Thanks for the info. My party is around level 9 I think? I didn't realize I had a while before I could learn resurrection. I'm thinking that teleport spell is very important, too?

These aren't piercer modai, they have the same appearance but they are called something else. I just remember they had over 200 hp, with maybe 2-3 attacks and status effects. The problem with the ants isn't that I am mobbed by them (there are only like 4 soldiers), it's that the queen can kill 2-3 of my characters in just a few turns. My magic is also too weak to disable her, it seems.

I really wish I could go back down a couple levels and reinvest skill points. Oh well. You have given me hope for the game when I revisit it, though

Unlike Wizardry, skill ups in Might and Magic 6 are more powerful and they have 3 tiers of mastery. There is no skill point starvation, at least because there is no level cap and also because of horseshoes, fortune cards and similar stuff. W8 has level cap of 50 (out of reach because of exponential exp curve), 100 in skill doesn't give that much benefits and everything is always level-scaled to you, so you don't feel results of growth anyway.

Skills increase by use also in Wizardry 6/7, they might not have Gadgeteer, but they don't have level-scaling either and combat is much more fluid. W6/7 might feel a bit too "old school" for OP though.

Level suppression is one of the often used approaches in Wizardry 8. You basically don't level up (don't push that button) until you really feel that you need to do so. This way you also get much more skill points from use.

The thing is:

In Might and Magic 6, to my understanding, your actions do not affect skill growth. I happen to enjoy that particular mechanic. (It's also one reason I would rather replay Wasteland than play Wasteland 2.)

In Wizardry 8, I do feel the results of growth. When I reach higher levels, I can cast spells that have no lower level counterparts. Also, you actually scale faster than the enemies, and after a while, enemies in earlier areas stop scaling entirely.

Also, leveling up slows down enough in Wizardry 8 to give skills a chance to grow.

Wizardry 6 and 7 have ugly growth mechanics that are inferior to those of early Wizardries. HP growth is not a reroll, and therefore Vitality gains are not retroactive. There's also the mechanic that you only game 1 HP per level until you reach your old level, even if you change from Mage to Fighter. Also, base miss chance, the game's equivalent of THAC0, improves by a random class dependant amount each level, will not improve if you have class changed and are lower than your highest reached level, and will not improve past level 20. This means that, for example, a character who levels up to level 21 as a Mage, changes to a Fighter, and levels up to 255, will still miss a lot more often than a level 20 Fighter who hasn't changed class.

And it is, imo, good. Most games with on-use growth have some twists, which involve a lot of metagaming to not feel cheated by game mechanics. Most common twist is level scaling.
In MM 6 at high levels you can cast Armageddon several times a day :) Also each tier of mastery improves all your spells differently. On other side, my W8 Lv.50 multiclass caster still was hitting all enemies in last areas for laughable damage, melee characters were totally harmless, so I had to rely on instant death procs everywhere. And W8 simply didn't give such feeling as in MM6 - returning back to previously hard zone and destroying monsters just by looking at them. Even earlier W8 areas were quite a slog at max level.
Cosmic Forge allows to change Hit Chance to have static increases with level ups. You can also patch Wizardry to have more generous amount of stat points on character creation and make Vit 18 from start (there are no HP increases after 18 Vit) and remove random factor from HP growth on level ups. I don't consider it cheating, it is just a removal of random factors where they shouldn't be. Multiclassing in Wizardry always feels like exploit though. Especially in W7 where you can learn top spells while being Lv.2.

Btw, the other reason why I enjoy MM games is that they work like that out of the box. No need to seek editors to fix some crappy mechanics (e.g., no retroactive HP gains). My only gripe is level scaling in MM 1/2.

Wizardry 8 isn't designed around levels that high; the game ends around level 25.

Hence 50 is a good example that even being so much more relatively powerful, there are still issues with balance (HP vs dmg output in particular). My first playthrough when I gained 1 more level up on Arnika Road, this rendered game unwinnable as I was cornered by suddenly much more powerful enemies ( I remember tons of big plants which had like infinite HP and 1-2 shotting everyone in my party). Next playthrough I leveled a bit in Arnika (I didn't know back then that W8 had level scaling) and after that I was basically locked in the city because everything outside was just ridiculous and unkillable.

Kudos to those who could beat W8 and actually enjoyed level scaling (and without using fast battle mod, which didn't exist back then). I take earlier Wizardries over this any time of the day. "Wizards & Warriors" were much more what Wizardry 8 should be and it will be instabuy when it will appear on GOG.

Actually, 50 is not a good example because the developers did not expect you to reach that level. Pretty much any RPG will have balance issues at high levels unless the game is hard capped before such levels of power will be reached.

Balance "issues" at high levels are fine if they mean killing dragons by hundreds without taking a scratch :)) Even more so, it is basic expectation. W8 doesn't provide this at Lv.50 (without further more extensive cheating) instead making game flaws even more evident and upsetting (bad scaling of party's damage output vs insane HP of monsters).

The problem is that you are playing the game outside its normal parameters, at which point expecting things to work sensibly is not going to work. If you want to try high level gameplay, try level 25, which is the level at which the game is expected to be beaten.

Naa, to put it blunt - I like to gain levels, loot stuff, and dislike when game tries to limit me or even punish me by stuff like level-scaling. Overleveling is one of those sweet moments in character progress. W8 was like rat races, I was too weak, tried to gain 1-2 more levels (I am speaking about leveling from 1+, not about Lv.25) and suddenly monsters are stronger too, so I am actually even WEAKER than before. Then there are such things as Loot Sensor, so you can screw yourself by being too low level when entering area, but you are screwed when you are too high level by super fat mobs.

And when you activate OHKO kills, you see that game world is very small and it is like 1/10th (if not less) of same MM 6. Too bad that you avoid MM 6, this game made all these things right and it can cardinally change your view on RPGs.

This board can give you a lot of advice to specific problems and there are a ton of resources out there such as walk through's and tons of other information from years of other players experience. Just finished my first play through a couple weeks ago and yes I believe its worth sticking it out. Mages really come into there own later in the game as they gain more spells and more reliable casting. combat is the meat and potatoes of Wizardry 8 so if your not enjoying the challenge it may be a rough go. I wouldn't recommend cheating at any game you have not beat legitimately first.
Thanks completed it a few weeks ago.

You got a Fighter and a Priest and two Valkyries? Your party is godlike.

It sounds as if you did not check out Arnika thoroughly enough. You can find a good Sword for instance, which is important for your Fighter to kill everything. Fighters are the best...
This game is grind heavy: find out how to improve your skills by grinding. You need an action to have an effect (e.g. healing a full health character doesn't level up anything). Magic needs grinding the most. That way you can get your mage going. If a specific magic realm is weakly developed use it all the more. Especially Fire and Water should be used alot in combat and aren't easily grinded (although it is possible to do w/o xp gain).
I could tell you how to do all that stuff but I'd rather encourage you to find out - that's kind of the point of this game as I see it. Just to get you going: if you find that sword I referred to ("Diamond Epee") you'll find a heavily locked door in a secure room. Go there once your mage can cast "Knock Knock" and cast it on low level (you do NOT want to open it). Level 2 Knock allows just clicking on the same spot all the time till your SP are depleted. Rest and repeat. Your Earth Realm & Wizardry skills will skyrocket. There are lots of mechanics to explore and lots of methods for power training skills.
Arnika is supposed to boost you by a lot. If you use that there is no issue with level scaling. Also the way to Arnika is harder anyway than the way from Arnika to your next destination: you can obviously manage or you would not have reached Arnika. If you want a really easy RPG W8 may indeed not be your game (although you could go Novice - I've got no idea how easy it is then).

Basically your parties defense ought to be superb with a Fighter, 2 Valks and a Priest. You got an Iron Wall there. Also you got extremely strong magic, not least buffs that render your wall pretty unbreakable. That's what you can rely on. Offense is trickier since weapons are more of a random find unless you know exactly where to look. No matter: rely on your defense and your casting, good weapons are found eventually and go to the Fighter for double damage berserking. Also your Ranger is awesome behind that wall and a major damage dealer. The Rogue a little less so. Daggers aren't that great btw. Let him use utility like bombs and powders. If you find a decent weapon for him he can backstab for double damage yet needs to be sneaky to not be attacked back. The Fighter prefers Swords usually so the Rogue will only get the 2nd best of those. In fact it is an option to hand him a staff if you find a very good one: it would allow him to attack from behind your wall and use the strength' of your party. Mind that Vi will not always be available unless you cheat her - focus on your main squad.

As for ridiculous fights: you'll still need to use your head after having managed to use the "Arnika boost". E.g. you can't win fights when surrounded usually. At times you do not need to fight at all but you can outrun your opponent. If there is no combat yet: use SHIFT to run outside combat.

Next you may lack money since you want good armor for three guys and a few spellbooks, potions, flash powders (counters behemoth').and a few random goodies. You can sell everything you don't need - keep it slim and buy armor & spellbooks. Be sure to either sell or use consumables! At some point that "high level magic powder" is useless - don't let it come to that. Go back to the monastery and find some weapons. Make sure you explored the Monastery to the fullest. Next go to the Umpani as ussnorway suggested, visiting the bandit camp along the way. That's the 2nd job Myles offers you when you enter Arnika. Helps you get some gold. The Umpani are not that important and the merchant is expensive but offers a few good things. Btw: take note where you sell as merchants differ. Rest a few days since merchants replenish their items every 24 hours. That way you get to see all his stuff. If you do the course: caution! Save in any case.

At that point you can go back to Arnika and grind some more before going anywhere you please. Personally I'd beeline for specific items but you can as well roam the world a bit. Trynton, Graveyard, Swamp or Marten's Bluff make good early areas you can visit as you see fit. Other areas "depend": Just don't expect to be able to go just anywhere easily. Be an adventurer! Take a cautious peek and check what you can find, which opponents you can beat or circumvent. Eventually you want to go to Rynjin and Rapax Rift, both of which may be considered hard. Both offer good items, too ;)

That explains it!

My first play through, I saw the Savant through a crack in the floor in a cave. He it showed he was level 45ish. I was in my late 20s / early 30s character depending.

I beat it at 45-48. It took so long to level the last few.
That also explains my overall experience with the game. I liked the gameplay but thought the final boss was lame; he was a lower level than me, making the first sighting a glitch. The non-Savant battles were still difficult at level 40 (especially with insaned melee characters), so I kept grinding. IMO, the Savant should have a min level and also have increase level based on your party's average level.

It took 1 round of melee to kill him. He got 1 turn, summoned stuff, then died.

That's always felt unfair to me, particularly because that actually *isn't* the case in Wizardry 5.