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Testing results
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RPGDot Forums > Wizardry 8

Author Thread
Dorkus
Village Dweller
Village Dweller




Joined: 09 Jun 2002
Posts: 11
Testing results
   

Some notes from my testing.

- Music and spells cut through resistances more effectively, and SIGNIFICANTLY so, as you level, ALL ELSE EQUAL. So if a 30 mage and a 20 mage both cast iceball, and they have equivalent stats in all the relevant categories, the 30 mage will still do more damage. Similarly, a bard using the freeze all instrument will freeze more enemies the higher the level. Dualing DOES affect this -- if you dual a bard to a fighter, then your music/magic will NOT improve upon each level.

- Levels also improve the castability of higher power levels. A high level caster goes 'yellow' on 7th level spells when he reaches the 23rd level (This is with maxed mastery and realm skills). Hybrids can do the same at 27. Bishops and hybrids are thus seriously crippled -- as you get to these higher levels, experience to the next level is VERY hard to get to, and pure casters have a HUGE advantage in that they can cast high level spells effectively at an earlier level (e.g., bishops reach 23 at around 20M exp -- pure casters reach 23 at 15M). This also does not take into account the fact that higher level casters can cut through resistances more effectively. The formula is probably something like 5% resistance reduction per level above the monster level.

- Power cast has an effect on resistances, but it's not very big. For example, my level 40 samurai with 0 power cast hit bucanner ghosts (85 resistance to water, IIRC) for an average of 30 damage. With 100 power cast, the average was 40 damage. Note that the level 40 samurai with 0 powercast was able to hit a monster with nearly 100 percent water resistance for around 80 percent of the expected damage of the spell! (power level 7 iceball does on average 42 damage.... ie the 40 powercaster effectively negated the monster's resistance). This effect seems even LESS pronounced in status spells (for example, freeze all with 0 powercast was nearly as effective as freeze all with 100 powercast).

- Intelligence has no direct effect on anything. Music, magic. Damage, resistance.

Nada. zilch. Nothing.

My conclusions:

1. LEVEL is the #1 determinant of casting ability.

2. Seriously rethink bishops. They have a lot of skill points, and can cast a lot of spells, but they level so much slower than pure casters that they can't CAST (high power is not yet orange or yellow) or CUT THROUGH RESISTANCES (their level relative to monster level is much closer than that of pure casters, in the mid and late game) of high level spells.

3. Seriously rethink dualing. I don't think it pays off to dual a caster or bard at 18, as has been suggested. At the very least, you want to be able to CAST high level spells at high power, so I'd say the earliest you want to go is 22. Even then, if you dual over, your level progression stops, and monsters will resist more of your spells than if you continued on the casting path.
Post Tue Jun 18, 2002 1:50 am
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ChasR211
Village Dweller
Village Dweller




Joined: 18 Apr 2002
Posts: 15
   

Good information, Dorkus. I'll keep it in mind for my next party.
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ChasR211
Post Tue Jun 18, 2002 10:19 pm
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TheRaven
Village Leader
Village Leader




Joined: 21 Jun 2002
Posts: 94
Location: Germany
   

does this mean I have bad luck with my
bishop, valkryie, samurai, ranger, bard, fighter party???

because my bishop won't level as high as a vanilla class and my other three are hybrids only

what do you think about another party then
1 fighter in the front, 2 valkryies at the flanks (you don't really need a singleclass priest)
3 casters in the middle: mage, alchemist, psionic
Post Fri Jun 21, 2002 6:38 am
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Danicek
The Old One
The Old One




Joined: 15 Dec 2001
Posts: 5922
Location: Czech Republic
   

quote:
Originally posted by TheRaven
does this mean I have bad luck with my
bishop, valkryie, samurai, ranger, bard, fighter party???

because my bishop won't level as high as a vanilla class and my other three are hybrids only



No, not really. It is harder to play with bishop, harder in begining, but classes and races in Wizardry are really well balanced, this weaknesss (that will make your life harder at beinning) are balanced with some strenths (that will develop mainly in later parts of game) and will make from bishop very powerful and complex character (if developed rightly).
Post Fri Jun 21, 2002 8:25 am
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Crawdaddy79
Village Leader
Village Leader




Joined: 24 Apr 2002
Posts: 84
Location: USA
   

I felt proud of myself for choosing a Lizardman Bishop (-40 points at beginning of game).

Unfortunately he's not powerful in magic because I keep forgetting to tell him to cast spells

He can hit nearly anything with his staff though!
Post Fri Jun 21, 2002 11:15 am
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ChasR211
Village Dweller
Village Dweller




Joined: 18 Apr 2002
Posts: 15
   

Yeah, Crawdaddy. Just goes to show that anything is playable in this game. If you like it, go for it. I just finished the game with a felpur samuari, a human Valkryie, a human ninja, a mook gadgeteer. an elf bishop, and a human psionic (who changed to a ranger at level 25 after learning parctically all of the psionic spells). My bishop had more kills than anyone else, followed by the psionic/ranger.
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Post Mon Jun 24, 2002 3:15 pm
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