Building a great starting party

[Cantilever]

Hi everyone, I just picked up this game cause I couldnt really find a new game hat took intrest to me. My fave game of all time is the DIablo series. Anyway, I have been tinkering with making partys and was wondering what some of your best party configs were. I was also wondeing about reviving dead characters and identifing items. I see there are two spells that can do this, but I was wondering if there were other ways, especially early in the game. Thanks Everyone!

[killerTeddy]

Hi Cantilever,

building a great party is one of the most interesting things with wizardry. Did you play Wizardry 7? If so, you might try the gadgeteer, it's new in Wiz. 8. If not - well, i think there are many better classes. If you're really new to the game, i would suggest go for variety, and start a full party of 6. I like to make use of most if not all things i find lying around. I think as a beginner one should have:
- 1 or 2 fighters/lords/valkyries, they deal with the many! monsters, and can use nearly all weapons
- at least 2 casters - best one bishop (learns many spells) plus one specialist (learns the mighty spells faster)
- someone to open locks and disarm traps, rogue maybe better (and easier!) than ninja
- fill the remaining positions with: monk/bard/ranger
Also, you should mix specialists (fighter, rogue, mage, priest...) with hybrids (lord, monk, bishop). Specialists are great early in the game, later on the more complex hybrids are mostly better.
But - i think there aren't two people in this forum who have the same preferences, there are just too many possibilities

[Scatter]

Resurrection: there are some powders for that, you'll find a few almost everywhere, some for sale, some just lying around.
Identifying: there are a few reasons for at least one character to have high Artifacts skill, and this is a side effect. There are scrolls of ID, but they have been deemed useless by all who play this game.

[Cantilever]

I have never played any Wizardry games, so I am truly new to it. I've done some research nd have most of my party figured out. I do need a bit of help with the rouge I see the picking locks is needed but the few I have made were pretty usless besides picking locks. Any tips on a good combo for a lock picker that can also contribute in battle?

[Random Passerby]

Rogues are among the best fighters in the game. If you weren't getting good results, you were either sticking them with crappy weapons (their starting weapons aren't that hot) or skimping on combat stats and skills.

[killerTeddy]

Building a rogue isn't that much different than building a fighter - to hit he needs dexterity, to deal damage he needs strength. He doesn't need that much vitality cause he can have stealth - another reason for high dexterity. This is a must, cause he won't be able to use most armor.
Your rogue absolutely has to be at the front, right next to the other tanks, cause he is best with weapons to thrust, all daggers and most swords.

@ Scatter: i agree, you don't need any artfiacts skill, but it's really convenient! currently i often wish my priest had more mental mana points, he has to cast his spell even on things like healing potions or any kind of ammo!

[Scatter]

yah, Rogue backstab multiplier gets to be quite nice, later in the game, when it's doing 3X and 4x sometimes with Fang or Light...you just gotta keep swinging, build up the combat skills; and Dex.

[Klutz]

Originally posted by Cantilever: I have never played any Wizardry games, so I am truly new to it. I've done some research nd have most of my party figured out. I do need a bit of help with the rouge I see the picking locks is needed but the few I have made were pretty usless besides picking locks. Any tips on a good combo for a lock picker that can also contribute in battle?

Just to emphasize: in many RPG's, Rogues are more of a support type character and aren't too effective on the front line. That's NOT the case in Wiz8. In Wiz8, Rogues are one of the premiere front-line damage-dealers in the game, and stealth allows them to avoid getting hit back the vast majority of the time.

My two cents:
Dexterity and Strength are definitely the two key attributes to focus on first: they are the same attributes you'd focus on first for a Fighter or any other close combatant, but for a Rogue Dexterity also helps with your lock skills. After those are maxed, Speed and Senses are probably the next most valuable, and Vitality can be handy if your Rogue is taking a lot of punishment for some reason. Skillwise, focus on your lock skill, your weapons of choice (Sword and Dagger are the usual choices for a Rogue), and Dual Wield. Stealth can be "trained" (there's plenty of threads on that topic), but if you don't go that route then add to Stealth also. (With no training, I'd put skill points into locks, one weapon, and Stealth, switching to the 2nd weapon and Dual Wield only when one of the first 3 skill areas maxes.)

Have fun and good luck!

PS: I agree that designing your party is one of the most fun parts of the game, and well worth investing the effort in doing yourself. That being said, I've come to the conclusion that class-wise, one of the best starting parties is actually the very one that you get that comes with Wiz8 as a sample save game you can load to start with: Fighter, Bard, Ranger, Monk, Priest, Mage. It covers all 4 spellbooks, is mostly specialists for simple development, gives you the Bard for locks/traps and music, and gives you the Ranger to cover auto-searching which helps new players a lot. I'd pick different races than they use, but it's definitely as good a good set of classes as any to start with.

[ 07-05-2005, 04:20 PM: Message edited by: Klutz ]

[pjs]

Put a Bard in your first party, I have absolutely no idea how I would have survived without one, at least in the first half of the game.

[Ziggurat]

There are endless options for parties, it's one of the reasons I keep coming back to Wiz 8. I currently only do "4 person" parties. They seem to have the optimal mix of faster development and all skills. My last 4 or 5 have had either a ninja or samurai, and either a bard or bishop. Never a fighter. If I want pure melee destruction, I prefer a rouge. I always have a lock picker. Current party is:

Dwarf Lord F
Rawulf Ranger F
Lizardman Samurai M
Hobbit Bard F

They are levels 16-18 and are unstoppable.