Wizardry The Wizardry Series Thread

[Grunker]

Progressing. I'm down from Trynnie-land. Right now I'm trying to find a substitute for Myles, since he sucks ass-hats.

 

[made]

Rapax Rift & Castle = best areas of the game imo. Not only are Rapax uber badass, but that's also where I got upgraded weapons for my melee squad and ammo for archers so they finally stopped sucking ass.

 

[DraQ]

Progressing. I'm down from Trynnie-land. Right now I'm trying to find a substitute for Myles, since he sucks ass-hats.

Well, I'm not much of Myles fan (although his smartassery is somewhat entertaining), but he is a rogue, so with good sword/dagger, possibly with offhand dagger thrown into the mix for good measure, he should deal quite a lot of damage by gouging the kidneys out of everything standing in his way - what did you do to him? O_o Also, what is his/party level?

Finally, if you could repeat your party build, I'm sure I could be more helpful - what kind of character do you need?

 

[Grunker]

Progressing. I'm down from Trynnie-land. Right now I'm trying to find a substitute for Myles, since he sucks ass-hats.

Well, I'm not much of Myles fan (although his smartassery is somewhat entertaining), but he is a rogue, so with good sword/dagger, possibly with offhand dagger thrown into the mix for good measure, he should deal quite a lot of damage by gouging the kidneys out of everything standing in his way - what did you do to him? O_o Also, what is his/party level?

Finally, if you could repeat your party build, I'm sure I could be more helpful - what kind of character do you need?

Myles is level 12

Vi is level 13

Party level is 13

My build is:

Valkyrie with spear (still trying to find out how to run Vi, since I'm running spear myself)

Samurai

Ranger (doesn't deal much damage, so would like a fighter-type as my party-member)

Bard

Bishop (a little overconfident, she's a bit hard to build)

Mage (awesome obviously)

My main problem right now is I don't think I have enough steady damage from fighter-types.

 

[DraQ]

My main problem right now is I don't think I have enough steady damage from fighter-types.

If you're confident of your Bard's 1337 lockpicking skillz, you'd probably do well to pick up RFS-81 - he's way east of Trynton, although I can provide you with more detailed info if you are really sure want spoilers. He is pretty awesome in melee and doesn't need much gear.

If you want more oomph at range, plus lockpicking you should recruit Madras - not only will he provide some long range firepower himself, but making double- and later tripleshot crossbows for your ranger and anyone else who might ujse them. Note that he will be underpowered at this point, and will take a while to catch up (then again, even RFS will be somewhat underpowered now).

As for Vi, if you don't want second spear (there are quite a few good spears in game), you might consider giving her maces, preferably dual wielded. Axes are pretty meh and no good offhand axe exists.

If you want more oomph in melee, Bard may make a decent combatant, although now it's probably too late if kept your bard away from the fray. Also, have you picked up Bloodlust in Arnika? The sword is pretty hax, despite looking rather plain stat-wise. It's cursed, though, so don't give it to your ranger.

Finally if your ranger or samurai happens to be a Mook there is certain sword only Mooks can use.

As for other chars, make sure your ranged attackers get the best ammo you can buy in decent quantity, also what does your Bishop specialize in?

Your bard should have access to haste inducing drum now or soon enough, so be sure to always buff your party up before combat. Also, mages have enchanted blade spell, it really helps your melee fighters.

 

[Grunker]

Hmm, okay. I think I'll go with RFS. Don't want more spoilers thank you

As for cursed, I thought bishops could just remove that shit straight up?

 

[Shannow]

Only helps in unequipping it, AFAIK. Being cursed means the char using it won't switch to ranged weapons mid-fight.

Spears are fine. I'm even running RFS with a spear right now. Just consider that spears have range, how to position your party and how to move in combat.
People also don't seem to be aware of how much shields rock when your skill passes 70.

The ranger might not have the best dmg output but he "should" make up for that in instant kills.

 

[DraQ]

Tripleshot xbow = awesome rate of fire = extra crit opportunities.

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

Rangers are awesome. Mine has the most kills in my party by far.

 

[Eyeball]

I must be playing my ranger wrong in some way - my rangers are really not that impressive, even with the decent bows and high-damage ammo. The frontline fighters always rack up tons more kills as do the bard and gadgeteer once they get AoE spamming damage tools. That instakill simply doesn't seem to trigger that often for me - triggers far more often for my ninjas and monks who actually have the critical strike skill.

I always bring a ranger in my parties, but only because his permasearch skill really is indispensable. I'd rather bring another caster or a ninja, really.

 

[coldcrow]

That search skills IS dispensable once you get access to detect secrets and magic nectar, which is basically arnika + alchemy user.

 

[DraQ]

I must be playing my ranger wrong in some way - my rangers are really not that impressive, even with the decent bows and high-damage ammo. The frontline fighters always rack up tons more kills as do the bard and gadgeteer once they get AoE spamming damage tools. That instakill simply doesn't seem to trigger that often for me - triggers far more often for my ninjas and monks who actually have the critical strike skill.

Ranged combat is critical strike skill if you're a ranger.

I always bring a ranger in my parties, but only because his permasearch skill really is indispensable. I'd rather bring another caster or a ninja, really.

Well, you can still search without this skill.

 

[Eyeball]

I know, but even with an obscenely high ranged weapon skill, my ninjas and monks still seem to land instakills more often than my puny ranger.

I don't like using the search button - partly because it leaves you wide open to ambushes when running around in enclosed areas like the Monastery or Rapax Castle, mainly because the "Nope, nothin' here!" constant helpful reminders are annoying as hell.

Does Detect Secrets work as the ranger's skill does? Search outside of search mode? If so, I am totally ditching my ranger in favour of a caster on my next playthrough.

 

[Stalin]

Quake 2 engine rules

 

[Gnidrologist]

Dunno. My level 11 dracon ranger has exactly the same number of kills (150) as the main tank, lizardwoman valkyria and i haven't even used any of the top tire ammo yet, mainly the barbed arrows or hunter bolts. Does not involve in close combat either. As for ranged criticals, i think most people just don't notice them unless following the combat log all the time. Only times when they're obvious is when you face a tough monster and thin ''damn, this will be an epic battle'' and suddenly BAM, gets insta killed. Though most of the kills come while mopping up scarce monsters, whom you can't reach in melee and that happens a a lot when using status effect spells like blindness.

As for searching, i was wondering myself if rangers are indeed indispensable. If i ever get to my third playthrough i'd want to have none, but ''detect'' doesn't compensate as it only works for a very brief time and you don't get it early enough when it really matters.

Btw, what's up with the inventory weight modifiers (blue/green status)? I never really understood how it affect my parties stats. My educated guess is that it lowers initiative and maybe number of attacks/swings. All because of those heavy as fuck arrows/bullets.

 

[Jasede]

I really don't like using detect or whatever alternatives there were and Rangers have never disappointed me in the kills/damage department.

I think their best aspects is their extremely high accuracy and the Alchemy spells, and to get those on top of hassle-free searching is a real keeper.

Also, I like to use the Elf-only bow in 6, so I usually end up with an elven Ranger every playthrough.

And inventory burden had something to do with To-Hit and Stamina consumption, but it's been a long time, so corrections are very welcome.

 

[DraQ]

As for searching, i was wondering myself if rangers are indeed indispensable. If i ever get to my third playthrough i'd want to have none, but ''detect'' doesn't compensate as it only works for a very brief time and you don't get it early enough when it really matters.

You can get it as early as Arnika and no later than Trynton.

Plus, if you have a gadgeteer, you can construct a gadget that casts unlimited search as soon as you visit both the Mount Gigas caves and Monastery.

 

[coldcrow]

To leverage the ranged capabilties maxing out senses and dex/speed is imperative. Eagly eye will turn the ranger into Wilhelm Tell and with double attacks / or 6*attacks (triple cb) you will start to see those fabled instakills alot.

 

[Gnidrologist]

You can get it as early as Arnika and no later than Trynton.

Which brings me to another pondering. Is it at all viable to play the game without any casters? And i mean, not even the multicalss (i don't ever do that) or valkyre/ranger investing in some schools, just pure sticks and stones. Probably would get chewed up by magic users.

 

[DraQ]

You can get it as early as Arnika and no later than Trynton.

Which brings me to another pondering. Is it at all viable to play the game without any casters?

Sounds like asking for it, TBH.

 

[Cenobyte]

You can get it as early as Arnika and no later than Trynton.

Which brings me to another pondering. Is it at all viable to play the game without any casters?

Might be possible if you still use bards/gadgeteers and the throwing & sling skill. Otherwise, it'd be pure masochism, I think.

 

[ZbojLamignat]

I guess you could have a shot at vanilla. But with dodd + fixes I think it would be nigh impossible to even finish monastery. The treasure hunter encounter would ass rape you about twenty times and force to rage quit.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Would be badass spells like deathcloud/deathwish never work on anything but low level mobs that you can assrape no matter what in the first round by the time you get those spells anyway.
Also, silence never works on foes that are actually worth silencing in the first place, like whatever-mancer-dues and rapax spellcasters. I am very upset about this issue.
Seems that many early spells like acid cloud and insanity are way more useful than many of the 6-7th level next gen shit.

 

[Cenobyte]

Have you checked out the resistances of the monster in question?

If it has fire resistance 100+, Nuclear Blast will obviously deal very little damage (but still more than any other fire spell)
Usually, most monsters have at least one weakness. Therefore, it's always a good strategy to have at least one caster of each magic school in your group. Buffs and status ailments are also most of the time more useful than simple damage-dealing spells.

 

[Calem Ravenna]

In the middle and late game (after the psionic fish-men island, if you stick to the main quest) the skill that increases spell power (I don't remember how it's called) is essential if you want to actually do anything with your spellcasters. Even then, you're better off limiting your spellcasting to occasional "crowd control" and focus on combat skills. Damage spells are just shit at that point, because most opponents have a lot of resistances.