Need help for developing my party

[Hiyamoto Rapax]

At first hi to all!
I´m reading these forums for about 2 month, since I had ordered the UK Version of Wizardry 8. Before that I had ordered the US Version but my dealer needed 3 full month to tell me that it´s out of stock.

Now i´m in the upper monastery and my party is level 6. My party leader - of course - is a male Dracon Samurai. His number one is a male human Monk. They both get support from a male felpurr ranger, a female faerie mage, a female hobbit rogue and a female elven bishop. The Samurai of course uses Katana& Wakizashi and a bow as secondary weapon; the monk uses martial arts and shuriken; the ranger uses a bow and i´m not sure what i should give him for secondary, i think about getting the estoc-de-olivia and diamond eyes in the offhand for him, but i´m not sure if this is a good choice and what weapons he should use before i get these two. Is it meaningfully to use two weapons when he right now has no skills in both weapon categories and in dual wielding? My mage develops pretty good and i´m very satisfied with her. She got fireball the last levelup and she toasted 4 out of 6 enemys when i first tested the new spell. I concentrate her on fire [and wizardry ], the other 3 points I distribute within the other realms. I´m satisfied with my rogue, too. She does decend damage and she picks locks for me. But she does not pickpocket as good as i would like it, because i raised dagger and dual wielding and stealth 2 points per level. The only one i´m unhappy with is my bishop. Like Jandrall says on his site, i focused her on her primary magic skills. And because of my mage i decided her to raise divinity, alchemie and psionics +3 each level up. But the realm skills did not really rose through practice, as he said. The outcome is, that she is only able to cast stamina at level 1. My mage, for example, casts light on level 7.

my questions:
1) my monk does very well and i think he don´t need dual wielding for martial arts but i´m not really sure.
2) which weapons should my faerie mage use? Right now she dual wields her faerie stick with a dagger?
3) which weapon should my bishop use? Right now she uses her quarterstaff.
4) is it a good idea for my rogue to use daggers?
5) What weapons should my Ranger use for close combat (see above)?
6) What can i make for developing my bishop?

Hiyamoto Rapax
-honourable Samurai-

[Pyrates]

Duuh, long question [img]smile.gif[/img] Well, I'll give 2 cents: Don't be unhappy with your bishop, they take quite some time to develop. I think your strategy is fine, if you're pushing INT and PIE. Just keep training her as much as you can, and she'll be much more than your mage after some time... You may want to think about that saving-spell-picks thing, it's a good thing, but on the other hand you NEED something to cast, so... give the bishop the spellbooks you find, your mage will be able to pick all he needs, but a bishop has a much bigger repertoire...

Cheers
Philipp

Cheers
Philipp

[Scatter]

1)Martial Arts is not helped by Dual skill.
2)Stick and Dagger are nice for a Faerie Mage, but they never get Dual, but they can't use a shield, so you might as well...Just upgrade whenever you can, there is a very nice Staff available for her later...
3)Bishop can have a lot of fun with the other Diamond Eyes, and a shield.
4)Daggers and Rogues--there's a Thieve's Dagger and a Stiletto, those are good, but a sword can do a lot more damage.
5)Ranger--Sword and Mace is a nice combination, but i also like Polearm, specifically the Dread Spear, if you want to plan ahead. (certainly available, whereas the Estoc is a low-% Chest drop, unless you PP Al-Adryian)
6)Keep casting in all Realms at minimum power to develop magic during combat. If you're fighting something that's not hurting anyone, (or where you can leave your tanks on Protect to cover anyone who is getting hurt) you can just Defend and cast until you run out of Mana, then revert to weapons to finish the battle.

Welcome to Heck, and have FUN!

1) what scatter said [img]smile.gif[/img]
2) again, i agree with scatter. personally, i'd avoid the dual-wielding penalty and just use two-handed staff (or one-handed until i got a two-handed one!) or throwing.
3) with your party, i'd say keep the bishop using two-handed staff and sling, from the back row. the rogue/monk have stealth which will put a lot of attention on the sam and ranger - i dont think you want that attention on the bishop too!
4) agree with scatter. my preference is to have the rogue do sword and dagger (fang and stilleto). dual stilleto is nice if you dont have enough good swords to go around, though
5) in your party, i'd be tempted to do sword and shield, or mace and shield, for the ranger. this is because your sam and ranger will be getting a lot of attention on the front lines so the extra shield will be nice. but if the ranger is in the back, polearm is the way to go.
6) i agree with both pyrates and scatter. cast as often as you can, even if it means extending combats longer than you have to (by casting low level and/or putting people on defend) and be patient. bishops develop very slowly, but around levels 11-14 you will see a transformation that should blow you away. i also like that you are focussing on alchemy, psionic, and priest - good choice for this party.

good luck!

and welcome to IW

[babar]

I've found a Stun Rod a lot more useful than Dread Spear, but it's about 10 lbs heavier, too. But I feel kind of lame using it.

[Scatter]

Stun Rod has a -6 Initiative, which means you end up as much as 5 swings behind the Dread Spear, which is +2, iirc. and the damage is close enough that the Dread comes out ahead.

[Hiyamoto Rapax]

Thanks for the quick replies. Your answers are of great help for my party.

Hiyamoto Rapax
-honourable Samurai-

[Target]

Hi and welcome Hiyamoto Rapax.

Keep going with the bish, she'll come good in the end.
I like giving my rogue Bloodlust and a thieves dagger as both are cursed I give them the powders and bomb etc to throw.
I also give a pole arm to my Rangers, I usually don't give weapons to my main casters as they are always casting, also cuts down on weight especially for the faerie.

Good luck, hope it goes well.