Safety in the Temple of Gnilda 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. You cannot create new characters in Wiz2, only Wiz1.
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.
Buying Gear
I am not going to tell you what to buy from Boltac.. I am assuming you played Wiz1 and you got this down already, just do it again. The main point is strengthen your front line before you go exploring.
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. Refer to the Foes List and Gear List to see what Loot is possible from various Foes.
It is helpful to inspect a check with your Rogue/Ninja and also with CALFO. Identifying 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.
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). Higher level Bishops have a better chance to not get Cursed.. which allows you to sell more of the Cursed items.. but also have to pay a higher cost to Uncurse if they get cursed.. so a decision to make.
Personally, I choose to use Level 1 Bishops because they are easier to replace and the only loss is some gold. Gold is not really that hard to come by.
In the Knight of Diamonds, you will be collecting Armor and a Sword from the level bosses, which you can wear!
Reveal how to get multiple copies of KOD gear
All the Bosses are near to Stairs. After defeating the boss and collecting the item, step down the stairs and then close the game. Relaunch, Utilities, Restore Out Party, Go back through the stairs and the Boss will reappear. Defeat again and get the item again, now you have two. This is only helpful if you have multiple characters that can wear it. Fighter, Samurai, and Lord only.
You will be told that Spells are more potent. Listen. Some spells that you never used in Proving Grounds will now be more useful.
Dive into the Guide here!
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)