Wizardry is a Registered Trademark of Sir-Tech, Ltd. and all material with the exception of the RMG guide and related work is copyright 1981-2004 Sir-Tech, Ltd. This guide and the related work is copyright 2004 Real Millennium Group & Backdoor Trot Productions, and not to be reproduced by any means without prior written permission.
FLOOR 1: With the exception of spellcasting monsters, Floor 1 gives you a taste of just about everything that is to come as you explore deeper into the Proving Grounds - You have items to find, Dark Zones to stumble through, secret and one way doors, and a fixed fight zone. There are areas of the floor that are inaccessible until you have the Malor spell, and can transport your party into those locations. This floor is fairly straight forward in it's exploration and you will find the two special items you will need later on relatively quickly. There are two Transport Zones - one located at 9N-5E, and the other in the room at 4N-13E, so if you plan on mapping the Proving Grounds on your own, you need to take care here and use a Dumapic spell after entering those squares - there are no warnings or signs that you have just been transported to another area of the floor. Fortunately, when you enter a TZ, it will always send you to the same exit point, so once you determine a TZ's exit point, you won't have to rely on Dumapic afterwards.
It's relatively quick for your characters to achieve the first few levels of experience just by fighting the monsters that appear in the rooms near the castle stairs. Though these are not fixed fight zones, nearly every time you re-enter this floor, you will have an encounter immediately upon going through the door of one of the rooms. Stick to this area, and the corridors in the Northeast area of the floor, until your characters are at EL 5 or 6. You'll find that once your non- spellcasters have 20-30 HP, and your spellcasters have a complete set of spells for the first 2-3 spell levels, you'll be able to send them off in groups of three or four against the monsters you'll encounter, allowing you to gain ELs faster.
The NES clue book suggests going to fight Murphy's Ghost located in the room at 5N-13E to aid in gaining EL, since that is a forced fight zone and the Ghost has the highest number of EP of any single monster on the floor. However, it does take longer to defeat the Ghost than many of the monsters on lower floors which offer more EP.
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Defeating Murphy's Ghost: This is primarily the job of your fighters. MG has the ability to avoid the affects of spells, so they won't be as effective as a sword. Dilto will raise MG's AC to make it easier to hit, and Mage fire spells (Halito, Molito, and Mahalito), tend to work better than any others. You'll normally encounter at least one MG, but can end up fighting as many as four at one time. Plan on combat taking at least 5-6 rounds for each Ghost you encounter. Overall, Murphy's Ghost is a fairly easy monster to battle and defeat, however, if you do find yourself overmatched at some point, it is affected by the Dispel option available to Priests and Bishops - just remember you get no EP for dispelling monsters. Murphy's Ghost is worth a total of 4446 EP.
Once you have gotten the Key of Silver located at 18N-13E, and the Key of Bronze at 3N-13E, most of what you'll be doing on the Floor is wandering about and fighting the monsters you encounter to beef up on the Experience Points. Once your characters are at EL 8 or 9, and your Priest has the Maporfic, Dialko, and Latumofis spells, it's time to take the stairs to Floor 2.
FLOOR 2: The second floor is fairly similar in terms of exploration as the first one. There are no transport zones or fixed fights to worry about, but there is a pit located at 11N-13E which will cause your characters some big HP damage should you insist on falling in. There are three special items located on this floor and a few spots that are inaccessible unless you have these special items and/or the Keys from FL1. There are a couple of rooms in the center of the floor that can be accessed through the elevator that journeys between the first four floors of the maze. You should also take care when mapping as this game does not locate the stairs between floors on the same relative map co-ordinates as many later CPRG games do.
The monsters on this floor are a bit tougher than those encountered on the upper floor, and low level Mages and Priests are numbered among them. You might have a chance encounter with Creeping Coins which can attack by breathing fire, and the Level 1 Ninjas and Highwaymen like to decapitate party members. Having the Dialko and Latumofis spells are critical unless you like using the exit/reset option often as there are monsters that will paralyze and poison party members during fights. Always make sure to cast the Maporfic spell to help protect your party. The other protection spells will also be necessary during fights until your characters reach double digit EL and can defeat the nastier monsters before they do real harm. You should find some good armor and weapons on this floor, so be sure to have your Bishop identify them and use them accordingly. You may also have the rare chance to find the cursed Short and/or Long Swords, so care should be taken when handling these.
Like the first floor, exploring here is primarily an EL raising goal. Once you have found the Bear Statue at 18N-9E, Frog Statue at 4N-12E, and the Key of Gold in the middle of the Dark Zone (16N-4E), your quest on this floor is complete. Keep fighting monsters here until your characters hit EL 10.
FLOOR 3: If you have gotten pretty adept and comfortable at exploring the first two floors, the third floor is about to change all that. While there's a benefit of not having any forced fights, transport zones, or dark areas - this floor is one of the toughest to explore, even with a map. Not only do all the corridors and rooms look the same, it introduces the "rotation zone" a.k.a. the turn floor. There are no special items to be found, but there are several pits, and many signs leading you in the wrong direction, so the only reason to adventure here is for the EP and treasure. There are a slew of monsters to be encountered, some old - most new, and you will have to fend off more breathing attacks, spells and Critical Hits.
You'll definitely want to make sure your spell casters are fully charged when exploring this floor. You will need Montino, Dialko, Latumofis, and most of all - Dumapic. Once you have a map drawn out of this floor, it will be slightly easier to keep track of your position, but Teleporter traps are fairly common in the treasure chests, and the Rotation Zones will spin your party in a random direction. You'll also want to ignore all the message boards you encounter telling you which way to turn. Since the message never changes, they're useless for the most part, except as a general help in finding your location on the map if you get lost.
A big reason for waiting until your characters are EL 10 before exploring here is the need for mass damage spells. You'll often encounter groups of monsters arranged 2-3 deep, so the ability to wipe out as many as you can in a short amount of time will be useful. On the upside, you'll be able to pick up a lot of EP on this floor, which you'll need since your characters now need tens of thousands of EP to advance Experience Levels. Other than that, try avoid visiting this floor entirely and take the elevator straight to Floor 4 where the EP is easier to come by.
FLOOR 4: After getting through the last floor, this one will seem like a piece of cake. The majority of the floor is inaccessible without the Malor spell. The rest of it is divided up into two sections. The outer wings are reached via the stairs on FL3, and you'll need the Bear Statue to gain access to the rooms where the stairs to FL5 are located. However, the meat of this floor lies in the central corridor which houses the elevator leading from FL1 and a second "express" elevator which takes you to all the lower floors with the exception of FL10. It is in this part of the floor where you are officially given your mission by a bodiless voice presumably belonging to Trebor, and you find the fixed fight zone called the Monster Allocation Center.
Note of Caution: You will find lots of treasure chests and a few goodies while exploring here. However, care
should be taken with any chest equipped with the Teleporter trap. If you will notice on the map, the corridor
of rooms in the Southwest area of the floor has no doorway in or out, therefore, if your party ends up
getting teleported into one of the rooms, you have no way of getting out without the Malor spell.
This is a floor you want to spend some time on just because of that fixed fight zone you will encounter. There's really no need to explore the outer wings since there are no special items to be had, and all you do is wander until an encounter comes up. You need to take the elevator to reach the central corridor, where you can force fights with monsters to your heart's content, get the Blue Ribbon which allows access to the express elevator, and have the fight of your characters' lives at the Allocation Center. Unlike Murphy's Ghost, which appears every time you do a search on FL1, the main group of monsters at the A.C. do not reappear until you exit then re-enter the floor.
After you exit the elevator, go North until you enter the "Testing Grounds Control Center." Upon entering, you will step on a message board that triggers an alarm. When you step off the board, either to the East or West, or enter the room to the North, you will encounter a fight zone. These fight zones are only activated by stepping on the Alarm square. You will find most of the monsters here will be relatively easy to defeat at your current EL, however, keep in mind the special note from the introduction. At some point you will encounter a bunch of Level 3 Ninjas. This is a fight you will have to run from, and if they end up surprising your party at the initial encounter, it's almost a certainty one of your characters is getting beheaded - you will have to use the exit/reset option in that case.
At this point, you don't want to encounter the fixed fight zone at the Allocation Center - your characters aren't strong enough just yet to have an easy go with that battle. It's worth the time to keep forcing battles
at the Alarm square until you can get your characters to reach EL 12 or 13, and/or your Mage has the Tiltowait spell and your Priest has the Malikto spell. Your Samurai and Bishop should have a nice complement of spells for the first 4 spell levels of their books as well, because you're going to need them.
Surviving the Monster Allocation Center: This is one MAC you can tap not only for 11,796 total EP, but you will also be rewarded with the Ring of Death! and the Rod of Flame. Before entering the zone at 14N-12E, make sure your characters are at their full strength, and your Priest has cast Maporfic. You will be faced with 2 Level 7 Fighters, 2 Level 7 Mages, 2 High Priests, and a High Ninja. For the most part, this will be an evenly matched battle - rarely does your party or the monsters surprise one another in the initial encounter. With any luck, you can get this battle over with in the first round of combat with the Tiltowait spell. When issuing orders, have your Fighter and Thief go after the High Ninja. Your Samurai should cast a Katino at the Priests with your Priest and Bishop casting Montino at the two groups of spellcasters. Your Mage, of course, tosses Tiltowait. For the most part, if your characters have strong Attributes, they will get their attacks in first and your Mage will end up wiping out the whole group.
In the event you have to go another round, or want to try different tactics as you re-visit this spot, plan your battle accordingly - make sure the Ninja is killed ASAP and the spellcasters are silenced. Always attack the Fighters last - they are the least dangerous in the group. If you happen to surprise the group, send your Fighter after the Ninja and your Samurai and Thief should attack the Priests. If they surprise you, hope that the Ninja doesn't connect with the CH, and continue as above.
Note of Caution: If one of your characters ends up getting killed, RUN! Do not use the exit/reset option - you will spend way too much time trying to fight your way out of this trouble spot - if you can get out at all. It's better to take any dead characters to the Temple of Cant for resurrection than to fight it out, even at higher ELs. This is where Attributes come into play in the game. The higher your party's Attributes, the better chance they have of making their attacks before the monsters can begin their moves. This is critical when you are up against high level spellcasters and need to silence them before they cast their spells.
After getting through the Monster Allocation Center, you can identify and equip the Rod of Flame to give protection against breathing attacks. DO NOT equip the Ring - it is cursed and very bad. You can sell it to Boltac and receive a hefty sum of gold. Then, immediately head South and get the Blue Ribbon in the room at 10N-11E. After that, head back to the castle to heal and rest up your party. The Monster Allocation Center is the last true fixed fight zone in the maze until you reach Werdna on FL10, so continue to visit this floor for the battles until your characters reach EL 14 or even higher if you desire. After that, your party should be powerful enough to explore Floors 5 through 9. Hold off on going to Floor 10 at this stage of the game, unless you want to finish the Main Quest sooner. If so, click the link for Final Quest & Thoughts. If you want to go the full route and explore every Floor, head on to the next section.
