You guys seem fond of the cliche,

[Strider_314]

I'm going to start the game again with a new party one more time..

And this time my party will roxxors etc

I wouldnt call myself a CRPG vet, at least not to the standard of this board [img]smile.gif[/img]

Wizardy 8 is the first time I've played a Wizardy game. But, I have played games like most of the M&M games. So far M&M has been my fave for this sort of thing, but I'm becoming a real fan for the Wizardy system.

The thing is thou..my party seems slightly demented. I seem to have no useful spells. My priest in the middle cant do much at all in combat except casting bless and healing. Because healing is in the same realm as bless, my spell points run out after healing my tanks only twice. Along with his bullwhip that hardly ever hits, hes not that useful. The mages damage spells dont do much damage, and the only disabling spells he has is web, sonic boom and terror. My characters are all round level 8.

I have at least 4 spellbooks that I cant use because I already learnt those low level spells during level up? wastage?

Anyway, my question is, is my party a lost cause? If I start again it'll be with the same classes (Fight, Sam, Prie, Rang, Mage, Gag) cause I've been having fun with em. I'll have a look at some of the spiels at http://www.geocities.com/jandrall/ for guidence.

Any general tips on how I can make the party better? Should I just try and read up on how to develop magic users properly? My two melee fighters seem ok (my lizardman fighter and NPC valkerie are doing good dmg now). My samuri in the front often dies thou because of lowish HP's. I have tried to get him decked with decent armor but it hasnt helped much. (Hes the catlike class, "My body is injured but my mind is clear" forget what the class is called [img]tongue.gif[/img] )

[Erydian]

That sounds like my first party! [img]smile.gif[/img]

Take an hour or so and do some forum searches, particularly on how skills work, and how magic works in this game. I've been fully impressed on how much information has been available here on this board. I think that once you understand how things work, you'll be able to figure out how to improve your party - I know that it helped me out alot my first time around (and this is the first Wizardry I've ever played).

Some general tips however:

The key to development in this game is practice. Using your skills repetitively (if you're a caster, make sure every round of combat you are always casting, use buff/protection spells to practice outside of combat, or divine trap and knock knock on locked doors and trapped chests) increases your ability in those skills. Each skill has two controlling attributes, that affect how quickly you learn that skill. Higher scores in those controlling attributes can speed up your development in key skills for each of your characters.

Specialize when you distribute level - up points. Pick two statistics that you think would be most valuable to the character in question, and every level up, put those points in those two stats (until you cap them at 100). For casters, consider putting points into main spellbook realms (Wizardry, Divinity, Psionics, Alchemy) before distributing them to the minor realms (Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Divine, Mental), as your points here will contribute more to your ability to gain new spells (and the major realm skills raise slower). Sure, putting points into the minor realms helps your caster, but I would never put points into a minor realm without first putting points into the major realm for my class. For fighters and other non-casters, always put points into whatever weapon(s) you are using first, followed by dual weapons (if you use two weapons), and then close combat or ranged combat - depending on which you use. In most cases your skill with your weapon of choice (or your primary weapon if you dual wield) influences your accuracy far more than close combat or ranged combat will.

These are just some of the things that I have found useful. For more detailed answers, however, you will definitely want to check around the forum.

Good luck. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[vesselle]

plus something else.

don't try to make your priestess a fighter,too.
she does one thing exceptionally well ~~~ keeping your fighters and casters at peak performance levels. sure, some quarter staff training for that odd encounter or two is fine. but do NOT equate a GREAT teammate with Murder-Death-Kills. you need her to be a fast, responsive buffer, and by mid-game, if she isn't, your team will be headed for ruin.

V***V

[slowtrain]

To expand on Vesselle's response:

Good party development is mostly about roles:

The role of the priest is primarily that of a healer and buffer, combat is a distant second. Just because they are not fighting does not mean they are not contributing to the party's ability in combat. Actually, just the opposite: a good priest that never fights makes your party FAR more dangerous than it would otherwise be.

A couple fighters should have lots of HP and be skilled in short range melee weapons. Another fighter or two could concentrate on ranged combat and not worry about being tough or having a lot of hit points.

etc etc

Obviously the more you restart, the better developed your parties will be. No harm in that. I've been playing CRPGS for a long time, and I still ran twenty + different parties through the monastery before I really had a feel for how best to go in Wiz 8. And it was fun, too.

Use the monastery as a training ground. That's what its there for.

Enjoy!

<=ST

[phoenixsl]

For your mage

Focus on casting Light, Enchanted Blade and Missle Shield outside of combat to enhance your parties combat and defense

Focus on Magic Missles and Shrill Sound for combat, at lower levels dmg spells are actually useful (until the creatures get 100's of hp),
and Noxious Fumes is very good when you get it becuase of its dmg and disabling effect.

For your priest

Guardian Angel is a good spell to keep your low hp fighter from dying alot.

When you get level 4 spells make sure you have Armorplate and Magic Screen cast before combat and you will be much more sucessful.

Also, your mage and priest will gain skill points pretty quickly casting Light, Enchanted Blade and Missle Shield and Armorplate and Magic Screen respectivly before combat. You can even rest to regain your spell points once you can cast it at level 5 or higher.

[Tennessee Ernie Ford]

All of the advice offered above is very valuable.

Remember that in Wiz 8 more so than MM6-8, your party has to work together as a team. A priest in some parties might need to act as a fighter, in others they will be an offensive spellcaster, but (as above) they will mostly function as a healer.

Your party

quote:

---

Fight, Sam, Prie, Rang, Mage, Gag

---

fits well into the roles my websites suggest for building a party:

• Offensive Linemen aka Tanks->your Fighter and Samurai
• Offensive Casters ->your Mage and Gadgeteer
• Healers -> your Priest (and perhaps Ranger and later definitely your Gadgeteer)
• Ranged Attackers -> Ranger and Gadgeteer
• Utility Infielders ->Gadgeteer and in Wiz 8, I would add
• Disablers-> your Ranger and Gadgeteer

Given that lineup, you want focus each character to build strengths in their respective roles.
For your party, you really need your Sam to be a fighter, not a hybrid, focus on Str and SPD or DEX, not INT or PIE.

Similarly, your Gadgeteer is your only locksmith and has the better disabling spells (Hypnotic Lure, Noxious Fumes) (If you're using your Ranger for lots of disabling, consider switching to Alchemist.) Make sure they practice engineering rather fighting (mind you, they will still be a killer fighter).