Average party level is ~21.125--can I still find Vampire Bats?

[lourde.incarnadine]

I managed to score a Vampire Bat Wing somewhere along the line and made a stupid, stupid mistake: I remembered that it was for a custom item from a reading binge, but since this is my first playthrough... yeah. I gave it to Antone instead of Ferro. And, I guess since it's not unique, he did not give it back. Now we're in pretty much endgame levels: two L21s, two L22s, two L23s, Vi at L17 and RFS-81 at L20. Average is 21.125, which seems to have an impact on what enemies show up in areas.

I found my way to Flamestryke's old archived site at zimlabs and it seems like Vampire Bats spawn at lower levels like L13 or L14. Is there somewhere that I can get Vampire Bats to spawn?

I'm currently saved in the Umpani "Humpawhammer" hut, their Stargate outside the Monastery. What I'm doing is stepping through, checking the map to see if there are any enemy groups in the Upper Caves with ~6 enemies, and if there are 6 or more then I sprint over to see if they're Vampire Bats. I've yet to see bats spawn in groups smaller than 6 (I could be wrong, first time player!), but most of the time I'm seeing Contagion Bats, Twilight Bats, or (frustratingly) Bat Vampires. I THINK my best chance is a group that includes Twilight Bats since the Vampire Bats seem to have a chance to spawn with them, but I may be misinterpreting what I'm reading.

tl;dr: I ain't got no Vampire Bat Wing and my party's past L20. Halp!

[lourde.incarnadine]

Got 'em! So: Yes.

It finally happened with a group of ten enemies, 5 Bat Vampires and 5 Vampire Bats. About the only things left to do seem to be the last Retro Dungeon and heading for Ascension Peak.

BTW: The smallest group of all-bat enemies that I've seen is 5, now. So I would check out every group of 5 or more, creep close enough to right-click and check levels for L13-14 (and status resistances on the L14s to make sure they're Vampire Bats and not Bat Vampires), and save in a new file if everything lines up. Kill, reset to a quicksave before the portal if they're not Vampire Bats and reset to the pre-battle save if they're the right bats but don't drop the Wing.

[Seewhyseeoh]

I was gonna say you can usually find them in the Mt Gigas caves.....but you seem to have beaten me to it!

Good luck with the rest of the game !

[lourde.incarnadine]

Thanks. I'm neuroatypical and usually hoard my meds to take for school or work, so I don't get the benefits of them during my leisure time--so I end up as the kind of person who asks a question, gets bored of waiting after ~90 seconds, and goes off to test/confirm/research/figure it out myself. <_<

I have to say, though, that the people who focus on this game tend to have a pretty in-depth knowledge base and answer questions faster than the boards for mobile phone games and stuff that is newer or updated frequently! I think the quality of player that the Wizardry series attracts and retains says a lot about the games, especially after all this time. It feels like the people who play Wizardry love it very deeply, and that the off-hand encyclopedic knowledge just follows naturally.

It gets me excited to try out W6-7 later. I've always been really intimidated by basically any RPG that involves manual stat allocation, but between Etrian Odyssey and Shin Megami Tensei Atlus was my gateway drug to dungeon crawlers--and once you play The Dark Spire it's unlikely that you don't hear the name "Wizardry" somewhere.

[CeterumCenseo]

Lower monastery is another place worth looking for. In another game I got some at Mt. Wilderness. Basically any area where Bats occur. If you are past the max spawning level (or below the min spawning level) of an area, the game throws monster classes at you defined in that area, but at random level. So there is a solid chance to get Vampire Bats. Chance they drop a wing is only 5% according to Flamestryke, so may take a while until you get them.

For the weapon, I personally prefer the Mauler over the Vamp Chain. Higher damage, better status effects and char can use Diamond Eyes in the off-hand. 99% sure Vamp Chain counts as whip and only allows a shield in the offhand, not a second weapon.

[Momonga]

Tip : Hunt 'Bats' on Night / Evening.

-no joke