Yeah so I've played pretty much every Wizardry game except 8 until about 3 weeks ago, and the only thing keeping me going is just to finish it for the sake of finishing it and completing the Dark Savant trilogy. It really just feels like a chore though...

My main problems with Wizardry 8:

-Battles are horrendous. They last way too long, and the enemies always match up against you, no matter where you are it seems. Spells like blinding flash and fright spells are counterproductive, since enemies just run away from you for a couple rounds when they're blind or scared and then come back or you have to chase them so it just prolongs already incredibly long battles. Tougher enemies all seem resistant to mental spells or cast soul shield so I can't really even use insanity anymore right now either.

-Leveling up magic for anyone other than pure spellcasters is hell. Why do I keep casting level 1 fire spells with my samurai that are completely useless, only to have my wizardry stats go up like a point every tenth time I use them? It doesn't even feel like it's worth it. I'll probably be done with the game before I can cast a decent fireball.

-What happened to the incomprehensible wizardry puzzles that were staples of earlier games? Was I the only one that liked them?

All in all, I really wanted to love Wizardry 8, and initially I did think it was pretty fun. But now I'm just bored with it and I dread these 20 minute battles, and they're only getting worse. I finished the swamp where I can travel to Bayjin, the mines or Marten's Bluff but I haven't played it in a couple days. Can anyone motivate me that it's worth finishing? I really loved most of the Wizardry games but I'm just not seeing the attraction to 8. It feels like one step forward, two steps back for the series.

There is a fix for the battles, google 'wizfast' or watch some Let's Play.

I agree it's unplayable without the fix.

Generally, secondary casters should stick to buff and support spells until they have a reasonable set of casting skills. Use them rather than the primary casters to keep the party's buffs up as much as possible, and put level-up points into boosting their casting skills. It may also be a good idea to focus each of them on a couple of realms rather than trying to master all realms at once. Powerleveling the casting skill is possible once they get access to level 2 or 3 spells (depending on casting type).

The creature scaling in any given area has a level range, so you'll eventually outlevel the creatures in any given area. It's also possible to encounter ones lower than your level (or rarely, ones higher than your level) among the respawning patrols; they're just weighted to be close to your own more often. Pre-placed creatures may well be higher or lower level than your group, although this will depend partly on what order you visit them.

If you want to experience some older-style dungeon puzzles then you should look up the three "Retro Dungeons" that are hidden in the game.

1. You didn't post stats but I bet your Samurai has a lower intelligence than your Wizard and IMO is casting the wrong spell… magic missile is a much better spell because it is devine.

How good your hybrid is at casting will mostly be a race issue i.e. Cats have terrible magic ability and should stick to melee with the odd buff tossed in to help the group whereas Elves typically suck at melee and have access to one of the games best bows… if you invest in Intel then they can make passable spell casters as well.

2. I agree that using Terror and Blinding Flash can be counterproductive in some cases and that’s why I don't use them much… Pandemonium * is my goto spell for large battles but Hypnotic Lure ^ is available for an early Gadgeteer and makes fighting in Trynton (or anywhere else with beasts) much easier because they just stand still and look at it.

3. As Garran has already mentioned Retro Dungeons I let that one be a surprise for the next play-through but it sounds like you just need to spend a little more time designing your party at the start of the next game and the good news is that you now have a better idea (from your own experiences) of what to expect and perhaps more importantly what to avoid.

*A Psionic can have this spell about the first time you leave Arnika and get solid mileage out of it for the rest of the game as long as you give him the 'Power Cast' skill because nothing beats having large packs of Rapax (Bandits or Insects) fighting amongst themselves to speed up the game.

^ Tip; always place it so that things in melee with you have to turn around in order to look at it and your front liners will have a much easier time.

I was going to buy Wizardry 6-8 but like all these games, it just seems like its a horrendous slugfest. It states on how long to beat these games are each 100 hours long. Im sorry but if the game is 40 hours or long of no story/just slugfest what is the point in playing?

Ill stick to Avadon which can be completed within the next millennium.

They really gotta stop making games like this. Avernum Escape from the Pit was horrible and now this.

I thought you were in love with EFtP?

But yeah the wizfast mod just seems to speed up the combat on the side of the monsters, does it do anything other than that? Or is grinding still an issue?

AFAIK, Wizfast just alters the animation speeds. It's not meant to do more than that, although there are other mods out there that do change aspects of gameplay.

I'll also point out that your first visit to an area will be more combat-heavy because there are pre-placed encounters and pre-placed patrols that do NOT respawn once killed. These ones are also likely to have set levels rather than being ranged.

One other thing that can help is the X-Ray spell, whether cast or provided by a gadgeteer: this lets you see things at long range on the minimap, making it much easier to avoid patrolling creatures, especially when combined with Chameleon.

Between those and the predictable paths that most patrols follow, it's actually fairly easy to avoid most of them in the more open areas, and often even in the enclosed areas like Trynton (where you can duck into a building to let them go by).

I like the game a lot, I do. The only thing is its so freaking long I usually never make it past lvl 26, lol. The original Avernum you gain exp much faster. In the remake you have to know where to go to get exp and it can be a real drag if you go from place to place gaining no exp and dying over and over again in the process. In avadon while the roleplaying isn't as good as Avernum, if you follow the main quest you will always have exp and will always gain lvls.

Its a two-edged sword. I didn't fully complete Avernum original but you might have. Is that any different or is it like the remake?