So who is PLAYING???

[Virgil]

I picked up this game yesterday. I played for about two hours last night, then deleted those characters and started again this morning, for an hour or so.

The number of classes and races seems a little daunting. In my mind, you need a healer, a lock picker, a mage, and the rest should be fighting types. My current party is:

Male Dracorr Lord (with that Eastern European accent, he's cool)
Female Human Valkyrie
Female Human Monk
Male Rawulf Priest
Female Elf Mage (what a stereotype, I know)
Male Hobbit Rogue (with that New York Mafia voice. He's really funny)

Using one whole slot for a rogue seems like a waste, but a ninja doesn't get lockpicking, and I'm hesitant to go gadgeteer. Who's better in combat between a rogue and gadgeteer? Or, if I stay with the rogue, how soon should I switch him to a different class?

I had a ranger in my first party, and liked him, but I couldn't see using a whole slot for him. Having the constant searching is good, but I'm not sure what the drawback is to leaving search on all the time anyway. Do you move slower, or make more noise? I miss not having a ranger though, that's my favorite class overall in RPGs (though rarely getting the respect they deserve). Maybe I'll restart again and include a ranger...

Overall, I'm liking the game, though I've just started on the Monastery.

One knock though. What's up with that commercial when I go to exit the game? This isn't shareware, I paid 49.99 for the game. I don't want to see commercials in it.

[Virgil]

Oops, forgot to mention that I agree with Wyvern's distaste for things sci-fi in a fantasy game. It's called Wizardry, why am I flying in a spaceship?

Oh, and I think the green oozes look really cool.

[Sazerac]

quote:

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Originally posted by Virgil:
I picked up this game yesterday. I played for about two hours last night, then deleted those characters and started again this morning, for an hour or so.

The number of classes and races seems a little daunting. In my mind, you need a healer, a lock picker, a mage, and the rest should be fighting types. My current party is:

Male Dracorr Lord (with that Eastern European accent, he's cool)
Female Human Valkyrie
Female Human Monk
Male Rawulf Priest
Female Elf Mage (what a stereotype, I know)
Male Hobbit Rogue (with that New York Mafia voice. He's really funny)

Using one whole slot for a rogue seems like a waste, but a ninja doesn't get lockpicking, and I'm hesitant to go gadgeteer. Who's better in combat between a rogue and gadgeteer? Or, if I stay with the rogue, how soon should I switch him to a different class?

I had a ranger in my first party, and liked him, but I couldn't see using a whole slot for him. Having the constant searching is good, but I'm not sure what the drawback is to leaving search on all the time anyway. Do you move slower, or make more noise? I miss not having a ranger though, that's my favorite class overall in RPGs (though rarely getting the respect they deserve). Maybe I'll restart again and include a ranger...

Overall, I'm liking the game, though I've just started on the Monastery.

One knock though. What's up with that commercial when I go to exit the game? This isn't shareware, I paid 49.99 for the game. I don't want to see commercials in it.

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Good party, Virgil! Personally, I'd go with a bard rather than a rogue...you can up them very quickly in Lockpicking and the music skill ROCKS, especially with a priest that can cast "Stamina" each round on the bard while s/he is playing those instruments. So far, I've got the Lute (infinite Sleep spell), the Pipes of Piercing (infinite Shrill Sound, which is EXCELLENT against large groups of monsters), and the Angel's Tongue (infinite Bless, which isn't as useful with a Priest and Valkyrie in the party that can both cast it.)

Rangers, BTW, are far more useful in this game than in Wizards & Warriors...ranged weapons are a must, my ranger is now insta-killing with shots about 40% of the time, and in addition, they can learn Alchemy (which if you don't have an alchemist in your party, this is VERY useful).

Oh, and I have a Female Elf Mage as well. I gave her the "New Age" persona...she babbles on about Positive Energies and stars being in alignment...it's a hoot!

That commercial irks the TAR out of me...I'm going to go through the game files and see if it's something that can be deleted. As you said, this isn't shareware. Oh, well, we have to put up with ads and previews when you buy videos as well nowadays...sheesh.

Cheers,

[Knarfling]

I have been experimenting with different parties myself. I am now working on the import and looking at all the options. I have found that only one or two magic items per character will import. Enchanted Robes will not import, but Robes +1 (upper and lower) will. I am still a bit disapointed that the thermal pineapple will not import, but I suppose it is just as well. The nice thing is that two Anhks of Might imported. They are not invokable as Wiz 7, but while wearing them you get +10 to strength.

I found that when I maxed out my Wiz 7 people, I had all elite roles that had gained skills from earlier roles. Now when I import, I have a huge unbalance. My Wiz 7 party was a Lord, Ninja, Valkyrie, Monk, Bishop and Ranger. Almost all characters had all spells so I was not missing much in offensive magic. When importing them to Wiz 8, I find that I have 3 with defensive magic, and only one with any offensive magic at all. I have 4 heavy hitters with 1 Range hitter. I tried to make this party work, but with only Magic Missles for a group spell, I have a rough time dealing with large groups of monsters.

I finally gave up on this party and re-imported. As soon as possible, I changed classes to give me a bit more balance. I now have a lord, ninja, valkyrie, bard, mage and ranger. My ranger, valkyrie, ninja and lord can all cast stamina, so I can use my bard for some offensive magic and can develop my mage better. Except for starting equipment, gold and a few extra skill points, they are not much better than starting a new party. If you blast through, you enter Arnika at about level 8. If you take a new party and spend some time leveling in the monastary, you can get to level 7 or 8 by the time you reach Arnika. And having a higher level party really helps when dealing with Savant Henchmen.

One thing that I am somewhat dissapointed at is that everyone seems to get the same number of stat and skill points per level. I would expect that if your stats were high enough, you might get more skill points when you level up.

If this party does not work out, I may just give up and go with a new party from scratch. You have more control over your base stats, and I don't think you lose much. (except perhaps the silver cross or diamond ring.) One thing I haven't tried yet is what happens if you side with either the Umpani or the T'Rang in Wiz 7. I will probably explore that at another time.

Knarfling