Dark Arena? or Just Suck it Up!?

Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2014 11:01 am

So I have this Piker in Shadowspire; his name is Monoceros.

He has 15 fights. He averages 2.53 skills per fight, which is not bad. Not great, but not bad. He has 38 skills total, only he JUST recently eked out a few experts: one in attack (9), one in parry (11), one in defense (eight). It seems to me that this guy was hosed, but I'm trying to learn more about the P-Strike. They seem more difficult to run than I remember. In the early 90's I had a whole team of Pikers and their w/l numbers were generally better than the current crop. I know that there can be many factors affecting this, but I'm probably ignorant of most of them.

His stats: 11-10-7-21-15-9-11

Frankly, the numbers looked like more of a P-Lunge, but I was making a statement/ conducting an experiment of sorts at the time. Anyway, I thought he'd be doing a lot better in terms of ability by now. I realize that Pikers take a little time to develop, but this is getting ridiculous.

Questions for the peanut gallery: Is this pattern of low skill points a new 'normal' for a PS? Or am I simply asking too much of this guy? Should I keep him running until he dies or graduates? Or is it time to head off to the Dark Arena? I'm getting frustrated with this guy, and I keep telling myself that it is just a little thing. Some styles take more time to develop. His win/loss is bad, but given the fact that he has only recently earned an 'expert' in anything, it's no big surprise. Shadowspire is a tough arena. Lots of veteran managers. Yet... by NOW I should have thought I'd have seen a lot more in the way of 'Expert' and 'AdEx'. I dunno.

What sayeth thee? Confused

ArchMaster Poster Joined: Apr 15, 2004 Posts: 2958

I would keep running the warrior, myself. You are unlikely to get a better warrior out of the Dark Arena.

If he got an Expert in Attack on his 9th Attack learn, it means he is -1 Attack. If he got an Expert in Parry on his 11th Parry learn, it means he is +1 Parry. If he got an Expert in Defense on his 8th Defense learn, it means he is mode Defense. These bonuses can actually be better than they appear at first glance if he learned multiple skills during that fight (if he learned Attack skill #8 and #9 in the fight where he got his Expert, he could be mode or -1, for instance). So he does not seem terribly hosed to me or bonused. Just average.

The PS style is indeed cursed with a low skill base. The style is also cursed with poor learning distribution. Learning 9 Att, 11 Parry, and 8 Def out of 38 skills is pretty good.

If he is doing poorly in the arena it could come down to strategy. A warrior like this, seems well suited to using a Striker strategy early in his career. With Experts in Attack, Parry, and Defense, I would now be more inclined to run it with more finesse. Something like Moderate OE, 10 AL, a single weapon (SC, LO, and BS would be the first three that I try to see if he likes any of them), light armor, and no tactics. Some of the old strategy advice on the PS style (running them 3-3-Parry in the 1st minute with an off-hand) is pretty outdated and can be downright bad for a lot of PS builds, including this one.

Best of luck!

Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2014 2:02 pm

I say keep plugging along. It's been a over a year now, but I said the same thing about one of my parry strikes that got is in advanced now. When I cam out of retirement in 2012, she was 6-7-0. Before that she was 4-7-0. She finally went to the Isle with a 16-10-0 record. I can't explain it, she just clicked one day and no one could get the decisiveness on her.

the only thing I did was change her weapons. I went from a short sword to a scimitar.

It helps that the parry strike style is my first love of the game. Maybe that is where all of my patience came from.

Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2014 2:13 pm

You know I currently have a PS in Shadowspire and I would keep him. He looks like an offensive Piker to me, just run him like your Slashers or Strikers.

PS - If you want to know what Vilmar looks like and how I am running him send me a PM.

Posted: Sun Oct 19, 2014 3:06 pm

Visionst01 wrote:

PS - If you want to know what Vilmar looks like and how I am running him send me a PM.

I'll do that -- AFTER our current bloodfeud. I still have one more shot at Vilmar, and I want to go about it honestly! Smile

Thanks everyone for your input! I'll stuff my frustration and anxiety back into my subconscious and just keep going with Monoceros.

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 9:28 am

That's definitely a keeper with a better than average piker learning distribution. I like OAB's suggestion to run hybrid with him as well.

Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 12:18 pm

skill learn rate of 253 for 21WT piker is
at minimum solid, and at best great
it is not mediocre
pikers have lousy base skills - they suck in that fashion
this one looks lovely compared to many
rather than "suck it up", you should be running it "with honor"

you want to run pikers this day and age, learn patience and perserverence Rolling Eyes