Wizardry The Wizardry Series Thread

[octavius]

Besides in Wiz 7 you don't need the Bard class, you need the skill and an instrument.

 

[kmonster]

I've been spending the past week grinding xp and skillpoints for my Wiz 6 party, from a savefile I still had from when I beat this game about 3 years ago, to prepare for import into Wiz 7. My Valkyries just hit level 70-ish, to give an idea of how obsessively I've been making nonstop loops through the Temple of Ramm.

I'm pretty confident this all-elite-class party stocked with the best weapons in the game is more than capable of doing well against W7's HP-bloated enemies (especially with my weeaboo-class-trio having 100 Ninjutsu+Kirijutsu, and my two Valkyries who aren't too shabby either), but I have this odd feeling I still might regret not re-switching one of them to a Bard to deal with moments where the game just spams a few dozen status-effect-flinging baddies at me.

But it also just seems wrong to switch an elite class down to a lowly Bard.

Maybe I am overthinking this?

Bad news: Since the game adds 3 miss chance percentage for each level taken away on import and your characters didn't get a reduction for level ups beyond 20 they will start at level 5 but with 100 miss chance, just like a level 1 mage, not getting the 12-24 miss chance improvement a freshly Valkyrie created in W7 would have after leveling up to level 5 (a samurai would even loose 17-29).
And since the miss chance reduction is capped again at level 20 (according to Cosmic Forge) your imported characters will have a worse chance to hit until the end of the game.

Good news: It doesn't matter at all, you just have to grind levels until yours are considerably higher than your opponents and combat becomes trivial.

A bard being able to play the sleep spell would make things easier in the very beginning but you don't need one.

 

[Grauken]

I've been spending the past week grinding xp and skillpoints for my Wiz 6 party, from a savefile I still had from when I beat this game about 3 years ago, to prepare for import into Wiz 7. My Valkyries just hit level 70-ish, to give an idea of how obsessively I've been making nonstop loops through the Temple of Ramm.

Wait, level 70ish is insanely high, I finished with all of my party below level 20.

 

[eric__s]

Yeah, it's an insane waste of time. It's worth it to import characters with good equipment, but capping all of their skills is insane. They'll all be reduced by 80% and you'll have to build them all back again.

 

[theSavant]

so I started up Wizardry 7 today... turns out healthpoints don't recover while resting... stopped the game

 

[megidolaon]

I'm doing pretty well in New City, wiping the floor with those giant robot Savant guards who used to give my previous "start-from-scratch" parties immeasurable trouble. Also was able to defend myself from a couple aggressive NPCs, who are a lot harder but I can still manage OK with Armorplate+Enchanted Blade and strategy (ok, luck).

So I started up Wizardry 7

...found out healthpoints don't recover while resting...

So I stopped Wizardry 7

Even in Wizardry 6, HP only seemed to recover very inconsistently during resting.

Magic does seem to recover much faster in W7 than in W6, fortunately.

 

[octavius]

The rest after each battle cheese doesn't work very well in Wizardry 7...

 

[Grauken]

well, someone could use the Cosmic Forge thing, that includes a patch that is more of a cheat, haven't used it, but it should make rest into health spam

 

[Grauken]

so I started up Wizardry 7 today... turns out healthpoints don't recover while resting... stopped the game

You're aware that this is a feature, not a bug? Also, it does recover, only in fits and bursts

 

[Invictus]

The rest after each battle cheese doesn't work very well in Wizardry 7...

Yup, heal up your crew and then rest to regain mp
About those guys talking about the chars from older Wizardries going back to level 5... yeah you go back to that level while carrying over some of the best items in the game such as the Muramasa and the Holy Basher, seems like a heck of a way to get started rather than with sticks and stones, plus you get great base stats for most abilities across the board

 

[Grauken]

Some observations from playing through W7 currently

I wonder if the game has some sort of level-scaling (at least on the overland map), as I'm meeting much heavier enemies in areas where I've never met them in the early game
Occasionally some of my weapons vanish during a fight, but due to a lack of battle log I actually don't know what happened (catastrophic dice throw failure ?!?)
David W. Bradley likes to never give a clear answer, even the official guide only hints at solutions instead of just giving them outright
I love the idea of rival parties, but after meeting 4 to 6 different NPCs repeatedly after each other on the same square or close-by area I'm ready to murder all the fucking wandering NPCs so that they don't bother me anymore

 

[theSavant]

You're aware that this is a feature, not a bug? Also, it does recover, only in fits and bursts

Waited 2 minutes and it didn't. Tried multiple times.

Yup, heal up your crew and then rest to regain mp

Got no mage in my party. So without mage my party is fucked? No fun, if it's so restrictive. Now I know why I started with Wiz8 and never looked back.

 

[octavius]

Got no mage in my party.

Now I know why I started with Wiz8 and never looked back.

 

[Grauken]

Got no mage in my party. So without mage my party is fucked? No fun, if it's so restrictive. Now I know why I started with Wiz8 and never looked back.

Are you bloody stupid?

 

[theSavant]

Grauken let me clear up the matters... you certainly know about that Solo Fairy Ninja run in Wizardry? Well... some people also tried Solo Velpurr Samurai runs or similar combinations. However if you have no chance of regenerating health aside from magic, then it's almost impossible to do these challenges.

Doesn't even need to be solo runs, but it can also be an interesting experience to have a full fighter party, for example I once had a party with 3 sword fighters in the frontrow and 3 guys with extended weapons in the backrow (Wiz8). They hacked and smashed their way through the enemies very quickly, and very little micro-management was required (compared to selecting magic spells in each round). This playstyle only works reasonably well when health is regenerating while resting.

 

[Grauken]

Solo character runs are utterly retarded, don't whine about a game if it doesn't cater to your inanities

 

[Gnidrologist]

Actually the fact that you can run all sort of parties, including such that don't include specialists of certain kind, is the main strength if Wiz8. Including solo runs with about any sort of build. Having to make your standard d&d party with obligatory priests, thieves, tanks etc. is one thing that puts me off dnd games no matter how good. Standard fair every time.
Also, what's exactly wrong with resting and healing as opposed to guzzling magic drinks?

 

[Grauken]

It takes strategic depth out of the equation, as only the individual fights matter, not the attrition due to consecutive fights. How rest is handled in W6/7 is actually quite ingenious compared to the standard spam rest like in EoB. This way, you can't just always go all out in one fight, you have to think what resources remain for the next one, and the one after it and so on. And the walking distance between fountains that fully recover you are quite long in W7, which means if you go exploring you need to think strongly about conserving every resource you have.

Actually the fact that you can run all sort of parties, including such that don't include specialists of certain kind, is the main strength if Wiz8.

I'm not much of a fan of that kind of balance. I like W8, but for other things, not this.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Only strategic depth there is that you have to reload, because you ran out of potion or your healer died. I see more depth in having great replayability instead of spergy micromanagement and cheesing. But i guess that's what blobber purists are all about. Read some time ago from a guy, who thought that having to draw your own maps with pencil also adds to the derpth.

 

[Grauken]

It's not like party-building in W6/7 is all that complex, but it needs at least some challenge to be fun. If all party builds are equally viable, party building becomes as meaningful as dressing up or face customization. Games need to have failure states, or else they are not meaningful games in the sense I care about.

Regarding hand-made maps, I use grid cartographer, so there is that. Also there is a good argument for making your own maps. People who have done it will realize that they actually memorize the level-layout much more easily than people who rely entirely on automaps, and at some point will be able to navigate levels almost entirely based on memory. Basically making your maps is a simple mnemonic.

 

[Watser]

Not to mention it is satisfying as fuck to have a beautiful finished map (handdrawn or otherwise) which you made yourself.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Yeah, but it's only viable for autistic kids, who can afford to spend all they at home playing games.

As for party, there is no strategic depth in being forced to have token thief, token caster, token tank etc. in every damn party you make . Rather strategic repetitiveness.
It has to be stressed that non-orthodox parties or solo runs are not equally viable in Wiz8. They are way more challenging at the start of the game and actually really require some non-standard strategies (if a bit cheesy sometimes) to save your skin.

 

[Fenix]

Not to mention it is satisfying as fuck to have a beautiful finished map (handdrawn or otherwise) which you made yourself.

My handwriting is like "chicken with its paw" like it said in Russian.
But I agree in general - handdrawing map allow you to memorize it easily.

 

[megidolaon]

I found if a dungeon has a few flavor text squares (provided it's not "show only one time"), I can landmark-navigate my way around without using any maps whatsoever. Did most of Wiz6 without making or looking up any maps.

Teleport frenzies and magically-darkened floors, though... graph paper time.

 

[biggestboss]

Hi, new player who just purchased 6-8 on Steam. Any tips for a first timer? Also, feel free to leave a negative button.

EDIT: I plan on only playing 7 and 8, unless there's a really compelling reason to play 6.