Stamina problems: if you run into many monsters early on, such as in the Monastery, you need to conserve stamina. If confronted by a large number of enemies, or a few tough ones such as metallic slimes, run away so they have to go around a corner to get to you one by one if possible. My 3-party beat 15 seekers and later 4 metal slimes this way. There was no other way that worked because of stamina loss (and no one had stamina spell, but it would have been used up quickly anyway).

If you do that party formation plays an important part too.
as people get tired or damaged, cycle them to the back of the pack to rest....
If you have a tank that never seems to get hit, stick him/her out front with a tshirt on that reads "hit me suckers!"

A tip I don't think I've seen... whenever leaving an area (the message pops up Enter ??????) select 'NO' (the 'X') bring up your Map and Write on it where that exit goes to - do the same when entering an area (eg: "To Swamp").

I also like to put an 'E' (for empty) into every building I've searched in Arnika, as well as mark anyplace that you may want to return to (Fuzfass, Monastary room needing wheel key, anyplace needing a key [or specific item] you don't yet have, any teleport points, etc.)

WRITE on the Map - that will make it more useful !

You can always delete stuff you write later...

I don't know if anyone is still checking this thread...but...

When working on unlocking a chest, especially if power training, make sure to turn your party around using the left or right arrow key. If the unlock just dialog box is open, it will stay that way even if you turn around. That way a group of 6 rapid rats won't jump your level 3 party...Yes, I learned the hard way.

Yeah. I'm reading the thread!
[img]smile.gif[/img]
BTW, how do I tell WHEN a reply was posted? I can't find dates.......
How786

My piece of input...

If you have Psionic or Monk, get them "Identify Item" spell as SOON as possible, and from then on use them as the dedicated "identify item" spellcaster.

The reason I tell this... is because early on I gave my priest the Identify Item book, and despite a mental magic skill of zero, and not a single useful spell in the mental magic realm, by level 15 he risen to mental magic skill of about 65, JUST from identifying items. Comparatively, my monk, who I have been painfully trying to train up as a spell caster, has a mental magic skill of a meagre 80. Had the monk been the dedicated identifier, I cant exactly work out what his mental magic skill would have been... however suffice to say it would have been at LEAST ten points higher, if not maxed out. Furthermore for a good portion of the early game it would be been close to double what it was... going by the priests progression. Alas, I was a first time player and had very little idea of the game mechanics... and now I am stuck with a priest with almost 70 wasted realm points.

Might seem obvious, to put spells where they belong... but just a reminder to never underestimate the value of training, and know that often overlooked actions can reap the highest advancments.

[ 04-25-2005, 02:26 PM: Message edited by: hayaku ]

I find the passages in the lower monestary hard to navigate when I don't have someone that can cast the light spell.

If I am going to spend some time there, I will drop single arrows (you could also use rocks, etc.) on the ground to leave a trail that shows up on the radar.

Want to get the Holy Water spellbook from the Savant Orb near the Tower in Arnika? The Orb has the greatest number of hit points of the enemy group, so it is easy to kill them all except the Orb. At this point, run away. I like to run to the room where I found the Lesser Cures spellbook. After combat disengages, save your game and you only have one weakened enemy to kill over and over till the Holy Water spellbook drops. Saves lots of time.

Well, after reading all these in a day to be sure I am not reposting, I found a couple things I'd like to add to as well.

Guardian Angel spell: If possible add a Razor Cloak to the same person. Nothing is as satisfying as to see 0 damage to your char while the enemy who popped them takes significant damage.

Also the messages on spellbooks that you can sometimes see in vendor inventory, they still show up in personal inventory. The game just has no way of knowing which party member will be attempting to use the book while in common inventory so it cannot display a message on usage.

Likewise in vendor inventory no messages show up if a non casting char is active while shopping, a fighter has no use for spell books hence no point in displaying any message.

My original tip was this: The little Forest Mites in the cave on the Arnika Road. Leave them alone for the first part of the game unless you really need the treasure they guard. Save them for later like when you have chars with newly opened skills like reflextion and iron skin. They can help train that as well as stealth and shield skills so several members of the party can benefit from this encounter if you play it right.

Re: BEST TIPS for Wizardry 8
 

I decided to take a turn for the different by taking advantage of the foreknowledge of the level sensors being ON and snooping on Flamestryke's site of the levels they are at. This means that the chest and drops will wield better booty if you hit them just right. No guarantees, but a better random chance of nice stuff:

Some drawbacks being that you will have to practice more due to the lack of grabbing better weapons/armor and spellbooks.

You'll have to study it to know when to hit the areas yourselves, but here it is and I'll start you off:
level 1-5
level 6-10
level 11-15
level 16-20
level 21-25
level 26-30
level 31+
Don't enter Upper Monastery until level 6
Don't enter Arnika-Trynton Rd OR Arnika until level 11
Don't enter Rattkin Tree until level 16
Don't enter Rapax areas until level 21

Obviously it will not be easy and probably for only parties of 4 or less and no RPC's either. The sensor (assume) plays on the lowest level PC or RPC. I’m trying it now with the following party: Monk/Rogue/Ranger/Bishop.