Please note that some classes are pretty much forced to use certain weapons. The Rogue, Bard, and Gadgeteer would be best off with swords in their main hand, and only the Rogue gets a good off hand weapon (Thieves' Dagger). The Fighter, Lord, Valkyrie, and Ranger get a wide variety of weapon skills, while the Samurai is steered toward swords due to the class bonus, similar to the Valkyrie with polearms. The Priest and Bishop are steered towards maces and flails, due to them being the only casters with this weapons set. The Alchemist, Psionic, and Mage have the Staff of Doom, or no melee at all.

Valkyries can use most weapon types reasonably well. In fact, Vi Domina seems to be geared more towards using maces than polearms. Yes, the game steers them toward using polearms (and, similarly, maces are good for Lords particularly with the Diamond Eyes being usable in the off-hand), but you don't *have* to use them.

Priest and Bishop can work fine with staves, particularly if you want extended range attacks. Also, while they do use the Mace & Flail weapon type, I happen to like whips; you get to attack at extended range, and you get to use a shield (and some of the shields are actually worth giving to a spellcaster).

A character who multiclasses into Bishop might be able to use the Mindblast Rod. It's a nice weapon, but it has the quirk of using a weapon skill that two of the classes that can equip it don't get.

Also worth noting that the game steers Gadgeteers toward using guns, not swords; in fact, they even get a special gun of their own.

The best bard I've made was using Staff of Doom. Which reminds me - this new game I started, my dwarf tank in the front is taking staff and throwing for Staff of Doom and bombs. I've never used it on a fighter but I am certain he is going to wreck with it. And, yeah, I like whips(vampire chain, cat of nine tails) mostly on bishops so they have extended range and can use a shield. Philosopher's shield and Thief buckler are pretty good. Flame Staff and Bonebasher staff are also ok. Once I get Fang for my rogue I take off thieves dagger and only use it for high level traps, so he can skill up throwing more often(I tend to use bombs on rogues).

The Bonebasher Staff is only guaranteed once in the Rapax Castle, is cursed, and has a -1 to Stamina, forcing you to use a weak stamina replenishing item to offset it (and you better be female, how sexist).
The Flame Staff can only be gained by killing the Rapax High Priestess, and causes blinding 20%. Have fun with chasing enemies who run away from you.
The point is that, IMO, the Staff of Doom is the only Staff and Wand weapon that would be worth it on a normal character (not a gimmick like a Fairy Ninja).
The Gadgeteer is normally supposed to use her special weapon, the Omnigun, but blinding occurs so often that it makes it more annoying than useful (and Modern Weapons don't benefit from the Strength damage bonus, like Bows, Crossbows, Throwing Weapons, and Slings do).
Vi Domina can be good with Maces and Flails, or Polearms, but she won't be there for the whole adventure (note that all RPCs must be kicked out before the Alliance quest with Drazic and Rodan).
I have thought about my Priest. He has Close Combat, Mace and Flail, and Shield skills at 100. He can still use his shield (Light Shield from Jan-Ette), while having the options of The Mauler, Diamond Eyes (close range), Cat O' Nine Tails, and Vampire Chain (extended range), all four with a shield.

Actually, by that point you can *buy* the Robes of Rejuvenation and the Infinity Helm, both of which have stamina regen and have no gender limitations. (In fact, I think the Infinity Helm may be too good, granting more SP regen than a pure spellcasting class can get. Honestly, if modifying the game, I'd probably remove the SP regen from that item, and I'd probably *still* want them for those who can equip them.)

(Also, if the game is going to favor one gender over the other, I'd rather the game favor female characters, as it feels more sexist (to me at least) when male characters are favored.)

The problem is that your Priest is no longer gaining any skill increases for fighting with maces, so I would want to give him a weapon that he can get skill increases with.

At least it's a guaranteed drop.

(With that said, you'll probably get the Staff of Doom first.)

@RChu1982 Some things, as you said, depend on the party. Blinded mobs aren't a problem for ranged parties; in fact, it's beneficial. It allows more skill ups with ranged weapons and a good ranged party is pretty lethal at range. 2+ eagle eye rangers can hit accurately at long range and 1 hit KO them. I think in my ranged party of ninja>ranger, ranger, ranger, gadgeteer, bishop, bishop, I also took bows on gadgeteer and class changed to ranger after level 18. So I had tripleshot crossbows and all gadgets made.

The Infinity Helm is only useable by the big 5 (Fighter, Lord, Valkyrie, Ranger, and Samurai). Staff and Wand weapons are useable by them, but literally every character in the game has this weapons set (more geared towards casters, who suffer from limited weapon selection).
The Robes of Rejuvenation can be used by anybody who isn't a Fairy, or Ninja (ignoring the most broken race/class combination in the game). I forgot about that. Even still, it doesn't give the SP regeneration that the Infinity Helm does (perhaps allowing the Lord/Valkyrie/Samurai/Ranger to skimp on Piety, since SPs regenerate so fast?) Also, the Monk and Ninja get Stealth, which can make them broken compared to the other 4 hybrids, who have to fight "in the open".
It feels more sexist to me, being a biological male, that female characters get better items (this was during a time when there were still two genders, and no switching, don't let the "woke" crowd tear this game apart). But I digress. The few female-only items aren't that important.
I could give my Priest the Staff of Doom (or a Quarterstaff to train), but that would mean that the other staves wouldn't be used by the Alchemist, Psionic, or Mage. Everybody has Wrist Rockets, and Medusa Stones (do the most damage, have the best combined chance of KO/Paralyze, and actually weigh less, .3 instead of .5 per unit). Interestingly, the Priest is so developed that, at level up, he can only put points into two skills that are below 75 (Communication and Staff and Wand). This means that he can only distribute 6 points into skills, instead of 9 (screwing him by 3 skill points).
The Flame Staff, along with the Ebon Staff, cause blinding. I don't use them for the same reason I don't use the Omnigun.
You have to be careful with Bards and Gadgeteers. Common "wisdom" suggests class changing from these two professions to something else, but level 18 is only the first level that you can use those high end instruments and gadgets. Think of it this way. A specialist caster gets to pick level 7 spells at level 18, provided that they have the skills necessary. However, they can only cast it safely at power level 1. They would need 6 more levels (level 24), to overcome the level penalty of casting level 7 spells at power level 7. This is also true of the Bard and Gadgeteer.

Except when a blind enemy runs away to a point where it can no longer be targeted, meaning you still have to hunt down that enemy later. (Remember that some areas have lots of walls or other obstructions that can prevent ranged attacks from working; Psionic Blast is the only damaging attack that can hit through walls.)

To me, it doesn't make sense that only fighter-types would get by far the best source of SP regen. Hence why I would consider modding the game to remove that.

And maybe some other tweaks, like making Rings of Power buyable, to make SP regen more accessible in general, as that item is nearly impossible to obtain through normal means.

I've mentioned why I don't like the Stealth mechanic before.

I also find it wrong that Fairies, who one would choose because of faster SP regen, don't get the most practical way of boosting it. So, I would either make it usable by Fairies, or make there be a Fairy exclusive item with +1 SP regen that's at least as easy to get.

Erm, Ultima 3, which predates Wizardry 8, has *three* genders.

Might & Magic 2, which *also* predates Wizardry 8, has gender switching. For that matter, so does Baldur's Gate, via a cursed item, and Baldur's Gate 2, both in a side quest and via wild surge. The Baldur's Gate series, again, predates Wizardry 8. (Excluding SoD and BG3, of course.)

Currently thinking of doing that with a Bishop. But some questions:
* Race: Dwarf or Dracon? (I'm pretty sure I want one of these races for this character.)
* Str/Dex or Str/Int?

There has always been gender discrepancy in RPG. In AD&D 1st edition females were limited in strength, which was removed in AD&D 2nd edition. Which made females superior because if you have the same strength but are smaller and lighter in size and weight, then that is better. I feel they were more balanced in 1st edition because of that. In Wizardry 8? Females definitely get an early game boost with the 2 Necklace of Endurance. I generally make one bishop(my divinity caster) female so the party can run, then cast rest all if mobs are near. If I make a bard, many times it is female.

I took a priest my first playthrough but never again. To me it is completely out-shined by bishops, lords, and valkyries. Class changing does not payoff as well as earlier Wizardry. However, it depends on the party. In my ranged party, my focus was predominately on range. Also depends on bard or gadgeteer. Bard doesn't suffer as much from class changing at 18 because the last item worth a dang(the renaissance lute)is not really dependent on bard level IIR. Whereas the last gadgets suffer more from lower gadgeteer level.

As far as enemies running away out of LOS, hitting enter a few times to speed combat forward generally breaks combat.

I favor dwarfs a lot. I'd go Str/Int, but again, depends on the party.

Except that, as far as game mechanics are concerned, there's no way that a female character being "smaller and lighter" has any effect. It's purely a role-playing factor, and a character playing a woman with 18/00 strength could easily choose to describe their character as a "massive, muscily Amazonian woman, over 6 feet tall", or something to that effect.

Not when they get a mechanical disadvantage, but no mechanical advantage to compensate. (As I said, being "smaller and lighter" doesn't actually mean anything in the AD&D rules. It's not like an action video game where being smaller could bean a smaller hit box (which, in D&D terms, would be represented via better AC or Dexterity).

Just an observation regarding Int-focused Dwarves:
* A Priest will get Power Cast at level 17.
* A Bishop will get Power Cast at level 16, if you can spend one of your 2 level 3 bonus points on Int.
* In other words, Bishop gets Power Cast at a lower level than Priest here.
* On the other hand, if you level up as soon as possible, the Priest will be around 2 levels higher than the Bishop, getting the skill sooner. Also, that Priest will be casting spells like Falling Stars at that point, which the Bishop doesn't yet have (but the Bisnop will have more powerful spells to use on smaller enemy groups).

Currently thinking of doing a party of 2 Bishops, Bard, Gadgeteer, Valkyrie, and Ranger. (Note that I will likely be doing Normal, and I definitely won't ever do Ironman.)

This, right here, is the most true statement about Wiz8.

In my opinion, the most import virtues for iron man runs are patience and calmness. I lack enough of both, that I doubt I'd succeed... for now.

A few things: level delta is the most important factor in statuses, but on-hit effects also grows based on character level—this is why a fighter knocks enemies out more frequently at higher levels despite the k.o. capping at five percent—and at a much faster rate than spells. Spells, naturally, having the advantage of multi-targeting.

I'm pleasantly pleased with my staff samurai. I even gave my bishop a spirit staff—lucked out and got three in Trynton. Wizardry gets aoe spells faster than the other schools, save psionics. And, magic missile is much nicer than shrill sound. What I'm getting at, is a samurai can still do a lot of good in a party with a four-school bishop, or even a mage. There are no bad classes, only poor players.

Blind is nice for ranged parties, even more so with speed hacks. Why do you have to hunt them down, there is far more xp than needed, and they'll de-spawn eventually.

While the infinity helm is too much, due to the nature of regeneration, spell-casting warriors having more spell regen makes total sense. I agree with one poster, the touch-up that makes most sense is to give middle-game regen items, and then give plus two items at Ferro. I'd even agree with only giving faeries a unique plus one, and ninjas as are. Sadly, too many mods don't get Wiz8—honestly, most people just don't get this game, and how abysmally easy it is, even on expert; with a spell-casting warrior heavy party—and we can see that many make OP things even more-so. Of course, the vanilla game is rife with OP garbage, so it's not really anything "new." Yet, the game is still way more balanced than it has any right to be. Although, I'm one of the, seemingly, few that postulates that the game would be less balanced if Sir-Tech didn't go under.

Necklaces of Endurance are, for the most part, such nothing-burgers save for those who lack patience. I welcome meaningful sex-based mechanics, but such things are often non-existent. And most "sexists" games are either political nonsense, hate-based nonsense, or fetish-fuel. None of which move my soul. But, I do like when a combination of sex and species determines starting/max attributes or skills. Like three of the five main Elder Scrolls, or Knights of the Chalice 2. You know, where every species isn't just another human with a different flavor of prosthetic forehead—well, mechanically speaking. Why can't some alien species have strong women, and weak men? But, I've run my fair share of strength-based halfling warriors. (The mechanical differences of height and weight is one of the best parts of Dragon's Dogma, by the way. I wish more games let me play as a buff woman, why is that asking too much? I don't mean steroids-taker, but, heck, I'm so starved I'd take it.)

I'll take "things an misandrist might say" for two-thousand, Alex.

True, scientists found a way to make I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Sperm out of eggs, and yet they're still trying to eliminate the need for women, but we should strive for a world without either pursuit, even if one is obviously more favored by the respective evil minority.

Priests can be great as part of a well-balanced party. The game rewards synergy. In particular, in my MDP, they serve as a protector/healer (casting Guardian Angel at my front character, or even flank characters has saved me plenty of times). Heal All and Rest All go without saying. They also have the distinction of being the only primary caster, besides the Bishop (who levels much slower), to get the Mace and Flail weapons set. The other three (Alchemist, Psionic, and Mage), only have daggers, wands, and short staves as one-handed weapons, and only the Alchemist get a shield skill.
I plan on farming Jan-Ette for a Light Shield for my Priest (he is rather squishy compared to the Bard and Gadgeteer, but that's probably because he is limited to light armor, while the other two have medium armor and better shields). With the Mace and Flail weapons set, he can use four good weapons: The Mauler, Diamond Eyes, Cat O' Nine Tails, and Vampire Chain, again, along with the Light Shield, which isn't too hard to get.
I, personally, went with what I feel makes a Priest the best that he is designed to be (this is controversial). Being a Tier 3 warrior, the Priest suffers the worst, along with the other casters, in the number of swings and attacks unlocked. Even the Tier 2 Rogue, Bard, and Gadgeteer unlock 3 attacks per round at level 34, something the casters don't get until level 50.
Therefore, humans are the way to go to get the most total attribute points. I went with the "caster" attributes, maxing Intelligence, Piety, Speed, and Senses. This unlocks Powercast, Iron Will, Snakespeed, and Eagle Eye, all of which I maxed. The other three attributes (Strength, Vitality, Dexterity), seem like a moot point for a Tier 3 warrior.

As ZyroMane said in the other thread, Strength and Dexterity are on average the best attributes. In my KWM party, the alchemists took int>dex>str>sen. They also prioritized close combat and staff and I trained their realms. Potion making has alchemy rise very fast. They had a very good hit rate, better than a main tank going str+vit. And with a staff of doom, one of the alchemist was a straight beast, especially after maxxing int and dex and raising strength and senses. You might be surprised how much melee a caster can do if raising the appropriate attributes and skills.

Priests are definitely good, they have divinity. Divinity is strong(to me the strongest spellbook because of reasons mentioned in OP). Heal All and Rest All can't be resisted; they always work. The mana/hp efficiency of Heal All is head and shoulders above damage spells or disables. And if you take vitality and have like 3-4 classes that can cast it(totally plausible: bishop, bard, gadgeteer, valkyrie) the party becomes dang near unstoppable. It's that the priest peaks very early like level 11-15(possibly earliest peaker), because the level 6 and 7 spells are lacking in damage compared to the other specialist casters. Lord and Valkyrie don't peak as early because of delayed spell progression and a bishop can take other schools. Priest shine if you need the divinity power early, but I find in the vanilla game it's not needed unless you just absolutely can't stand to take a few minutes to train a two school bishop.