old Wizardries experiences and questions

carg · 03-29-2001, 08:36 AM

A while ago I got the Wizardry archives, and now I have some questions:

1. I bravely started with Wizardry 1, but after playing a while (up to level 4), I started wondering about the fun. It seems the only challanges were the mapping and the fighting. Since you only need to map level 1, 4, 9 and 10, and those not even completely, and mapping was not my favorite part of RPGs anyway, that leaves mostly the fighting. Doing that for long enough until you're strong enough to beat Werdna, without (hardly) any influence on building your characters, got somewhat boring too. So to those Wiz1 enthousiasts: why would you advice people still to play Wiz1?

2. After looking for a short time at wiz2, 3 and 4, I finally decided to take it up again at Wiz5, being the first one designed by Bradley, and the start of the current story. This has some worthwhile improvements that make playing already much more interesting, even though it's still in CGA, and still just one (pretty linear) dungeon. Reading in the walkthrough I find that there are 30 puzzle items, with only 48 slots to carry items and equipment! So what to do; create a mule character at the inn to hold the items I think I might not need for a while?

3. I'm at level 3 now, and my spellcasters have already level 5 spells. Since spell levels go (only) to 7, and spells don't increase in effectiveness with levels (as far as I could find), won't fighters be much more efficient than spellcasters at the end? Especially since the opponents throw spells to rob you of your high level spells!

4. I got lucky enough to create a samurai at the start of the game (30 points to distribute!), but I harldly see it has an advantage over a fighter: less armor and slower progress, and the spells are too low level to be effective. Please contradict me!

5. How do you map the darkness areas, if you don't get feedback on walking into a wall? (I use spoiler maps, so it's not an urguent problem, but I wondered anyway.)

Serath · 03-29-2001, 11:05 AM

Enough skulking! I must post!

Although Wiz 8 will be my first Wizardry title, I appreciate all the posts put up about the previous games. By reading through them, it certainly seems like an interesting series. Perhaps I will have to search out some copies of 6 and 7.

Mwahahahahahahaha...
Someone stop me, before I post again!

Serath

Sazerac · 03-29-2001, 02:33 PM

Wizardry 5 used to be very effective at "walking into walls". Unfortunately, even with Mo'slo, with the new Pentium systems, the "walking into walls" doesn't always pull up the "OUCH" screen that it did on the slower systems (think Intel 8088 XT! The game was designed back in 1987-88). So, unfortunately, you're pretty much stuck with using online maps for the dark areas.

Wizardry I is just a period piece. It's main draw was that it was the first mainstream 1st-person oriented RPG (actually dungeon crawl); at the time, most other games (1981) were text-based only. "You enter a dimly-lit room with exits to the north, east, west, and south. Rats are running across the floor. In the corner is a rickety chest" ...those type. Playing Wizardry I is sort of like getting a "re-initiation" into the RPG's. It's not for all, so don't worry about it if you can't get into it!

Same goes for 2 and 3...although the storyline gets a little better in those.

Keep amassing spells...some of those spells (especially Tiltowait... think "Firestorm", Carg!) are vital later in the game. Also, you can get rid of quest items once you've used them. AFAIK, all you need to complete the game is:

Munke's Wand (from the Duck of Sparks, level 2)
Lightning Rod (from the Temple of Fire, level 7)
Bird in the Cage (from the Loon, level 4)
Jack of Spades (from Level 4)
Queen of Diamonds(?) (from the pool in Level 6)
King of Hearts(?) (forgot where you get this one from)
Ace of Clubs from one of the gatekeepers.

If you accidentally get rid of a quest item you need later, you can always go back down and get it again. They do respawn! (thankfully).

Also: look for the hidden level in level 777: you'll meet La-La at last (and get some VERY nice equipment).

-Saz

carg · 03-30-2001, 04:32 AM

About the quest items: I thought you needed the Orb too.
And I keep needing either the silver key to open the door to the stairs to level 2, or the bag of tokens to the hurkle beast.

Do you think when my fighter is finally able to switch to Lord, that that's useful? (I already have a priest and a bishop for the priest spells.) As far as I know you go back to 1 attack per round and have to build it up again, so is there really an advantage? Would it also be a good idea to switch spellcasters to fighters once they've got all spells?

Yes I read about the Tiltowait spell, but as far as I can see, I'll get that spell already around halfway through the game, while the monsters will keep getting more hitpoints, and the fighters more attacks. Oh well, I'll just wait it out; perhaps all monsters at level 10 can only be damaged by magic or something.

Sazerac · 03-30-2001, 12:49 PM

You do need the Orb, Carg: sorry, I'd forgotten about that. As far as the key and the tokens go, after a certain point, I just "MALOR" down to Level 6, take the Ice Ferry to the King, and then go down to Level 7. Don't worry about keys and stairs after you have an area mapped.

The spells should increase in intensity commeasurate with the caster's level. A couple of well-placed Tiltowait spells should wipe out pretty much anything up to Level 7 (and even on Level 7, too). What you've got to watch out for is Level 8: your own power will hurt you there when you have to fight your dopplegangers.

Lords tend to be a lot better than Fighters, yes. It always helps having those Priest spells at the ready.

Another tip: A good place to "Level up" characters is at the well in Level 6 where you get the Queen's card. One of the pool levels (I forget which one) spawns a massive encounter, which at higher levels is fairly easy to defeat and gives a load of experience.

-Sazerac

Sazerac · 03-30-2001, 12:54 PM

Also forgot: you probably also want to hold onto the Rubber Ducky for quite a while, too. If you lose it (or trade it to the Duck of Sparks for the Munke Wand), go back to Level 3 and find the Mad Stomper. He has plenty of them.

-Sazerac

P.S. Notice how there's no way to help the poor Mad Stomper in the game, same as with Torin, Jathil, the Boogres, etc. in Wizards and Warriors? One gets the feeling that DW Bradley doesn't like to tie up loose ends...

"S"

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Soloing experiences	Marty4	Icewind Dale \| Heart of Winter \| Icewind Dale II Forum	2	05-18-2005 06:05 AM
My experiences!	JrKASperov	Icewind Dale \| Heart of Winter \| Icewind Dale II Forum	14	11-17-2004 08:12 PM
Dentist Experiences	Ladyzekke	General Conversation Archives (11/2000 - 01/2005)	28	05-24-2003 03:07 PM
AI scripts and experiences with them	Lukivah	Baldurs Gate II: Shadows of Amn & Throne of Bhaal	4	06-12-2002 02:27 AM
Darkest Day Experiences	Zoltan	Baldurs Gate II: Shadows of Amn & Throne of Bhaal	7	02-19-2002 03:30 PM

03-29-2001, 08:36 AM	#1
carg The Magister Join Date: March 1, 2001 Location: the Netherlands Posts: 113	A while ago I got the Wizardry archives, and now I have some questions: 1. I bravely started with Wizardry 1, but after playing a while (up to level 4), I started wondering about the fun. It seems the only challanges were the mapping and the fighting. Since you only need to map level 1, 4, 9 and 10, and those not even completely, and mapping was not my favorite part of RPGs anyway, that leaves mostly the fighting. Doing that for long enough until you're strong enough to beat Werdna, without (hardly) any influence on building your characters, got somewhat boring too. So to those Wiz1 enthousiasts: why would you advice people still to play Wiz1? 2. After looking for a short time at wiz2, 3 and 4, I finally decided to take it up again at Wiz5, being the first one designed by Bradley, and the start of the current story. This has some worthwhile improvements that make playing already much more interesting, even though it's still in CGA, and still just one (pretty linear) dungeon. Reading in the walkthrough I find that there are 30 puzzle items, with only 48 slots to carry items and equipment! So what to do; create a mule character at the inn to hold the items I think I might not need for a while? 3. I'm at level 3 now, and my spellcasters have already level 5 spells. Since spell levels go (only) to 7, and spells don't increase in effectiveness with levels (as far as I could find), won't fighters be much more efficient than spellcasters at the end? Especially since the opponents throw spells to rob you of your high level spells! 4. I got lucky enough to create a samurai at the start of the game (30 points to distribute!), but I harldly see it has an advantage over a fighter: less armor and slower progress, and the spells are too low level to be effective. Please contradict me! 5. How do you map the darkness areas, if you don't get feedback on walking into a wall? (I use spoiler maps, so it's not an urguent problem, but I wondered anyway.)

03-29-2001, 11:05 AM	#2
Serath Manshoon Join Date: January 7, 2001 Location: Regina, SK, Canada Posts: 166	Enough skulking! I must post! Although Wiz 8 will be my first Wizardry title, I appreciate all the posts put up about the previous games. By reading through them, it certainly seems like an interesting series. Perhaps I will have to search out some copies of 6 and 7. Mwahahahahahahaha... Someone stop me, before I post again! Serath

03-29-2001, 02:33 PM	#3
Sazerac Ironworks Moderator Join Date: January 7, 2001 Location: Monroe, LA Age: 60 Posts: 7,387	Wizardry 5 used to be very effective at "walking into walls". Unfortunately, even with Mo'slo, with the new Pentium systems, the "walking into walls" doesn't always pull up the "OUCH" screen that it did on the slower systems (think Intel 8088 XT! The game was designed back in 1987-88). So, unfortunately, you're pretty much stuck with using online maps for the dark areas. Wizardry I is just a period piece. It's main draw was that it was the first mainstream 1st-person oriented RPG (actually dungeon crawl); at the time, most other games (1981) were text-based only. "You enter a dimly-lit room with exits to the north, east, west, and south. Rats are running across the floor. In the corner is a rickety chest" ...those type. Playing Wizardry I is sort of like getting a "re-initiation" into the RPG's. It's not for all, so don't worry about it if you can't get into it! Same goes for 2 and 3...although the storyline gets a little better in those. Keep amassing spells...some of those spells (especially Tiltowait... think "Firestorm", Carg!) are vital later in the game. Also, you can get rid of quest items once you've used them. AFAIK, all you need to complete the game is: Munke's Wand (from the Duck of Sparks, level 2) Lightning Rod (from the Temple of Fire, level 7) Bird in the Cage (from the Loon, level 4) Jack of Spades (from Level 4) Queen of Diamonds(?) (from the pool in Level 6) King of Hearts(?) (forgot where you get this one from) Ace of Clubs from one of the gatekeepers. If you accidentally get rid of a quest item you need later, you can always go back down and get it again. They do respawn! (thankfully). Also: look for the hidden level in level 777: you'll meet La-La at last (and get some VERY nice equipment). -Saz

03-30-2001, 04:32 AM	#4
carg The Magister Join Date: March 1, 2001 Location: the Netherlands Posts: 113	About the quest items: I thought you needed the Orb too. And I keep needing either the silver key to open the door to the stairs to level 2, or the bag of tokens to the hurkle beast. Do you think when my fighter is finally able to switch to Lord, that that's useful? (I already have a priest and a bishop for the priest spells.) As far as I know you go back to 1 attack per round and have to build it up again, so is there really an advantage? Would it also be a good idea to switch spellcasters to fighters once they've got all spells? Yes I read about the Tiltowait spell, but as far as I can see, I'll get that spell already around halfway through the game, while the monsters will keep getting more hitpoints, and the fighters more attacks. Oh well, I'll just wait it out; perhaps all monsters at level 10 can only be damaged by magic or something.

03-30-2001, 12:49 PM	#5
Sazerac Ironworks Moderator Join Date: January 7, 2001 Location: Monroe, LA Age: 60 Posts: 7,387	You do need the Orb, Carg: sorry, I'd forgotten about that. As far as the key and the tokens go, after a certain point, I just "MALOR" down to Level 6, take the Ice Ferry to the King, and then go down to Level 7. Don't worry about keys and stairs after you have an area mapped. The spells should increase in intensity commeasurate with the caster's level. A couple of well-placed Tiltowait spells should wipe out pretty much anything up to Level 7 (and even on Level 7, too). What you've got to watch out for is Level 8: your own power will hurt you there when you have to fight your dopplegangers. Lords tend to be a lot better than Fighters, yes. It always helps having those Priest spells at the ready. Another tip: A good place to "Level up" characters is at the well in Level 6 where you get the Queen's card. One of the pool levels (I forget which one) spawns a massive encounter, which at higher levels is fairly easy to defeat and gives a load of experience. -Sazerac

03-30-2001, 12:54 PM	#6
Sazerac Ironworks Moderator Join Date: January 7, 2001 Location: Monroe, LA Age: 60 Posts: 7,387	Also forgot: you probably also want to hold onto the Rubber Ducky for quite a while, too. If you lose it (or trade it to the Duck of Sparks for the Munke Wand), go back to Level 3 and find the Mad Stomper. He has plenty of them. -Sazerac P.S. Notice how there's no way to help the poor Mad Stomper in the game, same as with Torin, Jathil, the Boogres, etc. in Wizards and Warriors? One gets the feeling that DW Bradley doesn't like to tie up loose ends... "S"

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)