DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 05/16/2025 Duedate: 05/29/2025
NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA
DM 93 TURN 687
This Week's Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
NEAR WHALE
BLUE HERRINGS (1944)
(93-11387) [6-0-0,66]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
POSITION IS EMPTY NEAR WHALE
BLUE HERRINGS (1944)
(93-11387) [6-0-0,66]
Popularity Leader This Week's Favorite
BRINE SUSPECT ATAVISTA
BLUE HERRINGS (1944) TROUBLEMAKERS (1958)
(93-11390) [5-1-1,60] (93-11465) [2-3-0,11]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
BEWARE (1959)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. BLUE HERRINGS (1944) 32
2. BEWARE (1959) 29 BRUTE STRENGTH (491)
3. BASH BROS PROJECT (1960) 26 Unchartered Team
4. WHEREWOLVES (1942) 26
5. TROUBLEMAKERS (1958) 14 BEWARE (1959)
The Top Teams
Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 1*BEWARE (1959) 15 5 0 75.0 1/ 1*BEWARE (1959) 12 3 0
2/ 4*BASH BROS PROJECT (1960) 5 3 0 62.5 2/ 2*BLUE HERRINGS (1944) 8 7 1
3/ 2*BLUE HERRINGS (1944) 18 12 2 60.0 3/ 3*WHEREWOLVES (1942) 6 9 1
4/ 6*WHEREWOLVES (1942) 12 22 1 35.3 4/ 6*BASH BROS PROJECT (1960) 5 3 0
5/ 0*THE TWO RIVERS (93) 2 4 0 33.3 5/ 7*TROUBLEMAKERS (1958) 3 12 0
6/ 7*TROUBLEMAKERS (1958) 6 19 0 24.0 6- 5*GOTHIC HORRORS (1926) 2 0 0
7- 8*GOTHIC HORRORS (1926) 2 7 0 22.2 7/ 0*RAIDERS (265) 0 1 0
8/ 0*RAIDERS (265) 0 1 0 0.0 8/ 0*THE TWO RIVERS (93) 0 1 0
'*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn
(###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank
TEAM SPOTLIGHT
PARRY RIPOSTES, ASSUR'S WAY
The Consortium and I recently reviewed all the articles found at the bottom of the
newsletter. We were both unhappy with them and so I've decided to start a new set of
articles which I believe are more up to date with today's game. Note that EVERY
ARTICLE on how to make a certain style is loaded with biases and opinions. There is no
absolute right and wrong. But I'll tell you how I've found success with various
styles. My first undertaking is the Parry Riposte style.
My focus is how to make a hybrid Parry Riposte. (Scum Rippers are also very viable and
I just TC'd the Freshman tourney with a classic scum ripper). Ever since I started
playing I've liked the Parry Riposte style. But I wasn't very good with them until I
learned what they 'really' need. I don't run an excess of them, but I believe I have
a good understanding of them.
Interestingly, my minimums for a good parry riposte are fairly easy to describe. GOOD
or better damage and enough Parry/Carry/Hit Points. Sure there are successful parry
rips with less than good damage. But I don't run them (anymore). Parry Ripostes don't
try to hold the initiative in general, so you need to make your attacks count. You
also have a lower skill base than almost every other style. Even more reason to make
your opportunities count with more damage. Sure I'd love to only run great damage and
better, but that is too many points to invest in strength and size.
'Enough' Parry, Carry and Hit Points is harder to quantify. Note that strength gives
parry and carry (and damage), so strength is a good place to invest points on your
ripper. The breakpoints for strength that are relevant:
9: SS/SC
11: LO/LS
15: An additional parry skill
17: An additional parry skill
21: Two additional parry skills
It is strongly believed that the wording of your encumbrance statement is only a
marker. So more strength gives more encumbrance, irrespective of your statement. The
encumbrance formula that many people use for how much weight you can carry is (STR +
(LESSER OF STR/CON) -- 6). Note that STR is VERY important in this formula.
Regardless, the idea of the parry/carry/hp theme is that you need to withstand your
opponent's attack. I like to have at least two of the three on the higher side. Parry
comes from STR/WIL/DFT and inverse of SIZ (3 size gives many parry skills, 21 takes
away). Hit points come from CON, SIZ, and WIL (mostly CON).
There are many ways to make PR's, but this can get you started:
STR: 9+
CON: more is better, hit points are a primary need
SIZ: 14- (14 or less, you start losing parry at 15)
WIT: any really, but more is better (see weapons, though)
WIL: 7+ (lots of variation here. skill breakpoints: 7, 15, 17, 21)
SPD: less is better (gives more points where you want them)
DFT: 11+ (Some people say much higher, I am in the 11 deftness camp)
As you see, I have very few stat requirements on my PR's. I'm all about the 4 things I
mentioned above.
Weapons: SC & LO are the staple weapons. In case you don't remember or know, the stat
requirements are: SC (9 str/11 wit/11 dft) and LO (11 str/13 wit/11 dft). SS & LS work
for low wit Rippers. EP and SH are the only other weapons they are well suited too
(and they have NO marginally suited weapons).
Armor: I've never had or tried to run a dodge based Ripper. They start with the lowest
defense skill in the game, so parry is where it is generally at. So, armor is not a
bad thing at all. Remember I mentioned you want carry ability?!? It is to wear armor!
Most of my Rippers wear ASM or APM/APA. I will change it up and use ACM at times. And
if my carry is low, I suffer with APL or ARM.
Strategy: Do NOT, usually, carry/wear too much armor and weapons. The penalties for
over-encumbering your warrior are harsh, get worse and worse, and are not directly
shown anywhere in the fight.
As far as rhythm, I highly, highly recommend running on your warrior's favorite
rhythm. Unfortunately, you don't find those values until after your warrior graduates.
So you have to guess. I usually start a warrior at 4-6 at the beginning of his career
and then experiment until I find where he fights best. Rippers require more TLC that
most styles. Send a striker out with 10-10 and he runs great. Some rippers do
fantastic at 4-6 and some do not. You have to find what works for yours. If you aren't
willing to tinker and optimize, they are not a great style to run and expect success
with.
Examples: (these are the last 4 PR's I've graduated -- at time of writing):
She is a parry-riposte with ST=17 CN=15 SZ=10 WT=6 WL=21 SP=4 DF=11.
(This is my Freshman TC. Really just a scum, but also meets my 'minimums')
He is a parry-riposte with ST=10 CN=11 SZ=7 WT=7 WL=21 SP=7 DF=21.
(This is the warrior that made me say good damage is a requirement. With two
strength trains, he still had normal damage. His basic career was mediocre
because of it. He is training for a future bust in Freshmen and those 21's look
very, very pretty now. Update: when this warrior 'busted' in Freshmen class, he
was the runner up, losing to another busting warrior, an Aimed Blow)
He is a parry-riposte with ST=21 CN=8 SZ=11 WT=21 WL=7 SP=3 DF=13.
(I love this design and would use it again without hesitation)
He is a parry-riposte with ST=12 CN=12 SZ=4 WT=15 WL=21 SP=7 DF=13.
(An earlier design. I wouldn't make this a ripper today. He did start with normal
damage which made him great. But the chance (~40%) for little damage is too much
for me to risk this setup on a PR in the future -- especially when I want GOOD
damage on PR's)
AND not my warrior, but... 17-14-4-17-7-8-17 PR
(This is Daydream Believer, the best Parry Riposte ever to grace the sands. The
numbers alone are not what made DDB great, but it is a fine example of how to
make a PR. DDB TC'd Rookies, Adepts, Champions, and Challengers. Many people
have copied DDB, even to some success, but it is unlikely we'll see a repeat,
ever)
Advantages of the Parry Riposte Style: Very common to get LO & SC faves, rhythms are
usually very runnable. Their natural learning is perfect. Good Rippers can be made
from otherwise low value setups (think of low will setups)
Disadvantages of the Parry Riposte Style: Low skill base. You usually can't just give
them a single strategy at the beginning and let them run forever on it. Often
misunderstood.
Best Matchups:
Rippers were intended to be the anti-striker style. That said, strikers are so good
that while it is a good matchup, it isn't an auto-win by any means. Some Parry
Ripostes are also good scum hunters.
Worst Matchups:
Aimed Blows are the bane to almost every hybrid and defensive style in the game. Parry
Ripostes are not exception to this. Slashers are also pretty tough, but nothing like
Aimed Blows.
SPY REPORT
If you were disturbed from your beauty rest only to have to watch a bunch of
NOBLISH ISLAND brutes like you, you'd be grouchy, too. Of course, we're all terribly
impressed to see FANG FACE win a fight and gain 13 points, terribly. Tsk, tsk, IRON
MCGINTY beat BALTO and BALTO lost 7 points. You're breakin' my heart. And if
variety is the spice of life, NOBLISH ISLAND may be getting bland, as NEAR WHALE
stays top dog in the city. I'm not in a very good mood today, but why am I telling
you this? You want to know what's new, don't you, NOBLISH ISLAND?
He who fights and runs away will live to fight another day, the coward. BEWARE,
I suppose you'll be glad to know you were this turn's most avoided team. Care to
know who is the most afraid of you? And who led the way in this mass act of
cowardice? Let's see, well, whatcha know? It was BASH BROS PROJECT. Ha ha ha ha!
Ooh, I'm frightfully impressed, LITTLE FISHY was this turn's most challenged warrior.
Watch that ego swell, sports fans. And we have POT HOLE in a challenge, going down 9
points for the fight. Guess what? I thought POT HOLE showed great skill and promise
when it won victory over ATAVISTA. All right, so I slept through it! Big deal!
Ah, now we come to my favorite part, where we see all the guys who are dead and
gone, and get to see if their team cared. We're all going to die in the end, so why
worry if the fate catches up with you sooner that later?
I was about to buy a new quill pen the other day, but some fighter took it for
an epee. Forgive me for writing with a dagger. Just wait 'till next time I show up
here, I won't be so nice! So nyaaah! Paste this one in your scrapbooks, you'll need
the kindling come this winter-- Snide Clemens
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
NEAR WHALE 11387 6 0 0 66 BLUE HERRINGS (1944)
CHALLENGER ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
BRINE SUSPECT 11390 5 1 1 60 BLUE HERRINGS (1944)
PRETTY ALRIGHT 11388 4 2 1 58 BLUE HERRINGS (1944)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
BULLY 11477 4 0 0 33 BEWARE (1959)
ROBBER 11473 3 1 0 32 BEWARE (1959)
POT HOLE 11476 4 0 0 27 BEWARE (1959)
LITTLE FISHY 11384 1 5 0 26 BLUE HERRINGS (1944)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
OVERDO 11483 2 0 0 23 BASH BROS PROJECT (1960)
-BEAST 11275 1 2 0 21 GOTHIC HORRORS (1926)
WOLF 11475 2 2 0 19 BEWARE (1959)
SMOKE 11474 2 2 0 18 BEWARE (1959)
DAVEY II 11385 2 4 0 16 BLUE HERRINGS (1944)
MILDEW 11471 4 1 0 14 WHEREWOLVES (1942)
-KATANA 11273 1 1 0 13 GOTHIC HORRORS (1926)
WHITE FANG 11492 1 0 0 13 WHEREWOLVES (1942)
FANG FACE 11491 1 0 0 13 WHEREWOLVES (1942)
IRON MCGINTY 11489 1 1 0 12 TROUBLEMAKERS (1958)
HARD WORK 11484 1 1 0 12 BASH BROS PROJECT (1960)
ATAVISTA 11465 2 3 0 11 TROUBLEMAKERS (1958)
BARBELA BLOODSTONE 11467 2 3 0 11 TROUBLEMAKERS (1958)
SCOPE CREEP 11487 1 1 0 10 BASH BROS PROJECT (1960)
SOREN HICE 11466 1 4 0 9 TROUBLEMAKERS (1958)
-BORING 11485 1 0 0 6 BASH BROS PROJECT (1960)
BALTO 11482 1 2 0 5 WHEREWOLVES (1942)
MIN 486 0 2 0 2 THE TWO RIVERS (93)
BATTLESHIP KATE 11490 0 2 0 2 TROUBLEMAKERS (1958)
-MISSING PARTS 11486 0 1 0 1 BASH BROS PROJECT (1960)
STONE HAWK 1485 0 1 0 1 RAIDERS (265)
'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
MISS PINK 11349 4 5 0 COLORITES 1938 PRETTY ALRIGHT 11388 683 NOT REVENGED
HORGLUR RULGROH 11464 0 3 0 TROUBLEMAKERS 1958 HOKIE 11472 685
HOKIE 11472 2 3 1 WHEREWOLVES 1942 HIGH ELF 687 NONE
PERSONAL ADS
Assur, I am jealous! Just plain jealous. Long term, indeed. -- Worry Wart
What?! I beat DDB? I must be good. -- Pot Hole
Assur, you gave me a lucky/unlucky two win lead, but that won't last. Love your team.
(Can we trade?) -- Worry Wart
Near Whale and Blue Herrings everywhere, I salute you. Congrats on the Duelmastership.
-- Worry Wart (the very covetous)
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
HOKIE was butchered by HIGH ELF in a 1 minute bloody Dark Arena fight.
POT HOLE vanquished ATAVISTA in a 2 minute uneven Challenge battle.
WOLF subdued DAVEY II in a 1 minute Challenge fight.
BULLY vanquished LITTLE FISHY in a 1 minute mismatched Challenge brawl.
NEAR WHALE overpowered VETERAN MERCENARY in a 1 minute one-sided Title fight.
PRETTY ALRIGHT devastated ROBBER in a 1 minute uneven brawl.
BRINE SUSPECT overpowered THE USEROUS MERCHANT in a 1 minute one-sided struggle.
BARBELA BLOODSTONE was viciously subdued by HARD WORK in a 2 minute gruesome fight.
SOREN HICE lost to SCOPE CREEP in a 3 minute gruesome duel.
BATTLESHIP KATE was vanquished by SMOKE in a action packed 1 minute uneven fight.
MILDEW overpowered STONE HAWK in a dull 8 minute one-sided fight.
MIN was overpowered by OVERDO in a 1 minute one-sided fight.
IRON MCGINTY subdued BALTO in a 1 minute amateur's competition.
FANG FACE devastated CONVICTED THIEF in a 1 minute one-sided battle.
WHITE FANG devastated MORDANT DESERTER in a 1 minute mismatched bout.
BATTLE REPORT
MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|STRIKING ATTACK 4 TOTAL PARRY 18 - 8 - 0 69 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 4 LUNGING ATTACK 17 - 8 - 0 68 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 3 AIMED BLOW 10 - 6 - 0 63 |
|TOTAL PARRY 3 PARRY-RIPOSTE 7 - 5 - 0 58 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 3 STRIKING ATTACK 21 - 17 - 0 55 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 2 SLASHING ATTACK 16 - 15 - 0 52 |
|WALL OF STEEL 2 PARRY-STRIKE 10 - 10 - 2 50 |
|BASHING ATTACK 2 BASHING ATTACK 12 - 23 - 0 34 |
|AIMED BLOW 1 PARRY-LUNGE 6 - 12 - 1 33 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 WALL OF STEEL 3 - 7 - 1 30 |
Turn 687 was great if you Not so great if you used The fighting styles of the
used the fighting styles: the fighting styles: top eleven warriors are:
AIMED BLOW 1 - 0 PARRY-STRIKE 1 - 2 3 LUNGING ATTACK
PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 - 0 BASHING ATTACK 0 - 2 2 SLASHING ATTACK
STRIKING ATTACK 3 - 1 2 STRIKING ATTACK
SLASHING ATTACK 2 - 1 1 AIMED BLOW
TOTAL PARRY 2 - 1 1 PARRY-STRIKE
PARRY-LUNGE 1 - 1 1 BASHING ATTACK
LUNGING ATTACK 2 - 2 1 PARRY-LUNGE
WALL OF STEEL 1 - 1
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
LUNGING ATTACK NEAR WHALE 11387 6 0 0 66 BLUE HERRINGS (1944)
PARRY-STRIKE BRINE SUSPECT 11390 5 1 1 60 BLUE HERRINGS (1944)
PARRY-LUNGE PRETTY ALRIGHT 11388 4 2 1 58 BLUE HERRINGS (1944)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.
The overall popularity leader is BRINE SUSPECT 11390. The most popular warrior this
turn was ATAVISTA 11465. The ten other most popular fighters were HARD WORK 11484,
SMOKE 11474, WOLF 11475, BRINE SUSPECT 11390, NEAR WHALE 11387, PRETTY ALRIGHT 11388,
BARBELA BLOODSTONE 11467, OVERDO 11483, IRON MCGINTY 11489, and WHITE FANG 11492.
The least popular fighter this week was STONE HAWK 1485. The other ten least popular
fighters were MILDEW 11471, SOREN HICE 11466, BALTO 11482, MIN 486, BATTLESHIP KATE
11490, SCOPE CREEP 11487, ROBBER 11473, LITTLE FISHY 11384, DAVEY II 11385, and HOKIE
11472.