I have a Level 7 ninja with hands & feet ability of 100 and kirijutsu skill of 15. He consistently does more damage (and has lately been scoring critical hits with increasing frequency) using hands & feet than he has with any weapon he has ever equipped, and also does more damage than other characters with similar or greater strength equipped with various weapons, though none of the weapons they have are particularly exotic or special. I've read about the ability of the ninja to equip special weapons later in the game. I am currently in the dwarf mines. I have two questions (well, technically 3, though I am grouping the first two together as one :-P): (1) At what point does it become more efficient for a ninja to use weapons than hands & feet? Does equipping weapons reduce the chance of critical hits that are possible with kicks & punches? (2) Do you think it would be beneficial to class change the ninja to a monk and then back to a ninja again later, for the sole purpose of increasing kirijutsu ability? I decided not to focus any more SP into magic skills for the ninja, since the other party members are all developing this rather well, and the ninja never does anything but attack in battle anyway. (His low AC makes him kind of like an "invisible tank"; by that I mean he draws attacks that might otherwise hit and hurt other characters, but don't actually hit him anyway because of his low AC.)

If you are looking at skills, class changing is generally a good idea, but note that you don't have to be a class that gets a skill to raise it. In other words, you could change into a different class, and still boost your skills, provided you have at least one point in it. (Note that this is different from the way Wizardry 8 works.)

Note that Monks level faster than Ninjas, but Ninjas naturally get a critical hit rate bonus and get the best base miss chance reduction at level up of all the classes. You will therefore want to change back to Ninja before you surpass your level while a Monk. (Reaching the same level works, and actually gets you more base miss chance reduction than if you hadn't done this.)

Thanks for the reply (and so fast!). I still think monk would be the best class with which to alternate, since I wouldn't need any special weapons or armor (could just buy some cheap robes, and continue to fight with hands & feet as he does now), and it would provide the best preservation of current stat.'s. I would only be doing it in order for the additional SP that would come with fast level ups; each time I gain a level, I would push all of the SP I got into kirijutsu, and then class change back to ninja again and do the same. But do you think this is better than the alternative benefit of keeping him as a ninja forever, and having better resistance and possibly stat.'s instead? I do think it will definitely make the dwarf mines, or wherever I happen to be later on, much harder with him class changing, at any rate, since he is the primary offensive power of my party right now. I won't be doing it immediately, because he still needs one more PIE to be eligible for the change.
On a side note, I do have a faerie who is currently a samurai (and a considerable offensive power as well, particularly since she has the ability to hide from her earlier days as a thief), who will eventually class change to a ninja prior to endgame; and a Valkyrie who will probably do a stint as a ninja in order to gain ninjutsu and kirijutsu without sacrificing too much in stat.'s, and then change back again to either valkyrie or lord; I'm thinking valkyrie, since I read about the maenard's lance [not sure about the spelling on that], even though lord would have better stat.'s). I have half a set of extra ninja garb (from the hazard zone treasure) that they can use, and the current ninja can share his Shadow Cloak with them.

One other important thing: In Wizardry 6, each class needs a different amount of XP per level at high levels. In particular, note that Valkyries, in particular, level very quickly; for that reason alone, it's a better class than Lord at high levels, and changing your Priest into a Valkyrie is a very good idea. (Valkyries level faster than Priests in this game.)

As a side note, Wizardry Gaiden 3 copied this quirk; Valkyries level faster than Priests in that game as well, and Bards level faster than Mages. Similarly, Rangers are not that good in either game.

I'm so happy that there's such an active community of helpful people out there!
I think this info is especially important to me. When I first started playing this game, I hadn't read anything about the game aside from the manual. I knew next to nothing about class changing, and did not plan to do it for anyone but my faerie thief who I planned to one day make a faerie ninja (because the idea of a faerie ninja is just irresistable, isn't it?). But then i started reading forums and FAQs and such, and learned the benefits of class changing. It sounded like it's practically the only way to make a worthwhile party or have any hope of surviving in the endgame. But perhaps I've been overthinking it. It sounds like it may be better to just keep my ninja a ninja, and gain the benefits of being high level. Do you think the same may hold for the Valkyrie? I thought the class change might be good for her, because she is getting hit the most in combat, and at least being able to hide would be of value. (Another question: what happens if every character successfully hides? Do the monsters still get an attack?)
I definitely do not regret class changes in progress for my faerie. I ended up changing her to a samurai at Lv. 6 because it actually made class changing to ninja easier, with the benefit of a lot of mage spells. As a samurai, she gets 4 attacks in most rounds (with nice damage since her STR is currently 16), is good at evading attacks, and has rather good resistance. I almost feel keeping her a samurai is a better option than changing to ninja, but then I would be without a faerie ninja...
I've also read that all pure spell-casters should change to hybrids prior to endgame, which makes sense. I have an awesome alchemist that I plan to make either a ranger or valkyrie, and a less-than-awesome psionic who I plan to class-change immediately to bishop, and then later to monk or lord.
Do these sound like good ideas?

Wow, great info! Thanks a lot. I was not sure if there was indeed a critical bonus for fighting unarmed, so that is especially good to know.
For #2 then, I'll definitely forget about class changing him.
For #1, I should mention that I applied the Cosmic Forge "Weapon Equip" mod., which make the secondary weapon/ 2nd hand essentially equal to the primary (=2d8 damage and critical chance for hands & feet). So it sounds like it is better not to equip anything in either hand.
Do you have suggestions for the other questions that came up also?

Last time I played I had a Valkyrie who started as a Priest (for the extra mana recovery) and then immediately changed to Valkyrie. In the end game she was several levels ahead of the rest of the party and was the only character who had a chance of resisting the spells from high level spell casters like Sylphs and Priests of Ramm.
So personally I wouldn't change her class unless she's low level.

Anyway, class changing is not that important in Wiz 6, and I'd only do it at low levels (around lvl 7 or lower). Otherwise you lose too many class levels and will be too low level in the end game.

If the whole party has the Hide skill and all manage to hide the monsters will lose their attacks that round.
But since the class level is used in just about every combat calculation, chances are that hiding will fail against high level enemies even if you have a high skill.

Personally I favour starting as pure spell casters (for extra mana recovery) and then change them around lvl 5 to Ninja, Samurai and Lord, if possible. You need the prestige classes in order to carry over the best weapons. The very best weapon is a Samurai only weapon, for example. You'll need good weapons against the HP bloated enemies in Wiz 7.

Thanks for the advice! I had originally (that is, after first learning a bit about class-changing) planned on not class-changing for either the ninja or valkyrie. Now I'm thinking of maybe going back to that original plan (definitely for the ninja based on everything I've read, and maybe for the valkyrie too). I suppose Bryn (the valkyrie) could always equip a shield for a bit now and then if she is taking too many hits, though that kind of sucks b/c of the reduction in attack #. And I guess I will probably run into some better armor as the game progresses, too, and I could try reloading in the future to make sure she gets DEX and SPD boosts at level up, for better evasion,
If I had read about the game online before I created a party and started playing, I would have started with mostly pure spell-casters, too, and class-changed some immediately.
I definitely value your advice, because I've seen you post lots of valuable comments in other posts, so if you don't mind, what would be your recommendation for my current party:
• Lv. 7 lizardman ninja (E.Moogi) previously discussed: currently no plan of changing
• Lv. 8 elf valkyrie (Bryn) also previously discussed: not sure about whether or not to class change to gain ninjutsu or not
• Lv. 7 faerie samurai (Melody) who I plan to eventually change to ninja; but when? She will be eligible at next level up. She was originally a thief, and class-changed at Level 6. When she class changes, the party will have two ninjas and 1.5 sets of ninja gear + 1 Shadow Cloak. So these two will have to share that between them (fighting monsters half-naked, I guess!)
• Lv. 7 human bard (Mizuki) who I plan to eventually change to a samurai (eligible at next level up). She was originally a ranger, and class-changed at the same time as the current samurai. To make up for the lack of lute, I used the Cosmic Forge tool to edit the harmonium to have sleep power instead of itching skin. (It's only fair!) I'm not sure when to class change her either. I find bard instruments to be a lot of fun (and without MP worries), but I've read that you really don't want to bring a bard into the endgame (not that I'm anywhere need endgame at this point).
• Lv. 8 faerie alchemist (Harmony): plan to change to a hybrid class eventually (probably a ranger, to stay in the alchemy school and gain ninjutsu ability); but when is the ideal time to do it? She will be eligible at Lv. 10, which I've heard is probably the latest you would want to class change. So maybe that would be the time to do it (?).
• Lv. 8 dwarf psionic (Baldor): He has experienced disappointing growth in spells, and I plan to class-change him immediately to a bishop in order to gain some more useful spells, and then eventually to monk (by reloading at each level up to force the stat. increases that will be necessary. Alternatively, I could wait the three levels needed to directly change to monk. A third option is to class change him to a lord immediately, but it's probably a bad idea b/c it would put me 4 points below the SPD necessary to change to monk, and cause very serious losses to his current INT and PIE, which are the most important stat.'s for those interested in growing spell-casting ability.

INT and PIE aren't as useful for spell casting as you think.
You get a little bonus to mana at level up if the sum is extremely high but it barely matters.

Don't believe the myths about special requirements for the endgame, any somewhat balanced party (including yours) can do it, no need to change classes for it. Most important is that you have fun.

I'm not a fan of giving ninjutsu to everyone, hiding the whole party feels like exploiting an engine flaw.


About your party:

Lizardman Ninja: It also depends on the opponents' levels relatively to each whether kirijutsu or other special abilities work so levelling up fast is a good idea.
Stay unarmed and enjoy the addiditional inventory space.

Elf Valkyrie:
You could change her to ninja to gain kirijitsu and back to valkyrie again at the same level and she will still be the highest level character at the end.
But she will do fine without.

Faerie Samurai:
Samurai get very powerful near the end but since faeries can't wear samurai armor switching to ninja isn't a bad idea.
If you want to do it, do it as soon as she can. Don't worry about ninja armor, AC will still be very good without.

Human Bard:
Switching her to samurai at the next level up will increase both her casting and physical power.
But if you enjoy using instruments there's no need to do so, if you focus on thaumaturgy she can fulfill the role of the party mage
and attack twice per round from the back ranks.

Faerie Alchemist:
If you're happy with her there's no need to change class at all. Faeries can't use most ranger equipment and rangers aren't that great anyway.

Dwarf Psionic:
Changing to lord immediately will allow to switch to monk earlier. +4 speed at 7 level ups should be easier to achieve than +3 at 3.
As lord you can put all skill points into theosophy (so it gets maxed and final monk can focus on kirijutsu) while bishops have to waste points for thaumaturgy and theology.
The bishop's advantage is that you can pick a fire spell but a low level fire spell isn't as good as physical attacks so you only gain an useless mana pool.

Generally it's a good idea to max out all 4 casting skills with one character each for access to all spells.

Due to the way base miss chance reduction works, you should wait until you reach level 2 as a Priest before changing into a Valkyrie. This way, you get the BMC reduction for reaching level 2 as a Priest, but since your highest obtained level is only 2, you can get it again for reaching 2 as a Valkyrie.

Wow, thanks a lot for the great advice! You offer quite a different perspective from what I've read elsewhere. In particular, one very in-depth FAQ about the game that I've read and which is very widespread on the web states: "Once you have reached the point where you are choosing classes for the long haul, it's best to choose exclusively hybrid fighter-casters. This is because once you have improved your magic skills enough, hybrids are almost as good at casting spells as pure spellcasters. In exchange, hybrids get the ability to equip better weapons and armor, more hit points, better miss chance improvement, and better magic resistance, making them a superior choice overall." I'm guessing you disagree with this? If an alchemist does not ever class-change, she will probably have much better resistances, is this correct? And I believe resistances are rather good for a faerie vs. other races anyway. But might the class change be necessary in order to harvest all of the worthwhile alchemist spells (of which there are many!), or can this be done without ever class-changing?

In what you wrote about changing Bryn (the valkyrie) to ninja and back to valkyrie again, did you mean change her back to valkyrie immediately after gaining kirijutsu (1 level up), or after I reach the same level at which she changed? If the latter, I don't see how she would be the highest level at the end, particularly if E.Moogi (the ninja) and Harmony (the alchemist) never class-change.

I'm also a little confused when you wrote that the bard could attack twice from the back ranks. How would she do that?

Also one final question. If I change Baldor, the psionic to a lord, you wrote that I could put all my SP into theosophy. But the lord's native magic skill is theology rather than theosophy; so would he still gain psionic spells if he put SP into theosophy? Points into theology wouldn't be required? I see you are correct about becoming eligible for monk sooner by class-changing now to lord, so this is probably ultimately better than bishop, even though i don't really need a lord in the party now. But he did just finally start getting the decent spells I had been looking forward to (e.g., psionic blast), so I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by having to wait an eternity to finally gain new psionic spells again.

Anyway, thanks again -- it's great to hear views of other people with experience in the game! And I do know that whatever I ultimately choose, I will have fun with it. I even enjoy thinking over and re-thinking the class changing options like this. It adds a great depth to the game, and I really enjoy the character development aspect.

While leveling up as a Lord, you will only get Priest spells based on your Theology. Your Theosophy skill does not do anything while you are a Lord.

When you change back into a Psionic or Monk, however, your Theosophy skill becomes relevant again, and you will be able to get stronger spells than you could immediately before you class changed.

That makes sense. There is one problem, though -- SP for a lord will have to go into sword skill. While sword is easy to practice, this would require the Lv. 1 lord to move into the front rank, both displacing a much more valuable player already there and probably getting himself killed in the process. (He does not have ninjutsu ability, which would allow him to attack from back rank, and has no existing sword ability since as a psionic, I don't think he can even equip a sword.) But I guess I could still put whatever is not auto-allocated into theosophy, which would be something. And going the lord path rather than bishop would allow a faster level-up to bard, where the psionic spells would be learned once again. (It could be done in a minimum of 4 levels for lord, vs. minimum of 6 for bishop [due to difference in speed stat.'s.].) So I suppose even if he does nothing much except level up as a lord, it may still be good for him in the long run. He should also get some extra HP out of it.