Everybody knows that hybrids (Lord, Valkyrie, Ranger, Ninja, Monk, and Samurai), suffer a -4 caster level penalty. Does Powercast make up for this, in general, either in the short run, or the long run?

I have created many parties, and never once do I remember giving my Ranger PC. The non-caster rule seems to be, without exception, Strength, Dexterity, Speed, and Senses maxed ASAP.

Edit: I will take the forum's dead silence as a no. There is no other optimal way to build a hybrid than Strength, Dexterity, Speed, and Senses.

So, here are my thoughts:
* Vakyrie/Lord: You're not casting offensive spelsl that often with them. (They're still sometimes useful, like when fighting a lot of low level enemies.) On the other hand, Power Cast does help with healing, allowing healing spells, most notably Heal All, to restore more hit points. Also, Superman benefits nicely.
* Samurai: Samurai really feels like a weak class in general to me (though you can mtigate this somewhat by making them a Mook, allowing the use of the Giant's Sword). Power Cast can help with the Samurai's attack spells, and may be useful if you have a Felpurr in the party (with the Felpurr's water weakness, to reach 100 resist without equipment requires that Element Shield be power cast). On the other hand, there's the problem that attack magic falls off later, and by end game you can expect to maybe be able to cast Nuckear Blast at PL3 (and that's stretching it).
* Ranger/Ninja: The big thing here might actually be Body of Stone, though it does help healing. From what someone else has posted, Death Cloud seems to ignore normal rules, so Power Cast might not matter here. A Ninja could use spells like Crush for long-range attacks, as said character won't usually be using long range weapons (slings, IIRC, are thrown range, and you want to use them because doing so boosts thrown skill and Critical Strke).
* Monk: This may be the most interesting case, particularly if you like Psionic Blast. At level 21 or so (around a typical endgame level for someone already familiar with the game), Psionic Blast and Ego Whip are going to be the strongest reliable attack spells available to any hybrid, and boosting them can be quite helpful.

Just for the records,
apparently Powercast onlys increases the duration of Element Shield,
the cumulative 7% resistance/power lvl to each of the 4 realms stays as is.

Strength: Affects damage, both in melee and ranged combat (with ranged, and whips, 1/2 the damage bonus). Chance to hit increased in both. Extra Stamina, extra Carry Capacity. Powerstrike unlocked upon max (extra chance to hit and to penetrate, in melee, upon max).

Dexterity: Affects chance to hit, in both melee and range. Affects the number of swings per attack. Reflextion unlocked upon max (extra AC, helping against both melee and ranged attacks).

Speed: Affects Initiative, the number of swings per attack, the number of attacks per turn, gives a small +2 AC upon maxing, and unlocks SnakeSpeed upon max (extra Initiative, so that you always go first).

Senses: Affects Initiative, same as Speed, affects chance to hit (both melee and ranged), at higher levels. Unlocks Eagle Eye upon max, granting extra chance to hit and to penetrate with ranged weapons.

This is perfect for specialists, such as the Fighter, Rogue, Bard, and Gadgeteer. They have absolutely no use for Powercast.

Where the rub comes in, is hybrids:

Lord: I don't have experience with them, but their melee looks to be mediocre (they get a Dual Weapons skill bonus), but aren't hitting like the Fighter or Rogue. Valkyrie: This is my first time creating one, I'm going with Polearms, as that's her weapon skill bonus. They get the Divinity spellbook, so are not going to be casting that much offensively.

Ranger: Gets free Scouting, ranged crits, and Ranged Combat skill bonus. Ninja: Thrown crits, thrown auto-penetrate, Critical Strike. They get the Alchemy spellbook, so are somewhat balanced between offense and defense, while the Alchemy spellbook arguably gets the best level 6 and 7 spells (great even without Powercast).

Monk: I have no experience with this class, though some might (especially those that hire RFS-81). Apparently, they don't need much equipment, as they fight with Martial Arts skill (hands and feet). They get the Psionics spellbook, and have Stealth, so they are protected. There are many Psionics spells that work fine without Powercast, especially before Ascension Peak, where magic falls off.

Samurai: I have no experience with this class. Apparently, you are supposed to use a Sword with them, as that's their skill bonus (a Mook can use the Giant's Sword, though later in the game). From what I know, a "Lightning Strike" can occur, though that's unknown if it's Sword only, or Dual-Wielding. Knowing the Wizardry spellbook, without Powercast, can still allow them to cast buffs, or attack spells if the enemies are lower level.

Lord: I have used this class. In fact, my very first party I had a male priest who I changed into a lord later on. I don't really remember how well this build worked, but I distinctly remember getting Power Cast with him. (I happen to really like healing magic, and Power Cast + Heal All is the most powerful multi-target heal there is.) For general use, my recommendation is to plan on giving your lord the Diamond Eyes; before you get it, a Hammer makes a good weapon to equip in that slot, as it uses the same skill, boosts Mace & Flail (which affects your main weapon, if it's also a Mace/Flail), and II.does have a KO chance. Al alternative approach is to plan on using HP drain equipment with them. Lord tends to be a late bloomer due to the way Dual Wielding works.

Valkyrie: Unlike lord, which is more of a late bloomer, the Valkyrie is good even early in the game. By the time you reach Arnika, you likely already have an Awl Pike, and there's more spears, including the Lance, for sale there. Later on, you can buy Stun Rods and Dread Spears; that's plenty in terms of weapons, and while they may not be the strongest weapons in the game, they're readily available and still good enough for Ascension Peak and the Cosmic Circle. If Intelligence and Senses aren't both terrible, it may be worth boosting her Artifacts to 35 so that she can use the Amulet of Life; being able to both resist and treat the "dead" condition can certainly come in handy.

Monk: RFS-81 doesn't show everything the Monk is capable of, due to his inability to use magic. I've found that, even 4 levels behind, Psionic Blast is quite useful in the hands (brain?) of a monk.

Samurai: Apparently, Lightning Strike needs you to have physically attacked in the previous round. If you've done that, then Lightning Strike might trigger with each attack, adding 3 extra swings if it does so. (I don't know whether this is melee only.) This can give you a nice boost of damage, but (especially if you're using the Giant's Sword) could alos get you a not-so-nice loss of Stamina.

Lord: Looks like a watered-down Fighter, with Divinity magic. The Fighter will do much more damage with Diamond Eyes (he can get a Hammer in the Monastery, as I did). Best go with Valkyrie, who specializes in Polearms, and cheating death.

Ranger: Is great for any party, novice or expert. Free Scouting, Ranged Combat skill bonus, ranged crits. Ninja: Not worth it, as they take as long to level up as a Bishop (I don't count the Cane of Corpus as a reliable drop).

Monk: Maybe if you're familiar with RFS-81, with no magic, but a normal Monk, with magic, will want Psionic Blast (a unique spell that hits unseen enemies, even around corners). Probably can do without Powercast, using fists of fury.

Samurai: Seems like too much work. Looks like a watered-down Fighter, just like the Lord.

Lords get HP regen. This means that:
* You don't need to spend as many resources healing the character. (This can be handy if, for example, you don't have any other divine or stamina caster.)
* Apparently, you can equip as many cursed items as you want.
* Also, assuming you're actually dual wielding, Dual Weapons > Close Combat.

Another case for Lord involves class changing from Priest:
* Going Priest -> Valkyrie means that, in order to benefit from the primary skill bonus, you have to switch weapons and start over from 5 skill.
* Going Priest -> Lord means you can keep your weapon type, only having to build up Dual Weapons.

As I said before, I dislike class changing, as that opens up cheese (dipping 1 level to acquire, and max Stealth, for example).

Stealth should only be used for their intended class (a Rogue, for example). Said character can do a lot of damage up front (Backstabbing for 1-4X damage, though their 3X and 4X seem to increase with levels). Provided they have a meat-shield (the Fighter is the classic example), The Fighter will absorb roughly 75-80% of the attacks (assuming the Rogue has maxed Stealth).

Lords get HP Regeneration, but anybody can get that by buying 2X Amulets of Healing from Crock (it's essential for casters wielding the Staff of Doom, so they don't die). Factor in the Infinity Helm, and Robes of Rejuvenation, and the Lord's special bonus becomes pointless (similar to the Fairies' SP regeneration).

The Lord's profession bonus of Dual Weapons can easily be overcome by a Fighter or Rogue maxing this skill, and doing way more melee damage.

The Valkyrie is more unique, in that SHE (female only), can cheat death, though I don't let it get to that point, reloading if Death/Disease/Draining occur. Her Polearms skill bonus makes sure that she can hit from extended range, and is exceptional at it.

The Ranger is everybody's favorite hybrid (mine included). They get a Ranged Combat skill bonus, Ranged crits, and free Scouting (no need to search, or cast Detect Secrets, with its short duration). They can use almost all weapon types, though I'm going with Polearms this time, so they can hit from extended range, just like the Valkyrie.

The Ninja takes as much experience to level up as a Bishop, with only one spellbook (Alchemy), Locks and Traps skill, Stealth, thrown auto-penetrate, and thrown crits. It doesn't seem worth it, especially since thrown ammo is so rare. This isn't counting Fairy Ninjas, who are not guaranteed to get the Cane of Corpus.

The Monk looks fun. You can recruit RFS-81, who has Android immunities, but no magic, and takes as long to level up as a hybrid. The Monk gets Stealth, and can be powerful with no weapons, similar to the Black Belt in FF1. Perhaps someone can enlighten me, if this class is as powerful as a Fighter or Rogue, in melee combat?

The Samurai seems like a lot of work, getting special weapons and armor. Is their Lightning Strike ability on par with the Fighter's or Rogue's melee abilities? I'm guessing that LS is random, and isn't reliable.

Monks are not anywhere near as powerful as Black Belts/Monks get in FF1, or Monks in Bard's Tale 1 or 3 (not 2, as enemy HP scales too fast, making them less useful later on; BT3 made Monks stronger so their attacks are still OHKO'ing enemies up until the final dunegon).

Incidentally:
* In FF1 (PSX version, easy mode), the maximum possible damage is 50,976.
* In the remastered Bard's Tale trilogy, Monks get the BT3 damage values for all 3 games. In BT1, this feels excessive (doing thousands of damage where enemies cap out around a couple hundred HP), but it feels right for BT2, and in late BT3 with the help of bard songs doing 5 digit damage is realistic (and not always a kill, surprisingly). I generally don't consider LS to be reliable enough to build around it. It is, however, worth being aware that it can only trigger if you used a physical attack the previous round (so it won't happen much if you're mixing the physical attacks with spells), and it may need to be a melee attack (not sure on that last point).

As a side note, I've learned of a possible way to play Wizardry 8 on Android.

The most reliable way to deal damage, then, would be a Fighter and Rogue up front, dual-wielding. You want flank characters able to hit from extended range. You want your fragile characters protected, in the center formation.

One drawback of dual-wielding is that there's an accuracy penalty.
* For a Fighter, this stacks with the penalty for using the Berserk attack option.
* For a Rogue, remember that Rogues have lower attack rating growth than Fighter, and therefore tend to miss more often to begin with.
* On Expert difficulty, you suffer something like a 40% accuracy penalty. Therefore, physical attacks will often be less reliable than direct damage spells; this is especially true early in the game. (Maybe you shouldn't play on Easy all the time?)

I am aware that the Fighter has a small accuracy penalty for going Berserk, but the penalty is outweighed, when he actually connects (2X damage, possible chance of KO%).

Similarly, I am aware that the Rogue, Bard, and Gadgeteer are Tier 2 characters, and suffer from less chance to hit, less swings and attacks, etc. I ground my Rogue hard enough so that, in white encumbrance, he has 2 swings per attack maximum in both hands, and 2 attacks per turn.

Are you kidding me? Direct damage spells, even on easy mode, fizzle out quickly. Find that out when you get to Arnika, and face level 17 Berserkers, level 21 Slashers, and level 22 Minion. The only way to deal with them is with physical damage, if you're similar level. Magic can help if you way outlevel them.

Why would I want to add to my difficulty, by playing on non-Easy mode?

It is certainly possible to win a KWM game on iron man at max difficulty.
(why would anyone be willing to make the game boring by lowering it?)
KWM rule is characters incl RPCs are not allowed to cause physical damage.
The only, and probably required, loophole are the summoned elementals
you will recognize where they are needed when you try a KWM run.
And ofc the so called friendlies who steal your skillups,
but that can be avoided in an IM KWM rampage(= attack everybody instantly on sight etc)

A couple things:
* Expert mode impacts physical attacks more than magical attacks. Hence, Expert shifts the balance in favor of magical attacks.
* If you're fighting enemies that high in level in Arnika, it's not early game anymore. By the time you reach those levels, the developers have expected that you've explored most of the world and have earned expert skills, particularly Power Cast on full offensive casters. Either that, or your level is so low that you broke the game's level scaling (in which case you need to enter at at least level 5, at which point the enemies will be of a reasonable level comparable to your own).

At the level I'm at (level 21, 22, 23 characters), I expect to waste all oppostion. I already did the quests with Myles and Vi Domina (not letting either of them leech experience). It's complicated; Kick Myles out multiple times, then listen to him complain multiple times. It's still worth it, as neither Myles nor Vi Domina will steal experience from your party, and both will be in their proper place (Myles at the Arnika Fountain entrance, Vi Domina in He'Li's bar).

The party doesn't need either of them mooching experience from the 6-member party, so they were always kicked out before set battles.

I think I did good, in Arnika: VI was rescued, she was escorted to Lord Braffit and He'Li, and was dismissed safely in He'Li's bar. Myles was dismissed safely at the Arnika Fountain entrance to town.