Wizardry Wizardry 6 (and 7 and 8 actually)

[avoidconfusion]

Hi all,

First of all apologies for a new thread on this but the only one I could find on this forum was quite old and I did not want to necro it.

As many of you will probably know Wizardry 6,7 and 8 are (or were recently?) on sale on Steam.

I remember buying Wizardry 7 when it came out and playing it excessively without having too much of a clue of what I am doing which eventually meant that in the later stages of the game I simply could not continue as I screwed up a lot.

I also played Wizardry 8 a little bit as well.

I never played Wizardry 6 but when I saw it on Steam I bought all 3 again and my intention is now to start with Wizardry 6 and take the party over to 7 and eventually 8.

My "problem" is that not too much has changed since I first played Wizardry 7 in terms of my knowledge of the game series. I spent the the last 3 days reading various different FAQs/Guides but I am still stuck at the very basic but important hurdle of creating a party that won't make me quit the game half way through or later because the party didn't work out or because I made class switches that sounded cool but were in fact rather stupid and done at the wrong times.

So my question/request really is to get some advice from some of the veterans on here.

I intend to have the following "rough" party line-up:

2 Valkyries
1 Samurai
1 Bard
1 Priest
1 Mage

First problem I am not entirely sure on races: I had Dwarf/Rawulf in mind for the Valkyries. Felpurr for the Samurai, Fairy for the Bard (only to then discover that the fairy cannot equip the lute? or am I being silly?), Rawulf for the Priest and Elf or Mook for the Mage.

Note: those are just initial "preferences"/ ideas, I am more than happy for you to critique here and tell me I got the races all wrong.

On to the next topic and this is probably my biggest worry: Bonus point distribution

For my first chars all I did was max out STR and put the rest in VIT , no matter what the class actually is (so even for a Mage)... now I am pretty sure this is wrong.

I also understand that I should use the bonus points to work towards the class I want the character to switch to?

On the topic of switching which is probably of equaly importance as the bonus distribution for me:

What kind of switches make sense for the party above and when?

I was thinking about switching the Mage to a Priest at lvl 10 maybe and the Priest to a Mage.
The Bard to a Ninja and the Valkyries to Samurais for the critical strike chance skill and then back again immediately?
Not sure what to do with the Samurai?

Do these switches even make sense? Or would I make things harder for myself?

With regards to the "When?" I read conflicting information here, some people say I should switch before LVL 2 even, others say LVL 5 is a good time for example.

Many thanks in advance for your feedback, it is much appreciated!

 

[Invictus]

Sounds like you either want to powergame with the usual "how can I get the highest critical percentage" or to get a competitive fun party. Since you are pretty much a first time player I would suggest doing a vanilla party and forget about switching classes unless you are unhappy with your setup. Your party builds sounds like a solid choice although I would suggest swithcing one of the valkyries to another class; if you want more magic go for an alchemist or a psonic, or for more melee go for a Ninja or Ranger, it all depends on your playstyle because a you can do quite a few combinations but switching early to a melee class (for example an alchemist changing to a Ninja or Ranger) gives you a better mana pool and survival spells at the begining but poor front like chars before the switch. You have to decide if it is worth it.
Elves make good mages, Rawulfs make great Priests because of their high piety, mooks make good rangers and psonics and fairies make good bards but simply unstobale ninjas. Keep in mind that good samurai equipment is hard to find but ninjas don't need anything but their base equipment to be competitive.
Don't switch for powergaming switch if you are unhappy with a build and if you can choose between switching a mage to a priest pick a Bishop, which you will have to side with offensive or defensive magic anyway so there you are.

 

[octavius]

This link should be helpful: http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showpost.php?p=430591&postcount=22
http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showpost.php?p=430591&postcount=22

 

[avoidconfusion]

Thanks for your replies, guys.

Invictus I am indeed looking for a competitive fun party. I guess the only concern for me is that I want this party to be competitive in Wizardry 7 (and possibly 8 if I can get to it) as well.

That being said, one question still remains: How do I best distribute the bonus points when I create the characters? Is pumping everything into STR and VIT a sensible thing to do for every class? Or should a mage focus on INT rather than STR and a Priest more on Piety ? And a Ninja more on DEX?

Also why do fairies make such good Ninjas by the way?

 

[Invictus]

Raise your base character skills as in priests raising piety, mages raising intelligence and ninjas speed and dex, plus speed and vitality are always welcome as bonus for all classes in case you are going single class.
My favorite party build starts extremly weak with a priest (switch to Lord) alechemist (to switch to ranger) Ninja (for melee early on) a Bishop, psonic and Mage which you can switch to Bard or Samurai later on if you like.
Bards are invaluable for new players with their endless instrument usage but later they can be kind of weak unless properly develped so that is up to you
As for fairy ninjas they have low natural ac and with ninjitsu they lower their AC one point per 10 skill points so they are the hardest class to hit and the most popular choice for single character plays, plus they get access to class and race specific items which make them killing machines

 

[avoidconfusion]

Excellent, I actually managed to roll a Fairy Ninja but put the points into STR and VIT. Should I reroll and put some into DEX and Speed?

 

[Invictus]

Nah it is ok keep her that way but from now on focus on dex and speed

 

[avoidconfusion]

Me again.

I am now in the Mines and slowly but surely approaching lvl 10 (I think most my chars are lvl 8 now)...

The party I ended up with is:

Dwarf Valkyrie
Felpurr Samurai
Fairy Ninja
Felpurr Bard
Rawulf Priest
Elf Mage

Now... I think I will switch the Priest to a Mage and the Mage to a Priest at lvl 10... or maybe both to a Bishop?
I am more concerned about the Bard... since I already have a Ninja, which class makes sense? Monk? Ranger (planning ahead for W7 where Rangers are more useful) ?

Cheers guys!

 

[avoidconfusion]

Sorry they are actually lvl 7

 

[jagged-jimmy]

So i started Wizardry 8 and party creation, first combat - everything promises an awesome game. But enemies respawn level scaled? I went back a little in the monastery - suddenly crabs with 40hp, seekers, etc. After tons of fighting my enthusiasm for the game fell flat. Is there a way to disable respawns? I also understand, if i camp, more enemies will respawn?

And i read that if you come out of the monastery too high leveled - the enemies in the next area will be a lot harder. How can i explore if respawns are everywhere?

 

[Invictus]

Avoidconfusion
Your party sounds pretty good I wouldn't change a thing, perhaps if you are itching for more combat spells switch the priest to a Bishop. The bard is better than a ranger in W7 anyway so don't worry and enjoy the game
Jagged-jimmy
Yeah it is one of the main annoyences with W8, I usually leave the monsastery at level 5 tops to avoid the most annoying mobs.
It is one of W8 pet peaves; don't raise your level too quickly because since your skills are separate you might face monsters at your level but with subpar skills you might be badly equiped for fighting them. Try to "store" your levels and remember that in this game the respawns are always scaled so try to pace yourself out; if most of the mobs are beatable without too much problem, most of your hits work and your spells skills are developing nicely then switch to the next level.
GTFO of arnika road as soon as possible to avoid the worst respawns (you will only go back to the monastery to open the vault) and camp as little as possible to make sure you make it out.
If attacked rememebr to use the terrain to your advatange and that most spells effects such as web, sleep, insanity etc are better than straight up offensive magic in the early game so use it

 

[Bonerbill]

Really enjoying W8 at the moment. It's a great game, although battles can be a little long a times (it took me 3 hours to get out of the monastery.

Is a Priest-Lord Dual class any good? I currently have a priest who excels in STR, VIT, and PIE, and I'm thinking about changing him to lord around level 8 for the passive health regeneration (and I'm assuming better health growth).

 

[avoidconfusion]

Avoidconfusion
Your party sounds pretty good I wouldn't change a thing, perhaps if you are itching for more combat spells switch the priest to a Bishop. The bard is better than a ranger in W7 anyway so don't worry and enjoy the game

Are there instruments in W7 that make the Bard worthwhile? I find him very useless apart from that... maybe I am playing him wrong?

 

[jagged-jimmy]

The starter banjo or whatever could put sleep on for ex. Gregor. So it's not that bad.

 

[octavius]

Avoidconfusion
Your party sounds pretty good I wouldn't change a thing, perhaps if you are itching for more combat spells switch the priest to a Bishop. The bard is better than a ranger in W7 anyway so don't worry and enjoy the game

Are there instruments in W7 that make the Bard worthwhile? I find him very useless apart from that... maybe I am playing him wrong?

Unlike Wiz 6 you don't need a Bard to use instruments, only a character who has the Music skill.

 

[Invictus]

Bonerbill
It all depends, do you already have 2 good frontline characters? If you do you don't need a Lord, Valkyre would be better but if you have the wrong sex that is not even an option. They do have the regeneration thing and the almost useless double wield, but he should have some good piety already and mana pools so if you want a bit more ump you could switch...perhaps you could change your cleric to a bishop for some extra magic firepower instead.
Avoidconfusion
Use the starting lute for unlimited sleep spells, you can find other instruments with other effects like terror, silence or confusion
Since you already have a samurai I would suggest keeping the bard arround

 

[Lady_Error]

I like to have all characters learn the ninjutsu hiding skill. There are quite a lot of classes that can learn it and once you have at least 1 point in it, you can change to another profession and still bring the skill to 100.

 

[Butcer]

the gameplay mechanics are good but the level scaling which is the worst level scaling ive ever seen(its so bad it will you make you look fondly on the level scaling in fallout 3 and obilvion) and almost insta respawning enemies ruin what could have been a great game,

 

[I_am_Ian]

Anybody know how to use Mad God's editor with the GOG version of Wiz 6?

 

[SausageInYourFace]

I have a few minor questions about Wizardry 6:

- Does it have auto-mapping?
- About how long does a playthrough on average take if you are not in a rush?
- Does it have random encounters or a set number of enemies? Do they respawn?

 

[TigerKnee]

I have a few minor questions about Wizardry 6:

- Does it have auto-mapping?

Yes...

If you play the SNES version.

Otherwise no.

- About how long does a playthrough on average take if you are not in a rush?

I didn't time it, but it's long. Also depends on how good you are at puzzle solving.

- Does it have random encounters or a set number of enemies? Do they respawn?

A little bit of both. Some encounters are set at certain tiles which is very obvious if you save/load a lot, but even regular wandering around you'll get into fights.

 

[Outlander]

Too bad you can't port your save from Wizardry VI SNES.

 

[octavius]

Too bad you can't port your save from Wizardry VI SNES.

The CRPG Addict would probably have loved the SNES version. The topless Amazulus, Mermaids and Rebecca in the DOS version was a very traumatic experience for him.

 

[TigerKnee]

The CRPG Addict would probably have loved the SNES version. The topless Amazulus, Mermaids and Rebecca in the DOS version was a very traumatic experience for him.

Haha, I actually wanted to make that comment over at his blog, but I decided to pass on that.

How ironic, you would imagine the Japanese would be the one who would prefer nude enemies.

 

[Jim Cojones]

Anybody know how to use Mad God's editor with the GOG version of Wiz 6?

You need to direct Mad God to the BANE folder. So if you installed the game to 'D:\games\Wizardry 6', the destination you use in editor's settings is 'D\games\Wizardry 6\BANE'.