Decisiveness versus Initiative

Unchartered Poster Joined: Dec 16, 2022 Posts: 6

I'm looking over the skills one can learn, and I'm wondering what is the difference between Decisiveness and Initiative?

Unchartered Poster Joined: Dec 16, 2022 Posts: 6

I have backread the arena 93 newsletters and I came across an article written by Assur in Noblish Island which sheds some light on the subject.

Assur wrote:

Skill Areas in Duel 2

What does each skill represent? I don't believe the rules give a description of what they do.

Attack -- How good is your warrior at attacking? Note that your attack is modified by your opponents defenses and various other things, but this is one of the easiest skills to understand. Can I hit my opponent? Countered by defense and parry.

Decisiveness -- This skill was added later in development It is believed to be a primary contributor to determining who attacks first. That is the only thing I would say it for sure does. And even in that, it is only one of many factors and someone with way lower decisiveness can attack before someone with much more due to those other factors.

Defense -- This skill determines how well a warrior avoids an attack. High Activity level also helps if you rely on defense skills to win. (Though high activity level is good for many/most warriors).

Initiative -- This skill is primary in keeping your attacks going, one after another. It also plays a huge role whenever there is a pause in the fight. Which warrior is going to attack next? Countered by Riposte.

Parry -- This skill determines how well a warrior parries an attack. Note that it is possible for warriors to slip past parry with high attack, but this is the other primary defensive skill.

Riposte -- As far as I know, this skill is only for taking the initiative from your opponent. When used, it always follows a successful parry/dodge with a line of text reading something Riposting warrior feints an attack, trying to disrupt the rhythm of the fight.

In terms of importance, decisiveness is HUGE early on. Parry, also, is enough to win fights with by itself early on. The balance of the game is very nice, though, and all of the skills are important in some form or fashion. However, as your warriors advance higher and higher in the game, the ultimate importance of the skills eventually becomes:

DEFENSE ATTACK PARRY DECISIVENESS INITIATIVE RIPOSTE.

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2023 4:23 pm

Assur has written some very fine and valuable spots for DM93.

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2023 10:16 pm

Kegalen wrote:

I'm looking over the skills one can learn, and I'm wondering what is the difference between Decisiveness and Initiative?

Great question!

In general, Decis aids in answering the question, Who Swings First? There also seems to be a small attack bonus for the first attack (it's often the reason your warrior will swing with a critical attack on their first attack)

Init aids in answering the question, Will Your Warrior Swing Again? It helps you keep swinging after you gain the attack.

High Init warriors are very difficult to Riposte.

Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2023 12:22 pm

A fun Defensive Tactic you can use is RESPONSIVENESS which will help "freeze" the Decisiveness of your opponent. This tactic is only suited to ST, PS, and TP but can be used with other styles for entertaining results. Not guaranteed, as nothing is in this game, but can help you slow down a much faster warrior. Consider using it with "Challenge Strategy" if you challenge someone you know will get the jump on you. Happy Dueling.