Safety in the Maze is not a thing at all, going too deep too quickly will eventually kill you — this is a risk that you cannot afford to take as resurrections can fail and characters can be lost forever.
The cautious approach is to grind levels and reach a point where the encounters are much less risky only then, explore new areas. However, the game is designed to be played without excessive grinding and XP can be obtained through exploration and mapping — once you fully explore a level you should be able to move on to the next level. The later is dependent on strategic combat and intelligent party development.
Check the Guide page for grind tips for each Maze level!
Opening Chests
Opening Chests is risky but necessary to find good gear. You do not have to open every single chest but you should open the ones that have a chance for the best gear. It is helpful to inspect a chest with your Rogue/Ninja and also with CALFO. Inspecting by multiple sources can confirm the trap type present. It is never helpful to attempt a Poison Dart disarm on a chest with a Teleporter Trap.. but it is no harm to attempt a Teleporter Disarm on a chest you think is un-trapped.
Knowing what to expect in Chests
Take a look at the Foe List. On the far right, see LB1, LB2, LB3, LB4, LB5 with percentages listed. When the encounter is complete each loot box is tested once, and the result goes to a random group member. If you want to see which items are in each loot box, head over the the Gear List and search for “LB4”, “LB5”, etc.
Per the developer that created Where Are We?, who has spent much time interpreting the original code, for any given fixed encounter:
- Multiple items may drop for a given encounter but each will be from a distinct loot box
- It is only the first Foe Group in the encounter that effects the potential drops
- If the first group has 6x foes, each loot box is only tested once for that group
- A party member is selected at random to receive each item dropped, if the selected party member has a full inventory, that item poofs – it is not given to another party member.
- For Gold and XP awards, each and every foe defeated is tallied.
I have personally tested this extensively in the Dos Archives version of Wizardry 1 and 2 and it checks out with various lines of evidence.
Identifying Gear
Identifying items is risky but necessary to find good gear. A Bishop has a free and unlimited Item Identify skill at level 1, keep a Bishop at the Tavern to identify items by temporarily moving them into your party. Identifying Cursed Items can go 2 ways.. either you identify the item cleanly and then you can Sell it OR your Bishop becomes Cursed and you must pay Boltac to remove the item (from your Inventory).
A Leveled Bishop has a better chance of not succumbing, but it will still happen occasionally so you will pay an upkeep to keep a leveled bishop free from Curses. A level 1 Tavern Bishop is expendable and free to generate–actually, new characters start with RND gold so generating level 1 bishops pays (not much). The choice is yours.
Spell Buffs
Most spell buffs can only be cast while in combat and they expire at the end of combat while a few spell buffs can be anywhere in the Maze and they will last until you return to the Castle. Every time you leave the Castle, cast MAPORFIC and LATUMAPIC, they will last until you return to the Castle. MAPORFIC will bolster the AC of your whole party. LATUMAPIC will help Identify the true nature of foes. LOMILWA lasts for a long time, 1000 steps, and expands your site distance and reveals secret doors.
Multiple spells with different names will all take effect even if they do the same thing. For example, MATU and BAMATU each bolster the AC of your whole party but these 2 spells must be cast in Combat and only last for said Combat. MAPROFIC, MATU, and BAMATU all bolster Party AC and they can all be in effect at once to bolster AC by 6 points! This “spell stacking” also works with debuffs such as MORLIS, MAMORLIS, and DILTO — employ this cocktail of debuffs to hit the hard to hit targets such as Will o’ Wisps.
Running from Combat
If you run from a fixed encounter you will bounce back to the previous tile you occupied before encroaching the fixed encounter tile. You can continue to Encroach and Run until you have “more favorable odds” and then you can defeat the encounter. If you run from a random encounter you will avoid it all-together. You can attempt to run each combat round but failing to run allows the foes to attack which may ruin your day. Failing to run can spell the end, use this technique sparingly or along with archiving your save game file.
Reordering your Party
Remember to Reorder the party after curing Paralysis, Dead, Petrify and even after being temporarily Asleep in combat. Don’t start a fight with your mage up front! You cannot reorder during combat!
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)
GOG link – PC Reboot by Digital Eclipse