This FAQ is best viewed on a 640x480 resolution screen. __________________________________________________________ ____ __ __ _ _ __/ _/ | || | \ /| \_ / | _ || | | | | | | __ |- \ / | | || | | --- | | | | | | / / \ | | | | /_| | |<__ | | | | | | /| \__/ |__ / \ |_| \_/ \/____> | | | | | | / |__ __ __ __ _ __/ \ | | | | | | /_ __\ __/ / __/ /_/ // \ | __ | | | | | | | | | \_ / \_ _ _ \ \/ \ | | | | | | | | | | | | / \ / \ | | | | | / | | | | | | | | | | | | | ___ | | \ \ / / | | | \_ | | | | | | | | / _ \| | \ \__/ / / \ \ | / \ | | | | / / | / \ | \____/ /_____\ \_/ /___\ /_\ /_\ | / \ \_/ _ \ // \___/ \_/ / __________________________________________________________ DDDDDDDDUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOONNNNNNNN D DDDU UU UN NNNN NGG GE EOO OON NNNN N D DD DDU UU UN NNN NG GGGGGE EEEEEO OO ON NNN N D DD DDU UU UN N NN NG G GE EEEO OO ON N NN N D DD DDU UU UN NN N NG GG GGE EEEEEO OO ON NN N N D DDDUU UUN NNN NGG GGE EOO OON NNN N DDDDDDDDUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOONNNNNNNN GGGGGGGGGGGUUUUUUUUUUUIIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEEE GG GGUU UUU UUII IIDD DDDEE EE G GGGGGGGGUU UUU UUIIIII IIIIIDD DD DDEE EEEEEE G GG GGUU UUU UUIIIII IIIIIDD DD DDEE EEEE G GGG GGGUU UUU UUIIIII IIIIIDD DD DDEE EEEEEE GG GGGGUUU UUUII IIDD DDDEE EE GGGGGGGGGGGUUUUUUUUUUUIIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDDDDEEEEEEEEEEE ________________________________________________________ Exodus Ultima Dungeon Guide FAQ Written By: Peliv Peliv Pe Peliv Pe li Peli Peliv o r o li or vo rP vo rP r r P eli rPeli vo Pe eliv el iv Pelivo v o v rP li orP or Pe r Pe rP orPel elivor vorPe el livo l iv The NES version of Exodus Ultima and it's instructions manual are property of FCI copyright 1988, all rights reserved. This FAQ is property of Jon Bernier (a.k.a. Pelivor), copyright 4/21/02, all rights reserved. Any relation to guide books or other websites dedicatied to Exodus Ultima are purely coincedental, for this FAQ was put together by experience of playing the game without any form of manual or other FAQs. Feel free to distribute this FAQ or link this FAQ to your website. If you DARE steal or plagarize ANYTHING from this FAQ then I'll... I'll...ah, to heck with it, I doubt there will be as many FAQs for the NES version of this game. Just give me the proper credit and all will be forgiven. Anywho, let's get started. THE STORY An island of fire has emerged compliments of Mondain and Manax and they're curse upon the land of Sosaria. (Don't know what the big deal is about. Hawaii has a whole bunch of volcanic islands but you don't see our world coming to an end). Nevertheless, Lord British doesn't like what's going on, so he's asked the four bravest (and possibly dumbest) warriors who can help solve the riddle of the fire island; the riddle of Exodus. Can our warriors bring peace to the land of Sosaria??? Personally, I'd rather settle the problem over some good ale at the local tavern, but all that did was give me hints to the game. (Get drunk, and they tell a secret...gotta like those Ultima bartenders). PELIVOR'S COMMENTS Most role-playing games have either the overhead view, or the 3D dungeon look. Well, Exodus Ultima has both! There is a TON to explore, no real story line you have to follow, and you don't need to level up to advance to different parts of the game. Freedom is your power in this game, so abuse it! UHHHH, DUNGEONS SUCK. Most people overlook the 3D dungeons because it really isn't necessary to explore every little square inch of these trap- ridden hero-devouring cesspools just for a few measily marks and some pick needed to search for the ultimate weapon. As for me, I'm an explorer, and my party agrees that it was the right thing to send them to their doom just to find anything and everything. So let us sing Follow the Leader and face our destruction in the dungeons of Sosaria. WELL....THEY DON'T SOUND SO BAD. The rules to dungeons differ from the overhead view in these ways: --All monsters you encounter are based on randomness, and not on the current level of your characters. So level 1 characters can still face dragons, devils, and balrons. (uhhh, do we say "ARRRRGGGGGHHH!" now or later?) --There are a bunch of traps that can make short work of your party. They vary from poison traps, to cold traps, to your generic high-damage traps. The type of trap you trigger is random each time you visit. --Dungeons have a 3D first person view, not an overhead view. But it's not just the monsters and traps. Gusts of wind can blow out your torches, gremlins can steal your food, fountains can poison you or heal you, and of course, there are those traps...ARGH! CREATING YOUR DUNGEON-EXPLORING PARTY You'll have to make one trip to a dungeon to get the mark of Kings at some point. This will allow you to build your levels higher than 5. The more levels, the better. Your party should have the following: --A Cleric who knows the Recall spell --A Wizard who knows the Rot spell --At least 1000 food units for each party member --All party members to max Dexterity (to dodge traps) --TONS of torches, gems, and sands of time --A compass heart or two for emergencies --Levels to at least 10 or more --Long-Range weapons for characters who can use them. (Ex. BlowGun or Silver Bow for the fighters, Daggers for the Spellcasters) Why not the Death spell? Personally I think it's overrated. It may be the best magic-power spell in the game, but actually it's more like a MP-consuming Repel spell that affects all monsters. But like Repel, Death does have a chance to fail (leaving your wizard exhausted of MP while your enemies are laughing they're foolish heads off, pummeling your party to a fine paste while doing so). Rot, on the other hand, works 100% of the time! It automatically reduces your enemies' HP down to 1. All you have to do then is breathe on them and they die (more specifically, toss some daggers or Missile spells at them). A very efficient spell and is great to up the exp of your desperate non-spellcasters. A TRICK THAT WILL KEEP YOUR PARTY ALIVE Each time you use your Rot spell, you'll need to recover your MP. The best way to do this is by just going around in circles. (just repeatedly tap right or left on your directional pad and your MP will recover eventually). As long as you do this, you will not encounter any new monsters, allowing your spellcasters to recover they're MP. This is also a great time to use Heal spells if your party needs healing. Those MP will recover all the same. Just watch your food unit count (1 unit lost per 10 MP recovered). STUFF YOU'LL FIND IN A DUNGEON Gremlins: These guys will steal 100 food units from one player, chosen at random. Chests: Each chest contains between 30 and 99 gold. Some have traps, but that is determined at random. Open spells are the best solution. Traps: When you trigger a trap, one of the following will happen: -- You'll avoid the trap (not very often) -- A single party member takes damage. -- All party members take damage (I've been hit for 9 damage for a low, and 134 damage for a high, so it's different each time). -- The leader catches a cold (a slow poison that is only curable at the hospital). -- One or all party members get poisoned (A Cure spell solves that problem). The Wind: Sometimes, a strange wind will come up and blow out your torch. It doesn't kill you, but better light things up again after you take a step. Fountains: Not uncommon in these dungeons. You'll find the following: --Healing Fountain (Delicious!): Heals drinker to max HP. --Damage Fountain (Yeech!): Deals 50 damage to the drinker. --Curing Fountain (Cured!): Cures cold or poison to the drinker. --Poison Fountain (Poisoned!): Poisons the drinker. Signs: Each dungeon level has a title which are placed on signs near the ladders. Some give hints to the game, while others tell you what you can expect, and some will just plain deceive you. (A 'sign' of what's to come. LOL I know, that was lame). Ladders: Can take you up and down dungeon levels. Use the 'Climb' command to use them. Marks: There are four marks that you are looking for in dungeons. They are the following: -- Mark of Kings (Allows your characters to raise your levels higher than 5 (Max of 25) when you talk to King British. -- Mark of Fire (Your characters will not take damage from lava when they have this mark). -- Mark of Snake (You must have this mark to pass by the snake guarding the fire island). -- Mark of Force (Your characters will not die when they walk on barriers when they have this mark). When a character stamps his arm with a mark, he/she will take 50 damage. LET'S EXPLORE I will make one thing clear: There are NO MAPS in this FAQ; that's what your gems are for. However, your gems only depicts question marks where there are traps or items. What I have done is made this FAQ so that you know what those question marks are. So essentially, you WILL need to purchase gems to make heads or tails of this FAQ. So let us start. Every level is composed of 16x16 squares. Your starting point of every dungeon is at 1S (S is south), 1E (E is east). Think of this as a guideline when looking for stuff with this FAQ. NOTE: Not all items are listed, especially the levels with many many scattered question marks (based on personal experience, my party kept dying trying to figure all of them out). In those cases, I will tell you to use a Sink or Descend spell). If you don't have a life and want to help me finish what is not found on this FAQ, feel free to e-mail me at froloth@hotmail.com and maybe with a little luck I'll find the time to update it. In the game, the dungeons are actually called caves, but some of the levels have perfect symmetry at times (and of course, most 'normal' caves don't). So I will always refer to them as dungeons. DUNGEON OF DEATH (11N, 1E of Lord British's Castle) Pelivor's Notes: Traps are everywhere in this dungeon! (random encounter ratio is a bit high as well). There is one important item to find, though. So you have no choice Level 1 Sign: Cave of Death (located at 3S, 4E) Items: 6 Food-stealing Gremlins (1S, 5E)(1S, 9E)(5S, 1E) (9S, 1E)(5S, 6E)(6S, 5E) 2 Treasure Chests (6S, 7E)(7S, 6E) 1 Trap (14S, 14E) Ladders: (1S, 1E, the exit) (13S, 13E)(11S, 11E) both go to level 2 Level 2 Sign: Secret Slides (Surrounds the ladders) Items: 7 Treasure Chests (7S, 1E)(7S, 5E)(9S, 1E)(9S, 5E) The other three occupy three of the corners of the map. 2 Traps (6S, 3E)(10S, 3E) 1 Wind Square (blows out your torch)(12S, 12E) The Mark of Kings, located at (3S, 12E) Two ladders leading up (11S, 11E)(13S, 13E) Two ladders leading down (11S, 13E)(13S, 11E) Level 3 Sign: Beware Traps (11S, 15E)(9S, 13E)(15S, 11E)(15S, 9E) (13S, 9E) Items: 1 Healing Fountain (13S, 13E) 17 Treasure Chests (The 8 ? marks in the southeastern corner, and the 3x3 block of ? marks starting at 5S, 4E) 8 Traps (The question marks not listed) Two ladders up (13S, 11E)(11S, 13E) One ladder down (11S, 11E) Level 4 Sign: Ever Adventure (surrounds the ladder) Items: (scattered, use the Sink or Descend Spell). 8 Gremlins 14 Treasure chests 6 Wind squares 3 Traps Ladder Up (11S, 11E) Ladder Down (5S, 5E) Level 5 Sign: Gremlins!! (11S, 12E)(12S, 11E) Items: 27 Gremlins (The coridoor of ? marks that run from 15S, 2E to 2S, 15E) 6 Chests (The 6-? mark clump located at 9S, 9E) 1 Healing Fountain (13S, 13E) 1 Curing Fountain (7S, 7E) 3 Poison Fountains (4S, 4E)(12S, 4E)(4S, 12E) Ladder Up (5S, 5E) Ladder Down (11S, 11E) Level 6 Sign: Circle Death Items: EVERY ? mark in the inner two coridoors are traps! (34 in all) 28 treasure chests in the outer coridoor. Ladder Up (11S, 11E) Ladder Down (5S, 5E) Level 7 Sign: Collasal Cavern Items (Scattered. Mostly traps. Use sink or descend spell) My party kept dying when I tried to mark the items out. I suggest skipping this level altogether. Level 8 Sign: Traps to Gold Items: 27 Traps (in the square coridoor starting at 12S, 15E and ending at 15S, 12E). 17 Treasure Chests (9 in the northeastern corner, 8 in the southwestern corner). THE SILVER PICK! (Used to dig up the Mystic Weapon, located at 15S, 1E) Cave of Death Quick Overview (Excludes Level 7): Items of Importance: Mark of Kings, Silver Pick Total Treasure Chests: 91 Total Possible Gold: Between 3030 and 9009* * Each chest holds between 30 and 99 gold, and it's always random each time you open a chest. This is the total possible amount you can get per trip to this dungeon, assuming you pick up all the chests. DUNGEON OF FIRE (15S, 4E of Lord British's Castle) Pelivor's Notes: Not a whole lot to explore here. The only 2 items of importance is the Mark of Fire (used to walk across lave without taking damage), and the Mark of Force (used to walk across barriers without taking damage). Level 1 Sign: Cave of Fire (1S, 2E) Items: 2 Traps (2S, 8E)(7S, 11E) 1 Curing Fountain (3S, 2E) 7 Chests (One at 15S, 1E, and the other 6 are in a clump in the northeastern corner). 9 Wind squares (The L-shaped set of ? marks, starts at 1S, 11E, ends at 5S, 15E). Ladder Up (1S, 1E, the exit) Ladder Down (11S, 11E) Level 2 Sign: Trapped Door (11S, 10E)(12S, 11E) Items: 1 Trap (13S, 9E) 6 Chests (The six ? Marks in the 1S row) 1 Healing Fountain (5S, 13E) 1 Damage Fountain (5S, 14E) 1 Curing Fountain (5S, 15E) Ladder Up (11S, 11E) Ladder Down (5S, 5E) Level 3 Sign: Twisty Maze (4S, 5E)(5S, 4E) Items: Ladder Up (5S, 5E) Ladder Down (11S, 11E) Aside from the ladders and signs, there is nothing here! Use a Sink or Descend spell. Level 4 Sign: Windy Walk (12S, 11E) Items: 1 Trap (11S, 1E) 12 Chests (All other ? marks) Ladder Up (11S, 11E) Ladder Down (5S, 5E) Level 5 Sign: Gremlin City! Items: 2 Curing Fountains (1S, 1E)(9S, 9E) All other ? marks are Gremlins! (89 in all. YIKES!) Ladder Up at (5S, 5E) Ladder Down at (11S, 11E)(15S, 1E) Level 6 Sign: Devil's Den (5S, 6E)(6S, 5E)(11S, 10E)(10S, 11E) Items: 4 Wind squares (5S, 9E)(7S, 11E)(9S, 5E)(11E, 7E) All other ? marks are traps (29 in all) Ladder Up (11S, 11E) Ladders Down (5S, 5E)(1S, 13E)(1S, 15E)(15S, 1E) Level 7 Sign: Go Back! Pits! (Several signs) Items: This is just as bad as the Death Dungeon's Level 7! Use a Sink or Descend spell. Level 8 Sign: Chamber of Fire (14S, 8E)(10S, 1E) Items: 5 Gremlins (1S, 1E)(3S, 1E)(3S, 3E)(7S, 6E)(7S, 7E) MARK OF FIRE (14S, 5E) MARK OF FORCE (10S, 4E) 1 Healing Fountain (7S, 9E) 1 Curing Fountain (7S, 11E) 1 Poisoned Fountain (11S, 12E) 1 Damage Fountain (11S, 10E) All other ? Marks are Chests (40 in All) Ladders Up (1S, 15E)(4S, 15E)(12S, 15E)(11S, 11E) Dungeon of Fire Quick Overview (Excludes Level 7): Items of Importance: Mark of Fire, Mark of Force Total Treasure Chests: 65 Total Possible Gold: Between 1950 and 6435 DUNGEON OF GOLD (12N, 11E of Lord British's Castle) Pelivor's Notes: A deceiving title (but what'd you expect?) There are two Mark of Kings here, and a couple major treasure spots. Finding those chests also takes a lot of climbing up and down ladders, kind of like a maze, which is all the more reason why this cave isn't worth exploring. Level 1 Sign: Cave of Gold (2S, 1E)(1S, 2E) MARK OF KINGS (15S, 11E)(11S, 15E) 4 Chests (5S, 5E)(9S, 9E)(14S, 15E)(15S, 14E) 2 Poison Fountains (12S, 8E)(8S, 12E) 1 Curing Fountain (15S, 15E) Ladder Up (1S, 1E, exit) Ladders Down (1S, 15E)(15S, 1E) Level 2 Sign: Go Back! (Surrounding the Ladder Down at (7S, 7E) Items: 2 Poison Fountains (4S, 12E)(12S, 4E) 2 Healing Fountains (1S, 1E)(15S, 15E) 1 Curing Fountain (6S, 6E) 1 Chest (11S, 12E) Ladders Up (1S, 15E)(15S, 1E) Ladder Down (7S, 7E) Level 3 Sign: Not Here! (4S, 7E)(7S, 4E)(7S, 10E)(10S, 7E) Items: All other ? Marks are Chests (24 in all) Ladders Down (1S, 1E)(1S, 15E)(15S, 1E)(15S, 15E) Ladder Both Ways (7S, 7E) Level 4 Sign: Quarter Each (Surrounds all ladders) Items: Interesting level... The Northwestern corner is all traps (33 in all) The Northeastern corner is all Gremlins (34 in all) The Southwestern corner is all wind squares (33 in all) The Southeastern corner is all chests (33 in all) Ladders Up (1S, 1E)(1S, 15E)(15S, 1E)(15S, 15E) Ladders Down (5S, 5E)(10S, 5E)(5S, 10E)(10S, 10E) Ladder Both Ways (7S, 7E) Level 5 Sign: Death Awaits (6S, 6E)(7S, 5E)(6S, 10E)(7S, 11E) (10S, 5E)(11S, 6E)(11S, 10E)(11S, 11E) Items: 12 Chests (3 on each corner) Ladders Down (6S, 7E)(6S, 9E)(7S, 6E)(7S, 10E) (9S, 6E)(9S, 10E)(11S, 7E)(11S, 9E) Ladders Up (6S, 5E)(6S, 11E)(11S, 5E)(11S, 11E) Ladder Both Ways (7S, 7E) Level 6 Sign: Map Well (7S, 5E)(5S, 9E)(5S, 11E)(7S, 13E) (9S, 5E)(11S, 9E)(11S, 11E)(9S, 13E) Items: All other question marks are wind squares (84 in all) Ladders Up (6S, 7E)(6S, 9E)(7S, 6E)(7S, 10E) (9S, 6E)(9S, 10E)(10S, 7E)(10S, 9E) Ladders Down (3S, 3E)(13S, 3E)(3S, 13E)(13S, 13E) Ladder Both Ways (7S, 7E) Level 7 Sign: Gremlins (4 signs surround the four corner ladders) Items: 8 Gremlins (3S, 6E)(3S, 11E)(5S, 3E)(5S, 13E) (11S, 3E)(11S, 13E)(13S, 5E)(13S, 5E) 33 Chests (The center of the level has 33 ? marks that are blocked by 4 traps) All other ? marks are traps (20 in all, including the 4 that guard the chests) Ladders Both Ways (3S, 3E)(3S, 13E)(13S, 3E)(13S, 13E) (7S, 7E) Level 8 Sign: Go Back (Not much here but to go back up ladders). Items: 4 Chests (One on each corner) All other ? marks are traps (24 in all) Ladders Up (7S, 7E)(3S, 3E)(3S, 13E)(13S, 3E)(13S, 13E) Dungeon of Gold Quick Overview: Items of Importance: Mark of Kings (not that important) Total Treasure Chests: 87 Total Possible Gold: Between 2610 and 8613 CAVE OF FOOL (39S, 26W from Lord British's Castle) Pelivor's Notes: Nothing, nada, zilch, zero, squat, so on and so forth. Not even a mark! There is a decent amount of dough at the bottom floor, but there are bigger stashes of chests in other dungeons. Level 1 Sign: Cave of Fool (1S, 3E) Items: 1 Chest (1S, 5E) 1 Trap (7S, 11E) 1 Curing Fountain (15S, 15E) Ladder Up (1S, 1E, exit) Ladder Down (11S, 11E) Level 2 Sign: Secret Corners (8S, 8E) Items: 1 Trap (5S, 4E) 4 Chests (The 4 ? marks on each corner) Ladder Up (11S, 11E) Ladder Down (5S, 5E) Level 3 Sign: Trap to Treasure Items: 3 Traps (2S, 2E)(2S, 14E)(6S, 6E) 10 Chests (All other ? Marks) Ladder Down (11S, 11E) Ladder Both Ways (5S, 5E) Level 4 Sign: Beware the Wind (3S, 3E) Items: 4 Wind Squares (9S, 11E)(11S, 9E)(11S, 13E)(13S, 11E) Ladders Up (11S, 11E)(5S, 5E) Ladder Down (7S, 7E) Level 5 Sign: Danger! (4 signs surround the 7S, 7E ladder) Items: 12 Gremlins (Surrounds the signs and ladder at 7S, 7E) 9 Wind Squares (the Reverse 'L' in the southeastern corner from 15S, 11E to 11S, 15E) 1 Healing Fountain (13S, 13E) 1 Curing Fountain (15S, 15E) All other ? marks are traps (14 in all) Ladder Both Ways (7S, 7E) Level 6 Sign: Map Well (10S, 11E)(11S, 10E)(11S, 12E)(12S, 11E) Items: 1 Damage Fountain (14S, 14E) All other ? marks are chests (12 in all) Ladder Up (7S, 7E) Ladders Down (All other ladders. 9 in all) Level 7 Sign: Reach Up! (28 Signs, surrounds all ladders) Items: ? Marks not touching ladders are traps (8 in all) Ladder Both Ways (11S, 11E) All Other Ladders Go Up (12 in all) Level 8 Sign: Windy Secret (11S, 10E)(11S, 12E)(10S, 11E)(12S, 11E) Items: 7 Gremlins (4S, 8E)(7S, 11E)(9S, 1E)(9S, 15E) (9S, 8E)(11S, 6E)(15S, 8E) 2 Wind Squares (1S, 5E)(1S, 12E) 1 Curing Fountain (2S, 7E) 1 Poison Fountain (2S, 8E) 1 Healing Fountain (2S, 9E) 1 Damage Fountain (2S, 10E) 21 Traps (the outer ? Marks in all four corners) 53 Chests (All other ? Marks in the corners, guarded by the traps). Ladder Up (11S, 11E) Dungeon of Fool Quick Overview: Items of Importance: None Total Treasure Chests: 68 Total Possible Gold: Between 2040 and 6732 SOON TO COME: Dungeon of Sol (Mark of Snake) Dungeon of Moon (Time Lord, Biggest Chest stash). Dungeon of Madness (I'm insane just thinking about mapping this dungeon!) NOPE, THIS FAQ ISN'T FINISHED YET!!!! Yeah, I got caught up with homework in college, so until the scimester ends (and when I can find the perfect day to call in sick from work), this FAQ will be posted unfinished. But with a little luck this will change before summer's end. If you want to contribute and help me finish it, feel free to e-mail me at froloth@hotmail.com and I'll be sure to give you proper credit. What I need: Level 7 of the Dungeon of Death Level 7 of the Dungeon of Fire Dungeon of Moon Special Thanks to: Nintendo, The GOD of Role-Playing! Exodus Ultima, for being one of the few NES role-playing games to feature both an overview-layout and 3D dungeons when so many others produced only one or the other. MEGA SPECIAL THANKS to Earthshaker, for allowing me to co-author his Battle of Olympus walkthrough, and influencing me to create my own walkthroughs. And of course, gamefaqs.com, for making it possible for video game walkthroughs to be written and posted. Walkthroughs that Pelivor has written: Exodus Ultima (NES) Dungeon Guide (This FAQ) Secret Quest (Atari 2600) check it out: http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/a2600/file/secret_quest.txt Two half-finished Final Fantasy walkthroughs that will never see the light of day because too many FF walkthroughs have been written already to begin with. I have also co-authored a Battle of Olympus walkthrough (NES) authored by Earthshaker. Check it out: http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/file/battle_of_olympus.txt DISCLAIMER NOTICE This FAQ is property of Jon Bernier (a.k.a. Pelivor), copyright 4/21/2002, all rights reserved. Any relation to guide books or other websites dedicatied to Exodus Ultima are purely coincedental, for this FAQ was put together by experience of playing the game without any form of manual or other FAQs. Feel free to distribute this FAQ or link this FAQ to your website. If you DARE steal or plagarize ANYTHING from this FAQ then I'll... I'll...ah, to heck with it, I doubt there will be as many FAQs for the NES version of this game. Just give me the proper credit and all will be forgiven.