I'm now planning my party for W8. I've never played this game before.

As I've mentioned previously, what I love to use in these types of games is offensive magic. That's my favourite thing, and what I find the most fun when I play. I don't enjoy buff spells at all, I prefer to only use them when absolutely necessary (like a hard battle I've failed on multiple previous attempts). I never use potions and only rarely use charged magic items too. I also don't enjoy ranged combat (due to the micromanagement of equipping/unequipping the weapon and keeping track of the # of missiles in my inventory). I will not be using any RPCs.

Anyway, from what I was reading offensive magic is not very viable in W8, due to many foes near the end of the game having 100% magic resistance? Can Power Cast overcome this? Do mages need to concentrate more on buffs than offensive magic? I'd appreciate any thoughts on this topic.

Assuming that my "offensive magic" preference is not a good idea, here is what I was thinking:

Fighter (Lizardman?)
Valkyrie (Dwarf)
Monk (Human?)
Ranger (Mook)
Gadgeteer (Human?) (Female)
Bishop (Faerie)

Is Bishop too hard for a beginner? I'm not familiar where to find spell books, and I am most emphatically *NOT* going to be mixing potions for profit to purchase books. Should I replace the Bishop with a Mage?

But what I'd most LOVE is any suggestions for an offensive-magic based party which would work well in the endgame :)!

One interesting quirk of Wizardry 8 is that focused parties can actually work really well in some cases.

In particular, using multiple offensive spellcasters can be quite useful. For example, you could put a Mage, Alchemist, Psionic, and a Bishop in the same party and have them all cast offensive spells, and that can work rather well. You likely will want some physical offense, however.

The party I proposed in another topic might be worth trying.
Fighter
Priest (Dwarf, get Power Strike, use mace and shield)
Mage
Alchemist
Psionic
Bishop

Get Power Cast on everyone but the Fighter (no use for it) and Priest (who should focus on offense).

The one downside is that it has only 2 characters who can really survive on the frontlines.

Late game, I note that you will be fighting a lot of Rapax, which are most vulnerable to water spells like Iceball and Freeze {Flesh, All}.

Of note, status ailments work *really* well in this game, and instant death attacks are actually useful, especially when fighting lower level enemies with high HP (which happens more often than you'd expect at high levels).

Also, don't forget that this party gets 3 characters who get Summon Elemental (each character can summon one elemental) and 5 characters who get the portal spells (very handy as they save a lot of backtracking).

I love the look of that party! I was thinking of making something like that but I was worried I'd be crippled in the endgame. I notice that you don't have anyone with locks & traps skill, can I get by with just knock-knock in this game?

Yes, you can get by with knock-knock and other things that are available to the party.

Consider the following:
1. Posseur's Cap provides 10 Locks & Traps and is usable by every class that doesn't get the skill. It is also found before the first locked door you have to open. Later, the Thieves' Buckler can provide another +10, and anyone who can equip shields can use it.
2. Knock-Knock stacks if cast by multiple characters. This party has 3 characters who can cast the spell, and if used at a high enough power level, you could open an 8 tumbler lock without having to resort to 1 (though 1 is always good to have in case you almost open a lock with the spell).
3. Traps can be opened with knock-knock as well, and the ones in the Monastery aren't bad. Dagger Scatter is just damage which can be healed (unless somebody dies, of course), and the game gives you plenty of Cure Poison potions early on (more than you realistically need), so Poison Darts isn't an issue. Also, the Upper Monastery has a Divine Trap spellbook. If you can identify it, combining that spell with Posseur's Cap gives you a chance of disarming the trap conventionally.

Also, Fighters are so powerful that having one and a battle priest will give you enough melee offensive capability for when you need it, and there's the Summon Elemental spells if you need more than that.

Edit: One more thing: if you have somebody with high Strength (which you should, since Strength is very important for fighters and battle priests), you can force easier locks open.

Awesome party. Fighter, Valkyrie and Bishop are three of the four most powerful classes in my book (fairy Ninja being the fourth). The Ranger is excellent for a beginner since he searches passsively (active searching will have monsters surprise you - they'll have the initiative on their side) and also delivers quite some reliable damage. To target stuff more freely often makes his high damage more valuable and he has the highest crit in the game, absurdly outclassing the Ninja in that regard until very late in the game. The Monk is so-so but fun to play. I'd say the Gadgeteer requires you to know where to find his stuff to be at his best. Otherwise he'll likely be considerably weaker in mid game. I am not too familiar with Gadgeteers though they do have convincing arguements on their side even just looking at them "in theory". If played correctly he should be very strong. I dare say dtgreene has a lot more experience with Gadgeteers than I do. Bishops are excellent but need you to grind the magic schools, best in a specific order with specific spells (e.g. Identify or Knock Knock). In general you need to mind that many good grinding spells are accessible to multiple schools but will only train the school that is currently higher (thus the need for order). To train a spell needs to count as having an effect (refreshing buffs doesn't work for instance).
Without grinding Bishops are still fine I'd say - with it they are the single best caster class. Spellbooks can be bought, especially low level ones. You can save up spell picks while levelling up so make sure to never pic low level spells you do not really need: you could pick some high level spell later on instead with that spell pick ;)
Mind Bishops can wear most Leather Armor (AC9), Shields and the best Robes for utility while Fairies can not. A fairy Bishop is great yet a non-fairy isn't really worse, just different. Now you already got a good suggestion there as I see it. Those five casters + Fighter are not as powerful as your initial idea yet strong enough. You'll quickly notice that offensive magic blasts away big groups of small enemies - not so much the small groups of big enemies. The Fighter should fight with his Berserk Attack to kill those (you need to tell him that or he'll just attack normally!).

Your casters will depend on defensive buffs to survive - especially Mage and Psionic (lower Armor & HP). With those def buffs you can survive a lot, which may allow to use offensive Magic efficiently. Using that often comes down to groups of enemies not getting any smaller while fighting them until they all drop all at once. It'll become increasingly hard to rely on magic for damage. dtgreene planned on using some of the casters (Priest +1) for melee damage, maxing strength. That's a good idea I'd say.

That said you could choose to level up slowly to delay the point where monsters are pretty much immune. In any case you shouldn't level up too fast to at least have your magic skills develop to a degree that allows using your magic to the fullest. Getting even more powerful and even harder to cast spells while not even being able to use the old ones fully is bad. Monsters level up with you so a higher level isn't only good. There are set encounters and these would be easiest if you simply level up but for a start you need to worry more about the frequently spawning enemies.

There are a million discussions about party composition for W8 because there is not perfect party. The advice you've gotten so far seems fine.

It's very true that offensive magic, which is traditionally quite powerful in cRPGs, is weak in W8. If you really want to use that, dtgreen's suggestion to build a whole party of offensive casters is probably a good one.

On the other hand, W8 is a pretty unique kind of game. It's different from W6 and W7, and once you start playing it you might decide your pre-conceived bias against certain styles is misplaced in W8.

For example, I would say gadgeteer is one of the most fun and interesting classes. You don't have to have one, of course, but you'll be missing out on something cool if you avoid taking one because they're not powerful offensive casters.

I guess my suggestion is to make a party you like, and play the game a bit to see how it works before you commit. It's not hard to roll up a few different characters and start over if you want to. Maybe a party based around offensive spellcasters is exactly what you want...but it night not be.

It's hard for me to recommend settling on a specific type of party before you've played W8 at all.

I would make the Faerie an Alchemist because that is the most powerful O-caster in the game but yes a Mage can hold it together if you want one just be aware that fire is not the be all and end all later in the game.

the Fighter, Monk and Valkyrie will be a strong front line with the lizardman as the weakest link... give him something to help intel and be sure to have the Monk take spells that defend against mind attacks.

I would give this party a Bard before the Fighter so you have someone to talk shops into good deals (dual to Fighter for the 2nd game half) but the Ranger can help if you want to spend his skill points there instead of spells and bows.

You can use status ailments to make sure that the enemies don't get to attack you all at once. In fact, when fighting Rapax, your mage be better off trying to freeze them rather than doing damage, especially since they're weak against water. Also, later you get instant death attacks, which work particularly well on lower level high HP enemies (which appear more often than you'd expect).

Also, there are spells that do damage and cause status ailments at the same time. Noxious Fumes is really nice since it's only 3rd level and is radius targeted. (Radius > Cone, and the developers knew this; that's why Psionic Fire does more damage than Fireball; Fireball has better targeting.) Toxic Cloud is basically a cloud version of Noxious Fumes. Psionic Blast is one of my favorite spells; it targets a group (which has some useful properties, like allowing you to hit enemies you can't see), is the only damage spell to target a group, does good damage, and has a chance of causing insanity.

One more tip: You can check an enemy's stats by right-clicking on the enemy. If somebody has enough Mythology, you can even check the enemy's resistances, allowing you to choose a spell that the enemy is weak against.

Thanks everyone for your advice so far! I haven’t decided on which party I’m going to choose. I’m still quite concerned that the “primary casters” party will be too difficult late-game, so I’m actually leaning away from that idea (despite my original post!).

Mage, Psionic: I’m a bit put off by the knowledge that these primary casters will need constant buffs to survive, and the fact that they become less effective as the game progresses. I definitely won’t be delaying my leveling-up in order to exploit the level-scaling of the game to mitigate against this either.

Bishop: If I choose this class I will be playing it “naturally", not grinding and not selecting spells in a pre-determined order. So that will reduce the effectiveness, but I don't want the extra hassle. I'll probably try to focus mostly on only a couple of schools.

Gadgeteer: It does seem like a fun class and I think I would like to have one in my party somehow. However, I’m a bit worried that I won’t find the necessary components to make the gadgets I want. I do like to explore every nook and cranny though, so I think I’d likely only miss something if it was hidden (either in a secret area, or via some particular quest I missed).

Ranger: The primary reason I was considering this class is because of the auto-search. Since I’ve never played before, I think it would be very helpful. Plus I’m kinda just in a Ranger-y mood :).

Ninja: I had a bad experience with my Ninja in W6 (just plain sucked), and I’m not ready to take that plunge again.

Bard: Just not my thing, I’m not planning on having a bard in my party.

This is what I’m considering now (if I choose not to go with the primary casters):

Fighter (Hobbit or Lizardman or Dracon)
Valkyrie (Dwarf)
Samurai (Human)
Gadgeteer (Hobbit or Mook)
Ranger (Mook)
Bishop (Faerie) (Psionics and [alchemy or divinity] mostly)

To have a good start I'd suggest to NOT explore every nook and cranny in the Monastery right away. Rather return later and make a break for Arnika first, exploring that.
Arnika Road has a reputation for hosting some nasty Flora and quite some ruthless criminals. If you level up too much in the Monastery without having the equipment you'd be well advised to look for in Arnika it can be a rough place ;)

In my experience, the game expects you to be at level 5 at the time you reach Arnika Road; you should be OK as long as you don't level up past that level.

If you level up to level 6 in the Monastery, you will start to encounter enemies that can cause disease, which can cause permanent harm if not cured and for which you don't have a cure for. If you choose to return at level 6 or higher, make sure you have Cure Disease or Restoration potions handy just in case. (Note that Restoration potions are better and they are actually cheaper; depending on your Communication skill, you might actually gain money by selling Cure Disease potions and buying Restoration potions. (Or, of course, if you have 50 Alchemy, just mix the Cure Disease potions you find with Heavy Heal potions and sell the result for a *very* nice profit.)

Personally, I finished the Monastery completely before moving on in my first game, and I didn't find the Arnika road to be too much of a problem. One of the ways W8 is different from earlier Wizardrys though, is that you need to pay attention to the geography and use it to your advantage. There are lots of little nooks on the way to Arnika. If you're worried about a particular combat, you should wedge you party in one of them in order to prevent monsters from flanking or surrounding them. You can also avoid some encounters if you see them coming in time. If you want to attack, it can be a good idea to try to run over a ridge and pounce on an enemy group at close range rather than letting the combat start from a distance. This is especially true if you're fighting ranged enemies.

would you consider dwarf Fighter and Dracon Valkyrie... the Dwarf pie| damage resist works on the fighter and Dracon Priest(l1) Valkyrie starts with 70 pie which is a solid devine caster + damage sock.

the human samurai will do better with spells but a cat samurai is better at swords... both can be strong if you don't try to carry too much junk

Faerie has low divinity stats which will make her level that skill slower... they make great alchemy casters because of the high dex but in any event intel is the most important because power cast is what makes the bishop powerful late game.

p.s, make sure you grab the lighting rod before leaving to A... use it once every battle to level up your Gad skill

Yes, I can see how Dwarf would make a good Fighter too... I like the idea of a Dracon Fighter though because Fighter doesn't have spells so the breath weapon could be useful sometimes. I don't want to switch classes, so Priest(1)/Valkyrie is out.

I tried making a couple Samurai at character creation, the Human had superior stats all around (losing only 3pts of Speed to the Felpurr).

I'm planning on maxing Int and Pie ASAP for my bishop. I was choosing between Faerie (for more magic) and Elf (for more hp/armour), and decided since this was my main magic-focused character that I'd go Faerie.

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for that item :)!
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Also, thank to everyone for your advice regarding Monestary and Arnika!! I haven't started playing yet, but I'm not sure if I can just leave the Monastery behind not fully explored, it goes against my natural inclinations... In that case, I may actually leave my characters at level 5 until I get to Arnika. I'll see how it goes when I'm in the game.

From my experience with Bishops (and I have a *lot*, as I always include one in my party):

The problem with Faeries is that they can't use the Robes of Rejuvenation (much better SP regen than what a Faerie naturally gets), and they can't use shields like the Thieves' Buckler (which boosts speed).

Also, Bishops do not need Piety; thanks to all the spells they can learn from spellbooks, plus the fact that they get 4 spellbook skills contributing to SP, you can ignore that stat; the default value of 55 is more than you realistically need.

I recommend maxing Int (for Power Cast) and Speed (for Snake Speed) on Bishops, with the remaining points going into Senses, so that you get your Bishop to act *before* the enemies, which is far more important than having a few extra spell points; as I said, Bishops get more than enough spell points with just 55 Piety.