Dark Heart of Uukrul FAQ/Walkthrough(Apple/PC)
Version 1.0.0
by Andrew Schultz [email protected]

Please do not reproduce for profit without my consent. You won't be getting
much profit anyway, but that's not the point. This took time and effort, and
I just wanted to save a memory of an old game and the odd solutions any way I
could. Please send me an email referring to me and this guide by name if
you'd like to post it on your site.

This walkthrough is accompanied by maps I sent to GameFAQs.com. It assumes
you have access to them. You can have one browser/text editor open with this
FAQ and another browser/MSPaint open with the PNG of the current area you are
exploring.

DHoU is a nontrivial game, and as such, some walkthroughs may work better
than others. Mine focuses on character building and I just show the how and
not the why. So I encourage you to look around to understand the game more
deeply. Lee Beng Hai has a good one at gamefaqs, and in addition to Beng
Hai's walkthrough, I also recommend the walkthrough at

Great references that helped me:

http://www.textfiles.com/adventure/darkhart.sol
http://www.textfiles.com/adventure/uukrul.sol

================================

           OUTLINE

 1. INTRODUCTION

   1-1. APPLE VERSION

   1-2. PC VERSION

 2. CONTROLS AND BASICS

   2-1. MOVING AROUND

   2-2. COMBAT

 3. STARTING OUT

 4. BASIC MAP

 5. WALKTHROUGH

   5-1. INTRO

   5-2. SHOPS

   5-3. CAVES

   5-4. TEMPLE

   5-5. ARCHIVES

   5-6. MORE CAVES, THEN CAVERNS

     5-6-1. SIDE TRIPS

     5-6-2. MAIN LINE

     5-6-3. BIG CAVERNS, BIG MONEY, I LOVE IT

   5-7. QUEER MAZE

   5-8. RHOMBUS(KAURI)

   5-9. URN MAZE

   5-10. PYRAMID

   5-11. HAMMER

   5-12. CUBE

   5-13. URQASTUR

   5-14. PALACE

   5-15. CHAOS

 5. GAME TEXT

 6. CHEATS

 7. VERSIONS

 8. CREDITS

================================

 1. INTRODUCTION

Dark Heart of Uukrul(DHoU) is certainly a challenging game! Perhaps it throws
too much at you at once. You need to be efficient with improving your party
and some of the puzzles are real mindbenders. Worse yet, the PC doesn't let
you edit the save-game file, although it does, a lot, without you knowing it.
So if you know emulation I recommend the Apple version, where the graphics
aren't quite as good and there are a few other bugs, but overall it's easier
to work through, especially since you can crank up the speed.

   1-1. APPLE VERSION

ftp.apple.asimov.net/pub/apple_II/images/games/rpg has the images. Use
7zip(freeware) to decompress.
http://applewin.berlios.de has the AppleWin application, which includes save
states. Save states seem necessary if you want to cheat. The boot disk and
character/archive disks can get corrupted if you byte edit but if you have a
save state, just copy/decompress the originals back to your disks and keep
going.

   1-2. PC VERSION

www.the-underdogs.info had the PC version. Now abandonia does.
http://dosbox.sourceforge.net has DosBox, which allows you to play the game
in a window. Unfortunately you can't speed it up. You can set the delay to
zero in combat.

One thing to note about creating characters and parties is that they go to a
file named XXX.IMG and its backup XXX.GMI. You can specify a game to play by
running

uukrul PartyName

And, of course, you can copy the IMG and GMI files so that you have permanent
backups of critical areas.

 2. CONTROLS

   2-1. MOVING AROUND AND CHARACTERS

Nothing fancy here. Arrows turn or let you go forward.

Sanctuaries automatically level you up, though to make 2 levels in a row
(which is nearly impossible without cheating) you need to exit and return.

   2-2. COMBAT

The game saves every time you start a combat. It saves the group type but not
the group. It also saves if someone gets killed in combat, so if you're
getting whomped, then cut out.

You can restart the game a few times to get a good deal. Examples are:

1) by an exit if you're weak(you'll be kicked back a square--if you don't see
any text when combat starts, it's random. If you do, it probably isn't.
Fleeing is easy-- (R) when next to a door)
2) wizard/priest behind, fighter/paladin in front, with enemies all on one
side
3) how your party is ordered in a box

Combat is in two parts: moving and attacking. In moving, everyone in your
party can move one square. Enemies may move more than one. You can hit the
space bar to move between players. Having a back-rank player move can force
the enemies' hand, but it's pretty random who moves when. Enemies themselves
seem to move randomly, and although they probably have the initiative, they
don't take full advantage of it.

The key against a non-magic enemy is forming a "bucket" or tight diamond when
you have more players than your enemy and backing against a wall when you
have fewer. I got psyched out by thinking you were able to attack diagonally
since you could move that way.

Obviously when an enemy is a spell caster, you need to attack him right away,
and in this case, the bucket is not so effective--it is still not necessarily
best to move so someone is attacking him, because you can and should take
risks in combat.

Some tips:
--when identical enemies move/cast spells, watch which bar matches with which
enemy.
--protect a weak spellcaster if he's damaged. Weak fighter? You're probably
screwed
--give kill experience to whoever needs it if it's a big fight

 3. CHARACTERS

   3-1. STARTING CHOICES

Here's what I used. It's not critical but you want a pious priest, smart
mage,
and strong fighter and paladin. I don't know if this is optimal.

Fighter 1-1-2-1
Paladin 1-2-2-2
Priest 1-2-1-2
Mage 4-2-3-4

You need to be reasonably efficient finding things as food can slip away
quickly. So you want to backup-save in the sanctuaries ASAP. You may even
want to run through an area twice to begin.

   3-2. EXPERIENCE

The level chart holds for all classes.

Lvl|    Exp
---+-------
2  |    500
3  |   1800
4  |   4500
5  |   9000
6  |  17000
7  |  28000
8  |  45000
9  |  70000
10 | 110000
11 | 150000
12 | 200000
13 | 260000
14 | 330000
15 | 430000

There's no strict formula for how much is needed til the next level. You
cannot advance past level 15. Experience for fights decreases as you get
better, a sort of double whammy, but experience is also based on who does how
much. But there are always critical fights you can recycle. You can also go
non-magic for more experience, as how long the fight is affects experience,
too.

One thing to realize is that just finding stuff gives experience. In fact,
the game gives extra experience to anyone when gold is just lying around.
Also there's experience for getting a heart or putting it in the urn, or for
other quests.

I'm not sure how max magic points are calculated but at level 13 my priest
had 98 and at 14 my wizard had 144. So call it 7x and 10x.

   3-3. MAGIC WITH LEVEL

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 gold fire, gold knowledge, gold frost
10 platinum heal
11 platinum knowledge, gold protection
12 platinum fire
13 platinum frost, crystal knowledge
14 platinum protection
15

   3-4. PRIEST WITH LEVEL

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 Ufthu platinum
10 Drutho gold
11 Fsofth gold
12 crystal Ufthu, platinum Golthur
 (also, club of holy power)
13 Drutho platinum
14
15

 4. BASIC OUTLINE

   4-1. MAP BASED ON FILES

Map based on the files (*=heart here) that relates to game progress and not
the details of moving:

 - mzintro(urtas)
   >urlasar                       priest +          magician +
 - mzshops(borasal)* detour > mzcross(boramis) > mzcircle(alariq)
   >untas
 - mzcaves (sagaris) detour > mzcircle*
   > urlusam
 - mzcavrn1/2
   > urran
 - mzqueer* detour > melas(medal of return)
            detour > kiriya's heart
   > urshas
 - mzkauri, the rhombus*
   > ureal
 - mzurn: get to the urn
   > urtehln
 - mzpyramid*
   > urzhut
 - mzhammer 2/1
   > urqol
 - mzcube*
   > urqastur
 - mzlegion*
   > urloqamn
 - mzpalac 1-2-3 *
   > urksazel
 - mzchaos
   > chaos
   > beacon

   4-2. BIG EVENTS

--pass the intro
--visit west of shops for gold
--pass the shops
--get the keys in the caves and beat the thieves for gold, the spies for
experience. Get to urlusam portal, before the caverns.
--go from shops to temple at level 4. Visit all gods. Visit Boramis portal
--visit Alariq portal. see archives for mage promotion.
--take path from shops to cross to crypt. Get iron key and chrome key. Use
iron key in crypt for heart#1.
--use chrome key by shops for heart #2.
--visit the caverns. Get the iron key then chrome key, get great weapons, and
make it to the queer maze. Beat up on the wizard with the chrome key.

 5. WALKTHROUGH

   5-1. INTRO

First off, note it's not too tough to get to level 2. You get experience
points for doing the small things like finding a secret door, keys, gold and
so forth--the guy who performs the actions gets the most points. These add up
quickly to the 500 needed for level 1. However, you may also want to pile on
as much as you can at the start before visiting the first sanctuary. Each
first-time visit to a sanctuary heals your party. Obviously you don't want to
rely on this too much, but it's nice to have, and early on you should not
take too much damage. You may wish to save before entering the sanctuary in
case you fluff the codes.

Go forward, trace the door with the staff, then go N* W 3N E and search south
for the secret door. Get the key inside it. Then go 2N W 4S 5W. There is a
grate to the north. You can open it with your key and go to the west where
you find another key after fighting some rats. Search the DL corner of the UL
room as well. If a room on the map doesn't have anything useful, it isn't.
Use the other key south of the first grate to find more treasure.

You can drop the keys once you use them, and you know which you've used
because it won't have a ? by it. Also, the game tells you dropping critical
items would not be a wise idea. In general you don't want a lot of inventory
since it adds weight, and in fact, useless items like chalk, cloth and bones
should not be taken after fights.

Back in the center, try the teleporter as well. It is in the NW corner and
gets you some free ointment, which is good in a pinch to heal after a battle,
and you can still sell it just before it runs out. You should be able to
clear this area without taking much damage. In the northeast there is also a
room with treasure and a well leading to a fight. Explore down there too.

There is a sanctuary to the south, on the east walls. Enter it to heal. Go
south to the teleporter and type its name in. Do this every time you hit a
sanctuary and/or see a teleporter. You can't teleport to a teleporter til you
used it, but fortunately you can use it to go to itself.

East of the sanctuary is a big room with six doors. Each is worth looking
through, though some loop to each other.

The NW is pretty much a trade of food for 1 copper and some experience. Why
not?

The SW door leads to a fight, but you'll come back here after you go through
the SE-S anyway.

The NE holds some good fights and treasure. Take the north door and go along
and after the bats fight , E S and search west. Save before entering each
room but at the end you have some nice treasure. Exit along the west walls
and maybe you'll get a few more fights to help pump up your experience. Don't
hang around, though.

The SE-S door has a fight, E S E and get the treasure. Then exit to a
corridor. You'll hit spinners now, but they're less tricky than the Bard's
Tale kind. They only spin you around once. So use the compass to find the way
you want to go, in this case W 2S(spinner--rotate til you see the long
hallway) 2W (spinner--with a wall 1 ahead, turn left) 2N and search the east
wall. Get the treasure and go back out as you came but take the door to
leave. You'll come up through the SW.

The SE-E door leads to a stair and a door. Behind the next there is a wolf.
Save the game and back up your save file! This fight can be lethal. Be sure
to have your party stay back so you can use AMRAS a lot. RALKOR may
boomerang. Get the boodle in the SE and to the west and continue on the
passage. Mara will greet you, and eventually you will walk into another
sanctuary. You may be close to level 2 right now and in fact there is a fight
just beyond--answer 2) and you have a winnable lucrative fight with stairs to
follow.

Your party should be level 2, and if one member isn't, pick off fights below
when someone passes 500. It's worthwhile to come back to a sanctuary after
gaining a level, as your advanced character is automatically healed and
improved.

Note that if anyone gets weak, you may wish to retreat to a sanctuary and
rest.

   5-2. SHOPS

My rules for buying items is to wait until the best ones are available.
You'll be finding treasure you can sell, and you haven't met Sagaris yet, so
you can't identify a lot. However, you can definitely get started.

After the second sanctuary the path forks right(west) and left (east.) If you
need to fix an item--though your fighters should have backup items--go
left/east and E 3N from the big room, there's a forge. It'll repair broken
weapons.

Go west and follow until you go N W S and see stairs to the left. They may
make your map look odd, since the squares to the east have been mapped.
That'll happen a lot in this game. Take time to stare at my maps.

Take the stairs and go straight. N 3E S E* stopping short of the third door.
There may be random fights but they should not be too bad. N and search for a
door and look for a lever. Get the gem behind it.

Now go back to the start but go right. The forge is in the west of the center
building. Fix what items you can. Sell items on the east. Keep your food
above 200, but if and when you are able to, buy greaves, steel boots and iron
gauntlets for your guys in front. Unfortunately not much of this will trickle
down to your priest and wizard. The mage cap helps regenerate spell points.

In general, check your gold and get the best of any one armor type once it's
available. You'll be coming back here for food a lot. Also, 4E 2N from the NE
to hit the teleportal.

Go back 1S W 3N 3W 2S 2W for gold then E S 2W 2N 2E N W for more. Now you
have a tough but useful fight if you go to the north bit and back down--surly
villagers. Use all your spells because a sanctuary is next.

Retreat S of the teleportal and go E* N*(the hospice may be useful but back
up your save files so the guild/mausoleum aren't) and go east. Cast SHUM when
needed to go S* E* N 2W(you'll take damage) and get an item and go E* S W* N*
which leads to another sanctuary and free healing.

Now, there are a few exits I haven't covered, as one leads to the cross area.
You're not ready for that, so it's best to go to the caves. This is a tricky
area but it has the first repetitive fight that you can milk to get your
players good.

   5-3. CAVES

     5-3-1. BRASS KEY FIGHT

You'll take some damage chasing a spy--no big deal there. Go east for another
message from Mara. W/S is a fight with bats, but that's no big deal. You will
be concerned with one big important fight that can keep popping up. N W 3N 5E
N* E N W* S* W. Two guys. They don't have magic attacks and more importantly
they don't coordinate. Surround one at a time and then force the other into a
corner and beat him down. Use AMRAS a lot. Remember to kill the fight if it
doesn't work out.

On winning, you will see a brass key. Don't take it. If you don't, the fight
reappears. You cannot drop the key later to get the fight back. The key opens
a gate to a spell book which is not critical early on.

Return to the sanctuary and buy food from the shops as necessary(and items--
start with the best ones and move down, since the game lets you know what you
can use) until you hit level 4 for your fighters. As experience goes down,
money doesn't, but unfortunately when you get to level 4, the enemies aren't
worth much. You'll also want to poke around the caves if you get bored of the
enemies. The ointments work very well to heal and continue, so you don't have
to waste food.

So let's look into the rest of the caves.

     5-3-2. THE REST OF THE CAVES

From the shops teleportal, E* 6S 5E N W 3N E* N 3E and it branches.

E* 2S E 3N W leads to a big fight with a worm. Keep away and RALKOR and
AMRAS. Then 2W 3N for treasure. 3S 3E 3S 2W and you can go N 2W S 2W S for a
fight withrats, or 2S W search-S 3S.

From the branch S* 3E 3S E* S W S W 4S. You may fight some thieves on your
way to the center. This little maze is in the shape of a key. E* and choose
option 3--search for the handle--to get a chrome key. The others kick you to
a pit, and you can't choose the right option next time.

From the brass key fight, E N 2W N* W S* climb down N W climb up W* S and
open the gate with a chrome key. 3S and you may fight enemies.

Now you need to buy ointment, unless you have some left over, as you will
have brusing fights with thieves. You may even want to reshuffle to leave
your spellcasters at the back. S* E* N and a big fight, then 2W 2E and heal
up. Another big fight outside the door.

Here you may finally want to get the brass key, and you probably want to get
your priest to level 4 for the next bit, so do some last minute fighting.
There'll be better combats later, but the gold is good in a pinch.

But to get the treasure, E N W* climb, use brass key, climb down, and get the
book. This may cause you to take damage, so save before.

After this, you should be able to work through fights to get to the SAGARIS
teleportal. Sagaris is the old man you should trust at the end of this trek.

     5-3-3. CAVERNS DETOUR

2N 2W 3S 2E 2S W* S* for treasure. 2N W N 3W 2S for more. N W 2N E 2N W S W
and save. Jump over the hole. W* S* for treasure. 2N E* for more. Don't worry
if you're injured/poisoned. You can hold out. N* E* S* E N E N 2E 2N 2W 2S E
to the new sanctuary. 2S and type URLUSAM to register it and then type
SAGARIS.

     5-3-4. THE REST OF IT

N* 3E S W S* 2W S* 3E 3S 2E 2S W* N* 2E N E N E S* leads to the "circle"
area. 4S 2E N 2E 3S W 2S W* 2S E* and you are at a teleportal. You've
completed the caves area. Now say BORASAL to get back to the shops area.

   5-4. TEMPLE

From the BORASAL teleporter S W 3N(we'll get to that grate later) 2W S E 2S
W* 3N 2E N (the map tells which god is where) 2E 3S. This leads to a cross
area. The temples of the four gods are here. At level 4 you should have
enough for your priest to get a better ring from each one.

Take the first passage south and Fsofth is west, Drutho east, Ufthu north and
Golthur south. Touch base with these gods to improve your priest. After
visiting Golthur go N W S and go east to activate the Boramis teleportal.
Then back west. The path winds S W S E and you will enter the archives.

Note there is a secret door behind Fsofth's and Ufthu's altars. They need 3
and 4 HOYAMOQs, respectively. The second has a good fight beyond your means
right now. You can't get past the secret doors yet, so don't worry.

   5-5. ARCHIVES

On a passage north, a door west leads to teleport Alariq. Activate it. Then W
S E* to the Archives. Keep entering until you don't get a ring. Check the
passages north and south. The east one has a secret door you need the
powerful BELAMOQ(??) to open. If you don't have 44 charisma, don't worry.
It'll be there later.

Now when you gain a level you can find where to advance fairly quickly.
ALARIQ gets you your mage's new levels, and BORAMIS gets you your priest's.

     5-5-1. REDUX FOR HEARTS

Teleport to BORAMIS to save time and go W N at the first turn, then east
after you pass the cross. Follow the passage. Stay in a corner and turn-
undead with the fights that come up. When someone senses great evil, save the
game. Go on, and there is a spinner. Face west, go west and open the secret
door for treasure. Face south to get more treasure, then go north. 1W is
another spinner where all views look identical no matter which way you
turn...except for the doorknobs. The left of the two with the knob on the
left faces north. Spin around until you get where you want.

South leads you to some treasure. So does west. Go north, then west on the
spinner. There'll be dots like so:

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