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General discussion (archive)Wizardry 8 best Party mix?(79 posts)(79 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted January 02, 2013
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bevinator: I personally prefer Lord - Samurai - Ranger - Bishop as my ideal party. I occasionally swap Lord for Valkyrie, Samurai for Fighter, Ninja for Ranger, and/or drop the Bishop entirely. Smaller parties aren't for everyone, but I generally like them because you don't need as much loot to make them efficient and they level up faster. Honorable mention goes to Fighter - Rogue - Gadgeteer - Bard - RFS-81 for being one of the more enjoyable ones though, simply because it's such a change of pace as you have no magic whatsoever, only gadgets and instruments.

Wizardry 8 is kinda tricky because the monsters can be fairly tough, and because they're scaled to your level in the early stages you can get in over your head fairly quickly. The most important thing that makes you effective in the Wizardry games isn't your level but rather your skills, so if you get a lot of level-ups without getting a lot of skill-ups you can have problems. If possible, try to train your skills as much as possible, by inspecting traps over and over or casting spells over and over and so on.

Another important thing to remember is that corners and doorways are your best friends. Unless you're actively trying to run away or are facing ranged-only enemies, you absolutely want to wedge yourself into the narrowest spot you can to avoid getting surrounded. If you get surrounded, Higardi Roustabouts and Brigands can be very brutal in the early stages, and Juggernauts can be very brutal in the middle stages... and all of those can be found on Arnika Road, which in many ways is the hardest area in the game. If you see a group that's definitely too tough for you, just run away. If you can avoid getting trapped, the enemies will retreat after 3 rounds of not being able to catch you, so you can save them for later. Arnika-Trynton road also has a few open areas that can be used to lure or avoid enemies entirely without getting into combat at all. (Chameleon helps here.)
Thanks for that, I got the impression that Lords and Bishops are not noob friendly and Samauri wern't focused enough to be effective, but again, thats something for a future playthrough I guess.

I didnt know about the enemies leaving after 3 rounds, that would have been handy to know back when I played before I think.

Thanks for the reply :)
Posted January 02, 2013
Honestly Samurai aren't really all that great. The thing that makes them useful is that they're fighting classes who can cast mage spells, and are the ONLY hybrid class that can cast mage spells. For a smaller party you want classes that can do multiple things, so you don't ever want highly specialized characters except for Fighters and Rogues... and you only want them because they RAPE EVERYONE in combat and allow you more room for other characters to be versatile. By having a Samurai, you aren't required to use a Bishop or Bard for the adventuring spells like Enchanted Blade or Missile Shield.

In a larger party you can use Mages and so on just fine, though. But most of the "power" parties tend to be a bit harder in the early stages in exchange for unparalleled awesome in the middle to late game, which is why they aren't really newbie-friendly. A 6-man Fighter-Valkyrie-Rogue-Alchemist-Mage-Priest group is a LOT more forgiving in that respect, and it will be a lot easier in the beginning while still perfectly competent in the endgame.

Honestly the only class I'd say to actively avoid is the Psionic. The psionic spellbook has always been the weakest one in the Wizardry series, and Wiz8 is no exception. The only genuinely useful psionic-only spells are Slow and Haste, and while they are VERY useful, Haste in particular, you can get them just as easily from a Monk or a Bard. Mental resistance is the most common resistance, too, which really hurts their damage ability.
Posted January 02, 2013
Thats good to know, I was going human bard I think, so I should be covered with those, cheers :)
Posted January 02, 2013
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XYCat: how come wizardry still hasn't made it into the gog's catalogue?
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triock: Methinks this is the reason - http://www.wizardrythegame.com/
what about it? making the older entries in the series available would be a good way to get more players for the mmorpg
Posted January 02, 2013
One of the things I love about Wizardry 8 is that there really isn't a 'bad' party mix if you adjust your playing strategy for the composition of your party. I have finished the game multiple times with parties that on the surface would appear to be seriously gimped (i.e. Dracon mage, faerie fighter, etc.). But if you use the great advice you've been given so far, you can make just about any party work.

FWIW, this was always my favorite party composition (I called them the Elite Squad and all were human):

Monk....Lord....Samurai
............Ranger............
Bishop.........Bard

Even though the M,L,S and R would gain spells at level 5, I concentrated points into their combat abilities and just let spell ability grow naturally. By level 8 or so they were dealing out multiple attacks per turn and the critical hit (INSTANT DEATH) rate for the M, S, and R was becoming robust. The L in the center of the front rank made for a good meat shield with his HP regenration.

I made sure to develop the Bishop evenly among the four spellbooks which, at the lower levels, made him the weak link in the chain. But that's where the Bard stepped in. With her instruments, the Bard was able to provide the offensive magic (sleep, shrill sound, etc) until the Bishop developed to the point of useful. Once the Bishop was over 30 or so in each book, the spell choices were fantastic.

As with any party in the game, getting to Arnika from the monastery could be tough. And it wasn't until I got them to about level 13 or so that I felt I could be more aggressive. But, assuming I got them to that point, there were very few combats that tested them afterwards.

Thanks for brining up this game. It's one of my all time faves.
Post edited January 02, 2013 by HomerSimpson
Posted January 02, 2013
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XYCat: what about it? making the older entries in the series available would be a good way to get more players for the mmorpg
Don't saying you're wrong, but you barking up the wrong tree. The proper place would be Sony itself. ;)
Posted January 02, 2013
OK, Finally got it working, damn game wouldnt launch, kept asking for disc 3, which I had, but it made no difference.

If this is a problem you encounter, get the no cd patch here :

http://www.zimlab.com/wizardry/

Its at the bottom called :

Wiz #8 no cd v1.24

This cured the problem for me.

Thanks again for all the replies :)
Posted January 03, 2013
You might also consider looking at the Cosmic Forge editor, which can alter a huge number of things in Wiz6/7/8 and is very useful for digging even if you aren't planning on changing anything. Another useful tool (on the same zimlab page you posted) is the Combat Speed Enhancer, which I consider to be mandatory for all players. Using a Slow spell without the speedhack is just agonizing.

One of the things I really like about Wiz8 is that no class is ever useless. Unlike in some of the previous games where certain classes were straight-up BETTER than other classes, all of the Wiz8 classes are competent and useful to varying degrees. In the older games, for instance, there was nothing a Fighter could do that a Valkyrie or Lord couldn't do better. Likewise the Bard could do everything the Thief could do, and could cast mage spells AND use musical instruments. The classes are actually remarkably balanced as far as RPGs go. As long as you have some method of bypassing locked doors, you can finish the game with almost any party composition.
Posted January 03, 2013
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XYCat: how come wizardry still hasn't made it into the gog's catalogue?
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triock: Methinks this is the reason - http://www.wizardrythegame.com/
Have you played this? I think I'll try the open beta if it isn't "pay to win", but it looks like it is :(
Posted January 03, 2013
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triock: Methinks this is the reason - http://www.wizardrythegame.com/
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Dzsono: Have you played this? I think I'll try the open beta if it isn't "pay to win", but it looks like it is :(
I played the Beta and it was so busy I couldn't get out of the first city to the first dungeon as it was always full. It really has no ties to Wizardry other than the name.
Posted January 03, 2013
Optimal party is not just class but also race, since there are many endgame items that are class-race specific (like fairy ninja etc). And of course there are many midgame items that are also class/race specific (elf etc). And in Wiz 8, having a mook in the party helps with the story.
Posted January 03, 2013
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Lou: It really has no ties to Wizardry other than the name.
Bastards...

So, no idea if it's pay to win?
Posted January 03, 2013
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Lou: It really has no ties to Wizardry other than the name.
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Dzsono: Bastards...

So, no idea if it's pay to win?
No - Only played for a couple hours and got tiered of waiting to get to that first dungeon and haven't been back since.
Posted January 03, 2013
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Dzsono: Have you played this? I think I'll try the open beta if it isn't "pay to win", but it looks like it is :(
Sorry, but no, so I can't tell you.
Posted January 03, 2013
Well, this time around I'm doin nuthin fancy, mook ranger, human (premade) bard, pussy monk, Liz Fighter, Draco Fighter and Draco Valk.
No special reasons other than the draco spit is a handy early ranged aoe.

I didnt get to start until late last night, so all i did so far was kill the King Crab and called it a night.

As regards race specific items, well until I play and know where they are, its not much use playing that way, I was very tempted to have a lord for a couple of obvious reasons, but I'm trying the no-frills approach see how I get on this time, i think I got too ambitious/exotic first time around.

Thanks for the replies :)
That Sony MMO looks like a name dropping cash in to me, I dont see any real connection.
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General discussion (archive)Wizardry 8 best Party mix?(79 posts)(79 posts)
(79 posts)