HEADS UP, long post #3 in a row oncoming, hehe:
*Yeah, I'll probably have to run through the game a couple times only semi-optimized to see what's fastest.
*If I DO get a Wand then the vast majority of creatures in the game will be defeated in one strike. My intent for quick-cash is the loop in Destard on Level 4, which is en route anyway-19 treasure chests to manipulate 85+ Gold each and then a forced Room fight, and then back to the gold loop with every chest refilled! One loop will give enough for the key, three more for the wand, OR two loops will yield three X-Bows. (X-Bow 30-40 damage all BUT Mage and Shephard can use, Wand 50-60 damage only Mage and Druid can use) However, the Wand can only be purchased at Buccaneer's Den, whereas the X-Bows can be purchased at either there or Vesper. Vesper is on route to a couple shrines, while the Den on the other hand is an island in the middle of the ocean.
*Squish will do roughly 75% damage, so even for creatures that have 50-70 hit points it brings them to less than 20, so a Squish-Bows combination would kill everything, Squish-Sling would indeed kill most. However, there are a lot of creatures that a Bow can kill in one hit, most by X-Bow, vast majority by Wand, so there is definitely some work involved figuring out what's best.
*Gate will be useful, but ONLY if the route brings us back to Moonglow after we visit Cove. The guy that gives the spell is dead en route to the Candle, and Gate is SUCH a timesaver it isn't even funny. To hell with time, wind, and pirates, I go where I want WHEN I want!
*Your discovery about the bridge is a good thing that I'd hadn't realized. Trolls can be killed by a bow in one hit for some quick easy experience. Perhaps in my first trip around the world, pre-Destard, I can manipulate some random battles on bridges if necessary.
*Yes, I fully intend to abuse that silly reaper in Castle Brittania for my virtue raising. Such a cheap, easy exploit! And yeah I've been using the Memory Watcher and Cheat functions in FCEU already, I've been using it to figure out the best methods to gain virtue. It's surprising what does and doesn't give or take away virtue sometimes when you can see into the game itself.
*400 gold upon death, and I've already considered it, yeah. It's probably the easiest way to get that necessary level 4 as soon as you have the experience, and then you're right there in the Britain area, which has the best virtue gaining in the whole game, between the reaper, a beggar, and a healer, along with two runes and friendly access to pirates.
*The whirlpool isn't invisible; I have seen it maybe twice in my youth. Ever. Something tells me it only appears to higher level characters, like how the pirates only appear to level 4 and above. Simply put, I have no intention of using the whirlpool to get to Cove; the balloon or stupidly placed pirates will suffice.
*Yes, donating blood is the ONLY way to gain Sacrifice, and, like beggars, can not be done repeatedly to gain virtue (but they'll still sap your health the bastards!!) AND they'll only offer if you have more than 300 health, meaning that nothing can be done until level 4, again, which sucks a whole lot more than blood.
*Ripping off blind reagent sellers is incredibly worthwhile. The four virtues that drop from this awful deed are the same four virtues that the reaper will raise every time you answer his question right! It's far too perfect, and is nearly the only thing about planning this run that has gone beautifully well so far, haha. With that in mind, the ideal reagent seller to ripoff is indeed the one in Buccaneer's Den for his supply of Manroot. Unfortunately, you can only get there by boat or balloon, and boat requires level 4 and balloon requires a trip to Hythloth. The latter option, then, will mean that I won't have any Squish for my delve into Destard, on top of the lack of ranged weapons, this makes for a bad trip. Another option is to nab the Manroot from its overworld location near at a new moon; perhaps using this chance to die-teleport to Britain would be good, since the moongate will surely appear very soon once you exit the castle. Hm, I wonder if the exit spell can be used in towns and castles for a little speed boost, haha! Must test.
*I'm not sure what resets certain values yet. You cannot pray repeatedly or obtain virtue from repeated chats with beggars, healers, or Stormwind, but they DO reset. One loop I know of is in Britain: Beggar->Healer->Stormwind->King to heal for the healer, and by the time you return to the beggar, he'll give you compassion points again. However, I'd greatly prefer not to have to use this if possible. I'd of course skip the chat with Stormwind, but it does make me wonder whether footsteps (or footsteps in the overworld instead! Walking in town doesn't restore MP like it does everywhere else in the world, perhaps that's the key!) determine how soon you can benefit from such characters.
*I don't intend to go above level 4, no, and yeah blink would be used much at that point. However, I haven't looked into whether random encounters are manipulable one way or another, though I do know that standing on city, castle, or cave squares prevent attacks. I have an idea why but whatever. Skipping battles while walking around is more important, currently.
*IF companions are picked up, yeah, Druid and Paladin are the good choices. I intend to use Flamis (who stands next to Jaana the Druid btw) for his Honesty virtue exploit, so if I do try out accomplices, she's only one step away! If I use neither friends nor Squish, though, I'd only ever have to visit Yew once. Perhaps I can do Destard alone and Squishless, but then gain Jaana and Dupre the Paladin and Squish for the second dungeon dive. Then I'd have Squish for the Abyss, which you do totally alone in the NES version of Ultima 4 anyway. Squish + Quick will be fun there I'm sure.
*Gold can be manipulated. The Random Number Generator continues once every frame that you're able to be attacked by random monsters (citystanding included) and don't have any windows open, so the amount of gold inside a treasure chest is determined from the frame that you first open up the menu and stays there while you reach Search and go through the conversation that way.
Longpost is looooong.
