Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land - The Abyss (Bonus Dungeon)

Some things you should know about the Abyss:

- The floors are incredibly huge. In fact, one floor is probably as big in area as half of the main game's floors.

- On floor B10, and any floor with a multiple of 10, there is an extremely powerful monster named Nine Tail, the strongest monster in the game. I haven't fought him yet, but I hear that his attacks are incredibly painful, causing up to 400 damage to THE WHOLE PARTY. 

- The treasure chests in the Abyss are randomly generated. They can give you anything from a plain old Cloak to a Queen's Guard Sword (yes, another one). You can get anything from them except for maybe vellums.

- The monsters here are randomly generated, with some new ones. The new ones are incredibly powerful, much more difficult than any enemy you've faced in the main game, and they will require strategy to beat. In fact, your average new enemy is more powerful than the final boss in almost EVERY area. 

- I like to level up moderately strong characters in the Abyss, which is pretty easy because there are a lot of groups of 14 Silver Slimes around. However, I have several characters on Level 99 with about 24 million EXP, and I don't bring in characters unless they're about level 25-30 as a requirement. If your strongest three characters are below level 50-60, you probably should level on B9, just to be safe. You must have a level average of at least 36 to be able to beat Silver Slimes with Rush.

Some requirements for the Abyss:
- Level 40-50 (preferably higher) to last against many of the monsters here.
- Spells such as Poizkea, Parazkea, Will, Fealds, Jakreta and Megadeth are practical requirements, and Carcass and Cathedral are very good spells to have as well.
-You should definitely have Level 8 Trust to maximize your chances in the Abyss.
-Have your front-row characters equipped with a Ceasing Chest Plate, as they will block that infuriating Level Drain attack that some of the monsters here like. If you're incredibly cautious like me, you might want to use Restrict Shot against those monsters as well. Have your back-row magicians equipped with Water Ornaments, which can be dropped from the Necromancers here.
- Make use of Sweep Spell combined with Will religiously when you're in battle, as many of these enemies will destroy you if you're not prepared.
And now for the Optional Dungeon enemies... The enemies that are found in the Abyss! Be sure to be at least level 50 with as much spell mastery as possible before attempting to tackle this dungeon! Hopefully you have the Will Spell on 3-6 of your characters. If not, ride the portal to B10, and go fight either there or B9.

Dragon Zombie
HP: ~850
Offense: 70 (will likely do 40-50 damage a hit)
Defense: 5
Hit Freq: 2
Note: These are frequently found on B10, but I just thought I'd put them here. They have a Fire Breath weapon that can do 50-100 damage at full health. Jerrold Ng incorrectly stated in his walkthrough at GameFAQs that he turns Undead on the second round. The Dragon Zombie has a huge amount of HP for the time he is first met, so I can understand the mistake. But if you reduce all of his HP in the first round, he will still always be left with a small amount of HP until he is hit with a magic  weapon or a spell (spells rarely hit, by the way). In the Abyss, he often comes with a...

Vampire Lord
HP: 666 (?)
Offense: Low (RESTRICT SHOT that shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Defense: 0
Hit Freq: 1 (that's all he needs)
Note: Vampire Lords are one of the most infuriating monsters you will EVER meet. I say ONE of the because the Elder Demon is a regular enemy in the Abyss and can drive the happiest person alive into a nervous breakdown, but I digress. This monster is not much better, but thankfully, if you have a Ceasing Chest Plate, Restrict Shot makes it easier. Otherwise, better start praying. His physical attack usually does only 1 damage, but it's almost guaranteed to drain 5 or more levels if it hits. Jakuld hurts like a bitch, hitting for 60-120 damage to all, but as tempting as Spell Cancel is, Restrict Shot that shit or say goodbye to countless hours of grinding. Double Slash ends his misery swiftly, but only if you either have weapons that can kill Undead, or if you cast Daiba and attack him with all you've got. Just kill him quickly.

Pied Piper
HP: 470
Offense: 50
Defense: 30
Hit Freq: 2
Note: The Pied Piper is a rare occurence in the Dimension World, and slightly rarer in the Abyss. If you don't like the hassle of dealing with Teleporters on B10 for an hour just to get to the Dimension World, go to the Abyss. If you're lucky, or, in some cases, unlucky, you may encounter two. The good news is they give lots of EXP and rarely drop some very useful treasures, such as the Pied Piper's Flute, the Valiant Helmet, and, in EXTREMELY rare cases, the Masamune, a powerful Katana that hits three times, increases Offense by 24, hits often, kills Undeads, and, although I don't condone risking such a rare item, can cast Cathedral. There is only one weapon more powerful than this, and the Shogun very, very, *VERY* rarely drops it.

The bad news lies in their abilities. They can whack you with their flute twice, making a notable, fairly creepy, high-pitched laugh as they lunge at you, and whacking you again with an equally creepy, high-pitched yell. This does little more than invoke a kind of reactive laugh from the player, either out of amusement, annoyance, or being weirded out. They can do Cold Breath, which does some damage, but nothing that can't be healed. Their true ability is the ability to inflict Piper status on your team, making your teammates go insane and attack EACH OTHER. Essentially, it works like the Confuse status in 99% of all other JRPGs. I never saw it work, but watch out, because your team may end up killing themselves. Pied Pipers are really easy to kill, but only if you kill them before they use Piper.


Berserker
HP: 450-500
Offense: 90 (will likely do 50-70 damage a hit)
Defense: 20
Hit Freq: 4 (just a preview of how bad enemies here are)

Shogun
HP: ~600
Offense: 127 (will likely do around 100 damage a hit, may insta-kill)
Defense: 20
Hit Freq: 4
Note: The Shoguns are almost exactly like the Berserkers, with one new trick: They have a moderately-high chance of insta-killing you with their attacks. They have another advantage (for you, anyway...) in that they can cast Jakreta for 20-40 damage (LOL!!!). Like all other Samurai of lower ranks, they may drop a powerful katana when defeated. Actually, although this is very, very, *VERY* rare, they drop the best weapon BY FAR in the game, the Muramasa, a sword that hits enemies for 100 damage WITHOUT taking your base stats into account. Not only that, it hits twice! Equip this on your best Samurai and you will be able to severely damage even the most robust enemies in the game.

Fuma Ninja
HP: 350-400
Offense: 120 (will likely do around 90-100 damage a hit, probably WILL insta-kill)
Defense: 20
Hit Freq: 4
Note: The Fuma Ninja are the strongest Ninja in the world of Wizardry, and like many enemies here, if they don't kill a character, they will severely damage him/her. Having dealt with many Ninja-type monsters by now, you likely know that these enemies MUST die quickly, and in some horrible fashion. These monsters may drop the Shinobi Shuriken when defeated. The Shinobi Shuriken is the best Shuriken-type weapon in the game, with an attack value of 6, and allows a Ninja to hit four times, likely insta-killing the targeted monster.

Necromancer
HP: 200-220
Offense: Unknown (Why attack when you just cast Megadeth?)
Defense: 20
Hit Freq: 1
Note: These are the ultimate Mages, and they show their prowess by throwing Megadeth spells at you at the slightest opportunity. Level 8 Trust will be a godsend here, as it will let you block spells twice with Spell Cancel. They can probably be taken care of by your own Megadeth spells... At least they don't block mine. One more note: If you get two of them alongside each other, you had better Spell Cancel NOW, or they will use Assisted Megadeth and your party will get Hiroshima'd up, losing anywhere from 300 to 600 hit points APIECE. They often drop the Water Ornament, an Accessory that prevents all status changes (can still get insta-killed though, I think). Only the Sorcerer, the Priest and the Bishop can equip this powerful item.

Spiral Beetle
HP: 225-250
Offense: 90 (will do around 60 damage)
Defense: 20
Hit Freq: 1 (luckily)
Note: These enemies are like nearly every other new monster in the Abyss in that they're deadly. These monsters typically come in huge groups, and they can decimate you if you let your guard down for a second. Luckily, Assisted Jakreta or Megadeth makes quick work of these critters. Unless your levels are VERY high, don't risk using Rush, because they CAN kill a character if they gang up.

Gold Dragon
HP: 5,500-6,000
Offense: 130 (will do around 100 damage a hit)
Defense: 5
Hit Freq: 3
Notes: Has the Cold Breath weapon that will do up to 500 damage to all party members, so use Deploy frequently! He can also paralyze you with his physical attack if you're unlucky. His physical attacks HURT, but this is a monster that you WANT to use physical attacks instead of Breath Attacks on you. These enemies cannot be insta-killed, so if you want to fight them, you'll have to use Daiba a LOT and Double Slash until you kill it. If you managed to get Orphe and Aoba in the main game, you can use Warp Attack.

Copper Dragon
HP: ~2,300
Offense: 130 (will do around 100 damage a hit)
Defense: 70
Hit Freq: 3
Notes: Has the Thunder Breath weapon that will do up to 300 damage to all party members, so use Deploy frequently! He can also paralyze you with his physical attack. His physical attacks HURT, but this is a monster that you WANT to use physical attacks instead of Breath Attacks on you. Fortunately, these enemies are fairly susceptible to being insta-killed, which is a very good thing if you want to fight him.
Spell Demon
HP: 1,500
Offense: 40 (will do up to 10 damage a hit)
Defense: 50
Evade: 10
Hit Freq: 3Notes: These enemies are extremely annoying to fight. It's not because of their potential damage output, although it does add up, but instead because of their very high HP values. They can cast Zakuld for up to 50 damage to one row of characters, but that's not too bad. Their physical attacks are highly weak, but can cause some nasty side effects, namely poison, paralysis, and petrification.

Elder Demon
HP: ~2,000
Offense: 127 (will do up to 100 damage a hit, along with various status effects)
Defense: 50
Hit Freq: 4
Notes: Your worst nightmare in this game... His attacks can do a variety of status effects on you, such as paralysis, petrification, instant death, and worst of all, LEVEL DRAIN!!! His attacks can drain up to 8-12 levels from his target if you're extremely unlucky, effectively siphoning millions of hard earned experience points from that character!!! I would strongly suggest resetting if you get your levels drained by him to save yourself extreme frustration and anger. One other tactic is to have the Ceasing Chest Plate equipped on your front-row characters, and either the Ceasing Chest Plate or Water Ornament on your back-row characters. These are two of only three items that prevent Level Drain, and THEY ARE A REQUIREMENT if you want to fight an Elder Demon without getting your levels drained. The third item, the Knight's Helmet, prevents status changes, and should be equipped if you have a Knight. 

If you have a party with level 99 characters in it like I do, and you're an EXP whore like me, you want to do whatever it takes to protect any extra EXP you obtain, and if you get hit with Level Drain, you not only drop your level, your EXP will be dropped to whatever experience would be needed to reach the level you were dropped to. To make things worse, you lose massive amounts of your statistics... you lose around 20-30 HP per level lost, as well as 1-3 of every stat (Power, Wisdom, Faith, Life, Luck, Agility) per level lost. To have your level dropped is infinitely worse than dying in this game... Hell, the only thing worse than Level Drain is a character with the Lost status, and, possibly Ash status, as you realize that one screwed up revival and you lose that character forever.

Nine Tail
HP: ~3,500-4,000
Offense: 127? (will likely inflict around 100 damage a hit)
Defense: 40
Hit Freq: 4
This is the bonus boss of The Abyss. He has very powerful magic, such as Megadeth, Jakuld, and Stigma, and a cold breath attack that can do over 400 damage if he is at full health. Deploy is a requirement in every round of this battle, as his breath attack is by far the most dangerous attack in this battle. Using Spell Cancel or Restrict Shot would help a lot, as well, but if your party is at least level 45-50, you may be able to get away with devoting your second Allied Action to Double Slash or Warp Attack. His physical attack is apparently very deadly, but I beat him before I could see what it was capable of doing, so I'm just guessing on his stats. He has about the same HP as Bu'shin, and has far more potential to cause damage, but has a good deal less staying power due to his low defense. In any case, Daiba is highly recommended to make the fight go by quicker, and the Will spell is practically a requirement on at least three characters to make sure you get out of this fight OK. It should take anywhere from 6-8 rounds to beat him without healing and without Muramasa, 3-5 with at least one Muramasa Katana, and 8-10 if you have to do some extensive healing. You will gain 40,000 EXP and 50,000 Gold, but nothing else other than the satisfaction of beating him. 

He is on the 10th floor of the Abyss, and every 10th floor after that, but fighting him is always optional... You can go down to Floor 11 without ever meeting him. To find him, you have to search for him. If you open a door, and find yourself in a highly decorated Japanese shrine with a ball of light in front of it, you are three steps away from fighting Nine Tail. Prepare yourself accordingly, or just turn around and walk back out if you don't feel like fighting him.

Apparently, you can fight boss monsters in the Abyss, like Incubus, Flesh Golem, etc, although such occurrences are extremely rare. I'll have to find out about this later at some point.