Wizardry 8 – Class Guide

Wizardry 8 - Class Guide

Warning:  You may use this file for your own personal use, but to 
claim that you wrote it...well just kind of sad that that's your life, 
and you want recognition so badly that you have to steal FAQs from 
other people and claim it as your own.  Anyhoo.... 

This FAQ is designed solely for people who want a usefulness 
breakdown of each character. It has a few spoilers on weapons and such
so beware! The choice of race for each character is 
purely my own opinion, not based on maxing stats or how quick they'll get 
their personal skills.  Also the importance of stats is again my opinion. 
I have also put a * next to the race, I think is best for each class.  Ok, 
Here goes:

UPDATE:  In this version I have included general adventuring tips that 
I wanted to share with everyone.  I had to learn these myself (sometimes
the hard way).  

UPDATE 2: Added a little to the Development tips on Lord and Samurai and 
changed the current party that I'm using.   

UPDATE 3:  Added a little more to the ninja development tips and changed 
opinion a bit on ninjas.  


TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Section I: Classes
Section II: Development Tips
Section III: Party Creation
Section IV:  General Adventuring Tips




SECTION I:  Classes

Fighter:
Rating:  B+
Special Abilities:  Berserk, Stamina Regeneration, May knock out 
opponents
Spellbooks:  None
Skill Bonus:  Close Combat
Experience Requirement:  Light
Difficulty to maintain: Easy

Options for Race:

* Dracon:  
Extra points at creation: 60

Obvious. Great starting attributes, and lots of extra points to distribute. 
Low Senses and intelligence however, so you might not want to dual 
wield with them before investing many points into senses. Also, they 
have a slight penalty to divine and mental spells. This can be 
troublesome when enemies are trying to make your fighter turncoat or 
insane. 

Mook: 
Extra points at creation: 40

These are a good option too, they just start off with less speed than a 
dracon or hobbit. However there's a great sword you can find in the 
game, that only mooks can use, so think about that. Also they have 
much better magic resists than a hobbit, and their senses and int are 
higher, making them even better candidates than hobbits for dual 
wielders. They'll get powerstrike two levels later than dracon though.

Hobbit: 
Extra points at creation: 40

Less points to distribute at startup, but if you want to dual wield with 
your fighter, this is another good option. He starts with higher speed 
than a mook, but a little less senses and int. He has more than a dracon 
however. He also has the worst resists of all three.

Some might think I'm crazy by not naming the lizardman, but his -10 
to Mental AND Divine just makes me sick. He also has atrocious 
starting Int and senses, making close combat rise even slower than a 
dracon. Dwarf is an ok option, but less starting speed than the Dracon 
and senses and intelligence are just as bad. Also less points to 
distribute.
 

Non biased Explanation:

The fighter gets the most hit points, and can hit the hardest, just as one 
would expect.  His berserk ability allows him to dish out huge amounts 
of damage, even if it does mean less accuracy.  Cons:  The main 
problem with this dude is his lack of spells.  You can't really do 
anything with him except attack. By mid to late game, he starts getting 
a little outclassed by his peers who can cast spells and what not. Also,
and this is not a horrible con, but fighters generally dominate
the killing in battles, esepcially by the end game, preventing hybrids 
from training their much needed combat skills as well as they can.   

Biased Explanation:

He's great to have up front taking huge amounts of damage, as well as 
dishing it out. He is equipment based, but that's ok, there's plenty of 
stuff to go around. The lack of spells can sometimes be frustrating 
though. Either way though, in my opinion he's the best guy to have up 
front. (A valk is a close second though)

Attributes to work on, in order of importance:

Str
Vit (Or dex if dual wielding)
Dex (Or Sen if dual wielding)
Spd (Or Vit if dual wielding)
Sen (Or spd if dual wielding)

Options of Skills to work on:

Sword - Swords are generally the most powerful weapons in the game. 
Keep in mind the best sword in the game (that's not randomized) 
can only be used by a mook. 

Axe - For a change of pace....can't dual wield or use shields with these 
though. The good axes are two handed. 

Mace and flail - The best secondary weapon in the game is a mace. If 
you want to dual wield put points here.

Dagger - Again for dual wielders. There are some decent daggers with 
Kill % on them. However, mace and flail will allow you to use the best 
secondary weapon in the game.  

Close combat - More important if you're dual wielding different 
weapons. Otherwise it's ok to go up by itself.

Bow - A good ranged weapon for him because he has so much extra 
strength, and will do good damage with bows.  

Shield - for a tank.  Gives good armor bonuses.  Doesn't work well 
with axes though.

Dual Weapons - Um.....if you're dual wielding?


Lord:  

Rating B- (B+ if you use the build in the tips section)
Special Abilities:  Health Regeneration. 
Spellbooks:  Divine
Skill Bonus: Dual Weapons
Experience Requirement:  Medium
Difficulty to maintain: Medium/hard

Choices of Race:

* Human:  
Extra points at creation: 20

Hands down, look no further.  In order to utilize all his skills, a good 
lord needs to have competent figures in every category. Humans have 
the best stat distribution of all. 

A dwarf has low senses and intelligence, meaning poor dual wielding
and very slow raising of the realms and close combat. A Rawulf has low 
int, causing realm skills and close combat to rise slowly.   

Unbiased Explanation:

Can wear most armor and use most weapons.  He can also equip 
cursed items that deal damage to their wearer, and not take a single 
point of damage from them which can be useful.  Dual wield bonus 
allows him to use dual weapons more efficiently than most other 
characters, especially in the beginning. Cons:  Doesn't deal as much 
damage as a fighter, or even a valk. It takes a long time to get him to 
be a great character. He also doesn't have as many hit points. Plus the 
divinity spellbook, doesn't have too many options for ranged attacks, 
so you either have to use make wounds, or try somehow to give him a 
ranged weapon. That's difficult because he already has a lot of skills 
to learn.  

Biased Explanation:

Hes most useful in a party that doesnt have a divinity caster, and 
pretty useless in a ranged party.  To make up for his lack of strength 
try dual wielding maces.  It gives him one less skill to worry about 
raising (Sword and dagger, sword and mace etc.) and those usually 
have KO percentages.  Also, it takes a long time for the lord to really 
shine. I have a build however, that can make the lord be a REALLY useful 
character. See the tips section for more details. 

Attributes to work on, in order of importance:

Str
Dex
Sen
Vit
Spd
Pie

Options of Skills to work on:

Sword - Again, most powerful weapons in the game

Dagger - You want to Dual wield with a Lord. There are some 
interesting daggers.

Mace and Flail - Again the best secondary weapon is a mace. 
However, there are many good maces and flails with status ailments, 
so it might be good for a lord to dual wield them, and avoid raising
two different weapon skills. 

Close combat - If you're dual wielding maces and flails, let it rise by 
itself unless you have extra points.  Otherwise you might want to put 
points here, at least until you unlock divinity.

Dual Weapons - Put points here....otherwise you might as well take a 
fighter.

Bow - If you want to shoot bows with him.  However, you should probably 
just focus on divinity due to the amount of skills that need to be 
pumped.  

Divinity - To get the priest spells on time. Lords should really focus on 
combat, but there are builds that allow the lord to shine with both 
priest spells and weapons. Plus you should be able to put a couple of 
points here each level.  See below in the tips section.

Realms - The lord has plenty of other stuff on his plate.  Let them rise 
by themselves.


Valkyrie:

Rating:  A+
Special Abilities:  Cheat death.....come again???? Yes, I did say cheat 
death.
Spellbooks:  Divinity
Skill Bonus:  Polearms
Experience Requirement:  Medium
Difficulty to maintain: Easy

Options for race:

Dwarf:  
Extra points at creation: 25

They start with great strength and vitality. This allows them, to get 
powerstrike faster than humans. Their senses and int will be low, so 
you might put some initial points in Int. Senses are not as important, 
because the only skill that will affect is their close and ranged combat 
skills. Int affects those, but more importantly, realm skills as well. 
Since Valks will not be using shields, a dwarf's damage resistance will 
also come in handy.  

* Dracon: 
Extra Points at Creation: 25

Same as Dwarf, with a slight difference. The dracon starts off with 
more int, but less senses than a dwarf. But since we determined Int is 
more important, this is actually a benefit. She'll be able to start on other 
attributes earlier than a dwarf will. The dracon has decent Magic 
resistances, even though they have a slight penalty to Mental and 
divine spells. Still, it's better than dwarves.  What's good is that since 
divinity doesn't have many offensive options, the dracon breath of the 
dracon can REALLY come in handy. And you don't have to put a 
point into it, allowing more points to be distributed to divinity, and 
realms. 

Human:  
Extra points at creation: 25

A good alternative. They are much more rounded in all their abilites, 
making a balanced valk. However, they start off with less 
strength and vitality, so they'll get powerstrike 2 levels later than a 
dwarf or dracon will. Also no magic resists. But if you want them to 
not have to waste points in int at startup, then they are a good 
alternative to Dwarves or dracons. 

Unbiased Explanation:

The Valkyrie is a great fighter, coming close to the fighter himself.  
She can take lots of damage, and you RARELY need to worry about 
her dying. Her cheat death is AWESOME. Because she has so few 
skills she needs to focus on, you can work on both her divinity, and a 
ranged weapon skill if you so choose, and she'll be proficient at all of  
them.  There are some nice polearms out there too, she'll do good 
damage with them. Cons:  Pretty much limited to polearms seeing as 
that's what she's best at. (There are nice polearms though). Also 
Polearms are heavy, so you'll more than likely find her going last in a 
fight. Also, as you get near the end of the game, the valk ends up
falling behind the other hybrids who begin to really shine. 
And you have to pick a female. 

Biased explanation:

The only reason I wouldn't make a valkyrie, is cause you find a VERY 
good one early in the game. I could kiss her, if I wasn't worried she'd 
stick me with a spear.  Cheat death is AMAZING. I can't count the 
amount of times that ability has helped me through a tough battle. The 
valkyrie has so few weaknesses that are relevant, that it makes me 
wonder if the game designers didn't spend much time working on 
them.  She was great in Wiz 7, and she's great in Wiz 8.  My favorite 
character. 

Attributes to work on, in order of importance:

Str
Dex
Spd 
Vit
Sen

Options of skills to work on:

Polearms - Weapon of choice.  Otherwise take a fighter or Lord.

Close Combat - Not too important for her, but you'll probably have 
extra points (At least before she unlocks her divine spells) so shove em 
in there

Divinity - Gets her those priest spells.  

Realm skills - She has so few skills she need to focus on you can 
throw some extra Points in here.  Water and divine most importantly.

Bow - With her extra strength she'll do some decent damage with 
these. I myself prefer to just use her priest spells though.....



Ranger:

Rating:  C+ (B- for Modern Weapons users)
Special Abilities:  Chance of Critical Kill at range, Able to 
mix potions and powders together
Spellbooks:  Alchemy
Skill bonus:  Ranged Combat
Experience Requirement:  Medium
Difficulty to Maintain: Easy/Medium

Options for race:

* Human:  
Extra points at creation: 25

The human will have good stats in all categories, particularly piety. 
Piety is important for hybrids, for 2 reasons; stamina and spell points. 
The five extra speed that the hobbit has, and 5 extra starting points to 
distribute in my mind does not make up for this. They will be terrible 
casters as compared to a human. 

Hobbit: 
Extra points at creation: 30

Since the Ranger will most likely not be casting too often, you might 
want to take a hobbit just for their extra speed and extra points to 
distribute.  They also have a little better magic resistance than humans 
(Not much though).

Mook:  
Extra points at Creation: 40

Some will claim the mook to be the best Ranger, and he does gets Eagle 
eye the fastest. However, his piety and speed start off at an atrocious 
level meaning poor initiative and spell points.  You'll have to put a 
bunch of points in there or just say spells don't do anything for my
ranger. It's only one level earlier.....please....

Unbiased Explanation:

He's the only one in the game who can scout...which really isn't that 
important if you have a character with high senses. On the plus side, 
he's great in a ranged party, especially with his critical kill ability.  
Cons:  Limited armor selection, and little desire to use melee weapons 
with him make him useless in a melee party.  Also, because bows are ranged, 
you're very rarely going to use his alchemy skill, a shame because that's one 
of the best spellbooks.  

Biased explanation:

You're gonna want to focus on Dex, spd, and Sen With him in the 
beginning so str is out, making him do very weak damage with bows.  
Scouting is not that important and he doesn't really do too many 
criticals until much later in the game. Also, if you use modern weapons, 
ammo is scarce. I'd skip this one unless I was creating a ranged party. 


Attributes to work on, in order of importance:

Sen
Dex
Str (Or spd if using modern weapons)
Spd (Or int if using modern weapons)


Options of skills to work on:

Bow - If you want to use bows with him.  He'll start off with a bow so 
that's usually A pretty good option.

Modern Weapons - This is probably the better option for a ranger.  It 
allows him to forgo any need for strength.  You don't get a modern 
weapon for a while though....

Ranged Combat - 3 POINTS A LEVEL!!!  This controls the amount of 
criticals he gets.

Scouting - CAN be useful, but you can also keep the search button on.  
Put some initial points here if you want. It goes up pretty fast by itself.

Alchemy - for casters.  Gets you them alchemy spells.  However, 
you'll prob use the spells less than your bows....

Realm skills - for most hybrids I say let em rise by themselves, but 
since you'll be using Spells less with him, I say try to put a point into 
Earth and water each level. 

Polearms - Honestly.....these are not the melee guys, I wouldn't even 
worry about putting points into this. If you do however, polearms are a 
good choice, cause it allows them to stick to the backrows.  

Samurai:  

Rating:  B
Special Abilities:  Critical Kill, Lightning Strike, immune to fear
Spellbooks:  Wizardry
Skill bonus:  Sword
Experience Requirement:  Medium
Difficulty: Medium/Hard

Options for race:  

* Human: 
Extra points at creation: 20

Again, as with the ranger, the decent starting piety allows the Samurai
a good amount of spell points for casting spells. Other than that, there's 
not much else to say, he's the best for a true hybrid Samurai.  

Hobbit: 
Extra points at creation: 25

The hobbit starts of with more senses than the human.  He'll also have 
more points to distribute at startup making him a great candidate for 
Samurai. However, you will have to deal with the fact, that he'll be a 
much poorer spellcaster than the human will be throughout the game. 
You don't really want to put initial points into piety. Take him if you 
KNOW you're not gonna be casting spells with him.

Unbiased Explanation:

The Samurai is a good fighter, and he gets critical kills at melee.  He 
CAN use bows, but where he really shines is his Melee plus wizardry 
combo he has going on.  His lightning strike ability is cool 
ESPECIALLY with a certain sword in his hand.  Cons?  You want to 
focus a lot on Dex and spd early on so he won't be doing too much 
damage.  This is offset by a certain weapon you can get early in the 
game.  Still, he's not as good of a fighter as the fighter, and he can't 
use as much armor as the fighter Valk or Lord.  Even so you want him 
up front.  Take a human for a true hybrid, or a hobbit if you want a 
combat specialist.  

Biased Explanation:

I would go for the true hybrid with the Samurai.  Making him a pure 
fighter is like having a Diet-Fighter in the party.  It would be a spot 
better suited for someone else.  He can deal death to many opponents, 
and can freeze flesh, fireball, etc. Takes a little while, but he's
a Very useful member to have around.


Attributes to work on, in order of importance:

Dex
Spd
Str
Sen
Int  

Options of skills to work on:

Sword - Pretty obvious. You can also use staff and wand with him, but 
with that build, you could take a monk. 

Close combat - Let it rise by itself.  Maybe a couple of points before 
you unlock Wizardry.

Critical Strike - Please put points here.  Otherwise suck it up and take 
a fighter

Dual Weapons - If you want to use the secondary swords like an 
enchanted wakizashi. The more swings the better. 

Wizardry - Get them Wizardry spells!

Realm skills - If you have a point or two left over, pump em into fire 
and water.

Bows - Honestly, use the wizardry....good support spells, and multi 
damage attacks. Also Samurai won't really have good strength for a 
while, thereby minimizing damage with bows.  

Ninja:

Rating:  B- (A- if Faerie)
Special Abilities:  Auto Penetrate Thrown weapons, Thrown and 
melee Criticals, Able to mix potions and powders together
Spellbooks:  Alchemy
Skill bonus:  Critical Strike
Experience Requirement:  Heavy
Difficulty to maintain: Hard

Options for race:  

*  Faerie: 
Extra points at creation: 5

Faerie ninjas have terrible starting points, but they're the only 
ones who can use the best weapon in the game. If you want to use it, 
this is who you take. Keep in mind too that faeries are made very 
difficult to kill. In combination with the nasty staff you'll be using, 
you'll have an unstoppable force. Also, they have MUCH better magic 
resistances than a hobbit.  However this build doesn't make use 
of their auto penetrate ability...

Hobbit: 
Extra points at creation: 30

Normally piety kills the hobbits and hybrids, but not so much in the 
ninja's case. This is because quite frankly, he'll rarely be using spells. 
He already has auto penetrate, and good weapons to boot.  He's a 
combat specialist.  

Unbiased Explanation:

Where do I begin?  A bonus to criticals is great, and while it takes a 
while, the ninja will be a great death dealer.  His auto-penetrate with 
thrown weapons is amazing, especially when that's combined with 
thrown criticals.  Also, he has access to a lot of cheap weapons, with 
kill% and KO percentage on them, so you'll want him to be dual 
wielding at all times.  He can use slings: they won't auto penetrate, but 
he can get criticals with them.  Cons:  He'll never do a lot of damage 
until you pump his str. or use a special weapon. He's a very luck 
based character, and he has so many skills to max to make him good, 
that it takes an eternity to get him to that point.  His alchemy is wasted 
considering you really need to focus on the other skills for a long time. 
This can be offset by taking light and heal wounds early on and just 
practicing them.  Also severely limited weapons and armor choices.  
Faeries are only good with them for one specific reason...otherwise 
take a hobbit.  

Biased Explanation:  I write this with tears in my eyes (not really).  
The main problem for the ninja besides all the skills that need to be 
pumped, besides the heavy experience requirements...and besides 
the fact that they are luck based...is the SEVERE lack of thrown 
weapons.  Like seriously...what the hell??  This can be offset 
by a certain thrown weapon later on, but you must go through an 
INCREDIBLY difficult fight to get it. (Although to be fair, when I did 
finally win that fight my ninja was the only one left standing. Then
she said, "This is what happens when people like you are put in 
charge!"). But still, this fight is nearly impossible to win until 
you're at least level 16, or 17, and the fact remains is that these 
weapons do little damage.  And if you're gonna go the martial arts 
route, you may as well take a monk...at least he can consistently use 
his psionics, and has less experience requirements.  But the lack of 
thrown weapons, minimizes the ninja's special abilities. This is really
why it's usually better to take a faerie, and exploit the best weapon
in the game. Ninja's also take a loooong time to really develop. 


Attributes to work on, in order of importance:

Dex
Sen (Or spd if faerie)
Spd (Or Sen if Faerie)
Str
Int

Options of skills to work on:

Staff and Wand - Faeries only.  Gets you the best weapon in the game

Dagger -  Sai have kill % on them.  These are a good option for your 
ninja

Mace and Flails - Nunchuka are great, with 15% KO, and the ninja can 
use the best Flails in the game. However they can't use diamond eyes,
which is absolutely incredible, and if want maces and flails, you should
really go with a priest switched to lord at level 2.  See tips section
below. 

Martial Arts - If you don't want to use weapons.  But if you're gonna
do that take a monk.  Less experience requirements, and a bonus to
Martial arts to boot.  

Close/Ranged combat - Yeah.....don't waste points here.  Let it rise.

Stealth - Put points here, or train him by allowing weak enemies to attack 
him. Either way get it up there.

Throwing and sling - Auto penetrate is great, and thrown criticals are 
fun. However if you're taking a faerie for the staff and wand, don't put 
points here.  You'll regret it later on....

Dual Weapons  - You're really missing out if you're not dual wielding 
with a ninja. However there are builds that allow you to forgo putting 
points here....see below in the tips section.

Critical strike - The ONLY reason one takes a ninja. If you're not 
putting points here, may god have mercy on your soul.....

Alchemy - I'd love to tell you you're gonna have plenty of points to put 
here, but most likely you won't. Hard work is what allows this to rise.  
It's easier with a faerie ninja however, since you likely won't be putting 
points into throwing, or using throwing too much. 

Realm skills - DO NOT put points here until you've absolutely 
finished everything else.

Locks and Traps - I will murder you if you waste points here. Let a 
gadgeteer or bard do it.  Or keep inspecting a trapped chest. (Set the 
game on easy if you do that)

Pickpocket - See above


Monk:

Rating:  B+
Special Abilities:  Damage Resistance, Immune to Blind, May KO 
opponents later on, Critical Strike
Spellbooks:  Psionics
Skills Bonus:  Martial Arts
Experience Requirement:  Medium
Difficulty to Maintain: Easy/Medium

Options for Race:

* Felpurr: 
Extra points at creation: 25

Felpurr have great starting speed. This is great for martial arts monks
cause the damage from that rises as martial arts does. Since the 
felpurrs have less strength, they are not as affected by it. Piety is not a 
factor here cause monks already have a piety requirement.  They also 
have great resists, which really tips the scales over the other races I 
chose.  Their -15 to water can be countered by an item you get in 
arnika early in the game.

Human: 
Extra points at creation: 25

Humans have better starting strength and vitality than felpurr do. This 
means more hit points, and better damage with weapons.  If you want 
a staff and wand monk, he should be your man. He'll have better 
damage earlier in the game than the felpurr. No resists brings him 
down a bit though. 

Dwarf: 
Extra points at creation: -15

While a dwarf has a horrendous -15 points to start off with, they also 
have damage resistance. This is VERY useful combined with the 
monks own resistances.  However, they're probably better in a smaller 
party since they won't be really kickass until the higher levels.


Unbiased Explanation: 
 
The monk's main weapon is martial arts, a very  powerful 
skill to have.  While each hit won't do much damage, he gets a lot of 
them eventually, and they increase in power as Martial arts goes up.  
He's effectively dual wielding without needing to put a single point into
the dual wield skill. He doesn't need expensive weapons or armor to make 
him effective, which is also nice.  He is a luck based character to a 
degree, but less so than the Ninja, and he requires less experience to do 
so.  He can also use the best staffs in the game which may or may not be 
useful to you. Cons:  Not as much damage as a Fighter and SEVERELY limited 
armor choices.  These are offset by the stealth skill, and damage 
resistance.  Also, he has lower hit points, which are also offset by these 
skills. Very poor ranged fighter, must rely on psionics, which aren't 
always useful in those situations.      

Biased Explanation:   

I LOVE martial arts fighters, always have, in any RPG.  Critical kills 
will be good later on, and the monk gets the chance to swing many, 
many times, thereby increasing the chance of those criticals.  While 
Ninjas can do that too, monks have less of an experience requirement, 
and less skills to worry about pumping (Martial, Stealth, Psionics and 
Critical. That's it.)


Attributes to work on, in order of importance:

Dex (Or Str if using weapons)
Spd
Str (Or Dex if using weapons)
Sen

Options of skills to work on:

Martial Arts - Weapon of choice.  They are badass with their fists.  

Staff and wand - To use the second deadliest staff in the game (and use 
it well)

Close combat - Not too important for him, and plenty of other skills 
to work on.  Let it rise.

Stealth - Put points here, or train him by allowing roaches to attack 
him. Either way get it up there.

Critical Strike - Put points here please.

Throwing and sling - You can setup your monk to use this.  However, 
he doesn't auto penetrate like a ninja, or have thrown criticals.  You're 
better off using Psionics.

Psionics - Points here gets you psionic spells!

Realm skills - Don't put points here until combat oriented skills are 
finished. Mental and fire.  

Rogue:

Rating:  B
Special Abilities:  Backstabbing with Swords and Daggers
Spellbooks:  None
Skill Bonus:  Locks and Traps
Experience Requirement:  Light
Difficulty to maintain: Hard

Options of races: 

* Felpurr:
Extra points at creation: 55

As stated above, they have great resists. Their penalties to piety and 
Vitality don't make a huge difference here, because with such high 
speed and dex they will not be getting hit too often, and they don't cast 
spells. Plenty of points to distribute at creation ensures good scores in 
it's important attributes.  

Hobbit:
Extra points at creation: 60

A little better starting vitality than a felpurr, but his lack of resists in 
my opinion pulls him further down the totem pole. Plus you can 
always distribute points to bring up a felpurrs vitality. Otherwise, very 
comparable stats, and 5 extra starting points. 

Unbiased Explanation:

The rogue is good at dealing out lots of damage.  He can pick locks 
well, pickpocket, dual wield, very little experience cost, and be 
stealthy. This limits the needs for heavy armors. He can also backstab, 
doing double damage, with NO hit penalty. Cons: There are just too 
many skills for him to pump. Unlike a fighter, he needs to put points 
into a skill to get good AC, tough cause you already want to be 
pumping Swords Daggers, dual weapons, and a ranged weapon.  The 
ranged weapon can be offset By making him a dracon and using breath 
attack for ranged however. There's another build I've made, that will 
allow you a ranged weapons. See below in the tips section. They are 
also really limited to swords and daggers for melee weapons. His locks 
and traps bonus is really wasted considering you're not going to want 
to devote points to it.

Biased Explanation:

If you want a dual wielding combat specialist, this is your guy. He'll 
deal more damage than a lord. However, it might be easier just to set 
up a fighter to dual wield. The fighter does not need to put points into 
a skill to have high AC. The Rogue WILL always backstab at no hit 
penalty so that's nice. And he can use some very good weapons. Just 
don't expect him to be everything at once. If you want to take him, 
take a bard or gadgeteer along too, to do Locks and traps.     

Attributes to work on, in order of importance:

Str
Dex
Spd
Sen

Options of skills to work on:

Sword - Put that in your primary weapon.  He'll do more damage with 
these than with a second dagger.

Dagger - For your secondary weapon.  

Close combat - Will help him. however there are so many skills he 
needs to work on, that it doesn't make sense to put points here. 

Bow - He can use bows, and he'll be pumping strength so it's a good 
option for him.

Throwing and sling - You can dual wield knives and darts, and it will 
allow your Dual weapons skill to rise as well.  Another good option for 
him. Can't use shuriken however....

Dual Weapons - This guy was made for this.  However, I've 
constructed a build that allows you to forgo putting any points in this.  
See below in the tips section.

Stealth - You should put points here.  However rogues can use better 
armor than monks or Ninjas, so they have more time to build it up.

Lock and Traps - It' better to have a Gadgie or bard do it, but if you 
don't have either (What is wrong with you!) this is your man. It will
take away points from combat skills though...

Pickpocket - I never used this but some people like it. Again, it will 
take points away from combat skills. If you really want it, I would 
suggest taking a bard and having him do it, or wait till you get myles
or saxx.  

Shield - If you don't want to dual wield with him.  (TAKE A 
FIGHTER YOU IDIOT!!)  


Bard:  

Rating:  C+
Special Abilities:  Plays music.  When resting everyone regenerates 
quicker.
Spellbooks:  None
Skill Bonus:  Communications
Experience Requirement:  Light
Difficulty to maintain: Easy

Options of race: 

* Hobbit: 
Extra points at creation: 35

The hobbit has a good amount of points to distribute at starting and a 
GREAT score in dex.  This will be good for the bard, for it helps in 
many of his key skills. You may want to put some initial points into 
vitality though, as the hobbit has very poor piety.

Unbiased Explanation:  

The Bard has many instruments that allow him to cast spells at the cost 
of a little stamina.  He can also take over locks and traps duties, and 
pickpocketing as well, due to his lack of skills he needs to focus on.  
His ability to help everyone regenerate quicker while sleeping is very 
useful.  Cons?  Not very versatile.  He is a poor fighter, and is 
marginally ok ranged fighter.  He can use bows, but won't do too 
much damage due to his poor str.  Also, later on his instruments get 
weaker compared to the gadgets that gadgeteers can make.  This 
makes them even less useful.  Having an unlimited haste spell is nice 
though...

Biased Explanation:  

The bard is boring, he really only has one talent, and that is weakened 
by the presence of a gadgeteer in the party.  Can be good so that you 
can work on those lesser used skills, like communication, 
pickpocketing etc...However, he gets much weaker as the game goes 
on as well.  If you really want one, I would suggest waiting until you 
can get Saxx.  


Attributes to work on, in order of importance:

Dex
Vit 
Int 
Spd 
Str 

Options of skills to work on:

Bows - If you want to use bows with your boy. 

Throwing and sling - A generally inferior option for him, but it'll 
let you throw some bombs around.  

Music - Um....put points here??

Locks and Traps - If you got no gadgie, he's your man

Pickpocket - Unlike the rogue, he has so few skills to work on that you 
can put points here.

Communications - If you want.  It WILL go up very fast by itself 
though.  

Staff and wand -  To use the second deadliest staff in the game.  Staff 
and wand also allows him to stick to the backrows, and participate
in melee.   


Gadgeteer:

Rating:  A-
Special Abilities:  Only one who can use Omnigun, Makes Gadgets
Spellbooks:  None
Skill Bonus:  Modern Weapon
Experience Requirement:  Light
Difficulty to Maintain: Easy/Medium

Options for Race:

* Hobbit:  
Extra points at creation: 30

The hobbit has great stat distribution, and to make a good gadgeteer 
you need good points in every category (except piety).  He starts off 
with good speed, which takes him a major step above the other races 
for this class. His low piety means you should put some points into 
vitality initially though

Mook:
Extra points at creation: 30

Good vitality and strength to start off with and great resists puts him 
near the top for a gadgie. He has TERRIBLE piety, (low stamina) and 
low speed however, so you'll find yourself putting points into speed 
initially, and possible a bit into Vitality. But his resists really bring him 
a step above the others except the hobbit.

Unbiased Explanation:  

On top of being able to create some pretty badass Gadgets, the 
Gadgeteer can use the locks and traps skill and is pretty good  at it.  
The major bonus is the omnigun, which can inflict all sorts of different 
ailments on the enemies.  He'll never do great damage with it, but he 
holds his own, and all it takes is the shot that KO's the opponents, 
criticals, insanitizes him etc. I can't count the amount of times the 
omnigun made a tough battle a cakewalk.  Cons.  From level 1-9 you'll 
be cursing my name screaming why did I ever let him talk me into this 
horrible character!! In the beginning, he'll have access to VERY few 
gadgets, and poor ammunition for the omnigun.  Those are really the things 
you want to focus on with him, so he'll be weak for a while.   Also he's 
not the biggest damage dealer, relying more on either gadgets, or the 
nasty effects of the omnigun.  Gadgets also don't come formed, you have 
to figure out which pieces go where.  

Biased Explanation:  

It's worth the wait. Since he has very few skills that need to be 
worked on, once he gets off the ground he soars.  The omnigun is 
amazing, especially when he firing off nine shots a round.  By the end 
of the game the bard's instruments pale to this guys gadgets.  It really 
all depends on whether you're willing to wait or not.  But for me, he's 
a requirement in any party I make. In my first ascension, my gadgeteer 
led the group in kills. 

Attributes to work on, in order of importance:

Dex
Sen
Vit
Int 
Str
Spd

Options of skills to work on:

Modern Weapons - Omnigun.  Period

Engineering - Gadgets. Period.

Locks and Traps - In my opinion, since he has so few skills to work on
he's the best candidate for this skill. He also starts with points in it 
unlike the bard.

Ranged combat - Max Modern weapons first, then start working on 
this.

Sword - If you want him to get involved in melee he can use some 
good swords. More than likely however, he will not.

Shield - If you don't want to use your omnigun(Sniff!), or if you want 
a sword and shield plus omnigun gadgeteer.  Please do me a favor and 
take a fighter or ranger if you're gonna do that. Or at least don't tell 
me...

Priest:

Rating:  D+ (C for a Battle Priest)
Special Abilities:  Pray for miracle, Turn undead  
Spellbooks:  Divinity
Skill Bonus:  Divinity
Experience Requirement:  Light/Medium
Difficulty to maintain: Easy

Options for race:

Rawulf:  
Extra points at creation: 50

The Rawulf is a natural priest, and gets a lot of points to distibute 
initially. He also has great resists and decent starting dexterity, 
speed and senses.  This means That he'll be able to fight well, but not 
nearly as good as a lord or a Valk. You might want to put initial points 
into intelligence however, cause he's dumb as a brick.

Dwarf: 
Extra points at creation: 50

Better strength, so if you're making a battle priest this is your guy. 
HOWEVER; Horrendous scores in intelligence, Dex, spd, and sen 
means you might want to put a bunch of points in those skills.  At least 
Dex and int. Speed and senses can wait, unless you really need your 
priest to have good initiative.

* Human: Only take a human if you're planning to switch to a lord at 
level 2. See below in the tips section.

Unbiased Opinion:

For a caster the priest can use some decent weapons and armor.  He'll 
also get the Divine spells faster than any other class,  which can be 
very useful because divinity has some very important spells. He can also 
use some great staffs and maces as well.   Cons? Divinity has nearly 0 
offensive options, it's all about defense.  Also, it's not so important 
for a priest to get to spell level 7, all the best spells are in levels 
1-5.  He'll be sitting around waiting to heal someone, while your other 
characters are picking up his mess.  Turn undead is rarely useful and a 
bishop has it as well.  I never used pray for a miracle.

Biased Opinion:

You can take a lord or a Valk, and get the important spells soon 
enough.  Soul Shield, Superman, Rest all, Armorplate, Heal all, etc. And 
ALL of those have gadgets or Instruments you can use to cast them!  
Seriously, this dude is a waste of space.  I would only create him, to 
change to a lord at level 2. See the tips section below.  

Attributes to work on, in order of importance:

Pie
Str (Or spd if you're going for a pure caster)
Vit 
Dex (Or Int if you're going for a pure caster)


Options of skills to work on:

Mace and Flail - The priest can use the best extended Maces and Flails 
in the game. 

Staff and wand - Can use the second deadliest staff in the game.

Divinity - Why are you taking a priest again?  OH, that's right.

Realms skills - you'll have points left over.  Put points into Water and 
divine.

Shield - Mace and Flail users only.  If you want to tank with a priest.  
Don't need to put TOO many points in here though...


Alchemist:

Rating:  B-
Special Abilities:  Creates Potions while resting.  Can mix potions and 
powders together to make new ones.  
Spellbooks:  Alchemy
Skill Bonus:  Alchemy
Experience Requirement:  Light/Medium
Difficulty to maintain: Easy

Options for race:  

* Elf:
Extra points at creation: 45

Less starting speed than the faerie, but MUCH better piety, important 
to get more spell points. Also has a bit better vitality, meaning more 
hit points which are always important.  Still, pump some extra points 
into speed and bring up his initiative.

Faerie:  
Extra points at creation: 50

Great starting speed allows her to go first in battle. She'll have a lot of 
points to distribute at startup, but you'll need a lot of them to pour into 
piety at startup for more spell points. Poor hit points too, you might 
want to put some extra points into vitality as well. Great Magic resists 
as well.  

Unbiased Opinion:  Being able to mix potions and powders together is 
a GREAT skill.  You can do this to make money, and it helps build 
your alchemy skill.  He'll also get the best alchemy spells quickest, 
which is great, because Alchemy spells are VERY powerful.  He also 
starts with some points in throwing, making him an ideal choice to toss 
some of those bombs around. Cons?  Limited armor selection, weak 
hp.  Not a very big deal, cause you're not gonna be putting him on the 
front lines.  Also, and the problem with all casters is that he has less 
versatility than most other characters.  His throwing ability makes him 
a step above the others, but not a huge one.  

Biased Opinion:  I would rather have a bishop that casts alchemy 
spells.  It leaves open spots that other, more versatile characters can fit 
in.  On the other hand there's something nice to be said about getting 
uber spells early on.

Attributes to work on, in order of importance:

Int
Piety
Dex
Spd
Vit

Options of skills to work on:

Alchemy - Don't put points here.....see if I care.

Realm skills - PLENTY of points left over.  Water and Earth

Throwing and sling - He starts off with some points here, so he can 
throw some bombs around if you want him too.  

Bishop:

Rating:  A-
Special Abilities:  Remove Curse, Turn Undead, Can mix powders and 
Potions together.  
Skill Bonus:  Artifacts
Spellbooks:  All
Experience Requirement:  Heavy
Difficulty to maintain: Hard

Options for race:

* Faerie: 
Extra points at creation: 25

Again, great magic resists brings her far up the totem pole cause 
bishops will more than likely only be damaged by magic. Great 
starting speed assures her going pretty quickly in battle as well.  Their 
low piety is not a factor here as bishops have a starting requirement in 
it.  Also, they have great magic regeneration. Poor Vitality does not 
ensure too many hit points however.

Elf:  
Extra points at creation: 30

Better vitality than a faerie. But the real factor is that elf bishops will 
be able to wear much better armor than a faerie will. This can be good 
in case the party gets surrounded.  Elves also get powercast a level 
quicker than a faerie does.  Less Magical resists though.

Unbiased Opinion:  As long as you pick a non-faerie, The bishop can 
use decent armor and weapons for a caster, not that you'll be attacking 
with him too much.  If you take faerie, he can't use them, but he will 
have faster magic regeneration.  His remove curse ability can be very 
useful, turn undead is all but useless.  Mixing powders and potions 
together is another great skill for him to have.  His versatility with all 
four spellbooks, will make him an important character to any team.  
Cons? He's not going to be overly powerful for a while, and you really 
shouldn't pick too many spells with him, saving all the choices for 
level six and seven spells.  Purchasing a lot of books, can get VERY 
expensive too.

Biased Opinion:  You NEED one of these in any party.  They are such 
a staple with their versatility of spells, forgoing the need for any other 
specialty casters.  I'll go into more depth in the tips section.  

Attributes to work on, in order of importance:

Int
Pie
Sen
Spd
Vit
Dex

Options of skills to work on:

Alchemy, Divinity, wizardry, Psionics - Pick three or four of these, 
and stick with em.

Realm Skills - Let them rise by themselves.  It's more important to put 
points into the schools. 

Artifacts - If you put points here, I will beat you over the head with a
lead pipe.  Artifacts will rise fast by itself, and the spell Identify is 
available very early on. No need to waste points here, even if you 
really feel the need to use the scrolls you find. Again, it goes up fast 
enough by itself.  

Psionic:

Rating:  C-
Special Abilities:  100% immune to mental ailments
Spellbooks:  Psionic
Skill Bonus:  Psionic
Experience Requirement:  Light/Medium
Difficulty to maintain: Easy

Options for race:

Faerie:  
Extra points at creation: 45

See Alchemist

* Rawulf:  
Extra points at creation: 25

The Rawulf may not have as many points to distribute, but has MUCH 
better vitality and piety than a faerie so he'll have more hit points and 
more spell points. He does have lower speed, but it's not as big of a 
deal, because they have a starting senses requirement, giving them 
good initiative anyway. Still, you might want to put points in that 
attribute at startup. They do have comparable resists to a faerie though. 
It's a trade off. You want a lot more piety and vitality, and don't mind 
getting Powercast two levels later, go with a Rawulf. For better speed, 
and powercast two levels earlier, go with a faerie. 

Unbiased Opinion:  He'll get psionic spells quicker than everyone else.  
The 100% immunity to mental spells is useless.  Cons?  The 
main problem here is that he's EXTREMELY weak in regards to hp, 
and armors.  Also, as with all casters, he will not be very versatile by 
the end of the game. all he can do are psionics.

Biased opinion:  100% immunity to mental spells on a weak caster is useless.  
Oh no he'll punch me when insane, ow!  I have never seen a caster 
cast a spell when insane.  You're better off making a bishop and giving 
him iron will. A monk can be an ok substitute too, but there are some 
strong level 6 and 7 psionic spells that will be difficult for a hybrid to 
get to.  

Attributes to work on, in order of importance:

Int
Pie
Sen
Vit
Spd

Options of skills to work on:

Psionics - And here I thought he'd be using axes....

Realm skills - Lots of points should be left over.  Mental and fire.

Mage:  

Rating: C+ (B- for Faerie Mage)
Special Abilities:  +5% Resistance on all realms
Spellbooks:  Wizardry
Skill bonus:  Wizardry
Experience Requirement:  Light/Medium
Difficulty to Maintain: Easy

Options for race:

* Faerie: 
Extra points at creation: 45

See Alchemist.  Also the +5 Resistances on all realms, combined with 
the Faeries own resistances make him an insane magic resistant, 
speedy little guy. 

Elf: 
Extra points at creation: 45    

See Alchemist

Unbiased Opinion:  The 5% resistance is a great feature to have, 
especially because he has low hp.  Wizardry spells especially at their 
highest levels can be very powerful, and the mage gets them the 
quickest.  Cons?  Weak Hp and armor.  Also a lot of enemies become 
very resistant to a lot of the mage spells later in the game, making him 
a less important member of the team.  

Biased Opinion:  Again, as with the other specialists, I would say 
you're better off making a bishop.  The bishop can be just as powerful 
as a mage, and is MUCH more Versatile, so he doesn't drop in 
usefulness near the end of the game.  

Int 
Pie
Sen
Spd
Vit

Options of skills to work on:

Wizardry - Psssha, what does a mage need with Wizardry 
anyway.....oh wait....

Realms skills - Please put points into fire and water.  

SECTION II:  DEVELOPMENT TIPS

These are some tips for some of the trickier classes out there.  

Lord:  

There are a couple of ways to develop an effective lord character, but 
my favorite way is to have him dual wield maces.  First of all, 
by dual wielding the same weapon, you're getting more swings with it, 
therefore increasing it quicker.  Second, it's one less skill that you 
need to worry about at level ups; instead of pumping Sword and 
dagger, or sword and maces, you just pump mace.  Also, close combat 
becomes less important, though you should still not completely ignore 
it.  Third, Maces usually can inflict status ailments on the enemy, 
and the lord needs all the help he can get. There are also some GREAT 
maces out there, particularly one that's a secondary weapon.  My route is to 
create a human priest. Build his stats so he'll be ready to switch to Lord 
at level 2.  At creation put five points into Mace, Divinity, and whatever 
Realms of your choice.  Pick 2 spells that you want, personally I'd take 
heal wounds and stamina. Now he'll start with a mace, and have a GREAT 
boost to divinity and maces and flails. Eventually, He'll be an effective 
fighter, and spellcaster, making him a VERY useful character in your party.

Another interesting build for the Lord is this.  There's an amazing staff
that he can use that's cursed.  Normally this staff drains the hp of the 
person equipped with it, but not so the Lord.  Create a human Priest, and 
prep him to switch to Lord at Level 2.  Follow the build above, but instead
of increasing Maces increase staff and wand.  With this build the lord will
not make use of his dual weapons skill (The staff is two handed) which leaves
a little extra room for increasing realms, making him an excellent caster and
fighter.   

Samurai:

I did not come up with this build myself.  It was originally a post on 
Jandrall's site, and can be found at this address: 
http://www.geocities.com/jandrall/Wizardry8/SpotlightSamurai1  
Basically the point is to create a perfect hybrid of samurai, where he 
can be an effective Caster and fighter at the same time.  I used this 
build with my Samurai, and he's much more powerful than when I 
only concentrated on his combat skills.  This is a great post by 
AtlusSeven7, and if you want to know the exact build read it.  

UPDATE:  It has come to my attention that this site is no longer up.  
The key to this build is pumping Dex and Spd at first then Str and Int.
In the beginning you would pump sword, Critical Strike, and Dual Weapons.  
Then when Wizardry is unlocked, 3 points in to wizardry 2 into Fire and water 
Realmsand 2 into critical strike.  Sword will go up fine by itself.  

Ninja:

Ok, he's a little tricky.  First of all like I said before if you want a 
martial arts master, you're really better off with a monk.  The key to 
the ninja are his weapons. And when I say weapons, I really mean staff and 
wand. If the ninja could use the really deadly swords (Fang) 
then swords would be great, but he can't. Mace and flail would be awesome
if he could use diamond eyes, but even if he could there's no kill % on 
maces so his criticals aren't being exploited. Ninjas can't even use the
best daggers in the game, but the ones he can use are pretty decent. 
But staffs and wands are great with a faerie or non-faerie ninja. The 
faerie ninja can use the best staff (and weapon) in the game. The 
non faerie can use the second best staff in the game, but a monk can use it
too however, and he takes less experience points, AND the staff is cursed
so your auto penetrate ability goes to waste. So if you're gonna go the staff 
and wand route, you might as well go faerie. If you really want him, 
this is what I would suggest:

Faeries are a double edged sword. You're trading off the great thrown 
auto penetrate ability for the best melee weapon in the game. Why can't 
I use both you make ask?  Good question. The melee weapon is cursed, which
means you will not be able to switch between them in the middle of battle.
Now this makes them easier to manage than hobbits, because they will not be 
using throwing and sling but auto penetrate is a great ability. 
Anyway, pump Dex and spd each level with a faerie. Dex controls most of the 
important skills for a ninja and gets him the reflexion skill.  With speed, 
the ninja will be getting more attacks. More attacks = More chances for a 
critical. Start off by pumping Staff and wand, critical strike, dual weapons 
and stealth. Once Alchemy is unlocked, you can quit putting points into 
staff and wand because with the amount of attacks he'll get as he 
levels, it will go up fast by itself. Pump alchemy, it will be his ranged 
weapon. After Dex is at 100, and Spd at 90, work on Sen and Str. Also take 
another faerie to get a second faerie stick for him so she can dual wield
right from the start.

For the hobbit, at level ups Dex and Sen, then Str and spd. As with the 
faerie, you want to get dex to 100 asap. As far as skills go pump Melee 
weapon, throwing, Criticals and stealth.  Why no dual weapons?  
Because since you will be dual wielding ALL the time, dual weapons 
will go up extremely fast. (You are dual wielding right???)  Also, 
you're probably not going to want to put points in Alchemy for a 
while, cause it will take points away from the important melee and thrown
weapons. Because of auto penetrate, you will be using alchemy less as well. 
During that time take light and heal wounds and cast them all the time.  
Alchemy will go up slowly but surely, and once you max critical strike 
you'll be able to start putting points into it.  

Also, if you know you're going to use daggers, create him as a rogue, 
and set up his attributes so that he can switch to ninja at level two.  
He'll start off with points in daggers, stealth, and dual weapons.  At 
creation pump Stealth, daggers, and dual weapons.  Then when you switch 
him to ninja at level 2 he'll get five free points in Critical strike 
and throwing and sling. He won't have the ninja garb though, so create a 
bum non faerie ninja and then discard him in the beginning of the 
game and take the character you really want. 

In my opinion this is the best build for beginners who wanna try
a ninja. This ninja will start off with 2 daggers.  Nunchuka are 
great, and the ninja can use great flails but he'll start with no points 
in maces or dual weapons, which means he'll get off to much slower footing 
than a ninja using the dagger build. Also, you have to get lucky and get a 
flail early on for him, or wait till arnika to get lucky and have antone sell 
two nunchaka to you....Plus once you get either ninjato or sai, you're really 
exploiting his critical kill ability. Both of those have 5% kill on them.     

Rogue:  

If you take this guy, stick with his combat abilities and let a bard or 
gadgeteer do the lockpicking.  He really does excel at melee combat. 
Here's a couple of things that might help.  At creation max out on str. 
and dex, and split the remaining between speed and senses. Then, all 
you need to do is put points into Sword, Dagger, Throwing, and stealth. 
By pumping Str and Dex every level up, not only will you get reflexion 
very quickly, but Dual weapons will SKYROCKET. You'll have such high 
dex and senses it will seem like it's going up every level.  To make it 
even easier, put a dagger or dart in each hand so he dual wields at 
Range too. However, keep in mind rogues can't use shuriken.  You might
wanna use bows with them, and suck it up, cause the best thrown weapon 
in the game, (cause it never gets used up) is a shuriken. 


Bishop:

This one requires a lot of patience but in the end will be VERY worth 
it.  In the beginning, forget about initiative and work on Int and Pie.  
Int will get power cast, and Piety for Iron will and more spell points.  
Most of the time the Bishop will not be taking physical damage, but 
will be taking magic damage.   Also, I would take these spells as spell 
picks. Level 1 Heal wounds and Mind Stab.  Why mind stab?  Cause it 
will start building the mental realm, which will be important if you 
make your bishop any kind of psionicist.   Then pick missile shield and 
Web, and DONE.  You'll get light and Stamina in two books early on, 
thereby putting one spell in each realm.  I usually take 3 books, letting 
my lord or Valk work on divinity, but if you want a 4th here's what I 
would do.  I would put 3 into one book and 2 each into the others. 
Then next level 3 into another book and 2 in the others.  And so on.  
One final tip, don't put points ANYWHERE else.  Realms skills will 
go up very well by themselves.  Just keep casting spells from each of 
the different realms.  And forget artifacts, or any weapon. If you must 
use weapons, let them rise by themselves.     

SECTION III:  Party creation

There's a few things you should always keep in mind:

1.  Have fun.  This is a more complicated subject than some people 
realize.  There are definitely certain parties that will make the game 
much more difficult and some that will make it easier. It all depends 
on your playing style. Pick the characters you're gonna be happy with. 
You'll be with them for a while....  

2.  A fighter or a Valk up front can help you avoid a LOT of trouble. 
Fighters have the best hit points and Valks cheat death.  They're both 
very good for taking hits. 

3.  Locks and Traps is very useful.  Make sure you have a dedicated 
guy to this skill. Preferably a bard or a gadgie. It will help you open all 
the chests, and some of the important locks are HARD.

4.  You need at least one bishop or specialty caster.  It'll help you out a 
lot, ESPECIALLY in the early game. You can use potions, but potions 
aren't refillable.  Some one needs to be casting heal wounds. 

5.  Although it's not necessary, giving each of your characters a ranged 
weapon can help you avoid some trouble. Especially during mid to late 
game when you're fighting Rapax and plants.  The ranged weapon can 
be spells too.  

6.  Make sure your hybrids (With the exception of the ninja) have at 
least a 45 in intelligence and piety.  Intelligence allows their realm 
skills to increase quicker, which is very helpful with hybrids, and piety 
gives them more spell points.  

7.  Characters that are good in the early game, are not necessarily good 
in the late game, and vice versa. A perfect example is a bard. A bard 
starts off strong and gets some good instruments early on. But by late 
game, you won't be using too many of them except Haste, rest all and heal 
all. By the time you get the real good ones, most enemies are resistant 
to them. A Gadgeteer on the other hand, will be a little weak in the 
early game, but a powerhouse by the middle and end when you can make the 
higher level gadgets, and use the best ammo in your omnigun. The 
gadgets he creates are very versatile, allowing you to damage all sorts 
of enemies. Choose a balance between these characters. It will make 
the whole game a lot easier.  And believe me, the very early game, and 
the very late game can be VERY difficult. Especially if you're playing 
on expert. 

Good Early Game Characters:

Fighter 
Valk
Bard
Rogue
Priest
Alchemist
Psionic
Mage

Good late game characters:

Fighter (Lots of hit points and great damage dealing make up for lack 
of spells)
Valk (While her damage does taper off, she still hits hard, and can cast 
great support spells)
Lord 
Samurai
Ranger
Ninja 
Monk
Rogue (Great damage dealing, and great AC make up for lack of 
spells)
Bishop
Gadgeteer



If you want to use alot of different items in the game, and have every 
mode of attack...

Dracon Fighter - Axe, Bow
Human Priest/Lord level 2- Mace and Flail
Felpurr Monk - Martial arts
Hobbit Rogue - Sword, Dagger, Throwing 
Mook Gadgeteer - Gadgets, Modern weapons 
Faerie bishop 
Vi - Polearms, Modern Weapons
Saxx - Staff and Wand, Music

If you're a beginner:

Dracon Fighter
Human Valkyrie
Felpurr Monk
Hobbit Bard
Elf Alchemist
Faerie Mage
Vi - A good option.  She's easy to maintain, and stays with you most of 
the game.
RFS-1 - same as Vi. 

If you want a party that'll be amazing by the end of the 
game.....(Tough early game though)

Human Samurai - Sword (Fang/Muramasa/Enchanted Wakizashi)
Human Priest/Lord level 2 - Dual Wield Maces (Mauler/Diamond 
eyes)
Felpurr Monk - Staff and wand (Staff of Doom)
Faerie Ninja - Staff and Wand (Cane of Corpus/Rod of sprites)
Hobbit Gadgeteer - Omnigun, gadgets
Elf Bishop 
Vi - Polearms
RFS-1 - Martial Arts

My New party:

Mook Fighter  (Sword/Bows)
Human Priest/Lord (Mace and Flails/Divinity)
Human Monk (Staff and Wand)
Faerie Ninja (Staff and Wand/Alchemy)
Hobbit Gadgeteer (Omnigun/Locks and Traps/Gadgets)
Faerie bishop (Wizardry/Psionics/Alchemy)
Vi
RFS-1

SECTION IV:  GENERAL ADVENTURING TIPS

1.  What's the key to winning a wizardry battle?  LOCATION
LOCATION LOCATION!  Some battles in this game can seem almost 
impossible if you're not sure how to use your environment. 
For example:  A pack of 8 juggernauts; creatures with high AC
High hit points and decent damage encounter you.  If they surround 
your party, you might as well load from your last save cause 
they're gonna trounce you. (I'm assuming you're not level 14 
or above) However, if you can find a niche in the mountains to run 
to you'll be able to fight these monstrosities one or two at a time. 
As you can imagine, this makes the fight very long, but also, even 
for a low level party, winnable. 

2.  If a sorcerer can see you, he can cast things at you.  A quick
rule with these things....kill them fast. Don't bother running up to
them, slam em with your ranged weapons.  This is why I recommend 
all characters to have ranged weaponry. (Well it also makes dealing 
with plants easier too).  What if you can't?  Hide around a corner 
where they can't get you. They WILL follow you, and then you slam em 
with your ranged/melee attacks.  

3. ALWAYS Utilize your positioning grid. A lot of people don't 
know this but you can change your characters position in the middle 
of a ROUND of battle.  It won't take effect till the next round, but 
at least you don't have to waste another round to do it.  It's good 
for protecting hurt characters, taking them out of action until they're 
healed. It's also good for getting characters in melee range of the 
monsters.

4. There are certain areas you shouldn't go to until you are at least 
a certain level.  Unless you're looking for a big challenge, 
(or are suicidal) you should follow these loose guidelines:

Lower Monastery:  Level 1 Obviously. Wouldn't take on Gregor till at 
least 4 or 5 though.

Upper Monastery:  Level 5

Arnika Road:  LEVEL 5!!!!  Until you make it to Arnika, DO NOT raise
your characters levels before this road.  It can make the trip nearly 
unbearable. 

Arnika:  Level 6 or 7

Northern Wilderness: Level 8.  But see note Below.

Arnika-Trynton Road: Level 8

Trynton: Level 10 

Swamp: Level 11 

Marten's Bluff:  Level 13

Mines:  Level 13


Southeast Wilderness: Level 12 or 13.  But see note below.

Wilderness Clearing/Rapax Away Camp:  Level 13 and Level 17 respectively.

Mountain Wilderness: Level 13

Mt. Gigas Caves:  Level 16

Bayjin:  Level 16

Bayjin Shallows: Level 17

Sea Caves:  Level 17 

Rapax: Level 17

Ascension Peak:  Level 19 (You can go here earlier, but until you get
certain items there's really no point)  Also there's a boss here that's
EXTREMELY difficult.

5.  A point on the Northern Wilderness and Souteast Wilderness.  

a.  The northern Wilderness is easy enough, BUT, watch out for a cave 
with a hogar guarding it.  That is a battering hogar, and will trounce 
a low level party. Wait till at Least Level 10 or 11 before attempting 
to kill it. You'll be rewarded with some nice loot.

b.  In the southeast wilderness, you might come across a temple.
If you do, DO NOT ENTER! Until you're at LEAST level 16, and 
preferably higher, I wouldn't go in there to fight.  You're 
battling 6 cultists, A sorceress queen and two Death knights 
(or whatever they're called).  HOWEVER, if you have a gadgeteer, you 
should try to sneak in there unseen and grab the metal belt and the 
Lazarus stone, two items that when combined with electrodes make 
gadgets that cast Superman and Heal All Respectively. Your reward for 
winning this fight is AWESOME.....especially if you have a Non Faerie 
Ninja or Samurai in your party.

6.  Once you get them, ALWAYS have Missile Shield, Armorplate, 
Enchanted Blade etc. cast and at full power.  They make a huge 
difference.  Hogars are very difficult....until you have armorplate. 
Siges are annoying as hell....until you have magic screen, or 
element/soul shield. And so on. you never know what's gonna pop up 
around the corner and surprise you. You don't want your casters wasting 
a turn casting these buffs when they don't have to. Also X-Ray is 
VERY useful for knowing where your enemies are at all times.  

7.  Certain enemies can seem unbearable....until you figure out the key
to stop their attacks. This is why spells like Insanity, Web, Freeze
flesh and psionic lure can help A LOT during the early to mid game.  A 
group of Tanto wasps can be a real pain in the ass to a low level party. 
But cast insanity and those wasps will be a bigger pain to themselves. 
Every battle is beatable, just a matter of figuring out the enemies 
weakness. Or getting in the right position.

8.  If you hide around the corner from a group of enemies, you can click 
on the sword icon, and then run into melee range with them.  This allows 
you to start the fight, and not have to waste a round running up to them.   
  
9.  Enjoy the greatest RPG of all time!


Hope you enjoyed this!  Any further questions, email me at 
DannyAIC@aol.com.