Here's the strategy I just used for that particular fight. Note that, of course, items can replace spells; the only ones used that isn't available in an item usable by everybody are Hypnotic Lure, which is not mandatory for the strategy to work, and Element/Soul Shield, both of which are in 2 spellbooks.

If you are lacking Magic Screen or Soul Shield, you might want to equip everyone with Amulets of Healing for Divine protection. The one other resistance that is important here is Air because of Death Cloud.

First, stand near the door so you can see into the room, though you won't be able to see the enemies. Cast Hypnotic Lure into the room. Then, cast Sonic Boom into the room (or throw a Boom Bomb). This will start the fight.

Since the enemies can't see you, you have a few rounds to prepare. During this time, cast Element Shield, Soul Shield, and Eye for an Eye (EfoE). (Eye for an Eye is important; if you can't cast it, find another way to get the effect, even if it means using potions.) If you want, you can put up other effects, like Guardian Angel and Superman.

Wait a few rounds and the enemies will eventually advance and start casting spells at you. As long as there are still cultists or elementals around, make sure that Eye for an Eye stays up. You can try silencing the Cultists (I didn't) so they don't eat away at your EfoE charges, but it is probably not necessary.

What you want to have happen is that the Death Lords will sometimes cast Death Wish on you. This will trigger EfoE, which will then hit the enemies with Death Wish, even the ones you can't see. This has a good chance of killing many of the Cultists and the Elementals they summon. In this way, you can get rid of the minor enemies without having to engage them (Elementals can be quite dangerous).

Sooner or later, the Sorceress Queen will charge into melee, at which point she won't last long, leaving only the Death Lords to kill, which should be somewhat manageable if your party is strong in melee.

I think this strategy is interesting because of how it uses Sonic Boom (a spell I almost never use) and Eye for an Eye to good effect. How often do *you* use those spells?

I prefer damaging spells to trigger the combat, preferably on the left cultists,
its also a good opportunity for a cloud.

Insanity on the cultists elementals when still unseen works well,
since they see only allies when the spells result is a frenzy attack for that turn.
I prefer to target earth elementals because their attacks can render victims unconscious,
in case a high chance for another attack in the next turn, with 2x dmg.


Much cheaper:
Have at least insanity, better also freeze flesh or any other long range spell with square symbol, and maybe even X-ray.
Walk up the path to the cathedral, hugging the right wall, until the 3 dots for the closer group of cultist are in spell range.
(Hit [N] to cycle through all avaiable targets for the squared spells.)
Without x-ray, move up and initiate combat repeatedly until something gets in range for the spells,
else you may target the closer death lord or the sorceress.
Now trigger combat with a spell, next round the cultists most likely will summmon their elementals.
Since the outcome is quite random, it is more effective to use freeze flesh and psionic blast,
may allow to kill all monsters in the cathedral, depending on where they retreat,
requires decent amout of mana stones and portal to Sadok, literally the cheapest way i know;)

A chameloen spell will allow a melee hvy party to repeatedly combat move to the left wall and behind the stairs (invisble physical walls deny to target any attacks and block vision for monsters complety,
you can even go up unseen to get the loot)
from where you combat move to the left deth lord and the queen with surprise.

Optionally you can avoid the battle completely and run&jump for the boomerang shuriken,
but be prepared that the way back up the ramp is too far for a single turn,
so you either have to fight scythe&mummies or portal out.


I dont use Sonic Boom as offensive spell because targets may run away in fear,
and it takes too much time to follow them.
But i use it to trigger hostility, e.g. those neutral harrassment patrols,
mainly to avoid the glitch where the game cant decide whether to trigger the NPC script or combat.

I also like to enter the rapax camp as templar or with combat move,
open the tent to the prince from the side and aggro as many as possible rapax from there with sonic booms,
next round i move in and behind the prince,
who has no chance to escape our "misses" on dozens of his fellows who appear at the entrance;)


Eye4Eye i use more, most casters have decent resistance for the realms of their spells,
though with decent amount of opponents like in Rapax territory,
its not only nice to let them eat their own spells but also rather effective.

The problem is that you actually have to be in combat mode and actually see the target spot to target them, and the enemies start too far away from the entrance to target them from just outside when you can't see them. By using Sonic Boom, I am able to start the combat when the enemies don't see me, giving me a chance to put up the spells I need to. Even something like Insanity or Psionic Blast only works if the enemy group appears on the top of the screen.

The whole point of Eye for an Eye is to get the Death Wishes to kill most of the enemies, leaving only the Sorceress Queen and the Death Lords to fight, making the fight much easier due to not having any elementals to deal with.

I fought the battle at levels 12-14, which I consider reasonable for this battle, on Normal difficulty. Element Shield helps against Death Cloud, and with my strategy, that spell won't be cast before you have a chance to put it up. (You might even try casting Element Shield at power 7; if you're lucky, Death Cloud will be even less dangerous.) Also, you can use Purify Air (or a Ring of Breezes) to reduce the duration of Death Cloud (also note that they won't cast the spell again while the first one is in effect), and Resurrection Powder if somebody does get killed. (Remember, unlike in other Wizardry games, there is no penalty for dying and being resurrected in Wizardry 8, so death doesn't have to mean a reload.)

Also, the battle ended when one of the Death Lords was still around. This allowed me to save and to level up my Priest and Bishop before finishing off the last one. (It did mean an end to my combat spell durations, however.)

Another way to kill the Cultists when they can't see you is, of course, to spam Psionic Blast, but that tends to only be useful for certain parties. (Psionic Blast ignores line of sight.)

One other thing to note: If you give an Amulet of Life to a character with 35-54 Artifacts and the character gets hexed, the amulet will be unequipped and may disappear. For that reason, Resurrection Powder is a safer choice in this fight, especially since it always works (no issues with it fizzling or backfiring).