Game #51: Wizardry: Knight of Diamonds (NES) - A Familiar Friend

Game 51

Title: Wizardry: Knight of Diamonds
Released: 1991 (1992?) (March 1990 JPN)
Platform: NES
Developer: Game Studio (original game by Sir-Tech)
Publisher: ASCII Entertainment Software (aka Asciiware)
Genre: RPG
Exploration - First-Person
Combat - Turn based
Series - Wizardry

It's really hard to pin down US release dates. I originally used GameFAQs suggestion of April 1992, but the manual and MobyGames refer to 1991 as the copyright and release respectively. Even stranger is a second copyright date of 1990 attributed to Andrew Greenberg. My understanding was that Werdna's namesake had left Sir-Tech well before that time. He had worked on Star Saga One and Two in 1988 and 1989, so I wonder how he got attributed to this title personally. Due to the lack of an import feature, the game was reworked as a standalone title, so maybe he provided some input.

There's a nice set of black and white art paired with exposition detailing the new story

The city of Llylgamyn was protected by the Staff of Gnilda, which shielded the city from all forms of attack from outside. Unfortunately, it didn't protect from within, and an upstart evil tyrant named Davalpus seized this opportunity after the fall of Werdna. He slew the entire royal family, all except the prince and princess. After some time, Alavik returned wearing the armor of the The Knight of Diamonds and wielding Gnilda's staff. Davalpus fell, but so did the castle. With no sign of the staff, the city was now defenseless, and it was up to a brave band of nameless adventurers to retrieve it.

*Plop*

Wizardry is a rare breed of console RPG that requires building the party from scratch. There is a default party, but they have generic names like Fighter2 and Thief1. When rolling up my first set of characters (I expect many to come) I decided to roll for 10+ stats, and aimed for an evil party with Fighter, Samurai, Cleric, Cleric, Wizard, and Mage as my starting classes. I remembered the Calfo spell incorrectly, and thought it also disarmed traps. In this game, it only identifies the trap type with a high reliability, but a thief or ninja is required to disarm it. For the first couple of levels I ignored chests, and after a couple of levels had my fighter take the brunt of trap damage until I could class change my wizard to a ninja.

I nearly had one from the very beginning

From character creation, to stripping the default party, to purchasing new gear, I didn't actually enter the maze for the first hour. I was a expecting a trial by fire the way the first game had, but I think this version is a bit fairer in the early game due to the re-balance. The only time a party member died was due to running into a pit trap, then opening the menu, which caused the pit to hit a second time when I exited it. After that small setback, I fought some early creeping coins for a good amount of experience, and I was level 3 before I knew it.

Even the cost for resurrection seems adjusted

I was feeling confident with those early levels that I hardly thought of the gold I was leaving behind. Low level thieves usually fail disarming rolls anyway. On this first floor I found an are deemed for officers only, a corroded key, and a kobold king that dropped a gory badge. I also found a dusty statue with a golden light. You know what that means, right?

Our old friend Murphy is back

I didn't spend much time with Murphy, but the opportunity is there to grind out some early levels with fighters followed by a class change to mages in order to get higher HP. As it stands, my current mage only has 33 HP, and would easily die to most breath attacks or high level mage spells. If the first Wizardry has taught me anything, it's that I should be able to survive at least one tiltowait by the end of the game. I feel like I'll need a good number of class changes before that happens. The drawback to grinding on Murphy safely is that special items are only dropped on the lower floors, and those battles are actually worth a good amount of experience.

Much like the first game, the main quest is revealed while inside the maze

Gnilda appeared before the party in a small room. She claimed responsibility for the disappearance of the staff and armor, and declared only those worthy of her favor could reclaim them. I'm not sure what "the five" are or what the seven barriers entail. If it means the keys and badges, then I've crossed at least five barriers so far, and traded for a couple more keys. The manual says there are only six levels to the dungeon, and I'm about halfway through mapping the fourth. It's a rather short game if that's really the case, and I'm not sure there's enough content to support leveling very high.

Of course, the manual also says elite classes like Ninja and Lord are reached by characters level 18 - 25

With a ninja in my party, I was able to start disarming some trapped chests. The most troublesome at the moment are those that give random status effects to mages or clerics. I found a living magic armor, that very well could be the Knight of Diamonds' armor, but I ran away before finding out how tough it was. I'll make another attempt after I've exhausted my options on the lower levels.

It's available fairly early on the first floor in the officers section, but I still fear it may be too soon to tackle it

Most of my exploration has led to empty corridors giving the game a eerily quiet feel punctuated by the sudden appearance of monsters capable of wiping the party given the right set of circumstances. On the second floor I traded the kobold's badge for an emblem, which allowed me to exchange the corroded key for a black one in the officer's area. The black key was then traded for another key I didn't bother to identify that opened the path to the third floor. There I let my guard down for one second, and was sent down a chute to the floor below in complete darkness.

Often

That square marking on the ground denotes tiles where events take place. Up to this point they've all been items to find, stairs, or helpful messages, but now they include chutes. Luckily, I had already located the stairs down to the fourth floor, so I knew where I needed to go to get back up. How to get there was another matter to figure out. I managed to get out alive without teleportation while running low on spells. I'm very glad I picked a party that included two clerics as the extra healing is more helpful than a second mage. I think my first set of class changes will be to increase my overall spell potential.

In the first Wizardry, this is a deadly battle that could result in instant death

I could be jinxing myself here, but so far this game is much easier than the first Wizardry. The idea that there are six floors gives me hope that the game could end soon; although given my HP totals, I feel like I should change classes two or three times before I actually venture further. Most of the ninjas in the battle above fled instant of attempting their instant kill attack. The only truly nerve-racking battles are those against enemies with breath attacks, or the carriers capable of paralyzing on touch. I'm going to spend a bit more time on floors three and four to collect some higher level gear. I don't have many magic items, but I did manage to wrap up my last session with a sword of slicing, slayer of dragons, and mace of power. To save money, I made my own ID-GUY after I found some cursed items would auto-equip upon identifying them.

I'm not really sure how he's dual wielding a Sword of Wishes and Epee of Dismay, but that's probably not good for his health, especially given his AC 15

My spellcasters are nearly able to use level 7 spells, which is really only a big deal for mages that gain tiltowait and teleport. I think once that happens I'll move one cleric to mage, and possibly swap my current mage with my samurai (who has been underperforming with minimal HP gains). I realize now that I'd have been better off going all evil instead of mixing in neutral alignments as those are locked out of clerical classes. If I were truly min/maxing, I'd go all fighters to level 13 or 14 for HP, then half to clerics half to mages, and swap once level 7 spells were unlocked. Repeat until satisfied with HP, and a final class change to include a thief or ninja, fighters for the front line, and a wizard for identification. I like the challenge though, and the tension this party has deep in the dungeon is palpable when I encounter a new enemy type.

Hold reset, then power off; we never knew why, but we always did it even with games without battery saves

With any luck, I'll have this game wrapped up by the end of the week. Without any luck, I'll have a new party and might be implementing the plan above. At least Murphy will be there for me when I need him. I think one reason I didn't really get into the first Wizardry may have been my choice to solely grind on Murphy without bothering to get gear from floors 5 - 9.

Elapsed Time: 9h12m (Total Time: 9h12m)

Game 13: Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (NES) - Final Rating

Combatant - Has anyone beaten the game without grinding on Murphy's Ghost?
Combat is the central focus of Wizardry. There isn't much to the game outside of overcoming the next battle, and then the next, and the next, until Werdna. There are a few exceptions, but most fights beyond the second floor can quickly overwhelm the party if not kept in check. I felt dread at each encounter, which may have been what the developers wanted, but I found it absurd. Playing Wizardry is like attempting a high wire act without a safety net, over a pit... with spikes (and snakes).

The best strategy I found was to take out (or silence) enemy spellcasters as soon as possible, and immobilize all others with hold spells. Poison, a minor annoyance in most games, is a major pain during the early stages. Paralysis completely removes a character from combat and exposes delicate spell casters to physical attacks. Level draining often takes more HP than actually gained in a level. Healing spells are limited to one character (no party heals). Once I had the most powerful spells I relied on those completely; once exhausted I didn't bother continuing to explore until I recharged.

The rewards for successful combat are so skewed that I found it best to fight a set battle on floor one against Murphy's Ghost until I was high enough to face off with Werdna. I saw no reason to explore floors 5 - 9 once I found the route to the tenth (especially after I encountered the first null magic area). On the tenth floor I still faced near instant death, but reaped impressive items from successfully disarmed chests. All chests containing items are trapped, and thieves are the best at disarming. In the end I used the spell CALFO to identify and my ninja only attempted to disarm traps that wouldn't wipe out or severely hinder the party.
Rating: 4

I was at full health before these monsters surprised me, and this is a small group

Admirer - Has anyone completed the game with any special party arrangements? (All clerics?)
Graphics are sparse; the only representation of the party are character sheets. I noticed there wasn't a division between the sexes, so whether or not you had a male or female is up to your imagination.

When creating a character you get to choose a race, which determines base stats, and assign random bonus points, which seem to range 5 - 9, 15 - 19, and 25 - 29. Then based on these values you can select a class. Classes have minimum requirements (the ninja requires 17 in every stat), and there are some elite classes not available in the beginning. Those classes aren't all they're cracked up to be though, I had a ninja, and he mostly sucked.

A character can change classes at any time so long as they meet the minimum stats for their new class. Doing so ages the character 4 - 6 years, and drops their stats to their racial minimum (no bonus points this time). Crawling back up is quite an effort, and the characters always seemed weaker than before. The manual suggests aging past 50 is detrimental to stats and introduces the potential of dying due to old age. I took a fairly extreme approach and had all characters with some kind of spell casting ability (3 had mage and cleric spells, and were not Wizards/Bishops).

There are a number of what I'd call useless spells, where there's an obvious best spell to save at each level, and the other options seem frivolous. I had a hard time becoming attached to the characters as I cycled through them very quickly.
Rating: 3

Useless or completely overpowered? I can't decide

Puzzler - Has anyone beaten the game without using the elevators?
No puzzles, move along now, nothing to see here. As I said above, combat overwhelms the experience. There is what I consider a single side quest, but the game seems to consider it part of the main.

Really though, it's all combat.
Rating: 1

Instigator - Does anyone know why the story elements just fall off after a certain point?
Who needs a story? Well, there's Trebor, the mad overlord, who had his amulet stolen by Werdna. Trebor offers a reward to retrieve the amulet that amounts to a pittance of what the party hauls back with them once the adventure is finally complete.

About halfway through the game, all possible story elements drop off, and it's combat all the way through to the end. I believe they correct this in future games, but it seems strange to have all these little secret areas through the first half while the second is devoid of any points of interest. There's no interaction with NPCs and descriptions for items leave me with nothing but questions.
Rating: 1

Wait, I thought this was Trebor's Amulet

Collector - What are some of the best pieces of equipment you've found?
There are some really cool sounding weapons and armor in this game: Epee of Excellence, Sword of Slicing, Blade of Biting (someone really likes their alliteration), Sword of Dragonslaying, Shield of Nothing (most likely cursed), Blade Cuisinart, Sword of Evil, and so on. I just really wish I knew what all it did, and how useful they were. I can guess that dragon slaying sword is good against dragons, but how does it compare to the Sword of Slicing or Cuisinart? Damage is so variable, and fighting the same enemy is so rare (unless you count Murphy) that trying to determine damage range, hit chance, and special effects seems as likely as guessing based off the name.

There's a limited inventory and no storage, unless you count the character roster... I envision characters named swords, armor, and cursed (to test for cursed items). One thing I really liked, and would love to see in other games, is the store would display and sell back items you've sold to it (at a mark-up of course). This way you're not complete throwing an item away.
Rating: 2

According to this strategy wiki, I made the right decision, except I should have kept the Sword of Evil... oh well

Explorer - Did I miss out on anything by not even touching floors 6, 7, and 8?
The graphics are dated, but the music is well done with a different score for each option in town and dungeon and combat music that didn't make me sick. The game keeps up the harsh environment by punishing the curious. Pit traps that look like points of interest found earlier, not to mention spinners, darkness, and anti-magic all conspire to make you regret looking any further than for the next floor. There are secret doors that are seen randomly or are completely visible with a 'light' spell.

I enjoyed the solid walls, but there is also an option for lined walls that replicates the original game. There's very little of the area that's blocked off to a starting party, and if you truly wanted to, you could take the stairs down quite far with a level 1 party. Actually, some set encounters might have something to say about that.
Rating: 3

Press 'start' to remove the party info

Final Rating: 14 (23%)

Overall, I don't really understand why I stuck this one out. I just can't stand to leave a game unfinished I guess. I hope I never run into a game that is actually impossible to win. I wonder if I'll ever find a CRPG worse than this one on console. If I do, you'll hear (read) me say (write), I'd rather be playing Wizardry.

I can see why it did well back when it was released. A lot of this is revolutionary for the time, but the game design decisions wouldn't fly very far in today's market. Mostly I hated them because the game purposefully wastes my time. Have difficult combat. Have one turn kills. Have mysterious items. But have the decency to be fair about it. I just don't think there's enough feedback provided to make challenging decisions in this game. If we could pick our luck, how fast do think you could beat Wizardry? Under a minute?

Out of curiosity, I've read through a few FAQs that claim AC for the party is bugged. Also, the time when characters are saved is directly after a battle, so if I was inclined to, I could have reset after most of my party was wiped to get another shot at a battle. Once I saw the tombstones though it truly was game over. I thought about using this if the second fight against Werdna went as well as the first. Luckily I didn't have to resort to such tactics, but the majority opinion I've read have no qualms over resetting. The only questionable actions I took were overuse of Murphy's Ghost to gain all my levels. Well, that and abused class changes.

I'm moving on to Super Hydlide next, which I know almost nothing about (I've glanced over the manual and tested that the game works), but I've heard it's just as bad as Hydlide for the NES. I did my best to denounce that one as not enough RPG for me, but I can't seem to do that with this one.

Game 13: Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (NES) - I'm Finished!

I wasn't expecting this screen again

I had gathered my party for some treasure hunting before I dived into the final battle. I figured some extra gear would help my survival, so I selected Yrebe (my ninja) to identify and disarm all the traps. His 18 agility told me he could easily disarm them. Well, I didn't listen to his 12 luck saying otherwise.

My ninja isn't very stealthy

I ignored the warning signs: failed identifications and triggered traps. Even after switching to Calfo to identify didn't help his ability to disarm. The gear provided only incremental improvements to armor, and I can only guess some kind of improvement to my weapons. (Any idea if the Sword of Slicing is better or worse than the Sword of Dragonslaying?) Well, no equipment seems to provide protection against a trap.

Oops? What do you mean oops?

Teleporter huh? Well that can't be too bad. I mean easy enough to find my way out of the dungeon on this floor. I start to wonder if teleport traps can send me up levels. Well, they'd have to put me somewhere on the map, right? No, not really.

Here it is. Yet another way to instantly die

I nearly gave up hope at this point. I was already formulating the post as I stared at the headstones, "well, Wizardry wins." I fiddled with the menu afterwards, checked what characters I had left to throw into a party, and then, as I counted the names available, I realized all the party members of my lost expedition were listed. I added them to my roster, making sure they were real. They were real alright. Dead, but real.

I gathered them for what I hoped was my final outing. I was going to head straight for Werdna and end this. The final battle was a little anti-climactic after all this build-up. I was the first to get Tiltowait off, not to mention I landed a Silence before he acted.

Well, this fight's over. RNG is on my side this time

It feels like a hollow victory. There's no great sense of accomplishment. The grinding didn't help, but beyond that the entire game seems too random. There's very little strategy to fighting, and while there are a few interesting spells, interesting doesn't win battles. It only serves to give the enemies an extra turn to tear me apart.

Uh, can you give me something useful?

After beating the game I tried out Mahaman, one of the most "powerful" spells. It has a chance, note 'a chance', of summoning a god's powers to aid in battle. Sound overpowered? Well, it does have a catch. In addition to the spell point, it also costs 1 level of the spellcaster, and that's always charged even if it doesn't succeed.

1) Cure no ailments, 2) Heal a fully healed party, 3) Silence fighters

I really don't see why that spell, with it's obscene cost, wouldn't do all three useless abilities. I bet that raise dead power still has a chance to turn a character to ash. Well, with Werdna defeated, I used his amulet to teleport back to the castle. The game needed to get in one last jab before final victory.

Only about half actually

Half the party drowns after arriving in the moat, but I still get my reward and congratulatory screen.

Wait, don't take the amulet, gold is useless to me

That's it! I'm done with this one! Final rating will come tomorrow, and I'll start Super Hydlide very soon.

Session Time: 1h10m (Total Time: 44h10m)

Game 13: Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (NES) - Shall We Try That Again?

I have a sneaking suspicion that Wizardry ultimately comes down to random dumb luck. Unless there are items that block magic there's no defense for Tiltowait. So, I'm left with only one option. Press on and hope for the best.

Seems I lose a little faith each passing year

I've spent the last few weeks eking out minutes here and there that seem to add up to about 20 hours. I had imagined spending more time blogging on the side quest, as at the same time I was playing through Star Saga Two, but I couldn't quite bring myself to blogging about it yet. I apologize to those waiting for updates there. I'll have something up soon, but I'll get back into playing Wizardry instead of grinding it.

And oh what a grind I had. Twenty hours is quite a commitment to grinding; I could have beaten Final Fantasy in the same time although it'd have taken more concentration. I questioned the time I spent when I noticed after changing classes I was only getting a single hit point per level. Seriously, after all the class changes, only ONE HP per level. At least characters retain their spells from previous classes.

My beefed up party can still fall to a single powerful Tiltowait

I left a couple of characters alone, the samurai and wizard, to see how they would fair. I can't really say they're any better off. At level 16, they have fourth level spells and average HP.

Spell distribution was the main reason I wanted to change classes continuously. A character who knows at least one spell at a given level will learn the other spells at that level even if they're not of a class that can learn magic. They won't learn higher level spells though, so the trick is to get to level 13 mage or cleric, and then switch to another class.

My ninja deftly cuts the head off the ghost... wait what?

I was hoping for HP closer to 200, to ensure survival against the dreaded spells Werdna will unleash. With the additional spellcasters, I have a chance of getting a silence off, as Pacpix suggested. I just need to get really lucky, survive the first volley of Tiltowait, dodge the vampire's draining attacks, and win the game.
First though, let's have some fun with my new powered up party and see if I can't gather up a few equipment enhancements. I'm tempted to rush off the deep end, but a couple more hours of treasure hunting couldn't hurt, right?

Session Time: 20h40m (Total Time: 43h00m)

Game 13: Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (NES) - Won! by Werdna

"There I was, just hanging out with some buddies playing Vampire the Masquerade, when all of a sudden a band of adventurers proclaimed I had stolen Trebor's amulet and they were there to reclaim it. While true, I couldn't stand the transgression. Really Trebor, is this the best you can do?"

At least someone won Wizardry last night. Werdna was at the top of his game with a first turn, very first action, Tiltowait. The most powerful spell in the game, and here I thought I was hot stuff having two mages with a few of these in reserve. This spell has the potential to obliterate my entire party with a max damage of 150. Each character ranged 70 to 130 HP.

Nooooo! I'm supposed to cast that

I started the session with some glimmer of hope that I might put this game behind me. I hadn't considered the possibility that Werdna would lead with such a devastating spell. At level 13 my mages and cleric gained their most powerful spells, which I tried to use during the final fight.

Looking back, I didn't see much need to change my class when I felt like the characters were at the top of their game. Alex, the lead fighter was sporting nearly 130 HP and had acquired some exceptional equipment.

Blade Cusinart is awesome, or I should say... was

Sean and Flewin also gained some good equipment such as an Epee of Excellence, Tanned Leather (better than padded), and 1st Class Plate. Having even my thief with negative AC was a nice sight, but my confidence didn't match reality.

Thankfully the run option has succeeded the majority of the time

I should have known better; I was constantly assailed by enemies that posed a greater threat than I knew how to handle. Especially those that were resistant to magic. The benefits from fighting these tough battles were tiny compared to the risks. Most of the time it was still better to grind against Murphy's Ghost.

Of all the fights I've won, Frost Giants were the only ones award this amount

It was nearing the end of my play session; I adopted a now-or-never mentality and pushed forward, towards Werdna's lair. Did I feel completely prepared? No. Did I feel like I stood a chance? Yes, obviously. So, I headed in after healing up.

I'm pretty sure it was after 3, which may explain why he was so mad... also I didn't have an appointment

I took a deep breath followed by a resounding sigh of consternation. Werdna was surrounded by what looked like a dangerous group of vampires. I was certain their level draining would give me trouble. What I didn't expect, as mentioned before, was the first volley of Tiltowait.

I still held out hope as one of my mages had miraculously survived and had his own Tiltowait queued. Alex, the lead fighter was drained and paralyzed. My remaining party members fell to more party damaging spells delivered by the vampires. The following turn the game knowingly taunted my lack of options.

Would you like to die or stare at the screen?

Dying at Werdna is the worst place. Not only is my party gone they are virtually unreachable. I would need to defeat Werdna to collect them. This would also require taking less than six characters as that's the only way to gather up the fallen character, one-by-one. I might as well have teleported into a wall.

You will be avenged!

I blame my poor luck on turning off the solid walls for the more classic feel of a lined dungeon. A classic look was a nice thought, but now I realize this must have also turned up the difficulty to 11.

A hidden difficulty setting... not really

So, what now? I have characters available to grind against Murphy, but I want to mitigate the risk of Tiltowait. I figure over 200 HP for each character is a necessity. I may make all new characters to focus ability points on vitality and fighters to maximize damage soaking potential.

I'll start with a group of fighters, change classes 4 - 5 times through cleric and mage for spells, and finally arrive at a party of fighters/ninjas (if I'm lucky enough, a thief if I'm not), a cleric, a mage, and a wizard.

I can't imagine anyone watching such obscene amounts of grinding for 8+ hours, so I'm not going to bore anyone other than myself. I'll stream my progress again once I've finished and start collecting treasure.

Poor Murphy, what did he do to deserve this fate?

I'll alleviate the strain of grinding solely on Wizardry by also playing Star Saga 2 at the same time. A slow turn based text adventure should fit nicely with the braindead button mashing on the NES.

Session Time: 4h00m (Total Time: 22h20m) 

Game 13: Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (NES) - Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

And so ends the party... for now

One second I think I'm making progress, that I have some handle on the game, and in the next it throws a curve ball. I guess I ventured too far, too fast. I should really take this game one fight at a time, stay close to the exit.

I was exploring the fifth floor and doing well; I have a little over half mapped out. I even discovered a couple interesting items: a ring of jewels (not sure what this does, if anything) and an epee of dismay (pretty sure this was cursed, so I sold it). Then, all of sudden, my magic ceases to function.

Fizzle? Why?

I'm at a loss as to why magic quit functioning for my party. I thought it was a single room, but the effects lasted as I made a beeline for the exit. Unfortunately, I had been in the middle of deep exploration and there were many doors between me and the elevator, and even more to the stairs. The party fought bravely.

One by one my party started to fall, Pacpix was first to several breath attacks from dragons. I had no way to heal between battles and my mages were now useless, but there was a glimmer of hope. Only two more doors to get through, and I had just saved Alex from poison with a neutralizing potion. I think I mentioned it before, but entering doors seem to have a higher chance of encountering enemies.

The enemies' magic works fine!

I felt despondent as I saw the screen above. My hopes of making it back dashed. I considered my options. I could quit this game... no, I knew there were difficult games to get through. It's the sole reason I made the rule not to let up until a game was won. It's just... 13 hours, and I have little to show for it. At least I have my maps.

I set about making another party. It took a good 20 minutes, and as I'm about to assemble them I remember the thief, THIEF, that I dragged down to level 9. Maybe I could sneak through, find some friendly monsters, and get out with most of the party. I didn't have the funds to raise them yet, but it'd be good to have them back.

So, I did this, and it was just as disastrous. I ran into some dragon flies on the way down and was killed nearly instantly. Later on I would notice that Jonothan had disappeared from my roster. I wonder if only six characters can exist as out in the dungeon. Either that or some monster got a hold of him and dragged him off into oblivion. In any case, Jonothan is lost forever, along with the sturdy plate armor (best armor I've yet found). Well, time to get on with a new party.

Sean didn't start out as a very good thief

It was at that point I called it a night, and I truly considered moving on to another game. Who puts up with this? 13 hours, and starting the game all over again. Well, I ended up firing up the NES again today, and committed to an hour more at least. If I didn't make any progress after that, then I'd take some time off.

I didn't think anyone would want to watch me grinding out a new party, so I didn't bother to stream today. (My computer was also indisposed.)

Well, one thing led to another, and I decided instead of a single party I would make two. After getting to a point where I could once again grind on Murphy's Ghost, I made a second party and took them three by three to gain their experience.

Don't worry Sean, you're now the best candidate for ninja

It's been a very successful comeback up to this point. I took the new party to collect the Blue Ribbon. I did not put on the Ring of Death this time, and I now have the funds to raise my fallen party and then some.

The calls were not quite as close, and I managed to bring everyone back to the castle without incident. The only bad news in all this is the loss of Jonothan. I wonder, at what point do you think I can assault Werdna and get this over with?

My current roster

With this group of characters, I'd really have to suffer catastrophic losses to have the same setback as last time. Still, I feel I haven't made much progress. I'd like to see some gains in magical equipment that I can use, so I'm going to test the waters on the ninth floor. Wish me luck.

Session Time: 6h20m (Total Time: 18h20m)

Game 13: Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord (NES) - Fumbling in the Dark

At least there aren't any grues

Every step I take deeper into the dark depths of the dungeon sends shivers down my spine. I'm paralyzed by the fear of losing my party, any one of them. Any moment I can meet enemies that paralyze, poison, or instantly kill my party. And now, I've made a terrible mistake... actually a few.

No amount of planning can prevent this

I've now made it as far as the fifth floor, and I've yet to find much treasure in Wizardry. I found another statue and key on the second, which I can only guess allow me to progress past certain squares since there are ones marked as special, but nothing notable occurs.

On the third floor I finally started to get equipment from chests, but only things I could already purchase. I'm hoping to get something more interesting from the fights soon; otherwise, I don't see much benefit from fighting anything but Murphy's Ghost based on the risk involved. On the fourth I found the ninjas above, but more interesting is an area just outside the elevator.

I got lucky and no one died this time

From this fight I received my first real treasure. A rod of flame that can cast Mahalito (group fire damage), and a ring of death. Following this fight I received a congratulatory message and another quest item that allows me to use a second elevator.

How exactly does a blue ribbon unlock an elevator?

It's with this ring of death that I made my first mistake. I accidentally put it on. Now, how you may ask did I accidentally put it on? Well, it's all due to a handy little feature that allows me to equip all party members without visiting each of their equipment lists.

Can't cancel out of it once started either

So, there I was, having to continually click through all the equipment options. I honestly wasn't thinking about it, and started to click faster to get it over with. Then the following screen flashes for but a second, and my heart sinks.

Noooooo!!

Yes, Archivis, equipped the Ring of Death. The only way to remove a cursed item is back in town, and I was lucky to have enough healing to make it back as the ring ticks 3 HP every step. I then found the cost to remove a curse is equal to the cost of selling the item, 250,000 gold in this case. That would have been a helpful sale.

Do you take loans?

I considered my options. Maybe if he's dead I can remove a cursed item? No. Maybe I can get another ring from that fight and sell it to afford the removal? Maybe... but I'll need another character. I make one, Jaspar, and am underwhelmed by his progress. I headed to bed for the night.

Jaspar, why are your hit points so low?

At the start of my next session I reviewed my notes and stumbled upon a spell I had previously written off as useless, Loktofeit. It's a sixth level priest spell. It causes the party to return to the castle, but drops all  equipment and most gold. Drops all equipment? Could that really work?

Here goes nothing

And, it works! I welcome Archivis back to the party. Let's see now if I can get back on track. I head out to get another Ring of Death. This is was another mistake. First, Archivis dies during the second fight as I fail to silence the two mages before they both get off powerful Lahalito spells that damage the entire party for 20 HP each.

No worries, Durian just learned Di, which brings back the dead.

Oops? What do you mean 'oops'?

Apparently, it's not as effective as the temple, or I'm just really unlucky. Archivis is now ashes. When a character is ashed it costs double for the temple to raise the character. And, even then, the temple has a chance to fail.

And they bury him with all his gear

Sorry Archivis, again. I still had the second ring, so I made a new wizard to identify it so I could sell it. Somehow when I identified the ring though it immediately equipped on him. I rewatched the footage, and it was definitely not an accidental equip this time. Maybe this is a bug from how I got rid of the first one?

Around this time I decided to take the default party out for a spin on level 9. I handed off the blue ribbon and took the two elevators all the way down. I quickly found the chute down to level 10, and was lucky to run into only friendly monsters that I let leave.

Anyone know what Contra-dextra avenue means?

I didn't get very far though, as I never ran into a friendly monster past the first door. I wonder what chances my current party have at surviving all the way to Werdna. Would I really miss anything by attempting a raid on him already?

Werdna's lair offers the only change in scenery

Well, I know where Werdna is now, but I still have five dungeon floors left to explore. I've found my mage very useful in combat, and the wizard less so. I decided to make another for my next character.

Now if only I could stop getting decapitated

I'm unsure what more to do to prepare for the floors ahead. Should I continue floor by floor, or jump to the last and hope for better equipment? I could continue grinding on Murphy, but the return has nearly stopped. I've also considered grinding out a backup party in case my current gets wiped. I feel like I don't have a good grasp on where to go next.

I've hit a wall

Session Time: 6h00m (Total Time: 12h00m)