Fighter

The Fighter (Japanese けんし kenshi, lit. "swordsman") is one of the character classes available to players in the Wizardry series of games. The Fighter has minimal requirements of entry, and is capable of wearing virtually every single kind of weapon and armor in the game. The Fighter is the equivalent in Wizardry of a common fantasy archetype in several role-playing games, the Fighter or Warrior.

Class Description
The Fighter is one of the basic character classes available to players upon character creation. It's the only basic class capable of wearing all kinds of armor, most notably swords, shields, chain and plate armor, between others. A specific aspect of Fighters is their notable increase in hits per turn; while other classes may acquire a second hit after several levels, a Fighter gains a steady increase in hits every 4 levels it gains; this implies that Fighters gain a notable increase in total damage every 4 levels. As well, Fighters normally gain a large amount of Hit Points per level, making them capable of resisting more damage than their peers. Fighters gain an increment in stats that are relevant to physical combat such as Strength and Vitality, while at times receiving penalties in other stats such as Piety and Intellect; this causes Fighters to require several levels and careful monitoring of their stats if they seek to improve to other classes, such as the Samurai or Lord.

Fighters are of the few classes that remain largely unchanged with the passage of the games. Mostly, their only change is on their equipment, which may change with every change in saga.

Llygamyn Saga
In the group of games that compose the Llylgamyn saga (Wizardry I to V, excluding Wizardry IV), the Fighter is one of the easiest classes to access at character creation, with its minimum requirements.

To become a Fighter, the character must achieve the minimum stat requirements:


 * STR 11


 * Any alignment

Comparing with racial stats, Dwarves are the recommended race to become Fighters. Their Strength is one point below the recommended value, and they possess a decent Vitality and Piety stat.

Dark Savant Saga
In the group of games that compose the Dark Savant Saga (Wizardry VI thru VIII), the Fighter gains almost the full suite of Weaponry skills, excluding the use of Hand-to-hand combat. Since the only other skills provided to a Fighter are the skills available to other classes (Scouting, Artifacts, Mythology), Fighters gain a large amount of skill points to place on any weapon they decide, although the basic kit provided to the character in the first two games provide the character with a longsword.

Wizardry 8 introduces perhaps the few trascendental changes to a Fighter, given the complete overhaul of the game system. Fighters in this game, aside from having more requirements than before, have the capability of going berserk, and also a slight chance to knock an opponent down (much like other classes had the capability of killing an opponent with a critical hit, but the Fighter has a less lethal alternative).1

To become a Fighter, the character must achieve the minimum stat requirements (VI & VII/VIII:


 * STR (Strength) 12/55


 * VIT (Vitality) -/50


 * DEX (Dexterity) -/50

The Lizardmen are automatically gifted to become Fighters, as their base Strength stat is already 12. Dwarves also find it easy to enter the Fighter class, since they only require one point to enter. Other races have a moderate Strength rate of 10, so most races can enter Fighter without much problem; only the Elves, the Faerie, and the mammal anthropomorphic races (Felpurr and Rawulf) have difficulties entering, with the Faerie requiring almost 7 points to enter. On Wizardry 8, the Dracon surpass the Lizardmen in their racial requirements to become a Fighter.

Duhan Saga (Tales of the Forsaken Land/Wizardry Alternative)
In Wizardry: Tales of the Forsaken Land (also known as Busin: Wizardry Alternative in Japan) and their sequels, the Fighter (here known as Warrior) remains similar to earlier incarnations of the class. The Fighter has no requirements to enter, given that the Fighter can be of any alignment. Fighters are the only class that cannot learn spells by themselves, but they are capable of using virtually every weapon at their disposal.