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Magic Skills question
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RPGDot Forums > Wizardry 8

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Jenny
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Joined: 26 Jun 2002
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Magic Skills question
   

Can anyone explain to me the difference in Mastery and Realm skills? I've read the manual but I didn't really get the distinction.


Thank you.
Post Tue Aug 27, 2002 9:04 pm
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dteowner
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Each of the four mastery skills controls a group of spells, the spellbook. Each spell comes from a realm. The intersection of those two factors will determine which character stats come into play if you want to cast a spell.

So take, for example, the spell "enchanted blade". It's a level two mage spell, so the stat your caster has in wizardry will control whether you can learn the spell to cast it at all. "Enchanted blade" comes from the realm of divine, so your caster's stat in divine will determine the power and success rate that you can cast the spell at. Numerically here's the results for a mage to cast the spell:
#1) wiz=10, divine=99 can't learn the spell, but it'd be really good if you could
#2) wiz=15, divine=30 can just barely learn the spell, but won't be able to cast it at much power without a big risk of failure or backfire
#3) wiz=80, divine=15 can learn lots of spells, but will cast the spell weaker than #2
#4) wiz=80, divine=80 now we're talking...

Hope this helps some. One other thing- divine (realm) and divinity (spellbook) are NOT the same thing.
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Post Tue Aug 27, 2002 10:44 pm
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Michael C
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Sure a high "Wiz" skill make your caster able to learn more skills, if his/her character level is high enough, hench this determines the spell level you able to learn prior to your skill in the spellbook.

Also your character level determines the maximum power you can cast the your spells in the different realms without any risk (Number of Green dots).
Your Realm skill determines mostly the number of "mana" you can use in a realm, but also in a certain degree the number of "greener" dots", however your character level will put a cap on how many "green dots" you can have in a realm, no matter your skill level in that realm. Just like you need a certain character level to be able to learn a certain level of spell, but also a certain skill level in a spellbook to be able to learn higher level spells.
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Post Wed Aug 28, 2002 9:05 am
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Jenny
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I have three casters in my group; a Psonic, Mage and Priest.

Would it be best for me to concentrate the majority of my skill points in one or two realms (so I don't spread myself too thin) while keeping my mastery maxed all the time? Or, would it be better for me to keep my Mastery at about the same level as my primary realms (the ones where I get my most used spells from)?

Also, I have noticed that there are a few realms that are not available to each of my characters when I go to distribute my points, is this because my mastery isn't high enough yet to make those spells available?

And lastly, will I continue to have only one Mastery skill for each of my classes (Mage, Priest, etc.) even though certain spells will be available to multiple classes (Identify, Sleep, etc.) ?

Sorry for all the questions but I'm finding the skill system to be a bit difficult for me to get used to.
Post Wed Aug 28, 2002 6:18 pm
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otter
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With 'pure' castes, i usually used as many points as i could into my school (Wiz, Psi, Alc, or Div), and whatever realms were behind. Some realms are closed until you learn a spell in them. Spell learning is based upon level and school plus 1/10 of realm skill, thus, Spell Level/Caster Level/School+Realm/10: 1/1/0, 2/3/15, 3/5/30, 4/8/45, 5/11/60, 6/14/75, 7/18/90. Caster level may be Hybrid level minus four.
Only Bishops can use points in more than one school ('mastery').
Psionics don't get anything in Fire or Earth until the L3 spells, Psionic Fire and Chameleon. (as the worst example of realms lagging.)
Post Wed Aug 28, 2002 7:44 pm
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Michael C
Black Dragon
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Joined: 09 Jul 2001
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Location: Aarhus, Denmark
   

quote:
Originally posted by Jenny
I have three casters in my group; a Psonic, Mage and Priest.

Would it be best for me to concentrate the majority of my skill points in one or two realms (so I don't spread myself too thin) while keeping my mastery maxed all the time? Or, would it be better for me to keep my Mastery at about the same level as my primary realms (the ones where I get my most used spells from)?


You should defently from the beginning try to become strong in 2-3 realms of magic, for several reasons:
- You will get plenty of opportunity to get strong in multiple realms, both by practicing in battle and by leveling up! The game is surely long enough for you to easily get a master degree in magic in 3+ realms.
- Some monsters are particular resistent to a certain realm(s), so it's nice to have the power in other realms too.
- Your amount of "mana" (Spell energy) is specified to have a limited amount of use in each realm, eventhough you still got a lot of "mana" left, you could have used all the "mana" specified for a certain realm. Many battles will be long enough for most spellcasters to tire them down in "mana" in several realms.
The big question would then be, which realms to prefer:
Any way is actually possible, but here is my suggestions:

Mage: Air realm: Missile shield, Noxius fumes (early in the game), and Asphyxation (later in the game) Asphyxation is literaly the deadliest attack spell in the mage spellbook, and is very very usefull against the tough badies in the middle/end game. Water realm: Freeze all, Dehydrate and other nice powerfull spells.
Unless you got a "Bard" in your party, you also could use some power in Divine realm (Magic screen), and Earth (Elemental shield). Actually the Fire Realm also got a couple of good spells for your mage.
Again using your spellbook plentifull during battle, and you will have no problem in getting excellent power in multiple realms.

Psionic: Mental and Fire Realms primary, and Air/Divine realm secondary!
Priest: Divine primary and Air/Water/mental secondary! The "Death wish" spell will be the priests deadliest attack spell later on, and fully comparable with Asphyxation in power and destruction!
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Post Thu Aug 29, 2002 10:07 am
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Jenny
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Thanks so much for the advice.

I just recently had my mage learn Knock Knock and my Psonic used a book of Divine Trap (which turned into a learned spell, pretty neat). I use my Bard to pick locks and traps and I thought having these spells would help her but I never seem to be able to use them. Are these spells that can be cast on other members of my party to increase their skills?
Post Thu Aug 29, 2002 7:07 pm
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otter
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The manual does a pretty good job of sorting the spells in Appendix 1.
Some merchants sell spellbooks, and it's possible to learn most spells from books.
Super and Haste have inderect effects on party skills by raising attributes temporarily, and there are many party-buffing spells which effect other stats (eg. Enchanted Blade raises combat stats, and Armorplate AC).
Post Thu Aug 29, 2002 7:28 pm
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Jenny
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Joined: 26 Jun 2002
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Location: Detroit, Michigan
   

Thank you, I did read the appendix and I was able to learn the spells but when I try to cast Knock Knock or Divine Trap, I just get a message that says something to the effect of "you cannot use this spell at this time".

However, when I try to open a locked or trapped chest, if I click on the character that learned Knock Knock for instance, it has a 10% increase next to it. So are these not really spells so much as buffs that only effect the character that learns them or reads the book and never have to be casted?
Post Thu Aug 29, 2002 9:49 pm
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otter
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When you click a chest or door, look in the action window that comes up. If you highlight (click on) your caster, a book should be there for you to click on. Then choose the power level you want to cast at, then highlight the Locks&Traps character to do the actual picking. They will then have a bonus from the casting. If you have more than one Alc- or Wiz-capable char, their spells can be added together for a big group effort. Just click on whoever you want to do whatever action without leaving the lock/trap action window.
Post Fri Aug 30, 2002 5:45 am
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otter
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When you touch a chest, the options shown in the little action window are for the highlighted character. If you click on your caster, the Book icon should be white--click on it to set the spell power. Then click on your Locks/Traps char to do the action--they should have an increased skill%. At doors, you can have as many cast as can; each might lift a different pin; just select the char(s) to cast and then to pick without exiting the little action window.
Post Fri Aug 30, 2002 5:53 am
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