Next time I'll be clever enough to escape! Let's Play Wizardry IV: Return of Werdna!

Predictably, it was somebody in Japan.

As for a TAS, here's one on Medium. TASes aren't going to die without meaning to, so a higher difficulty doesn't making TASing any harder; meanwhile, the save points let the TAS exploit some saving-related glitches.

I believe that IWBTG has been won on Impossible more than once, actually, but Bongo Bill's link is the only one I know of on YouTube.

Hello, and welcome back to The Return of Werdna! It's been a while. We have a lot of catching up to do, and catch up we will -- in fact, during this update, I will be showcasing one of several possible resolutions to The Return of Werdna, and you can expect updates to pick up speed from here on out. Let's get right into it!



The final levels have very simplistic, square layouts with few tricks and traps. The hallway north of the starting staircase will eventually take us to the same destination as the eastern hallway. One east of our starting point is the staircase back down, in case we ever want to go back into that hellhole. We do, eventually.



This fellow right here is the game saying "alright, that's enough." This is such a tremendous roadblock that it's downright insulting to put it at the end of the game. The password can't be found anywhere in-game, except through the Oracle's opaque hints ("The password is your ancient battlecry", et cetera). In fact, the password is found at the very end of Wizardry I, on a message displayed at the beginning of the endgame encounters prior to the final boss.



The hoplite allows us to pass. If, however, we had gotten the password wrong, he would refuse us and we would be pushed back one space, unable to proceed to the endgame. Again, the fact that the game placed this roadblock here, after the dungeon, is telling. Very telling. But it probably tells you things you already knew.



There are three levels to Llylgamyn, and the upper two levels are irritating purely because one cannot see which tiles are walkable and which tiles are not: if one steps off of a certain area of the level, Werdna falls and takes a fair chunk of damage, although nothing he can't heal with the Dreampainter Ka (usually). There are no wandering do-gooders on the map, just do-gooders in fixed areas, so this is an annoyance, not an actual threat to the wizard's well-being.



This encounter is notable only for being a battle with a single weak bishop, The Herald, which then becomes a battle with six marginally less weak opponents, all of which Werdna destroys with his recovered powers. Gameplay-wise, for the most part, Llylgamyn is just not a challenge.



The Innkeyper awaits on the top level of one of the towers, and although he is a ninja with massive hit points and AC below -9, he is still a ninja, still alone, and still an easy kill for Werdna's self-replicating, breath-weaponing, spell-slinging demon army. He drops the Inn Key ("Key on chain", key item), which will unlock a door on the first level of Llylgamyn.



Again, the vast majority of the art can be found in Llylgamyn. Advancing one north, there's another fixed encounter with the Walking Wounded ("Oh no, not you again! Man the crutches!"). They would be no threat except that they cast Makanito and Lakanito, or at least the two high-level characters among them do, meaning that I actually die twice to them through this entire update.



After reloading a savefile I notice this fountain in the middle of the ground floor, but bathing in it doesn't actually do much.



The inn contains several empty rooms, a staircase up, and through the door at the end of the hallway opposite the entrance, the Vol Halstern Chivalry, a fixed encounter with some very strong fighters. They'll likely take out a monster or two before going down, are very resistant to Makanito and Lakanito, and will burn charges of Tiltowait if you decide Werdna should contribute to the battle himself. Past them is an elevator.



Above the Adventurer's Inn is Gilgamesh's Tavern. In Wizardry I, while you went to the Adventurer's Inn to level up and heal characters, Gilgamesh's Tavern is where you added them to or removed them from your party. In other words, we're sieging Adventurer Central, and so far, it hasn't really been a challenge. Gilgamesh's Tavern is another set of empty spaces, except for the third room, at the end of which is...

Not you! You're as useless as ever, go away.



This is who I met. This mysterious voice will give us a chance to say that no, we do not want the amulet, which I believe allows Werdna to back out of the area. That's for the best, because when Werdna confirms his renewed desire to take the amulet and the world, the voice replies...



The Softalk All-Stars, as described in Wizardry IV's manual, are the adventuring party that defeated Werdna and returned the amulet to Trebor. A typical Wizardry I endgame party isn't quite as insane as they are statistically, however -- their magic is all high-level, including such favourites as Lakanito and, yes, Tiltowait -- they resist almost all attempts to instantly kill them in return, and if given the opportunity, they will always target Werdna. Add to that their hit points all fall into the 600 to 800 range, even their mages, and the only comfort is that their AC is relatively low across the board... Except that's not a comfort: if your minions are attacking them, you're that much more likely to die on a turn where Sarah pulls out a Tiltowait.



It takes multiple tries for me to defeat them. I save right before the encounter because there's no reason not to, and it speeds things up. In the end, even though they have a thief, the best strategy is to unbox the Dreampainter Ka and use it every turn, attempting to ride out the damage their Tiltowait castings will inflict. While they'll still try instant death, and while they'll still succeed with it half the time, damage is much more likely to kill you in this fight. Fancy that.



Past them is a third elevator. And on the third floor we reach the Temple of Cant, where adventurers are revived from death. Although the temple priests are skilled at revival, even more so than adventurer priests with the Kadorto spell, they're crummy combatants, and fall like dominos to a single Tiltowait. They don't even put up a fight.



This one, though... Lord Hawkwind, the last of the Softalk All-Stars and their mighty leader, who dealt the killing blow against Werdna, stands as the last obstacle between Werdna and absolute power. He's heavily outnumbered, and as a ninja he's not much of a magician -- can he really hope to get between the mad wizard and his prize?



Well...

Yes.



Yes, he can.







Many rounds later, Lord Hawkwind finally seems to be getting around to fighting us. Sort of. We still haven't scratched him, and as far as I can see he even ignores automatic hit support magic like Dilto. There's just nothing Werdna can do against his defences, not even after he stops parrying.



After he binds Werdna, the player is no longer prompted to act. The monsters continue attacking Hawkwind, but still do nothing.



In spite of Werdna's best efforts, he dies, the amulet just out of reach.

Next time: Everyone has a weakness! What is his?
Death count: ~76 (~12x longsword, 1x staff, 1x Dragon Slayer, 1x Were Slayer, 1x dagger, 1x shuriken, 1x mace +1, ~4x molito, 10x makanito, 1x litokan, 7x lakanito, 1x lahalito, 1x dalto, 1x badi, ~7x mahalito, ~3x halito, 2x tiltowait, 2x entrapment, 3x mines, 4x Trebor, 1x theft, 1x falling damage, 1x item loss, 1x Karl Maudlin, 2x Hell, 1x cage, 1x sacrificed to Kadorto, ~7x unknown).

And then it turns out you're fighting his shadow and the unconscious body of Lord Granz warps in.

Sword of Wizardry IV.

Wizardry of Mana.

Hooray for this LP not being dead!

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooe is Asema!

I concur!

Welcome back to The Return of Werdna! The conclusion of Werdna's journey fast approaches, and with it, the chance to seize ultimate power. This update is one of the largest by screenshot count, approaching nearly 60 screenshots, and with good reason -- I took shots of the entire ending. Let's get started -- or rather, let's finish this.



To defeat Hawkwind, we need to explore one of the other areas of Llylgamyn: the Citadel. Not featured in previous Wizardry titles, the Citadel is the political centre of Llylgamyn and features the largest number of battles in the area. There's an event on the third floor that we need to see before we can win the game. All endings need to reach the Citadel at some point.



The Captain's Council is so mediocre I don't even get a screenshot of them...



The Baron's Council has a unique portrait they all share, and they are the most challenging of the three battles we face here. Werdna dies to Makanito, of course: he is still not completely resistant to the game's all-target instant death spell.



And finally, The Duke's Council consists of six very high level Lords. They are fond of spamming Montino which, to be honest, is not a huge issue. They die much more easily than their mixed-class brethren and pose little threat due to a lack of strong multitarget damage or instant death.



But there's not much past them -- at least, not until you start trying to bump into the walls. The game has had secret doors before that light can't reveal, so there's precedent, right? Moving towards the inner wall reveals this room, our destination.



I question the value of giving the treasury a good view of the town, and I question even more the value of offering Werdna one his most prized possessions. Even so, I can't complain. The answer to this question is in the manual's story section. See if you can figure out the item we need from the treasury before scrolling further, or don't. It's all up to you.



With this, we have everything we need to obtain the amulet... But we still don't have a method of defeating Hawkwind. He's not likely to be allergic to mythril, so we might need something stronger. But here we are, carting around demon lords and magical nuclear weapons, and there really isn't anything stronger. Maybe the Oracle can help?



Nope. Actually, his previous hints were more helpful.

What is a CRPG player likely to have right before their nose, in the 80s? Probably a lot of graph paper, on which they've transcribed carefully drawn replicas of the dungeon map. And in fact, that's probably what the second part of the hint is talking about. The first refers to the dungeon itself -- specifically the shape of the dungeon walls. On level 1, you might notice a "D" shape in the southeastern region. On level 2, an "I" shape. On level 3, an "N" shape. And on level 4, a "K" shape.



The mightiest of all adventurers kneels before the weakest of all monsters. A Dink is Lord Hawkwind's weakness.



From here, Werdna "only" has to get to Hawkwind with the Dink alive. The Dink is immune to magic, but has next to no hit points and poor evasion, so if the Vol Halstern Chivalry decide to attack it, Werdna will lose the Dink and have to start the process over. If I hadn't shuffled summons to get the Dink into the third slot, this would be much harder.



Not shown: The Softalk All-Stars destroying Werdna multiple times, with Tiltowait at least twice and Makanito at least three times. Losing hit points is more problematic when you discover that the Dreampainter Ka can, in fact, break, meaning I only had one Madi use for the entire battle.



Hawkwind taunts as normal. Until this happens.

Having conquered the unconquerable, Werdna decides -- what does he need a bauble for? He can taste ultimate power. Surely, it would be okay to touch it as well. He approaches the final event square of the game with the Gauntlet boxed and no equipment worn. His body, as they say, is ready.



The god of the Temple of Cant's choice, Hawkwind's patron, the one who gives the spell of revival its name, Kadorto.



Well, Werdna doesn't have any level 7 spell charges at the moment, so maybe Tiltowait or Mahaman would have helped. Alas.



Oh. Well then--



--Let's put that 18 Agility to good use!



I guess maybe Werdna isn't as hardcore as previously thought. Let's give that another try, this time with the Mythril Gauntlet unboxed and equipped. Everything proceeds as previously, except when Werdna snatches the amulet...



Success! Ultimate power is ours.



Well... As soon as we get the chance to tap into it. We may not to, if Kadorto is any indication.

That didn't go quite as well as we planned, but maybe if we don't wake up Kadorto at all, and find another way to seize the amulet, he won't kill us instantly? Just to be sure, Werdna unboxes and drops the Holy Limp Wrist, returns to the pentagram below, and arrives with level 7 spell charges in tow.



Okay, maybe not. At the very least, this outcome doesn't give us a game over. So how do we defeat Kadorto?

The solution is fairly simple: any of the three swords from the Temple of the Dreampainter will suffice as a weapon with which to battle Kadorto. With the East Wind Sword and Mythril Gauntlet equipped, and the Holy Limp Wrist in the Black Box, Werdna approaches, dressed for success. Everything proceeds as previously, up until Kadorto's declaration.



Victory!



... Perhaps, of the Pyrrhic sort. Using a sword of petrification to slay a god has unpredictable results.



Wait... That must mean...



Werdna replaces Kadorto. Although the latter god dies, he at least prevents Werdna's ascent to power for the time being. Helpless, Werdna can do nothing but wait, sealed within the statue, brimming with all of the power of the godhood he so craved -- powers that, until the day he is turned from stone to flesh, he cannot use. Ironic, indeed.



Even if Werdna has, there is little he can do.

That's a rather underwhelming title for all the trouble I went through... And what about "poor" Werdna? He is a god now, but a pretty useless god at the least.



Is that a challenge? Are you trying to get me to play more, Wizardry IV? Well, you know what? I think I will. There are other paths Werdna can tread, and tread them he will. There's more to this game than the ending we received, and this is a Let's Play. I owe you at least a little more of my time. You, the viewers, mind you, not necessarily the game.



I receive a set of three code numbers as well, but those no longer have any use or meaning. This phrase does, though, because I will be seeing you for more. There are four other endings -- two I will not be showing: the Dragon's Claw and the West Wind Sword produce different endings, but I am not going to replay the game just to show off those two endings.

Next time: You too can be saved! Repent ye sinner! Wash away thy sins! Repent!
Death count: ~82 (~12x longsword, 1x staff, 1x Dragon Slayer, 1x Were Slayer, 1x dagger, 1x shuriken, 1x mace +1, ~4x molito, 13x makanito, 1x litokan, 7x lakanito, 1x lahalito, 1x dalto, 1x badi, ~7x mahalito, ~3x halito, 4x tiltowait, 1x teleported into rock, 2x entrapment, 3x mines, 4x Trebor, 1x theft, 1x falling damage, 1x item loss, 1x Karl Maudlin, 2x Hell, 1x cage, 1x sacrificed to Kadorto, ~7x unknown).

I hope that's the bad ending. Knowing this game, though, it's probably the best ending.

Please let me be the first to say thank you for that; I don't think the forum could stand the collective guilt if you played the game two more times just to show us those.

Yeah, the smart thing to do would be to use a hacking tool or something to give yourself those swords and plot triggers instead.

Hacking Wizardry I through Wizardry III is well-documented and I could do it easily, but I'm pretty sure Wizardry IV would be more of a challenge than the shared engine implies.

But I think the smartest thing to do would have been to not play the game in the first place. ... But it's far too late for that.

"A strange game. The only winning move is not to play."

Poor Werdna. I was hoping for a better ending for him.

Have you played Wizardry 1?

Werdna deserves a worse punishment. Like being forced to play this game. Asema, however, doesn't deserve to have to play this game.

Nope, care to elaborate?

Er... Well, without spoiling anything, it's quite a fair bit more forgiving than IV to be sure, but it's no cake walk. It has the same air of unnecessary cruelty about it, including not being able to use the Inn to recover too often, lest your characters die of old age. Presumably, all the incredible jerk moves throughout the dungeon like the fact that there's an elevator to the lower levels on the first floor that you probably won't find because it's in a dark zone are all Werdna's doing. Never mind the standard dungeon crawler fare of dark zones, invisible teleporters, and equally invisible holes in the floor.

Though, honestly, I guess going, "Wah, Wizardry's too hard for my coddled modern gamer brain," in a thread about Wizardry IV is a little... out of place.

... I guess the only punishment Werdna deserves is playing the game his vaguely evil actions caused.

As a side note, I'm completely qualified to talk about Wizardry 1's difficulty seeing as I definitely beat it and certainly did give up part way through!

...

I'm just going to sit over here with my embarrassment hat on for actually being called out on a question I didn't expect a response to.

The thing that really sets Wizardry I apart from other dungeon crawlers, especially of the time, is the insane proliferation of instant kills. Sure, Wizardry IV has more, way more, and they get you way more often (see my Makanito death count), but decapitating enemies mean a character dies, and a character dying means you have to cart them to the temple and burn gold to try to raise them. If nothing else, Wizardry IV is at least forgiving... most of the time.

Regarding using the inn to recover, I figure most people figured out pretty quickly might as well just keep going up and down the castle stairs to recover your spells and just keep casting healing spells that way. Saves money and aging. Adventurer's inn should only be used for leveling up...

Bonus update!



By casting Malor down to the Temple of the Dreampainter and dropping the East Wind Sword, Werdna can obtain the two other divine swords. With this in mind, during each of the next two ending paths I will be displaying before the end of the Let's Play, I will also show off one of the two remaining evil endings.

That is great.

This has been a really interesting LP; I've enjoyed reading it.

The game is obviously outrageously difficult and cruel, but it also has a lot of interesting ideas: playing as the evil wizard, escaping upwards through the dungeon to the town, the roving parties of "do-gooders", the integration of the game mechanics into the puzzles (like recruiting a priest to cast the light spell). I mean, I wouldn't want to ever subject myself to actually playing it, but it was interesting to read about. And I enjoy the '80 PCs game humor

Thanks for fighting through it on our behalf, Asema. I'm looking forward to seeing the other endings

But, geez, that 3 doors puzzle isn't nearly as hard as you guys were making it out to be. The game even says outright that you're looking for the door with the lady!

*fyi*