Wizardry The Wizardry Series Thread

[octavius]

It doesn't take that long to get 15-18 bonus points for all characters. But to speed up the process there is an editor you can use. The editor is also useful to learn more about the mechanics of the game.
As for characters to create in Wiz 6-7, entire tomes could be written about that subject...
There are lots of factors to consider, including (if you metagame/cheat a bit) some items being useable only by certain race+class combos.

 

[octavius]

One thing, though: to make the early game not too frustrating, start with a Bard for free Sleep spells.

 

[Leitz]

One thing, though: to make the early game not too frustrating, start with a Bard for free Sleep spells.

BORING!!!!!

 

[kain611]

and of versions which is better, GOG or Steam? I have both for all three games as well as discs for Wizardry 8.

 

[kain611]

Most of my characters are level 5 now. What level should I start class changing? wait till we are level 10 ish or as soon as I'm able to get the class i want?

 

[ZodoZ]

Most of my characters are level 5 now. What level should I start class changing? wait till we are level 10 ish or as soon as I'm able to get the class i want?

1. Change when the opportunity is optimal.
a) Change when a character has the points to move in to a superior class (elite class)
b) Change when a skill is needed urgently (lockpick for example)
c) change only one characters class at a time if possible
Characters become weak once they change class + the main reason is if you are attempting to move say a Rawulf Fighter all the way to a Rawulf Ninja you may need to replay some fights over and over until you are able to maximize stat increases in your Rawulf's favor.
d) changing while the bell tower encounters are decent exp is a huge time and frustration saver.
e) change when another character's class change leaves a void. For example, if your Mook bard changes to a Samurai it might be a good time to change another character to Bard to fill the bard gap.
f) do not change all classes at once unless you enjoy game_pain. For example, if you have 3 characters all levelling at another 543 exp points but you really want to get the stats so your samurai can change to a monk then you might be facing endless repetitive battles with frustratingly long character point assignments for all 3 characters that advance only so you can see whether your Samurai has gained enough points to change to a Monk...Try to have a few hundred exp points between each class's level up.

If a new player decides after a few hours of playing that they don't want to Hard Mode their way through Wiz VI-VIII then:

Use this magical device to make your game experience even better.----> Mad God's *Cosmic Forge*
This is by far the best companion program for playing the Wizardry series.
http://mad-god.webs.com/downloads.htm

Basically it allows players to view save game stats and info "under the hood" or details that are otherwise not easily viewable.

A new player "could" hard mode the game by mapping by hand on graph paper. Discerning values of new items by spell only. Using no save scumming or taking what one gets in stat increases on level up. Not looking up any spoilers, etc. etc. Figuring out where the first critical NPC is located without dying many times. Figuring out clues w/o help etc. Good luck with that.

 

[octavius]

Also, you may want to change class to temporary classes if leveling takes too long. Ranger is a good class for such a purpose, since it's requirements are not too heavy, and you don't lose much stats when changing. Valkyrie is also a good temporary class for female characters.

 

[Dominae]

Also, you may want to change class to temporary classes if leveling takes too long. Ranger is a good class for such a purpose, since it's requirements are not too heavy, and you don't lose much stats when changing. Valkyrie is also a good temporary class for female characters.

This is good advice. The benefit of lots of class changes is you rack up skill & spell points, plus freebie spell picks. Stats don't mean too much, to be honest, other than being the gatekeeper to more class changes.

In the vein of "map it all by hand" I had a pad of paper I doodled down the racial minimums from the game manual, their "final class" I wanted before import into Wiz 7, and figured out a decent strategy to rotate them through what I needed at least once.

I went way overboard with it though. In my last play through of 6 I think I changed character classes so many times I lost complete track of what classes they'd been. I remember having one character (my bard I think?) that went, basically, Bard->Ranger->Valkyrie->Monk->Ninja->back-to-vaklyrie & repeat the cycle every 10 levels.

It is good if everyone can hide and critical strike. So making everyone a Ninja or Monk for at least 1 rotation to pick up both skills helps down the line.

 

[octavius]

But note that current character level is used in all combat calculations, so a lvl 3 Ninja with 100 in Ninjutsu and Kirijutsu may be less effective than a higher level character with lower skills. Low level characters also more prone to die from magical attacks.
So don't just focus on skills and stats; character level itself is also very important. It was very noticeable in Wiz 6 when my Valkyrie who who was 2-3 levels higher than the rest of the party was able to shrug off spells from high level enemies, while the rest of the party did not fare so well.

 

[General_Norris]

I've been playing Wizardry 8 and I wonder: How long is this game, really? I'm in the swamp, which the two or three walkthroughs* I checked place in the middle of the game. But people speak of 100 hour playthroughs and I doubt I have put even 20 in there.

*Got lost in Trynton. I blame the lack of draw distance, wish there was a way to improve the game's graphics D:

 

[theSavant]

If you made Arnika,Trynton, Swamp ... you have reached at max. 1/4 of hte game, but not more. However strictly following a walkthrough guide may shorten the duration remarkably. I recall approximately 60 hours gameplay based on the savegame stats, however not sure if the reloading-times were included.

 

[octavius]

Is Wiz 8 larger than Wiz 7?

 

[TigerKnee]

Is Wiz 8 larger than Wiz 7?

I think it's smaller. It's just that the combat in Wiz 8 takes fucking forever due to the HP bloat, mob bloat and god help you if you aren't using an Animation Speed Up mod.

Game doesn't even run in the background so you can't do something like Alt-Tab and browse websites while all the mobs are taking their turns

 

[Monstrous Bat]

I think it took me 40~50 hours to finish Wiz 8. If you're in the swamp you're probably 1/3 into the game.

 

[General_Norris]

If you made Arnika,Trynton, Swamp ... you have reached at max. 1/4 of hte game, but not more. However strictly following a walkthrough guide may shorten the duration remarkably. I recall approximately 60 hours gameplay based on the savegame stats, however not sure if the reloading-times were included.

I simply checked them to get out of Trynton, though I don't expect to be on the longer side of a playthrough because I know I'm not exploring every corner.

I think it took me 40~50 hours to finish Wiz 8. If you're in the swamp you're probably 1/3 into the game.

Yeah, that seems more in the line of what I'm seeing so far.


By the way, my Faerie Ninja is useless because I didn't raise her strenght enough to actually deal damage. Is there anything I can do with her or is she going to be a dead weight for the rest of the game?


Also, I don't think Wiz8 combat is slow at all with the exception of projectile-attacks which should be sped up to an unnatural speed.

 

[theSavant]

When you play Wiz8 the first time, it doesn't feel so slow... because you have the bonus of exploring and something fresh/new. It's only when you start a 2nd walkthrough and want some parts "done quick", every single combat feels tedious and a waste of time. I believe in a "quick run" I achieved to get Monastery, Arnika, Trynton done in 2-3 hours (which is already long). And by that I avoided most exploring and combat (trying to sneak by enemies). However the game isn't much fun playing that way.

I don't know what's best with your Faerie Ninja, because most people use her for solo-run only, and not in a party. Only in solo runs you can skill the Faerie appropriately, so she won't get killed easily. If you have a sixpack party, that won't work. She should have been a magician instead, or whatever fits her role (based on the initial stats) best.

 

[Ashenai]

By the way, my Faerie Ninja is useless because I didn't raise her strenght enough to actually deal damage. Is there anything I can do with her or is she going to be a dead weight for the rest of the game?

Throwing weapon Ninjas easily become the most broken class in the lategame, machine gunning down insane numbers of enemies every round with armor-piercing criticals... and they don't need Str at all. The issue is that they're kinda pathetic until then, because they need very high skills both to get many attacks and to get critical hits often enough. This means they scale very poorly: a throwing weapon Ninja with Dex/Spd at 100 and all relevant skills at 90+ is overpowered as hell, but a midgame ninja with stats and skills in the 60s is just sad.

What massively exacerbates this problem is that (by accident or design) throwing weapons are ridiculously scarce in Wiz8, especially considering how many attacks a dual-wielding ninja can get off in a round. The ammo issue does eventually get (a lot) better, but for much of the game, you'll need to use slings to build up your skills. Which is horrible, because the Ninja's armor-piercing special ability doesn't actually work with slings.

 

[TigerKnee]

Faery Ninja is worthless til Cane of Corpus. Get it and then see if she's still useless

 

[theSavant]

Throwing weapon Ninjas easily become the most broken class in the lategame, machine gunning down insane numbers of enemies every round with armor-piercing criticals... and they don't need Str at all.

What massively exacerbates this problem is that (by accident or design) throwing weapons are ridiculously scarce in Wiz8, especially considering how many attacks a dual-wielding ninja can get off in a round. The ammo issue does eventually get (a lot) better, but for much of the game, you'll need to use slings to build up your skills.

Does it really get good? I mean the only thing I found useful was the "Boomerang Shuriken" (or whatever its name), and it has only a 1% chance of insta-kill. Otherwise it makes only tiny damage - even though you can throw up to 9 times or so.

Also: wasn't there a bug with it? People rumored there's a bug, in which it ignores the "Critical Strike" ability for thrown weapons. So you always remain with the 1% kill chance, no matter how high your combat and special skills were.

 

[Ashenai]

This is the first I've heard of this bug. I don't think it's a real thing.

And yeah, the build gets really powerful, but again, only in the late game. It'll suck until then.

Or you could go with TigerKnee's suggestion and make her a melee specialist. I don't really like doing that with my ninjas but it sure as hell does work yep.

 

[Doktor Best]

How bad is the levelscaling in Wizardry 8? I kinda want to play it but i also kinda think that levelscaling is gamedesign heresy which developers should be burned at the stake for. The only games i forgave levelscaling were New Vegas and Baldurs Gate 2 because the levelscaling there was pretty subtle atleast, and the rest of the content made up for it.

 

[DraQ]

Why would anyone play Faerie ninja focusing on anything but crtting shit with staves?

How bad is the levelscaling in Wizardry 8? I kinda want to play it but i also kinda think that levelscaling is gamedesign heresy which developers should be burned at the stake for.

Not that bad and yes.

 

[octavius]

Faery Ninja is worthless til Cane of Corpus. Get it and then see if she's still useless

How is a Faerie Ninja useless?
I just checked my victorious Wiz 6 party and my Faerie Ninja is on third place (453) on the Monster Kills rating. First place is my Valkyrie (608), who started as a Priest (for the extra mana recovery) and immediately switched to Valkyrie, and my Samurai (started as Mage) on second place (541).
My Valkyrie also has the least amount (2) of resurrections, with the Ninja Faerie on second place (3).

So it's interesting that my most effective and hardy character was in fact the character who never spent a single XP on another class.

 

[General_Norris]

The issue is that I've wasted A LOT of points already, the thing of not knowing how to spend them, I guess. Other characters were affected too (*cough*Communication*cough*) but she really got the short end of the stick in comparison. I mean, I spent points on that skill that uses no weapon and it's not really paying off.

I'm temped to use a trainer to redistribute her stats because I really screwed her up.

EDIT. By the way, where can I buy crossbow bolts?
EDIT 2: Just realized I don't have to use bolts. Duh D:

 

[TigerKnee]

How is a Faerie Ninja useless?
...
I just checked my victorious Wiz 6 party

Uh... considering the post mentioned "Arnika/Monastery/etc", I'm pretty sure it was meant to be a discussion of a Faerie Ninja's worth in Wizardry 8 and not 6.

They made some rather huge balance changes jumping from 7 to 8's system.