Wizardry The Wizardry Series Thread

[Wyrmlord]

The Corpus Cane drops so rarely you might as well ignore its existence unless you're one of these retards who reload ten times to get it.

Ninjas are /shit/ in melee in 8 otherwise; a much, much better idea is to train their Dual Wield and Throwing as everything thrown by a ninja gets a critical kill boost AND auto-penetration, making it by far more effective than any melee. The Wizardry 8 Ninja is no longer as good in melee as his brothers from 6 and 7 and 1-2-3-5 - he is a throwing specialist and should be used as such for full effect. He who wants unarmed melee is better off with a Monk.

If you would like to indulge me a little - in what other ways is Wizardry 8 different from 6 and 7? I am curious since I have not played it.

 

[Jasede]

You can think of Wizardry 8 as a far more evolved Wizardry 7. The differences between 6 and 7 are almost cosmetic- more equipment, a few more skills, a new spell or two.

Wizardry 8 changes the whole character system- it doesn't tear down what exists, but changes it substantially.

For example, stat gains are no longer random and stats no longer have a 1-20 scale, instead they go from ~30 to 100. Super-skills, introduced in Wizardry 7 and learned by specific actions, such as being trained in Firearms or meditating at a specific statue are now unlocked by getting a stat to 100, and some skills are added. The Firearms skill is no longer a super-skill, just a normal skill.

The hide skill works differently- instead of manually having to hide, and then being hidden and being impossible to be targeted by most things, hide now just makes it less likely a character gets attacked and confers an AC boost.

The most important changes are in the classes - class balance has been completely revamped.

In 6 and 7, Fighters are good only early to mid game. After that, you're better off with a melee hybrid such as a Samurai or Lord. In 8, every class has been given special abilities and tweaks to make the balance between classes fairly even.

Fighters now get to knock people unconscious, hit a lot and hard and gain the unique Berserk ability to hit for double damage- very useful when the enemy has been stunned or somesuch and is easy to hit. They're a boring, but solid class and as good as any other.

Rogues no longer are resigned to hiding every turn- instead they get to do incredible damage with their now automatic backstab ability. Think of a harder hitting fighter who, in return, is more frail.

Valkyries get to Cheat Death, Lords regenerate, Alchemists create potions, and so on, abilities that weren't present in 6 and 7.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Ah, so they made all the classes quite strong in their own right.

All the same, changes in Hide skill - that's a big one. That's like...removing the biggest advantage you could get in Wizardry - casting spells and doing attacks without the enemy attacking you back and remaining in complete impunity. And now, they make you vulnerable at all moments.

But it makes good sense to keep the backstab ability passively on at all moments, since the player is anyway going to use Hide for the rogue and ninja at the beginning of every combat round.

The Sir-Tech Canada people knew their balancing, it seems, and they were definitely looking to make Wizardry less exploitable.

 

[Andhaira]

You really should play W8 wyrmlord, you don't know what you are missing. Leagues ahead of wiz 6 and 7.

 

[DraQ]

The Sir-Tech Canada people knew their balancing, it seems, and they were definitely looking to make Wizardry less exploitable.

Save for alchemy.

 

[Xaus]

I'm curious if there's a widescreen fix for Wizardry 8 out there which adjusts the aspect ratio? I was kinda surprised to see the engine actually allows 1680x1050... except it doesn't change the aspect ratio at all. It just stretches the entire image. Any fixes?

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Wizardry 8, starting up a new game, need some ideas/advice:

So, I've only beaten the game once on normal a while back and this time I think I'm going to go back for the full enchilada on difficult. I don't mind if I end up pulling my hair out a lot or even fucking things up. So, with that in mind I'm really kinda leaning toward something a little experimental on that front.

My first play-through I felt like I made some pretty underwhelming decisions that worked okay, but just weren't all that fun. If I recall correctly I think my part was something like

Gnome Gadgeteer(too slow early on)
Dwarf Lord( BORING)
Human Ninja(not bad but I did it all wrong)
Faerie Mage(was fun, going to try it again with different spell progression)
Elf Bard(awesome, but kinda vanilla at the same time)
Human Priest(boring but useful)

So far for this next game I've picked up:
Hobbit Rogue(generic for most I guess, but I haven't gotten to fuck around with rogue at all really)
Human Valkyrie(Cuz lords suck)
Faerie Mage(might change it because I've already had a mage)
Dwarf Fighter( I might switch to a samurai...dunno which race would be fun though)

After that, I was kind of thinking maybe a bishop, psionic, or faery ninja. But, that's pretty much all up in the air.

I understand faerie ninja has some unique items in the game and the idea just sounds hilarious to me, but it sounds like it might be kind of unfeasible. Does the critical strike make up for the lack of base damage later on? Speaking of which, are weapons preferable to plain ol' martial arts for Ninjas in general in your guys' opinions?

Bishop sound tempting, but I'm kind of leery of anything that tries to do everything at once.

Psionic sounds fun as well, but I've read they are underwhelming according to a number of people. But, a lot of others say it's their favorite caster so I want to hear some opinions on that.

Ranger also looks kind of interesting...but at the same time I don't really know wtf their niche is supposed to be. Just what is a ranger trying to be in Wizardry? Ranged combat, good senses, and some non-silenceable alchemy spells? I dunno just sounds stretched a bit thin.

Yes, I've checked walkthroughs, so please don't bother unless you have a link to a really comprehensive one. I really just want to hear some dynamic and fun opinions from a group of people to match up with what I know from a static numbers standpoint.

 

[Jasede]

Search function.

 

[Dirk Diggler]

I did, and nobody asked the specific questions I did. Which is why I brought up that I wanted to hear specific input in relation to what I've already got put together. I see a lot of 'any party works' but that doesn't answer specific questions about the classes and what you guys personally think is entertaining.

For shit's sake, as much as you showed up in the threads I would have thought you would have been able to have been pretty helpful. Sorry if that's too big of a pain in the ass for you to manage.

 

[Jasede]

Blah blah, quit bitching.

After that, I was kind of thinking maybe a bishop, psionic, or faery ninja. But, that's pretty much all up in the air.

I understand faerie ninja has some unique items in the game and the idea just sounds hilarious to me, but it sounds like it might be kind of unfeasible. Does the critical strike make up for the lack of base damage later on? Speaking of which, are weapons preferable to plain ol' martial arts for Ninjas in general in your guys' opinions?

In general, Ninjas are good but hard to use. In Wizardry 8 they are nerfed to hell and back for anything but ranged combat. If you plan to melee but are not a fairy ninja (solely for the melee wand they can acquire) you are doing it wrong. Ninjas belong into the back-lines, like Rangers, casting the occasional Alchemy spell and throwing Shuriken, with which they achieve ridiculously high Critical Hit rates.

If Critical Hit makes up for higher damage is more of a philosophical question. It certainly makes fighting the hordes of Rapax with tons of HP later on much more pleasant, and it's a fun skill. If you focus on ranged (thrown) weapons with your Ninja, it'll definitely put his kills on par with say a Fighter in the long run.

Bishop sound tempting, but I'm kind of leery of anything that tries to do everything at once.

They're not so bad. Focusing on all 4 schools at once is feasible but tedious. Focusing on only two schools though is very possible, takes little effort and grants you a reliable spellcaster with good equips and a handy special ability.

Psionic sounds fun as well, but I've read they are underwhelming according to a number of people. But, a lot of others say it's their favorite caster so I want to hear some opinions on that.

They're not that good, but psionic spells are fun to use, and sometimes fun spells and battle mechanics make up for sheer mechanical efficiency.

Ranger also looks kind of interesting...but at the same time I don't really know wtf their niche is supposed to be. Just what is a ranger trying to be in Wizardry? Ranged combat, good senses, and some non-silenceable alchemy spells? I dunno just sounds stretched a bit thin.

Ranger is just that, ranged DPS. He hits a lot and does good damage with his bow and arrow. He is like a Gadgeteer or Ninja in this regard - a ranged combat specialist. The added benefit of picking a ranger over those two is mainly attractive to new players: Rangers will always be in "detect" mode, so you don't need to waste time switching to that mode and looking for hidden items - he does it automatically.

However there aren't many good bows in this game, and the only really good bow can a), only be used by "Elf"s and b), must be imported from Wizardry 7.

 

[coldcrow]

The all magic party is realtively funny and deceptively powerful. Mage,Priest,Alchemist,Psionic + 0-2 Tanks in front. Choose races with the highest Piety values(Rawulf,Dwarf for Tanks, mostly Elves for the mages). Raise Piety for EACH member (Even the tanks), Intelligence for the mages, Dexterity for the Tanks. After that Speed and Vit for the mages and Strength + Speed for the Tanks.

That gives you Iron Will which will enable you going without the combat shield spell and also protect against ALOT of special effects of attacks. Also it gives the mages endless spellpoints. Try to save spell picks except for the most critical ones (Buffs + basic attack/debuff spells) until the vendors. This party is relatively powerful and can make the lack of instakill attacks up with the assortment of high-level instakill spells.

 

[sportforredneck]

Play Wizardry 6 and 7 first. That's my advice.

 

[Emotional Vampire]

Don't play Wizardry. That's my advice.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Ranger also looks kind of interesting...but at the same time I don't really know wtf their niche is supposed to be. Just what is a ranger trying to be in Wizardry? Ranged combat, good senses, and some non-silenceable alchemy spells? I dunno just sounds stretched a bit thin.

Ranger is just that, ranged DPS. He hits a lot and does good damage with his bow and arrow. He is like a Gadgeteer or Ninja in this regard - a ranged combat specialist. The added benefit of picking a ranger over those two is mainly attractive to new players: Rangers will always be in "detect" mode, so you don't need to waste time switching to that mode and looking for hidden items - he does it automatically.

However there aren't many good bows in this game, and the only really good bow can a), only be used by "Elf"s and b), must be imported from Wizardry 7.

You also forgot to mention that rangers have criticals with the bow, which is just wonderful. As for good bows, I do believe I've found plenty, and they didn't even have an 'elf' requirement (the best was one that had +3/+5 to hit/damage and 10% chance to kill iirc).

 

[Jasede]

I mentioned they're ranged combat specialists.

And yes I was wrong, the second-best bow is only for elves and can't be found in 8. It has 5% kill. No other bow has this much aside of the Strong Bow, with 6% kill and good stats, which is rare from some chests and a 100% found item in a very hard to find hidden retro dungeon.

 

[DraQ]

Re: Wizardry 8, starting up a new game, need some ideas/advi

Bishop sound tempting, but I'm kind of leery of anything that tries to do everything at once.

If you develop him only in two schools of magic, he basically drops down from elite to plain old hybrid in all but attribute and XP requirements. While he will develop somewhat slower and suck somewhat more at the beginning than a basic caster, a two-schools bishop can fill a slot for two different casters, so two bishops can successfully cover all the magic schools.

Psionic sounds fun as well, but I've read they are underwhelming according to a number of people.

No, good sir, with spells like insanity, hypnotic lure and haste they are anything but underwhelming. Then they get all the psi-blasts and whatnot. If you think that psionics is underwhelming, walk up to some Rynjin spellcasters sans magical protection and tell them that in the face. One psionic, vs a group of basic mooks equals inverse gangbang via mindrape.

Once I encountered a group of 6-7 high-level ghosts, who could cast psionic spells, in one of the retro dungeons. Before anyone in the party had time to react, they started, one by one, psiblasting the entire party. By the end of first round only the warrior still clung to life.

While we are at that, Alchemists are also awesome.

Ranger also looks kind of interesting...but at the same time I don't really know wtf their niche is supposed to be. Just what is a ranger trying to be in Wizardry? Ranged combat, good senses, and some non-silenceable alchemy spells? I dunno just sounds stretched a bit thin.

Ranged combat (DPS/instakills) plus some backup alchemy. Can stab people in a pinch. Senses are for ranged combat, but also boost his ability to find hidden stuff.

If you're disappointed with bows, but want use their respective skill, make yourself a tripleshot x-bow.

Don't play Wizardry. That's my advice.

Don't pay attention to Emotional Vampire. That's my advice.

 

[Tardvapor]

A four spellbook bishop gets extremely powerful but you have to save all your spell picks for the high level spells that can't be found in books so early on they are pretty gimped.

I'm using a rogue for the first time in my current party and they are bad mutha fuckas.

I haven't used a ranger, one thing I don't understand is that though they do get ranged criticals they don't get the critical strike skill so I'd guess that their chances to get one remain pretty low throughout the game.

Valks are > Lords imo, using one for the first time and she stomps shit once she starts getting multiple attacks with those beefy spears.

I like ninjas though you never really get to upgrade their gear and you'll still be using mostly the plain starting shurikens towards the end of the game. If you want to take one don't neglect alchemy and make sure to dual-weild shurikens throughout the game, I didn't realize you could do that at first and they start getting pretty gnarly when they're throwing six of those a round.

Don't play wizardry. That's my advice

Yeh he's got a point, you should probably just hang out at the Codex spouting off negative one-liners like anyone gives a shit.

 

[Darth Roxor]

I haven't used a ranger, one thing I don't understand is that though they do get ranged criticals they don't get the critical strike skill so I'd guess that their chances to get one remain pretty low throughout the game.

Ranged Combat determines their crit chance.

Valks are > Lords imo, using one for the first time and she stomps shit once she starts getting multiple attacks with those beefy spears.

I used a Lord on my first playthrough, and getting multiple attacks with both the Fang and a stiletto was also pretty win, so I guess it's a matter of preference

 

[Jaesun]

Play Wizardry 6 and 7 first. That's my advice.

 

[DraQ]

A four spellbook bishop gets extremely powerful but you have to save all your spell picks for the high level spells that can't be found in books so early on they are pretty gimped.

If by "early on" you mean "for most of the game", then yes. You'll also have to metagame in order to get all the essential spells reasonably early.

I'm using a rogue for the first time in my current party and they are bad mutha fuckas.

Give him/her Bloodlust sword and Thieves' Dagger for extra win.

I haven't used a ranger, one thing I don't understand is that though they do get ranged criticals they don't get the critical strike skill so I'd guess that their chances to get one remain pretty low throughout the game.

They are so awesome they don't need the skill. :wink:

They use ranged combat instead.

Valks are > Lords imo, using one for the first time and she stomps shit once she starts getting multiple attacks with those beefy spears.

The main point where Lords are gimped is their primary skill (dual wielding) that doesn't grant any benefits above 100. They also get rather shoddy special ability compared to Valkyries - slow regeneration rather than just being so awesome they can repeatedly refuse to die. Other than that, they are competent fighter-priests and their regeneration helps with cursed gear (they should have got something more potent, like immunity to cursed gear, though).

I like ninjas though you never really get to upgrade their gear and you'll still be using mostly the plain starting shurikens towards the end of the game. If you want to take one don't neglect alchemy and make sure to dual-weild shurikens throughout the game, I didn't realize you could do that at first and they start getting pretty gnarly when they're throwing six of those a round.

How about Boomerang Shuriken and some high-level stars/darts/throwing knives combo?

 

[Dirk Diggler]

I went with psionic and alchemist. Thanks for all of the opinions.

 

[coldcrow]

The Psionic and the ALchemist have 2 of the best spells in the game: Pandemonium + Death Cloud. Especially when working together . Plain fun if you see everyone falling unconcious or running away screaming and dying in the process. Someone should teach the enemy mages how to cast Purify Air.

 

[covr]

So, I started playing Wizardry 7 gold today (for the first time) and I've heard that there is some another, older version of this game, and it is better than "gold" version I own.
Which version should I play? I don't care about graphix or sound
Also some party suggestions would be welcome.

 

[Paula Tormeson IV]

I faced this same dilemma a while back. If I recall right, I decided to go with the original. I haven't played it yet though.

 

[Gragt]

I haven't played Wiz7 yet but I tried both version and decided that the original DOS version felt better. The narration in gold also felt too cheesy.

Edit: and if I'm not mistaken, the portraits are different in the two versions, and I prefer those from the original again.

Can't list you the full reasons, and as I said it was only for playing both version for ten minutes each, but I decided myself very fast that I prefered the original DOS.