Still wrong: It's level 37 for *all* Bishops. (You can even buy Banish if your level is high enough, and the only spellbooks that exist that you can't buy are Mind Stab and Holy Water, both low level.)

I'm sorry, how can I get it wrong twice? A level 37 Bishop should have picked all 24 high level spells (all level 6 and 7 spells, at and after level 14, except Banish, which can be found and bought). Mind Stab must be picked by all Bishops before level 14. Holy Water must be picked, before level 14, by all Bishops, except for the first, who can farm the Arnika Savant Orb, for the Book of Holy Water, for a 25% chance. Did I get it right this time?

I have done some extensive race/class comparisons, and have come to the conclusion that everybody knows. In terns of gameplay, from most to least important is: Profession > Race > Sex/Gender. This is to be expected.

Hobbits and Humans are, by far, the most versatile races. Hobbits fit in everywhere except Divinity casters, and Humans fit in everywhere. Note that a rare exception exists among Hobbit/Human Bishops: The Human has 5 more stat points to distribute than a Hobbit, at character creation.

This leaves the Hobbit vs. Human question: They both have the highest total stat points among the races. Would you rather have Earth realm resistance, or 5 more total stat points?

I believe that's correct now.

(Mind Stab and Holy Water, as I mentioned, are irrelevant for this calculation.)
The problem with Hobbit is that they have lower starting scores in two of the most important stats, STR (for fighter-type builds) and INT (for casters). So, being weaker for much of the game and getting Power Cast later, to me, isn't worth the Earth resistance.

As a result, I haven't found the race to come into play as much as you'd think.

For the record, Earth resistance is most helpful against Web, Crush (which can really hurt if it hits a low HP character and isn't significantly resisted) and Quicksand (used by those sprites on the peak).

I concur. For the record, Humans > Hobbits > All other races, in terms of versatility, and stat totals.

Anybody who has completed W8, knows that the definitive way to build an effective character, almost without exception, is to max Strength/Dexterity/Speed/Senses ASAP.

For non-casters, hybrids, and Divinity casters, the order of importance for your last 3 stats is as follows:

1. Vitality: Hit Points, Stamina, Carry Capacity, (Resist Disease?), Iron Skin unlocked at max.

2. Piety: Just Stamina for non-casters, Stamina and Spell Points for anybody with magic, Divine resistance above 80, Iron Will unlocked at max.

3. Intelligence: Largely does nothing, Mental resistance above 80, Power Cast unlocked at max.

Humans are best with a profession that has a lot of stat requirements. Take the Valkyrie in my last party:

At level 31, she had base stats exactly (with no stat points left over), Strength/Dexterity/Speed/Senses 100, Intelligence 50 (after Trynton Fountain), Piety and Vitality 55 (profession requirements). These are some high stat totals, gotten by no other race.

For your full casters, you also would want Strength/Dexterity/Speed/Senses maxed, so that even they are good at physical combat, plus Intelligence maxed, for Power Cast.

You are in luck. At level 38, the Human Bishop, after the Trynton Fountain, will have base stats of: Strength/Intelligence/Dexterity/Speed/Senses 100, Piety 55, Vitality 45. How can anyone argue with Humans late game?

If you're playing on Phased, there actually is a downside to having high Speed/Senses: You will generally act before the enemy, therefore your Heal All spell could easily go off before the enemies get a chance to act, and therefore when you're still at full health.

If you're playing on Continuous, there actually is a downside to having high Speed/Senses: If somebody in your party is injured and in danger (or, alternatively, insane/turncoat) in the middle of the round, and you haven't acted yet, you can actually change your action mid-round to save that character; if you're fast, however ,you've likely already acted and can't act again this round.

For full casters (except maybe Priests and unusual builds), I prioritize Intelligence over everything else; you *really* want Power Cast.

Power Cast is useful on a priest, particularly in an MDP, but even outside of one it does improve healing, for those situations where Heal All PL7 isn't enough to bring everyone back to full health.


Speaking of unusual builds, party idea: Valkyrie, Ranger, 4 Bishops with different builds.

Like, say:
* One INT/PIE bishop, to be the best possible caster with the most SP. (Although the difference isn't that big.)
* One INT/SPD bishop, my standard fast powercasting bishop.
* One INT/SEN bishop, Artifacts/Mythology/Communication specialist (also good for the Psionics skill)
* One STR/DEX bishop, focusing on melee combat

Something like that, at least.

Note that the 3rd bishop could work as a psionic.

I find that having maxed Speed and Senses, for maximum initiative, has a few benefits (though everybody must be fast, or this doesn't work, as movement is determined by the slowest party member):

1. You get to act first. Either go for quick kills against weaker enemies, or cast buffs against same-level or stronger enemies.

2. If a party member is severely injured/low on stamina/suffers from a malus, this allows you to quickly remedy that (get Restoration ASAP).

3. If in a bad spot, move to a more defensible position (again, determined by the slowest party member; make sure that everybody is fast).

(Note that I don't play on continuous mode; I like to closely monitor the battle from round to round).

I did a MDP where everybody, including the Priest, maxed Intelligence and Piety, for Powercast, Iron Will, good Stamina, and good Spell Points. Even classes like the Priest benefit from Powercast, as they get more effective healing from their spells, and longer duration on their buffs.

I plan to make my next Bishop(s) follow the "normal" path: Max Intelligence and Speed ASAP, for early PowerCast and SnakeSpeed. Of course, don't raise Intelligence above 95 before the Trynton Fountain, unless you like wasting precious stat points.

That's an interesting idea, similar to my last party. The Valkyrie and Ranger are arguably the most straightforward hybrids, cover your two best defensive spellbooks (Divinity and Alchemy), and can alternatively cast both Soul Shield and Element Shield, should the need arise (only really useful against enemy casters, or if your party is fighting tougher enemies with status effects).

That 3rd Bishop would likely be overwhelmed, if they are spending skill points on Artifacts/Mythology/Communication (that's too many skills for one character to focus on, especially a Bishop).

That 4th Bishop had better get a good weapon, to justify the melee focus (there is a guaranteed Staff of Doom).

As said before, my idea of a "perfect" Bishop would be to follow 2 different rules:

The "fast" route: Putting 3 points into 2 stats, at level up, in order to max your 1st and 2nd stats ASAP (namely, Intelligence and Speed, for Powercast and Snakespeed).

The "slow" route: Putting 2 points into 3 stats, at level up, in order to max your 3rd, 4th, and 5th stats by endgame (namely, Strength, Dexterity, and Senses, for Powerstrike, Reflextion, and Eagle Eye).

This would result in level 38 Bishop(s), that are good at everything, though this is extreme, and should only be done as part of a challenge run (max 5 stats party).

Then again, I might only use 2 bishops, but have an alchemist (bomb thrower in the early game) and a psionic (artifacts/mythology/communication specialist). Lesser used specialists, but with their own uses.

Diamond Eyes and The Mauler are also good weapons, and have the advantage that they can be used with a shield.

When I did my specialist casters, I made sure to prioritize their spellbook and realm skills, so that they had no trouble learning their spells on time, especially with the 25% bonus to their spellbook.

I had the Bard do Communication (they get a skill bonus), the Gadgeteer do Locks and Traps, the Psionic do Mythology (good Senses and Intelligence), and the Mage do Artifacts (good Intelligence).

You have to spread out utility skills, lest one character be overwhelmed.

Of course, in the early game, I only had enough mana to fight a battle or two, then retreat to my "safe space" to nap, at the transition between Lower and Upper Monastery (no monsters go there).

The Alchemist, Psionic, and Mage have limited one-handed weapon options, so for them, their best melee weapon is the Staff of Doom, no contest.

The Priest and Bishop can use Mace and Flail weapons, which gives them more options:

1. The Mauler or Diamond Eyes, with a shield (not both, as casters don't have the Dual Weapons skill). Great weapons, but that would require your caster to be in short range combat, exposing them to return hits, something that I don't usually build my casters for (though I did get my Priest a *Light Shield*).

2. Whip (Bullwhip for training, Cat O' Nine Tails or Vampire Chain for endgame), with a shield. These weapons will keep your caster out of short range combat, allowing you to hit from extended range, in (relative) safety. However, none of these cause status effects, and (because they are one-handed), only get half of the Strength damage bonus, resulting in lower damage.

3. Staff of Doom (two-handed, extended range weapon). You can't use a shield with this, and it's cursed, but you can hit from extended range (again, in relative safety). Also causes status ailments, and gets the full Strength damage bonus. You must have an HP regeneration item to counter the -1 HP drain.

If you're using spells regularly, you might not even need to prioritize your spellbook skills. When the skills are low, they increase quickly, particularly since every spell you cast, regardless of realm, will help your spellbook skill. Add in the 25% bonus, and your spellbook skill should be high enough to learn the spells in a timely manner. This is especially true later on when level ups take longer. And, at the levels you like to reach, you're going to reach base 75 well before you're even close to leveling; at that point, you *can't* put more level up points in there, but with a specialist the skill becomes 93, which is more than you need for 7th level spells.

Therefore, you can avoid putting level up points in your spellbook skill, and put them somewhere else, like n a realm, combat, or utility skill. The reduced gain in your spellbook skill likely won't be noticeable, but the character's other capabilities might very well be.


I do that when I'm using those classes, but if I'm not, then I need to choose someone else.
So many of the utility skills work of Intelligence + Senses, and like to increase on their own. As a result, if those stats are both high, the corresponding skills will increase fast enough that you don't need to put any points into them.

When you don't need to put points into the skills, and you don't need to spend actions to get skill increase checks, there's no cost to adding more skills like this.

Alternatively, the regular Chain, which can knock enemies unconscious.

Don't forget that you also get only half the Strength *penalty*, which is one reason why I like this choice for caster-focused Bishop builds.

(Also,,for what it's worth, I'm pretty sure Fighters can KO with these weapons.)

You're mostly right; However, this depends on which spellbook we're talking about. The Mage should have no problem raising their Wizardry spellbook quickly, due to their high starting Intelligence. Also, you're likely going to be putting early points in Intelligence for early Powercast, making Wizardry very easy to max.

Once the Alchemist reaches 15 Alchemy skill, they can easily raise it further by mixing potions, without "wasting" further points in Alchemy. Also, this makes money for the party, allowing you to buy whatever you want from Burz.

The Psionic starts with high Intelligence and Senses, making Psionics raise quickly as well, so you won't have to put too many level up points in Psionics.

The Priest probably has the hardest time, as Divinity relies heavily on Piety, which a lot of players don't like to max, or even put any points into.

Some utility skills are notoriously difficult, or even impossible, to max: Scouting, Locks and Traps, Artifacts, Communication, and Pickpocket (especially with the 1.2.4 patch that GOG gives you). Therefore, these deserve +3 points at level up.

The only time I would consider Pickpocket is for a somewhat "noble" purpose: So that I don't have to kill the drunk Rapax Constable for his key. Note that getting his key is definitely unnecessary, especially at that point in the game when you have access to Ferro. If I do kill him for his key (for completion's sake), I do it with "compassion": Kill him with an Instant Death spell, so that he feels no pain (he's drunk), and it doesn't harm my faction rating with the Rapax.

Scouting is limited by the number of hidden items in the game.

Locks and Traps was made more difficult to increase by the developers, so that you can't sit there for a half hour, just playing with tumblers.

The only way to raise Communication is to talk to NPCs for the first time (not counting angering NPCs, then making them friendly again). I'm not even sure if this works, I'd rather not do that.

I think you can only raise Artifacts to a certain point by picking up items within a certain range of the highest character's Artifacts skill. After that, mixing potions, and casting ID Item at the unidentified new potions (powders, bombs, stix, etc). Late game, you can use charges on items (Mana Stones are the common way to raise Artifacts after Crock).