and Earth (Lithos). The more privileged followers of Lithos are identified as necromancers, the wizards that trap Pyros and tap him for their power as sorcerers, the followers of Stratos as theurgists and the (albeit highly selective) followers of Hydros as tempests. Apart from those, a fifth type of magic known as Thaumaturgy exists and is pioneered by Mythran. In order to escape Pagan, the Avatar has to overcome many obstacles and master the ways of all titans, finally becoming the Titan of Ether: the magical field and fifth element. During his quests, the Avatar collects the four artifacts of the Titans, unleashing violent thunderstorms, hurricanes, earthquakes and meteor showers by doing so. These artifacts allow him to enter the Ethereal Plane and defeat the Titans on their own turf. The Avatar then reconstructs the original blackrock gate that originally allowed the Guardian to enter Pagan. By entering the reconstructed gate, the Avatar is teleported back to Britannia, which is now ruled by the Guardian, who is revealed to also be the "Destroyer". Development Richard Garriott later said he delegated most of the work on Ultima VIII to others: "I sacrificed everything to appease stockholders, which was a mistake. We probably shipped it three months unfinished." He reiterated this in 2016 saying that EA was not to be blamed for the game's poor reception. "It really was smart people with good data [and] good evidence to show 'here's why we've concluded this information. We would like you to embrace it'...and I embraced it!" Pagan was the first Ultima game to feature an extensive amount of platforming. Due to the game's buggy nature, many of these areas were much more difficult to complete before a patch was released. The interactivity and role-playing elements from previous Ultimas are greatly reduced in the game, partly leading to its mixed reception. Some of the removed elements from earlier Ultimas include: The Avatar is a male with blond hair and blue eyes, in contrast to previous Ultimas, where the Avatar's gender and appearance could be chosen by the player. There is no party system, causing this to be the first main Ultima where the player adventures alone since Ultima II. Several weapons, including halberds, spears, slings, two-handed swords, bows and crossbows, are not in the game. There is no leveling or experience system in the game, and the Avatar's Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence are all