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Duel2 :: View topic - 2018 Fall MI
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One Armed Bandit
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Joined: Apr 15, 2004
Posts: 2954

PostPosted: Sat Nov 03, 2018 6:14 pm Reply with quoteBack to top

Contenders

When I talk about my "hopeful" in this class, I'm using the word very loosely. I have an AB and a LU competing, but the warrior I'm most excited about is this one:

DECK SWAB (18-2148) of SEA DOGS (1782) [121-143-3,126,297FE], will fight Contenders.
He is a basher with ST=25(12) CN=25(19) SZ=8 WT=25(4) WL=25(12) SP=17(4) DF=20(10).
He is right handed, has an intellect of unearthly proportions, is incredibly quick and active, is very highly coordinated, has awesome endurance, can withstand almost any amount of punishment, can carry almost limitless weight, is incredibly quick and elusive, does awesome damage, has a Grandmaster in initiative, has a Grandmaster in riposte, has an Archmaster in attack, has a Grandmaster in parry, has a Grandmaster in defense, has a Grandmaster in decisiveness, favors the greatsword, favors a high offensive effort, favors a low activity level, uses the decisive tactic well, and preferentially learns initiative.

I started him at a demo tourney at Origins in the early 90s, and I used that team to start fighting in my second arena. He was runner-up in the demo tourney to my WS, YELLOWBEARD, who is long retired in Home Guard. 21 WT warriors were still very rare to me, and I thought DECK SWAB was awesome. He tore up the arena with all of his extra demo tourney FE, but this was before I timed warriors for tournies so a good basic arena record was all he would ever earn.

As one of my first ADM warriors, he learned the full 120 skills, and then learned almost every one of his gateway skills as my one of my first Primus warriors. I trained some SP along the way, for good measure, simply because they were easy trains.

I wanted to get someone to Primus class to compete with HOT for stylemaster prizes, so I reactivated DECK SWAB and got him to the Contenders line. I'm not 100% sure how many total skills he had as of the ADM freeze, but I think it was a hair over 300. He picked up DF to 21 after the ADM freeze, and then DF to 22 on the 3rd post-freeze turn, putting him at roughly 315 skills. Not only that, but he hit 300 FE on the final arena turn before the tourney, and will be training DF during the tourney.

Will he even make it past round 5? I honestly don't know. His style, his poor training and learning, and his weapon are all major hindrances. But I'd have to think that a BA with 315-330 total skills (depending on if he hits any more DF trains during the tourney) has a chance against the imperfect warriors that populate Contenders.

In many ways, though, DECK SWAB is like an old friend who has come to visit. No matter what happens, it will be enjoyable.
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gentleben
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 04, 2018 5:48 am Reply with quoteBack to top

That soundd awesome, OAB. Good luck with him

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Vladimer
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Joined: Jul 15, 2014
Posts: 191

PostPosted: Sun Nov 04, 2018 12:35 pm Reply with quoteBack to top

My goals this tourney are to:

1. Better my 52.66% W/L record from the July FTF. I break it out to two digits because of the miniscule improvement from April’s 52.09%. I may need those extra digits!
2. Achieve a 10% Award status.
3. Achieve a 10 wins or better average for my award winners. April was 10.4 and July was spot on 10.
4. Beat a Floyd warrior in the runoffs. This would, of course, require actually getting to the runoffs.

I think the biggest question I struggle with is: Where? Where in the world are 7.6 TVs going to come from? I sent 76 brave souls to the contest, then sent a last minute extra one for lucky 77, then lost one at the next last minute to an overly zealous preacher man (He did, after all, kill Darwin, so that kinda makes sense). So, back to 76 total. 7.6 TVs to be cool. To be respected and admired by my fellow managers, and to be able to get back in to my favorite Jasper Gulch restaurants. Well, at least the latter.

Since there are, as Jerman pointed out to me, effectively two tourneys, I guess I can look at it with that lens. I sent 20 dead and 56 live. That makes looking at this a bit easier.

The Dead:

Ok, so I need two TVs from the dead. Perhaps a challenging ask since I’ve never had one in the four dead tourneys since I returned. But I’ve been more selective this time and, out of 20 entered, 10 are actually on a FE breakpoint. So it probably makes sense to look there first. Here are my top picks to TV:

1. 4FE], will fight Dead apprentices. He was a wall of steel with ST=17 CN=11(1) SZ=3 WT=13 WL=21 SP=7 DF=13. He was right handed, was bright, was slightly uncoordinated, had great endurance, could carry a good amount of weight, was incredibly quick and elusive, did great damage, and had an Advanced Expert in attack. I’m terrible with WS’s but did just manage a TV with one, so hope springs eternal.

2. 27FE], will fight Dead champions. She was a lunger with ST=11(1) CN=9(2) SZ=13 WT=21 WL=17 SP=5 DF=11. She was left handed, was a genius, was very quick and active, was clumsy, could not carry a lot of weight, was incredibly quick and elusive, did good damage, had a Master in initiative, had an Advanced Expert in riposte, had an Advanced Expert in attack, had a Master in defense, and had an Expert in decisiveness. Despite not being at a breakpoint, I’m hopeful the MA DEF helps him get to 8 wins!

3. 20FE], will fight Dead adepts. She was an aimed blow with ST=5(1) CN=6 SZ=16 WT=21 WL=17 SP=3 DF=17. She was right handed, was a genius, was quick and active, was slightly uncoordinated, had poor endurance, could not take a lot of punishment, could carry very little weight, was incredibly quick and elusive, did good damage, had a Master in attack, had an Expert in parry, and had an Advanced Expert in defense. A good cross between a sentimental fave and someone that might have enough in the tank to TV.

The Living:

I need six TVs from the amongst the living. I only entered Champs on down, so just five classes to dream big on:

Champs:

Only five entered here – well four, now, thanks to Darque -- and no standouts so I guess I’ll pick a drinking lunger with a Defense problem that went deep in rooks: 30FE], will fight Champions. He is a lunger with ST=12 CN=10(1) SZ=7 WT=17 WL=21 SP=7 DF=11. He is right handed, is very intelligent, is very active, is slightly uncoordinated, has a good endurance, is incredibly quick and elusive, does good damage, has a Master in initiative, has an Advanced Expert in attack, has a Master in defense, and has an Expert in decisiveness.

Adepts:

On paper, this is my strongest class. Five entries, including a former TC and three others who went deep in earlier tourneys. That said, for some reason I can’t get my head around the idea of TCing with any of these warriors in this class. Now, TVing on the other hand… I think I can accept that concept!

I believe I need two TVs here to hit six living – a bold ask given I am only entering 5, and one of which is a TWIX warrior – but I’m going to go with:

1. An AB with AMAS in ATT, MAS in DEF, ADEX in RIP and EX in PAR. Two previous tourneys for this warrior provided an 0-3 and an 11-3. So anyone’s guess is probably good here.

2. A ST with MAS DEC / ATT, ADEX INIT and EX RIP.

Inits:

One the left, I have 13 warriors to pick from here so you’d think there’s a decent chance. On the right, excepting a couple scum, there’s only two TVs among the rest of the bunch. The two scum are only there to hopefully slow a few of the more offensive warriors down a bit; however, given how much of an AB-fest tourneys are, there is a statistically-indistinguishable-from-zero chance of a TV from those two. So that leaves 11. And I figure I need a single TV in this class.

Of the eleven, there are a couple experiments of sorts. For example, a N/R BA that’s at least +10, including +4 INI and ATT. And a PS that, well, enough said there. There’s a LU with ADEX ATT, and EX INI and DEF that might do ok. However, given that five of the eleven are strikers, I think it makes the most sense to rely on one of them for a TV. Four of the five are ADEX DEC, so I hope that helps in the early rounds.

Ultimately, I think the 17-5-4-21-15-9-13 N/G ST with ADEX DEC, EX ATT & DEF, and an affinity for the GA is my best shot here. As a runner up, I’ll throw out a 17-12-7-21-7-3-17 N/G PR that TV’d rooks.

Apps:

17 warriors here, and ~ 75% of them are AB/ST/LU. On paper, that should up one’s TV chances. I dunno. Since Apps can be loosely defined as those who didn’t excel in rooks, it’s so tough to tell.

Certes, there are ones that I would hope could do well. For example, a G/G LU that is bonused in endurance and damage, as well as +4 ATT (ADEX) and +4 DEF (EX). But he only managed 3-3 in rooks, so hard to say.

I guess if I had to pick, it would be a 13-9-6-21-10-10-15 P/G ST with ADEX DEC who’s learning 3.5 skills per FE. Runner up would be the LU above. The bronze would go to a nice offensive TP who managed 5-3 in rooks, including four wins against ABs.

Rooks:

16 warriors entered here; however, six of them are LUs and, well, none of these are REM fans. So not expecting much on that front. That said, we’re only looking for a single TV here so perhaps I shouldn’t rule them out completely. For example, I mentioned above having a LU in Inits who was ADEX ATT, EX INI and DEF. It stands to reason that my rooks LU with ADEX ATT, EX INI and DEF should have a shot. But he’ll probably die on round one, so I need a surer option.

Ultimately, the physical warriors seem to be a safer bet for rooks. To that end, I would champion my plate-wearing, high con, BA-wielding WS to have a decent shot at a TV. He is modeled after my first WS TV from July who went 10-3 in rooks. On the down side, the format of the tourney makes it easier for opponents to alter strategy to defeat this sort of warrior. But, looking across the non-LUs, he seems to be the safest shot.

In conclusion:

That’s my plan and I’m sticking to it. One thing I will absolutely be doing again this mailer is reading and recording at the same time. It’s heightened and elongated my enjoyment significantly to encapsulate more of the weekend. I think it also forces me to look more critically at what worked and what didn’t as I record. That means going to bed Friday night having no idea how I did in the dead, rooks and, perhaps, apps.

I hope everyone finds the tourney enjoyable.
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Vladimer
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 04, 2018 12:41 pm Reply with quoteBack to top

My goals this tourney are to:

1. Better my 52.66% W/L record from the July FTF. I break it out to two digits because of the miniscule improvement from April’s 52.09%. I may need those extra digits!
2. Achieve a 10% Award status.
3. Achieve a 10 wins or better average for my award winners. April was 10.4 and July was spot on 10.
4. Beat a Floyd warrior in the runoffs. This would, of course, require actually getting to the runoffs.

I think the biggest question I struggle with is: Where? Where in the world are 7.6 TVs going to come from? I sent 76 brave souls to the contest, then sent a last minute extra one for lucky 77, then lost one at the next last minute to an overly zealous preacher man (He did, after all, kill Darwin, so that kinda makes sense). So, back to 76 total. 7.6 TVs to be cool. To be respected and admired by my fellow managers, and to be able to get back in to my favorite Jasper Gulch restaurants. Well, at least the latter.

Since there are, as Jerman pointed out to me, effectively two tourneys, I guess I can look at it with that lens. I sent 20 dead and 56 live. That makes looking at this a bit easier.

The Dead:

Ok, so I need two TVs from the dead. Perhaps a challenging ask since I’ve never had one in the four dead tourneys since I returned. But I’ve been more selective this time and, out of 20 entered, 10 are actually on a FE breakpoint. So it probably makes sense to look there first. Here are my top picks to TV:

1. 4FE], will fight Dead apprentices. He was a wall of steel with ST=17 CN=11(1) SZ=3 WT=13 WL=21 SP=7 DF=13. He was right handed, was bright, was slightly uncoordinated, had great endurance, could carry a good amount of weight, was incredibly quick and elusive, did great damage, and had an Advanced Expert in attack. I’m terrible with WS’s but did just manage a TV with one, so hope springs eternal.

2. 27FE], will fight Dead champions. She was a lunger with ST=11(1) CN=9(2) SZ=13 WT=21 WL=17 SP=5 DF=11. She was left handed, was a genius, was very quick and active, was clumsy, could not carry a lot of weight, was incredibly quick and elusive, did good damage, had a Master in initiative, had an Advanced Expert in riposte, had an Advanced Expert in attack, had a Master in defense, and had an Expert in decisiveness. Despite not being at a breakpoint, I’m hopeful the MA DEF helps him get to 8 wins!

3. 20FE], will fight Dead adepts. She was an aimed blow with ST=5(1) CN=6 SZ=16 WT=21 WL=17 SP=3 DF=17. She was right handed, was a genius, was quick and active, was slightly uncoordinated, had poor endurance, could not take a lot of punishment, could carry very little weight, was incredibly quick and elusive, did good damage, had a Master in attack, had an Expert in parry, and had an Advanced Expert in defense. A good cross between a sentimental fave and someone that might have enough in the tank to TV.

The Living:

I need six TVs from the amongst the living. I only entered Champs on down, so just five classes to dream big on:

Champs:

Only five entered here – well four, now, thanks to Darque -- and no standouts so I guess I’ll pick a drinking lunger with a Defense problem that went deep in rooks: 30FE], will fight Champions. He is a lunger with ST=12 CN=10(1) SZ=7 WT=17 WL=21 SP=7 DF=11. He is right handed, is very intelligent, is very active, is slightly uncoordinated, has a good endurance, is incredibly quick and elusive, does good damage, has a Master in initiative, has an Advanced Expert in attack, has a Master in defense, and has an Expert in decisiveness.

Adepts:

On paper, this is my strongest class. Five entries, including a former TC and three others who went deep in earlier tourneys. That said, for some reason I can’t get my head around the idea of TCing with any of these warriors in this class. Now, TVing on the other hand… I think I can accept that concept!

I believe I need two TVs here to hit six living – a bold ask given I am only entering 5, and one of which is a TWIX warrior – but I’m going to go with:

1. An AB with AMAS in ATT, MAS in DEF, ADEX in RIP and EX in PAR. Two previous tourneys for this warrior provided an 0-3 and an 11-3. So anyone’s guess is probably good here.

2. A ST with MAS DEC / ATT, ADEX INIT and EX RIP.

Inits:

One the left, I have 13 warriors to pick from here so you’d think there’s a decent chance. On the right, excepting a couple scum, there’s only two TVs among the rest of the bunch. The two scum are only there to hopefully slow a few of the more offensive warriors down a bit; however, given how much of an AB-fest tourneys are, there is a statistically-indistinguishable-from-zero chance of a TV from those two. So that leaves 11. And I figure I need a single TV in this class.

Of the eleven, there are a couple experiments of sorts. For example, a N/R BA that’s at least +10, including +4 INI and ATT. And a PS that, well, enough said there. There’s a LU with ADEX ATT, and EX INI and DEF that might do ok. However, given that five of the eleven are strikers, I think it makes the most sense to rely on one of them for a TV. Four of the five are ADEX DEC, so I hope that helps in the early rounds.

Ultimately, I think the 17-5-4-21-15-9-13 N/G ST with ADEX DEC, EX ATT & DEF, and an affinity for the GA is my best shot here. As a runner up, I’ll throw out a 17-12-7-21-7-3-17 N/G PR that TV’d rooks.

Apps:

17 warriors here, and ~ 75% of them are AB/ST/LU. On paper, that should up one’s TV chances. I dunno. Since Apps can be loosely defined as those who didn’t excel in rooks, it’s so tough to tell.

Certes, there are ones that I would hope could do well. For example, a G/G LU that is bonused in endurance and damage, as well as +4 ATT (ADEX) and +4 DEF (EX). But he only managed 3-3 in rooks, so hard to say.

I guess if I had to pick, it would be a 13-9-6-21-10-10-15 P/G ST with ADEX DEC who’s learning 3.5 skills per FE. Runner up would be the LU above. The bronze would go to a nice offensive TP who managed 5-3 in rooks, including four wins against ABs.

Rooks:

16 warriors entered here; however, six of them are LUs and, well, none of these are REM fans. So not expecting much on that front. That said, we’re only looking for a single TV here so perhaps I shouldn’t rule them out completely. For example, I mentioned above having a LU in Inits who was ADEX ATT, EX INI and DEF. It stands to reason that my rooks LU with ADEX ATT, EX INI and DEF should have a shot. But he’ll probably die on round one, so I need a surer option.

Ultimately, the physical warriors seem to be a safer bet for rooks. To that end, I would champion my plate-wearing, high con, BA-wielding WS to have a decent shot at a TV. He is modeled after my first WS TV from July who went 10-3 in rooks. On the down side, the format of the tourney makes it easier for opponents to alter strategy to defeat this sort of warrior. But, looking across the non-LUs, he seems to be the safest shot.

In conclusion:

That’s my plan and I’m sticking to it. One thing I will absolutely be doing again this mailer is reading and recording at the same time. It’s heightened and elongated my enjoyment significantly to encapsulate more of the weekend. I think it also forces me to look more critically at what worked and what didn’t as I record. That means going to bed Friday night having no idea how I did in the dead, rooks and, perhaps, apps.

I hope everyone finds the tourney enjoyable.
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One Armed Bandit
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 04, 2018 5:43 pm Reply with quoteBack to top

I have a double-21 bust-out in each of the next two classes, but they have challenging fighting styles. Its hard to be too optimistic about your chances in ADM classes when you aren't running an AB, or at least a LU.

Eligibles

I'm busting a +4 Attack 21-21 PL in this class, created from the 8-8-5-21-21-10-11 roll-up:

VAMPIRE SQUID (35-4115) of SEA DOGS (2203) [48-86-0,181,164FE], will fight Eligibles.
He is a parry-lunge with ST=24(16) CN=17(9) SZ=5 WT=21 WL=21 SP=10 DF=11.
He is ambidextrous, is a genius, is active, has awesome endurance, can take tremendous amounts of damage, can carry almost limitless weight, is incredibly quick and elusive, does tremendous damage, has an Advanced Master in initiative, has an Advanced Expert in riposte, has a Grandmaster in attack, has an Advanced Master in parry, has a Master in defense, has an Advanced Master in decisiveness, favors the short spear, favors a high offensive effort, favors a high activity level, uses the dodge tactic well, and preferentially learns decisiveness.

As you might be able to tell from this warrior's record, its been a tough road getting here. First, I had to use a resurrection potion to bring VAMPIRE SQUID back from the dead and graduate him. Then, it took me a long time to figure out this warriors favorite numbers. I started with the most optimistic scenario, 8-8, then tried 7-8, then tried 7-7. He finally started doing well when I ran him 8-7, so that is what I'm using for 1+. In Primus, he had a really hard time training out of Good damage, and he got pummeled over and over again by ABs and anyone else who showed up.

So this is the kind of record you get when you set up an 8-8-5-21-21-10-11 PL for Eligibles. He went into the freeze with 206 total skills, and 3 WL trains later he'll be entering the tourney with 218 total skills. He'll be training WT in rounds 1-7, WL in rounds 8-9, and DF in 10+. Hopefully he can train well and last long enough to outskill the other bust-outs in the run-offs, as I'm not optimistic about his style, his knack, or his management.

ADM

I'm busting a +2 Attack 21-21 SL in this class, who began life as a 9-6-9-21-21-10-8 replacement:

ANGEL CAKE (45-4737) of SHEWISH BUFFET (7066) [58-35-1,204,105FE], will fight Adm.
He is a slasher with ST=18(9) CN=10(4) SZ=9 WT=21 WL=21 SP=10 DF=8.
He is right handed, is a genius, is incredibly quick and active, is slightly uncoordinated, has great endurance, can carry a good amount of weight, is incredibly quick and elusive, does good damage, has an Advanced Master in initiative, has a Master in riposte, has an Advanced Master in attack, has an Advanced Expert in parry, has an Expert in defense, has a Master in decisiveness, favors the scimitar, favors a very high offensive effort, favors a very low activity level, and preferentially learns riposte.

ANGEL CAKE wasn't always +2 Attack. He started out -3 or -4 Attack, and I used a single ZAP potion to fix it. I thought it might turn him into a basic winner, but he never managed a TV. I trained ST for a long time hoping for a lucky damage bump, but eventually decided that it was better to take a shot at ADM, then spend another few years setting up for Eligibles where his style would be a bigger disability. My first SL TC was a good damage 21-21 bust-out in the ADM class, so at least here, I knew it was possible.

He entered the ADM freeze with 175 total skills, and trained WL 3 times going into the tourney for 187 total skills. Like VAMPIRE SQUID, he'll be training WT in rounds 1-7, WL in 8-9, and DF in 10+. Unlike his Eligibles counterpart, ANGEL CAKE starting with an 8 DF gives him what is essentially a triple-21 bust-out. As he'll hit a breakpoint at 9 DF, and a double breakpoint at 11 DF if he lasts long enough to get those trains. Between his big potential bust and his SC favorite, I'm hoping he can overcome his style and Good damage.

Two 21-21 warriors who have never TV'd in their life, have unfavorable style match-ups, and who had pity prizes applied in order to get them this far. Will the long journey be worthwhile for either of them? I'll be interested to find out.
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Darkheart
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PostPosted: Sun Nov 04, 2018 6:56 pm Reply with quoteBack to top

A short breakdown. I'm not the wordsmith the previous posters have proven to be!

Sending in a total of 66. I rather like the prize but typically I focus on the dead and timing in the fall tourney. Doing plenty of that again this year, as seen in the numbers below.

Living Breakdown - 29
Primus -> Rookies 2/1/3/1/1/3/5/2/1/10
AB 5, BA 1, LU 4, PL 1, PR 4, PS 0, SL 2, ST 7, TP 3, WS 2

Hmmm, no PSs here. Plenty of PRs to make up the difference. Guess that happens when you finally TV with arguably the worst style in the game but still need an award from the other. The AD classes are filled with the usual crew. KoP preppers and future busts. I don't expect much here at all. As I said above, I really like the prize so I fired the one bullet I had. Broke down and faxed in my SL who has TVd Challengers class the last two FtFs in a desperate attempt at a TC. I know, highly unlikely. There is the off chance that my zombie/faves AB finds a groove in Challengers to squeak out a TV but I'm not holding my breath there. All of the Adepts are at 15 FE, timing for Tempe. The lone Apprentice is timed but only going to boost her chances in the arena. One or two rookies that I really like but who can predict that class? Predicting a 45% win rate (thank you AD warriors!) with 3 awards.

Dead Breakdown - 37
Challengers -> Apps 8/3/9/6/11
AB 7, BA 2, LU 5, PL 1, PR 3, PS 4, SL 6, ST 7, TP 0, WS 2

I can never figure out the dead. Most of those that came back were complete shockers. Those that I expect to TV were duds. I have a couple of Dead Challengers who could hit 50 FE if they last through round 3. Maybe that helps them get out? One timed Dead Champion SL, who is a former TV winner has a shot of coming home. There are a couple of perfectly timed Dead Adepts, a SL and a ST. Perhaps one of those TVs? A couple of PSs scattered about that I would really like back that don't have a realistic chance. As usual at least a third of the dead are only running because of nostalgia. Of course I'd take them back but......
Predicting a 40% with 2 TVs. Not a stretch considering the garbage I run in this tourney. Dead tourney win %s are ugly since my return, listed most recent first (38%, 38.9%, 49.3%, 30.6%, 46.2%).

Good luck until you face mine!

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One Armed Bandit
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2018 5:22 am Reply with quoteBack to top

Freshmen

I'm running 3 warriors in Freshmen and any of them could go 11 rounds or longer. My favorite is:

CANNED SAVRADESE (7-6311) of SHEWISH PICNIC (1692) [71-56-13,196,139FE], will fight Freshmen.
He is a total parry with ST=24(7) CN=16(6) SZ=8 WT=20(3) WL=20(3) SP=4 DF=12(1).
He is right handed, is very intelligent, is clumsy, has awesome endurance, can take a lot of damage, can carry almost limitless weight, is incredibly quick and elusive, does awesome damage, has an Advanced Expert in riposte, has an Advanced Master in attack, has a Master in parry, has a Master in defense, has an Expert in decisiveness, favors the battle axe, favors a very low offensive effort, favors a low activity level, and preferentially learns attack.

This warrior was a fun arena design, 17-10-8-17-17-4-11, but he failed to do well in Rookies, Apprentices, and Initiates and was struggling in the arena as well. So I started sending him to the Dark Arena. In DM 7, someone modified the DA monsters at some point, so they have different names and slightly different weapons, but you can pretty much tell which is which. Much to my surprise, this TP who couldn't perform in either tournaments or the arena started killing DA monsters.

First, it was just one. Then two. Then five. Waiting for each new turn to see if he survived was the most excitement I had had playing this game in over a decade. A single misstep and he would have been dead forever. After 9 DA kills, I waited a few turns for a graduation notice before going for #10 as an immortal graduate.

What to do for an encore after killing 10 DA warriors? I decided to set him up for Freshmen. I deemed the very low favorite OE to be too low for the aggressiveness that I wanted out of CANNED SAVRADESE, so I ran him high-low in the arena, with elevated Kill Desire, attacking the vitals. On the turn before this MI, he picked up his 4th ADM kill, for a total of 14 kills. That seems like a good omen!

CANNED SAVRADESE went into the ADM freeze with 146-147 total skills and got a 50% train to 21 WL immediately afterwards. He then went for two sure things, training DF to 13 and SP to 5, putting him at 158-159 total skills to enter the tourney. He'll spend rounds 1-9 training WT, and switch to WL in 10+. While he doesn't have a big bust-out, he should expect to take about 4 turns to pick up that big WT train to 21, and then get a train to 22 (either Wit or Will) over the next 8 turns, on average. That should put him at around 172 total skills by round 12, which isn't a bad place to be.

This warrior is a bruiser, but is largely untested in ADM-level tournies. He has such a unique achievement that I won't be disappointed if he never accomplishes another thing. That said, I would enjoy winning some TVs or better on his way to maxing out in Primus.
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One Armed Bandit
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Joined: Apr 15, 2004
Posts: 2954

PostPosted: Mon Nov 05, 2018 10:57 am Reply with quoteBack to top

Champions

This is the last class where I have a real hopeful. My Challengers crew is young, and Champions is really the lowest class where my playing style leads to any amount of success. Sure, I could get lucky in Adepts through Rookies and am running almost everything I have in those classes, but I'm far from hopeful.

I have six entries in Champions: 4 ST, 1 LU, and 1 WS. One warrior is going in as an immortal with favorites knowledge, and the other five have all TV'd before, with two having multiple TVs. Based on deep TVs in the two prior classes, this warrior is probably my best chance in Champions:

ZETA FORNACIS (41-5026) of FORNAX (433) [8-0-0,115,29FE], will fight Champions.
She is a striker with ST=10 CN=8 SZ=10 WT=21 WL=10 SP=12 DF=13.
She is left handed, is a genius, is incredibly active, is very frail, can not carry a lot of weight, is incredibly quick and elusive, has a Master in initiative, has a Master in riposte, has an Advanced Expert in attack, has an Expert in parry, and has a Master in decisiveness.

She is going in with 30 FE, and has a 12-3 Initiates TV and an 11-3 Adepts TV to her credit. She is Parry favorite learn, but that hasn't seemed to slow down her critical skill learning too much. She has learned 85 skills in 30 FE and has some room to improve during the tourney. Whatever she is doing has been working for her, so her strategy is probably hitting her favorite weapon or tactic or something.

She is +3 or +4 endurance, +3 Ini, and throws lots of SS (and SC) crits despite the relatively low Attack rating. If I had to bet on one of my six to go all the way, I'd place my money on ZETA FORNACIS.

I'm still a big underdog in this class, as my magic grows weaker the further I get from the Isle of the Eye. But with 3 past Champions TCs, and 2 prior Dead Champions TCs, I'm not counting my warriors out at this level.

Good luck to everyone in the tourney. Win or lose, I look forward to reading the results!
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HowlinWolf
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Joined: Oct 02, 2011
Posts: 67
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 8:50 am Reply with quoteBack to top

Waiting for my tourney, I decided to do a quick rundown of some of my favorite warriors ready to rumble!

I’ve been working hard on advancing my tourney roster to include some of the more experienced classes, and to facilitate this, I decided to bust 2 warriors in Eligibles:

196 skills: SHE'S A JAR (33-7804) of SUMMERTEETH (2424) [77-84-0,218,173FE], will fight Eligibles.
He is a aimed blow with ST=22(12) CN=15(Cool SZ=12 WT=20(3) WL=21(12) SP=8 DF=21.

204 skills: BLIND BLAKE (6-6814) of BLACK AND BLUES (2383) [67-71-2,214,151FE], will fight Eligibles.
He is a lunger with ST=25(13) CN=19(15) SZ=9 WT=20(5) WL=21(4) SP=10 DF=17.

Neither fighter has ever been particularly competitive in the past, but I trained WT and 6 skills in the arena for the AB, and WT, WL, and 6 skills for the LU. I’ve never done much in Eligibles beyond some TV’s where it was clear my guys were outclassed, so hopefully the extra warrior will help with a deep run.

In ADM, I decided to bust a 178 skill, 17(6)-20(10)-5-21-21-5-11 LU The Creator, who went bananas on CN trains and hit exactly 100 FE before the tourney. He’s buoyed by some newly enhanced AB’s that I’m really excited to run. One is Sonny Terry, a zombie from 2012 who has looked terrible with VL/VL SC, despite having all of the requisite accoutrements (+5/+4, max damage). The other, Master Plan, is a similarly bonused natural warrior, who was stuck with VL/VL QS. I gave both of them favorites, so they’ll be given 6-6 FI until they are classed Primus and unlock the out of bounds aspect of the prize (dodge, above mod-mod aspects of rhythm).

In Freshmen, I busted a pretty normal ST, 50 Star General. He entered the freeze at 146 skills and looked like this: He is a striker with ST=22(10) CN=8(5) SZ=14 WT=21 WL=20(3) SP=6 DF=11.
I trained WT in the arena, and will be alternating between WT and WL then 2 SP trains and DF in 10+.

Onto Challengers! I’ve had a really great year in upper basic, and managed to runner up to TMM in DC in this class. Unfortunately, at 90 FE and 169 skills, my ST You’re Not Him got pulled to the striker purgatory of ADM. On the flip side, my young challengers are ready to take the world by storm! I’m not expecting any of them to hit the runoffs just yet, but the Fab 5 of Arutha, Genius Awesome, Light Brigade, Miasma, and Savannah Mama have me feeling like I’ll be able to compete with the likes of Dmobster, TMM, and TUM in the near future.

Champions. It took me a long time to feel like I understood what worked here, with a lot of time spent failing to even TV. Things have been looking way up though! After garnering my first TC in this class in January, I’ve been lucky enough to get my 2nd and 3rd in the following tourneys. I don’t expect a calendar slam, but I am running a solid LU and ST, followed by a few offstyles that complained enough that I ran them.

If you asked me to objectively grade my Adepts, I’d be more than happy to give them an A+. Having 2 prize warriors (AB and LU) grouped with a former TC, a natural 21-21 SL, and a few decent ST’s, my roster has a great recipe for success. Unfortunately cracks start to appear when you delve a bit deeper. Thirstin Howl III, king of Rookies in Tempe, is ultimately a 15 WT AB trying to stay afloat in a world of fast learning, high skill base studs. The Mack, a prize AB that started his career with a 10-3 in rookies, failed to TV in inits, then looked terrible in the arena with poor learning and little to no mojo. His teammate Superfly has learned much better, but hasn’t done much to impress.

Initiates and Apprentices - I’m running a fairly standard crew with an emphasis on LU’s and ST’s. I tend to stop running my AB’s after Rookies, either graduating them or retiring them, so they don’t make up a large portion of my crew. I am, however, looking forward to reading 2 in Apps that I did run: Ruby Tortellini and Dolemite. Both had bumpy starts to their careers, but their 21 WT’s will hopefully help them stay competitive throughout basic.

Rookies - Hoping for a late tourney lift (in case the rest has gone badly), I sent a bunch of rookies, 24 in total. Most aren’t especially impressive, but were replacements from arena teams that I figured deserved a shot. The highlight of the squad is my LU, Whale Meat, who is a clone of one of my warriors in ADM. Although mode in attack and normal damage, I’m hoping his good favorites and 21 WT will help catapult him to a TV. I am definitely not expecting a TC out of him, but am merely eager to start his career and see how it goes.

Good luck to everyone!
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