Despise

Despise is one of the eight original dungeons of Ultima Online, located at sextant 47° N, 1° W — north of the Britain Cemetery and through the western mountains. Classified as an Anti-Virtue Dungeon, it stands as the corruption of Compassion: a dungeon born from a tale of selfish love and brotherly hatred. Despise is the rare UO dungeon that exists in two completely different forms — a classic 3-level monster den on the Felucca facet and a fully-revamped Trammel-side dungeon introduced in Publish 78 that runs an alignment-based pet-progression system unique to the location.

The Tale of the Twins

The dungeon's name derives from the canonical Britannian fiction released alongside the Trammel revamp:

Two brothers, both well learned in the arcane arts, lusted for the same maiden — a simple ranch-tender of unrivalled beauty. Knowing direct competition would yield neither of them her hand, they conspired together: with a powerful Polymorph spell each transformed himself into the perfect man, and the maiden, deceived, bore a pair of twins. When the truth was uncovered the maiden cursed both lovers to the Abyss. As her sons aged they each blamed the other's father for their own father's banishment, and grew to despise one another. Both became powerful arcanists themselves, and each bargained with the mysterious Wisps of the realm to conjure an army with which to destroy the other.

The mother, watching her sons drift toward fratricidal war, mediated at the Shrine of Compassion. A Wisp appeared, an eternal pact was struck, and the brothers — Adrian and Andros — were cast forever into Despise. The mother's love saved Britannia from war; her sons remain locked in the dungeon's depths, each commanding an army of corrupted creatures from opposite sides.

Trammel — the Wisp Orb system

The Trammel dungeon revamp turns the entire location into a competitive pet-training surface. The goal is to train a single creature — chosen from the Good or Evil side of the dungeon, depending on alignment — to a high enough power level to be conscripted into one of the two opposing armies. The winning army is teleported to the final level to face one of the twin brothers.

Obtaining a Wisp Orb

To begin, the player double-clicks one of the ankhs inside the dungeon to receive a Wisp Orb. Karma gates which side's ankh works:

• Positive karma — Good side ankhs only.
• Negative karma — Evil side ankhs only.

Once the orb is in hand, double-click and target any creature regardless of side to take control of it. The orb is the player's interface for the entire system.

Orb states

The Wisp Orb's hue communicates the controlled creature's status:

Aggression toggles by double-clicking the orb and re-targeting the creature. Leash length (Short or Long) toggles by double-clicking and targeting the orb itself.

The creature roster

Each side has a fixed lineup of trainable creatures:

Players choose one creature to bond with for the duration of the run.

Power Level progression

The controlled creature levels up by killing other creatures. The cumulative power level of slain enemies must equal or exceed the controlled creature's current level to advance. Example: a level-7 creature must kill seven level-1 enemies, or a single level-7 enemy, to reach level 8.

The maximum power level for a controlled creature is 10. There is, however, an extension: if the creature changes alignment during its training (by killing creatures of its same alignment, the creature's karma flips sign), it may rise to 15:

"Your possessed creature has changed alignment! It may now become more powerful, and you may now add it to your army."

Power Level titles

Putrid Hearts and Crystal Points

Each kill the controlled creature makes drops a Putrid Heart to the player. Putrid Hearts are exchanged for Dungeon Crystal Points of Despise, spent at the Mysterious Wisp at the dungeon entrance for random Ephemeral magic items — temporary-but-powerful gear that decays after use.

The Call to Arms — final battle

Once a creature is sufficiently trained, the player may Conscript it into their alignment's army via the Wisp Orb's context menu. The total Army Power is the sum of the squares of all conscripted creatures' power levels for that alignment. The army with the higher Army Power is teleported to the final level:

"The Call to Arms has sounded. The forces of your alignment are strong, and you have been called to battle! You will be teleported into the depths of the dungeon within 60 seconds to heed the Call to Arms, unless you release your conscripted creature or it dies."

In the final level, the player's controlled creature fights the appropriate twin:

The brothers stand on an island in the lake at the bottom of the dungeon and are shielded from all player attacks — only the player's controlled creature can damage them. Death on the final level teleports the player's ghost and corpse back to their alignment's side. On a successful kill, there is a chance of one of the Despise Artifacts dropping into the player's backpack.

Felucca — the classic dungeon

The Felucca facet preserves Despise's original 3-level layout, untouched by the Publish 78 revamp.

Level 1 — Lizardmen and the ankh teleporter

The stairs going up from the entrance area lead to Level 1, populated entirely by Lizardmen. Period developer notes suggest this level was once intended to host a Champion Spawn, but that role moved to Level 3. There is an escort quest here.

A pair of ankhs on Level 1 each carry a switch: double-clicking the switch teleports the player between the two ankhs. The teleport is bidirectional. Resurrection at either ankh is disabled — you cannot rez here, only travel.

Level 2 — Ettins and Earth Elementals

Level 2 is more uniform: Ettins and Earth Elementals densely throughout. A popular Lockpicking training destination sits just inside Level 2, slightly to the north — a reliable lockable-chest spawn for Lockpickers grinding skill.

Level 3 — the variety floor and the Champion Spawn

Level 3 mixes Trolls, Ogres, Ogre Lords, Ettins, Titans, Cyclopean Warriors, and a single Acid Elemental. The level also hosts the dungeon's Champion Spawn:

• Vermin Horde Champion Spawn
• Champion: Barracoon the Piper

Barracoon's spawn waves cycle through Sewer Rats, Giant Rats, Slimes, Dire Wolves, Giant Serpents, Silver Serpents, Lava Lizards, and Ratmen. Killing Barracoon drops Power Scrolls (the Felucca-only Champion Spawn reward) — typically combat-oriented and crafting-oriented Power Scrolls in his loot pool.

Strategy notes

For Trammel

• Karma matters. Decide which alignment you want to play before entering. Trying to switch karma mid-run is awkward; use Compassion / Honor / Justice virtue actions for a positive-karma start, or Necromancy curse spells / Evil acts for a negative-karma start.
• Pick a high-ceiling creature. Unicorn (Good) and Hellion (Evil) are commonly cited as the strongest trainable picks for the final boss fight. Take whichever your alignment offers.
• Train through alignment flip for level 15. Killing same-alignment creatures shifts your controlled creature's karma — embrace this for the higher power cap.
• Putrid Hearts → Ephemeral gear is a side hustle, not the main reward. The dungeon artifact drops only happen on the final twin kill; plan for that as the score.
• Watch for opposing-army kills. The Army Power calculation favors level-15 creatures so heavily (15² = 225 vs 10² = 100) that one Galvanized creature outweighs two Magnified ones.

For Felucca

• Vermin Horde Champion is a starter spawn. It's one of the easiest Champion Spawns and a good first solo champ for a hybrid-template player. Bring a Tamer or Bard for crowd control.
• Lockpick training spot. The dungeon Level 2 chest spawn is reliable for Lockpicking 70 to GM. Run a Lockpicker / Tinker pair (Tinker traps the chests, Lockpicker picks them).
• No Tile Quest. Despise doesn't have any in-dungeon NPC quests beyond the Level 1 escort.

General

• The classic 3-level dungeon is on Felucca only. The revamp replaced the Trammel layout entirely. If you want the original Despise experience, recall to Felucca.
• Despise is a Compassion mirror. Anti-Virtue dungeons reflect their virtue: Despise corrupts Compassion (the brothers' lack of mercy for each other), Hythloth corrupts Sacrifice, etc. The themed lore is consistent across the original eight.

See also

Britain, Britain Cemetery, Compassion, Shrine of Compassion, Anti-Virtue Dungeons, Hythloth, Wrong, Shame, Deceit, Covetous, Destard, Felucca, Trammel, Publish 78, Wisp Orb, Mysterious Wisp, Putrid Heart, Despise Artifacts, Adrian the Glorious Lord, Andros the Dread Lord, Ensorcled Wisp, Corrupted Wisp, Ursadane, Fairy, Sagittarri, Forest Nymph, Sileni, Unicorn, Divine Guardian, Dendrite, Prometheoid, Birling Blades, Skeletrex, Phantom, Echidnite, Darkmane, Hellion, Naba, Lizardman, Ettin, Earth Elemental, Troll, Ogre, Ogre Lord, Titan, Cyclopean Warrior, Acid Elemental, Champion Spawn, Vermin Horde, Barracoon the Piper, Power Scrolls, Lockpicking, Karma.