New Rollup For A Returning Player

Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2023 9:52 pm

IMO the only thing AB's NEED is WT and DF, I have seen some scum AB's with low WT, but they had high WL

Yes I run them full blast 10-10 in the first minute through basic. You can't die if you beat them first.

I have graduated these AB's that had these low stats...
5 SP and 5 ST
6 CN and 8 WL
10 CN and 3 SP
5 SP, 6 WT and 9 ST - This guy is my only Fist favorite.
4 SP and 7 CN - This one TC'd Freshman tourney after raising ST to 23
5 SP and 6 CN
4 SP, 8 ST and 9 CN
Soultaker gave me a 9-4-10-21-7-12-21 AB years ago, who is now in Primus.
I have since graduated my own 21WT/21DF AB, who died 3 times before coming back from the dead and getting his invite.

I rarely add SP to any warrior.

Their is no perfect warrior design, yeah their are guidelines for each style, but that is why we all love this game. The challenge of trying different designs and winning with them.

And remember the 3 rules of AB's in basic..
1) Aimed Blows die.
2) Aimed Blows die alot.
3) Never DA and AB, they are going to die soon anyway.

Welcome back to the addiction, I hope this helps.

Posted: Wed Mar 01, 2023 3:11 am

fryguy wrote:

I've been reading a lot to catch up here, and just some additional questions. Again, I appreciate all your insight.

Trying to understand the AB recommendations. From what I've been reading, AB need to have some CN, esp with slow speed. They don't seem to be great at initiative either.

So those last two numbers, I understand 21 DF automatically makes you think of AB, but are they going to survive long enough to attack, with those low CNs? They'll have reasonable endurance, but very frail and very low encumbrance. Do you end up running them at high OE and activity level, or keep them mo/mo and hope they dodge?

An excellent, excellent article on the Aimed-Blow style was just published in the last DM93 Newsletter. It will answer some of your questions. (If not all.) The article by Assur is superb and should be heeded.

P.S. reminder - backread those DM93 NLs; request your C.I.C. from RSI; enter a team in DM93. (maybe this one)

Unchartered Poster Joined: Feb 21, 2023 Posts: 14

Hi, I have been looking through the newsletters (even prior to my last post). It is a little cumbersome the way it is posted online.

Unfortunately I still could not find the AB article. I wonder if it's not up yet, though I saw both of the Newsletters from February. Do you know what date (or around what date) that newsletter was?

Advanced Expert Poster Joined: Jul 15, 2014 Posts: 192

ASSUR'S BEGINNER GUIDE TO THE AIMED BLOW STYLE

When a review was done on the design articles from the past, it was discovered
that these articles were not helping players. Many of them were not terrible, but the
players in the game have taken warrior design far beyond the understanding that
existed when most of these articles were written. So to better serve new players, The
Consortium and Assurnasirbanipal took to giving more current design articles for each
style. While even our articles are biased and opinionated, we believe they better
represent today's game than others that exist. This article seeks to remove some
confusion about the Aimed Blow style.
Aimed Blows are THE strongest style at high development levels. They are also one
of the strongest styles with no development. In between, it is much more difficult
for most of them. While they are naturally a hybrid style, I'll explain why at the
top they could be called pure defensives and because of their sustained attack
capabilities, they make fine pure offensives as well.
Aimed Blows have several characteristics that do not exist with any other style.

A) Attack skill bonus for high deftness.
B) Dodge advantages with no weapons.
C) Ability to ignore armor.
D) Ability to analyze an opponent's defenses. (I don't believe anyone understands
what this does other than it is supposed to help)

There are so many ways to make Aimed Blows that it is almost impossible to give a
set of guidelines for stats. When you first start experimenting with Aimed Blows, I
highly recommend only using setups that can make 17 or 21 deftness on them. 21 is
preferred, but 17 is just fine. Even after you have experience, I don't recommend
going below 15. The reason is because of item A) above. You are permanently reducing
your AB's potential attack by lowering the deftness. It used to be said that: "Any
warrior that makes a good aimed blow makes a better something else." When you lower
the deftness too much, that statement starts to ring very, very true. But at 21
deftness, they have the second highest natural attack in the game (below lungers by 1
attack skill) -- and without lungers high endurance burn.
Now with 1/4 of your points on deftness, that doesn't leave as much as you'd like
for everything else. Fortunately, 21 deftness is almost magical. Aimed Blows can
succeed with little damage. Aimed Blows can succeed with little endurance (not
recommended: little damage AND little endurance). Aimed Blows can succeed frail.
Aimed Blows can scum to victory. Aimed Blows with 21 deftness and completely balanced
remaining stats can win.
Weapons: SC, LO, FI, EP, and DA are the staple weapons that I use. Most people
leave QS alone until after they know it is their Aimed Blow's favorite weapon (and
people have TC'd with QS). SH, SS, and LS work fine, but I leave those until last.
The 5 I mentioned meet all my needs.
Armor: It depends on how you're trying to win. The Jalon type AB wears APA/F.
Fist/Dodge AB's wear light or no armor. Speed AB's wear nothing or ALE/L. Hybrids
wear what they can depending on their carry & design.
Strategy: x-10 is my 'standard' strat. 'x' is typically 4 or higher. Some hybrids
(generally wearing more armor, though a parry learner might also do this) will not use
10 Activity Level. As always, you need to tailor your strategy with your endurance.
Going 6-10 for 3 minutes is going to tire just about everyone out. Yes, most fights
are over in 1 minute. But when they go longer, you need to start to conserve a bit.
AB's can use most tactics. I'm sure there are others that have a more refined way to
write the numbers, but I like the simplicity (and effectiveness of the strategy I
use). Note that the super frail guys I typically run 10-10 and the high str/con guys
I'll sometimes run slower with more armor.
Examples: I've chosen to list my own designs that have TC'd and TV'd (and
naturally created -- I have some prize warriors that I don't include here).

17-5-3-5-21-12-21 AB (TC'd Rookies & Freshmen, TV'd ADM)
5-12-6-21-7-12-21 AB (TV'd Rookies)
10-3-12-17-9-12-21 AB (TV'd Rookies)
10-6-16-21-5-5-21 AB (TV'd Rookies & Freshmen)
10-13-6-13-17-4-21 AB (TV'd Rookies)
5-5-10-17-21-9-17 AB (TV'd Rookies)
7-13-7-17-15-4-21 AB (TV'd Rookies)
13-7-5-17-7-14-21 AB (TV'd Apprentices)
9-10-12-11-9-12-21 AB (TV'd Rookies)
4-12-7-21-15-4-21 AB (TC'd Apprentices)
5-8-8-17-17-8-21 AB (TV'd Apprentices)
7-10-5-11-21-9-21 AB (TV'd Rookies)
3-3-11-21-15-14-17 AB (TV'd Dead Apprentices)
9-11-8-11-21-7-17 AB (TV'd Rookies)
11-8-8-21-7-8-21 AB (TC'd Rookies)
11-14-5-13-15-5-21 AB (TV'd Rookies)
9-5-11-11-9-18-21 AB (TV'd Apprentices)
9-3-9-21-9-12-21 AB (TV'd Eligibles)

You'll notice a pattern. I have zero TV's listed in Initiates, Adepts, or Champions.
That is because I have no natural aimed blows that have TV'd in those classes, which
are not good ones for AB's. I also don't have a Challenger TV, but this isn't because
AB's do poorly there.
There is one other example that is worth mentioning. This design does not exist
in the rollup pools, but there are guys that can use this design as a model. It is a
very common design for DYO prizes and in Bloodgames. These monsters have TC'd many
times (almost always in Freshman or higher). The design is named after the first one
that was successful.

Jalon:
17-16-3-3-21-3-21 AB

Advantages: At the very top of the game, their ability to dodge with no weapons makes
them virtually unhittable. So in a sense, at this point, AB's become pure defensives.
Because they also have low endurance burn, they can go a long time (you regularly see
AB vs AB fights go hundreds of minutes at the very top). The bonus is not as great at
lower development levels, but it is still there. Running x-10 (with or without the
dodge tactic) and no weapons is a viable strategy and useful strategy to use at times.
Their high attack, ability to ignore armor, and low endurance burn make them very hard
to beat in long fights. With exceptions for some designs, there isn't a favorite
learn that will make you roll your eyes in disgust. AB's can overcome the dreaded
little damage. AB's can be made from setups that otherwise would be considered
'bad.'B AB's may be the only style that can regularly succeed with very low strength.

Disadvantages: Initiative is a mess for Aimed Blows. They regularly give up the
initiative for no reason. When you give 17 or 21 points on deftness, it limits your
ability to get points where you want elsewhere. Most importantly, having high wit
tends to even make your AB even more deficient than they otherwise are. This is why
they tend to be so bad in Initiates, Adepts, and Champions, where 21 wit is much more
common and important. Those classes are full of 21 wit strikers and lungers, also.

Best Matchups: Scum, Scum, and more Scum. Any defensive warrior (especially
scum). Remember that sustained high attack offensive ability?!? Scum never want to
see AB's. Lots of scum run bizarre strategies to try and beat AB's who would
otherwise destroy them. This is another reason why AB's thrive in Rookies, where
there are lots of scum running around. After scum, any defensive warrior is a good
matchup.
Worst Matchups: Lungers, Bashers, Slashers. These warriors have a combination of
high attack/high init/high decise skill base. They will attack and hit your aimed
blow before it gets a chance to attack back. Strikers also can fall into this
category, because they learn so much attack (and often have 21 wit, too).

Unchartered Poster Joined: Feb 21, 2023 Posts: 14

Brilliant. Thank you!

Posted: Sat Mar 04, 2023 8:14 pm

there is also a lot of information to be had in the Chatzy group. there is a link pinned somewhere in this forum.

Unchartered Poster Joined: Feb 21, 2023 Posts: 14

When the bug bites, it bites hard. Requested a second rollup to run another team, and here we go. Feels like a lot of bashers.

13-5-14-12-9-10-7 -> 13-5-14-17-15-10-7 with 3 points to spare, and I was thinking basher or striker? Add to DF or SP?

7-10-12-10-3-12-16 -> 7-10-12-15-7-12-21 AB. With normal HP and very little endurance, would you run this more as Mod/Low/Mod instead of 10/10/x?

7-13-15-6-3-14-12 -> 11-13-15-11-7-14-13 BA? Very little endurance, but reasonable decise and init.

17-9-9-12-6-6-11 -> 17-9-9-17-11-6-11 with 4 points to spare (I was thinking 13 DF and maybe more CN?) and make a SL.

10-7-19-6-5-10-13 -> 11-7-19-11-9-10-17 ST or BA?

Appreciate your input!

Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2023 1:31 am

13-5-14-12-9-10-7 -> 15-6-14-17-15-10-7 BA...I went +2 ST and +1 CN to help with physicals.

7-10-12-10-3-12-16 -> 9-10-12-15-9-12-17 ST or PS...same here went with +2 ST and +6 WL instead of 21 DF for better physicals.

7-13-15-6-3-14-12 -> 7-13-15-11-7-14-17 AB..Dark Arena

17-9-9-12-6-6-11 -> 17-9-9-17-9-6-17 PR..Love this guy! I TV'd with a guy like this in Rookies years ago.

10-7-19-6-5-10-13 -> 11-7-19-11-9-10-17 ST or BA...Dark Arena

Honestly it is a average sheet. I might enter the PR in rookies someday, but throw away the rest. If you were looking to run a new team, order another sheet.

Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2023 5:14 am

just throwing this out there again... there is a TON of value to be found on the Chatzy group. new/returning players should definitely log in for roll up/game advice.

this forum is useful, but i can't say enough about the real-time feedback from some of the games best players in Chatzy. check it out.