I've played it for a few hours now and am really enjoying it. However, I have a few questions since I have no previous experience with this series.

1. It seems you can class change at level up, unless I'm misunderstanding the UI (gender and race are greyed out but class is in white text). Is this a basic part of the gameplay that you should engage with, like it is in games like Final Fantasy V or Octopath Traveller? Or is it just a nice option that you can safely ignore?

2. I heard in a Let's Play that it's really recommended to have either a Bard or Gadgeteer. I don't have either of these. Will that be a problem?

3. How much of a focus is there on NPC interaction beyond just accepting quests? Let's say on a scale of "Skyrim" to "Planescape: Torment"? Just wondering how useful the Communication skill is, really.

4. I guess everyone should raise Vitality at least to some degree? And that Rogues shouldn't ignore Strength? I also get the feeling Speed is good for most people; attackers get more attacks and can kill before being killed. Healers can heal injured allies before they get hit again, etc.

5. Is it more important to focus on the overall skills (e.g. Close Combat) than the more specific skills (e.g. Swords)?

6. Any obvious levelling up pitfalls? For example, it's always a massive waste to raise Resistance in Dark Souls, it's an utterly wasted level up.

Thanks. I might have more later (who am I kidding? Of course I will!) Really loving the game, even if I feel like I've been in this monastery so long I should have my mail redirected here.

While it it possible to change classes, it is generally not recommended in Wizardry 8. (This is unlike earlier games in the series, where class changing is a very useful strategy.) Hence, you can safely ignore this option. The big one is the existence of special skills that are only obtainable by raising a stat's base value to 100. This is especially important for pure casters and bishops, who are going to want Power Cast later in the game.

1. class change comes down to planning i.e, a priest to Lord sounds good if you want to have lots of heavy armour but if you use an axe then Valkyrie is the class you need... a first play is generally best to ignore class changes until you know the game

2. they are very nice but not needed, Bard is the best early game caster and Gadgeteer in the late game can top the kill list

3 a good amount of the game will be missed on your first two plays, some things are just funny [tell Vi to Fuck off] but some are very important like which armies to side with

4 i always have one character with good Vitality, normally Lord or Valkyrie but thats it... speed is only good if the party has it i.e, one slow fighter | healer is ok because they go after the others but not too slow or your party will not be able to move around much in battle, apart from speed the characters need the correct stats for their class (party roll) but anything 50 or above is generally fine

5 if you don't know the weapon then combat skills but if you know you want to use an axe then pump points into axe

6 yes, lots of different parties can play the game but its easy to make a crap party... all melee, all spells etc type parties do bad. once you play the game a few times it will show you what parts your party had issues with then you remake a new party to cover that event

Honestly, I haven't found that to be a particularly good strategy.
* Characters with high HP, such as Lord and Valkyrie, don't need the extra HP that Vitality would provide.
* Unlike in past Wizardry games, characters with low HP don't get as many HP from high Vitality, so the benefit isn't that strong (though it doesn't feel wasted the way it does for high HP characters). Actually, I don't think that's true in Wizardry 8. An all melee party can do pretty well; you just need high Speed on your party (so you can close into melee range faster) and some hybrids to cover spells (at least Mage and Priest spells, but Alchemy has Chameleon and Psionics has Haste (though there's an instrument for that). An all ranged party can also do well, as all your characters can do good damage at range. Even an all pure caster party can work well here; throwing a whole bunch of mass damage spells (like Fireball) will eventually kill entire enemy groups at once, and for those cases where magic doesn't work there's elementals and even weapons like the Staff of Doom that even casters can use effectively. (Actually, the game's balance favors melee so much that the melee capabilities of an all pure caster party are actually enough.)

1. Just ignore this mechanic, it's not needed in Wiz8 at all.

2. Problem? No. Inconvenience? Yes. Both have some amazing buffs/shields/aoe spells which make your caster's life much easier as he won't have to waste 3-4 first turns of every fight casting the same spells (haste, ele/soul shield etc.). Keep in mind that you'll be able to recruit fantastic NPC bard later on (and I mean really fantastic - both in terms of personality and skills), and decentish gadgie too. I recommend you try them both out ;)

3. Communication skill is useless. don't bother wasting points on raising it (it'll raise on its own fast enough anyway). Almost all interactions except trading require you to ask NPC keywords and/or give them quest items.

4. Str/dex for your melee combatants (rogue included). Vit is not a priority but I usually raise it to ~60 for my melee guys. Propably more after maxing str/dex (100 is max if you didn't know).
If you'll be using haste spell/instrument later on (and you really really should cast it in almost every fight from midgame - that's one of the reasons bard is so useful), 55 speed is enough on everyone (haste on max spell level gives 70 speed so it's 125 total = game cap).
It's from minmaxing perspective of course ;) I find snakespeed (power skill unlocked after reaching 100 speed) not that great to make it a priority.

5. Usually general skills (cc, ranged combat, dualwield, crit) raise slower on their own than weapon-specific skills, so it's not bad idea to pump the most important ones with 3 points/level.

6. Communication, piety/int for non-casters, not saving few spellpick points for late-game spells (can't learn them from books).

Enjoy the game, it's a real gem ;)

If you're ranger is using a bow then they will most certainly need strength. I also plays to give them a weapon for close combat, not good wasting arrows at point blank range, it also means they ca hold a shield and keep protective.

Everyone hit points go up when they level so you don't need to raise vitality unless you have nothing else to raise.
Remember to focus on one thing when you level up.. Example if using a fighter always put 3 points in strength so you can unlock power strike early. (senses for ranger so you can get eagle l eye)

Bard and Gadgeteer's are great and i always have both. Not essential but makes the game very fun.

Speed skill is quite important, it will help determine which character goes first in combat which is useful for a spell caster, bard and Gadgeteer's it also increased how may swings a character has in combat.. so speed with dexterity and very good for fighters.

One more thing: There are many stamina regeneration items, including some you can get early, that for whatever reason are female only. For this reason, you should make any stamina dependent characters you're using (most notably Bards and Gadgeteers, but this also applies to any characters using heavy weapons like a Tripleshot Crossbow (which you likely won't get unless you have a Gadgeteer in the party) or a certain heavy sword that only Mook fighter-types can equip.

Equipment and Valkyrie access are the only important things that gender affects, and almost all of the gender restricted equipment is female only in this game. I think you meant "your" rather than "you're". Remember that "you're" expands to "you are", and it does not work grammatically to start a sentence with a phrase like "If you are ranger is".

I'm aware of that, i completed school... many, many years ago. But pressing keyboard buttons and making a typo doesn't mean i'm stupid, it means i made a typo, so don't patronise me.

Aside from the "you're" which is not really a typing error in original sense,
the statement that str is an important attribute for rangers is questionable.

The only major benefit of str for rangers is an increase of damage,
at half the rate it would do for a melee weapon.

my attrib rating for rangers:

Dex
It increases the chance to hit, more hits increase the overall damage,
the effect is roughly on par with increased dmg output from str,
but dex will also provide additional attacks and swings at certain thresholds
(a combination of spd, dex, ranged combat and bow skill)
so it already outperforms str in matters of dmg.
add to that the additional crit chance for every arrow that inflicts dmg.

Sen
While speed may provide more attacks, sen is crucial for eagle eye,
and eagle eye provides more crits, so sen comes 2nd in my book,
because it also contributes to initiative, at nearly the same degree as:

Spd
While the effect of snakespeed is not as drastic as for the much lighter shuriken,
as quick crit adds to the benefit of additional attacks&swings

Int
While the faster learning effect can be substituted with the brilliant helm
(although somebody else for whom int is not a primary attrib, and therefore completely neglected, will miss it)
rangers also cast alc spells, among them the games most powerful attack spell:
The Mighty Death Cloud
so powercast is certainly desirable for rangers, even if it was only for that single spell
(deatch cloud is the only spell which affects creatures that are otherwise completely immune to spell dmg and side effects due to maximum magic resistance, i.e. 255 in all 6 realms)
Admittedly I may put int on a hold once its reaches 70 to increase str,
usually only the case if the increased overall exp pts of a mod will likely provide enough lvls to max dex sen int and str
(thank flying spaghetti monster the power skills grow on their own)

Str
I gladly take the higher dmg.
When the imo more important attributes are maxed ;)

Pie
The games weakest attrib except for priests, although it provides some stamina
which is not required if you use low weight equipment.


Btw on 1st sight the enchanted bow may be weaker than other magic bows of the game,
but it is below the 6lbs threshold so it will provide additional attacks/swings before its 7.5 lbs counterparts
Similar for the precision arrows in early game when penetration armor of monsters is still low
and its more a question to hit at all, also for the skill increase.
Since you can swap arrows from left hand to personal inventory without delay,
its a good tactic to start with viper arrows and instantly swap to mysytics etc
as soon as you get feedback that the target has been poisoned

Wait, Death Cloud has that property?

With that, of course, comes a couple interesting questions:
* Does that spell work on undead (who are otherwise immune to instant death, as far as I could tell)?
* Would you say this is enough of a reason to take a pure Alchemist in the party? (Alchemists are the only class able to cast that particular spell at power level 7 without risking failure or backfire, at least unless you happen to find an Aeromancer Ring; of course, you still need to be level 24 to do this.)
* Is relative level still important if you want Death Cloud to work?

(By the way, Aeromancers often appear with Air Elementals, and I suspect that Quicksand (which is useful against low level high HP enemies even at PL1) might be a better choice than Death Cloud when fighting them.)

With that said, speed and senses are also good for spellcasters, as they affect initiative, which is important in many situations:
* Some spells have cone targeting, and said spells are usually more powerful than radius attack spells of the same level. The problem, however, is that enemies will often move out of the way before you have a chance to cast the spell, causing the spell to only hit a few targets; acting before the enemies is one way to prevent this.
* Getting status ailments off before the enemies have a chance to act is quite helpful; similarly, getting your spells off before *you* get hit with status ailments is not so helpful.
* When casting a healing spell, getting the spell off before the enemy has a chance to attack and kill the injured character is important; if you're too slow, the character will be dead before the healing spell is cast, and healing spells (except Resurrection, of course, but the game won't even let you *try* to cast it on someone who's not dead) will not work on dead characters.

Of course, there are some spells that are useful even for slower characters. In particular:
* Against melee enemies, having a slow caster cast Fireball or another radius spell centered on the party can be helpful; the enemies will advance into spell range before the spell goes off (hopefully).
* Unlike other healing spells, Heal All doesn't require you to select who to heal, allowing you to heal after the enemy attacks without having to guess who needs healing.
* PL1 Stamina is capable of restoring an unconscious character; if the character falls unconscious before you cast it, this spell will restore it. If the spell goes off first, however, the character might still fall unconscious.
* The Alchemy spell Ring of Fire doesn't care about initiative (as long as the spell is cast successfully); this can be very useful if you don't know whether the melee enemies you're fighting will act before or after you.

Also, note that some enemies are so fast that, at least until later on, they will act before even a character who is focused on initiative.

Example of a situation where initiative is more important than Power Cast: A fairy mage created at the start who is intended to be replaced with another character later on. Said character won't be in the party long enough to get Power Cast, but can at least get high initiative in order to act before the enemies, freezing them before they even come close.

Random fact: If your party has no dead characters, the game won't let you select Resurrection as a spell to cast; the game will just say there's no valid target, and the character will say their "invalid action" line. ("I just don't feel like it right now.")

Thanks for all the helpful replies, guys. It's a great game, it just gets better and better.

Some of the stat allocations will also depend on species/style.

A dracon fighter might want to max Vit because they can start close to the cap anyway, and they're most likely to be regularly subjected to the relevant status effects, so unlocking Iron Skin (I think that's the name) by level 6-7 means that it will be at useful values throughout the game.

Likewise, Strength/Senses is actually a good combination for rangers. They don't care about power strike but the Dex master skill isn't likely to come up for them much either, and the damage boost from high strength doesn't come with a cost of increased stamina consumption (as Dex's extra attacks will). Plus, high Strength helps with another big problem: that ammo soon starts to become extremely HEAVY, and the high-Dex ranger will actually need to carry more of it to do their job.

There are also some niche strategies for party-wide stats, although they aren't great for a first time player. Everyone focusing Speed has obvious utility (initiative, attack rates, not needing to Haste at the beginning of every battle), but Piety can actually work for this too: the extra stamina is nice, casters always want it... but unlocking Iron Mind (was that the name?) on everyone and training it up means that enemy status effects and spellcasters become MUCH less threatening (and this becomes an increasing issue in the mid to late game).

Alchemy is one of the nearly must-have skills but you don't need an Alchemist for it: a ranger or ninja can work as well, and a ranger is a helpful party addition for other reasons. It's not just the utility of the spells but the fact that it allows potion mixing - you can make most of the high-end potions in the game from low-end potions (or other components), both for use and for sale. (Money is never a problem again...)

One thing to keep in mind is that fighters (and rogues), even if they're primarily focusing Str/Dex, want to have a reasonable Int or Senses too (with Senses being the more useful stat to them), because those are the governing stats for Close Combat, and a lizard fighter who leaves them at 20/25/30 will find Close Combat stalling after a while. This is actually true of all of the weapon-users but most of them start with decent Int and/or Senses, or would want to raise them anyway.

The skill is called Iron Will.

An alternative, of course, is to get this spell on a priest and have them learn all the status curing spells; this way, they can avoid status effects and then cure those who are afflected. Alchemists could also work, as they learn all the status curing spells except Sane Mind and Restoration (and I believe there's an amulet or something for the former, if you want it on the same character, or you could have a Psionic (no Iron Will needed) cover that spell).

Also fun is having a Valkyrie with Resurrection. Tired of walking all the way out of Trynton? Well, just jump off the boardwalk (well, fall since there's no jumping in this game, but you get the idea), accept the death of most of your party, and then just have the Valkyrie revive everyone. (I wouldn't advise this on Iron Man mode, however, as there could be monsters waiting to eat you after you land.)

Don't forget that Bishops also get that spell, and they get all the associated advantages, including potion mixing and the ability to cast alchemist spells (including Heal Wounds) while silenced. I think this is especially worth mentioning since a party with a Bishop is going to need a lot of money for all those spellbooks. (Also, the Alchemist gets the best selection of level 6 and 7 spells, learning almost all of the best spells of those levels (Restoration, that the Priest learns, is the one exception).)

Speaking of the price of potions, I think Sir-Tech in general has overvalued consumable items, even as far back as Wizardry 1. (Scrolls of HALITO and BADIOS, which are basically useless (1-8 damage to one enemy, usable only once), are as rare as earlier magic items, including Plate Mail +1, which are far more useful.) Even in Wizardry 8, where they're still overvalued, there are some rather strange cost decisions; why does Cure Disease cost more than Restoration, where the latter includes the former effect, and why are Scrolls of Resurrection (which have a minimum Artifacts skill requirement) rarer and more expensive than Resurrection Powder (which has no such requirement and always works)?