Super Famicom Wizardy VI Party Advice
 

Hey folks, I'm thinking of finally checking out the Wizardry series in earnest by starting with the Super Famicom English translation of Cosmic Forge (VI). From what I gather, it has a number of QOL improvements/ bug fixes, so I'll be diving in on real hardware & CRT TV via flashcart. :cool:

I've read the DOS manual, and scoured many internet threads with party advice, so I have a solid understanding of the character mechanics already. I would, however, like to get the input of y'all to "rubber stamp" my party before sending them off into the dungeon :thumbsup:.

I should preface by saying that I'm not interested in powergaming/min/maxing, so I'm not really into abusing class changing, as I gather it's not at all necessary, and perhaps not even designed as a strategy. I'd prefer to get the needed starting rolls at the outset, and ride the same classes all the way to the Cosmic Forge. Having said that, I'm all ears to any critiques/ suggestions to the contrary, that could improve my experience in having a fun time.

My current concept for a party revolves around rolling 18+, although from what I understand, the SFC port has a few immediate advantages that perhaps mitigate the necessity of super high rolls, those being:

- encumbrance/carry weight/ mana regen are NOT tied to starting stats in this version?
- the REST function works much better than the DOS version; mana stamina recover nicely now
-there are no level up stat rollbacks, only increase (which may be predetermined/linear?)

My current idea for a party is as follows:

M Fairie Monk
M Fairie Ninja
M Felpurr Samurai
M Rawulf Lord
F Dwarf Valkyrie
F Hobbit Bard

My uncertainties revolve around the following:

1. Party class composition

I gather that bishops are looked down upon in Wiz VI, and I already have a preference for not using dedicated spellcasters. Also, I love me that Eastern trinity of Ninja/Monk/Sam, so if possible I'd like to make that work. The above party seems to cover magic adequately via Thamuaturgy for Sam and Bard, Theology via Lord and Valk, Alchemy via Ninja, and Theosophy for Monk, right?

One issue that with the above party that I'm struggling with, is ordering. Using Hands & Feet with the Monk and Ninja seems like the way to go, but from what I gather, that would mean they need to be in slot 1&2. That means Sam in 3 - although he only starts off with S range weapons? Same issue with Lord if in slot 4, right? Valk and Bard are obviously 5&6, which should work I think. How should they be ordered? I know the Monk can use a Bo, but Hands & Feet for Monk and Ninja up front really appeals to me- you know, punches in bunches and whirlwinds of kicks causing all kinds of mayhem.

Another issue, is that I rolled a similar "test" party yesterday, and got my chars to I think level 3 or 4. My fairie Ninja, upon level up, received NO skillpoints at all repeatedly, giving me no opportunity to start raising Alchemy/Kirijitsu? A rolled 19 Fairie Ninja gave me 0 bonus starting stat and skillpoints to allocate at the beginning, so that seems like a rough start? How/when can I start raisng Alch/Kirijitsu?

BTW I know Valks are better than Lords in Wiz VI due to level progression, but I prefer party variety, so 2 Valks is boring to me, which leads me to:

2. Party Race & Sex

-As I said, I'd prefer variety in the racial composition in my party, but as it stands I have two Fairies and Felpurrs - could/should these picks be diversified?

I've heard how awesome Fairie Ninjas are, Felpurr Sam, etc, but should they be kept as is, or pick a different race/sex?

-What about Monk? Elf? Fairie? Felpurr? Same thing with Bard- Fairie? Elf? I like the idea of a Hobbit Bard, which is clearly statistically inferior to the Fairie, but would be fun. Bad idea?

- Give me advice on the male/female choice for the toons - are there any considerations I'm missing by going all Male except for Valk obviously?

Finally, if I do get into Wiz VI (and I think I will), I'd probably be interested in checking out Wiz 7 and 8. I actually played a decent amount of Wiz 8 and really enjoyed it, but shelved it for one reason or another (could have been the level scaling…:-/). Realistically, as I'll be playing the SFC version, I was thinking of "gifting my Wiz 7 party whatever the awesome endgame items from VI are via MadGod's Editor, but not necessarily recreating the same toons to import, as I gather there are different classs/race balances and affinities that make certain previous combinations inferior. The way I justify that in my head, is that my new Wiz 7 party will ha stumbled upon the remains of the Wiz 6 party, and thus acquired their gear;).

Anyways, those are the issues that I could use advice on before getting deep into this trilogy, any and all insights would be much appreciated!

If it’s anything like 7 you are best off starting with classic classes and gaining those attributes & skills and then hitting the specialties. Fighter->Samurai, Thief->Ninja, Bard->Ninja etc. Reason being everyone can contribute in combat. Having a spell caster that sits idle to preserve resources is a waste if they can hit from the back using a 2H reach weapon because they went Mage->Samurai. Priest->Valkyrie is another one. All spell casters to lay down melee damage and holding onto casting resources for harder battles. Keep your monks and Ninjas on the frontline because they are practically impossible to hit. Combat was trivial ultimately, it was the puzzles that did me in.

Thanks for the reply, ToddMcF2002. Hypothetically, when should basic classes be staggered into prestige classes (i.e around what level)?

Generally speaking the Bard and the thief go first because you only need so much lockpicking and music ability. If I recall it was around 7 or 8? Basically you'll know when they are eligible and seem to flatten out at level up effectiveness. My fighter went Samurai as soon as he could, but those stat requirements were higher. Then Priest to Valkarie as soon as stats allowed. The hardest switch was my mage to Samurai. The stat's climb to that was steep but that was OK because I wanted the heavy all group spells first anyway which takes a ton of time as a Mage.

My only "pure" class was the Monk. They are ridiculous and just don't need to ever switch out. My Bard took an odd path into Achemist and Psionic before switching to Ninja.

One piece of advice is to stagger your class switches in low risk areas because you have to "support" their weakened state for a while. They do level fast but for example my Mage had to gain a bunch of new class levels to recover higher level spell casting. Plus, they need to gain skills in their new melee profession (sword or spear for example) so in a weak area you can skip your other character attack rounds and let the "newbie" do all the attacking while your other folks sponge any damage. The fights take forever but that's the point - to gain skill points in the new class without risking death.