lore – maps – guide — data
Wizardry 3, wraps up the first Wizardry Trilogy and uses the same characters, spells, and basic commands as Knight of Diamonds and Proving Grounds. It is expected that you will import your characters from Knight of Diamonds or Proving Grounds. Note that even though you must import your characters they will be reset to level 1 and lose all but level 1 spells linked to the current class will be retained. Through the Rite of Passage, you will take on the spiritual successors to your original characters. Laid here are excerpts from the Manual with my own comments intertwined. Untangle.
Alignment
Alignment describes your character’s general ethics and restricts Class selection. Good and Evil characters cannot journey together in the same party generally; however, in
The alignment restriction can be circumvented if you use the Camp feature while inside the Volcano. If you take an evil expedition to the camp and also a good expedition to the camp you can blend the expeditions, mixing good and evil characters into a single expedition.
From time to time, you will encounter “friendly creatures” in the Volcano and you will have the option to fight or let them go. Fighting will potentially move your characters towards Evil. Letting them go will potentially move your characters towards Good.
| Alignment | Example |
|---|---|
| Good | They go out of their way to help old crones cross the street. |
| Neutral | They help old crones cross the street when they are going that way also. |
| Evil | They help old crones cross the street for a small fee. |
Class
A class defines what the hero is training to do. Heroes are awarded experience (XP) during the adventure. They can change class mid-adventure and then they will start to learn new skills whilst retaining some of their previous training. There are minimum statistics that must be met before a Hero can become that Class.
Basic Classes
| Class | Descriptions and Restrictions |
|---|---|
| Fighter | The basic man-at-arms. A lifelong Fighter has high hit points, can use any armor or weapon, and fighters are great in the front line. Any Alignment. |
| Mage | Mages have low hit points, can use only Daggers or Staffs for Weapons, and can only not wear any Armor other than Robes. They can learn Arcane Spells and may be of any Alignment. |
| Priest | Priests have fairly high hit points and can wear almost any Armor and Shield but they cannot wear Helmets. Priest Weapons are restricted to Maces and Flails. Priests can attempt Dispel groups of Undead foes. Priest cannot be Neutral Alignment. |
| Thief | Thieves have average hit points. Weapons are limited to Daggers and Short Swords. They can wear only Leather Armor and use a Shield. Thieves uniquely possess the ability to Disarm and Open trapped Chests. Thief cannot be Good Alignment. |
Elite Classes
Elite Classes require higher Statistics and therefor they are less available for new Level 1 Heroes. At character creation, if you randomly get a high amount of Bonus Statistics to allocate you will have more access to Elite Classes from the start. You can create many new Heroes until you randomly get a high amount of Bonus Statistic points.
| Class | Descriptions and Restrictions |
|---|---|
| Bishop | Bishops have average hit points. A Bishop can learn spells from Arcane and Divine schools but spells are learned slower than a Priest or Mage. A Bishop must reach level 4 before Divine spell learning starts. Bishops can wear Leather Armor and Shields but no Helmets. Bishops use Maces and Flails for Weapons. A Bishop has a unique ability to Identify Items for free at Level 1. Bishops cannot be Neutral Alignment. |
| Samurai | Samurai are exceptional warriors and can use all Weapons and Armor. Similar hit point levels to Fighters. At Level 4, Samurai begin to learn Arcane spells, although much slower than a Mage. Samurai cannot be Evil Alignment. |
| Lord | Lords are exceptional warriors and can use all Weapons and Armor. Similar hit point levels to Fighters. At Level 4, Lords begin to learn Divine spells, although much slower than a Priest. Lords can also Dispel groups of Undead foes like a Priest. Lords must be Good Alignment. |
| Ninja | Ninja has hit points similar to the Thief and can use any weapons and armor however at higher experience levels they prefer to fight bare handed with no armor. Ninjas have the unique ability to kill foes with a single blow. Ninja AC goes up as their experience level goes up, so long as they are not wearing armor. Ninjas do not learn spells. Ninja must be Evil. |
Class Minimum Statistics
| Class | STR | I Q | PIE | VIT | AGI | LUC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fighter | 11 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Mage | – | 11 | – | – | – | – |
| Priest | – | – | 11 | – | – | – |
| Thief | – | – | – | – | 11 | – |
| Bishop | – | 12 | 12 | – | – | – |
| Samuari | 15 | 11 | 10 | 14 | 10 | – |
| Lord | 15 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 14 | 15 |
| Ninja | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 |
Changing Class
Changing class enhances hero versatility, enabling a party with increased Spell Points per rest, higher frontline HP, and greater single-turn burst Spell damage. Having multiple characters capable of similar roles reduces downtime; for instance, if the sole divine caster is paralyzed, it usually necessitates a return to town.
You can Change Class in the Training Grounds after selecting Edit Character. Your current attributes must meet or exceed the class minimums to be eligible for each class. Also consider alignment restriction.
Changing Class, mundane notes
- Changing class will reset your Attributes to the starting minimums for the Race
when assigning attributes, prioritize the next class change and then extra points to Agility. If it is the final class, allocate attribute points to maximize (or balance) as per intended usage such as stacking STR for melee or PIE for Divine spells. - HP that you already have will be retained but HP rolls at Level Up will be restricted to 1 after a Class Change
this means that most of your HPs will come from your first class. 10 levels of any second class will only net 10 more HPs. Any front line characters would benefit from starting out as a Fighter to maximize the chance of good HP gains. A Priest/Mage dual class will have more HP if the initial class is Priest. - Access to Weapons and Armor will follow the rules of the new class.
this means that a Priest that used to be a Fighter can no longer use Swords.. or a Mage that used to be a Priest is now stuck with Robes.
Changing class, magical notes
- Spells that you already know will be accessible even if the new class cannot learn new spells
- Bonus Spell points will follow the rules of the new class.
this means that a level 5 Fighter that used to be a Level 5 Mage will have less Spell Points than a level 5 Mage.. off-class spell point totals are equal to 1 point only for each spell known per spell level. - Learning more spells will follow the rules of the new class with an exception
this means, If you know at least one spell of a particular type and level, then you will eventually learn all the spells of that type and level, even if your new class doesn’t learn spells of that type. So, for example, if you change a mage into a ninja, and the mage knew the 3rd level mage spell MAHALITO, then the ninja would eventually learn MOLITO, the other 3rd level mage spell.
Build Spotlight
Power Bishop
You take a Priest to 13 to open Divine VII and then you switch them to a Mage to 13 again to open Arcane VII. As a Mage, your Divine Spell Points are minimal. So finally, you switch to Bishop and do your final leveling grind and statistic allocation to play out your career. You will have some powerful VII spells for both Arcane and Divine already, you will have Spell Bonus points for both Arcane and Divine, and eventually you will learn all Arcane and Divine spells as you continue to level.
Why not just make a Bishop from the start you say? Two reasons. First, the Bishop learns spells very slowly compared to a Priest or Mage, and so it would take the Bishop more levels to learn the same amount of spells. Second, the Priest/Mage route gets access to VII spells of the first class much quicker. As a bonus, consider that it takes a lot less XP to gain levels 2, 3, 4 , and 5 but those lower levels also have a chance to learn spells. Priest/13 to Mage/13 to Bishop 10..that is 33 levels, you will have all the spells.
Feeble Samurai
Be careful of the Mage to Samurai path.. the result will have very low HP for a front line hero. See Class Change notes for the mundane.
Managing your Party
Entering the Tavern will disband your Party but fear not, you can re-establish your party once more when you are ready to exit the Tavern. Building a balanced party with some redundancy is prudent. The first 3 Heroes (front line) will take the brunt of the damage from mundane sources. The last 3 Heroes (back line) will only take damage from Spells. When a front line hero falls in combat they will move to the back line, often times exposing one of your back line heroes by pushing them forward.
Inspecting your Heroes
Review the character details for individual heroes. Inventory, equipped weapons and armor. Spells known and Spell points is accessible. Also shown is current status, such as Dead, Paralyzed, etc. Out means that character was left in the Volcano. Out characters can be retrieved by sending a second party of 5 down into the Volcano to meet up. You can also trade items between party members. This is helpful when Classes change and your Fighter turned Mage no longer needs the Sword.. or when you are moving Unidentified items to your Bishop for identification.
Resting at the inn
Restoration of HP and Spell Points, for a fee. The fee depends on the lodging that you require. Time passes as you spend time at the Inn. Heroes get more feeble with old age. This is the motivator for the higher cost accommodations. An old feeble characters is of no use to you. Luckily in Wizardry 3 you have the spiritual successors to your original heroes so age is reset.
| Accommodation | HP gained/Week | Fee/Week |
|---|---|---|
| Stables | 0 | 0 |
| Barracks | 1 | 10 |
| Double Room | 3 | 50 |
| Private Room | 7 | 200 |
| Royal Suite | 10 | 500 |
Raising a Level
Gaining enough XP to raise your Hero level is one of the more rewarding aspects the game. The Inn is where you review your level up awards. It happens any time you acquire lodging at the Inn when your Hero has enough XP to reach the next level. XP progress towards a level can be observed by Inspecting a Hero. Stables main purpose is to be a free way to Level Up. When leveling up, you will be awarded HP randomly, where the range of values is defined by Class. You will also be awarded more Statistic points to allocate, the amount is also random. Heroes that can learn spells will have a chance to learn spells when leveling up.
The Volcano
The Volcano is where the adventurers go in search of monsters to kill, loot to “borrow”, and clues to help determine the whereabouts of the evil wizard. As the characters become more proficient, they will be able to adventure for longer periods of time, and penetrate deeper into the Volcano.
Camping in the Volcano
Anytime you are not fighting in the Volcano, you can make a Camp. You will not be attacked while in camp. While in camp you can Inspect your heroes, trade gear, reorder the party. Additionally, you can leave this Party expedition in the Volcano and jump back to the Castle perspective. You can then build a second Party and create a second expedition into the Volcano.
You can join up with the first expedition and reorganize your Party with heroes from all expeditions. This advanced expedition management system allows for rescue missions when necessary.
Why? Imagine your expedition is high in the Volcano and 2 of your Front Line characters succumb to their wounds. It would be dangerous to try and walk out of the Volcano with no sturdy front line and only 4 heroes. Instead, jump back to the Castle and bring in your Backup party as a second expedition into the Volcano, move to the same tile to meet up with the first expedition. In Camp options, redistribute both expeditions to be more survivable then move each expedition back to the Castle and regroup proper.
If you can’t find someone that is Camping in the Volcano, use KANDI, the Level V Divine spell.
Inspecting current location
Using the Search option will inspect the current dungeon tile you are standing on. This also may trigger a random encounter.
Inspecting and opening chests
Chests sometimes appear after defeating foes in the Volcano. A Thief or a caster able to case CALFO, the Divine II spell can reveal if the chest has any armed traps with 95% accuracy. Only a Thief can disarm Traps. Why would a caster bother casting CALFO? If the chest is not trapped, then any character can open it. If the trap identified is known and is an acceptable risk, then have a high HP hero open it anyhow.
Attribution
Official Manual is here.
How to obtain a copy of this game:
eBay link – Ultimate Wizardry Archives PC CD-ROM version (1998), includes Wizardry 1-7
eBay link – SNES cartridge version (translated)