Why play on expert?

[Helix]

I was just curious why so many people prefer expert mode. I've
always played normal, but a few nights ago I started a new
party on expert. They are all level 8 now (in Arnika) so I
think I have a pretty good feel for expert mode. It is
definitely harder. So what's the payoff? None that I have
seen (so far), other than a couple of better than normal
drops. So I assume it's just for the challenge.
Just an observation ...

[Wereboar]

Because normal setting is too easy, and boring.

I accidently started a game in 'normal' a few weeks ago, and it got boring quite early. I noticed it in the swamp, when i could stay in the open without any problems. And the skills exploded - i had many skills at 75+ already at level 11.

[Helix]

I agree, normal is pretty easy. But you bring up a point I had not
thought about ... skills. That's a pretty good payoff.

[snooch_dawg]

Expert --> too many battles I'd prefer they made the enemies you fought much harder, not more numerous and more roving bands.

I like normal, but i would recommend you play on novice first time through, or you might find the tedium of the battles too much to handle.

[Kakero]

I prefer novice, I hate fighting with 20 monsters from all site. it's too time consuming.

[Wereboar]

Expert --> too many battles I'd prefer they made the enemies you fought much harder, not more numerous and more roving bands.

In my experience, the number of battles isn't different. At least not much.
But the groups might be a bit bigger, and often a level or two above your own (more often than in normal).

But the fights are harder.
First, the enemies are harder to hit.
Second, you are easier to hit.
Third, your skills raise slower, so you've still less chance to hit.

Together, this leads to a quite damaged party after each fight. This leads to more resting, which leads to monster respawning, and more fights.

Thus, its often better not to rest, but use healing and mana potions instead. In this case, you don't have much more fights. If you rest, you have.

[EEWorzelle]

Do what is fun, that's the only rule!

Expert mode can be fun, depending on your focus. I always play that way because I concentrate of creating powerful parties (usually full size). Expert mode tells me whether I am doing a good job or not, because the quality of the opposition is tougher.

When you tweak a little extra capability out of that Samurai or Priest, it really makes a big difference in Expert mode. I like that and use it to try to verify that character and party development advice is actually valid. This has gotten me into trouble a couple times because something absolutely vital in Expert mode (like getting Soul and Element Shields up first against magically powerful enemies) might be only desirable in Normal mode. Therefore, when I said in some posts that it was necessary, I was... well... wrong. Now I qualify that particular advice. In Easy mode a high level Magic screen might even be enough in some cases.

Very experienced players (like Wereboar) would find the game too easy and not fun if played on normal.

It's just what you find fun, and is very personal. It doesn't really matter, otherwise.

Thus there is no reason not to play a lower difficulty even if you have the skills to handle a higher one, but the opposite is not true. If you play at too high a difficulty at first, before your player skills develop, you will sleep and level-up too quickly relative to the amount of game you travel through. Since you don't get decent equipment or many spells until you reach civilization (your first city or camp), this can lead to trouble, early on. The monsters you face in a region depends upon your level when you enter that region, and they can be up to a few levels higher. It is possible to face too many or too powerful opponents at that time, and... die, no matter what you do or how well you play at that point. If you get stubborn and just persist, you might eventually make it through but it will not be fun and will probably require lots of reloads.

Wizardry is the first CRPG I have ever played where playing on too high a difficulty had a cumulative bad effect. In most games playing on expert before you are ready is very difficult at first but then gets easier. Not this one.

[the mighty stamar]

Hmm... well Ive only played it once, and I played on expert.

I believe the majority of the setting deals with the amount of encounters generated and not the level of the encounters. This is my experience I tested by switching back and forth and running through an are after reloading it at easy and expert.

I would say yes its very difficult at first, I reloaded constantly until my party was around level 8. Then my party hit critical mass. I didnt have any problems until the rapax castle area, where the fight reached close to an endless level. I think I killed 40 of them in one battle before I had to reload to an earlier game, check out the walkthrough and turn those rapaxs off. It was actually generating new ones in the same area as the battle faster than i was killing them.

[EEWorzelle]

Regarding what Expert mode actually does, I think Wereboar is correct in every respect. It increases the quality and toughness of the opposition, and makes it tougher to defend. I'm not sure if the groups are a bit bigger but they might be in some instances.

The indirect effect of tougher battles leading to more sleep, more regeneration and therefore more opponents and battles is what I and many others have also observed over time. This is what I refer to as the "cumulative effect" in other posts. If your player skills are higher, then within any mode you will have shorter battles, get damaged less, sleep less, face less opponents, get farther in the game before leveling up, etc.

An example of the effect is that many players report in Expert, if they don't have the appropriate Soul or Element Shield up, and the opponents get in a crippling spell, then typically the entire party (except perhaps one or two) will get crippled by it (that is my experience). In Normal mode, players report that only a couple in the party get crippled typically and in Easy mode that even a Magic Screen alone is enough to typically completely protect against opposing magic.

When doing your tests of comparing modes and number of battles, remember there is a huge random factor, too. For example sometimes (playing the same mode) I get out of the Lower Monestary as high as level 6 or as low as level 4, depending on the opponents that "show up," which varies from game to game.

The the Rapax castle is one of the few battles actually designed to be long.