
the flower (it will help you return home easily in future
visits). If you follow the clearing around the Western edge
you’ll notice a path of clear ground between mountains. Do not
take this path yet. Head north a little more and take the next
path to the west into the mountains through the forest. Hug the
left side and take the first path south. You’ll immediately come
upon a clearing with a big flower. Have each character in your
party take it.
Leaving Ambrosia:
When you leave Ambrosia for the first time, you must commandeer
the pirate ship in the southern sea and sail it into the
Maelstrom. To find the pirate ship, take the path of clear
ground between the mountains on the Western side of the main
clearing (slightly south of center). If you hug the left edge
you’ll eventually reach the clearing with the pirate ship. To
shortcut the process, when you begin to head east and are at a
junction where you must turn north or south, go south. Then
continue to hug the left edge. There is a level 5 monster in
here, but with any luck you won’t face it. To attack the pirate
ship you must press ‘a’ and choose ‘fight’ while facing it.
Shrine of Strength
To increase your strength, head into the brush in the North-
Western corner of the map. After heading between mountains for a
while the brush will eventually give way to forest at the top-
left corner. Enter the forest and head generally south. You’ll
only be forced to go left or right 1 space at a time. When you
reach the bottom walled off by mountains, go up 2 spaces up from
the bottom and right 3 spaces from the left edge.
Shrine of Dexterity
This one is a pain to get to. First commandeer the pirate ship
as explained two paragraphs up in ‘Leaving Ambrosia.’ Then,
instead of sailing into the Maelstrom, avoid it and sail east.
Watch out! There is a Man-o-War that is after you. Do not, and
I repeat, do not attack it while on your ship. Run aground and
face the Man-o-War from the shore. You’ll stand a far better
chance. Once past the Man-o-War, get in your ship again and land
it on the first patch of ground past the narrow pass that is one
square wide and three squares long. This opening you’ve landed
on will take you to the shrine. For exact directions, head
north-west until you see a door. Then, while standing in front
of the door, go up 1 space, right 6 spaces, and up 2 spaces.
Shrine of Intelligence
Head through the forest gap between the mountains in the north-
eastern corner of the main clearing. You’ll reach a second
clearing. Head north and take the forest gap on the west side of
this clearing. You’ll immediately reach yet another clearing,
this one adjoining a lake. Fight the pirate ship by standing in
front of it and pressing ‘a’ and ‘fight’, and sail across the
lake. Land on the clear shore on the north-west edge. If you
walk due west, straigth through the forest gap, you’ll run right
into this shrine.
Shrine of Wisdom
Head through the forest gap between the mountains in the north-
eastern corner of the main clearing. You’ll reach a second
clearing. Head north and take the forest gap on very north
point. It will wind you around to the right and eventually down.
When you reach the bottom-most wall of mountains (there’s a door
at the southern-most point if you get lost), turn west and hug
the left wall. Pretty soon you’ll enter a clearing and see the
shrine.
You’ll probably want to return to ambrosia throughout the game
until you max out the key attributes for you characters – that’s
strength and dexterity for everyone, intelligence for your Magic
Power spellcasters, and wisdom for your Will Power spellcasters.
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Compass Heart
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Immediately after returning from Ambrosia, go to the Royal City
and find a woman named Sherry who is south and east of the
central pond. Stand in front of her and use the ‘give’ command.
She’ll thank you and give you the compass heart. Do this with
all of your characters so they all have compass hearts. Whenever
you use a compass heart you will be teleported directly to the
castle wherever you are. This is particularly convenient in
getting back out of Ambrosia whenever you go there, and you can
always restock on flowers and get more compass hearts.
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Mystic Sword – Cave of Death – Mark of Kings
****************************************
The mystic sword is the strongest weapon in the game, and will be
very important at the end of the game when trudging through
Castle Exodus.
You’ll need to make the dangerous journey to find the silver
pick. Go to the Cave of Death located on the main continent in
the mountains due north of the castle. Upon entering use a
torch. You’ll notice that the game has now shifted from 3rd
person to 1st person and is a whole lot more difficult to
navigate. You’ll see the direction you’re facing at the top, so
follow my directions closely.
Note that sometimes these directions will take you into a wall.
That’s because there are a lot of walls you can walk through in
the dungeons. We will also get the Mark of Kings which is
conveniently located on Level 2 of this dungeon. The Mark of
Kings will allow your characters to level up past 5 all the way
to 25, though you won’t want to actually do this until the end of
the game.
Level 1: Go E2, S8, E3, S3, E1, S1, E2, N2, E2, use the ‘climb’
command.
Level 2: Go S1, W2, N9, E2, get the Mark of Kings for each
character. It hurts 50 hit points, but it will be worth it.
From the NW corner of this room go S9, E2, S1, use the ‘climb’
command.
Level 3: Go S2, W6, N2, W4, N2, E10, use the ‘climb’ command.
Level 4: Go W2, N4, W4, N2, use the ‘climb’ command.
Level 5: Use the ‘climb’ command and choose ‘go down’
Level 6: Use the ‘climb’ command and choose ‘go down’
At level 7 I recommend using the ‘sink’ or ‘descend’ spell to go
down to level 8. There are two parts to the level, and if you
use the ladder you end up separated from the side of the silver
pick by a long series of deadly traps. If you use sink or
descend, however, you don’t know where you’ll end up. If you’re
lucky you’ll end up on the good side. If you wander to the
south-west end there will be a series of treasure chests. The
one in the far south-west corner has the Silver Pick.
If you find yourself on the half with all the traps, head to one
space south of the north-west corner and head west into the wall.
Then make your way to the south-west corner to get the silver
pick.
Now you have to get out. I recommend using a Compass Heart, but
you can also use the ‘surface’ spell, a bunch of ‘rise’ spells or
‘ascend’ spells, or try to find a ladder up and backtrack my
above directions.
With the silver pick, now sail to the north side of the main
continent to where there’s a series of small islands, one with a
city on it. Land on the far-right island on the far-right space
and use the silver pick. Voila! The mystic sword. Have
everybody get, though I don’t recommend equipping it yet (except
with your Cleric). Ranged weapons are still better for the time
being.
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Moongate
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To move on in the game you will need to know how to use the
moongate. The Moongate appears at various locations around the
overworld according to the signs of the 2 moons in the upper-left
window and teleports you to other locations. There are some
places on the map walled-in by mountains that are only accessible
via moongate.
The moon on the left shows the locations of where the moongate is
and the moon on the right shows where the moongate will take you.
There are 8 phases of each moon, so there are 8 moongate
locations, and there are 3 phases for the moon on the right for
each phase for the moon on the left. Thus each moongate location
can take you to 3 potential destinations or exits. Use the
following table to navigate the moongate.
# Phase Location Exits
-------------------------------------------------------------
1 New moon SE corner of main continent 1,2,3
2 Crescent Waxing Cave of Sol Island 4,5,6
3 Half Waxing Locked in Mountains top square 7,8,1
4 Gibbous Waxing Due S of Dawn, due W of Montor 2,3,4
5 Full moon Locked in Mountains bottom square 5,6,7
6 Gibbous Waning Exodus’ Castle Island 8,1,2
7 Half Waning Devil Guard 3,4,5
8 Crescent Waning Cave of Moon 6,7,8
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Food
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Don’t forget to check your food!
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Mark of Fire
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The Mark of Fire will allow you to walk on fire without dying,
which is vital since you will have to cross some fire to pass the
game, so let’s go.
The easiest way to get the Mark of Fire is through the Cave of
Moon. Go to Moongate location number 4, due south of Dawn and
due west of the dual city of Montor. It’s on the south end of
the main continent, tucked under an alcove of mountains. Walk
around until the left moon to rises to 3/4 of full (gibbous
waxing), and the moongate will appear. Then step a few times
until the right moon rises to half-full. Then step into the
moongate.
You’ll find yourself land-locked in a 3-space area in the
mountains. Walk back and forth between the top two spaces only.
The moongate will shortly appear in the bottom space, but do not
enter it. Once it disappears, switch and walk back and forth
only between the bottom two spaces. When the moongate appears in
the top space, wait. Walk back and forth a few more times until
the right moon fades to a crescent. Then enter the moongate.
You’ll find yourself looking at the Cave of Moon.
The Mark of Fire is on level 2. You can use a ‘sink’ or
‘descend’ spell and wander around if you want, or you can use the
following directions:
Level 1: Go E2, S4, E6, S6, E2, use the ‘climb’ command.
Level 2: Go E2, S4, W4, N4, W2, S4, W6, N8, E2, S2, E4, N2. Have
each character get the Mark of Fire and take the 50 hit point
penalty. Then backtrack, ascend, or use a Compass Heart (it’s
best to use a compass heart so you don’t have to figure your way
back through the moongates). Your work here is done.
*************************
Mark of Force
*************************
The Mark of Force shouldn’t be too difficult to get. It allows
you to walk on poison ground, which will be crucial in getting
through Castle Exodus at the end of the game.
Go to the Cave of Fool which is WSW of Dawn on the South-West
corner of the continent. You’ll have to go through the forest
around Dawn to get there, but you won’t get lost if you keep
going south and west.
You can get through the Cave of Fool fairly quickly. The longest
paths you have to take are on the top two floors, and there’s
nothing but easy enemies there to block your way. If you’re
efficient and a little luck you won’t face anything more
difficult than a pack of goblins. Here are the directions:
Level 1: Go E6, S8, E2, S4, E2, N2, use the ‘climb’ command.
Level 2: Go E2, S4, W4, N8, W8, N4, E4, S2, use the ‘climb’
command.
Level 3: Use the ‘climb’ command and choose ‘go down.’
Level 4: Go N1, E2, S3, use the ‘climb’ command.
Level 5: Use the ‘climb’ command and choose ‘go down.’
Level 6: Go N2, W2, use the ‘climb’ command.
Level 7: Go E4, S6, E2, use the ‘climb’ command.
Level 8: Go N2, W3, get the Mark of Force for each character and
get out.
*************************
Mark of Snake
*************************
The Mark of Snake is required for removing the great serpent
blocking the way to Castle Exodus. It is tucked at the bottom of
the Cave of Sol, which can be a very perilous place, escpecially
if you’re still Level 2, but it can be reached. I recommend
maxing out your cleric’s wisdom or wizard’s intelligence first,
though. That way you can enter the Cave of Sol with 99 magic
points and some awesome spells. Also, be sure to carry some
powder with you.
The Cave of Sol is located on the southern-most of the 3 islands
on the east side of the main continent. Enter it, use a torch,
and use the following directions.
Level 1: Go S1, E4, S1, E4, S2, E2, S6, use the ‘climb’ command.
Level 2: Go W6, use the ‘climb’ command.
Level 3: Go N2, E6, S2, use the ‘climb’ command.
Level 4: Go E2, S4, E2, use the ‘climb’ command.
Level 5: Go N6, W7, N1, use the ‘climb’ command.
Level 6: Go S6, W1, S1, W2,, N2, W4, S2, use the ‘climb’ command.
Level 7: Go E2, N6, W2, N1, use the ‘climb’ command.
Shortly after walking through Level 8, your light will blow out.
Don’t try to relight it, just follow these directions exactly.
If you misstep one time, you may find yourself unnecessarily
facing killer enemies. Also, whenever the message comes up that
there is wind, press ‘a’ to remove the message before you
continue walking. If you press forward while the message is up,
you will not actually move forward.
Level 8: Go S1, E2, S2, E4, S2, W6, S2, E5, get the Mark of Snake
for each character and get out of there.
When you face level 7 or level 9 enemies (not if), simply do one
of two things. Use your magic powder to freeze them and wail on
them, or spend the large amount of magic points for a ‘destroy’
spell from your cleric or ‘death’ from your wizard. Then walk
over your enemies’ rotting carcases.
*************************
Silver Horn
*************************
The Silver Horn is very easy to get and you can do it any time
after receiving the Mark of Fire. The Silver Horn, coupled with
the Mark of Snake, will allow you to get rid of that fearsome
snake on the island blocking the way to the final castle of
Exodus. Here’s how you get it.
Go to the town of Yew. It’s in the forest nestled inside the
mountains directly to the west of the castle. The entrance to
the mountains is on the west side. Yew is a forest city, even
inside, so it can be very hard to navigate, but the path you want
to take is simple.
Go due east from the entrance until you run into a wall with lava
around it (the lava won’t hurt you if you have the Mark of Fire).
This building is the temple, and if you talk to the man on top
twice, he’ll teach you how to pray. Now head due south of the
temple and you’ll run into the circle of fire. Stand in the
center and use your pray command (on your second list of
commands). Bingo! You now have the Silver Horn.
*************************
The Four Cards
*************************
There is one last task to accomplish before travelling to the
castle of Exodus to beat the game. You must travel to Ambrosia
(remembering to enter the Maelstrom from the shore if you’re
still level 2) and go to each shrine. Go up to the priest in
each shrine and use the ‘pray’ command to him. Each one will
give you a card – the card of sun, moons, love and death. These
will be essential in defeating the last boss.
*************************
The Castle of Exodus
*************************
The Castle of Exodus is full of the most fearsome enemies in the
game, so you’ll finally want to level up. I got through the
castle and beat the game with my characters at level 11 and 13,
though it was very close. If you max out your characters they’ll
have at least 2400 experience points and be at level 25 (the
highest you can achieve in this game). Use tents to fill up your
hit points once you level up. You can’t use powder or tents in
Exodus Castle, so don’t worry on stocking up, though one thing of
powder might be nice if you hit a battle on your way to Exodus
Castle. Be sure to save your game at the inn before you level
up. That way, if you’re unsuccessful you can come back and get
more experience before you try leveling up again. When you’re
ready, leave the castle and your difficult run begins.
Sail to the island of exodus and blow your Silver Horn. The big
snake will sink into the water and you can sail on through to the
castle. IMPORTANT!! Your can’t use ranged weapons inside Exodus
Castle for some reason. So, before you go in (or immediately
after), equip the Mystic Sword with everyone. You are going to
have to win each battle hand-to-hand, though with full Strength
and Dexterity for everyone and full hit-points it shouldn’t be
too hard.
If you run quickly and are mounted on horses you should be able
to dodge quite a few of the monsters, but several fights are
inevitable. If you have your cleric you can use a Destroy Spell
for 60 MP to instantly win one battle, but I recommend not using
it unless you’re facing Balrons or Devils. Save it for these
really hard guys, or for the invisible floors you’ll face at the
end.
You can easily avoid the first dragon at the entrace of the
castle if he’s on one side of the 3-square path or the other and
run wide around. If he’s in the middle, exit the castle and come
back in. Repeat this until he is on one side or the other and
sweep around.
Use the following directions:
Follow the white path into the castle part and turn right (east)
at the main atrium. You’ll run into another white path. Go
north and hug the left wall. If you keep hugging your left side
you’ll eventually reach the throne room, and here’s what you’ll
see. You’ll skirt through the corner of some lava and come out
at a green path. Then you’ll cross some poison ground that
should now be safe to walk on since you have the mark of force.
The green path will then take you west, and you’ll pass right by
the entrance to the throne room. Turn away from your left wall
and head north into the throne room between some pools of lava.
When you get past the pools the green path will appear to dead
end. Keep heading north and you’ll have a couple of encounters
with invisible floors. These are the last encounters in the
game.
My favorite way to beat the floors is to line up your characters
shoulder to shoulder and walk upward in a nice even rank.
Whenever it says your character ‘can’t walk that way’, you know
to attack that way instead. The floors are arranged in the same
7-square wide formation you’ve seen the whole game, so you should
know about where the floors are and move there accordingly.
Always try to move in a direction before you attack in a
direction. After the dragons the floors are quite easy and they
should go down without much loss of life on your part.
When the floors are defeated and you’re standing on the top row
right at the dead end staring at the lava strip across the water,
use the ‘pray’ command. The entity of the castle will appear and
ask you what cards you will use. Use them in the following order
– ‘Love’, ‘Sun’, ‘Moons’, ‘Death’. An ankh will appear and
you’ll take it. Leave the crumbling, enemy-free castle as fast
as possible and, hooray! The credits are rolling.
You may feel a deep dissatisfaction at the lack of resolution
after you leave the castle. Just imagine your female characters
making out with your male characters and it will help you feel a
little better.
OTHER TIPS
**************************
Surviving Difficult Encounters
**************************
If you’re facing a horde of difficult enemies, such as guards,
and you’re only at level 2, first and foremost use some powder if
you have any. Then you can wail on them for a few rounds. If
you’re out of powder, use an upper-level spell such as ‘destroy’,
‘PSIkill’, ‘rot’, or ‘death’. If none of this is available to
you, remember the simple strategy: Line up your enemies so that
they can only attack you one at a time, and kill them one at a
time.
If I have no other recourse and I think my chances are slim and
there are a lot of enemies, I like to immediately move my
characters to the far left and line them up single file directly
below the farthest enemy on the left. By the time my characters
are lined up the enemies are upon me, but that’s okay. The
characters who started on the left have been shooting their bows
and blowguns while they wait for the slow pokes on the right to
make it over, and one enemy is either dead or nearly dead.
One character will have to take the front line. You’ll notice
the enemies have lined up horizontally. That’s because they’re
all trying to get to the front line character and are blocking
each other’s path. If all your characters have ranged weapons
(except a cleric, which may be a good choice for a front liner,
especially if she has the mystic sword), then they can all attack
the same enemy. Do it and kill them one at a time.
After one or two kills you’ll notice that only one enemy can
attack your front liner each turn, and you should be able to easy
heal that character each turn to keep him/her alive. Whenever
you kill an enemy, the whole line of enemies will shift left.
Line ‘em up and bring ‘em down. You can survive incredible odds
this way.
Also remember this, never confront a sea enemy from your ship.
EVER! You’ll be surrounded and outmaneuvered. If you absolutely
have to fight a sea enemy, land your ship and confront them from
the shore. You’re chances will increase several-fold.
*************************
Lots of Gold
*************************
If you want to max out your abilities you’re going to need a lot
of gold. You can go around killing enemies in the overworld
using repel and undead and make lots of money that way. This is
actually recommended since you’re going to need the experience to
level up your characters anyway. You can try your luck at one of
the casinos. You can also create new characters and steal their
gold like I mentioned before. However, if you’re greedy you can
use the following method to get lots of gold fast at moderate
risk.
Get in your ship and sail to the eastern edge of the continent.
There will be an island with a ring of mountains and a city
nestled against their western edge called Death Gulch.
IMPORTANT! Make sure you land your ship due west of the city on
the narrow strip of ocean bordering both the main continent and
the island. This is because you’ll probably want to use a
compass heart to flee the city and you’ll still want the ship to
be accessible by the main continent. If you mistakenly are
separated from your ship you can use your sacrificial party to
get another one if they’re still around.
When you enter Death Gulch you’ll notice that the city is blocked
off by a guard and a locked door. If you wanted to go out of
your way unnecessarily and discovered the bribe command, use it,
and use a key, you can get through. However, there are a couple
of secret entrances. Head south and enter the narrow forest
path. At the junctions go left, then right, then straight until
you come upon a forest path 3 spaces wide. Head north until you
reach the clearing. You’re now past the guard and the locked
door.
Open the door to the east with one of your keys, go through it
and head south. You’ll come across a narrow forest path into the
mountains by a blue guard. Enter it heading west. Go straight,
right, straight, left, right, and you’ll emerge in an area full
of treasure chests. There’s more than 1500 gold pieces in here,
and at least 3000 if you have the Mark of Fire and can cross the
lava patch.
Be careful. Once you start taking chests you’ll be caught and
guards will start appearing out of nowhere. If you’re still at
level 2, then surviving a battle with these guards will be
somewhat difficult (see my help above), so make sure you have
plenty of powder. When you can’t take the pressure any more,
swallow your greed and use a compass heart to get out of there.
Lick your wounds, and when you return to Death Gulch the guards
will be happy again and all the treasure chests will have
reappeared.
*************************
Resurrecting for Free
*************************
When your entire party dies, King British revives your party
leader for free. Thus, to resurrect any or all characters for
free, just save, press reset, create 3 new characters, form a
party using them and your dead character as party leader. Go out
and die. Then King British will raise your dead character.
Save, reset, do this with each dead character, and when you form
your old party again everyone will be alive for free. You can
even take the gold from all the other new characters you killed.
*************************
Bribing
*************************
This isn’t necessary for passing the game, but can help you get
into places that are otherwise inaccessible. You must go to the
city of Devil Guard which is accessible only via moongate. Go to
moongate number 2 which is due south of Dawn and due west of
Montor, tucked under some mountains on the southern edge of the
continent. Walk around until the left moon is at gibbous waxing
and the moongate will appear. Then wait and walk around a few
more steps until the right moon is at half waxing and enter the
moongate.
You’ll be landlocked in 3 spaces in the mountains. Walk back and
forth between the top two spaces only and the moongate will
shortly appear before you. Do not enter it. Instead keep
walking back and forth until it disappears. Then walk back and
forth between the bottom two spaces until the moongate appears
again, this time above you. Enter it immediately and you’ll be
in the landlocked alcove in the center of the continent. Head
west and enter the city of Devil Guard.
Head east in Devil Guard until you come to the hospital. Talk to
everyone twice and one woman will tell you about bribing. From
now on you can use the bribe command on guards and they will
disappear. This is particularly useful for getting into prisons
and talking to prisoners to get more information.
*************************
Monsters
*************************
The monsters on the overworld increase in difficulty as you
increase in level from talking to King British. Here is a list
of monsters and at what level they begin to appear on the
overworld.
LEVEL 1+
-------------------------------------------
Monster HP Exp Special Abilities
Goblin 19-33 3 None
Ork 19-33 3 None
Skeleton 35-48 4 None
Ghoul 35-49 4 None
LEVEL 3+
-------------------------------------------
Monster HP Exp Special Abilities
Thief 123-133 5 Can steal unequipped weapons and armor.
Brigand 123-137 5 Can steal unequipped weapons and armor.
Titan 107-121 6 None
Giant 107-118 6 None
Golem 107-120 6 None
Pirate 145-159 8 None
LEVEL 5+
-------------------------------------------
Monster HP Exp Special Abilities
Mane 175-189 8 None
Gargoyle 175-189 8 None
Demon 175-188 8 Poison Spell
Serpent 219-233 15 Fireball
LEVEL 7+
-------------------------------------------
Monster HP Exp Special Abilities
Snatches 187-201 10 Poison
Bradles 187-201 10 Poison
Man-O-War 235-249 20 Poison Spell
LEVEL 9+
-------------------------------------------
Monster HP Exp Special Abilities
Griffin 219 15 Attack Spell
Wyvern 219 15 Attack Spell
Dragon 219 15 Attack Spell
Balron 235 20 Poison Spell – Can’t use ranged weapons
Devil 235 20 Poison Spell – Can’t use ranged weapons
CASTLE EXODUS ONLY
-------------------------------------------
Monster HP Exp Special Abilities
Floor 43 3 Invisible
As you can see, after level 2 the monster increase dramatically
in power with little extra gain in experience, and you can’t kill
anything but the level 1 monsters with your repel and undead
spells at no magical cost. That is why I recommend staying at
level 2 the entire game until Castle Exodus where you have to
fight the big bad monsters.
If you want to rise to level 4, I won’t object too much, but you
should absolutely not rise past it. You could probably take on
the Manes and Gargoyles pretty well, but the Demons and Serpents
will kick your butt hard, as will all the level 7 and 9 monsters.
*************************
Towns
*************************
Dawn
---------
Location: Large forest to the south. It’s only accessible during
a double new moon.
Services:
-Armory
-Weapons Shop
-Stables
-Guild
-Pub
-Inn
-Grocery Store
-Hospital
-Fortune Teller
Special:
The weapons sold here are more powerful than in any other shop.
The golden pick can be found in the left chest in the guild.
Death Gulch
-----------
Location: A mountainous island on the east side of the continent.
Services:
-Armory
-Weapons Shop
-Pub
-Grocery Store
Special:
There is a secret entrance to the south.
There is no need to talk to the person in the big lava field.
There is lots of gold in the armory, but don’t get caught.
Devil Guard
-----------
Location: Landlocked in the central mountains. See the ‘bribing’
section for directions on reaching it via moongate.
Services:
-Stables
-Guild
-Pub
-Grocery Store
-Hospital
Special:
Talk to a patient in the hospital twice to get the bribe
command.
Fawn
-----------
Location: On a tiny island on the north side of the continent.
Services:
-Guild
-Pub
-Grocery Store
-Hospital
-Casino
Gray
----------
Location: Western edge of the continent – southern corner amongst
the brush. Just north of Snake island.
Services:
-Armory
-Weapons Shop
-Guild
-Pub
-Casino
Montor East
-----------
Location: East side of river inlet, southern edge of continent.
Services:
-Armory
-Weapons Shop
-Pub
Montor West
-----------
Location: West side of river inlet, southern edge of continent.
Services:
-Armory
-Weapons Shop
-Pub
-Grocery Store
Moon
-----------
Location: Northwest corner of continent.
Services:
-Pub
-Grocery Store
-Hospital
Royal City
-----------
Location: Right next to King British’s castle.
Services:
-Armory
-Weapons Shop
-Pub
-Grocery Store
Yew
-----------
Location: Inside the mountains just west of Lord British’s
castle. Enter on the west side.
Services:
-Grocery Store
-Hospital
Special:
Watch out for lava in the dense forest.
Learn the ‘pray’ command at the temple.
Pray in the circle of light to get the Silver Horn.
*************************
Curing Poison and Colds
*************************
The only way to take care of these is to use the Will Power
spells or go to the nearest hospital (there is one in the castle
and several in scattered towns as seen above). If you desire you
can let the character die. Then resurrect him/her for free using
my above method, and they’ll be cured. Colds and poison are
unavoidable when you delve into treasure chests. It may be cost
efficient to cast ‘open’ on each one, but a thief with high
dexterity can avoid a large portion of the trouble.
*************************
Thanks & Permission
*************************
Thanks to GameFAQs for hosting and information.
Thanks to GameFAQs and RPGClassics.com for information.
Thanks to FCE Ultra for NES emulation.
Thanks to Nintendo for making the greatest RPG’s of its time.
Feel free to use this walkthrough and any information contained
therein for any purpose.
