Thing is:
* Your Rogue probably isn't being attacked and hit so many times that they would run out of hit points, so you're still going to have an opportunity to heal them.
* Your Fighter has enough HP that they can take damage without issue; it's rare that the damage would be enough to threaten a Fighter. Furthermore, at higher levels, even a PL7 PC115 Guardian Angel will provide a small amount of HP compared to the HP the Fighter naturally gets.
* Furthermore, Heal All lets you heal both the Fighter and the Rogue (and everyone else) at the same time, and Restoration, at PL3 and higher, will heal more than the HP that Guardian Angel would provide, not to mention restoring Stamina at the same time.
* (And, if worst goes to worst, you can use Resurrection if you do get unlucky.)
* As far as I can tell, there aren't any chicken in the game.
* I don't remember the Savant Behemoth being unusually high in level.
* The physical capabilities of a well-built MDP are good enough to deal with the instances where you need physical damage. You don't actually need the high damage of a Fighter or Rogue, and I feel that having that much damage makes the boss fights not really feel like boss fights.

If the Rogue is successfully detected by the enemy (failing the Stealth check), and hit, and paralyzed/KOed, then he would be essentially a sitting duck. Stealth skill stops working, he is very easy to hit, and suffers 2X damage in melee.

The Fighter would be in the same boat, if KOed or paralyzed, however, he would have much higher HPs, so he could most likely survive.

Resurrection, incidentally, is not on my "top 12" list of must have level 6 and 7 spells for Bishops, because literally anybody can carry Resurrection Powders, and heal the dead. Unlike, say, with Potions of Restoration, which, as you say, are "self only", and can't help fellow team members.

From what I remember, the Savant Behemoth inside the Savant Tower is around level 20, but when my last party disarmed the bomb, they were at least level 35. After taking the elevator down, after disarming the bomb, there was the Savant Behemoth, surrounded by around 20 various, non-important machines. The MDP's magic quickly killed all but the Savant Behemoth, despite it being around half the level of the party, it suffered almost no damage. I remember having to bash its head in, in melee combat.

Resurrection Powders can get expensive if you use a lot of them, and Amulets of Life use miscellaneous item slots.

Also, 6th level doesn't have that many good spells, so Resurrection ends up being chosen. This is especially true at exactly level 14 (or 18 for hybrids); there isn't any other spell of that level I'd prefer when only PL1 is reliable. (Maybe Quicksand on lower difficulties, but that's about it.)

Water resistance helps against Paralyze, and Earth resistance against KO, so you can minimize the chance of that happening.

Also, if an event is rare, it's certainly reasonable to use a reactive rather than proactive strategy to deal with it. A reactive strategy only costs resources (including turns) if the bad thing actually happens, whereas a proactive strategy costs the turn regardless.

There's also the adage "the best defense is a good offense"; it may, in many cases, be better to just quickly kill the enemies and heal (if needed) afterwords than it would be to cast defensive spells while the enemies get to attack you.

Boss fights are one of my least favorite things about video games. Especially when they have new mechanics the player has to learn. I love games with pushover bosses, like Doom, or the original Metroid. That being said, I did have fun overcoming the first boss in Legend of Grimrock II with my all rat party. It took three times, and a healing potion, to get everyone through it alive. Funny, that party is almost entirely "warriors." But I took an alchemist over a fighter.

It really depends on the game.

In many RPGs, particularly JRPGs, boss fights are often the only fights that last long enough for support magic to be useful. Or, for that matter, damage over time magic, assuming it works on bosses. There is, however, the common trend of bosses being immune to all status ailments; this is, for example, a problem in Final Fantasy 3 and 4.

I don't like bosses in platformers, like Mega Man games for example, as the platforming basically stops at that point until you manage to get past the boss. Basically, it's a bit too much of a change in gameplay here.

On the other hand, Celeste is one case of a platformer that doesn't stop the platfoming when the main boss fight (in a game with very few enemies; most deaths are from spikes or other obstacles) occurs. Celeste's boss fight works as follows:
* You enter the room, and there's the boss, in some spot in the room.
* You have to do some platforming to reach the boss.
* Once you get close enough to the boss, you hit them, the boss moves to another location in the room, and you get knocked back (and regain your dash).
* After a certain (small) number of hits, the boss escapes the room, destroying part of the wall (or floor) so that you can follow.
* The process then repeats in the next room. (Note that, in Celeste, each room is a checkpoint, even during the boss fight. You'll respawn at the start of the room when you die, and if you quit the game and reload, you'll start right in that room.)
It's really one of my favorite boss fights.

By the way, I've actually found the final boss of Metroid to be rather difficult, and I don't think I've beaten it. The same is true with the corresponding boss in Metroid: Zero Mission on Hard mode. On the other hand, the Super Metroid version of the boss isn't that hard, provided you have enough health to survive a certain unavoidable attack (if you do not, you might as well reset the game, and I hope you didn't save at the last save point without enough e-tanks.)

As for your Legend of Grimrock 2 party, I don't know how the balance is. Some games favor physical attacks (I think Wizardry 8 is such a game), while others favor magic (see Saviors of Sapphire Wings, where Wizard/Healers using the Healer's offensive spells can do huge amounts of damage, for an example, or Final Fantasy 6).

Whoops, went off-topic again. But, I'd like to point out that, in both Grimrock games, human is, arguably, the weakest race. In Grimrock II, damage spells fall off, but that doesn't mean one can't beat the game with four casters. Also, unlike the first game, having at least one caster makes the game easier. In the sequel, any class can use any skill, which is why I said "warriors," referring to their class names: barbarian, battle mage, fighter, and knight. Only two classes, battle mage and wizard, can cast spells without a conduit. (There are eight classes; the others are rogue, farmer, and, of course, alchemist.)

Interestingly enough, this is true of Demon's Winter. In that game, unlike the first game (Shard of Spring), any class can learn any skill, given enough intelligence. (Demon's Winter also features a way to get custom magic items made for you.)

Anyway, going back to Wizardry 8, I'm still investigating builds, and I'm toying a bit with a different pattern: Max out one stat, but balancing out two other stats. The second expert skill comes later, but the third one comes at a reasonable level (around when you get the second), and this approach delays having to put points into your 4th choice attribute. This isn't always the best approach (int/pie might want to get the expert skills, early Snake Speed might be preferable to high Senses later (especially with the Snakeskin Boots)), but could have some uses for other builds (I'm thinking of it for an Alchemist).

I forgot to mention that my Valkyrie and Ranger can both pick Resurrection. Anybody but the Bishop can just pick whatever spell they want at the moment, as they are most certain to max out their one spellbook. The Bishop, however, can't be as liberal with spell picks, and must pick according to the long-run (you need an attack spell for every realm, and once realms are maxed, you need an attack spell for each spellbook).

Going through the level 6 spell list (credit to Jeff Ludwig), it appears that only 4 spell picks are desirable (not counting Banish, which is guaranteed): Boiling Blood, Lightning, Quicksand, Resurrection (though, as I said, this is situational, if nobody wants to carry around Resurrection Powders, and nobody wants to use charges on items, and only the Bishops have this spell).

When I do get into my level 21 Savant Slasher melee training mode, I find it hard to cast Element Shield against a melee enemy, though that may help against the side effect of their melee attacks, paralyze. Certainly, with both Guardian Angel and Body of Stone cast at the tank(s), that shouldn't be a problem.

Normally, you would be right. But, if you're in melee combat training mode, then, unfortunately, you have to suffer many enemy attacks, so that you can train your skills up (I consider this part of a challenge run, get all reasonable skills maxed). Except Locks and Traps, Scouting, Artifacts, and Communication, which are almost impossible, if not outright impossible (Scouting) to max.

The strategy is to carefully choose your enemies. Or just have healing and revival handy.

If enemies are dangerous enough that you need to use single-target protection on multiple characters, you probably shouldn't be intentionally prolonging the fight for practice.

Locks & Traps isn't too hard to train, just boring. Once you can examine a trap without it triggering it, that is. Likewise, communications can be trained via annoying NPCs who never turn hostile, only neutral. Artifacts can be rammed to, thirty-something? in the monastery without over-leveling. Since artifacts cannot identify all items, I bet using the unidentify glitch can get it high, maybe not max, but high enough to use artifact casting, which is why one would want high artifacts. But, yes, I have no idea how to power-level scouting or pickpocket, nor do I care. (High senses is more important for scouting's extended searching, and pickpocket is just a mess of a skill. And x-ray and detect secrets do the same things, more or less, as scouting.)

And yeah, there's a reason that the strategy of saving some weaker set encounters for when the party unlocks things like reflextion or iron skin has been around from the early years of the game's release. Like the roaches in the locked room, the fish that lead to the waterfall, or the cave mites by that ax. I just slay them early, because I care not. But, switching what to train based on monster power is an important skill, more so if one uses hybrids. A samurai often wants to cast in battle, but if physical attacks are going to prevent a terrible snowball, then you prevent that snowball! (And every school of magic has spells that can be used for grinding. If a character is lagging too much, it's an option.)

I brought way too many games recently, and here I am writing about Wiz8 when I could be playing games. Yeah, forget the plan, I'm going to dive into the deep end of hack'n'map games: the trilogy of terror. Masterworks all, can't go wrong. One either learns to love the graph paper, or comes to loathe it.

Even if you have 125 Artifacts?

(81 is a good eventual aim, as it makes the Amulet of Healing's spell reliable.)
Apparently, identifying Renewal Potions could get your Artifacts to 94. Then change to Bishop and equip the Philosopher's Shield and that should get you the rest of the way.
I often write about Wizardry 8 when I could be *making* games.

Speaking of hack'n'map games, have you played the new Wizardry 1 remake? (You can turn off the automap in the options, relying only on graph paper, the DUMAPIC spell, and your sense of direction.)

(By the way, I may make a topic about Bishop builds later.)
Alternatively, once your level is high enough, all the enemies on Arnika Road become really easy.

(Then again, I'm reminded of SaGa 3 DS, where to get the Raisera spell you basically have to have an Esper cast Raise about 160 times during combat. This will probably take multiple battles because the spellbook has only 50 uses before needing repair, though it's possible (and likely) to get extra copies of the book.)

There are only 5 skills which I give credit for getting to 75, from level up points:

Pickpocket: Broken with the GOG patch, plus, why would you want to anger NPCs? I always play Lawful Good parties, though sometimes, my evil side kicks in (whacking Crock so nobody is kidnapped, whacking Rattus Rattus because he set me up for a bank robbery, and I will never see him again). Coincidentally, I will also have to kill Milano Calzone, and Don Barlone, one at a time (how convenient). These two are evil rats, part of the Rattkin Mafia, so no tears should be shed for them.

Scouting: There are only a finite amount of hidden items, so if you can get this to 75 skill, fine. It might incease to 80 or 85 from finding many additional hidden items, but it will never max.

Locks and Traps: This was fixed in the GOG release, so that you can't just sit there, playing with tumblers, maxing it out. I consider playing with tumblers beyond what is necessary to unlock the door, and inspecting traps more than once, to be cheese, and I won't do it. 75 skill is fine with me, as the Rogue gets a bonus to this skill, and you can always cast Divine Trap at a trapped chest if you don't have a Rogue.

Communication: You only get one shot at a skill increase, from talking to an NPC for the first time. If there is a Bard in your party (she gets a skill bonus to this), pick her to work on this skill, otherwise, pick one party member to work on this. Early on, you can get a skill increase for every new NPC you talk to, but after that, it's more like an increase for every 2 or 3 new NPCs you talk to. Just getting it to 75 is usually enough to get decent prices at vendors.

Artifacts: Bishops get a bonus to this skill (I picked one of my Bishops to work on this). I'm still in the Monastery, and have no worries about identifying items, thanks to this bonus. If you don't have a Bishop, pick one character (preferably one with decent Intelligence and/or Senses), to work on this. Getting it to 75 skill, plus buying/picking Identify Item spell (books can be bought in Arnika), is more than enough. This skill will probably never max naturally, unless you religiously use charged items, or use Mana Stones way more than enough. Either way, it's definitely not necessary to max, especially with ID item spell.

Other than these 5 skills, what's your excuse for not maxing them? It's most likely laziness.

Melee battles should be set up so that you can get the most benefit from said battles. In the Fighter's example, he is rolling skill increases for Close Combat, Dual Weapons, Sword, Mace and Flail, Powerstrike, and Reflextion skills (6 in 1).

I find that magic is more important to increase early on, as spellbook and realm skills have 3 important characteristics:

1. When you can learn a spell

2. What power level spells can be cast at

3. How much total mana you have (this is calculated by level, Piety, spellbook skill, realm skill, and the number of spells learned).

Whereas, just having respectable skills to melee and ranged combat (50-75), seems enough to give you a decent chance to hit, and a decent number of swings and attacks.

It's time. It will take much longer to clear the game if you spend extra time maxing skills rather than actually making progress.

In particular, I'd actually like to see the later part of the game.

(Not to mention that reaching higher levels is much faster if you actually explore, do quests for some extra XP, and get access to areas where high level XP-rich enemies can spawn.)

Really, maxing out skills is often not the best use of my time.
Only if there's not much risk.

If you're fighting enemies that can instant kill, or that are so strong they can one hit kill weaker characters (like that fairy mage you have sitting in the back), you might want to kill them quickly.

If you're fighting enemies that can drain you, you really want to kill them quickly, as draining is more expensive to recover from than death (though not as much of an issue in the short term). Also, leveling up while drained apparently makes the HP loss permanent, and you don't want that.

If you're fighting enemies that can inflict disease, you *really* want to kill them ASAP. Disease can cause *permanent* loss of stats and HP (I suspect it may cause loss of expert skills, though I suspect you'll retain those points in case you get access again by leveling up and raising the stat back up to 100). In terms of character development, you *really* don't want to take a permanent stat loss, since you can't recover from it, whereas you can make up missed skill increase opportunities later.

I apologize. It's just that the hardcore player in me, looks down on "filthy casuals", and softcore players, for not wanting to 100% the game, and/or max their reasonable skills.

In my last MDP, I actually did 100% the game, and got to see the last parts of the game, which I hadn't seen in 10+ years.

Note that doing all the quests (except the final Umpani and T'Rang quests, which involve destroying the other faction's mothership), while doing the Alliance Quest, is much more satisfying, and XP-enriching.

While doing quests is always good, at higher levels, the XP rewards for doing quests are a drop in the bucket. Instead, the Mountain Wilderness gives high-level, high-XP spawns (level 34 Molten Scorchers spawn here). They are easily countered, and give good XP (This is not a rare spawn; They spawn a lot if around level 34).

I'm playing softcore, so I reload if the 3 Ds happen: Death, Disease, Draining. I've already got those bases covered, as I'm fully aware of what you're talking about, having played W8 since it came out. Your advice would be great for new players, however. Don't save if you have a party member killed (will lose experience), or is Diseased or Drained.

It's just that this game was my young adult years, and I take tremendous pride in creating powerful parties, having taken the time to max all available skills.