The Enigmatic Ranger-Ninja Class-Combo..

[Charmy]

Hey all,

I haven't played Wizardry 8 in more than a year after beating it twice, but I've gotten a friend into the game, and I don't remember where I read a specific post about building a really cool character.. a multi-class ninja/ranger.

I believe it involves starting off as a ninja, maxing out critical strike, and then switching over to ranger.

The result is a ranger which can insta-kill with his arrows like a Ninja would with their throwing weapons, plus the ability to wear much better armor than the Ninja can and not have to rely on special throwing weapons.

As my knowledge of the specific mechanics of the game are pretty rusty now, I'm not sure I can explain it any better than that.. but has anyone ever come across a post or a website talking about this special kind of ranger?

Thanks for any help in advance =)

[ChaosTheorist]

I don't think this will quite do what you want. Critical Strike means nothing for a Ranger's ranged attacks (though it would come into play in a melee situation). The Ranger's inherent (as opposed to weapon/ammo-based) Instant Kill ability is determined by the Ranged Combat skill level (and, I'd guess, maybe by the Ranger level). So, if you want a Ranger that gets good ranged IKs, give him/her a good bow (Eagle Eye), shoot at everything in sight to raise Bow and Ranged Combat, and use decent ammo when the situation warrants it. My Rangerettes party (5 level 14 Rangers and a Bishop) just whacked Milano and the Don. When they came out, 12 Vampire Bats were waiting outside the door; 5 of the 12 went down on IKs.

[Krull]

Charmy

Ninja>Ranger class change was an article by Atlus 7, who is renowned for his spoylights on building up certain classes. The last one I think was the Priest, with tips on building the Standard Priest but also a Battle Priest.

I found the Ninja>Ranger one on Spydah's website but it's been down for some time now.

If I can summarise what he said....

1. As you said, change to Ranger when Critical Strike (CS) and Stealth are maxed at 100, although for the Ninja this will have to be 125 for CS as they get a 25% bonus to this skill;

2. Both classes have the same skill sets, (apart from Close Combat, Ranged Combat) such as Swords, Bows, Maces, Polearms, Daggers etc;

3. Let your Ninja use whatever weapon(s) you want them to continue to use when you class change. Also use bows only so when the time comes to class change you will be proficient in both weapon skills. Personally, I went with a Mook Ninja for a certain sword when he became a Ranger. I know you will lose the Nija's Throwing CS but will gain the Ranger's CS when you class change;

4. As for attributes he suggested Dexterity and Strength to 100, followed by Senses and Speed. There are more expert people than me on this forum such as Wereboar and EEWorzelle who can tell you if this is the correct build or not.

5. They also use the same magic realm, Alchemy, but I am unsure what happens to your spell picks when you class change.

6. Finally, he said that Ranged criticals are better than Thrown criticals because certain bows and arrows have a % to kill and that arrows & bolts are more plentiful and deal out more damage, more status effects etc.

I'm unsure what level you would have to be when you might class change but assume it will be in the last quarter of the game, unless you do the training tactics you can find on this Board.

As you can guess, I can't tell you from my experience if this worked out in practice as I never got that far with my Ninja as I got rid of the party he was in, out of boredom!