I was thinking of playing through the Dark Savant Trilogy. I'm completely new to the Wizardry games and I was wondering what the best party race/class composition for a full playthrough would be?

I'd like a party that is versatile and has access to the best weapons in the sequels (like the Faerie Ninja). I've heard the games are hard and I want to make it easy on myself for the first playthrough.

Also, are there any patches I should be aware of that are not provided by GOG?

Thanks in advance

One thing I can mention: In Wizardry 6 and 7, class changing is generally a good idea, especially when it comes to spell casters. Change classes to quickly learn the spells you need, then settle for the class of your choice to cast the spells at higher power levels. Class changing is far better than trying to learn the spells with a Bishop. (Note, however, that this changes in Wizardry 8; there class changing is usually not a good idea and Bishops are the best class in the game.)

Also, Faerie Ninjas are rather weak with out the weapon in question. Therefore, I suggest not using one or at least wait until you get the weapon in question to use one. (Wizardry 6 and 7 don't allow character replacement, but you can do a class change if you have a fairy; Wizardry 8 does let you permanently replace characters.)

Also, Rangers have worse equipment options than fighters do (except perhaps when you take bows into account). Valkyries don't have that issue.

In Wizardry 8, Bards and Gadgeteers should be female because many of the stamina regen items are female only for whatever reason. (If you want a Gadgeteer, you can permanently replace a character at the start of Wizardry 8 to create one of your own.)

One more thing: I suggest avoiding Wizardry Gold; play the DOS version of Wizardry 7 instead.

I used Nad God's Cosmic Forge to patch out some nasty bugs in Wizardry 7, which includes such things as fighters taking double damage from everything and such. I also used it to change it so you get static Hit Chance gains per level up (your hit chance increases at random when you level up, and you stop gaining Hit Chance at around Lv.20).

Thanks Guys! I'll keep in mind the party changing mechanic.

Do you have any suggestions on what race/class composition I should aim for in the long run? I just want to make sure I have all my bases covered with a long term party progression plan before I start the trilogy.

Nad God's Cosmic forge sounds like some solid advice. Will it work with the DOS version of W7? I read somewhere that the Famicom port is actually superior to the PC versions. Does anybody know if emulating the famicom will still allow me to transfer saves?

To be honest I'd start with wiz 8 and get some idea what you will be up against before waiting 3 games worth of time to find out.

In case you intend to try it without class changes (which is tough but possible and might have some merit from a roleplaying perspective), here is a decent example of how to approach it:
http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/Wizardry/

It's a rather balanced party (Valkyrie, Monk, Ninja, Bard, Priest, Mage), which should be decent in all 3 games. Only the Ninja is debatable IMO, but he tends to become quite strong eventually, so it's ok I guess.

But as mentioned earlier, class changes (at least once, better 2-3 times or more if necessary) is REALLY good in W6 and W7. In those games you should usually start with simple classes and "upgrade" through intermediate classes (like Ranger for example) to the ultimate elite/hybride classes. But feel free to try what feels best.

Not start as Priests and then immediately switching to Valkyrie would better for the purpose of mana recovery? Downside is of course starting with poorer equipment.

Main downside is that the stats drop down to race/class minimum.
Switching classes immediately is not a good idea, at least level 2 should be reached first, more levels offer even more skill points and spell picks.

But you'll have the same stats as if you started with a Valkyrie, so nothing is lost. But you gain extra mana recovery.

You'll have the same stats as if you created a Valkyrie with the minimum roll required. But you can get better rolls than the minimum required at creation and redistribute extra points.

Hey Everyone,

Sorry to necro this old post,. I just want to chime in and thank everybody who contributed, your advice has proved invaluable.

For future visitors who may want a few more details on the matter:

Your starting class will determine your mana regeneration, as per this table:

Fi Wa Ai Ea Me Ma
Mage 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 3
Priest 2, 2, 3, 3, 2, 3
Alchemist 3, 2, 3, 3, 2, 2
Psionic 2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 2
Bishop 1, 1, 1, 1, 3, 3
All others 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

Faeries get +1 to all of these.
Starting with Vitality 16 or more gives +1 to all of these.

(Credit to Stephen Lee's guide)

So as kmonster indicated, starting with a casting class is a huge boon in a stat which you cannot raise in any other way in W6. However, since we're talking about a party for the whole trilogy, it is worth noting that in W7 and W8 the mana regeneration rate depends on you rcurrent party.

Now, on the other hand, as PetrusOctavianus said, there are also merits to keeping your original class, since you are awarded bonus points on character creation which might be lost if you switch classes.

It took me a while to understand this, so I'll hash it out briefly in case anybody is as clueless as I was: every class has a set of minimum stats. These minimum stats are used for two purposes. First, they are required in order to take a class, second, if you switch classes mid-game, your characters stats will be reduced to the minimum possible stats of their race, except where the class has a minimum requirement. So in some cases, as PetrusOctavianus said, you will lose a lot of stats by immediately switching classes. However, if the class you switch to has relatively high minim requirements in several stats (e.g. Ninja, Ranger, Monk, etc...) , you won't lose as many stats.

So in summation:

Class Switching allows for powerful hybrids with more overall skillpoints, access to spells they learned during their previous classes and that all-important mana regen in the endgame (which does not carry over to W7)

Single classes get to keep their Bonus Stats. This has the potential to be as high as 26, but don't count on anything more than 18 without a certain mod, and even 18 is difficult to roll in the unmodded game.

Hope I got all that right. All said and done, I cheated my way to 20ish bonus stas in each character, and planned the following party for my flawless playthrough. It is mostly based on kmonster's advice, but I added some multiclassing options. A class indicated in brackets is intended either only for very late W6, or for starting W7. You may need to switch some just prior or just after exporting from W6 to W7 if you want to carry over certain valuable items.

Bala - Female Dwarf
Priest (8) -> Valkyrie -> [Lord]

Korma - Female Rawulf
Priest (8) -> Samurai -> [Valkyrie?]

Moira - Female Mook
Bard -> [Something Else]

Akira - Female Elf
Mage -> Ranger -> [Samurai]

Thoros - Male Fairy
Mage (8) -> Ninja

Notorgo - Male Fairy
Alchemist -> Monk

I put 16+ Vitality on all but the Faerie Monk

Some other non-obvious facts I have learned along the way.

1) Bards are very valueble in W6, being able to cast free spells through music. In W7, anyone with Music skill can use an instrument. Switch Bards to another class in W7.

2) Both faeries belong to a class that gains a very high miss chance reduction. Another hidden drawback of multiclassing (especially if you take several levels in a physically weak class) is that they will never achieve the same reduction to the miss chance that they would have otherwise. Thus, the faeries (monk and ninja) will not achieve their highes possible to-hit rate.

3) Take lots of Females.

Thanks again for the help guys. I'm off to figure out who this Dark Savant guys is.

Females are overrated. Except for the Valkyrie two extra strength points are worth more than female equipment choices in W6.

Heheheh

My understanding is that this -2 to Strength is lost when you switch classes (at least in W6). So wouldn't the drawback disappear after you switch classes? Also keep in mind this is a party for the full trilogy, so any female-only items in W7 and W8 are worth considering.

Even if you switch classes in W6 you still keep the extra carrying capacity from creation. The extra points can also be spent for other stats, maybe giving the extra bonus to mana regeneration or enabling the desired class chance.
A female bard can wear a skirt which offers a little more armor bonus over pants but is much heavier, not even as useful as the stat point lost and that's pretty much everything in W6 and W7 besides the pretty essential female valkyrie.

If you plan heavily class switching and reloading at level ups females offer an additional option but if you play normally more than making your bard (for W8) and 1-2 valkyries female isn't worth it.