Hello, long time player since 2001, first time poster. I just created an all-human, 6-person party. Humans have the most total attribute points. I know that they lose resistances, but I will make up for that with fast casters, Magic Screen, Soul and Element Shields. They also have no resistance penalties, and all attributes are at least 45 to start, making them decent at any profession(especially Hybrids who need a lot of attribute points). I feel that this party is well-balanced and powerful, so no RPCs are necessary to steal my experience and skill ups.

Male Human Fighter(Big Punisher): Max Strength and Dexterity first, followed by Speed and Senses. He will be in the front dual wielding Swords(later Ivory Blade) and Maces(later Diamond Eyes, as well as possibly Mauler/Vampire Chain). He will Berserk with these weapons for double damage. He will also use the Tripleshot Crossbow and good Quarrels for range(convenient for him since he has stamina regeneration as a fighter, and he is maxing Strength quickly for extra Stamina.) For skills he will work on: Close Combat, Ranged Combat, Dual Weapons, Sword, Mace and Flail, Bow.

Male Human Rogue(Slick Willy): Max Dexterity and Strength first, followed by Speed and Senses. He will be in the front dual wielding Swords(Bloodlust) and Daggers(Thieves' Dagger), both of which are cursed, so no ranged weapons. He backstabs AND berserks with Bloodlust, making for incredible damage, and the Thieves' Dagger has Instant Kill % on it as well as backstabs, so he makes up for his lack of range with insane melee damage. For skills he will work on: Close Combat, Dual Weapons, Sword, Dagger, Stealth.

Male Human Ranger(Robin Hood): Max Senses and Speed first, followed by Dexterity and Strength. He will be on one flank, securing it with a Sword and Shield for melee, and a Bow(later Eagle Eye Bow) and good Arrows for range. As a Hybrid, he will occasionally use Alchemy magic, but that's not his main focus. For skills he will work on: Close Combat, Ranged Combat, Mythology, Alchemy, magic realm skills, Sword, Shield, Bow, Scouting.

Female Human Bard(Courtney Love): Max Senses and Speed first, followed by Dexterity and Strength. She will be on the opposite flank from the Ranger, securing it with a Sword and Shield for melee, and a Sling(later Wrist Rocket) and good Stones for range. The Bard has no magic, but she will have many instruments in her inventory to mimic magic. A triple threat: Melee, Ranged and Magic. A jack of all trades. For skills she will work on: Close Combat, Ranged Combat, Communication, Sword, Shield, Throwing and Sling, Music.

Female Human Gadgeteer(Inspector Gadget): Max Senses and Speed first, followed by Dexterity and Strength. She will be protected in the center along with the next character. She will use her Omnigun and good ammunition(later many possibilities) for range, but the Omnigun won't be good until near the end of the game. Like the Bard, she has no magic, but she will have many gadgets in her inventory to mimic magic. I'm wondering if I should bother with melee, since Gadgeteers don't have many weapon choices. Possibly a Sword and Shield until the Omnigun gets good. This would make her a quadruple threat: Melee, Ranged, Magic, Locks and Traps. For skills she will work on: Close Combat, Ranged Combat, Engineering, Sword, Shield, Modern Weapon, Locks and Traps.

Female Human Bishop(Blondie): Max Intelligence and Speed first, followed by Piety and Senses. This way you get Powercast and Snake Speed early, followed by Iron Will and Eagle Eye by level 30 or so. In this way, you literally get a Power Caster with max Spell Points with max Initiative. She will be protected in the center along with the Gadgeteer, as these two have the lowest Hit Points of the group. She will use Staves(later Staff of Doom) for melee, from extended range, as she is physically too weak for melee. The Staff of Doom is cursed, so no ranged weapons, but the Staff does good damage and has Instant Kill % and Paralyze %, so it evens out. The Staff does have -1 HP drain, so use the Amulet of Healing +1 HP regen, sold at Crock's, to counter it, or you will die slowly. For magic, she literally has every spell in the game, from all 4 spellbooks, at her fingertips, provided you save spell picks and buy books with the money from Alchemy. For skills she will work on: Close Combat, Artifacts, all 4 spellbook skills and all 6 realm skills, Staff and Wand.

As you can see, I have tried to make my party as balanced as possible. All humans for at least 45 to all stats to start, 3 males, 3 females. I have 4 characters with no magic to worry about, for simplicity, easy leveling, and focus. The Ranger and/or Bishop can mix potions and powders for me to generate the money I will surely need to make a "perfect" Bishop. If you are VERY dedicated, you can get every spell in the game for the Bishop at level 25 I think. You only select Mind Stab(which has no spellbook) and Heal Wounds(for healing obviously) at the start. The Holy Water spellbook you can grind for at the Savant Orb in Arnika at the Tower(you need patience). Banish is a level 6 spellbook that you can find or buy, so don't use a spell pick. The other level 6 and 7 spells you save for spell picks at level up.

For 5 out of the 6 characters(except Bishop), I will max Strength, Dexterity, Speed and Senses first. The Bishop is the only character that benefits from Intelligence(Powercast), as she is a caster. The others don't use magic, except for the Ranger, and magic isn't his main focus, being a Hybrid. Piety is only really good for casters, as it raises Stamina and Spell Points, and gives Iron Will(Magic Resistance) at max. Magic Resistance can be better gained by fast casters using Magic Screen, and Element and Soul Shield. Spell Points are irrelevant for all but the Bishop and Ranger, but the Ranger doesn't need many SPs, since he's a hybrid(he will be firing his Bow mostly for Instant Kills), and he can get the Helm of Infinity(fast SP regen) later. Stamina can be better gained by focusing on Strength, and later, Vitality(both of which have other, better benefits).

Speaking of Vitality, it's not a "bad" attribute to raise, it's just that it's not a controlling attribute for any skill increases. Vitality increases Hit Points, Stamina, and less Carry Capacity than Strength, which is why I recommend raising Strength first(plus Strength increases melee and ranged damage). Hit points are always decent with humans, who start with a minimum of 45 Vitality. I leave Vitality at base until the other 4 attributes are maxed first. You can do fine with average Vitality/HPs if you use buffs(Missile Shield, Armorplate, Enchanted Blade, Magic Screen, Light, X-Ray, Chameleon, Bless, Haste, Guardian Angel, Body of Stone, Superman, Soul Shield, Element Shield, Summon Elemental, Hypnotic Lure, etc.) and smart positioning(protect your casters by putting them in the middle, and stand with your back to a wall, or in a doorway), not to mention there are a decent number of items that give an increase to Vitality.

That leaves the 4 main attributes for all but casters: Strength, Dexterity, Speed and Senses. Strength, as mentioned before, increases melee and ranged damage(except Modern Weapons), increases Stamina at the same rate as Vitality and Piety, and increases Carry Capacity more than Vitality. Once maxed, Strength allows Power Strike, which increases the chance to hit and to penetrate with melee weapons. Great for the Fighter(Ivory Blade/Diamond Eyes/Mauler) and Rogue(Bloodlust/Thieves' Dagger). Dexterity increases the chance to hit with weapons, and gives more swings and attacks per round. Once maxed, Dexterity allows Reflextion(Armor Class bonus), which is decent. Both Speed and Senses increase Initiative at the same rate, which is great for all party members, especially the Ranger and Bishop, who will need to cast Element and Soul Shields respectively. Speed gives extra swings and attacks, like Dexterity, every round, and gives a small boost to AC. Once maxed, Speed gives you EVEN MORE Initiative(Snake Speed). Senses is a controlling attribute for many skills, and increases the chance to hit with weapons. Once maxed, Senses allows Eagle Eye, which increases the chance to hit and to penetrate with ranged weapons. Great for the Fighter(Tripleshot Crossbow), Ranger(Eagle Eye Bow), Bard(Wrist Rocket), and Gadgeteer(Omnigun Mark 12).

So what do you think? A decent mix of melee/ranged/magic?

Melee: Fighter(Ivory Blade/Diamond Eyes/Mauler/Vampire Chain)
Rogue(Bloodlust/Thieves' Dagger)
Ranger(Sword/Shield)
Bard(Sword/Shield)
Gadgeteer(Possible Sword/Shield setup, I don't know if it's pointless). Fang perhaps?
Bishop(Staff of Doom)

Ranged: Fighter(Tripleshot Crossbow or Siege Arbalest with good Quarrels)
Rogue(No ranged but excellent melee damage)
Ranger(Eagle Eye Bow with good Arrows)
Bard(Wrist Rocket with good Stones)
Gadgeteer(Omnigun Mark 12 with good ammunition-many options)
Bishop(No ranged but Staff of Doom makes up for it)


Magic: Fighter(None)
Rogue(None)
Ranger(Alchemist spellbook/mixing potions and powders)
Bard(Instruments to mimic magic, only costing Stamina)
Gadgeteer(Gadgets to mimic magic, only costing Stamina)
Bishop(All 4 spellbooks, Wizardry, Divinity, Alchemy, Psionics, 101 spells in total)

I always liked this kind of detailed descriptions.
Few points though:
- Why slings for bard? Considering rogue will be melee only, fighter will have tripleshot crossbow, gadgie her omnigun, then ranger would be the only bow user. Bows are way better for ranged than slings and bards can use most of them.
- In my opinion there's no point trying melee with gadgie especially that she'll be in second row and i don't think there're even decent extended weapons for her. Just let her shoot and tinker with stuff, it'll take enough of her stamina anyway.
- You could consider raising throwing for rogue just to use all those decent bombs you''ll craft with alchemy - better than no ranged at all, and it costs nothing.
- I always have problems with maxing speed as with haste spell/drums you'll reach cap with only 55 points in this attribute. Of course it'll take a while, and you won't get snake speed so soon - which I consider only mediocre - but for ranged characters my priority is dex/sen.

Thank you for replying to my very first post. Been a few days now. Anyways, I am going for variety. In this way, I can use any good ammunition that I can find or buy eventually from Ferro/Anna/Sadok/Kunar. The Fighter takes care of Crossbows/Quarrels. The Ranger takes care of Bows/Arrows(mainly because of the Eagle Eye bow you can buy from Bela/Ferro). So it just seems fitting that the Bard takes care of Slings/Stones, which all have a KO%(I know stones can be heavy, which is why the Bard will work on Strength later). The Gadgeteer can use whatever(Throwing Knives, Darts, eventually with Omnigun upgrades). I think that the better Stones also have Kill%(you may have to sleep next to Ferro/reload to get what you want). Also, the Wrist Rocket has good stats(guaranteed available to buy I think).

I think that Gadgeteers can use Swords/Shields/Daggers/Staff and Wand. But the good extended Staves are cursed, which defeats the purpose because then she can't use her Omnigun. So either I use a crappy beginning-of-game Quarterstaff for extended, or I move the Gadgeteer during battle occasionally to either flank, to help the Ranger or Bard with melee combat(Sword and Shield close up). This gives her something to train/do once her Engineering/Ranged Combat/Modern Weapon skills are 75+ and can't be given any more points on level up. She doesn't have many skills to work on, which is why I'm debating having her do Locks and Traps(the Rogue has a lot of combat skills to work on to become good, so adding to Locks and Traps for him seems costly, even though he gets the 25% bonus). Also, the Gadgeteer starts with points in Locks and Traps, unlike the Bard. Not to mention, I HATE the blinding status effect from the Omnigun. It makes enemies run away sometimes, taking away kills and experience. It's my perfectionist side not allowing any escapees, which is why I DESPISE those unicorn-type enemies, using magic and running away. So I tend to use the Omnigun only when it's clear the enemies are almost defeated, as a way of finishing them off so they can't run away.

That's true, but then the Rogue can't use Bloodlust or the Thieves' Dagger, both cursed. Both of these weapons seem tailor made for the Rogue(Thieves' Dagger is Rogue only, and the Bloodlust is fast and Berserks as well as Backstabs if the Rogue uses it). I could uncurse them EVERY SINGLE battle, but that will get old quickly. So either I give the Bloodlust to someone else to curse THEM with no ranged weapons, or I just throw away a great weapon and use other weapons such as the Fang/Stiletto.

You make a great point about not "wasting" so many points in the Speed attribute. The problem I have with Bards is that you can't control what spell level they "cast" at. This is pretty annoying at the beginning of the game when she fizzles and backfires due to lack of Music skill, and later on when she sometimes casts at power level 1 or 2 even when she has maxed Music skill. So the Rousing Drums, which cast Haste, sometimes don't bring your Speed all the way up to 125. Not to mention, in the time she "wastes" casting Haste, she could be casting something else useful, such as Bless, Heal All, Freeze All, etc. Or firing her Wrist Rocket and good Stones from Ferro for some KOs or Kills. :)

The speed bonus from Haste won't help you in the first round, when you may need to get Element/Soul Shield up as soon as possible, or get off that Quicksand to reduce the number of enemies so you don't have to wait for all of their actions to resolve in the first round. Just thought I should mention that you're probably not going to be casting Heal All in the first round of combat, unless you're reliably slower than the enemies (or do a "fake move" to force your party to act last). Also, Gadgeteers eventually get access to that spell.

You're throwing bombs/powders straight from your character's inventory, not from his/hers ranged weapon slot. So cursed weapons doesn't matter this way. You won't be able to use darts/knives/shurikens, but all those sstuff made with alchemy? No problem at all. Sometimes well placed canned elemental or pandemonium powder really helps. True, but I still believe that i's somewhat wasted stat on pure melee/ranged classes. Certainly not worth increasing it first.

I just made my Rogue the Locks and Traps guy...it may bite me later, but at least he gets the 25% bonus. I could use the Throwing and Sling skill on the Rogue for ranged damage, but he may flizzle or backfire due to his lack of skill. I am crafting a Rogue with Bloodlust and Thieves' Dagger, so he will be cursed nonstop. As it is, right off the bat, I have to work on: Close Combat, Dual Weapons, Sword, Dagger, Locks and Traps, and Stealth. It seems that 6 skills are a lot for a beginning character, so he doesn't have extra skill points for throwing. It's quite a risk, when the Bard has Sleep(Poet's Lute), and the Ranger, Bard, and Gadgeteer all start with ranged options.

Speed is a funny thing, as dtgreene already mentioned. It doesn't matter in the first round of combat, so I would prefer my characters to be "ready". I could be doing other things besides increasing Speed, which, for a well-built party, would be a non-issue(since I already have everybody at 100 speed base around level 30).

You can realistically expect to beat the game before you reach level 30, and that's even if you are doing a casual 100% playthrough. To reach levels this high, you would have to deliberately spend time farming XP, probably on Ascension Peak.

That is kind of the point. I appreciate your imput, however I would like to grind everybody to decent levels, probably 35-40.

That may take a while, due to XP requirements increasing exponentially (from level 11 onward, the common ratio is 1.2).

(This is unlike Wizardry 1-7 (except 4), where after level 13 (may be a different level in 6 and 7), every level takes the same amount of XP.)

(This is also different from Wizardry 4, where the only way to level up is to find a pentagram on a new floor. Once again, I have to list Wizardry 4 as an exception.)

The vanilla game game can be beaten with full party on iron man at avg party lvl below 20.

Speed maybe the most valued attribute here,
as being the 1st to act can be the most valuable thing in this game, if you care to set stuff up accordingly,
e.g. step out of sight in the surprise round and even in the 2nd you get disabling spells off before magic screen is up,
and 2 turns for ran/nin/sam to crit foes.

To get really fast parties(it makes less sense to have only a few fast characters)
all of them go for speed 100 asap here, usual composition is mag bis ran gad sam nin.

Use of cursed close combat weapon leads to less variety in tactics, mildly spoken;)
makes players favor to always charge although the game has tons of options to disable/debuff enemies.

two magic portals will really limit your options for fast travel... there are other small issues but thats the one that jumps out at me most

anyway its your party so have fun mate

Update: It's what you call a "good/bad" game. I stomped most of the enemies up to the Piercing Pipes for the Bard(South bend of the Arnika Road). Then, it was a save/reload fest. I got trapped, where my Party was level 6 for all, at the South bend of the fork to Arnika(12 Level 7 Highwaymen). So I was forced to go North, towards the Umpani Camp. I stumbled upon a camp of low level monsters after sneaking past a Neutral Hogar. Wish me luck in getting back South towards Arnika, or maybe I should plow into the Umpani quarters.

It occurred to me that my dream party, for any game that has you form a party, is smaller than Wizardry 8's party size.

Unfortunately, very few games allow adventuring with said dream party.

I'm glad you are having fun! I always need plenty of time to play this game due to how long the fights take.
My preferred party!

Bard
Gadgeteer
Ranger
Monk
Samurai
Ninja


Please note that sometimes I'll start them and the pure caster class and then change them over to the corresponding hybrid class so I can use the same magic but better armor.
I usually play a mod called Wizardry 8 enhanced by Kaucukovinik VI. Note, this is not the newer wizardry 8 enhanced mod you find on moddb.

Here is a link to it stored on my google drive.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fftopee0TqIR9r9XPsRwpqWFs_rqXm-q/view?usp=sharing