Wizardry The Wizardry Series Thread

[DraQ]

Whutz ur party??!1

No fucking idea to be honest. It's basically a bunch of furfags running around hitting people in the face with swords while some egotistical loser sits back and paralyzes/sleeps everyone in sight.

Sounds like my kind of people. :D

I've never been a "OMG, SPREADSHEETS!" type of gamer, but this has been pretty damn enjoyable so far.

If there is one game capable of converting people into gamers of this type, this is it.

Have fun on the road when you leave the monastery.

Hehe. The place to learn the value of the safe camping spot.

 

[SkeleTony]

Hehe. The place to learn the value of the safe camping spot.

Yeah, I believe that spot is called "Arnika"(especially if you are a new player). Specifically the inn. .

The level scaling in Wizardry 8 really IS horrendous though. One of the few legitimate gripes about the game. I would not go so far as to suggest you try to avoid leveling though(which sounds akin to suggesting someone play Duke Nukem 3D as a 'pacifist') but be prepared to save/load a few times on the way to Arnika. hug the 'walls'(hillsides and such beyond which you cannot pass that serve as 'zone borders') and employ a sort of hide and seek strategy to avoid roving bands of monsters who wander about. If you see them before they see you then try to hide in some deep crevice until they pass by then resume your journey to the city. If you MUST fight then back yourself into a corner so the enemies cannot beat on your back row(where you should ideally have placed your priests/mages and such. You can drag and drop party members around in that tactical window thing at the bottom that are represented by color coded large dots with arrows pointing in the direction they are facing).

 

[Elwro]

I really meant the "avoid leveling early on" comment since I firmly believe the fact I had horrible problems on the road to (and inside) Arnika was due to my trying to level as many times as possible in the monastery, grabbing all occasions for possible XPs, thinking it'd make me better prepared for future obstacles.

 

[Demnogonis Saastuttaja]

I really meant the "avoid leveling early on" comment since I firmly believe the fact I had horrible problems on the road to (and inside) Arnika was due to my trying to level as many times as possible in the monastery, grabbing all occasions for possible XPs, thinking it'd make me better prepared for future obstacles.

Nah, the road is just full of tough jerks. No trouble, really, I killed the crabs outside of the monastery, and ran from the bandits. Cowardice is the better side of bravery, after all.

 

[DraQ]

You can, with little luck, beat up everything you'll encounter on your way to the

Spoiler

locked Umpani outpost

(make sure you

Spoiler

loot the small bandit camp on your way there, grab the "musical" instrument in particular - it causes much pain to your enemies and little else, hence the ""

). Behind the

Spoiler

outpost

is the last completely safe camping spot outside the Arnika, the crevices around the road are helpful, but don't offer full cover.

 

[Thrasher]

Yes, running away is an expected solution in some cases. You can't be omnipotent in this game all the time.

Especially when being chased by 20 monsters all stronger than you.

 

[Jaesun]

Have fun on the road when you leave the monastery.

It's a cakewalk, at any level (My last playthough I killed EVERYTHING in the monastery I could get to).

The areas outside with corners make wonderful places to fight monsters. Just make sure you have all your characters positioned right. Though on occasion after I cleared out the area a bit I did use run a few times just because there were so many fucking encounters.

 

[cardtrick]

Have fun on the road when you leave the monastery.

It's a cakewalk, at any level (My last playthough I killed EVERYTHING in the monastery I could get to).

Actually, it can be very bad, but only if you're particularly unlucky (or masochistic). If you have a party whose main/only spellcaster is a 3 or 4 spellbook bishop, so that you're reliant on buying/finding spells rather than gaining them at level up, it's very possible that you won't have magic shield, elemental shield, or soul shield before leaving the monastery. Normally not an issue, but if your party is also small or you're a particularly thorough player who rests a lot, it's possible for you to level up to 11 before entering Arnika Road, in which case you will have to deal with cultists and other spellcasters. Those can be pretty murderous before you have any spellcasters.

Most of the time, though, Arnika Road isn't too bad, as long as you're either careful about your positioning or just run past everything too tough for you.

 

[wader2k]

Have fun on the road when you leave the monastery.

Lol....that road is my most memorable experience of Wiz 8......it has been awhile and I want to go back and replay it..

Sirtech should have never been allowed to go out of business......it will always be a dream to have Wizardry revived

 

[DraQ]

Yes, running away is an expected solution in some cases.

It's better to start running early - once the combat starts you'll have to run in TB and it's hell.

 

[Elwro]

I'm reassured to find I'm not the only one who thinks scaling in Wiz 8 is bad:

http://www.rampantgames.com/blog/2008/1 ... cales.html

 

[Thrasher]

It was fine, it just had a large variance. Listen, if you don't save frequently, or aren't cautious enough to be able to runaway from an unwinnable situation, it's your own fault.

 

[DraQ]

I'm reassured to find I'm not the only one who thinks scaling in Wiz 8 is bad

It almost didn't suck. It doesn't get any better.

 

[DefJam101]

Finally got some moar playtime in. One of the things I really like about this game is that tactical choices actually make a noticeable difference. They don't feel like overly-cautious actions taken to conserve that extra 5% HP like they do in other RPGs. If I get raped, I can reload, try the same fight with a different strategy, and the outcome is wildly different. I'm in Arnika at the moment, killed some guys by the tower, they said a bomb would ESPLODE the entire planet if I fucked with it.

D;

 

[Thrasher]

It turns out that there are caps on the monster level scaling.

So some areas become permamantly trivial once you reach a certain level. So there is a sense of accomplisment there....

Does require patience though!

 

[Thrasher]

Of course, most of the level scaling whiners, never get far enough through the game to discover this.

 

[DraQ]

Of course, most of the level scaling whiners, never get far enough through the game to discover this.

Stupid design decision is stupid. Doesn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying Wiz 8 every now and then, but it doesn't make level scaling suck any less in principle.

 

[Thrasher]

I like the challenge. Of course if you play while drunk, it could be suicidal.

 

[DraQ]

Of course if you play while drunk, it could be suicidal.

Hey! Wiz8 plays extremely well in this state, combat being TB and all.

 

[JarlFrank]

playing a fun game while drunk
--> even more fun

 

[someone else]

First, only and last time I won the game was with a full caster party without any Bishops, more interesting as combat is mostlyl magic, wasn't hard at all.

 

[DraQ]

First, only and last time I won the game was with a full caster party without any Bishops, more interesting as combat is mostlyl magic, wasn't hard at all.

There are four pure, specialized caster classes in Wiz8. What profession were the remaining characters?

 

[someone else]

First, only and last time I won the game was with a full caster party without any Bishops, more interesting as combat is mostlyl magic, wasn't hard at all.

There are four pure, specialized caster classes in Wiz8. What profession were the remaining characters?

I had 2 from 2 classes, can't remember which ones.

 

[DraQ]

First, only and last time I won the game was with a full caster party without any Bishops, more interesting as combat is mostlyl magic, wasn't hard at all.

There are four pure, specialized caster classes in Wiz8. What profession were the remaining characters?

I had 2 from 2 classes, can't remember which ones.

A bit overkill IMO. I'd put in some non-casters, or hybrids.

 

[Stabwound]

So, for some reason, I've developed an urge to play some of the Wizardry series. The only experience I have with the series is playing a little bit of Wizardry 7 and 8.

Basically, I'm looking for some input from the Wizardry fans here. Which of the games would you start with? I know the earlier games in the series are quite archaic, and to be honest, I really don't have the patience to play a game without automapping, nor one with black/white line graphics. From what I've seen/read, it looks like Wizardry 6 is where the series starts to come together and actually has graphics for the dungeons, although the whole game looks like a crawl through one long dungeon, which sounds pretty boring.

I was thinking of just playing Wizardry 7, but would I be missing much if I did so? Also, does anyone have any party tips, etc? Basically, is it possible to get screwed because you don't have "x class" in your party?

If anyone thinks it would be better to start with Wiz 6 or earlier, lemme know, too.