DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER

Date   : 01/21/2022    Duedate: 02/17/2022

SNOWBOUND ARENA

DM-50    TURN-425

This Weeks Top Honors

THE DUELMASTER IS

RHAPSODY
DARQUE THEORY (348)
(50-4050) [11-5-1,102]

Chartered Recognition Leader   Unchartered Recognition Leader

RHAPSODY                       POSITION IS EMPTY
DARQUE THEORY (348)            
(50-4050) [11-5-1,102]         

Popularity Leader              This Weeks Favorite

VIOLA WING                     VIOLA WING
MIDDLE WAY 6 (368)             MIDDLE WAY 6 (368)
(50-4037) [9-22-0,53]          (50-4037) [9-22-0,53]

THE CURRENT TOP TEAM

DARQUE THEORY (348)

          TEAMS ON THE MOVE            TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name                  Point Gain  Chartered Team
1. BASH BROS SPORTS (405)      23
2. MIDDLE WAY 6 (368)          13      DARQUE THEORY (348)
3. BOOK OF THOMAS (421)         0      Unchartered Team
4. DARQUE THEORY (348)        -12
                                       U R WHAT U EAT (186)

The Top Teams

Career Win-Loss Record           W   L  K    %  Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns    W  L K
 1/ 1 DARQUE THEORY (348)      172 124 13 58.1   1/ 1 DARQUE THEORY (348)      12  3 1
 2- 2 BOOK OF THOMAS (421)     113 114  6 49.8   2- 2 BOOK OF THOMAS (421)      3  3 0
 3/ 3 BASH BROS SPORTS (405)    87  89  3 49.4   3/ 3 BASH BROS SPORTS (405)    2  1 0
 4/ 4 MIDDLE WAY 6 (368)       402 617 10 39.5   4/ 4 MIDDLE WAY 6 (368)        1 11 0

    '*'   Unchartered team                       '-'  Team did not fight this turn
   (###)  Avoid teams by their Team Id          ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank

                                      SPY REPORT

     Hail SNOWBOUND!  Warriors of the arena, prepare to be praised and blamed for 
your deeds.  And let's see, OFF SEASON fought OUTTA TUNE and gained 23 points and 
contributed to BASH BROS SPORTS' 1-0-0.  OUTTA TUNE has lost to OFF SEASON, falling 
20 points, while helping make DARQUE THEORY a 3-2-0 turn.  Defending hers title for 
another turn, RHAPSODY kept MIDDLE WAY 6's warrior, HELGA ICELAND, from claiming the 
throne.  Can someone confirm a rumor for me?  I hear the top team makes their losing 
fighters do dishes at The Victory Tavern until they win.  Maybe?   
     He who challenges well, fights well.  He who avoids without cause, shall lose 
for good reasons.  My mama told me that one.  I also notice that the BOOK OF THOMAS 
stable was the most avoided team this turn.  Come on SNOWBOUND, what are you afraid 
of?  And avoiding BOOK OF THOMAS more than any other team we find BASH BROS SPORTS.  
SNOWBOUND, are we going to accept, or respect this sort of thing?   
     The Dark Arena is for those who cannot win, not who cannot lose with grace.  
Dignity in life or death is the warrior's creed.  Is it really true that SNOWBOUND 
has more dishwashers per capita that fighters?  Just thought I'd ask...   
     Remember, blood on the purple robe does not change it from a purple robe.  Dare 
to fight bravely.  Well, I'm burning daylight here in SNOWBOUND and I've a long road 
ahead of me.  Happy Trails.  Until the sun next rises and my pen sets to paper-- 
Alarond the Scribe  

DUELMASTER                     W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 RHAPSODY 4050                11   5  1   102       DARQUE THEORY (348)

CHALLENGER CHAMPIONS           W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
-FROZEN GHOST 3992            14   2  0   122       BOOK OF THOMAS (421)

CHAMPIONS                      W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 HELGA ICELAND 4020           17  22  0    76       MIDDLE WAY 6 (368)
-UNIQUE 4033                   8   2  0    71       BOOK OF THOMAS (421)

ADEPTS                         W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
-PREDATOR 4034                 4   1  1    54       BOOK OF THOMAS (421)
 VIOLA WING 4037               9  22  0    53       MIDDLE WAY 6 (368)
 OFF SEASON 3962               2   2  0    48       BASH BROS SPORTS (405)
 TRILL 4084                    4   1  1    39       DARQUE THEORY (348)

CHALLENGER INITIATES           W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 OUTTA TUNE 4083               4   1  0    24       DARQUE THEORY (348)

INITIATES                      W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
-RANGER 4082                   2   0  0    18       BOOK OF THOMAS (421)
 OSTINATO 4095                 1   0  0     6       DARQUE THEORY (348)
 FERMATA 4096                  1   0  0     4       DARQUE THEORY (348)
 JANICE KOLE 4087              0   4  0     4       MIDDLE WAY 6 (368)
 PERRY REESE 4094              0   2  0     2       MIDDLE WAY 6 (368)

'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.

THE DEAD                W  L K TEAM NAME            SLAIN BY              TURN Revenge?

                                     PERSONAL ADS

Tonic -- Out of my reach.  Good thing, or I'd've ended up with the title and column.  
I salute you. -- Helga Iceland

Trill -- Sorry, I can't carry a tune in a basket.  It keeps dribbling notes all over. 
-- Viola Wing

Off Season -- This season would be off for anybody but a cross country skier.  You can 
have it. -- Janice Kole

Ranger -- I don't care for this contest.  It isn't fun. -- Perry Reese

                                  LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS

RHAPSODY bested HELGA ICELAND in a 1 minute gruesome master's Title fight.
TRILL was subdued by VIOLA WING in a popular 1 minute one-sided melee.
OUTTA TUNE was vanquished by OFF SEASON in a popular 1 minute gory mismatched brawl.
PERRY REESE was subdued by OSTINATO in a 3 minute gruesome amateur's competition.
JANICE KOLE was savagely defeated by FERMATA in a 13 minute novice's struggle.

                                    BATTLE REPORT

             MOST POPULAR                        RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS     
|FIGHTING STYLE               FIGHTS        FIGHTING STYLE     W -   L -  K   PERCENT|
|LUNGING ATTACK                   3         TOTAL PARRY        5 -   1 -  0      83  |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE                    2         PARRY-STRIKE       7 -   2 -  1      78  |
|PARRY-STRIKE                     1         PARRY-LUNGE        6 -   2 -  1      75  |
|SLASHING ATTACK                  1         BASHING ATTACK     8 -   3 -  0      73  |
|TOTAL PARRY                      1         WALL OF STEEL      6 -   5 -  1      55  |
|AIMED BLOW                       1         SLASHING ATTACK    7 -   9 -  0      44  |
|BASHING ATTACK                   1         AIMED BLOW        10 -  13 -  0      43  |
|PARRY-LUNGE                      0         LUNGING ATTACK    12 -  16 -  1      43  |
|STRIKING ATTACK                  0         PARRY-RIPOSTE      5 -   9 -  0      36  |
|WALL OF STEEL                    0         STRIKING ATTACK    2 -  10 -  0      17  |

Turn 425 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:

PARRY-STRIKE       1 -  0     LUNGING ATTACK     1 -  2         5  LUNGING ATTACK 
SLASHING ATTACK    1 -  0     AIMED BLOW         0 -  1         2  AIMED BLOW     
TOTAL PARRY        1 -  0     PARRY-LUNGE        0 -  0         1  SLASHING ATTACK
PARRY-RIPOSTE      1 -  1     STRIKING ATTACK    0 -  0         1  PARRY-STRIKE   
                              BASHING ATTACK     0 -  1         1  BASHING ATTACK 
                              WALL OF STEEL      0 -  0         1  PARRY-RIPOSTE  

                               TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE

FIGHTING STYLE   WARRIOR                     W   L  K PNTS TEAM NAME                  
SLASHING ATTACK  RHAPSODY 4050              11   5  1  102 DARQUE THEORY (348)
LUNGING ATTACK   TRILL 4084                  4   1  1   39 DARQUE THEORY (348)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.

The overall popularity leader is VIOLA WING 4037.  The most popular warrior this turn 
was VIOLA WING 4037.  The ten other most popular fighters were OFF SEASON 3962, 
RHAPSODY 4050, OSTINATO 4095, OUTTA TUNE 4083, HELGA ICELAND 4020, TRILL 4084, PERRY 
REESE 4094, JANICE KOLE 4087, FERMATA 4096, and  0.

The least popular fighter this week was FERMATA 4096.  The other ten least popular 
fighters were JANICE KOLE 4087, PERRY REESE 4094, TRILL 4084, HELGA ICELAND 4020, 
OUTTA TUNE 4083, OSTINATO 4095, RHAPSODY 4050, OFF SEASON 3962, VIOLA WING 4037, and  
0.

                              MY TAKE ON THE PARRY SLASH

I'm sure I'm not covering any new ground with my insights on the Wall of Steel. It is 
my best fighting style and a favorite. I have currently 3 in ADM, and about a half 
dozen active in the arenas with one currently undefeated and Duelmaster in DM 41. 

So a bit about my observations.  Like most defensive styles it seems to work best to 
run these guys offensively while they are young so I outfit them and run them like a 
slasher. They favor the initiative, parry and attack skills which sucks a bit in ADM 
because they lack in defense skill and since defense is king in the late game, Walls 
of Steel fall back into the pack quite a bit. It stinks but done right they can hold 
their own vs anyone except end game lungers and aimed blows who seem to be way OP at 
that level. 

Anyway, stats are important of course. Strength should at least be 9+ to get slashing 
weapons. Con can be lower; I have gotten away with a con of 7 because I run them fast 
and furious anyway so if they get out jumped or crit dodged and ripped then they go 
down easy. Most fights are over in minute 1 anyway. Size is a thing; smaller sizes 
would be nice but you have issues with damage if you go low size and strength less 
than 11. I have an upper limit of around 14 size and a lower one of 5 in my current 
crew. Wit is a no brainer: 15+ is almost mandatory but I am running one with a 13 that 
is doing ok but learning slows down to a crawl if you have less than 15. Will is super 
necessary so I try not to go below 15 here with a build. Speed isn't really a 
priority, so I often go as low as 3 here and they still do very well. More speed would 
be nice, but speed is a luxury and not a necessity. Deftness is nice, I won't run a 
WOS with less than a 13 here; my highest is 21 with a current ADM build.

Now how to run them. Well, minute one is offensive so I typically run 10-10-6 and then 
taper off to a high offensive effort and a low or moderate activity level. It seems 
that the majority of my ADM builds prefer a high-low pace. 

So a couple of current warrior builds to show off the style. 

     Midnight, currently in ADM -- 9-11(2)-10-17-15-3-21, about to start stat raises 
     but currently has ad masters in attack and initiative. 

     Ishmail currently in Home Guard -- 12-9-6-15-17-9-15, currently at 93 skills and 
     wont be stat raising for a minute.

     Average Joe in Mordant -- 11-11-14-13-13-9-13, painfully bad at learning and 
     definitely not recommended for the faint of heart.

     Beowulf in Seam -- 11-12-9-15-17-3-17, currently at 54 skills and near the top of 
     the arena. Has fallen on hard times of late because of diminishing returns on 
     skill learns. 

     Broken in Shadowspire -- 9-14-9-17-17-5-13, very new and probably going to be a 
     .500 warrior when it's all said and done because of the low speed and deftness 
     combo.

     Bender in DM 41 -- 9-7-14-17-17-3-17, currently undefeated and duelmaster, won't 
     last long but he started out as a tourney warrior and has gone at best 6-3 and 
     went 4-3 in this past mail-in as an adept.

So for anyone who doesn't know, a speed and deftness of 21 total is needed to get 
normal coordination and a combo of 28 is needed to get the "fights well with either 
hand" tag on your roll up. So not really relevant to the topic but just thought I'd 
throw that out there. I like to keep this total at the very least 18 to get slightly 
uncoordinated on all my builds because coordination is vital to defense and attack. 

Okay, that's my take on this fun style. If I have enlightened anyone then you are 
welcome, I hope I at least entertained everyone. Take it easy.  

                                          -- Eli