I reached level 13 with my party. i am working on level 14 so that I can handle the Flesheater Slimes that spawn randomly.

Level 14 is also when you get Quicksand, which makes many battles (particularly against lower level enemies with high HP) much faster, wven when cast at PL1.

I'm also getting better spawns now. I fought 3 groups of Vampire Bats(and I managed to get a wing to drop by farming the last one-getting it one hit away from death/freezing it/running away). It's getting tougher to level though. The good thing is that the long time to level is making my realm and spellbook skills go up pretty fast. I will not put Intelligence above 95 until I get to Trynton, as anything over 95 is "wasted".

If you have anyone at 95 Intelligence, and you don't have any plans to permanently replace a character, you really should go to Trynton now to get that +5 bonus, so you can start working on Power Cast.

I'm playing on Novice difficulty, so I'm in no rush to get Powercast just yet(and my Priest is only at 93 Intelligence). I guess once I hit level 14 I can finally tackle the Arnika Road run. By then I will have some level 6 spells and hopefully enough SPs to do it. I'm the only one I know that has camped the Lower/Upper Monastery this long. I wonder if I should give my Priest the Vampire Chain, since I got a Vampire Bat Wing, and he's the only one who can use Maces and Flails.

I'm pretty sure you're overleveled, and you're probably past the highest level that enemies on Arnika Road can spawn on.

Really, it's time for you to just go to Arnika.

Ok, ok, I get it. I reached level 14 for everybody a few nights ago, and I've finally made some forward progress. I made it all the way through the south bend of the Arnika Road, where you get the Piercing Pipes. I had to grind for hours to get the Higardi Bandit to drop Mercucio's Blade.
So now my Bard has the best gear possible before Arnika. Mercucio's Blade, Heater Shield, Light Crossbow, Quarrels, Locket of Reflection, Prospero's Cloak, Chamois Gloves, Bascinet, Chain Hauberk, Chain Chausses, Ariel's Slippers, Poet's Lute, Angel's Tongue, Piercing Pipes. Yes, slimes are your friends when you Monastery grind. They give you experience, gold, and sometimes drop items. Higardi Bandits are a Bard's friend for her 3 specialty items.
The Gadgeteer is doing ok. She has a Locket of Reflection too, as well as the Lightning Rod. She will craft a Tripleshot Crossbow once I reach Arnika.
The casters have all learned some level 6 spells. Lightning for the Priest, Draining Cloud and Quicksand for the Alchemist, Might to Magic for the Psionic, and Firestorm for the Mage.

Why that spell and not Resurrection?
(Lightning is very weak at PL1, while Resurrection doesn't have that issue. Not to mention that your priest's Fire Magic skill is probably not that good, as there's only one other priest spell of that realm.)

I'm running a novice deathless party, so no need for Resurrection, except for SPs later on. If you ever Youtube, there is an excellent video on W8 about the brutal difficulty of W8 vs your ability to game the system(not cheating IMO). Just look it up, it's very popular. I had to return to Burz to unload the incredible load I got from the south bend. Having done that, I made it to the Umpani House before I got drained of SPs by level 10 Higardi Brigands constantly spawning(and I'm not complaining, as that is the highest level and the most experience I will get from the Arnika Road.) I had to rest behind the Umpani House. So that is about halfway to Arnika.

Honestly, I feel like playing the game deathless really does take away something, and I honestly find it more interesting when characters are allowed to die and come back.

(I still tend to reload if the character is dead at the end of the battle, or if someone dies before I have cheap resurrection available.)

When you have dead characters, it ruins their experience. They're not all on the same experience track anymore. The same can be said if you let Crock kidnap one of your characters. Even if you whack him, the kidnapped character loses experience. I always whack Crock when I buy what I need from him.
I'm having to constantly fight level 10 Higardi Brigands now, as that's the closest match to my level 14 party. They always move first, even though I out-level them by 4 levels. They're pretty tough, but I believe they have a 100% chance to drop something. I already farmed the big 3 Bard items from them, so now it's just crap drops, but it's free money when you sell them. I just hope I don't become encumbered(only my Bard and Gadgeteer are working on Strength, and they both nearly have maxed Strength at 100.) My casters are glass cannons, because this is a Magic Damage Party.

That's only true if they're dead at the end of the battle. If you revive the character *before* the battle ends, they'll still get the XP.

(It's a shame there's no full revive, or revive at high HP, spell in this game, however.)

Also, I believe you can cure draining without an item or limited-use fountain by letting the character die on purpose and then reviving them with a spell. If the death occurs outside of combat (for example, using the fire in Arnika via the spaceshipwreck), then there's no XP loss.

It's also worth noting that one strategy that I've come up with, creating a temporary character to make reaching Arnika easier (like a Speed/Senses Mage or possibly a Fighter) then replacing them with the character I want to use long-term (like a Gadgeteer), will necessarily result in an XP differene.

(Also, I wish games would award XP (or equivalent) to characters who die during battle. SaGa Frontier 2, which I've been playing lately, does the equivalent (like most SaGa games, there's no XP). Dragon Quest 9 awards XP to characters who die, though they can't level up (in fact, when I beat the final boss, my main character was dead, but she gained enough XP to level up; had to win another fight for her to actually gain the level); unfortunately DQ9 also awards higher level characters more XP and lower level characters less, exacerbating any level differences, especially at levels 45+.)


Personally, I think that, if I play Wizardry 8 to that point again, I'm going to use a trick I saw in a speedrun that allows you to prevent this. (I think it involves something like quick-saving as soon as you get it before the kidnapping occurs, then quick-reloading immediately afterwords.)

Isn't it funny how fate works? More like RNG. I told you before that I was almost overencumbered by the relentless level 10 Higardi Brigands spawning, so I ran back to Burz to sell off equipment. Afterwards, the Arnika Road was completely barren, except for a fight with 3 Crusher Crabs. I made to to the Arnika-Trynton Road having to fight 7 Juggernauts, then made it into the gates of Arnika.
I did a full circle around Arnika, just to reveal the map. I love to rest in random abandoned houses. I think I'm at the point in the game where I'm "safe" now. Finally :)

It took just over 2 months to get an all-magic party to Arnika. I don't think anyone else has taken that long to get there. I got to save Vi Domina now, as well as other doings in town. It will probably take a few days to completely clear Arnika out. I was smart enough to cast Set Portal at the entrance to Cierdan's Tomb, I just have to make sure another caster gets Set/Return to portal at their next level up, so I can portal right back.
After that, it's definitely a trip to Trynton to hit the fountain for that sweet +5 to Intelligence so my casters can get Powercast. And then who knows where to go...possibly Crock for his spellbooks/Mana Stones/Amulets of Healing.