Ultima: Ascension: Prima's Official Strategy Guide

First of all, if you haven't, play the Ultima Collection(that may not be possible as it is currently not availible!). The Ultima Collection will give you some story background and continuety. Ultima 9, however lacks continuety, but you will still have a much better experience if you play at least Ultima VI, VII(and part II) and Pagan. This book gives you some insite into this game. Do not read the walkthu's until you have finished a given section of the game(eg. dungeon, shrine, towne sub-plott, ect.) The walkthru's are spoilers and have a lot of info partaining to the plott. Much like Serpent Isle's clue book did for me. However, they can be useful for getting unstuck. (That is not likely in this game) and give usefull tips on where to get good wheapons and items. If you are wondering about how to 'be nice' to people and adhear to the virtues, that information is in here(unlike Ultima 4, where you had to second guess). There are a few things that will hurt your Karma that cannot be avoided. Undocumented is taking the hammer from the goblin in Paws. That will hurt your Karma, he is evil and he is dead and doesn't need it anymore, but never-the-less, it hurts your Karma! Taking wheapons/gold from other goblins, however, does not hurt it. Killing the brat who throws fireballs at you(find out for yourself) General rule, don't be rude, help the needy, speak the correct mantra at a shrine, and never turn down a quest(most especially clensing the shrine). Some choices aren't that simple, however.

While the walkthrough lacks somewhat in truly useful details, it does have great item lists and spell descriptions. The interview with Ultima creator Richard Garriott is a must have for any Ultima fan. The dungeon maps, though not of the best resolution, are useful in navigating these places. Greater coverage of where to find items of any kind would be helpful as well, though.

Being a web author of cluebooks myself, I found the Walkthrough section EXTREMELY lacking. It explains the most obvious things that a player could have easily figured out him/herself, but is very lacking on the specific areas where most players get stuck. On the other hand, the background info for the game, items lists, and character creation info is GREAT! The 48 page interview with Richard Garriott at the end is pretty interesting, too. For the die-hard Ultima fan, or someone looking for a handy reference to the game, this book is an absolute must-have. But, if you're just looking for solutions to the game, much better help is to be found by searching on the Net!

This strategy guide provides great deal of information regarding spells, armours, weapons etc. It really helps the readers to understand the rules of Britennia. However, it lacks details about quests and many little things that Avatar can do while fighting Guidian. Personally I think it worths the money.

Ultima IX, Ascension is, in many ways, geared towards adults. Unfortunately, it is not specifically geared towards fans of previous Ultima games. What this means is: the clues are few and far between, and everything you already know about Ultima is probably not going to help much. Fortunately, we have this strategy guide. It is well structured, so that you can get the hint you need without spoiling much at all. It gives you just the boost you need to stay interested in Ultima IX, the best Ultima game since Ultima IV by my opinion. (The virtues are back!)