Ultima. What is there to say about this legendary, if now mostly unsung game series? Starting from a rather rudimentary beginning, each game improved on the last and revolutionized the way RPGs are made and played. It's rather dear to me, having grown up playing Ultima 6, later 7, and then Serpent Isle. Rarely for the plot, since I was a kid and didn't have the patience to play it properly (I had more fun cheating and trolling the Teleport Storms in SI), so, following up on my Black Sword mod, I decided to reach back into the pages of Ultima lore and bring back some of those unique, even iconic weapons that the Avatar wielded against the foes of Britannia. This is:
[center][img]https://staticdelivery.nexusmods.com/mods/110/images/42917/42917-1576900118-727327291.png[/img][/center]
Artifacts of Ultima is a collection of weapons and more from the Ultima game series that, more often than not, have unique looks and powers. A fair few are level-listed and can be found in loot, while those that are more unique are found placed in the world and require a bit of exploration to find. The mod also features a couple custom dungeons, and is overall maintained fairly regularly, so don't hesitate to track 'cause more stuff is bound to come!
[center][b][color=#ff7700][size=4]AS OF VERSION 2.3, ARTIFACTS OF ULTIMA NOW REQUIRES DAWNGUARD[/size][/color][/b][/center]
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[url=https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/4981]Also available for Skyrim Special Edition![/url][/size][/center]
[color=#1e84cc]~Swords and Daggers~[/color]
[b][u]Sword of Defense:[/u][/b] Improves your armor rating and block skill, providing you with better defense in combat.
[b][u]Fire Sword:[/u][/b] Swords whose blades are wreathed in magical fire and shed light when unsheathed, making them useful both as a weapon and a lightsource. Blue fire swords are brighter and more potent than their red cousins.
[b][u]The Magebane:[/u][/b] A magician's worst nightmare, the Magebane is a magical scimitar that, while doing fair base damage, is absolutely devastating against spellcasters. The Magebane will completely vape your opponent's magicka, preventing them from casting their stupid ice storm spells that take you down to 5 hitpoints and slow you down so much a snail could outrun you. (YES I'M BITTER ABOUT THAT.)
[b][u]The Dragonslayer:[/u][/b] A modest looking sword, one would think that it wouldn't do much, but you know what they say about books and covers. As its name implies, the Dragonslayer will make dragons its bitch, doing about 1.5 times more damage to dragons than Dragonbane does at its max level. It's equivalent to a glass sword in base damage, so it makes for a decent weapon against dragons and non-dragons alike. The damage is done through a perk, much like with the silver sword, so this can be enchanted to your heart's content.
[b][u]Glass Sword:[/u][/b] Despite the name, these iconic swords are unrelated to the malachite weapons used in Skyrim. These crystalline-bladed swords will kill just about anything in one hit, however the act of doing so shatters the fragile blade and renders the sword useless. Glass swords can be crafted though, however they require 5 peer gems and a high smithing skill.
[b][u]Flamesting:[/u][/b] Hailing from the conquered world of Pagan, Flamesting may not be as visually impressive as the flame-wreathed Fire Swords, but it makes up for it with speed and engulfing its enemies in flame.
[b][u]Poison Dagger:[/u][/b] Perfect for criminals, pirates, assassins or just ne'er-do-wells in general, this nasty little number has an enchanted, venomous blade fashioned from a sea serpent's tooth, and injects a lethal poison that drains your target's health and slows them down. However, they're rather delicate in construction and have a tendency to break.
[b][u]Ophidian Swords:[/u][/b] Hailing from the Serpent Isle, the Ophidian Swords are unique longswords that correspond to the three factions of the Ophidian Civilization: [color=blue]Order[/color], [color=red]Chaos[/color] and [color=gold]Balance[/color]. The swords of Order and Chaos are level-listed and so have a chance of being found in loot, but the Ophidian Sword proper is somewhere in the world.
[b][u]Great Dagger:[/u][/b] Seemingly a simple, ordinary dagger save for the large red jewel in the pommel, the Great Dagger's simple appearance belies its true nature, as when the dagger is swung it morphs into a greatsword, dealing the damage of a greatsword in a lighter, more portable and concealable package.
[b][u]Blade of Striking:[/u][/b] While the origins of this magical sword are unknown, it's no less effective. The Blade of Striking is capable of hitting multiple opponents in front of you, and has a higher crit and stagger rating than most normal swords.
[b][u]Protector:[/u][/b] Once just a humble knitting needle, Protector came to be when a new mother, Nehdra, called to the Titan Stratos to help her protect her newborn child from invading trolls. Stratos responded immediately and transformed the knitting needle Nehdra had grabbed into Protector. The sword is an upgrade of sorts to the Sword of Defense, providing a higher bonus to block and one's armor rating, and on top of this it's exceptionally effective against trolls, dealing a fair bit of extra damage and it also completely halts their health regeneration.
[b][u]Jeweled Weapons:[/u][/b] Crafted by the blacksmith of Blackthorn's Oppression, this set of beautifully engraved weapons may [i]look[/i] pretty, but in actuality that's all they're good at. The "real" versions of these weapons are utterly worthless in combat, being completely incapable of dealing any damage whatsoever, can't be tempered, are entirely ineffective against undead or lycanthropes [i]despite[/i] being made of silver, and to top it all off they can't even hold an [i]enchantment[/i]. The only use these would have would be putting on display. Fortunately, however, you can make replicas of these blades that actually [i]work[/i], probably long before you find the "real" ones.
[b][u]Enilno The Quicksword:[/u][/b] The Slayer of Minax, Enilno is a lightning-fast sword that is not only quite strong, but detrimental to spellcasters. If a spellcaster is struck while casting a spell, Enilno will disrupt their spell, stagger them and sap their magicka, and between this and its speed means any spellcaster you get into melee with will be hard pressed to fight back.
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[/color][u][b]Scimitar of Khumash-Gor:[/b][/u] Once wielded by the warlord Khumash-Gor, his powerful scimitar deals double damage against undead. Unlike the other special weapons, the Scimitar can be found in a custom dungeon, the Tomb of Khumash-Gor, in the hands of the warlord himself. The Tomb is fully navmeshed and clearable, but it's quite dark so be sure to bring a lightsource.
[color=#ffff00][b]NEW![/b][/color] [u][b]Sun Sword:[/b][/u] A brilliant, gem-studded golden sword, the Sun Sword (otherwise known generically as the "+4 sword") is a truly mighty weapon. A strike with this blade burns the living and sears the undead, and the very light it sheds is anathema to the walking dead, setting them alight when they step into its range. Vampires are particularly susceptible to the blade's power, and have a chance to explode in a blast of sunlight on death, being reduced to ash in the process.
[color=#1e84cc][b]~Bows & Arrows~[/b][/color]
[b][u]Brittanian Longbow:[/u][/b] A standard, wooden recurve bow that's a fair step up from the normal longbow. This fella you have a chance on finding in loot or on dopes.
[b][u]Magic Bow:[/u][/b] An enchanted upgrade to the Britannian Longbow, the green Magic Bow deals more damage, boosted by the enchantment it bears, and can be found in loot and such like its lesser counterpart.
[b][u]Burst Arrows:[/u][/b] A special type of arrow, Burst Arrows are distinguished by the shimmering ball mounted on the head of the arrow. On impact, they explode, doing additional damage to your target. Due to being a bit bulkier, though, they're not as fast as normal arrows and are more affected by gravity.
[b][u]Infinity Bow:[/u][/b] This distinctive black bow is a rare find indeed, but one many an archer would want to get their hands on. The magic woven into the bow allows it to generate its own fiery arrows, eliminating the need to cart around loads of ammo and the risk of running out at a crucial moment. This benefit, however, is also its drawback, as stronger arrows can't be used with the bow.
[color=#1e84cc][b]~Wands and Staves~[/b][/color]
[b][u]Lighting Wands[/u][/b] shoot, well, lightning bolts, carrying limited charges as well, fewer than your average staff. There is a variant you can find called the [b][u]Lightning Rod[/u][/b], which is blue instead of green, and launches Chain Lightning into the luckless saps you wave it at.
[b][u]Fire Wands[/u][/b] launch burny fieryness into the faces of your enemies. They're not as potent as the Firedoom Staves, but they still pack a decent punch. Fire Wands come in two types, red and blue, blue ones doing more damage than the red one, though blues have less charges.
The [b][u]Firedoom Staff[/u][/b] is a nasty sum of a beach, express mailing explosive doom to whatever chucklehead with an iron dagger tries to step to ya. They don't have the seeking property they did in Ultima, but they provide some nice kabooms. Like the Fire Wand, there's a red type and a blue type, the blue type doing more damage and delivering a larger blast, though it has fewer charges than the red version.
The uncommon [b][u]Magician's Wand[/u][/b] is a distinctive red-hued wand with a bright orange gem suspended between the prongs. The Magician's Wand's strength lies in that it has unlimited charges, and slams your opponent with a potent blast of fire.
[color=#1e84cc][b]~Shields~[/b][/color]
[u][b]Curved Heater:[/b][/u] The classic standard shield, this is a simple heater shield with the visage of a serpent embossed on its face. It's a little better than an elven shield, though is classed as heavy armor.
[u][b]Kite Shield:[/b][/u] Equivalent to the standard Curved Heater, the Kite Shield is classed as light armor instead of heavy and weighs a bit less than its heftier counterpart.
[u][b]Brass Shield:[/b][/u] Heftier than the previous two shields, the Brass Shield is the best of the standard heater-type shields, though it's only heavy armor and weighs a good deal more than the other two.
[u][b]Door Shield:[/b][/u] The Door Shield is the best standard shield you can find, however it's big. No, really, it's BIG. Large enough for a Nord to hide behind if he's crouching, the Door Shield offers a great deal more protection than the other standard shields, at the cost of being the weightiest of the bunch. Because of its size, even those not well-versed in blocking can use it to deflect arrows, though by the same token its size makes it a bit tricky to navigate with the shield up.
[u][b]Magic Shield:[/b][/u] An enchanted version of the Curved Heater, the Magic Shield is distinguished by the glowing blue snake on its front. A bit better than its unenchanted relative in defense, the Magic Shield's enchantment also offers a 15% damage resistance, and a fortification to the Block skill.
[u][b]Dupre's Shield:[/b][/u] The distinctive shield of the Avatar's companion Dupre, this shield is the best of the best. Lightweight yet as good as an ebony shield, Dupre's shield also bears a similar enchantment to the Magic Shield, though 10% better than its lesser counterpart. Unlike the other shields, which can be found in loot, Dupre's shield can only be found in a certain place. Don't worry, it's nowhere too bizarre. :3
[b][u]Spiked Shield:[/u][/b] Spiked Shields come in bronze and steel flavors, which are heavy and light respectively. Essentially upgrades on the Targe of the Blooded, Spiked Shields will deal more bleeding damage than the Targe and can be enchanted as well.
[color=#1e84cc][b]~Jewelry~
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[b][color=#ffff00]NEW![/color] [u]Ring of Regeneration:[/u][/b] A simple green ring that increases the regeneration of one's health. These come in Lesser, Superior and Greater variants, which have more potent regeneration. However, these rings have limited uses and have a chance to disappear when worn.
[b][color=#ffff00]NEW![/color] [u]Ring of Invisibility:[/u][/b] While on the surface this appears to be a simple gold ring, it's anything but. Wearing this will render the wielder invisible for as long as the ring is worn, or until they break the invisibility. Like the Ring of Regeneration, however, the Ring of Invisibility won't stick around forever.
[b][color=#ffff00]NEW![/color] [u]Ring of Protection:[/u][/b] A brassy ring set with a bright ruby, these rings offer mundane and magical protection when worn, acting like a second shield. Unlike the Ring of Regeneration and Invisibility, Rings of Protection won't disappear, and come in Heavy and Light versions.
[color=#1e84cc][b]~Special~[/b][/color]
[b][u]Hoe of Destruction:[/u][/b] A pretty outlandish weapon, the Hoe of Destruction was made when a mage, his mind addled by disruptions in the magical either, put upon a humble hoe enchantments meant for a Sword of Death. As a result, the Hoe of Destruction was created. The Hoe does as much as a daedric battleaxe, though swings faster, and is distinguished by its glowing red head, and ignores half an opponents damage resistance.
[b][u]Death Scythe:[/u][/b] A terrible and frightening weapon, the Death Scythe is one of the best weapons you can find. Only three exist, so better keep your peepers peeled as you're exploring. ;) This wicked scythe, blued from the death magics woven into it, absorbs a good bit of health from your opponent, but on top of that, it kills their magicka like the Magebane does and "curses" them, by frying their stamina to keep them from power attacking, slowing them, and reducing the effectiveness of their armor.
[b][u]Slayer:[/u][/b] Caked in dried blood from its many victims, the dread mace Slayer has a 10% chance to instantly kill whoever is unlucky enough to get smacked by it, except for Dwarven Automatons ('cause they're robots) and Alduin ('cause he's Alduin).
[b][u]Bonecrusher:[/u][/b] Made by the Pagan Titan of Water, Hydros, Bonecrusher hates the undead (and REALLY hates skeletons) and will happily smoosh their bones if you let it. All undead take 50% more damage from the mighty warhammer and will probably need a hip replacement afterwards. Skeletons, however, take [b]3x[/b] damage and will probably need an everything replacement afterwards.
[b][u]C???? ???r?:[/u] [color=red]FiND mE iF yOu DArE. HHHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!
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[b][color=#ffff00]NEW![/color] [u]Deceiver:[/u][/b] Shrouded in mystery, the axe Deceiver lives up to its name, rendering its wielder invisible at the start of combat and has a 20% chance to frenzy, fear or disarm an opponent struck by it.
[color=#ffff00][b]NEW! [color=#ffffff][u]Orb of the Moons:[/u][/color][/b][color=#ffffff] A small, nondescript black stone which contains tremendous utility. By using the stone (via clicking on it in the inventory) you are able to mark up to 8 locations and can then summon a red moongate, through which you can return to any of the location(s) you marked. Followers will be transported along with you too!
[color=#ffff00][b]NEW![/b][/color] [u][b]Blue Moongates:[/b][/u] Marked by a circle of eight stones, these blue portals are only active at night, rising at 8:00 PM and setting at 8:00 AM (in-game time). However, at the start, they're inactive; they can only be re-activated following the hullabaloo with the Eye of Magnus. Then and only then can you use them to travel to wherever the moons decide, as the destination of the gates are tied to the phases of Masser and Secunda.
[color=#ffff00][color=#ffffff][color=#ffff00][b]NEW![/b][/color][/color][/color] [u][b]The Black Sword:[/b][/u] Folded in from my standalone mod of the same name, the Black Sword returns with a fresh coat of paint and completely reworked abilities, making it a true force to be reckoned with. It can't, however, merely be found, it has to be [i]made[/i], and it won't be a simple task. But it will be a rewarding one at the end, for its abilities now closely match what it possessed in Ultima 7.
Only the True Black Sword possesses these abilities; lesser variants of the sword exist as the Unbalanced Black Sword and the Calibrated Black Sword; the Unbalanced sword is without any means to counteract the weight of the blackrock used in its construction, making it slow and eh in terms of damage. The Calibrated sword is set with black soul gems, turning it into a reusable soul gem and improves its damage and speed. Only with the Ether Gem, however, can the True Black Sword be born. With it you can refill Health, Magicka or Stamina, unleash a destructive wash of fire upon your foes, or bring instant death to your opponent...provided the Black Sword deems them worth killing. And you [i]will [/i]need to kill with the sword in order to use the replenishing abilities. [b][color=#ffff00](IMPORTANT: The Black Sword is [i]fully capable of killing Essential NPCs[/i] through its Death power, so use it wisely!)[/color][/b]
[/color][/color][color=#ffff00][color=#ffffff][color=#ffff00][b]NEW![/b][/color][/color][/color] [color=#ff7700][u][b]Fire Jewels[/b][/u][/color] and [color=#ff0000][u][b]Chaos Jewels:[/b][/u][/color] Unique explosives hailing from the world of Pagan, these brilliant red gems are not just able to be found in loot and elsewhere, but can be crafted using diamonds and fire salts. Fire Jewels simply explode on impact, but Chaos Jewels burst into four Fire Jewels on impact, creating a tremendous conflagration upon your witless opponent.
[u][b]~Future Plans~[/b][/u]
>Adding the Lightning Whip, which may or may not ultimately happen.
>The Serpent Artifacts (Serpent Armor, staff, scepter, earrings, crown, amulet, ring). These will be the subject of Version 3.0.
[b][u]~Stuff I know may be asked, sooner or later~[/u][/b]
[b]"The Scythe is too short!"[/b]
I made it that way so the blade lines up properly with the killcam. It may look a bit short, sure, but I feel that's a fair trade off to seeing your character actually whack the scythe blade into a Thalmor, rather than watching with implosive disappointment as you bonk them with the shaft.
[b]"The Scythe is too powerful!"[/b]
I'm a mighty stickler for accuracy, especially when it comes to Ultima, so the Scythe behaves pretty much how it did in Ultima 7 (though with some adjustments to represent the Curse debuff in Skyrim and all). It isn't by any means a God weapon that can win the game as easily as you can pass a good fart (Plenty of those around), but if it makes the game too easy for ya you can hang it up on your mantle or something, would make a nice conversation starter.
[b]"Make X enchantable/disenchantable/craftable!"[/b]
Nope.avi
...What? You want a wordier response? Fiiine, but you're cutting into my cupcake time.
Those that aren't enchantable/disenchantable are 'cause they're already enchanted, both in the technical sense and literally, or they're rarity is such stripping the enchantment off could cost you the weapon. The Hoe of Destruction is ~technically~ already enchanted (what with having began as a run-of-the-mill hoe before getting 'roided up) so making it enchantable would be kind of counter-intuitive. From a lore perspective, these things have enchantments on them no one in Skyrim has ever seen before, and they weren't even enchanted in the same manner as weapons are in Skyrim. Slapping a Death Scythe, for example, onto an Enchanting Table would be like trying to plug a USB drive into a Commodore 64.
Now for being able to craft these weapons, that doesn't really sit right for me. I'm of the opinion it's more rewarding to find something than to just drag yourself to a forge, toss in a stick and a couple ingots and fart out a Death Scythe. Something like that is just too whack to craft and would make getting such powerful weapons too easy. Glass swords are craftable now, as of 1.2, but they require special gems that are quite rare, as well as requiring you to be a Daedric smith. And speaking of the glass sword...
[b]"The Glass Sword is OP!"[/b]
Yeah, maybe, but with reason. It's a one-hit-wonder weapon best used as a last resort. Since its power is counterbalanced by how rare it is, I figure that makes up for it. Plus, the way it behaves is how it worked in Ultima, you could even whack doors apart with these guys (Sometimes it took a couple though), and this was made in the interest of accuracy to the source material.
[b]"The Glass Sword should be named something else, it's too confusing"[/b]
This Glass Sword was the Glass Sword before Elder Scrolls Glass Swords were even a thing, so I'm not about to change it. I personally think it makes for a neat surprise, as you open a chest and see Glass Sword and think "Aw man, I have like 80 of those" but then you see it's not the malachite sword but the INSTANT BREAKY DEATH SWORD...it's like getting a surprise birthday party, except pointier.
[u]~Credits~[/u]
Crowley on the Exult forums, whose work I based the design of the secret sword on (with little touches from the Ultima V: Lazarus version).
Origin Systems/Richard Garriott, for creating the Ultima game series.
[b][u]~Incompatibilites~[/u][/b]
The mod should play nice with most mods, at least, since while there are changes to some areas, they're relatively minor. I'd be wary of mods that overhaul the College of Winterhold, since a couple minor changes were made to the Arch-Mage's quarters for the mod, so how it'll play with overhauls to the place might be unpredictable. I'd suggest keeping the mod low in the load order to minimize possible conflicts with such mods, and if you do run into a major issue or two, don't hesitate to let me know.
[b][u]~Known Issues~[/u][/b]
None! But, if you do happen to encounter any bugs, be sure to report it in the Bugs tab.
[color=#ffff00][u]LET IT BE KNOWN THIS MOD SHALL NOT BE COPIED AND PASTED ELSEWHERE WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR (ME). DOING SO WITHOUT PERMISSION MAY RESULT IN FREQUENT RASHES, HEAD COLDS, ANTIDAEPHOBIA, WEIGHT GAIN, DEMONIC HARD DRIVE POSSESSION, BAD GAS, AND A SUDDEN LOVE FOR JUSTIN BIEBER. IF YOU ALREADY ARE A FAN OF JUSTIN BIEBER, YOUR CDS WILL TURN PLAID AND ONLY PLAY CIRCUS MUSIC.[/u][/color]
[center][size=5]Oh, hey, I have a [url=https://discord.gg/4tEqVj5]Discord Server[/url] now! Stop on by for general nonsense and maybe sneak-peeks. :3[/size][/center]