The party is level 19, having never left the Monastery yet. This means that, by waiting until level 21, I will reach a new breakpoint of treasure chest spawns (every 5 levels after level 1 means better treasure potential from chests).

Also, I will be facing level 21 Savant Slashers upon reaching Arnika, and level 22 Savant Minion, so I had best be prepared for that.

Lastly, waiting until leaving the Monastery means that spells can be cast at higher power levels. The Bishops, at level 21, will be able to cast level 6 and under spells at power level 7 safely, and level 7 spells at power level 4 safely.

Note, however, that for Quicksand, to cast it at PL7 without a chance of it fizzling, your skill (weighted average) needs to be at least 102.

By that level, you honestly should be much further than that. In particular, I would say you probably should have 2 of the artifacts at this point and be searching for the 3rd.

By the way, while theorycrafting, I did come up with a situation where staying in the monastery means not being able to develop an important skill at all. Specifically:
* Start character as a Female Dwarf Priest. This allows the character to start with 70 Strength or 76 Piety. (Or because of the next bullet point.)
* Open the starter chest, and it doesn't have a Spear. (Chance of a Spear is slightly less than 20%, apparently.)
* At lever 2, change class to Valkyrie.
* Now you have a Valkyrie, but no spear for her. There appears to be no other possible polears available in the Monastery, so you won't get one until you get the Awl Pike on Arnika Road.

I'm pretty sure that, as long as your realm and spellbook skills are at 100, and you are at level 20 or more, that level 6 spells are guaranteed to be cast at power level 7 safely. I have never seen or heard anything contrary.

What is BS is that level 7 spells, given maxed level (24), and maxed spellbook and realm skills, still can't be cast safely at power level 7. You can either: Accept the BS, and cast safely at power level 6, or take a risk, and cast at power level 7 (5-10% risk?)

The risk is smaller than that. I think it's something like 1-3% with Restoration, with it being lower for Priests, for example.

Also, the difficulty is based on SL + SP / 2, where SL is the spell level, and SP is the base cost of the spell (game rounds down). Hence, Quicksand is as difficult to cast, from a skill perspective, as Cerebral Hemorrhage and Concussion.

(I actually wish Restoration were just slightly easier to cast, so that a Priest (but not a Bishop) would be able to reliably cast it at PL7; compared to Priest, it feels like Bishops really don't give up enough.)

I believe that it's a non-issue for level 6 and under spells (having maxed skills). With level 7 spells, the cheaper ones (Tsunami, Cerebral Hemorrhage, Concussion), can be cast at power level 7. It's the expensive ones: Restoration, along with the hit-all, and kill-all spells, that can only be cast at power level 6 safely.

I agree about the specialist casters vs Bishops. Specialist casters should definitely, with their profession bonus, be able to cast all their level 7 spells at power level 7 with 100% certainty (provided that their levels and skills were up to task).

Bishops should give up more, you say. They get the same chance to cast level 7 spells at power level 7 as the specialist casters, while having way more magical options. However, they suffer severe penalties upon leveling up, so they will always trail behind the rest of the party in levels. I guess it evens out?

But that's with primary skill or item bonuses (and most of the items in question are dropped by very specific enemies that aren't that common).


Actually, the chance isn't as high; at max skill a Priest is still less likely to fail PL7 Restoration than a Bishop.

The thing with Bishops is that, ignoring spellcasting, they end up comparing a bit too favorably:
* Priests get 25% more HP and the Pray for Miracle ability that nobody uses. Aside from that, their equipment selection and fighting ability isn't any better than the Bishops.
* Alchemists get *slightly* more HP and can make potions while resting (nice, but minor), but are more limited in weapon selection (no mace/flail, so no good options that allow shield use).
* Psionics have terrible equipment and worse HP; the only thing they get is mental immunity which, while useful, is still situational. (And it doesn't protect against a certain artifact.)
* Mages are even worse, with Psionic equipment and even worse HP. All they get in return? A measly 5% resistance bonus.

Incidentally, I have been thinking about what I would change if I were making Wizardry 9, and one idea I've had is to require that the character be at least level 5 before changing into a hybrid or bishop/ninja. This would make those classes not for starting characters, and would, IMO, work better with multiclassing (which I'd try to make behave more sensibly). This, incidentally, means that a Bishop can't be optimal with more than one spellbook. (On the other hand, some other changes would make weaker offensive spells, like those from less favored spellbooks, more viable.) (Also, if a character can't become a hybrid until level 5, to compensate there'd be no level penalty to their spellcasting, and there's the option of whether you want to go from a fighter, a full caster, or a mix of both.)

As compared to a Bishop:

Mage: Worst HP. Terrible armor selection, no Shield skill. The only saving grace is buffs, and hit all/kill all spells. Terrible weapons, except the Staff of Doom.

Psionic: Not much better. Slightly better HP, same terrible armor selection, no Shield skill. Mental condition immunity (very situational), Psionic Blast is their unique spell. Same weapon selection as the Mage.

Alchemist: Finally, some decent HPs and armor (better than a Bishop). Body of Stone is their unique spell. However, same terrible weapon selection (Staff of Doom is the way to go here).

Priest: The most favorable outcome. The highest HP out of all the casters, same armor as the Alchemist and Bishop, same weapon selection as the Bishop (no Daggers, but Mace and Flail, and Staff and Wand weapons available). Has all defensive spells available.

Honestly, I find Toxic Cloud to be more useful, as well as Quicksand and Earthquake once I get them. Well, and Resurrect; can't forget that handy spell. (Though Resurrect isn't unique like the others.)

Except not Missile Shield, Element Shield, or Body of Stone. (Or Chameleon, if you count that.)

The Bishop is dominant, though takes a long time to level up. We can all agree that this is fair (unlike, for example with the Ninja taking as long to level up as a Bishop, while having only one spellbook (Alchemy), and Locks and Traps skill.

Level 20:

Valkyrie: Purify Air
Ranger: Toxic Cloud
Wizardry/Divinity Bishop: Nuclear Blast
Alchemy/Psionics Bishop: Earthquake

Now we're talking! From now on, the Bishops will only be picking the best of the level 6 and 7 spells (no Banish, as it's guaranteed by Braffit).

The Valkyrie and Ranger have their realm skills (except Mental), to 95.

Everybody, by now, has (at least) two swings per attack, and two attacks per turn.

Level 21:

Valkyrie: Sane Mind
Ranger: Quicksand
Wizardry/Divinity Bishop: Asphyxiation
Alchemy/Psionics Bishop: Mind Flay

Almost done with the Monastery, as every 5 levels after level 1, results in better potential spawns from chests with a level sensor. The breakpoints are: Level 1, 6, 11, 16, 21, 26, and 31 (at level 31, you could potentially get the best items from chests with a level sensor).

The priority is magic training. With melee and ranged skills, you're fine with their skills being mediocre, as you're almost guaranteed to get (up to) 2 swings per attack, and 2 attacks per turn. With magic training, you benefit 3 ways: You will learn a spell on time, you can cast at the maximum safe power level allowed, and you have the maximum spell points in that realm.

The Fighter got 100 Reflextion skill, due to dodging so many attacks up front.

The Valkyrie and Ranger have maxed their Divinity and Alchemy skills, and their realm skills are at least 98.

The Wizardry/Divinity Bishop has her Psionics skill in the 80s (can pick any Psionics spell), and her Alchemy skill is in the 60s (can pick level 6 Alchemy spells).

The Alchemy/Psionics Bishop has her Wizardry and Divinity skills in the 80s (can pick any spell in the game).

I will hang around in the Monastery, until the Valkyrie and Ranger max their realm skills (they're at 98 and 99).

This is the point where keeping character levels the same breaks. Up until this point, everybody has gotten to level 21.
The Fighter and Rogue have long been eligible for level ups, and the Valkyrie and Ranger just levelled up, so I took their levels, before leaving the Monastery.

Fighter and Rogue: Level 23

Valkyrie and Ranger: Level 22 (picking Restoration and Boiling Blood)

Both Bishops: Still level 21

The Valkyrie maxed her Polearm skill (100 base+25 profession bonus=125 effective skill)

The Valkyrie and Ranger maxed their magic skills (Valkyrie maxed Divinity, Ranger maxed Alchemy, while they both maxed 5 realm skills: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, and Divine). Mental realm is non-existant for the Ranger, while it will be worked on for the Valkyrie, in Arnika (casting ID Item is the most honorable way of maxing this realm, cast upon mixed potions, powders, and bombs, which is almost useless in combat).

Edit: Skill training is over, time to actually play the game!

This party is doing very well outside of the Monastery. They have cleared the 6 set battles: 2 Wasps, 2 Higardi Rogues, 6 Higardi Rogues, 1 Hogar, 3 Seekers, 8 Forest Mites. They are around 2/3 of the way of clearing out the Arnika Road.

Edit: This party completely cleared out the Arnika Road, and the 5% or so of the Arnika-Trynton Road. They have successfully reached Arnika.

The party managed to sneak in at night, when Higardi thieves wander around. They did a full circle around Arnika, taking out all thieves. There were a few encounters with:

Savant Slashers (accompanied by Savant Gunners, though trivial). I was amazed at how this party managed to defeat the Slashers (The Fighter, Rogue, Valkyrie, and Ranger (got an Awl Pike), using their melee weapons to tear them apart!

Another level up!

Fighter/Rogue level 24

Valkyrie/Ranger level 22

2X Bishops level 21

The Arnika map was completely cleared out. I portaled back to the Lower Monastery, to do the Wheel Key/Cierdan's Tomb sidequest. In and out, selling junk to Burz.

Fighter/Rogue: Level 24

Valkyrie/Ranger: Level 22

Bishops: Level 22. Wizardry/Divinity Bishop picked Death Wish; Alchemy/Psionics Bishop picked Tsunami.

Hanging out in Arnika at the low-to mid-20s is the best experience you will get in this game. There are plenty Savant Berserkers, Savant Slashers, and Savant Minion.