Len, the Quartermaster

This guide is collection of my own observations and suggestion how to manage party in this installment of Wizardry.

Introduction

While it is possible to blindly move forward without knowing basics it would save a lot of nerves and time if you start with more-less solid plan for your playthrough. This guide describes the basics of party management.

Basic Stats

When you create character (main or secondary), you need to distribute bonus points. This are my own observations:

STRength
Determines damage output of your basic attacks and melee special skills.

INTelligence
Determines efficiency of arcane spells and how fast you get MP for magic spells.

PIEty
Determines efficiency of divine miracles and how fast you get MP for divine miracles.

VITality
Determines HP gain and Defense.

AGIlity
Determines Dodge and Turn Order in Combat.

LUCk
I don't really know what is affected by this stat. However, LUC seems to increase success rate of Thief Skills (Investigate Trap and Disarm Trap).

Overall, the most important stats for all classes should be VIT (more HP is always good in this game) and AGI (the faster you dish out damage, the less damage you take). Melee classes could concentrate on STR while spellcasters should go for INT or PIE (based on their magic). LUC is probably the less important stat but your Thief or Ninja better have it as high as possible.

Races

Here the basic stats of all races. The maximum natural stat limit is basic + 10. That is why you should think carefuly before you choose class for your race.

	STR	INT	PIE	VIT	AGI	LUC	TOTAL
HUMAN	8	8	8	9	8	9	50
ELF	7	10	10	7	9	8	51
DWARF	11	6	10	11	6	7	51
GNOME	5	14	11	5	5	9	49
PORKLU	6	6	5	6	12	14	49

Classes

FIGHTER

STR	INT	PIE	VIT	AGI	LUC	Alignment
12	-	-	-	-	-	Any

Skill: Trick Attack
The basic frontliner. It can dish out decent damage with swords and endure some heavy punishment. However, the class skill "Trick Attack" is of low value because it need preparation. It deals triple damage to single target, so basically it boost damage by 50% per turn.

MAGE

STR	INT	PIE	VIT	AGI	LUC	Alignment
-	12	-	-	-	-	Any

Skill: Magic Boost
The basic arcane spellcaster. Your main crowd control option and heavy damage dealer to single target. It couldn't withstand damage very well and should be put as far away from danger as possible. The class skill boost damage of the next spell up to 200% (triple damage) but need one turn of preparation. Mages could learn all four arcane spells on each spell level.

PRIEST

STR	INT	PIE	VIT	AGI	LUC	Alignment
-	-	12	-	-	-	Good/Evil

Skill: Exorcism
The basic divine spellcaster. Your early game healer and buffer. This class is made of paper like a mage and should be put at the back row. The class skill can turn all undead in combat but your party won't get any experience. Priests can learn all four divine miracles on each spell level.

THIEF

STR	INT	PIE	VIT	AGI	LUC	Alignment
-	-	-	-	10	12	Neutral/Evil

Skill: Thief Skills, Backstab
The one of two classes that can deal with locked doors and disarm traps with proper chances. You should never leave the town without thief (or ninja), especially when you explore lower levels. The class skill "Backstab" can deal massive damage from any row as long as thief hide properly prior (thief can stay hidden after successful backstab).

BISHOP

STR	INT	PIE	VIT	AGI	LUC	Alignment
-	13	13	-	-	-	Good/Evil

Skill: Appraisal, Magic Wall
The advanced spellcaster, an ulitmate magic user of your party that can use and learn both arcane spells and divine miracles. The "Appraisal" skill is corner stone of your economical stability in your early game because Item Shop appraisal cost too high to be of any use and allow you to boost your combat efficiency right away after finding new items. The "Magic Wall" protects your entire party from limited amount of damage (Magic Wall doesn't stack with itself).

SAMURAI

STR	INT	PIE	VIT	AGI	LUC	Alignment
15	11	10	14	10	9	Good/Neutral

Skill: Sougeki-Hamon no Jin
The advanced frontliner that specializes in damage dealing, both with sword/katana and magic. Samurais can learn first two arcane spells from each level but can gain all MP. Arcane spells deal 50% damage in comparison to Mage/Bishop of the same level. The class skill allow attacking full row of enemies with 50% damage reduction.

LORD

STR	INT	PIE	VIT	AGI	LUC	Alignment
15	12	12	15	14	15	Good

Skill: Huge Shield
The advanced frontliner that specializes in defense. Lords can learn first two divine miracles from each level and gain all MP. As defense specialist they can use the most sturdy armor but don't have an age in dealing damage. The class spell allow Lords to protect a single party member from individual type of attack.

NINJA

STR	INT	PIE	VIT	AGI	LUC	Alignment
15	15	15	15	15	15	Evil

Skill: Thief Skills, Abandon, Assassination
The advanced thief class specialist. As thieves, ninjas could use thief skills but to somewhat lesser degree. Their armor give the largest dodge bonus while their ultimate weapon (Cyclone Orochi) can kill enemy in one hit if it deal critical damage. The class skill can kill enemy in one hit as well but require to hide prior (Ninjas can try to assassinate enemies as long as they stay undetected). The "Abandon" class skill allows ninjas to fight on frontline as dodge tanks if required.

Party Formation

I suggest to use this formation to allow thief/ninja replace frontliner if someone from the Front Row become disabled (KO, Numb, Pertrification and alike). It slightly increases your survival chances during tough fights.

Front Row	Back Row
1. Fighter/Samurai/Lord	4. Thief/Ninja
2. Fighter/Samurai/Lord	5. Mage/Priest/Bishop
3. Fighter/Samurai/Lord	6. Mage/Priest/Bishop

As for actual party members I prefer Lord, Samurai, Samurai, Ninja, Bishop and Bishop composition for the final combo. While Magic Walls don't stack I prefer to cast nukes from time to time and it is impossible to cast spell and erect Magic Wall at the same time. Huge Shields don't stack as well but if we need to cast supportive miracles we have 2 Bishops behind so there is no need for more than one Lord. Ninja can dish out more damage than thief in exchange for slightly lower chances with disarming. Samurais are your main damage dealers.

Alignment Management

It is impossible to get Good and Evil characters to work together in the same party so plan carefuly your party composition from the start. There is two tricks that allow to get past this problem though:

1. If you have neutral main character, you can move to dungeon with required characters and save there. Load the party you need to use and move to the same spot of the same dungeon and use command "Search for Party Member". You just need to remember that number of empty slots should be equal to the party you saved in dungeon.
   
2. You can change alignment of characters. For this you need to encounter enemy group that allow you to choose three options: Fight, Watch and Leave. In order to move all your party members to Evil side you should choose "Fight". If you want to fight for Good you should choose "Leave". The "Watch" option doesn't change alignment. It takes around 10 encounter to change from one alignment to the next close one.

Class Progression

If you want for your party to be effective you should consider changing classes for the best utility. These are my suggestions about class progression and races.

BISHOP

Pref. Races	Elf
Pref. Starting Class	Lord
Acc. Starting Class	Fighter / Samurai

Lords by my observation gain the largest amount of HP during level ups. That HP would be useful when you change class to Bishop. Elves are probalby the best candidates for this class as well, unlike Gnomes (who have slightly better INT and PIE) they have decent AGI that would allow them to use their spells and skill earlier.

SAMURAI

Pref. Races	Human / Dwarf
Pref. Starting Class	Bishop
Acc. Starting Class	Priest

I suggest to go with Lord to Bishop and finaly Samurai path if you have patience. This way you will get around 20-25% more HP. You should turn to Samurai from Bishop when you get MP to 9 on all spell levels for better utility but you can change whenever you think is better for you.I prefer humans as Samurai since their class skill don't give bonus to turn order. Some prefer Dwarves for their STR and VIT bonuses.

LORD

Pref. Races	Dwarf
Pref. Starting Class	Bishop
Acc. Starting Class	Mage

I went through Lord - Bishop - Lord path to gain additional HP for my final class but direct Bishop to Lord is viable as well. Like Samurai, you should change class when you hit all 9 on your spells. Dwarf is the best choice to become Lord because of its STR and VIT bonuses. Despite low AGI the class skill seems to have bonus to turn order and activate earlier in battle so survival is must (Lord take damage for other party member after all).

NINJA

Pref. Races	Porklu
Pref. Starting Class	Bishop
Acc. Starting Class	Thief

I suggest Lord - Bishop - Ninja path if you are very patient person. The main time consuming part is that alignment management (Lord could be only Good while Ninja is Evil). However, it would give additonal HP to your Ninja that would be useful. Porklu is the only choice for thief and ninja classes because of their race stats.

Afterword

If you have any suggestions and your own observations, feel free to comment. I will try to test them and add there.

[💖Alice Cousland💖]

Thank you for the guide, it helped me a ton with party composition at the start. Almost done with my first playthrough

[Syrel]

Additionally, Magic Wall does stack, says so in its description even if you bothered to read it, and Exorcism gives half EXP, not zero

[Syrel]

A useful note: Protag Characters can't change Alignments no matter how hard you try, also I would not advise a Porklu for Ninjas, while they get Agi and Luck, the loss of Vit and Strength adds up on their damage

[Traslo]

Any advice on how to max out the survivability of a mage class? they lose half their spell casts when they switch to Lord.

[Schploopus]

Nice guide. Thank you. Which row does the Thief/Ninja belong in?

[Darkbridger]

Determined actual numbers...

Mage
All Spells Learned at level 16 (167,440 xp/gp)
All Mana at level 22 (424,928 xp/gp)
Priest
All Spells Learned at level 17 (199,808 xp/gp)
All Mana at level 23 (484,176 xp/gp)
Bishop
All Spells Learned at level 17 (235,488 xp/gp)
All Mana at level 25 (729,168 xp/gp)

So as an example, Mage 16->Priest 23-Samurai is 77,552 xp/gp cheaper than Bishop 25->Samurai and gets the same net effect. Priest 17->Mage 22->Lord is 104,432 xp/gp cheaper than Bishop 25->Lord.

[Darkbridger]

A few things I would add, for those that don't have the patience for some of the class switching...

If all you care about is healing magic, go through Priest instead of Bishop as the Bishop has a much higher XP requirement. You don't need to get to all 9s in mana either... half of 9 when changing class is still 4, so you only need to get level 8 spells to 8 mana to get the same effect. While some of the mage support spells are nice, they aren't worth slogging through Bishop to pick up, especially on a melee class that will rarely, if ever, cast damaging magic. For back row characters though, more options are always better.

I can not find an experience chart by class anywhere to verify this, but it may even be less painful to level Priest and Mage instead of Bishop to get mana.