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leptomeninges · 09-25-2006, 11:59 AM

Just came back tho this forum after a long hiatus and saw your thread. First of all, if you're a hard core RPG player, I think you'll love this game. Yes the graphics suck, but the strategy is deep. Of all my RPG gaming experiences this was one of my favorites (moreso than the Baldur's series, primarily for the increased control over character development).

But to reply to your questions. First of all, as I'm sure you know, when it comes to RPGs there are two attitudes towards multiclassing. There are games that reward it, and games that punish it. Wizardry 8 punishes it. Secondarily, by and large, the hybrids are not as powerful as the pure classes. Having said that, the pure classes tend to get a little boring farther into the game. The hybrids keep you engaged better, and thus in my opinion are more fun to play.

Now to your party... I'm going to give you some opinions. You can take them or leave them as you like. Bear in mind that my personal philosophy is that I like to do a reasonable amount of min/maxing within the constraints of making what I consider to be a *fun* party.

1. Lords are some of the worst hybrids. Their dual weild skill bonus is pretty meaningless (I'm not going to crunch the numbers, but take it from me) and their health regeneration is very weak. Fighters hit *much* harder and are much better meat shields. I've never used a dwarf personally. As an aside, in terms of race choice and min/maxing lizards and *hobbits* of all things make some of the best fighters. Hobbits are generally the uber class in this game(as strange as that seems). I usually have a maximum of one hobbit in my party, usually a bard.

2. Dracon samurai. Almost all of my parties include a dracon samurai. Just FYI many people have tried to figure out what triggers the "lightning strike" ability of samurais. To the best of my knowledge, the only thing that has been reliably associated is the weight the samurai is carrying. Don't overburden him. Also, samurais get a bonus skill with swords and there are a few samurai-only swords out there so in my opinion you're missing the boat if you go with polearms.

3. Felpurr ninja. I also love this combination. (Again, in terms of min/maxing, hobbits make some of the best ninjas and samurais both, but I usually ignore that.) You are probably aware that one of the best items in the game is a staff that can only be used by a fairy ninja. Personally, I can't get excited by that combination. My favorite ninja was one who went with throwing as well as dual wielding swords and daggers for close range. (Not the strongest combination, but very fun.) I also maxed her magic. Ninjas can be hard to build. They take a lot of careful work or they end up spread too thin. But late in the game when your other characters essentially have their skills maxed, you usually have some work to do on your ninja which makes it an interesting character. You should also know that items to throw end up being relatively rare. It can be hard to keep your ninja equipped, particularly in the early game. Their throwing ability also isn't as strong as you might think. But it still is very fun.

4. Bard - I usually go hobbit for no particular reason. Bards end up being quite strong as do Gadgeteers with their endurance based casting. Many people like to dual class bards after they hit the level required for the maximum instrument. There really isn't a reason to keep leveling as a bard after that. I think the most popular second class is a rogue.

5. Priest/Mage - While these are both helpful classes, you should know that bishops are by far the most powerful spell casters. They get access to all spell schools and are completely overpowered. They take more work to level. If you need tips on training their spell schools I can provide them. If you don't want to labor over it, the priest and mage are fine choices.

Other classes you may want to consider:
Rogues are very powerful. They do insanely high damage.
Gadgeteers are also very powerful. It takes some work to assemble their gadgets though. Personally I go with mook gadgeteers.
Rangers are actually more powerful ranged attackers than the ninja. Ranged weapons aren't particularly strong in this game though as enemies close very quickly. The only reason to use them is from the back line if you don't have an extended reach melee weapon.
Monks are very fun and powerful. However, there is a recruitable monk NPC and for this reason many people skip this class.
There are other recruitable NPCs -- the most popular is a Valkyire as she is somewhat important to the plot.
I personally never use NPCs as I don't like to split the experience with them.

And for whatever it's worth, the most fun party I ever played was and ironman four man on the highest difficulty:

Lizard Samurai (my meatshield -- I prefer Dracon generally but I needed the extra stat points)
Felpurr Ninja
Human Monk
Fairy Bishop

As they are all hybrids they took a lot of work to get all their skill points up. But it was a lot of fun. As a first time player though you may find it easier to go with the non-hybrids.

I don't know how active these boards are, but if you have other questions go ahead and put them up. I'll check back in a bit.

09-25-2006, 11:59 AM	#2
leptomeninges Elite Waterdeep Guard Join Date: November 6, 2003 Location: New York Age: 58 Posts: 34	Just came back tho this forum after a long hiatus and saw your thread. First of all, if you're a hard core RPG player, I think you'll love this game. Yes the graphics suck, but the strategy is deep. Of all my RPG gaming experiences this was one of my favorites (moreso than the Baldur's series, primarily for the increased control over character development). But to reply to your questions. First of all, as I'm sure you know, when it comes to RPGs there are two attitudes towards multiclassing. There are games that reward it, and games that punish it. Wizardry 8 punishes it. Secondarily, by and large, the hybrids are not as powerful as the pure classes. Having said that, the pure classes tend to get a little boring farther into the game. The hybrids keep you engaged better, and thus in my opinion are more fun to play. Now to your party... I'm going to give you some opinions. You can take them or leave them as you like. Bear in mind that my personal philosophy is that I like to do a reasonable amount of min/maxing within the constraints of making what I consider to be a fun party. 1. Lords are some of the worst hybrids. Their dual weild skill bonus is pretty meaningless (I'm not going to crunch the numbers, but take it from me) and their health regeneration is very weak. Fighters hit much harder and are much better meat shields. I've never used a dwarf personally. As an aside, in terms of race choice and min/maxing lizards and hobbits of all things make some of the best fighters. Hobbits are generally the uber class in this game(as strange as that seems). I usually have a maximum of one hobbit in my party, usually a bard. 2. Dracon samurai. Almost all of my parties include a dracon samurai. Just FYI many people have tried to figure out what triggers the "lightning strike" ability of samurais. To the best of my knowledge, the only thing that has been reliably associated is the weight the samurai is carrying. Don't overburden him. Also, samurais get a bonus skill with swords and there are a few samurai-only swords out there so in my opinion you're missing the boat if you go with polearms. 3. Felpurr ninja. I also love this combination. (Again, in terms of min/maxing, hobbits make some of the best ninjas and samurais both, but I usually ignore that.) You are probably aware that one of the best items in the game is a staff that can only be used by a fairy ninja. Personally, I can't get excited by that combination. My favorite ninja was one who went with throwing as well as dual wielding swords and daggers for close range. (Not the strongest combination, but very fun.) I also maxed her magic. Ninjas can be hard to build. They take a lot of careful work or they end up spread too thin. But late in the game when your other characters essentially have their skills maxed, you usually have some work to do on your ninja which makes it an interesting character. You should also know that items to throw end up being relatively rare. It can be hard to keep your ninja equipped, particularly in the early game. Their throwing ability also isn't as strong as you might think. But it still is very fun. 4. Bard - I usually go hobbit for no particular reason. Bards end up being quite strong as do Gadgeteers with their endurance based casting. Many people like to dual class bards after they hit the level required for the maximum instrument. There really isn't a reason to keep leveling as a bard after that. I think the most popular second class is a rogue. 5. Priest/Mage - While these are both helpful classes, you should know that bishops are by far the most powerful spell casters. They get access to all spell schools and are completely overpowered. They take more work to level. If you need tips on training their spell schools I can provide them. If you don't want to labor over it, the priest and mage are fine choices. Other classes you may want to consider: Rogues are very powerful. They do insanely high damage. Gadgeteers are also very powerful. It takes some work to assemble their gadgets though. Personally I go with mook gadgeteers. Rangers are actually more powerful ranged attackers than the ninja. Ranged weapons aren't particularly strong in this game though as enemies close very quickly. The only reason to use them is from the back line if you don't have an extended reach melee weapon. Monks are very fun and powerful. However, there is a recruitable monk NPC and for this reason many people skip this class. There are other recruitable NPCs -- the most popular is a Valkyire as she is somewhat important to the plot. I personally never use NPCs as I don't like to split the experience with them. And for whatever it's worth, the most fun party I ever played was and ironman four man on the highest difficulty: Lizard Samurai (my meatshield -- I prefer Dracon generally but I needed the extra stat points) Felpurr Ninja Human Monk Fairy Bishop As they are all hybrids they took a lot of work to get all their skill points up. But it was a lot of fun. As a first time player though you may find it easier to go with the non-hybrids. I don't know how active these boards are, but if you have other questions go ahead and put them up. I'll check back in a bit.