Ultima VII Tips and FAQ by Jeff Abramson (Minor Formatting by Ganesh - Bootstrike.Com)

Ultima 7 - Serpent Isle - Tips

Note: some of this stuff is stolen from a walkthrough written by Adrian Yau in 1992. This walkthrough is available from EA/Origin's web site.

Some general hints to get you going

• Look out for secret walls which may act as a door to other passages in the game. When you click on a wall, you normally see "wall", but when you click on one of these, you get "Wall" instead.
• Use the serpent gates as drop points - pick a specific place to unload inventory, since you won't be able to carry everything.

Some Frequently Asked Questions

Note: I have quite a few notes in a detailed file that I have not yet uploaded to this site. So if you are stuck and the FAQ below doesn't help you, drop me a line and I'll answer your question and add it to this FAQ. I have the list of where all the serpent teeth are, training info, the mapping of the items you lost at the beginning of the game, etc...

1. I am stuck in the Knight's Test.
   
   Most likely you are in an area that has four chests along a short corridor. There is a secret door that leads to another room with the key. Otherwise, you may be in corridor where there are two torches close together, the secret entrance is there.
    
2. How do I get the shield back from Luther?
   
   Insult him until he challenges you to a duel, then kick his butt!
    
3. Where is the entrance to the Goblin Camp?
   
   Great Dead Tree in Knight's Forest (69S,33W). 3 keys in his body: grey - opens chest; rust - inn rooms; blue-red - entrance to Goblin hideout.
   
   
4. Where is the secret cave in Monitor?
   
   Lucilla gives you a pink key belonging to Spektor, which unlocks the door at invisible entrance to the secret cave (mountainside near Harnna's house 154S,12W).
    
5. I am stuck in Moonshade.
   
   Talk to Flindo later after he promises to arrange a meeting with the Magelord. You need to read Rotoluncia's scroll before this can happen.
    
6. Can I resurrect Boydon?
   
   No you can't. So be careful with him, as he is an extremely valuable contribution to your party.
    
7. I am stuck in the cell in the Mountains of Freedom.
   
   You need to kill the automation right away to get the key. That key will open many of the doors in the Mountains.
    
8. There is a never-ending corridor in the Mountains of Freedom.
   
   Look for a secret wall opening.
    
9. How do I get the Mirror in Moonshade?
   
   NOTE: You may hit a SHOWSTOPPER BUG - here is a workaround: You must receive from Gustacio, a mage in Moonshade, a crucial artifact to proceed with the game. He asks you to perform an experiment for him in his tower north of town before he will give you this artifact. BUT, in my version of the game I had visited this tower before meeting Gustacio, and I had moved items on the tower. It turns out that one crucial item, a pumpkin, must be in its original position when you perform the experiment. If it is not, Gustacio will never acknowledge that you have completed the experiment, and never give you the crucial artifact. To fix this bug, find or create a pumpkin and place it on the second platform starting from the south on the left, before starting the experiment.
    
10. I failed the Test of Purity!
    
    That's okay. You get a second chance, and it is pretty easy to complete this second quest.
     
11. I can't find the Key of Fire or the Key of Ice.
    
    The Key of Fire can be found on a corpse, in the baths west of the arena. The Key of Ice is found in the park in the SE of the city. You'll find a serpent tooth (Monitor) on the corpse with the key.
     
12. Why can't I take items back from the Dream Swamp?
    
    It's a dream! So how can you return with new items!
     
13. I can't enter Shamino's castle.
    
    You need to summon the Hound of Doskar to help you find it, otherwise the doors will be blocked.
     
14. I can't complete the Gwani quest, i.e., I can't get the password to Skullcrusher.
    
    This is one of the more common problems people have. You need to have the hound track Batlin via his medallion. Otherwise the Serpent will tell you that you have forgotten something.
     
15. Where can I find Silverpate's treasure?
    
    The invisible entrance is at (50N, 40E).
     
16. Where is the Gwani temple?
    
    The temple (where you'll find Gwenno) is at 95N, 46W.
     
17. I need to free Fedabiblio, but I gave the wand to Torrissio.
    
    You can cast Vibrate on Torrissio to get the wand back.
     
18. How do I get through the acid in the Temple of Disclipine?
    
    You can do it the hard way (heal and heal and heal), or you can get Petra to join your party and do a Body Transference spell.
    
    
19. Where is the altar for the Temple of Tolerance?
    
    If you remember from earlier, you heard that Mortegro was hit by lightning. So you'll find the altar where this happened (in Gustacio's celler).
     
20. Where is the serpent crown?
    
    Starting at coordinates 98S,28W (by a sandy rock), use Hawk's map to get to the correct hollow tree (Serpent Crown inside).
     
21. I can't blow up the rubble in the Deserted Outpost (Silver Seed Add-On)
    
    The walkthrough that came with the add-on is wrong. Instead of using powder kegs, just go into combat mode and hack away at the debris.
     
22. How do I cheat? A
    
    At the prompt, type serpent pass. If you have Serpent Isle installed or the Complete Ultima 7 CD, then use serpent manimal instead. See my tips from the Black Gate for info on what to do next.
     
23. Tell me about some of the easter egg cool stuff in Serpent Isle.
    
    In the mountains of the isle, you'll find all sorts of stuff. To get here (without cheating), look for a tree stump just outside Stephano's old house (Moonshade). What you need to do is place a crate beside the stump; then get on the stump. Walk around the stump, make sure you've covered all the possible areas; you'll be teleported to a small island when you hit the right spot.
    
    The island will have a teleporter (back into Stephano's old house), a magic axe and a chest. There is a secret passage (invisible, heading north) from the island to the mountains of Erstam's Isle (invisible mountain entrace).
    
    The vault here has one of each type of magic weapon (well, almost). The key to the vault can be found in the tower before the swamp of Gorlab (62S,45E). D-click the secret Wall to get in. Cross the bridge to the east end (there's a pool of strength). The key is hidden under the stairs (just a few pixels).
    
    Cat Isle (also called CLAW) has all the items you need to complete the game. To get to Cat Isle without cheating, you want to start in one of the tree gardens in Monitor. I believe it is approximately 4 or 5 houses west of Lucilla's pub. You need is 3 crates or something equivalent. The garden has a southern entrance and a few trees immediately to the west of the entrance. I believe the closest tree is the one we want. Pile up your makeshift staircase behind the tree (close to the tree trunk), so that the top stair of your staircase is directly behind the tree trunk (again, I'm pretty certain this is correct, but I can't be sure). Climb the stairs and you should find yourself on Cat Isle.
    
    The main stairs leading to Pothos' place has a secret Wall. Behind it, another stairway leads you to a small room with a lightning whip on a pedestal. There is another secret Wall on the north wall; a passage leads to a door. Unlock the door with the key to Pothos' vault (found under his chair). The teleporter brings you to a football field complete with cheerleaders and the home team! There's some treasure at the end of the field. You can enter this place without the cheat mode. However, to get out of here you MUST use the cheat mode (teleporter at end of field does not work).

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Compiled by Jeff Abramson