Hello. I realize that this is not a forum for Wizardry Gold, but then I'm not aware of any more appropriate place (and if there is such a thing as a Wiz Gold forum, please let me know!) Anyway, I assume that many people here are very familiar with the game, and I'd appreciate any help you can give me. Though I'm pretty familiar with Wiz 8, Wiz Gold has me a bit bewildered.

I started playing a few days ago, made a party that I think (or hope) is reasonably acceptable, and sent them out to explore New City. Once I'd done that, I consulted a walkthrough (the shame of it!), and concluded that Orkogre Castle was the best place to go next. Here's the problem: while I have little difficulty in New City and in the forests (my guys are at levels 6 and 7), I'm getting obliterated in Orkogre. My conclusion was that I just needed to level up more, but the creatures I'm encountering (outside of the castle) just aren't giving me anywhere near the kind of experience I need at this point. It's getting pretty frustrating. Can anyone point me in a better direction, or give me pointers on how to improve my party?

I do have other questions (actually a bunch) but I'll let them wait.

Thanks in advance.

There is a forum, active, and with a fairly large archive of topics to haelp you.
Since there's no competition on IW, here's a link...

http://www.softwarespecialties.com/c...conf=DCConfID1

only wish i knew how to make long links shorter...

Scatter, that is VERY much appreciated. I'll try my questions over there. Thanks.

You never go to Okogre castle at this point. First finish Munkaharma. Then do so Umpani, then Okogre. That is how I went and it works out fine.

I always finished Orkogre first, then Munkharama. It always worked well for me.
But I usually first made a trip through the flowers to the Tower of Dane, to get Iron Will first :D

[img]graemlins/monster5.gif[/img]

[ 10-14-2004, 02:44 AM: Message edited by: Loudhy ]

Yes, Orkogre is fine at that point, though level 7 seems quite low, you're right. Did you find the beginner dungeon near where you started? That might level you up a bit... also, in New City, there should be quite some tough enemies as well that let you level up, I think (it's been a while).

Enjoy, Wiz 7 is just great!

Cheers
Philipp

P.S.: Don't be ashamed of the walkthrough, it's a tough game.

For me, Orkogre is usually the next station. But level 7 sounds low, i think i was usually 9-10 at this point.

One thing i do is take take the road to munkharama, and clear the road and the surrounding wildernesse first. But i don't enter munkharama at this stage, since the monsters there often are quite stron (dark forest monks IIRC).

Did you clear the 'wildernesse' around the roads, or just walk along the road?

Thanks for all the responses.

I ended up switching the difficulty from normal to easy, and things are working much better. My suspicion is that I didn't pay enough attention to all the variables during character creation, and probably have a party that isn't quite up to snuff. Nevertheless, I'm attached to them now and will see how far I can get.

Yes, I went to the starter dungeon first (and also got the map kit, which made things a lot nicer). I also am making a point to clear up as much wilderness as possible as I travel. The problem is that the encounters there (back and forth from New City to Orkogre) are giving me such pitiful experience that it barely seems worthwhile. One of my mistakes, I think, was my assumption that Wiz 8 knowledge applied to this game as well, whereas it has really been as much a hindrance as a help.

One question. Is there any way to control stat increase (as opposed to skills) when you level up? I'm beginning to think that some of my guys should switch classes. When is switching a good idea?

Thanks again.

[By the way, I'm extremely impressed at the amount of traffic a game like Wiz 8 still receives; it shows the love people have for this series.]

I like to get Munkaharma done first... That way T'shober is generally still alive and healthy. Fighting his ghost is a b*tch to do.

I do the wilderness towards Munkharama first.

The only way to control stat increases is to refight the battle that levels you up. Sometimes it just isn't worth it for hard, long or lucky battles. (I think you also get stat bonuses that are non-combat but I forget.) With a fast machine it is hard to see the stat increases, you almost have to mem them or write them down for players near lev to see what you got. Many times you get almost nothing to primaries (like, one point in intelligence for a fighter). Other times you may get three or four in good areas like strength or speed. I use to play the "stat game" in Wiz 7 and it really helps early on. Wiz 7 is still my alltime fave but I don't quite have as much patience for it. Wiz 8 is more playable.

In Wiz-7 there's a whole different arrangement for class-switching. You can do it any time you have the stats for the class you want to switch to, losing all excess attribute points, but keeping all skills--and continuing to be able to add points to these skills through practise as well as levelling. You go back to L1 when you change, which is good because you can level again quickly--many players use this to rotate through classes by going to L6 in one class and switching in a pattern that requires only a few attribute points, reloading if the right ones don't increase. This way it's possible to learn all skills and all spells if you take it to extremes. These topica are all in the forum i linked to earlier in this thread, use the Search in there, or read through the titles of the threads.

In terms of where you should go first...

1) Beginner Dungeon
2) Phoot Forest
3) Areas around the River
4) Orkogre

BTW @SecretMaster

T'Shober only has his ghost if he gets killed, and it takes a LONG time for other NPCs to kill him. The quickest he dies is if you kill him.

There are exceptions to that. He once died extremely quickly on me. I had finished new city wand was on my way to Munkarhama. I started over, he is to strong at those lvls.

If you save every step that one of your party stays awake (and reload if they all succumb to the poppies), you can go to Dane Tower the short way and get the Mind Control skill a lot earlier than if you go the other way around. This helps a lot vs a variety of conditions.

edith says: oh, Loudhy already said this....well, it's a side trip from the other walkthroughs.

[ 10-14-2004, 10:25 PM: Message edited by: Scatter ]

No need to save, Scatter. If you had a Fairie and used the bag you found in New City ( can't remember exactly : Smelling Salts ? ) you had enough mental resistance to walk through the flowers with a sleeping party but a conscious fairie. I only needed 5 or 6 tries to walk through the flowers that way.

[img]graemlins/monster5.gif[/img]

i almost never use a faerie any more, and the Deadman's Hair isn't always enough by itself, but it helps a lot.

[ 10-15-2004, 11:16 AM: Message edited by: Scatter ]

I think I now have a good basic understanding of the game now, thanks to everyone. However, I have just a few more questions.

1. Are there any reagents in particular that I should hang on to? I have a bunch now, and am considering just selling them off, but don't want to shoot myself in the foot.

2. Is it ok to dump keys (and other stuff) that I've already used? Inventory is getting a bit hard to manage lately.

3. Are stat increases at level ups entirely random, or are they tied to class? For instance, is a fighter more likely to improve strength than a mage?

Stat increases are random. And if you die you lose vitality points, also random (0-2). Not sure about the rest.

There can be up to 128 items on the ground in any one zone (where the edge of the map 'dissappears') and nothing gets stolen that you drop, only the first thing vanishes when you drop the 129th. So you can stash things you think you might want later. Personally, i didn't bother much with the reagents once i started getting rings/amulets which gave AC as well as Realm protection. It's always useful to have at least something in everybody's "miscellaneous" slot.

I also found reagents to be quite useless once rings were found. However, do as Scatter suggests and just stash them somewhere.

Keys for specific doors should disspear when you use them. So if you still have a key, likely there's a good reason for it.