Of Over-Ambitious RPGs: Let's Play Wizardry 8

Imagine Jaq's home life to run something like this:

Wake up, morning stroll, first breakfast, FIREBALL DISHES, read tome, second breakfast...

Sounds about right, yes.

Fireball is ludicrously good at this level. It falls off, but by then you've picked up higher level spells to replace it with (and hell, it keeps scaling up till you're throwing around Power 7 Fireball, which is a ways away; right now, you're using Power 3 and that's still orange, so occasionally it fizzles or - worse, and incredibly hilarious - Backfires).

I recall by the end that those puddly Mage spells were lethal

Whereas I imagine RangerSpeak would be incredibly annoying to live with.

"Hey, I spotted the underwear you left under the couch."

"Hey, I spotted those dirty dishes on your desk, are you trying to turn them into artifacts?"

"Hey, I spotted a spider in the laundry room..." etc., etc.

I'm actually very surprised, too. I'm playing on the hard difficulty, though I have no idea what that does, and our party is not only kind of made of paper but also has very little in the way of healing.

I was shocked that Gregor didn't kill anyone. The fact that I had distributed healing potions to everyone in the party, along with cure poison potions, is the only thing that let the party live long enough for Gregor to fall unconscious... at which point it was still 10 rounds of combat before he died, and I had at one point three people at single-digit health.

I was mentally guessing how many times you'd ragestarted at this point.

I had a crash once, and I restarted from the first fight once because on the softshell crabs I realized that I hadn't equipped anyone with any equipment, forgot to loot the chest, and forgot to sort peoples' positions out. Oops.

Ahhh, the great outdoors. Filled, undoubtedly, with sunshine, grass, peaceful and peaceable people making their joyous way in the world, not a giant mutated rat in sight...



Or that.

I open with a Fireball, a fizzled Magic Missiles, and an Acid Breath. They're pretty beat up by the time they close, but they still hit Eru pretty goddamn hard.



Speak With Bread finally demonstrates her first-ever use of her Ranger talents. Boom, headshot.



We kill the rest of them in short order, with especial thanks to Fox's new gadget, the Lightning Rod.



It's really nice, but it drains a helluva lot of Stamina, so here we see Ozzo casting Stamina to help Fox stay conscious and keep flinging those energy blasts.

And then we bid farewell for now to Ye Olde Monastery. We'll be back; after all, there's still a safe and a room that we didn't have the keys for.

Look, don't pressure me. You know I can't aim for shit IRL. :)

The cavern is twisty and windy, and a careful eye is kept for any attempts at an ambush by... unpleasant individuals.



We come to a fork in the road, and promptly take it (to the left). And come across...



Bandits!

We close the distance rapidly and murder the fuck out of them. And then...



More bandits!

Eru holds his breath...



And lets them advance into his range.



He doesn't need mana to do that, y'see. Unlike Mages! At this point, Jaq can only cast one Fireball before having to rest.

We murder the shit out of the bandits (the most notable thing is that Fox is solidly the best damage-dealer with his lightning rod, but it takes Ozzo spending every other turn recovering his stamina for him to be able to do it) and loot their bodies, and the chest they were guarding.



Hm. Bagpipes?



Cool.

Oh man, oh man, civilization! Grass, a giant tree stump, and a house!



Imma go up to the door and be all like "DING DONG, Hello! My name is - "

Wait a second.



It doesn't have a doorbell!

Why does it not have a doorbell. :(

Oh well. I continue on along the road. Helpfully, there's actually a sign at the fork this time.



We'll go explore the side of the path that isn't Arnika. Just because!

Along the way, after killing some relatively trivial groups of enemies - plants, insects, that sort of thing - we run across some more bandits.



There guys have a bit more gumption! And a lot more health.



They don't hit that hard, though. Just, y'know, punches to the head... and they don't seem to be missing much...



Hey guys?



A little healing over here?



What do you mean, your heal fizz - unh.




Well shit.

No worries. That powder we got from the waterfall?

Ler grabs it from her pack and gets ready to do some sprinkling.



And soon enough, after totating people through standing in front to be punched repeatedly and after Fox doing pretty much the entirety of our damage, when he was able to remain conscious enough to operate the Lightning Rod...



Ooh, what's this shiny -



Lame. Bard-only.

Well, may as well continue down this side path and see what's at the end of oh god never mind.

Killed by juggalo bandits. :(

Edit: Phew, but saved by Insta-Revive-Powder(tm)!

An example of how a fight might go:

Step One: Acquire Enemy Targets, Wait Until They Advance



Step Two: EruditeDragon has higher Speed than Jacquelle.



Step Three: Fireball, motherfuckers.



Of course, this is only one encounter. I fight a few, blowing through mana and health, and then retreat to a little corner to camp. And it's a damn good thing I retreated to a corner, rather than sleeping in the open!



In short order, the plants (Bloodvines, they spray a slowing goop on the party) are eliminated and we get down to the business of grinding down the Roustabouts into experience, skill points, and loot.



Ozzo's prayer cures everyone of their negative status effects.

We wipe them out very easily, partially due to the chokepoint, where only two enemies can hit me at a time (if they were better positioned, three could). We camp up and rest up, replenishing the mana and HP that we - oh for fuck's sake.



Damnit.

Ozzo's low on mana, Jacquelle is still almost entirely out of mana (she has exactly one spell in her, a level 1 Magic Missiles)...

Let's kill the shit out of these guys.

Ler digs into the party pack. A Cherry Bomb represents level 3 Fireball; that'll come in handy. And a Stink Bomb? That's level 3 Noxious Fumes.



And why is nausea such a handy thing for enemies to be feeling?



That's right, Roustabouts. Instead of punching Speak With Bread in the face, vomit helplessly.

And then, of course, something rather awkward happens.



Goddamnit, Ler, those were our hit points, and Ozzo has exactly one heal left in him.



Eru falls unconscious in an awkward imitation of his previous death, but this time he's got 41 health instead of 10. And soon enough, Fox's Lightning Rod starts making kills, and the fight is won in short order. (Partially thanks to the fact that I had picked up Noxious Fumes for Jacquelle just after the last fight when she leveled, and that does a little damage and causes nausea.)

So I go to camp up and -



Really now.

Really now.

You thought the corner would be safe. Little did you know that it is the most sought after piece of real estate in this region. It is the cool kid's corner.

In retrospect it took goddamn forever to get to the first town in this game.

I feel obligated to point one thing out.

Who is wearing NINE POUNDS OF PANTS?

Continuing along the trail, we see what appears to be ... a swam of...



Ants!

25 HP is the highest of 'em, and some of them have as little as 17. Well, that shouldn't be much of a problem, right?

I open up with Magic Missiles.



Sadly, Eru is slow as fuck, and doesn't get his breath off before all of the ants swarm around me. And as I settle in to kill them the hard way, they get their round of hits in... and all of them hit.



"Fuck it," say I, and Jacquelle fireballs them into oblivion.


Fox levels up, and improves his Omnigun yet again. It's slightly more accurate still now, losing the -1 to-hit bonus that the previous version had, and...



It fires throwing knives. That's awesome.

Without any further encounters, we find ourselves at the next zone border and proceed to the Arnika-Trynton road.

Holy shit, civilization!



A fountain that heals our hit points and a dude standing in the archway. How odd.









This Dark Savant guy seems to be everywhere. In orbit, on the ground, in possession of a world-destroying device, kidnapping women...

Myles joins the party.



We make our way through the town. It's ... entirely deserted?



Well, not entirely. Brigands and monks, and the monks appear to be on our side, beating up the brigands.



We stop by the Church-looking place and talk to some guy named Braffit, who sells us some books of magic. Magic Screen, for one, and Rest All.



And with that, we head over to the center of town to look for this kidnapped woman.

The crashed ship is in the center square of the town, or thereabouts. And there are a few things inside, which of course we do not hesitate to pick up.





After all, this isn't a good guy kind of place, really. It's the Savant Guards all over the place that gives it away, y'know?



Like these dudes! Friggen Savantite androids all over the place.

We hear the sounds of combat coming from inside the room, as about half of the enemies rush towards a woman, or so it appears from the sounds she makes when she strikes or is struck.



She's a friggen trooper, takes 50+ damage and is still kicking. Literally.



That's, uh, not particularly appropriate combat wear, did you know? And why is she using a one-handed mace and kicking, not that she doesn't kick for 10 damage when she connects?





Blah blah chattiness. 500 Gold and some experience, but Myles is unsatisfied. Like I care, Myles buddy? After all, you're working for me, not the other way around.



Ooh, Braffit! I know that dude. He is the dude who is in the church-like thing.

And now, a look at Vi Domina! (her stats, obviously; we've already seen most of her body)



Valkyries are Polearm specialists and are hybrid-level Divinity casters. Not bad. She starts with Bless and Heal Wounds; by far the two most useful Divinity spells.



She also starts with a Stun Mace equipped, which I swap out for the Awl Pike. I give her some better armor as well.


Incidentally, I was thinking of dual-classing Ler to a Bard, but decided instead that I would just ditch Myles as soon as I got the chance to replace him with someone better. SMILEY FACE.

Well, it's certainly a reunion.







Well, there's not much to be said about that. I guess for Vi, it's personal, then... that's handy, because she's kind of a badass. A Valkyrie is the perfect addition to this party. Now if only Myles weren't a bloody Rogue...

We continue wandering about the town looking for this "He-Li" person.



We get information from him about all the things he can craft, all of which require rare and exotic materials like Piercer Modai claws and Wood Sprite souls or something.

We also shop, buying a Poison Dagger (which, because I'm an idiot, I forgot is Cursed and therefore when Ler equips it she can't switch to her bow) and some better arrows / quarrels.



And because this is an RPG...



I loot the chest in his room.

Gee, I wonder whether that ID card will come in handy!

I buy the Electrodes and Duct Tape.







The jail also has a room full of cells which we don't go into quite yet.



This is what happens when you have a cursed dagger! Ler cannot remove the dagger or swap weapons until Remove Curse is cast upon her or something like that.



Well look at that, it's that other person that Vi wanted to talk to.

First things first: Loot all of the rooms in the building.



And massacre the bandits in her upstairs room. Does she... know about them? You know what, never mind.



I'll just consider them gift-wrapped experience points and skill points.

And then it's talking-to-the-NPC time!







Well, that was a nice reunion. I wonder if she has anything she'll sell -



Oh fine, it's just like a couple hundred gold, whatever.



That looks like an interesting thing and I am going to buy some even though I have no idea what to do with it.

That done, I head out and keep wandering around.



Man, those guys would be so handy if they were actually around when I was fighting, y'know?

I stole the ID badge of some dude named Marten while I was in the jail. Braffit notices.



I shrug, and go off to wander in the bowels of his temple.



As always, I'm looking for stuff to steal.



I find doors! Two of them, and they're locked. That totally means stuff to steal!



Loot loot loot.





Only women can use necklaces of Endurance. This is why female Gadgeteers and Bards are awesome, and one of the reasons why females are the best in Wizardry 8. (The other two are the ability to wear bras and [SPOILER}.)

So behind this one door was a bunch of beds and some loots. What's behind the other door?



Ooh, shiny. That looks like something quite nice.

During the surprise round, I 3/4 kill all of them. Shortly thereafter, move further into the room and spot another ghost... this one several levels more powerful.



Not "more powerful" enough. Three rounds of combat suffices, but wait... what's that over there?



Interesting. Never seen a key in the shape of a wheel before.

I shrug, and finish checking the area for hidden items (none found).

Oh are you now.

Well, if this is bank... and I have keycards that I've looted from peoples' rooms...



Moron.





Well, never let it be said that my Wizardry 8 party was shy of looting peoples' stuff, but this is a little ridiculous.







Mmmm, chests full of loot.

Leriel, I have found some Remove Curse scrolls. This gives me a few options with regards to your equipment:

- I could leave you using double daggers but unable to wield a ranged weapon.
- I could decurse your Poison Dagger off of you and replace it with a Main Gauche, which is a downgrade for melee combat but lets you use a ranged weapon.
- I could decurse the Poison Dagger, put it in your offhand, and put this in your main hand. On one level, it would be idiotic, because your Sword skill is exactly zero, but on the other hand...

Well, no big deal. I'm sure he'll come back to us at some point. In the meantime...



In the meantime let's explore the places that aren't the big ominous looking tower.



Yes, the HLL headquarters should be perfectly safe, surrounded by armed men who hate the person whose ID I've stolen.



Especially safe should be looting all of the cabinets in the HLL building in front of armed patrols.



And then looking through the papers and personal computer of some guy right in front of his face.

RPGs, man.





I guess I could talk to him (well, did talk to him, in this last screenshot), eh?








Well, bout time to rest. And hey look who's decided to join back up with the party after we did all of that walking that mysteriously didn't tire us at all!



Callisto, huh. I'm sure I have no idea what that is.

No actually, I have no idea what that is. I'm going through this playthrough 90% blind because it's been years since I've played Wizardry 8 past dicking around in the Monastery.

Wearing bras isn't so much an "ability" as a "necessity," a "curse," or an "unfortunate social construct," depending on who you ask. :P

That said, loot is awesome! Woo!

Back in the jail, we take a look through the three cells. One of them is empty, and one of them has a couple of bandits, who we dispatch.



One of them has a secret passageway. The passageway is guarded!



By a slime. Which we brutally murder.

Eventually the tunnel turns into a drop to a lower level.



I recognize this kind of architecture... we're in the bank! Someone has dug a tunnel into the main bank vault!



The door is locked from the inside, and the best "Knock Knock" I can cast only lifts two tumblers.

Incidentally, this would be one of the places where you can grind spell levels. If you're min-maxing, you spend probably a metric fuckton of time sitting at this door, casting Knock Knock and then resting repeatedly, until your Earth Magic and Wizardry are at high levels.

Fuck that shit.

Instead...



We'll use the easy way out.


We take a look at the ominous evil tower that was in the rubble'd courtyard. Behind it is a Savant Orb and some Savant Troopers and Guards.



Oh me oh my, whatever shall I do, I know! Maybe...



I kill you all...



And take your stuff.

I am horrified how well I remember these screenshots.

The last area left to clear in Arnika! The Spaceport.



Oh well, I don't think that will be a problem. Does anyone? No? Okay.

The place is guarded by some Savant Guards. They last all of two rounds.





The Spaceport has a control building of some sort.





The control building also has a second floor.



It's accessed through an elevator.



Loot on the ground!



And a console of some sort.












In amusing news of a fight that happened after my client crashed and I lost some progress (this whole post included, but whatever), observe the DPS that an NPC Monk can put out when it gets lucky.



An 18 damage swing, and before that was a 16 point hit. That's quite nice!

You know, I'm looking at the female NPC models in this game, and I have this almost terrifying notion that someone, somewhere, programmed those with the expectation people would find them attractive.

*shudder*

I know, right? I'm a Siberian tiger with dreadlocks, and I know somewhere, someone is fapping to that image.

Shoot me now.

At this point there's enough flexibility in where the party can go and what the party can do that it's time to throw it open for suggestions.

- There are gadgets that can be constructed from gadget pieces. All of those gadget pieces are logged in the thread, but for reference, here's a picture (the inventory plus the two top ones in the party inventory)




- There is a vast number of conversational topics that have popped up. Many NPCs will have information on them if you ask them about 'em, including topics that haven't been explicitly added as keywords yet. Some of these bits of information will be interesting or give direction; some won't.

- There was a fork in the path that was blocked by a big ox-like thing.

- The road proper from Arnika goes to Trynton, which is the semi-obvious "next place" (following Marten's trail to search for the Destinae Dominus) but...
- There are other places one can go, wandering about, exploring, whatevs.

There are also two things we can do with items we've picked up in Arnika that I deliberately haven't. They're not super critical right now, so I'm not too worried if nobody picked up on them! :)


edit: Forgot to add one screenshot.

Um.

Go romance the giant ox thing?

Heading out from Arnika, I head East, towards the Monastery.



I bypass these dudes because seriously, level 10s? Anyway, I have other things to do.



With this in hand, I sneak past the Hogar guarding the road and spot a break in the wall to the east.

Suddenly, camouflaged enemies!



Seekers? Really? I was killing seekers four levels ago.



And forest mites! Whaddya mean, this area is generally gone to before you go to Arnika? Oh right.

Anyway, we clear the cave out, get a little bit of experience, some skill increases, and a bunch of worthless loot (we get a nice axe, but nobody is using axes).

The map of the Arnika Road is now filled in.



We're that green speck at the NW corner.

North of us is a new area:



The Trynton road, of course, goes to Trynton, and we can also make our way to the T'rang or Umpani, who are looking for hired swords or guns, of which I have both.

There is still all of the aforementioned sekret things we can still do, and @Lerei still needs to let me know what she wants to do w.r.t. her cursed items (which are now two poison daggers, because that's clearly better than one).

And now the LP waits until we get some votes in by the party members. ;)

I'm a little bit lost at this point, Aaron. What exactly are we voting on?

Where we're going, and anything you want to do / anything you want to ask NPCs in areas we've gone.

(The game is not linear, you see.)