Wizardry The Wizardry Series Thread

[Butter]

I'm about to start playing the Bane trilogy for the first time, planning on using the same party all the way. Any recommendations? Should I play Wizardry 6 as it is or using the dfortae mod? Party recommendations are welcome too. As right now I'm planning on playing with a Psionic, Lord, Ninja, Samurai, Mage and Bishop.

Play Wizardry 6 vanilla. The game deserves to be played in its unmodded state the first time. Your party looks fine, although I agree with the above poster that a Valkyrie would be better than a Lord. At the very least, it's useful to have a female character in the party to take advantage of one of the unique items. It's probably best to not start with prestige classes either; making a Fighter who changes to Lord/Valkyrie/Samurai later makes the Wizardry 6 early game smoother because of the faster leveling.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

I was thinking about making the ninja a Felpurr.

Make a faerie ninja, since they have access to a very powerful weapon in 7 (which carries on to 8)

Edit: as a general party planning advice I feel like it's necessary to remember that in Wizardry 7 is good to change classes at least once. It's not so necessary in 6 but nothing stops you from doing it. 7 is more overkill so you get more benefits from doing it imo.

However, try to configure your party in a way that you have everything you need for 8. 8 has a different system which actually discourages class changing, because in 6 and 7, you'd go back to level 1 every time you change classes. So you'd be a Fighter who is level 6, and turn into a Samurai, you'd be effectively a level 1 samurai, your stats reset too. IN 6, by the point you reach level 6, and change classes, you'll gain those 6 levels back in Samurai pretty quickly, because you'd be playing with Samurai XP requirements and you gain xp by the thousands in those areas (the mines?).

But in 8 your xp requirements are tracked by your character level, not your class levels. You change into Samurai at level 6, then you need the xp necessary to go from level 6 to 7 as opposed to samurai level 1 to 2. Besides, characters and classes have abiolities that unlock over time, and spell power is also tied to character level (iirc).

 

[Butter]

Yeah, they might as well have just removed class changing for how fucking bad it is in 8.

 

[EnthalpyFlow]

Thank you kindly, Cat Headed Eagle and Butter. I guess I'll have to take into account what classes I'd like to play in 8 if the class changing is so bad in the last entry. I was reading so many bad things about faeries that didn't even think about their unique items (and those that carry over to the next games).

 

[mondblut]

I was thinking about making the ninja a Felpurr.

Make a faerie ninja bard.

A female one at that. She can always become ninja later… after she has maxed out all skills and bard spells by changing class to thief and back every 1000 xp.

 

[EnthalpyFlow]

I was thinking about making the ninja a Felpurr.

Make a faerie ninja, since they have access to a very powerful weapon in 7 (which carries on to 8)

Edit: as a general party planning advice I feel like it's necessary to remember that in Wizardry 7 is good to change classes at least once. It's not so necessary in 6 but nothing stops you from doing it. 7 is more overkill so you get more benefits from doing it imo.

However, try to configure your party in a way that you have everything you need for 8. 8 has a different system which actually discourages class changing, because in 6 and 7, you'd go back to level 1 every time you change classes. So you'd be a Fighter who is level 6, and turn into a Samurai, you'd be effectively a level 1 samurai, your stats reset too. IN 6, by the point you reach level 6, and change classes, you'll gain those 6 levels back in Samurai pretty quickly, because you'd be playing with Samurai XP requirements and you gain xp by the thousands in those areas (the mines?).

But in 8 your xp requirements are tracked by your character level, not your class levels. You change into Samurai at level 6, then you need the xp necessary to go from level 6 to 7 as opposed to samurai level 1 to 2. Besides, characters and classes have abiolities that unlock over time, and spell power is also tied to character level (iirc).

I was reading a little bit more over here and other sites (guides at GamesFAQ, mostly this one) and it appears it's really useful to change classes at least once in W6, as you get all the other spells from the previous class, although stats reset? (maintining the initial bonus points you rolled with the original class). Is there any pointer as to when change classes? Should I do it at level 6, 10? Furthermore, I guess I shouldn't change classes all at once, unless I want to go back to a lower level area, right?

The more I read about this game the more fascinating appears to me, specially considering it as a trilogy, with party transfer, but I'm afraid of fucking up my game/party at any point, to be honest.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

I was thinking about making the ninja a Felpurr.

Make a faerie ninja, since they have access to a very powerful weapon in 7 (which carries on to 8)

Edit: as a general party planning advice I feel like it's necessary to remember that in Wizardry 7 is good to change classes at least once. It's not so necessary in 6 but nothing stops you from doing it. 7 is more overkill so you get more benefits from doing it imo.

However, try to configure your party in a way that you have everything you need for 8. 8 has a different system which actually discourages class changing, because in 6 and 7, you'd go back to level 1 every time you change classes. So you'd be a Fighter who is level 6, and turn into a Samurai, you'd be effectively a level 1 samurai, your stats reset too. IN 6, by the point you reach level 6, and change classes, you'll gain those 6 levels back in Samurai pretty quickly, because you'd be playing with Samurai XP requirements and you gain xp by the thousands in those areas (the mines?).

But in 8 your xp requirements are tracked by your character level, not your class levels. You change into Samurai at level 6, then you need the xp necessary to go from level 6 to 7 as opposed to samurai level 1 to 2. Besides, characters and classes have abiolities that unlock over time, and spell power is also tied to character level (iirc).

I was reading a little bit more over here and other sites (guides at GamesFAQ, mostly this one) and it appears it's really useful to change classes at least once in W6, as you get all the other spells from the previous class, although stats reset? (maintining the initial bonus points you rolled with the original class). Is there any pointer as to when change classes? Should I do it at level 6, 10? Furthermore, I guess I shoudln't change classes all at once, unless I want to go back to a lower level area, right?

The more I read about this game the more fascinating appears to me, specially considering it as a trilogy, with party transfer, but I'm afraid of fucking up my game/party at any point, to be honest.

In Wizardry 6 it could be okay to change classes once. It's adviced to do it around levels 6 to 8, 6 is a good point since you'll get those levels back quite fast.
A good way to plan your party is to take a peek at shared skill sets. For instance, a Thief has Ninjutsu, a skill that helps you hide. You can add points and hide during combat for it to grow. At level 6 you become a Ninja: ninjas also have Ninjutsu, so if you had like 40 points on it, those carry on to your next class.
Spellcasting is the same but also different, since premium classes like Samurai or Valkyrie start casting spells after a certain number of levels and you won't be able to cast them with thesame power levels that you had before until you reach that point again, but you do keep your spell points and spellbooks.

You will probably be unable to equip items that don't belong to the class you're changing to as well.

 

[Butter]

Unless you're going back and forth between Priest and Mage to prepare a Bishop, you should switch to a class that has the same spell book. That way you can continue to get value from the points you sank into Theology/Thaumaturgy/Theosophy/Alchemy.

 

[Grauken]

Unless I've been missing something all these years, short of some kind of scumming to get through the sleepy pollen field or to cross over a whole bunch of water tiles, the only way you're leaving that area (and not entering the starter dungeon) is via the entrance to New City.

you're correct

 

[grimer]

I was reading a little bit more over here and other sites (guides at GamesFAQ, mostly this one) and it appears it's really useful to change classes at least once in W6, as you get all the other spells from the previous class, although stats reset? (maintining the initial bonus points you rolled with the original class). Is there any pointer as to when change classes? Should I do it at level 6, 10?

for wizardry 6 id recommend changing classes only once per character just to get more skill points and spell picks before level 10 which is when progression stalls due to drastically increasing exp requirements. any more than that is cheesing the game imo where you could have a mage with nuclear blast and deep freeze just as you finish the first area and can cast it at a decent power level not too long after, trivializing the rest of the game.

an example of a typical character would be one that starts as a spellcasting class, such as the priest, to maximize sp regen (which is set at the start of the game btw) then changing into an elite hybrid class such as the lord/valkyrie at around levels 8-9 which gives it plenty of skill points to train theology and plenty of spell picks.

Furthermore, I guess I shoudln't change classes all at once, unless I want to go back to a lower level area, right?

it also makes it easier to save scum stat increases at level up when you only have to worry about one character at a time. it isnt really necessary to do this, typically its just to ensure your characters meet the stat requirements for their new class or to regain stat points lost after changing classes to reach the bonus thresholds again. i didnt do it on my recent playthrough and my lord ended the game with 10 speed, which gave him a low initiative and prevented him from gaining extra attacks.

 

[EnthalpyFlow]

Again, thank you very much for all your insight, such a pleasure finding folks wlling to share their game knowledge helping total noobs like me. Cheers Cat Headed Eagle Butter grimer

 

[mondblut]

any more than that is cheesing the game imo where you could have a mage with nuclear blast and deep freeze just as you finish the first area and can cast it at a decent power level not too long after, trivializing the rest of the game.

THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT, STOOPID!

 

[grimer]

just finished wizardry 7 and the ranger was actually decent. still weaker than the other elite classes but can always contribute to a fight and never really felt like deadweight. i had mine wield the sword of 4 winds which has a melee attack option so it still dealt decent damage plus blinding flash/toxic vapors were just as useful as they were in wizardry 6. it even managed to incapacitate fiend of 9 worlds with toxic vapors giving me 2-3 free turns which were crucial to winning the fight. create life was good too being able to summon godzylli now instead of the weak garbage in wizardry 6. i wish there were better offhand swords in the game because i planned on switching its weapon to the light sword but the only offhand sword it can equip is the baselard which has a pitiful base dmg of 1-6 or something.

worst character was probably the bard or bishop. the bard didn't find any good instruments until the end of the game (silence/astral gate) but at least sleep remained useful throughout. the bishop was only useful for healing and casting aoe spells against trash mobs. it wasnt very useful at the start of the game because it cant cast spells too often due to low sp pool and slow sp regen and it wasnt very useful at the end of the game either because enemies just resist most of its spells. it would spend 60-80 sp to cast crush/deep freeze and deal absolutely 0 damage. i dont remember enemy resistances being that high in wizardry 6 and 8 and i dont think im underleveled either because my characters only changed classes twice (some never did).

also didnt even notice the bug where fighters receive double damage until the fiend of 9 worlds fight where my fighter kept getting hit for 198 dmg instead of 99 dmg like rest of the party. killed all of the gorrors btw even the beast of 1000 eyes which i only managed to win through luck. probably shouldve fought it after i finished the rest of the game when my party is 10 levels higher with better resistances.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

The key to a Wiz 6-7-8 run is to take advantage of all importable items between games.

Avenger (Fighter/Lord), Maenad's Lance (valkyrie), Elven Bow (Elves Only), Muramasa (Samurai), Zatoichi Bo (Monk). You basically have endgame weapons from the start.

Unfortunately all you can import into Wiz 8 that's decent are Spear +2's, but bringing a couple over really helps in the early game.

I enjoyed carrying over a Mook from the beginning and turning him into a fighter in Wiz 8 for the Blade of Giants. Reach weapons are king win Wiz8, fight me. Faerie Ninja is dumb IMO, overrated and you spend most of the game without your weapon.

 

[Butter]

Ninja using Hand and Feet + Kirijutsu is still pretty strong. You can also start as a Bard or Alchemist or something and switch to Ninja later.

 

[grimer]

The key to a Wiz 6-7-8 run is to take advantage of all importable items between games.

Avenger (Fighter/Lord), Maenad's Lance (valkyrie), Elven Bow (Elves Only), Muramasa (Samurai), Zatoichi Bo (Monk). You basically have endgame weapons from the start.

yea i farmed greater demons in wizardry 6 for excaliber, diamond eyes, zatoichi bo and estoc de olivia then brought them over to wizardry 7. might try the elven bow on a later playthrough and farm some peacemaker arrows to import along with it and see if it makes ranged weapons viable. i feel like it would still be underwhelming if bows can only shoot twice per round (is it a 2 handed weapon?). also finished the game with potions i still had from wizardry 6 lol.

Unfortunately all you can import into Wiz 8 that's decent are Spear +2's, but bringing a couple over really helps in the early game.

i briefly tested an imported party in wizardry 8 and my lord (who specializes in maces) started with a rapier and a dagger of some kind so ill have to go all the way back to new city to buy a mace for him. i think the gorn king survived in my game but no one in my party uses spears anyway.

I enjoyed carrying over a Mook from the beginning and turning him into a fighter in Wiz 8 for the Blade of Giants.

yea i have a mook fighter as well specifically for that reason.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

The ability Bishops have to identify items made them valuable in other Wizardry games but I feel like in the later trilogy the expansion of magic classes kinda left them as a less convenient option. Plus their xp reqs are huge. Since you're taking the commando approach in 6 and 7, meaning you want your characters to do as much as possible skill and spell wise, I don't see the actual use of a bishop in your party.

 

[grimer]

The ability Bishops have to identify items made them valuable in other Wizardry games but I feel like in the later trilogy the expansion of magic classes kinda left them as a less convenient option. Plus their xp reqs are huge. Since you're taking the commando approach in 6 and 7, meaning you want your characters to do as much as possible skill and spell wise, I don't see the actual use of a bishop in your party.

that character was a priest -> mage in 6 then a mage -> priest -> bishop in 7 to prepare for 8 where bishops are the only characters that can cast from multiple spellbooks effectively as the new mechanics aren't conducive to class changing.

 

[grimer]

just met rattus rattus on the way to trynton and he says the razuka is still pissed about the incident on guardia lol (i killed ratsputin for trying to extort me). really cool how npcs acknowledge an imported party. some of vi domina's dialogue is different too. i also try to ask npcs about things related to the previous two games just to hear the responses.

 

[__scribbles__]

What does the added crit chance from weapons like the Muramasa blade or the elven bow actually do? Does it just add a flat bonus to your kirijutsu/crit skill?

 

[Grampy_Bone]

What does the added crit chance from weapons like the Muramasa blade or the elven bow actually do? Does it just add a flat bonus to your kirijutsu/crit skill?

It adds to the instant kill chance. You have a single chance to instakill from all sources, I want to say max critical strike skill gives you 10%, weapon bonus is additive to that

 

[grimer]

I want to say max critical strike skill gives you 10%

apparently its 5% at 125 critical strike skill according to the reverse engineered data on steam forums so i didnt even bother putting points into it.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

There's a save reading utility that shows you your derived and hidden stats (like swings and miss rates). Can't recall what it's called atm.

5% isn't nothing plus weapon bonuses often put it into decent range, and most enemies can be killed with it.

 

[__scribbles__]

5% plus weapon bonuses with multiple attacks per round gets real strong real fast. Feels so damn good to crit Greater Demons back to Hell near the end of Wiz6.

 

[grimer]

its 5% modified by level differences and possibly divine resistance so it ends up even less.

Feels so damn good to crit Greater Demons back to Hell near the end of Wiz6.

it was 20% at 100 skill back in 6 and 7.