How to Use the Wiz8SpellAbility Spreadsheet
(Non-Excel Version)

The link to download the file is located at the end of this document. The aim of this non-Excel version of the Wiz8SpellAbility spreadsheet is to replicate as much of the functionality of the original as possible whilst not using any Excel-only features in order to make it useable to any spreadsheet application. These pages here give a run down on these changes. I ask you to please read through this prior to using the file to familiarise yourself with these differences. All screenshots shown here are from Sun MicroSystem's OpenOffice application package. Whilst it may not be as "pretty" as using Microsoft's Excel application, OpenOffice is available for FREE, making it far more accessible. You can download OpenOffice from here, the download size ranges from 64 to 87Mb depending in your O/S, there's support for Windows, Linux and Solaris. If you want to know more about how spell availability is calculated, refer to here for all the details.

[Data Entry] Sheet

Below is an sample of the character profession/s and skill entry section of the [Data Entry] sheet when you first open the spreadsheet: Enter in the character's name, profession and level. When entering a profession, only the following values will be accepted and if not entered exactly as shown (without the quotes), an error will display; "Alchemist", "Bard", "Bishop", "Fighter", "Gadgeteer", "Lord", "Mage", "Monk", "Ninja", "Priest", "Psionic", "Ranger", "Rogue", "Samurai" or "Valkyrie" If you do change the profession of your character, all you need do is enter the profession and enter the number of levels achieved in the next available profession box. This would then look something like the example below: Note: If you are unsure of how many levels a character has in each profession, go to the Inventory screen of the character and left-click and hold the mouse-button down on the character's current profession. In the example below, this Level 29 character has 23 levels as a Mage and 6 levels as a Bishop: ** Important Notes ** Whilst it doesn't matter in which order you specify the professions, I'd recommend you use the first profession box for the first profession the character had, the second for the second and so forth. Each profession can only be selected once in the spreadsheet. An error will be shown if two profession selections are the same and the results of the other sheets will be grossly inaccurate. In the case of a character that is profession changing back to a previously held profession, simply keep incrementing the level of the existing appropriate profession box. This is the same way as the game handles it. Wizardry 8 only allows a character to reach Level 50. An error will be displayed if the totals of the "active" profesion levels exceed this limit. In the unlikely event of you having a character with more than three unique professions, omit non-spellcaster professions as they have no bearing on spell learning. If sufficient numbers of people write to me requesting for handling of more than three unique professions, I'll look into it some more. ** Spell Learning ** When the spellcaster learns a spell, you can mark the spell as learnt in the spreadsheet as well. This helps highlight which spells the spellcaster can learn, but hasn't, which is very useful when visiting merchants who sell spellbooks or finding one during the parties travels on Dominus. All the spells are divided into their spell realms; Air, Divine, Earth, Fire, Mental and Water and sorted so they are listed in the same order as what is shown on the 'Magic' screen in Wiz8. Only the spells available for the character to learn are shown, the rest are "hidden" until the spellcaster becomes able to learn the spell. Initially, when a "fresh" copy of the spreadsheet is opened, all the "spells learnt?" are set to false, signified with a capital "F". This is shown in the example below: When a spell is learnt, change the appropriate cell to a captial "T" to indicate that it is now true that the spell has been learnt.

[Availability] Sheet

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Example of an [Availability] sheet: The wording used in the Availability column beside each spell entry on the [Availability] sheet may need a little bit of explaining. One of the six following statements will be shown and is detailed below: "Only masters of Mastery Skill can learn this spell" The spell is only available to characters with a profession in the specified Mastery Skill/s. "Have to be Level X or greater to learn this spell" Only shown for single profession characters. It means the character needs to reach the specified level before the spell becomes available to be learnt. The value of X changes depending on the level of the spell and whether the selected profession is a hybrid or pure spellcaster. "Need X more level/s in a Mastery profession before spell can be learnt" Only shown for characters with multiple professions. It means the character needs to gain the specified number of levels in the specified Mastery profession/s before the spell becomes available to be learnt. The value of X changes whenever a level is added to a profession that the spell needs. Note: Hybrid spellcasters do not gain any levels towards spell learning until their fifth level. So the value of X will not change for their first four levels if the spell is in the appropriate spell book. "Require X more point/s (highest Mastery skill of M + 10% of Realm skill [R] = Y, need Z" Providing the character has sufficient levels to qualify for access to the level of the spell, each level of spell requires an increasing number of skill points before the spell can actually be learnt. The value of Z specifies the amount of skill points required, the value of Y is the current number of skill points the character has. This is calculated by taking the highest Mastery skill of the spell book/s the spell appears in (M), and adding 10% of the spells realm (R). The value of X is the difference between Y and Z. "This spell is available to be learnt" All the criteria have been met for learning of the spell, the spell can be learnt immediately by finding/buying a spellbook or will be available as a spell pick at the next level-up. "This spell has been learnt" You've marked the spell as learnt on the [Data Entry] screen.

Terminology

Spellcaster: A profession which can learn and use spells. Pure Spellcaster: A profession that specialises in casting spells. These are Alchemist, Bishop, Mage, Priest, and Psionic. Hybrid Spellcaster: A profession that has a mixture of fighting and spell casting abilities. These are Lord, Monk, Ninja, Ranger, Samurai and Valkyrie. Non Spellcaster: A profession with no spell casting abilities. These are Bard, Fighter, Gadgeteer and Rogue (however they are still able to use many spell casting items, especially the Bard's instruments and Gadgeteer's gadgets). Mastery Skill: Refers to the four spell book skills, Wizardry, Alchemy, Psionics and Divinity. Realm Skill: Refers to the six realms in which spells are divided. These are Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Mental and Divine. Mastery Profession: Meaning one of the professions that uses the indicated Mastery Skill.     Wizardry is accessible to Mages, Bishops and Samurai.     Alchemy is accessible to Alchemists, Bishops, Ninjas and Rangers.     Psionics is accessible to Psionics, Bishops and Monks.     Divinity is accessible to Priests, Bishops, Lords and Valkyries. Profession Changed: A character that as changed his or her profession at least once. For example, was created as a Fighter, then later changed to a Samurai. Spellbook: (no space) A book which contains the writings required for a spellcaster to permanently learn a spell. Spell Book: (separated by a space) The four spell books in Wizardry 8. These are Mage, Alchemist, Psionic and Priest.

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	Source: Wolfie (comments to wizardry8@mail.com). Last Update: September 13, 2004.