Surprise!! How to win new Wizardry with old school rules

This guide will help you beat Wizardry, in all its glorious original difficulty.

Many players, particularly newer players, baulk at the difficulty of “old school” or “original” Wizardry. The current developers have acknowledged this by introducing, over time, options to mitigate or outright remove a lot of this difficulty - options which many in the community have embraced. It has become almost standard, for example, to turn off “surprise round casting”. Restoring your characters from a savefile in case of a party wipe – or indeed, after almost any setback – is likewise often recommended as normal practice in discussions.

That’s not the way I play. I like Wizardry _because_ it is hard. _Because_ you don’t always win on your first try. My philosophy is: Leave surprise round casting on. Don’t restore from savefiles. Take party wipes, level drains, and yes, even bad hp rolls, on the chin. That is how the game was originally designed, and it is eminently winnable under those conditions.

I have beaten the Apple ][ original like that, multiple times. I have beaten this version like that, from scratch, multiple times. In my opinion, the game is more fun and rewarding when played old school. When you can actually fail and die. I believe Wizardry should be viewed more like a roguelike, where death is a real possibility and you might have to start over (with the resources and knowledge gained, of course) – and not like the more traditional modern RPG where the savefile is always there to ensure you never suffer a setback. Given how the original was designed, I believe the original creators shared this vision.

Anyway, now that the pitch is over…

This guide basically explains how I play, and is intended as a blueprint for victory for newer to intermediate players who want to experience the satisfaction of beating Werdna without any safety nets. Thus it assumes two things:

• Surprise round casting is switched on
  
• No restoring from savefiles - if you die, you die

Most other options are up to you, though IMO the true Scotsman doesn’t play with action redirection (makes the game a bit more brainless _and_ easier, yuck), and doesn’t use the new Temple (level drain recovery is way too cheap, basically removing the mechanic from the game. Level drainers are supposed to be scary!). I also leave bad stuff on party wipe on, because I believe it should be possible to lose characters.

The guide will take you all the way from creating your first character at the Training Grounds, through to the satisfying thump of Werdna’s corpse hitting the floor. However, it does assume some familiarity with the game. I won’t be describing how to navigate through the various sub-menus in Boltac’s Trading Post, nor what Badios does. Come here when you’ve played the game a bit on your own and are pretty familiar with the interface, terminology, and mechanics.

The main focus of the guide will be on party composition, advancement down through the dungeon, and how to tackle various monsters. Gearing will be briefly discussed as well. Navigating the maze will be mentioned only in passing where relevant – it is assumed you know how to explore the dungeon and map it, or otherwise have access to the dungeon maps.

Character Creation

Your first party on a new scenario should be (in order) two fighters, a priest, a thief, and two mages, just like the manual says. Yes, there might be more optimal parties possible later by changing class X to Y after Z and blah blah blah, but this will get the job done. A samurai is a waste of time until you find particular rare gear deep in the maze, which you probably won’t without a lot of farming. Nor will you need to create a bishop until you find items worth identifying later - priests and mages learn their spells much faster.

Choose the Random Roll and Point Buy attribute options for maximum munchkinism (although it’s not necessary to do so to win), and make sure every character has at least 20 initial points to allocate so they don’t suck (yes, if you are a perfectionist with plenty of time on your hands, you can wait for 29 on everyone). Fighters and priests should be dwarves, and mages should be elves. Thieves should be gnomes or halflings – gnomes have slightly more vitality and strength, but if you’re going evil and want to be a ninja, a halfling ultimately needs the least points.

If you choose point allocation on level up, do it this way: For fighters max strength first, then get agility to 8, then max vitality, then max agility, then max luck. For priests max piety first, then get agility to 8, then max strength, then vitality, then agility, then luck. For thieves, get agility to 16 (to max trap inspection chance), then max vitality, then strength, then agility, then luck. For mages max intellect, then agility, then vitality, then luck. If you’re going evil, make one of your fighters neutral in case you want to change to samurai later, make your thief evil to give the option of a ninja eventually, make one of your mages evil for the option of priest or bishop later, and one neutral for the option of thief later. If you’re going good, make both fighters and one mage good for lord/priest/bishop options later, and the other mage neutral for thief options later (none of these class changes are required to win the game, however).

Eventually we will be creating a bishop, but that comes later. See the next section, "Early gearing and IDing", for more info.

Use your initial gold to buy Helms for each of your fighters, and you're good to go.

Early gearing and IDing items

As you initially earn gold from adventuring, focus on upgrading the armour of your front three characters by buying gear from the Trading Post in order of increasing cost, trying to keep their armour classes as close as possible as a secondary objective. That is, a Breast Plate (200gp) for your priest first, then Breast Plates for each of your fighters, then Plate Mail (750gp) for each of your fighters, then a Shield+1 and Breast Plate+1 (1500gp each) for your priest, then a Shield+1 for each of your fighters, then finally Copper Gloves (6000gp) for each of your fighters when you can afford it. That rounds out the front line gear you can buy on a new scenario - better items will need to be found in the maze.

Once your front line is kitted out as above, it's worth spending money to buy your thief a Shield+1 and Leather Armor+1 (in that order), as they might occasionally find themselves in the front line if someone drops. Don't bother springing for the hefty price of a Short Sword+1, and don’t bother spending gold on your mages’ equipment at all (in fact, I recommend selling your mages' initial stuff and using them as item sacks.)

Do NOT spend money to ID items found in the maze, especially early on while you are still buying gear. Instead, once you need to start IDing things (not every item needs to be IDed - see below), create a bishop. An Elf is the easiest race to qualify (Intellect 12, Piety 12 required), and make sure they are your party’s alignment. Otherwise, stats don’t matter, as your bishop will be left firmly on the bench in town. Yes, it is a pain going to the Tavern / Inn and juggling party members around just to ID items, but a bishop as a permanent member of your adventuring party will be a huge dead weight in combat (and we already have our thief filling that role). The bishop doesn’t need experience, because even at level 1 they will be 100% successful at IDing items in this version (as of patch 0.4 at least) , and there is none of that risk vs reward minigame of touching cursed stuff from the original (coughdevs?cough).

Not every item you find in the maze needs to be identified by your bishop (bishop IDed). Most items found early on (maze levels 1-4) will be fairly worthless - the same or inferior to what you have already bought, and worth peanuts to sell. But it’s worth at least “price ID-ing” anything you find (that means checking the cost to identify at the Trading Post - NOT paying it!). This includes humble potions and scrolls – in particular, Latumofis (antidote) potions (150gp to identify) can be useful to hoard on maze levels 1-3 before your priest knows the Latumofis spell. Stack them on one of your mages unidentified - they can be used perfectly well un-IDed. Other potions and scrolls might be worth bishop IDing and selling for supplementary cash at the start while you are still buying equipment.

Any armour or weapon that price IDs for 750gp or more (armour) or 2000gp or more (weapon) might actually be worth using, so should be bishop IDed as well. If you are a real perfectionist and don’t want to let a gold piece go to waste, you can bishop ID and sell every single item you find, but it is a bit tedious. Later, once gold is no longer an issue, I tend to just D)iscard all the potions, scrolls, staves, flails, and robes that I find to save space and time. You’ll find you even get to the point where you can recognise many of the items by their icons, so those normal or -1 swords and maces can go on the trash heap as well.

Where to go when

You'll start adventuring on maze level 1 (obviously) and level up there to level 5. That might seem like a lot, but there's a big jump in difficulty to maze level 2, and early character levels go by reasonably quickly. After that, you'll go deeper roughly every two character levels. Some levels will be skipped entirely.

Here's where you should be when, ideally:

Character level*	Key mage spells	Key priest spells	Maze level
1-4	Halito, Katino	Dios	1
5-6	Mahalito	Dialko	2
7-8	Lahalito, Dalto	Maporfic, Latumofis	3
9-10	Makanito	Dialma	4
11-12	Zilwan	Mabadi, Madi	8
13+	Malor, Tiltowait	Malikto	10

* Character level refers mainly to your mages, as they will generally be the last to level up, and their spells primarily determine what you can handle. Priests do factor in too, but their corresponding spells are more "nice to have".

More detail on dungeon advancement can be found in the section on each maze level.

Maze level 1

Adventure here until your mage(s) learn Mahalito, possible from level 5. Be cautious, especially initially. It’s perfectly reasonable to fight one encounter and then leave to regain spell points. Definitely leave as soon as your priest or mages run out of spell points, or you are poisoned by a trap. Heal _any_ damage with Dios after each encounter.

If you are using the old school Inn, don’t spend money there to heal, just go back to the maze, heal with your priest, go back to the free room at the Inn to regain your priest’s spell points, then repeat if necessary (this is pretty much the rule for the entire game). If you are using the new Inn, none of that matters of course.

If anyone dies, especially at character level 1, just reroll them. You don’t have the spare cash for expensive Temple services at this stage (assuming the old school temple here, as Cant intended).

Orcs, Kobolds (Small Humanoids) – use Katino on groups with 3 or more. If you get both at once, focus on killing the Kobolds as they are worth almost double the XP of Orcs.

Bubbly Slimes (Slimes) – don’t waste spell points, just beat them up.

Undead Kobolds (Skeletons) – low-key dangerous, as they will just keep swinging and never flee. Halito with your mages (Undead Kobolds are resistant to fire, but some damage is better than no damage), and Dispel with your priest if there are 4 or more.

Rogues, Bushwackers (Scruffy Men) – dangerous to starting parties if they (the monsters) don’t flee. Use Katino on groups with 3 or more (maybe 2 for Bushwackers. They can be tough cookies!).

If you are unlucky, you might get the dreaded Bushwackers + Zombies (Weird Humanoids) encounter. If you are only level 1, this is the only time ever I’d advocate trying to R)un. If you are level 2 or more, you might be able to take them out. Fight and dispel the Zombies with your front line while trying to keep the Bushwackers under control with Katino from your mages.

Note that I don’t advocate and won't be discussing Murphy’s Ghost farming for general whole-party levelling (if it's just one character who's changed class and is way behind, fine...). Talk about boring! If you don’t want to play the game, just don’t play. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.

Once your mage(s) know Mahalito, it is time to move on to maze level 2.

Maze level 2

Go in and out via the stairs. Save your Mahalitos for Zombies (Weird Humanoids) and Creeping Cruds (Slimes) - the two big bads of the level who paralyse and poison respectively. Any other group of 5 or more monsters is also worth a Mahalito. Otherwise just fight, throwing in the odd Halito if your fighters don't have everything covered.

Leave as soon as you are out of Mahalitos, healing, or if somebody gets poisoned (or paralysed and you can’t cure it). Your priest getting paralysed by Zombies is one of the more annoying things that might happen here (and in general), as you will need the Temple to cure them. If you are running out of the maze with a poisoned character, keep track of their hit points and heal them up as needed so they don’t die. As usual, heal up as much as possible (preferable fully) before taking the stairs back to the castle (unless you are using the enhanced Inn, in which case it doesn’t matter).

Hopefully you will get lucky and meet several lots of Creeping Coins, giving you a boatload of XP and making your journey through level 2 a breeze!

Stay on level 2 until your mages know Dalto and/or Lahalito (possible from level 7). I also advise waiting until your priest knows Maporfic and Latumofis (also possible from level 7). The AC bonus from Maporfic comes in handy on maze level 3, where there are a lot of nasty melee hitters, and being poisoned becomes increasingly common. Don’t wait forever though – if your priest gets to level 8 and proves to be a slow learner, move on to level 3 anyway.

Maze level 3

I recommend going down via the stairs – it’s a long walk through the infamous “spiral” on level 2, but the elevator area gives far fewer encounters (you can go back out via the elevator, however). You have to watch your step wandering around on level 3 more so than any other level – it’s easy to get spun around, disoriented, and fall in a pit if you’re not careful.

The farming route I recommend is to turn right from the stairs, then turn left at the 4-way and go straight ahead forever, clearing the pairs of potential encounter rooms on each side of the corridor as you go. Use Lomilwa to help you see the secret doors (until you know them off by heart, anyway). This passage wraps around the level and has no revolving floors or pits to dodge. If you get back to where you started and are hungry for more, you can go up and down the stairs to reset the rooms. When you’ve had enough, leave via the elevator.

You will see a lot of large groups of monsters on level 3, and your mage mass damage spells (Mahalito, Dalto, Lahalito) will be your best friends - leave as soon as you’re out of Lahalito / Dalto.

Treat the following foes with greater prejudice:

Werebears (Bears): can paralyse and poison, and have a big stack of hp. They are resistant to cold, so use Lahalito / Mahalito rather than Dalto. It will usually take a Lahalito + Mahalito to kill them all.

Vorpal Bunnies (Rabbits) and Level 3 Ninjas: They don't appear together, but both can critically hit to instantly kill party members in the front line, and the ninjas poison to boot. Use Lahalito / Dalto to finish them off (Bunnies are resistant to cold, so use Lahalito rather than Dalto).

Dragon Flies (Flies): Your first dose of full party damage in the game. They have a small but annoying amount of magic resistance, but don’t let that stop you pounding them with mass damage spells. They are resistant to fire, but have low hit points, so there is a rare use case for Molito here.

Giant Toads (Amphibians): Inflict poison and are resistant to fire. Dalto is a good solution.

Gas Dragons (et-al): Normally a maze level 4 encounter, but rarely possible on level 3. Fortunately, instead of using their deadly breath weapon, Gas Dragons often waste time failing to put anyone to sleep with Katino (they must be Champ Samurai in reptile form). Still, don’t mess around. A Lahalito / Dalto at least, preferably plus a Mahalito if there’s 3 or more. If you get unlucky, they’ll appear with Dragon Flies, in which case (depending on the relative number of each), fight the flies, Molito on the flies, and Dalto / Lahalito on the dragons to keep their breath damage down just in case. If you get really unlucky, you might get Priestesses (which love silencing your party with Montino, with a good rate of success) plus Gas Dragons, in which case fight and Dalto / Lahalito the Priestesses, and send another Dalto / Lahalito to weaken the dragons (again, the optimal strategy depends on the relative numbers – sometimes just going for the jugular on the smaller group is better). If you get really really unlucky, you might get Priestesses, Gas Dragons, and Dragon Flies, and they might surprise you. In which case, God help you. (Seriously though, this latter should only happen less than one in 4000 encounters, so you should be OK. We’ll have a much better answer to these shenanigans on level 4, where they are more common).

Hopefully you will luck out the other way and get Level 3 Samurai + Creeping Coins instead, which gives a ton of XP.

At character level 9, hopefully your mages will learn one of the best spells in the game - the dreaded (by the monsters) Makanito. Once you know Makanito, it is time to move on to maze level 4.

Maze level 4

Your days of taking stairs are over. Head down to level 4 via the elevator on level 1 (beyond the dark area). Once you arrive on level 4, turn left and go straight ahead through a few doors. You’ll soon trigger an alarm. Go into the 10x10 room in front of you and fight whatever is there. This room’s encounter resets whenever you trigger the alarm right outside, so it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet for farming. When you’re out of Makanitos, or otherwise sick of the alarm noise, head out via the elevator again.

Generally, save your Makanitos for Priestess + Gas Dragon encounters (nasty if you get silenced), Gas Dragons + Dragon Flies (which are just annoying to deal with otherwise), and those massive packs of assorted scaredy-cat mammals and lycanthropes - at least 2 groups of Werebears, Vorpal Bunnies, Coyotes, or Capybaras - to rake in all that nice XP before they can flee. As well as Werebears, you'll ee your old friends Level 3 Ninjas, and Dragon Flies here as well; deal with them as described under maze level 3. Rotting Corpses and Huge Spiders have unpleasant attacks (paralysing and poisoning respectively), but mostly die to a single Mahalito. Grave Mists are another, slightly tougher, undead paralyser, so deal with them quickly with dispelling and Lahalito. Finally, do not waste spell points on Wererats; they don't flee, and can't fight. Has anyone ever been hit by a Wererat? Should be an unlockable achievement there.

You might rarely encounter three other foes worth particular mention:

Dragon Puppies: One of the game’s great unsung killers. They have very nasty breath attacks for their depth and, unlike Gas Dragons, don’t waste their attacks with weak spells. Pray they don’t surprise you, and Makanito with extreme prejudice.

Shades: The first level drainer in the game, a fate arguably worse than death as it takes longer to recover from (the new “QoL” Temple recovery option aside – see the guide introduction for my thoughts on that). Dispel and let them have it with mass damage spells.

Gargoyles (Demons): Great XP and not much of a threat, but kind of hard to kill with low AC and some token magic resistance. A couple of Diltos can soften up their stony skin (it’s a metaphor, OK?). Makanito if you’re really impatient.

With luck, you’ll find some +1 items to upgrade your front line with on this level – Long Sword+1, Plate Mail+1, and Mace+1 being nice finds unavailable in the initial Trading Post. You’ll want to create a bishop to ID around now if you haven’t already.

I recommend farming here for a while – until all your characters are at least level 11, in fact. Then you’re definitely ready to go deeper into the dungeon. But before you can, you must face the Monster Allocation Centre.

Monster Allocation Centre

The Monster Allocation Centre is one of only two “boss fights” in the entire game. You need to clear it to expedite access to the deeper levels of the dungeon. Go there by turning right when you first trigger the alarm on level 4. I recommend the following strategy:

Fighters: both attack the High Ninja (Masked Man). Priest: cast Mabadi on the High Ninja if you’re fortunate enough to have learned it, otherwise a Badialma will do. Thief: ambush if you play with that on, otherwise twiddle your thumbs and i)nspect something – all of these monsters only appear in this room, so you won’t be seeing any of them again (hopefully!). Mages both cast Makanito to nuke the enemy Level 7 Mages (and the Level 7 Fighters as an afterthought). Any mages who don’t know Makanito should Madalto the enemy mages. The High Priests pose no real threat and can be mopped up in the following round(s).

Hopefully you win! If this is the first time you’ve fought this encounter this scenario, you’ll find a potion, a ring, and a rod as treasure. Head over to the door on the far side of the room and collect your Blue Ribbon, then return to the castle via the elevator.

Identify the ring and the rod with your bishop. Sell the Deadly Ring – your money troubles are now over, forever. Equip the Rod of Flame on your frailest mage – it protects them from fire damage, so in theory could save their ass in an unlucky confluence of circumstances (never “use” the Rod of Flame, however, except in the very unlikely event that a free Mahalito is your ticket out of a life and death situation – it's breakable even after one use).

With the Blue Ribbon, you can now access another elevator to the deeper levels of the dungeon. Find it by turning right instead of left when you arrive on level 4, and going through the doors you encounter. Use it to reach your next destination, which will be… maze level 8!

Maze level 8

Maze level 8? What? What about levels 5, 6, and 7? Simple – skip them. Level 8 offers greater rewards (items and XP) without being much more of a challenge. In fact, level 8 is in a bit of a sweet spot where a lot of the annoying whole party damaging monsters from levels 5-7 (eg. Spirits, Dragon Puppies, Level 5 and 7 Mages) start to become quite rare, while at the same time really nasty monsters from deeper levels aren’t appearing very frequently yet. You’ll still face some minor threats, but in terms of risk versus reward, it’s a winner.

The original map offers seven very reliable encounter rooms, which can be cleared completely or in part depending on your patience for walking along long corridors. If you’re still in the mood after clearing them, go up and down the elevator to reset them (as with level 4, you should probably leave once you’re out of Makanito / Madalto). Settle in, because you’re going to be farming here for a while.

An abridged bestiary follows:

Ogre Lords: Annoying because they have a ton of hp, like to cast Mahalito, and Makanito doesn’t kill them. Use Madalto plus one other group damaging spell to be sure of wiping them out, or two Madaltos if you want to minimise the risk of copping an annoying Mahalito.

Lifestealers: These undead guys (well, girls actually) were clearly RPG rules lawyers in life, because they love to stand just far enough apart that they can claim to be in four separate groups of one, rather than one group of four (a trick later copied by Murphy’s Ghosts). Since you won’t have any “all monsters” spells that work yet, they will test your single target disposal skills. And dispose of them you should, because they too can cast Mahalito, and worse yet, drain TWO levels if they hit you. Split your attacks amongst the various “groups”, fighting with your fighters (landing all 3 swings from a fighter with a long sword+1 can often kill one, but don’t count on it and put more than one attacker on each if possible) and either dispelling with your priest or using them to augment a fighter’s attack. Lifestealers have a token amount of magic resistance, but don’t let that stop you trying to land a Zilwan or two with your mages, or even a Lahalito/Dalto if Zilwan is not an option. Getting right into the weeds, I'd recommend the following algorithm as a starting point (if you don't have a "best" fighter, just choose randomly. Lahalito/Dalto can substitute for Zilwan if you don't know it):
1 Lifestealer: Fight Fight Fight, double Zilwan.
2 Lifestealers: Best fighter attacks on their own, other fighter and priest tag team attack the other Lifestealer. One Zilwan on each.
3 Lifestealers: Fighters take a Lifestealer each, priest dispels the third. One Zilwan on the priest's target, the other on your worst fighter's target. You may not get them all.
4 Lifestealers: Fighters take a Lifestealer each, priest dispel plus a Zilwan on the third, Zilwan on the fourth. Grit your teeth, because you're very unlikely to get them all.

Earth Giants: If you are lucky enough to meet these, cast Makanito and do a happy dance, because they’re worth more XP than any other regularly occurring encounter until the 10th maze level.

Level 7 Mages: these are rare on level 8, but not unheard of, and represent your greatest existential threat if you meet them. Pray you don’t get surprised, and let them have it with all barrels at the earliest opportunity (Makanito kills them).

Nightstalkers aren't that common on level 8, but they do occur. They are nasty pieces of work who drain 1 level and, unlike Lifestealers and Vampires, do nothing but swing at you. Worse still, they have a small amount of magic resistance. Since being drained levels is serious business under old school rules, squash these things like bugs. Fight, fight, dispel, Madalto with both mages (or Zilwan if there is only 1 Nightstalker), and hope for the best. Getting Nightstalkers with Ogre Lords is a truly awkward encounter, but I'd still prioritise the Nighstalkers (Mahalitos can be healed, level draining can't). Front line on the Nightstalkers as above. Both Madaltos on the Nightstalkers unless there are 4 Ogre Lords or more, in which case one Madalto can go to the Ogre Lords.

Lesser Demon: A rare but tricky customer with a ton of life and a decent chunk of magic resistance, also on the Mahalito bandwagon. Focus him with attacks from your front line, while putting one of your mages on Madalto duty for the Level 8 Ninjas he often appears with. Mabadi from your priest is an option if you really don't want to suffer a Mahalito.

Level 8 Priests + Wyverns + Spirits: Makanito kills the whole bunch.

Major Daimyos + Level 5 Priests + Level 6 Ninja: Not really that threatening (the Level 6 "Ninja" are posers who can't critically hit you), but Makanito kills them all and can be worth it to save time and annoying grazes.

Champ Samurai and High Priests are worth decent XP in numbers, and often appear with each other and other NPCs (eg. Arch Mages and Master Thieves) in big groups. None of these encounters are particularly threatening (even the so-called Arch Mages have forgotten all their decent spells, thankfully), but they can take a while to wear down. Champ Samurai in particular are notorious hp sponges. It's up to you how many Madaltos / Daltos / Lahalitos you want to commit to these encounters to save time and minor wounds. Generally Champ Samurai take at least two Madaltos to go down (even then there might be some stragglers). High Priests need a Madalto and a Dalto/Lahalito to reliably snuff them all, though a Madalto + Mahalito is almost as effective. A Dalto / Lahalito will deal with most of the Arch Mages, if you're particularly averse to copping a few Halitos. Likewise, a Dalto / Lahalito will deal with most Master Thieves before they can give you the stink eye and flee, if you're determined to lap up every last scrap of XP.

The misnomered Level 10 Fighters can be killed with Makanito, if you get impatient. But they don't flee, so there's usually no rush.

The ubiquitous Gaze Hounds have tough hides, and your fighters won't be as effective as you think. While Gaze Hounds can paralyse, they're pretty bad at hitting and often spend their time fleeing instead. A Dalto will take care of most of them. It's not worth committing anything more unless there are 3+ groups, in which case a Makanito is worth it.

XP can vary wildly from expedition to expedition on level 8, so don’t be discouraged if you get a few dud expeditions in a row. The main reason you are there instead of level 4 is equipment – while on level 8 you should be able to reliably upgrade to full +1 gear on your front line, with normally a few +2 pieces as well (and if you’re lucky, the odd even better item). Remember to give your first suit of Plate Mail + 2 to your priest for a 2 AC upgrade.

If you are impatient and don’t care as much about gearing, farming that one alarm room on level 4 is actually slightly faster XP, so feel free to head back there for a break, or permanently.

In either case, do one or the other of these until you party is all level 13. Then you’ll be heading straight down to level 10, and you are ready to try and win the game. Level 9? Skip it. Level 9 is just annoying. It’s full of opportunities to get wiped by a nasty surprise, and Nightstalkers become common as well. The slight increase in reward isn’t worth it. You might as well go straight to level 10 where the real rewards are.

Maze level 10 - general

For my money, even right from the word go, it’s worth burning a level 7 spell to Malor straight down to the chute to level 10 (8D, 8E, 2N). This avoids that one annoying level 9 encounter, plus a lot of walking and taking elevators.

Maze level 10 is a rough jungle, especially when you first arrive. Anecdotally, about 14% of encounters are lethal enough to be lights out if they surprise a newish level 10 party. The code reverse engineers tell us there is a 15.4% chance of monsters surprising you, which means that whenever you set foot in a room on level 10, you have about a 2.16% chance of dying outright (neglecting the chance of friendly encounters), or roughly 1 in 50.

The smart operator will want to roll those dice as few times as possible. That’s why I advise NOT dilly-dallying around by farming until you have near perfect gear – it probably actually lowers your chances of winning without a wipe. Sure, grab any upgrades you find, but if you get a good shot at Werdna, take it. It’s very possible to win the game on your first trip to level 10 if you get even moderately lucky with encounters, and with mediocre gear to boot. Remember too that winning the game means losing all your carried gear. So do not farm, at all, until you’ve won. Go down every time intending to kill Werdna. You can farm until your eyes bleed after you have that chevron under your belt (metaphorically speaking).

The plan is to work your way through the 6 guardian rooms (random encounters), and still have enough fight left in you to take on Werdna and his vampiric court in the 7th room. What’s enough fight? You should be fully healed and have at least a Madabi, a Zilwan, and a Tiltowait left; more on that below. The corollary to this is that you should probably leave the maze when you run out of Tiltowaits. You can exit stage right (pursued by a Gorgon) at any time prior to Werdna fairly simply –the square to your right after you enter each room is a teleporter that will put you next to a teleporter to the castle. Elsewhere in the room – or as the Romans might say, Contra Dextra Avenue – is a teleporter to the next corridor and room. There isn’t any other trickery – you won’t find any junctions, dark areas, anti-magic, or spinners here. Advance or retreat are your only choices. If you happen to set off a chest teleporter (or cast Malor in combat) and find yourself somewhere unfamiliar, cast Malor in camp and teleport up 9 levels for a safe (albeit possibly blundery) exit from level 1.

Maze level 10 - encounters

Notable foes on level 10 include just about all of them. I’ll start with the “pray they don’t surprise you” tier. (On that note, however bad things get, never try r)unning on level 10 – it always fails. If you’ve given up hope, Malor is an auto-escape if you can live to cast it.)

Level 10 Mages: There can be up to 6 of them, and they can cast Madalto. Get the picture? Pray they don’t surprise you, and a taste of their own medicine normally sorts them out. Sometimes they’ll appear with a Gorgon and possibly Chimeras, in which case Tiltowait / Malikto is more appropriate.

Fire Dragon: Like a Level 10 Mage, except with a ton of hit points and a breath weapon. Don’t mess around with these guys if there’s 3 or more – double Madalto, or a Tiltowait and a Dalto.

Arch Mage: Unlike those posers on level 8, this guy is the real deal. And he’ll always appear with the just-as-bad High Wizard and a bunch of annoying Level 8 Bishops. Double Tiltowait, or a Malikto and a Tiltowait. It’s the only way to be sure.

Hatamoto: Mainly notable because he’ll always appear with Level 10 Mages. Deal with them as above, but don’t completely ignore this guy as he’s not bad at critically hitting you. I’d recommend Tiltowait or Malikto.

Greater Demon: Your worst enemy. Arguably the toughest encounter in the game. Casts Madalto, is virtually immune to damaging spells, has a ton of hit points, and there can be up to 6 of them. Pray they don’t surprise you. Fight with fighters, Mabadi with priest, Lakanito with mages, and hope. Or just Malor if there’s 4 or more. I’m kinda serious. On the bright side, they’re worth a ton of XP, but you earn it.

Poison Giant: A deadly killer with their breath weapon if they surprise you, but if not, Makanito sorts them out, and they’re worth a ton of XP.

Dragon Zombie: See Fire Dragon, with the added fun that they have some token magic resistance. On the bright side, they’re undead, but they are hard to dispel unless your priest is very high level. Zilwan spam is an option if there’s only one or two. For three or four, I’d recommend Tiltowait spam instead.

Raver Lord: Not too bad because there’s only one of him, and his escort (High Priest and Fire Giants) aren’t too much of a threat. Nevertheless, I’d recommend a Tiltowait as well as fighting him, because this guy has a ton of hit points. Mabadi is also a good option. This guy casts Madalto, if you let him.

The High Master: Dangerous mainly because he always appears with a Hatamoto, who in turn always appears with Level 10 Mages. An even better critical hitter than his offsider. Tiltowait is the order of the day here (beginning to see why it’s not always trivial to get to Werdna with Tiltowaits left?)

Flack: Whose idea was it to make the cosmic-horror-oozing mega-slime from the original into some sort of Martian jester? Anyway, a very nasty customer with an apocalyptic breath weapon, and if it hits you in melee, you’ll suffer every malady under the sun (except level draining), probably including death. Fortunately its escort, Murphy’s Ghosts, can be ignored, so I’d recommend fighting + Mabadi, and a couple of token Madaltos from your mages. Pub trivia: what’s the plural of Flack?

Maelific: Very rare, but probably the second deadliest encounter. The only Tiltowait caster in the game besides Werdna himself (fortunately also only appears singly). Decent (but not foolproof) magic resistance. Appears with Poison Giants, so is pretty much certain death to any reasonable party that it surprises. Fight / Mabadi the Maelific with your front line. One mage has to Makanito the Poison Giants, but with the other it could be worth rolling the dice on a Zilwan on the Maelific, depending on how many giants there are.

Not-quite-as-deadly foes:

Fire Giant: The only giant that is immune to Makanito. Worth crappy XP to boot. Booo! Not much of a threat, but worth at least a Madalto to supplement your fighters.

Gorgon: If alone, just fight it. If with Chimeras, Tiltowait or Malikto.

Level 8 Bishops: More annoying than deadly with their Mahalitos. A Madalto plus a Dalto should finish them all off.

Level 8 Fighters: Quite the hp sponges, but no threat. Fire off a Lakanito, or a Madalto + Dalto, if you want to speed things up.

Master Ninjas: Always a chance to critically hit you, so can’t be taken too lightly. A Madalto should finish them off. Sometimes they’ll appear with Level 7 Mages, in which case Madalto + Makanito, or just Malikto / Tiltowait.

Will O’ Wisps: Friends! Worth a ton of XP, and no threat. Quite tough to kill though – they have near perfect magic resistance and the lowest armour class in the game. By this stage you can probably spare a Morlis or two to speed things up, if you are impatient.

Bleebs: Don’t waste damaging spells on these, as they are resistant to almost everything and are zero threat. Lakanito can be something to try if you want to bag a few more before they all inevitably flee.

Frost Giant: Friends! Die to Makanito, worth a ton of XP, and don’t even have a breath weapon or cast spells.

Vampire: They have just enough damage (Mahalito), just enough chance to randomly drain you 2 levels, and just enough magic resistance to be really annoying. Fight – fight – dispel, Zilwan spam with your mages if 1-2, Madalto spam if 3-4. Sometimes Vampires will appear in more than one group, in which case Tiltowait is the best option.

If you can fight your way through 6 of these assorted ne'er-do-wells, it's time for the final battle.

Maze level 10 - the final battle

Camp outside the door (The Wizard is *IN*), make sure everyone is on full hp, and that you have a Mabadi, a Zilwan, and a Tiltowait to spare. Make sure you’re not carrying any gear you really don’t want to lose (if you are, Malor up 9 floors and come back without it). Go in. Pray they don’t surprise you. Pray a bit less fervently that they aren’t friendly (you can always come back another day if they are, or risk a f)ight).

Fight Werdna (Robed Man) with your fighters. Mabadi Werdna with your priest. One mage should Zilwan the Vampire Lord (the floaty single Frightening Creature), and the other mage should Tiltowait (might take care of a Vampire or three, plus Werdna’s magic resistance isn’t perfect). Hopefully things go well and you might just have a couple of Vampires to mop up in round 2. Do that, collect the Amulet (equip and invoke it for a full heal of surviving party members). Go across the room and through the door, which will teleport you to the castle with your prize. Done.

Your second party, aka I hate surprises

Despite having followed this guide to the letter, it may happen that your party gets surprised and wiped out. The RNG is a harsh mistress, and Wizardry is a hard game. Firstly: don’t panic! Keep calm and take it on the chin. It’s (probably) not your fault - this happens to everyone occasionally. Dying and recovering dead parties is part of the game.

There’s no sugarcoating the next step, unfortunately - return to the start of the guide (metaphorically or literally) and create a new party. The good news is that if your deceased party was well advanced, you’ll have all the gold you need to buy your new party some nice items from Boltac’s (there are no item level restrictions in Wizardry), which will help the start go much more smoothly. Beyond that, I'll suggest three options for how you approach your recovery party.

Option one is the simplest option. You just make a new party of six as per the guide, buy them some nice gear if possible, and play like it's a new party.

Options two and three presume your previous party left you a reasonable amount of gold in the bank. How much is reasonable? Say 100,000 gp. This is enough to decently* kit out a new front line from the Trading Post, and have change to resurrect your entire old party when you find them. What does this mean? You don't really need to find more gold. So you don't really need to open chests, until later. So you don't really need a thief. Until later.
(*No Aragorn, put down that Chain Pro Fire. I said "decently".)

Option two: instead of a thief, create an extra mage. Yes, fighter, fighter, priest, mage, mage, mage. Three mages will make levelling your new party go very smoothly, as long as you L)eave all chests alone. Of course, eventually you will want to start opening chests again for gear, but good gear doesn't really appear much until around maze level 8. So around that time, we can change one of our mages into a thief. I recommend when they learn Zilwan (which should also happen around maze level 8). A thief who can cast Makanito and Zilwan is a very useful asset later on, particularly in the fight against Werdna (thinking long term here!). So make sure not to make all three mages good, if you do this, and make the intended class changer(s) gnomes so they start with 10 agility after changing to thief.

Option three: instead of a thief, create... nothing. Go in with a party of five. Fighter, fighter, priest, mage, mage. Once again, ignore chests (obviously!). Start opening them again when you have recovered and resurrected your old thief. Unlike option 2, you won't end up with a super useful spellcasting new thief, but you will level more quickly, and be back to where you were more quickly. This option works best if your old party died on level 8 or earlier, otherwise you will have to level up to 13 without opening chests on level 8, which seems suboptimal. Another thing before you take this option - make sure your old thief’s body is ultimately recoverable and not filling the bellies of – well, let’s face it, most likely a group of level 7 mages. Cast Kandi and make sure he/she is… somewhere. If not, choose either option 1 or 2 above, because ultimately, you’re going to need a thief.

Whatever approach you take, level your new crew as normal until they are ready for the maze level where the old party died (if you can’t remember where they died, use Kandi to narrow it down). “Ready” means that they are ready to start adventuring there in their own right. The last thing we want to do is rush things and send good characters after bad with ill-advised out-of-depth scrambles. Once you are ready for the target level, though, recover your old character’s bodies at your earliest convenience. You can create a free party slot by leaving one of your back line (thief if you have one) at home to enable this.

Once you have recovered and resurrected your old party, you’ll have a nice critical mass of characters, and recovering from the next wipe will be far less onerous. You’ll even have a good story to tell! (One that doesn’t start with “well, I just went to the restore savefile menu and…”).

That’s it for the guide. Questions and comments welcome. Good luck!

[Mindartis7]

Thanks so much! Awarding 4,800 points.

[MU/TH/UR]

The plural of Flack is Fleck, according to this website:
https://datadrivengamer.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-bestiary-of-wizardry.html?m=1

Great guide, helped me get through the later levels

[twfry8]

This is by far the best and most accurate guide, thanks for writing it.

It is funny but I remember coming to the same conclusion years ago when playing as a kid, that it is best to quickly go when ready and try to beat Werdna while minimizing all other encounters, since each encounter on levels 9-10 has some risk to wipe your party out. Remember grinding to strengthen my first two parties, only to lose them, then changed strategy and grinded on level 4 until all characters were level 13 and went straight down and beat Werdna finally, which is pretty close to your advise.

[ChubbiChibbai]

Firstly thanks for this guide.
It's fantastic. I never played the original and am using this to help me with my first play-through.

[Nemo2342]

Re: Flack

On Apple he was a weird blob
On IBM he was a giant skull
On MSX he was a red demon

But when they next ported Wizardry to Famicom he became an Evil Jester, and that design was what they used in the Wizardry anime OVA. After that all games and remakes have used the Evil Jester design.

[ambit3d]

Great guide. Thank you!

[vdogaymer]

Damn what a guide. Never thought to skip those levels since I used them for grinding. Thanks for all the effort you put here.