Just like Wizardry, Wizards & Warriors is a party-based role playing game.
Formerly called Swords & Sorcery, it is the brainchild of
David W. Bradley, the creator of Wizardry 5-7. It was under
development for four years and was released by Activision in
September 2000. This section is designed to be a resource
for players of this game. This was the first true RPG (I'm
not counting Diablo II or Myst) that I become immersed in since
Wizardry V, so enjoy!
Comments or Questions are always welcome.
This page contains gameplay gripes and bug warnings.
The classes page has data on character roles and tips for building
and developing a party. The
walkthrough includes path notes and quests, while the
cheats
page lists some ways to exploit the errors in the game coding.
Heuristic Park, the game's developer, has released an
an unofficial patch (one not sanctioned by Activision, the game's distributor).
More patch info is on the Files Page.
BONUS:
You can download my characters from the Files Page.
Gameplay Gripes
Diabloesque RPG:
You have to play ranged combat (and some spells you don't want to go off at close range) as an
arcade, and all the time to ensure first strike. There's also no indicator if an enemy is out of
range. Plus, you can't have a character pass or parry for a combat round.
Party-based?
There are bizarre quest interactions between different party members in the same guild. I had to deliver six
potions to a toad, had six arrows to give to some samurai, etc.. The entire questing system does
not work with a party system; the level of statistics intricacies entails this really should have
been a single character game to avoid silly overlapping conversations and tasks. It's the chosen
"one" who people talk to, not a party of six (plus the wooden stick puzzle to exit the
Boogre caves is ridiculous considering there's supposed to be six people traveling together).
Bug Warnings
For a game four years in development, it is a true shame it was not tested enough before
release. Hopefully a patch will be made to fix these glaring errors.
Warlock Abilities:
The Warlock quest refers to them as 'master of all magiks' and the manual (p. 26) states
"Excepting Warlocks and Zenmasters, who are eligible to learn all books of
magic...". Becoming a Warlock, however, only enables a character to learn Moon and Fiend spells.
They do, however, learn previously available books with no penalty, but there is still some
ambiguity left from the quotes above.
Missing Rewards:
Make sure people talking (or gesturing in town) to you finish before answering or moving on to
another player, even if you are being attacked. Otherwise you can forever miss out on rewards,
items, or conversation. [Fixed in patch]
Level Gains:
If you've gained two levels at once, you miss out because it's impossible to train accordingly at
your guild (and this is very likely considering you can become stuck in some dungeons,
having to fight a long way to get out).
The back button is missing while leveling, and you can train to high attribute levels at the guilds
despite the mouseover saying that you can't.
Also, leveling in the wilderness is not recommended because you can be attacked.
Trading and Pooling at the Inn:
Not recommended unless you want to lose items or gold. [Fixed in patch]
Ladders:
Going down ladders? If there's a way besides jumping it's not intuitive.
Poor Graphics Card Support:
Repeated freezes in D3D modes, and even when it does work the text and graphics are too blurry
to be worthwhile anyway.
Clipping Problem in Toad Village:
A toad blocks your path who you must talk and lure or kill with one shot to avoid him alerting the
guards. Similar awkwardness in some tunnels. [Fixed in patch]
On My Way:
You can't pick up some things at a distance if it is not a straight path, causing you to jump and
dance around. Many items on the ground are also difficult to click and pick up. [Fixed in patch]
Toad Village Quest:
If you visit the Toad Village before being assigned the quest, you can't complete it and move on to
other quests (allegedly, haven't tested, and apparently if you just go talk to the Shaman again you
can clear the quest - this happened to me on the Boogre Idol quest: I had visited the idol, was then
given the quest, but had to re-visit it in order to receive acknowledgment for quest completion). [Somewhat fixed in patch]
Scabben Quest:
Ditto as problem above with visiting and killing Scabben prematurely (allegedly, haven't tested -
the quest trigger may be just entering his lab, though). [Fixed in patch]
Quest Chronology:
In general, it would be preferable to be assigned all quests immediately upon arriving in
a town. Otherwise, there is a very forced linearity to the preferred path for your party.
Medkawa:
He runs around constantly after speaking to you, making it difficult to talk to him and give him a potion.
Bugged Items:
The Vampire Ring is cursed in more ways that one - wearing it causes the game to crash.
Ditto with the Leprechaun's charm. [Ring fixed in patch]
Uber-Horse:
I don't know of any horses that can carry six people while
climbing ladders or swimming that quickly. Some monsters
also walk underwater.
Samurai Arrow Quest:
If enough members of your party have the Samurai arrow delivery quest, his inventory fills up and
you can't give him all of the arrows.
Skills Scrolling:
The revenge of the W7 '100 in all skills' bug! If you gain more skills or traits than can fit in
their windows (this is almost bound to happen, although that happening is officially a bug in
itself) you cannot scroll to see them all or add points to skills you cannot see when leveling.
Also, if you change to a fourth class,
all four classes are not all listed on your journal page.
Jathil Letter Quest:
It is impossible to end the Temple Jathil letter delivery quest, although you do get repeatedly
awarded for it. [Fixed in patch]
Eye of the Serpent:
This quest monster will disappear after you leave the area.
Leprechaun Quests:
Ditto as above with the Leprechaun quest, for me at least.
Apparently some quests are prone to stick as such if you don't listen to the entire
reward speech from the guildmaster. [Fixed in patch]
Isis Temple Column to Kerah:
The column sticks up after using the ash to raise Anephas, so you cannot re-visit the area,
although a Vanish spell from the nearby surface apparently will do the trick. [Fixed in patch]
Glowstone Missing:
Sometimes the glowstone in the sunken city doesn't spawn in the chests.
You can reload a previous savegame, or try a combination of
teleport spells and jamming doors with chests to work around it.
Spirit Shield:
Apparently this trait doesn't function as advertised. [Fixed in patch]
Enchanting Items:
Adding elemental protections to items does not fully raise character
statistics accordingly when the items are worn.
Pyramid perma-trap:
If you enter the pyramid after winning the game
(for example in trying to get to the final treasure that you didn't
think to fetch while in the fury of the last battle) there is no way to exit.
[Fixed in patch]
Annoyances:
There's many other minor annoyances with the game, such as:
small space for character names (I had to abandon naming my party leader
Hawkwind because his name didn't fit); Create Portal working in
some areas but not its partner spells; irritating binds when moving around,
such as roaches blocking your path; 3D quirks (i.e. hard to follow multi-level
automaps, running ashore above the underwater city for no good reason,
jamming your ship next to Talrik's, and being talked to by the toad shaman when
you swim under his hut); and characters not being able to use items they are
carrying (such as potions) on themselves.
See also the cheats page for more quirks and ways
to get even with some of these bugs.
