Wizardry The Wizardry Series Thread

[aweigh]

Early wizardry games aren't very long. Hell I think I can blast through Wizardry 1 in an afternoon if i speed-run it.

Get ready to spend standard amount of RPG hours in scenarios 4 and 5 though! I sunk about 60 hours into Wiz 5. (in the initial play, obviously).

wizardry empire 2, man i probably passed the 80 hour mark on my first playthru of that one.

 

[octavius]

Wiz 3 is also quite long, and very difficult in the beginning, when all the stats for re-incarnated characters are capped just below the bonus treshold.

 

[calgary.alberta]

Yeah, I figured this speed burn I am on gonna hit a wall. As I heard later Wiz games are massive, same thing starts happening with Might and Magic.

Wiz 3 and Wiz 5 are my next ups, I'm still not sure about Wiz 4

 

[Shadenuat]

biggus picus

after 80 hours of wiz7 and probably near amount of wiz8 this dude finally switched class to a NINJA
better late than never, right.

Began as Rogue 1, but was too dumb to become anything due to low INT. So switched to Bard at level 2, and leveled until Music hit ~85. Much arguing was around who is going to use what as Valk didn't want to give her sword to samurai, samurai didn't want to give up his blade, until finally I got Excaliber from chest and we ended up with SAM fang+wakizashi and nin with Bushido blade & ninjato.

But then it came to me. Why use ninjato with it's eh kill rate when you can stun? And then I thought - what if we make pure peasant daimyo hating ninja who smacks? And then I found the wonderful Mauler and it downed on me: the ultimate ninja!

Before I entered Rapax castle I had critical strike 0. After I became templar my CS is 60. The dude casts 7 level Haste with bard drums and then permastuns anything unless he just instantly kills it. His stealth is also 50ish now so quite tanky. Also Pickpocket 85. fun.

 

[Shadenuat]

Autistic Vines News

Made another party in wiz8 because can't have enough of it with that mod giving so many weapons per playthrough.

Wiz7 party turned out to be a bit too overpowered. Beginning game with 20 points in skills made everything a breeze. Bishop with 300 mana everywhere was a beast. Even Samurai with Blizzard proved to be no slouch. I only reached levels 22ish though, but I stopped on Ascension Peak, which is as we know a huge chunk of XP.

I decided to make a ranged party with strong frontline and some unusual choices.
- Dracon Lord STR/DEX. Lord as some other classes like Monk suffers a lot from inability to hit those 70+ points from level 1 in important stats. Dracon helps with this a bit. I was finding Lord equipment whole game in first run and Wiz+ makes Lords awesome: +2 flat AC, +5% all resists, mace as class skill, regen still there, ton of good maces as main and offhand in game. Now Valk can rest in peace.
Bow/ranged every level
Powertrain magic for Magic Screen and Armorplate
- Hobbit Fighter DEX/SEN then whatever.
Rangedodern weapons every level
the idea is to make a gangster-type with 2 weapons & Blunderbuss. rushing Umpani to get at least a musket and some balls.
- Human Monk STR/DEX
Monks suffer from poor stats. But it has been some time I played one and one somehow must implement Haste into party building.
Throwing/Martial arts
Powertrain to Haste & Soul shield asap - gonna put actual points into Fire & Divinity, powertrain Psionics and use fists and throwing in combat
- Mook ranger STR/DEX
Just your Day 1 Purchase Ranger. Bows & train to get Elemental shield. Spear or giant sword. SPD sucks but enormous STR&DEX more than makes up for it.
- Felpurr Mage - a bit unusual but here's my thinking
here is what Felpurr has going for her right from level 1: 52 STR, 71(+5 fountain, so level 8 we get powercast) INT, 67 DEX, 60 SPD and even okayish SEN
But what we want is dat 67 DEX + 60 SPD and reasonable STR that with just cheap Superman cast turns mage into ebon staff/flame stuff/doomstaff/whatever staff basher & good stone thrower. Once I max INT & DEX I am going for STR & VIT/SPD.
Melee, Ranged, Staves, Throw and sling for skill points
Magic will rise purely by casting buffs. I will larp and mostly cast affliction spells like freeze. Honestly it's just my way of somehow dealing with fighting 500 ants in beginning. But with mod spells actually can do damage. Surprising but true. Just need that Powercast. Still will farm as much staff fighting and sling shooting as possible. I had Bishop kick some major ass with Doomstaff before.
- Hobbit Gadgeteer
No Gadgeteer in party = No fun allowed
pure omnigun shooter. max DEX&SEN then STR&VIT.

Beaten the Monastery already. Greg fallen to a few debuffs from Mage throwing bomb+itchy powder while Lord flat out tanked the bastard.



And if I burn out I do have those Realms of Arkania games I bought for 15 rubles per game together with Wiz. (that's what, 80 cents for whole 3 games lol)

 

[Darth Roxor]

should just go full oriental smackdown

there is no party more hilarious

 

[Shadenuat]

I wish game had some pure casters to fit the theme, like a Medium. Priest/Psi hybrid, bonuses against ghosts and devils, can use Bo's and unique garbs.

 

[Strange Fellow]

Maybe in the sequel

 

[Darth Roxor]

yeah no priest is a bit of a bummer, but tbh the only thing you really miss out on is magic screen, and even then you can just get around that with soul and element shields

 

[Shadenuat]

There will be no sequel. Nobody would pick up a sleeping giant like Wiz8 and remake it with bigger world and extra 23 classes. We will turn 60 and still play wiz8. All is dust.

I would be more inclined for 2 SAM 2 MON 2 NIN party if I could roll 8 characters. I would then include a priest larping it's some kitsune with many tails and a grumpy old dude with rifle (gadgeteer) from Shadow Tactics.

But you should stop giving me ideas. Can't play wiz8 all day goddamit. Want to. But cant.

 

[Shadenuat]

So far developers seem to feel like blobbers should all be like Grimrock, 4 characters no more, shallowish design, minimalistic skill trees, minimalistic world as well and of course eating food to restore hp. Alternative thinking is that blobbers should be all about dungeon crawling and follow standard structure of: recruit dudes in tavern/city > go dungeon crawling.
Wiz8 is something else. It includes features like dialogue system, 3d levels with various interactive things, factions, levels changing due to plot, companions; basically your full scale rpg TM.
The success of Grimrock ruined perception on blobbers, and idea that they can feature large coherent worlds based on modern tech and innovation. Not only we will not get something like wiz8, we won't even get something like M&M6 with cities/npcs/travel/massive geography.

It's not that I dislike Grimrock or especially Grimrock 2, but I am afraid that its existence, instead of helping the genre, was detrimental to it. Nobody is rushing on the wings of success to mold their blobber with huge world with boat, water and flying travel, 3d environments, hundreds of NPCs, 12 races, 100 skills, 30 classes, companions and hirelings, gigantic hidden dungeons, faction mechanics, puzzles, visit monoliths on 16 of june for profit etc.
Probably because this sort of game would not work on tablets as well, eh?

 

[Strange Fellow]

The success of Grimrock ruined perception on blobbers,

Well, the perception of western blobbers prior to Grimrock was that they were dead and buried. I think the success of Grimrock had a net positive effect on the possibility of another Wiz 8, such as it is. It would never have happened either way.

 

[Darth Roxor]

what about grimwah though

 

[Strange Fellow]

3D mane

 

[Shadenuat]

Gotta wait for that manual and -2.02% summer price I heard would happen one day.

I do believe 3d could be awesome for blobbers. Imagine like Morrowind but with 6 characters. Flying through wizard towers, then to cast breath underwater and kick some underwater monsters in a deep pitch black dungeon you have to navigate by casting light spell as well.

And Cosades crying WHY DID YOU BRING ME HERE. Then you leave him there at the bottom of the sea. So nobody would ever ever find him again.

Traditional tiles could also work. Maybe like blocks. So you could break them or teleport on a particular one like with teleport spell from M&M5. Sorta like 3d dwarf fortress I guess.

Could be about dwarves.

Is there a blobber about whole party of dwarves?

Cause there should be.

/theoryfag mode off.

 

[Hrymr]

Alternative thinking is that blobbers should be all about dungeon crawling and follow standard structure of: recruit dudes in tavern/city > go dungeon crawling.

And there is nothing wrong with that.

 

[Shadenuat]

There's nothing wrong with having all types of games within one genre. But it is obvious that while we have Full Scale RPGs TM in first person view, in third person view, and isometric view, we do not have blobbers push back into that type of games in comparison. Developers just don't take them seriously to invest into anything else but step based monster slaying. Remember, Wizardry & Might and Magic were more than just that. They invested into stuff like plot, characters, travel systems and big worlds.

 

[Strange Fellow]

Blobbers are first person view

 

[Strange Fellow]

Jokes aside, maybe BT4 will revive that subgenre. That'd be nice.

 

[Emmanuel2]

recruit dudes in tavern/city > go dungeon crawling.

Skip the recruiting and Blobbers can also be single PC rpgs.

(Playthrough was on expert, I dont think I can do another playthrough again but on ironman)

Seriously though wiz8 is pretty fucking awesome due to just how much it offers especially the way it handled quests and problem solving (for a blobber). I am disheartened just like you are that whenever a newfag pops up and mentions blobbers they exclusively mean something along the lines of grimrock.

Bought Grimwah to support the incline but still haven't gotten to properly playing it. (Manual when)

 

[Shadenuat]

Jokes aside, maybe BT4 will revive that subgenre. That'd be nice.

BT, at least on first glance, looks to me exactly like a follower of Grimrock and Might and Magic X. It just lacks scope to compete with traditional blobbers and their worlds.

But maybe, with very little, tiny steps developers take... we'd get something seriously complex to play before I die from old age.

 

[Strange Fellow]

It is supposedly open world ish. It's also free-movement, turn-based and features 6-PC character creation. It's a vain hope, sure, but I want to believe! And Wiz 8 isn't THAT big.

 

[Strange Fellow]

Holy mother of grind

 

[Hrymr]

Remember, Wizardry & Might and Magic were more than just that. They invested into stuff like plot, characters, travel systems and big worlds.

But with the addition of all these things the most important part - the actual dungeon crawling - has declined. W8 dungeons are just sad when you compare them with oldschool dungeons full of spinners, teleports and darkness zones.

 

[Shadenuat]

I agree that Wiz8 could use a big old school dungeon. This is especially true due to how party reaches its peak strength before getting to Ascension Peak and then, nothing in the game truly tests your strength. AP is just too simple, linear and not hard at all after you go through difficulty spikes in beginning and midgame. You don't have anything to really shoot your nuclear blasts from painfully leveled hybrids at.

I never liked those parts of games: you are wholly prepared and leveled up, everything is known, but what is only left is to just wrap up some obligatory main plot business and nothing truly to conquer and push for with your masterfully crafted and finished party. I personally call it "fortress of regrets syndrome". Which is why I never liked Ascension Peak.

It does not have to be so however. Just like Baldur's Gate series featured regular adventuring together with Durlag's Tower / Watcher's Keep, or Might and Magic had overworld and underworld areas, so can be in any other game.