Wizardry The Wizardry Series Thread

[Piotrovitz]

The game is pretty empty. The first town (which is arguably the only town) will feel the same way. There are some interesting dynamics with rival factions later, though. You really have to enjoy the exploration and character building, but I think the game is worth playing.

I have a feeling that most of the locations feel empty because devs were so used to 2d grid-based dungeons and mazes, that they didn't have much experience needed for creating compelling full 3d world.

Everything seems to be so unnecessary huge and hollow, it's like they had no clue about proportions in 3d environment. Crude graphics make this even more in-your-face. Mt. Gigas caves is the absolute worst example of this - long, huge ass tunnels without anything going on. There are some cool locations though, i.e Trynton, Upper Bluff or Rapax castle.

Anyway, the game is all about the combat and party build, so who cares.

 

[theSavant]

It is faster with the enhancement mod, but when you have 10+ enemies, their "movement" (by means of positioning themselves and not attacking) is still tedious. It is as if there is still a 0.5-1 second pause between each movement of the enemy. Even if speed enhancements are set to maximum, you'll begin to notice it. But yeah... there's nothing better, so no point in complaining.

Btw. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the enhancements from the GOG forum include more speeded up animations than the one in the Enhancement thread in here, so it may be slightly even faster.

Btw. damn... these 6 attribute points for level up is not enough. Mostly the game ends in your early or mid level 20s, which means you'll overall get 120-150 points in a playthrough. While this would allow to max out 3 skills (at best), it's mostly only 2 skills, because you can only spend 3 points at once and not 6 at once. Meh...

Btw. tried a 3-member Dwarf-Monk-Party (which had 2 damage resistances stacked). This was waaay better than the shitty Lizard-Fighter party. Very robust. Also it was very convenient to skill Stealth for all 3 by just letting Seekers spit at you. But starting with negative attribute points was annoying...
It's also then I realized part I can't make a really good standalone melee party. The melee party should be able to max out almost every skill: Strength, Speed, Senses, Piety (because of Iron Will), Vitality, Dexterity... damn... maybe even Intelligence because some skills like Critical Strike or Close Combat have it as governing attributes. Damn.... the party should be able to max out everything Damned... Tbh some of the governing attributes for a skill feel randomly thrown together to just annoy you.

 

[Grauken]

Crude graphics my ass, W8 has damn good looking graphics despite its technical limitations

 

[Piotrovitz]

Not saying it's bad, cause it's pretty damn charming actually, but considering it was late 2001, they are crude as fuck and look like something straight from 98-99 early 3d era.

 

[theSavant]

Yeah, I wished there would be a graphics overhaul for this game.

 

[Piotrovitz]

It's fine as it is now, but I wouldn't necessarily call it 'damn good looking' neither.

Anyway, being raised on 90s games gives one comfort of not giving a fuck about graphics and just enjoying the gameplay.

 

[Grauken]

I just wish there were more games that sort of followed the same approach to free-form blobbers as W8 did

Sir-Tech managed to evolve the genre, then the company died and nobody gave a fucking damn about replicating it, it's tragic

 

[theSavant]

Piotrovitz: b...but... I give a fuck about graphics, despite raised on 90s games

I thought myself about starting graphics enhancements using the Cosmic Forge Editor, but eventually come to the conclusion, it's not worth the effort. In the end a total remake in a new game engine would be required. Maybe even a re-imagination... for there are lot of things that could be made much better - especially landscapewise. Just imagine this in Unreal Engine 4.

Grauken: totally agree. It's tragic. The japanese blobbers just can't deliver in these regards, especially since they are restricted to always looking same dungeons (and invisible pop-up enemies)

 

[TigerKnee]

I just wish there were more games that sort of followed the same approach to free-form blobbers as W8 did

Sir-Tech managed to evolve the genre, then the company died and nobody gave a fucking damn about replicating it, it's tragic

Grauken: totally agree. It's tragic. The japanese blobbers just can't deliver in these regards, especially since they are restricted to always looking same dungeons (and invisible pop-up enemies)

YOU FOOLS, YOU'LL BRING AWEIGH DOWN ON OUR HEADS

 

[aweigh]

wiz 8 is a good game but it didn't have enough dungeon for my crawling. it was the first wizardry I ever played but it became overshadowed by the other games in the series and by other more modern dungeon crawlers.

we need more good rpgs period so any new game with the amount of heart and effort put into wiz 8 would be welcome. the assertion that there aren't many (if any) other games that provide the same type of melange of influences as wiz 8 is one I agree with, however I don't think it is a superior one; i think it is obviously an alternative one.

I think wiz 8 is a good game for people who want something that isn't a dungeon crawler but has the pedigree of one, and there's nothing wrong with that. People think dungeon crawling is a negative thing anyway. i mean, we have crazies arguing against full party creation in Bard's Tale 4 thread.

one recent non-grid based dungeon crawler with mouse-look was Paper Sorcerer and that's a good game I recommend to anyone.

interestingly enough wiz 8 sold well enough in japan, btw. jap version is still in stock, even, in amazon jp.

 

[PorkBarrellGuy]

What's the general opinion of Faerie Monks? Seems like a great combination, honestly, only hampered by low Strength.

This is pretty damn crippling

Even for a Martial Arts monk? Huh. Well, better I learn now than later.

 

[PorkBarrellGuy]

Hooooly shit this new party handled Arnika Road so much quicker than the first. Helps that I took more crowd control spells than damage spells on my Bishop this time (damage spells honestly just feel like complete suck, at least at low levels). Sleep and Sonic Boom by themselves turned an encounter with half a dozen wasps and some Higardi plus a Sige into a cakewalk.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

damage spells honestly just feel like complete suck

True for the whole game I'm afraid. Buff + CC are your best bets.

 

[Piotrovitz]

Mass debuffs are bread and butter, that's why party with 2 bishops with supplementary spell schools are the best combo you can take - insanity, web, freeze flesh and blinding flash are all 2-3 level spells and are useful through the whole game. Noxious fumes is particularly cool, as it's AoE dmg and nausea debuff in one, plus there's not many mobs resistant to air magic.

Damage spells are ok for most of the time. Once you land debuffs in the first turn, mass dmg from two heavy nukers does speed up bigger fights a lot. Fireball + firebomb spam will make Trynton a breeze.
Truth is, DD falls off late game, though there are some exceptions, like iceball and blizzard against rapax/scorchers.

Christian Coder's mod did a nice job with buffing some of the spells, making DD more useful. Plus he rebalanced some of the items (added few axes and swords, restricted bloodlust to fgt/lord/valk etc), so it's pretty neat and way superior to vanilla. Too bad it doesn't speed up combat animations like wiz enhanced : |

Has anyone ever bother with casting silence in mage fights?
Dunno if it's my bad luck, but it never seems to land.

 

[PorkBarrellGuy]

Just got Vi, yay. Surprisingly difficult fight as the mobs attacking her seemed to be completely immune to my Bishop and Monk's bags of dirty tricks, and they were hitting my most armored character for an average of 20 damage a whack. Burned a couple potions there.

Blinding Flash is great but it seems to work better if your entire party has ranged weapons to pelt fleeing enemies with. Although, the breathing room it gives is fantastic even for a melee focused party.

 

[Whisper]

damage spells honestly just feel like complete suck

True for the whole game I'm afraid. Buff + CC are your best bets.

I finished game on hard difficulty using nothing else than spells. Had 6 bishops.

Damage spells are OK.

 

[Piotrovitz]

Just got Vi, yay. Surprisingly difficult fight as the mobs attacking her seemed to be completely immune to my Bishop and Monk's bags of dirty tricks, and they were hitting my most armored character for an average of 20 damage a whack. Burned a couple potions there.

Blinding Flash is great but it seems to work better if your entire party has ranged weapons to pelt fleeing enemies with. Although, the breathing room it gives is fantastic even for a melee focused party.

Remember that every mob type has different resistances - sleep or insanity is useless against those savant bums, though web seem to work fine. Water spells like paralyze/freeze are useless against plants etc.

Shit running away blinded is annoying, but as you said, it gives you time to deal with whatever is left. Most of the time they stumble in place though, and the blinded condition gives you almost insta hits.

 

[PorkBarrellGuy]

My Mook Gadgeteer bailed on me for a bit, I don't remember when he comes back from that little Mook powwow but I'm already missing him in fights.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Just rest after he gone for scouting. He'll be back after it.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I'm already missing him in fights.

meanwhile he's already missing the xp from these fights

 

[PorkBarrellGuy]

>be in Arnika
>absolutely murderfuck anything that fucks with me
>step out of Arnika
>HERE HAVE SOME REAL FIGHTS YOU FAGGOT

I'm beginning to see the serious shortcomings of the hybrid classes in spellcasting. Need to sink more points into domain skills so they don't fizzle their spells constantly. Bishop is doing great, though.

 

[TigerKnee]

As someone with bad life decisions which lead to me trying to grind magic skills for my hybrids, your caster level (which hybrids take a penalty in) is more important than your numerical skill unless they're way below the curve - I can spend an hour grinding out 30 something points and barely raise the fizzle color from Red to Orange or just gain a level and suddenly see a huge drop in failure rate.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I don't always take Hybrids for spellcasting outside of a few spells. Their benefits are in the classes themselves and all that weird craziness that comes with them.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Also, I'm gonna build a party tonight.
Any suggestions race/class?

 

[Cyberarmy]

I went with Fighter-Samurai-Thief-Gadgeteer-Bishop-Mage
At the tree tops now and start was a breeze till now, killed the giant bat without sweat.