Wiz8 arrives by mail soon, so I've been busy planning my first party. Here's how my thinking has gone:

1. I have liked what I read about both Bards and Gadgeteers, and I can't decide between them, so... I'm gonna try to have both. I also want (for sure) a ranger for the ranged combat and the discovery skills, so to start that gives me:
--Bard, Gadgeteer, Ranger

2. I figure with both the Bard and the Gadgeteer giving me some spell effects, I can make do with only one spell caster, so I might as well make it a Bishop for the flexability:
--Bard, Gadgeteer, Ranger, Bishop

3. Finally, I better have some melee masters, so I lean towards having a Fighter and a Samurai, giving me:
--Bard, Gadgeteer, Ranger, Bishop, Fighter, Samurai

How does that sound? It looks to me like I could either be light in healing skills (so I could put in a Lord instead if the fighter or samurai) or light in spell casting. Any opinions out their on this party's shortcomings?

-sbb

Hi sbb!

Well, THAT sounds like a fun party. I also have a bard and a gadgeteer, and it's great to get to use all that stuff. I only dislike fighters, they are mighty, but all to soon maxed out and become uninteresting in my opinion... I have a Ninja instead, he can grab Heal Wounds not to late and so you're fine with healing. We'll, I am, especially since instead of a ranger I have a second bishop, they simply rock!!! Go the tough way, take all 4 schools, save spell picks and buy lots of books. Takes long, but around level 15 or so (or even after meeting a good merchant) they just have to cough to scare everything away :)

Heck, but I thought about a ranger, too. They really sound interesting, ranged weapons and some casting... nice. Well, he's alchemist, too, right? So, grab Heal Wound at level 5, and you won't need to worry about healing abilities.

Hope you get your game soon, it's great!

Never forget your towel, cheers
Philipp

Well, it sounds like you're basing your choices on the right criterion: whatever will give you the most fun. If you like a pure fighting machine, then keep your fighter. I just happen to agree with the previous poster about how fighters become dull rather early in the game. I would recommend using another hybrid (whichever seems most intriguing to you, though I'm quite fond of monks). I'd hang onto the ranger for my first time through. Being able to search without being in search mode really is a difference-maker until the interface becomes 2nd-nature.

My party has the exact same makeup, and I rock through all the battles out there. my only weakness is that my Samurai is so busy being my best melee guy that he's really not great with spells, and I'll need to get him up to where he can cast set portal...

Right now, my bishop is the only one who can set/return portal and that can make things inconvenient.

As for the bard/gadgeteer, they're now indispensible, but it took awhile to get them to that point. My gadgeteer was pretty much a one-trick-pony (lightning rod) until I made the porta potty... my bard has yet to be really useful, but still fun to play. I like that I can do battles using my gadgeteer and bard to mess the monsters up while my bishop is mostly casting stamina... then when the battle is over, I don't have to rest, just regain stamina.

Just try to make your gadgeteer and your bard female so they can use the special necklaces for females that you find early-on... helps you regain your stamina after a couple of seconds of standing.

SBB,

welcome to the wide world of Wizardry 8. You may well find that this is the single best 1 player RPG ever made.

First things first, everyone is right on the money - mathematically maximizing your party is second compared to playing what you will enjoy. I've tried a few different parties playing through a small part of the game, then giving them a tweak.

Some tidbits I've picked up on:

* If you make your bishop study all four schools, he will progress very, VERY slowly. Something to consider is that your Samurai has a minor in Mage spells (starting at level 5) and the Ranger has a minor in Alchemy. So, you may want to have your bishop focus on the Divinity and Psionic schools.

* No doubt, Bards and Gadgeteers are the most fun. Bard songs are very powerful early on. Gadgeteers are weaker off the start, but apparently get stronger much later.

Finally, don't be afraid to experiment. Half of the fun in any game with this much depth is experimenting with different party formations. As long as you understand the strengths and weaknesses of each character, you can have fun experimenting. As an example, one poster talks about having a Fairy Lord - lords are good because they have dual wield, and this lord wields two wands that put enemies to sleep, making it easier for the other, more "traditional", fighter classes.

Gambleur.

Party looks good but like the previous posts i agree abou a fighter getting kinda dull.

I would suggest keeping group how it is and changing the fighter for Either a Ninja or Mon (although you will come across an npc monk who in most cases will be better than a created monk( taking into account that you have no exp in actual game playing as your waiting for the game to arrive). Ninja's can be pretty lethal with the right weapons or if its a fairie ninja with the Cane of Corpus. The other suggestion would be to try a rogue. With a decent stelth skill & some nice weapons they can really dish out some dmg in melee combat.

Note, if your Bard is usless early on then you aren't using her correctly. She starts off being able to use the sleep spell, that takes one bit of pressure off your mage. By the upper monestary, she gets Bless, so your healer can save those spell points, etc. The bard is really valuable, especially early on.

Sounds like a good mix of skills - as Pyrates says, should be fun !!

You may want to consider changing the ranger into a ninja, as a front line character. Ninjas don't need heavy armour, so this can increase the amount of stuff your party can carry. Your bard and gadgeteer should be able to handle your partys long range attack requirements.

You have a fair amount of healing, but if you want to improve it, then change the samurai into a monk - just as good a fighter as the samurai, also has the no armour advantage, picks up Heal Wounds in the Psionic spell book, and also helps out with the need for your bishop to learn Psionic spells.

I'm sure you will enjoy Wiz8 no matter what you choose !!

Pang [img]graemlins/cat3.gif[/img]

This is exactly the party I play. You must be a genius! :> Don't worry about not having enough healing, just be sure to take heal wounds at the start with your bishop. As was stated earlier, your ranger will pick it up at 5th level. And then right around 11th level, you'll find an instrument for your bard that will make healing an afterthought...

To help you get there, you can pick up a Valkyrie NPC early in the game who also compliments this party extremely well, being a flank fighter with extended reach. Your second NPC is less important, since you have most facets of the game covered with your main team. A front row fighter (rogue, monk, etc) would probably be your next best bet.

With your bishop, concentrate on wizardry, psionics, and to a lesser degree divinity. I say to a lesser degree because you'll get plenty of skill ups through casting. You will with wizardry as well, but it's the most important realm because of its protective magics. Take psionics next, because you don't have that realm covered elsewhere (the monk NPC can't cast spells). I also bumped up alchemy to 15 so I could start mixing potions, but you can leave that to your ranger if you like. Concentrate on defensive buffs and offensive status ailments. Your bard and gadgeteer can handle the offensive magic in time.

As for the merits of the fighter, all I can say is that I personally like to have at least one character capable of big damage. The light-hitting crit guys like the samurai, monk, and ninja are great when the crits actually happen, but having a tank to soften the enemies is a huge benefit to this mainly ranged/instruments/gadgets party. (I would swap out the samurai for a 2nd fighter or better yet a valkyrie before giving up my fighter)

The last bit of advice I can give for this party from my experience, is to focus on your ranger. Give her (as has been said before, the women get the cool stamina items and you'll need plenty of stamina for your ranger later) a doubleshot crossbow, a large selection of quality ammunition, and a high dex/spd/sen and she'll be your MVP. My ranger leads my party in kills because of a combination of critical hits, high speed (finishes off weak monsters from the previous round), and multiple attacks. And to top it off you don't have to worry about searching!

You have made a solid choice of party members. I hope you enjoy playing them as much as I do!

Worth noting when you consider your formations is that your Ranger, Gadgeteer and Bard could all potentially be placed in your front lines. Obviously their main strengths are not melee but if you give them all some decent armour (note: there are some pretty good bard-only armours), a decent sword (lots of them around fairly early) and a shield (or a second weapon if you want to live a little more dangerously) then they can practice their skills in the easy fights where you don't want to waste ammo on a bunch of creatures 3 levels weaker than you. Plus, your guys will be practising their sword skill so that later in the game when you have 4 or 5 pretty good swords, you can use all of them to decent effect.

I think your party looks like it could be really good and fun. Do make sure though that when you start playing, you build your characters in a manner that enhances what you want to do with them. There are some web sites with lots of good advice on building the various character classes. Poorly built characters are frustrating and annoying, well built characters rock!

It's a great game. Have fun!

Bear