Samurai or Rogue for last spot in 6 man party?

[Gundar]

Hi all -

I know this has never happened to anyone else, but I'm unhappy with my current party's progress, so I'm starting fresh. =) I have my five main chars set for now, I just need advice on the last spot. Here's what I'm going to go with:

Fighter (Lizardman)
Bard (Human Female)
Ranger (Mook)
Priest (Elf)
Mage (Faerie)

I know my race choices are not the optimum for all professions, but they are sentimental favorites of mine. Now who do I choose for the last spot?

Hobbit Rogue (dual wield melee, criticals from weapons, throw, L&T)
Dracon Samurai (dual wield melee, critical from skills and weapons, bow, wizardry)
Human/Elf Monk (hands and feet melee, critical from skills and weapons, staff, psionics)
Other???

With me being new to the game, I'm looking for some advice from those of you who have seen these chars at their best later in the game. I know most of the more experienced players here like to use smaller parties, but I want my first full run to be with a group of six for the "comfort".

Thanks for your help!

[Krull]

There's nothing wrong with your race selections although personally I would go for a Hobbit Bard and Rawulf or Dwarf Priest.

I'd go for a Human Monk so you have all four spell books covered, and you might need the extra melee fighter for your party.

As you're new to the game can I direct you to the best Wiz8 site? It's Flamestryke's and has lots of useful info.

If you look at mod news, you will see she has just released the latest version of a mod which brings new weapons, armour etc into the game. I would reccomend it at sometime. Here's the link:-

http://www.flamestryke.com/wizardry8...trykes_w8.html

Good luck!

[Scatter]

I think you'd do just fine with only five, but if you haven't played much, the Rogue would probably be more fun than a Sam at this point, as you have the Wizardry book covered. Although Sam's get some nice weapons, they are mostly random, so you might not even get the best ones.
Only if you think you need Psionics, would you want a Monk, but for that i would take a Bishop instead.
Don't play any of the new mods until you've been all the way through a couple times!!!

[Sinteuil]

I agree with Scatter that Rogues are really fun, though I almost never play without a bishop, so I'd definitely suggest one for a future game, but you already have some pure casters for this one. Like you, I often play races that aren't optimal, but that I enjoy for role-playing reasons. One of my favourites happens to be a female Rawulf Rogue. I like her because her portrait makes you think she's a sweet little creature, so no one would ever suspect how deadly she really is! I find that she's just a little clumsy with traps in the beginning, but it's not long before she's as strong as any other Rogue I've played, and by midgame she's a real terror! Let us know how it goes with the elf priest!

[Gundar]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I think I'm going to go with the Rogue for my first trip through the game.

Thanks for the web link Krull. I've been to Flamestryke's site many times to do my homework and found it an invaluable reference! Although they look interesting, I'm not going to try out any of the mods until I complete the game at least once (like Scatter suggests).

Sinteuil, thanks for the support on my race selections, but I'm having second thoughts and will go with a Dwarf Priest instead. I originally was going to give everyone a Rogue level (stealth), and the Elf attribute spread would have made that easier to do at a lower level. I think I'm just going to train the skills that are inherent to my class choices and save the class-changing training for my next group.

As always, this forum has been a great help to me. I hope I can return the favor someday!

[Nightwing]

I would go for the rogue or a gadgeteer, but probably the rogue for hand to hand fighting. You could put in a lord for fighting and priest book and replace the priest with a gadgeteer. There are so many gadgets you may feel like you are missing out.

[Nightowl2]

Only problem with Lords is their slow spell development. On a first run through the game, pure Priest is a safer choice.

Nightowl2

[LewyRay]

Looks like this may be a little late…but I have not been playing very long myself, but I would strongly recommend playing a Monk. My party is very similar to yours…

Dwarf Fighter
Dracon Samurai
Human Monk
Hobbit Bard
Mook Ranger
Faerie Bishop

My party is all at 9th or 10th level right now and the Monk is my favorite. She has by far the most kills in the party, and now her Psionic skill is growing and is adding quite a nice repertoire of spells…..with insanity being my favorite. This is my first party, except for a couple I abanded after an hour or so of play. I know I could have developed some of the others better…especially the Bishop. In spite of my bumbling the party is doing quite well, and does well even against the 12 level critters the computer keeps throwing at them. I realize now that a pure caster would have allowed use of a portal spell earlier in the game…something I would have liked. I’ve been carrier the book for the spell around for a while now….just waiting for my Bishop to understand it.

BTW - My next party.….which I started one night and got through the Monastery, is a four-member party consisting of my current party minus the Fighter and the Samurai...and making the Bishop a Gnome.