DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 10/08/2011 Duedate: 10/21/2011
NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA
DM-93 TURN-335
This Weeks Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
BRO'TOR
GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
(93-9148) [4-3-0,44]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
POSITION IS EMPTY BRO'TOR
GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
(93-9148) [4-3-0,44]
Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite
MARCUS MARCUS
GLORY DISCIPLES (1575) GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
(93-9149) [4-3-0,31] (93-9149) [4-3-0,31]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
SUPERMARKET (1578)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. SUPERMARKET (1578) 36
2. THE LOW ROAD 2 (1582) 34 DRAGON'S FIRE (711)
3. TEACHER'S PETS (1579) 27 Unchartered Team
4. GLORY DISCIPLES (1575) 21
5. THE PC LINE-UP (1576) 4 SUPERMARKET (1578)
The Top Teams
Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 3*SUPERMARKET (1578) 14 6 0 70.0 1/ 2*SUPERMARKET (1578) 12 3 0
2/ 1*TEACHER'S PETS (1579) 13 7 1 65.0 2/ 1*TEACHER'S PETS (1579) 9 6 1
3/ 2*THE PC LINE-UP (1576) 14 11 0 56.0 3/ 3*GLORY DISCIPLES (1575) 8 7 0
4/ 5*THE LOW ROAD 2 (1582) 7 8 0 46.7 4/ 4*THE PC LINE-UP (1576) 7 8 0
5/ 4*GLORY DISCIPLES (1575) 16 19 2 45.7 5/ 5*THE LOW ROAD 2 (1582) 7 8 0
6/ 6*CONAN-LUKE (1570) 1 9 0 10.0 6/ 6*CONAN-LUKE (1570) 1 9 0
'*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn
(###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank
TEAM SPOTLIGHT
Assur's Guide to Pure Defensives
1) Design
In creating a pure defensive, the things that you should be concerned about are:
Hit Points, Carry Ability, Endurance, and your skills in parry and/or defense.
Again, other attributes and skills can't hurt, but those are the vital attributes for
how you'll be fighting.
Hit Points come from Constitution (mostly), Size, and Will.
Carry Ability comes from Strength and Constitution, though if your Strength is
lower than your Constitution, the carry ability only comes from your Strength.
Endurance comes from Strength, Constitution, and Will (especially Will).
You get Parry Skills at
Str: 5, 7, 15, 17, 21, 21
Siz: (5), (7), (15), (17), (21), (21)
Wil: 5, 7, 15, 17, 21, 21
Dft: 5, 7, 9, 11, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 21
You get Defense Skills at
Siz: (5), (7), (15), (17), (21), (21)
Wit: 5, 7, 9, 11, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 21
Wil: 5, 7, 15, 17, 21, 21
Spd: 5, 7, 15, 17, 21, 21
Dft: 5, 7, 9, 11, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 21
Note that for parry and defense skills in size, you get penalized for having higher
sizes.
For parry based styles, it is highly recommended to have 11+ strength and as much
will as you can get. 11 deftness is also very nice. You can't have too much
constitution. It is recommended to not be too big, because you don't typically have
enough points for the stats you really want. Wit is nice, but not necessary. Almost
always, 1 point of con is better than 1 parry skill.
For dodge based styles, it is much tougher. ABs are usually made with 21 deftness
because they get attack skill bonuses, but for a pure defensive dodging AB, the
deftness isn't as vital. If you're going open handed, strength can be sacrificed. I
do not know as much about pure defensive ABs, especially in basic. I have two that I
plan to try out soon: (3-21-11-11-10-7-21 and 9-17-12-11-7-7-21). Mine will fight
as Rookies and then in the arena. For Lungers, you want lots and lots of endurance.
Twenty-one will and as much strength and constitution as you can get. Low size is
highly recommended for dodge based defensives.
High speed is not desired on either, simply because you want those points elsewhere.
2) Style Choice
There are two routes to go in choosing a style. A parry based style or a defense
based style. The traditional choices are the parry based styles (any style that
learns parry naturally). Style is almost irrelevant, because in most of these
fights, a couple of parry skills or endurance burn doesn't come in to play. There
are times when it does, which is what makes Total Parries the king, but all of these
styles can be very, very successful as pure defensives.
Total Parries are the most common pure defensive on the sands. There are plenty
of nicknames for Total Parries who are pure defensives, because of how frustrating it
can be to face them. They learn parry and defense skills naturally, are well suited
to all of the shields, and often ignore opportunities to attack. They also have the
highest parry base in the game.
Parry Strikers would be my next choice. They conserve endurance better than any
of the other parry based pure defensives. They learn parry naturally. They are well
suited to the Small Shield.
Parry Ripostes conserve somewhere around the same level as Total Parries. They
learn parry skills naturally. Because they also learn so many riposte skills, even
running defensive strategies they will tend to try to gain the initiative. They are
one of the best natural hybrids, but they make fine pure defensives as well.
Parry Lungers burn endurance much faster than the styles listed above. They
have much higher skill bases overall, but their parry is the same as Parry Ripostes
and Parry Strikers. They learn parry naturally.
Wall of Steels have the potential for the highest parry in the game.
Total Parries will never be bonused in parry skills, so while they start with
the most, a Wall of Steel can be bonused and start with two more parry skills than
any other style can. On the other side of things, they burn endurance faster than
any of the other styles listed and typically use heavier weapons. Like Parry
Lungers, they have a higher overall skill base, but for the discussion of the pure
defensive, those other skills don't matter as much.
The other option is a dodge based Pure Defensive. Most of the time, these styles are
run as hybrids in later minutes, but they both have the ability to run as pure
defensives for an entire fight.
Lungers are the king in basic. They learn defense naturally and have the
highest starting defense in the game. In fact, they are the only style other than
Total Parries that learn defense naturally. On the down side, they burn endurance
fast.
Aimed Blows are the other style that typically runs as a pure dodge defensive.
I do not know much about these warriors, but watching them is a thing of beauty. In
ADM, when they can start going open handed without concern, they rule the game, but
even in basic, they can be very successful. The down side for them is that they do
not learn defense skills naturally, so you're really hoping it is their favorite
learn.
As always, any style can be run as a pure defensive, for part of a fight or an entire
fight. The styles listed above are merely the traditional choices. And realize that
the dodge based styles I list are often run as hybrids in later minutes. The line
between a pure defensive and a hybrid is often blurred, because even some Total Parry
pure scum will attack and win fights after their opponent is exhausted (which is one
of the hybrid strategies I will mention later).
3) Weapon Selection (with requirements)
If you aren't planning to attack, it hardly matters what weapon you use, right?
Typically, parry based pure defensives use an off hand shield (and often a main hand
shield):
Large Shield (13 Str, 3 Wit, 7 Dft) (10+ Dft to use in off hand, depending on Main
hand weapon)
Medium Shield (9 Str, 3 Wit, 5 Dft) (7+ Dft to use in off hand)
Small Shield (5 Str, 3 Wit, 5 Dft) (7+ Dft to use in off hand)
ABs often use their Fists, because they get a bonus to their ability to dodge. As
with style choice, weapons selection often does not matter for these fights. The
fight outcome is more a function of your opponent's ability to take you down or wait
you out, not on your abilities or skills.
4) Strategy and Tactics
For your parry based pure defensive, 1-1 Parry or 1-1 Open works great. The response
tactic has some interesting uses, especially in minute 1 or minute 6. Note that this
strategy will usually make your fights quite boring to read, especially the 1-1 parry
strategy. This strategy and type of warrior is not meant to be fun, but good ones
can amass amazing records, especially before Advanced Duel2. Your best challenges
are styles that burn their endurance fastest (Lungers, Wall of Steels, and Parry
Lungers).
For the dodge based pure defensive, High Activity Level is important. How high
depends largely on your warrior. Experiment to find what works best. Offensive
Effort is typically low. Dodge or Open for tactics.
Once again, the line between pure defensive and hybrid can become very blurred. Not
attacking at all may not be your best way to win fights. What if in a later minute
you raise your offensive effort and do not use a defensive tactic? You're suddenly
not fighting as a pure defensive. For many warriors, this is a much better strategy
than simply trying to wait until your opponent drops from exhaustion. The mechanics
of the game can allow for some very strange results. I had a basher with very little
endurance and 3 will refuse to drop from exhaustion and finally won after 6 minutes
against a total parry. This is probably more important for dodge based defensives,
but can also be true for parry based defensives.
5) Armor
APA/F is the norm. ASM/x is a nice choice, especially against that nasty SC. For
dodging defensives, it is not a good idea to wear more than you can carry. Hopefully
you have lots of strength and can carry APA and a F.
Assur's Guide to Pure Offensives
1) Design
When you are making a pure offensive, the things that matter most are:
Damage, Endurance, Attack skills, Decise skills, Initiative skills, and wit.
While other attributes and skills are nice, especially if you want to try fighting
differently, the pure offensive doesn't care much about them.
Damage is dictated by Strength and Size.
Endurance is dicated by Strength, Constitution, and Will (especially Will)
You get attack skills at:
Str: 5, 7, 15, 17, 21, 21 Wit: 5, 7, 9, 11, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 21
Wil: 5, 7, 15, 17, 21, 21 Dft: 5, 7, 9, 11, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 21
You get decise skills at:
Wit: 5, 7, 17, 21 Wil: 5, 7, 9, 15, 17, 21 Spd: All even values
You get init skills at:
Siz: 5, 7, 15, 17, 21, 21 Wit: 5, 7, 9, 11, 11, 11, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 21
Spd: 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 21 Dft: 5, 7, 7, 15, 15, 17, 21, 21
Wit helps you learn more skills and as you'll notice contributes to each of the
skills that you care about (attack, decise, and init).
The only other thing to seriously consider is your weapon selection.
Damage is probably the most important attribute, followed by decise and then attack.
Wit is also very important as you need to learn your offensive skills enough to keep
up your ability to overwhelm your opponents.
2) Style Choice
Strikers are the best pure offensive style. They conserve endurance, learn the best
skills naturally (decise and attack), and can use all the good weapons. The only
real negative is that they have fewer attack skills than the other pure offensive
styles.
Bashers are the next best choice. They learn the right skills (but learn attack more
than decise) and have more attack than strikers. However, their weapon choices are
not as good as strikers (which makes damage rating very important for bashers) and do
not conserve endurance like strikers.
Slashers are the last of the styles that are naturally a pure offensive. They do not
learn decise naturally, though, so while they are great with their attack and
initiative, they are generally slower than their counterparts. They have access to
most of the best weapons in the game, but do not have a great speed weapon.
Parry Strikers can also be run naturally as a pure offensive. They learn lots of
decise skills, but learn parry skills to go with it. They can use almost any weapon
and can make fine pure offensives.
None of the other styles learn decise naturally, so while it can be a favorite learn
for any other style, you can't count learning them, so speed can be an issue. Other
styles' strengths are not in the pure offensive category, but there is nothing wrong
with running other styles as pure offensives. Recommend HIGH WIT for these!
3) Weapon Selection (with requirements)
The following are my recommendations. Feel free to try other weapons
Speed Weapons (best chance to attack first):
Striker/Parry Striker
Short Spear (9 Str, 5 Wit, 7 Dft)
Dagger (3 Str, 7 Wit, 7 Dft)
Basher
Quarterstaff (11 Str, 9 Siz, 11 Wit, 11 Dft)
War Hammer (13 Str, 5 Wit, 7 Dft)
Slasher (I run far fewer slashers, so I'm not as sure about this one)
Hatchet? (7 Str, 5 Wit, 7 Dft)
Damage Weapons: (When damage is what you really care about)
Striker/Parry Striker/Slasher
Battle Axe (15 Str, 7 Wit, 9 Dft - If using an off-hand weapon, also 9 Siz)
Scimitar (9 Str, 11 Wit, 11 Dft)
Broadsword (11 Str, 9 Wit, 7 Dft)
Basher (note that HL and GS are very heavy and burn endurance fast)
Halberd (17 Str, 9 Siz, 9 Wit, 11 Dft)
Greatsword (15 Str, 9 Siz, 9 Wit, 11 Dft)
...can also use Battle Axe or Broadsword marginally...
Other Good All Purpose Weapons:
Striker/Parry Striker/Slasher
Longsword (11 Str, 13 Wit, 11 Dft)
Basher
Maul (15 Str, 9 Siz, 5 Wit, 7 Dft)
Great Axe (13 Str, 9 Wit, 11 Dft)
4) Strategy and Tactics
The most common strategy used by pure offensives is run hot. Hot means high
offensive effort (OE) and activity level (AL). 10 OE and 10 AL is very common.
Realize the hotter you run, the faster you will use your endurance. But most of the
time, you'll want to run hot. Unless you know you're fighting a pure defensive,
running hot is good advice for pure offensives.
If you're fighting a pure defensive, they want you to use all your endurance, so
running this hot might not be a good idea. Running 1 AL is not a bad idea (they are
not going to try to attack you).
Also realize that every warrior has a favorite rhythm (favorite OE and AL) which will
make them fight better. Some warriors don't like running super hot (or aren't) as
well suited to run super hot. Until you get to advanced duel2, you won't know for
sure what your favorite rhythm is. But you can experiment and sometimes get a feel
that your warrior runs very well as certain numbers.
I am not a fan of using tactics. They hurt you as much as they help you. That said,
the Decise tactic is great for making you faster. It is easily countered by a
warrior using the Response tactic. I've won ridiculous fights (new warriors beating
20 fight warriors) by using the response tactic. The response tactic is a great way
to counter another offensive using the decise tactic.
I usually do not use Bash, Slash, or Lunge very often.
5) Armor
No armor is recommended. But death is a high risk. Even using the lightest armor
(ALE/L) protects against death in a major way compared to no armor. If you know
you're fighting someone faster than you, wearing armor may very well be a good idea
(While who attacks first is dictated largely by luck, I'd rather not depend on luck
if I have another choice)
* }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ *
What can you do with the Consortium Information Collection (CIC)? How does one
use all that info? Contact RSI or Jorja in DM93 to get a copy.
You can use the information to:
1. Predict what your designed warrior is going to look like. (Indeed, you can use
the info to "try out" several design ideas, before you choose your final design.
2. Review the overview of the warrior you received to see if he/she is
bonused/hosed.
3. Help keep track of the warrior's skills, including those earned from certain stat
raises.
4. Determine advantageous and usable weapons and armor for certain situations.
So let's examine the CIC in detail.
1. ***DAMAGE CHART*** This chart shows you the range of expected damage doing your
character will yield. For example, a SZ16, 10ST warrior yields "-R+", meaning great
damage is typical, but lower and higher are not uncommon. Damage doing is dependent
on SZ, ST, and luck of the roll. If a warrior is much below, or much above, the
chart predictions, he is "hosed" or "blessed." This chart is more of generic
reference than most of the other information.
2. *** HIT POINTS*** HP is calculated as (3.75xCN)+(1.1xSZ)+(0.4xWL). This chart
shows the HP needed for each rating. For example, an 11-10-8-15-17-12-11 warrior
would have(3.75x10)+(1.1X8)+(0.4x17)=53.10HP and his "hit point rating" would be
"cannot lot," meaning cannot take a lot of damage. One raise of CN elevates him to
56.85 and "normal HP."
3. ***ENDURANCE*** By this chart's definition, endurance equals (WL)x(ST+CN).
Using the warrior mentioned above, endurance is (17)x(11+10) = 357. Based on the
chart, this warrior should have "normal endurance. It is possible to be hosed/blessed
in endurance, which would be the case if this warrior did not have normal. Note: On
a warrior profile sheet, the lack of any comment about endurance, means the warrior
has normal.
4. ***COORDINATION*** Coordination is merely SP + CN. There is no hosing or
blessing. The warrior listed above has 12+11 = 23 or normal coordination.
5. ***ENCUMBRANCE*** is often called "carry." Carry is a non-hosed/blessed
attribute dependent on ST and CN and it indicates how much weight a warrior can carry
without penalizing the endurance. Checking the chart for the above listed warrior
shows 11ST/10CN yields "B" carry, or "cannot carry a lot of weight." Each level of
carry adds 9 points of weight that can be carried. A = 9; B = 18; C = 27, etc.
Items to be carried are armor, helm, and weapon/shields. Check the WEAPON
REQUIREMENT chart to see the weights of weapons and armor. As an example, a warrior
wearing ASM/H, and carrying BS/ME and a backup SH, has the following weights of 8 +
3 + 4 + 4 + 2 = 19. That amount of carry is more than the 18 indicated for "B
carry," hence, the warrior out much quicker than normal.
6. ***HEIGHT*** This is a simple conversion chart showing what heights equate to
what SZ. While the warrior fight summary may list the warrior in ft-in, the D2
program really runs using the SZ number. Size may limit weapons or shields that may
be used without penalty, and as seen above, it impacts certain other characteristics.
7. ***INTELLIGENCE*** This chart indicates the intelligence statement you will
receive at each numeric WT. In general, only the numeric value is of importance.
8. ***STYLE SUITABILITY*** This is a chart which summarizes which weapons/shields
are suitable, marginal, or unsuitable for which styles.
9. ***WEAPON REQUIREMENTS*** This chart only refers to primary-hand weapons, and it
is a terrific summary of weapon requirement and impact. This chart reveals all of the
following and more:
a. weapon weights
b. ST requirements for a weapon
c. SZ limitations for a weapon
d. WT requirements for all weapons
e. DF requirements for a weapon
f. Weapon impact vs. armor type
g. Kill "ratings" for weapons (Take this rating with a "grain of salt" as it is not
really supported by empirical results, and it appears to say heavy weapons kill
better.)
h. Whether the weapon is a slash, bash, or lunge type weapon.
10. ***BAGMAN 2 SKILL CHART AND STYLE MODIFIERS*** This chart is a doozy! It took
years of data and development, and has become a highly important tool in D2. The
SKILL CHART explains what skills are earned at each stat level. For example: at 5 WL
the warrior gets 1 each Attack, Parry, Defense, and Decisiveness skill; at 6 WL, no
more skills are earned; but bumping the 7WL again adds one each of those same four.
Note also that SZ does impact skills. A SZ3 warrior gets two each defense and parry
skills and loses two initiative, while a SZ21 earns 4 initiative but loses four each
defense and parry. This chart is prepared in an accumulative fashion, showing the
total skills at each stat.
Coupled with that chart the STYLE MODIFIER chart shows the "at birth" style
modifications. (All negative or zero. Each style starts with a different base
of skills. Let's take our previously mentioned 11-10-8-15-17-12-11 warrior for
example, and let's say he is a slasher.
The skill chart shows 2 each attack and parry skills at 11 ST; no skills
for CN; no sk1lls for SZ; at 15WT 9 initiative, 3 riposte, 7 attack, 7 defense,
and 2 decisiveness; 4 each attack, parry and defense plus 5 decise at 17WL; 3
init, 4 riposte, 2 defense, and 5 decise at 12SP; and at 11DF there are 3 Init,
4 Riposte, and 5 each attack, parry and defense skills. Add those all together
to get a 15Init-11Rip-18Att-11Par-18Def-12Dec total of skills for that design.
Now you must apply the style modifier chart, and a slasher has as follows:
-2 Init, -4Rip, -8Att, -10Par, -12Def, -2Dec. Putting them both together
yields a slasher who should expect 13 Initiative, 7 Riposte, 10 Attack, 1 Parry,
6 Defense, and 11 Decisiveness as starting skills.
11. ***HIGH WIT STATEMENTS*** These statements apply to those warriors with 8+ WT.
(There are also Low Wit Statements, but that information summary is inaccurate due to
lack of input data.) This list indicates what "statements" should appear on your
"warrior profile" for each of Initiative, Riposte, Attack, Parry, and Defense per
each level of wit. Using our warrior above, as stated, he is expected to start with
13 Initiative skills. He has 15 WT. Examining the chart, under Initiative and
across from 15 WT (which also applies for 16WT, since the next listed level is 17),
the left side (high order) is for 13+base init skills, and the right side (low order
10-12 base init). We determined that he should start with 13, so we should expect
the statement "Nothing short of genius...." If we do get this statement as expected,
we DO have 13+ Initiative skills. (13 min) Hence, we could be bonused with skills
above 13. We would know if we were bonused 3 Init skills, as we would start with an
expert in Initiative. However, if, indeed, we received the other statement "With a
very aggressive...", we would know we started with 10-12 Initiative skills, and were
hence hosed 1 to 3 initiative skills.
Let's try one more example - for Riposte. Our skill evaluations showed him
to have 7 skills. Looking at the HIGH WIT chart at 15WT, he has fewer skills than
the low order amount of 10-12, so he should expect no riposte statement. If he did
get the low order statement, then he truly has at least 10 riposte skills, so he is
bonused +3 or +4 (4 is max skill hose or bonus.) Evaluating the high wit statements
of all five skill areas (There is none for decisiveness.) will lead to a true and
actual understanding of the starting skill set of any warrior.
+ ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ The Lighthouse ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ +
The topic I've chosen to address today is The Obvious. There are some obvious
mistakes that new players can and sometimes do make. I've seen it happen. I'm sure
none of YOU have made these mistakes, but just in case....
Choice of weapon, there's a good area for mistakes. Every style has its
preferred weapons, NO weapon can be used by every style, nor can every style use all
weapons. At some point in your ten turns here in Arena 93, you will see the chart
that separates out weapons by style. Pay attention to that, this is not just whim,
opinion, or personal taste. This has been tested, over and over again. The fights
are monitored by a computer, and a computer doesn't care about "this should work" or
"that should be cool." If your weapon is unsuited to your style, you will be
penalized in the fight. This is more than just "doesn't seem to have the
strength/wit/deftness to use his weapon." That handicaps you, but not as badly. In
fact, just to confuse people, sometimes a warrior's "favorite" weapon, chosen by the
computer at the time the roll-up is first input, will be one for which he lacks the
perfect numbers. But it will ALWAYS be one suitable for his style.
Don't trust real-world logic in picking weapons, this is a game and has its own
rules. My stock example, which is TRUE, is bashers and fists. You'd think--many
have--that a basher would be a natural going in with his fists. No. Bashers are
unsuited to this weapon and will not do their best with it. Do not trust logic,
trust the charts.
Also, weapons have weight and bulk. If you go in loaded like an armory cart, as
I have seen characters in a role-playing game do, you will be at a disadvantage. The
computer is merciless when it comes to encumbrance. Always carry a backup, yes.
That's common sense. But do NOT carry a backup that's heavier than your primary
weapon, it's for emergencies, and you may not be able to draw it in time anyway.
Don't even THINK about carrying a two-handed weapon as a backup, the computer will
not allow this. The input program rejects this. Always. Yes, sure, if you go to
the Dark Arena, you might see the Shewish Giant with backup mauls. He's a special
case, he exists only to kill your warriors, and he is allowed more weapons than any
managed warrior will ever be able to carry. When you're looking for a backup, pick
something relatively light: dagger, shortsword, scimitar, if you want a sword,
hatchet, shortspear, warhammer. Maybe a mace.
Training. This is one of my stock cautionary tales, and it's true. It happened
back before Noblish Island was opened. A new manager who had run three turns and
pulled 0-15 wrote and asked me what was wrong. Not only were his warriors losing,
they hadn't learned a skill in the whole time. He sent me their stats to demonstrate
that they SHOULD have learned skills. Five warriors, three fights each, and between
them, they had TWELVE stat increases. They hadn't learned skills because they hadn't
been training skills. Read the rule book, read ALL of your Noblish Island
newsletters, and pay attention! It's depressingly easy to overlook the obvious, and
this can mean a disaster.
Armor. The offensive styles, basher, lunger, slasher, striker, are geared to
run fast, fight fast, move fast, get in and win and get out before they're hit. If
you put them in full plate, yes, you will probably reduce their chance of death. But
you will also reduce their chance of winning. They should not need the heavy armor
to keep them alive; their offensive capabilities should be doing that, by winning the
fight before they're in danger.
Perhaps not so obvious, but... you can often surrender when a fight is going
badly. If your desperation strategy is set up for that. Raising any of your fight
numbers, much less all of them, in desperation, will often cause your warrior to go
berserk, and it increases his chance of doing something stupid and getting killed.
Dropping the numbers, on the other hand, makes him feel that he doesn't want to fight
so hard, and he might surrender before his hit points drop to zero and he dies. No
guarantee, but it's worth a try in many cases.
Jorja
The Middle Way
+ ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ The Lighthouse ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ +
Profile of a Team
Middle Way 7
Instead of giving you the profile of a graduating warrior this week, I'm going
to show you what I started with and what I did to make the Middle Way 7.
Warrior #1 I made a parry-riposte, as much because I like making rippers as
because I thought this was an "ideal" ripper. (Hint, it is NOT an "ideal" ripper.)
13 + 0 = 13 I left the ST at 13 because that's enough to use any ripper's
5 + 0 = 5 weapon. I didn't raise the CN, though an "ideal" ripper would have
12 + 0 = 12 more, because I didn't have the points to spare. I can raise this
13 + 2 = 15 warrior's CN later, and in fact I did so on the first fight. Why
7 + 6 = 13 didn't I raise the WT to 17 or 19, as I could have done? Again, I
13 + 0 = 13 needed the points more elsewhere, and 15 is sufficient for any of
7 + 6 = 13 the ripper's preferred weapons. Learning with a 15 WT is fine,
also. I raised WL to 13, the maximum allowable addition of points, because that is
THE most important stat. Without a decent WL, you can't raise any of the other
stats, and 13 is marginal anyway. If this warrior survives to graduation, it will go
into automatic retirement because of that low WL. SP I left alone because that's
more than enough for any ripper to start with. DF I raised by the maximum six points
because it's so useful for a) getting initial skills (this warrior was born with an
expert in riposte) and b) hitting on target and winning fights before the low CN
loses them. This warrior is very frail--mostly the low CN, but incredibly quick
(relatively high SP and DF combined). She can't carry much weight, but she does do
good damage.
Warrior #2 I made a wall of steel, which may be my favorite style. I added
6 + 3 = 9 three to ST because I HATE warriors who do little damage. Also,
10 + 0 = 10 raising ST to 9 will allow this warrior to use the SC, one of my
16 + 0 = 16 favorite weapons. Nothing to CN, 10 is okay. Not great, but okay.
12 + 5 = 17 Five to WT, since I have the points to spend there, gives me 17,
7 + 6 = 13 just about the ideal starting WT. The full six to WL for the same
6 + 0 = 6 reason as above--gotta get it as high as possible, and this is
13 + 0 = 13 still just marginal for a long term warrior. I left the SP at 6,
because I never know what to do with SP anyway. And DF left at 13 because the points
were needed more urgently elsewhere, and 13 will give this warrior the SC, the wall
of steel's best weapon. This warrior came out slightly uncoordinated (the low SP)
but at the same time quick on his feet. He can trip faster than anyone you ever saw!
Again, can't carry much weight but does good damage.
Warrior #3 I made another ripper. Hey, I warned you I'm doing rippers right
9 + 0 = 9 now! It would probably have made a better lunger, but I didn't
8 + 0 = 8 feel like making a lunger, and besides, the idea of a seven-foot
20 + 0 = 20 tall ripper tickled my fancy. I left ST untouched, as 9 will
14 + 3 = 17 give this warrior the SC. CN is acceptable, though low for a
4 + 6 = 10 ripper. Raised WT to 17, because WT is always useful to have; if
4 + 1 = 5 I could have put the two extra points on WL, I'd have settled for
11 + 4 = 15 a WT of 15, though. Six points to WL for the same reason as above
--this team is cursed in the WILL department. Oh, well, you work with what you've
got. Four added to DF for starting skills and accuracy, and the final one point I
dropped on SP because it looked so desperately low. This warrior came out with
"slightly uncoordinated" but is not listed as "slow and inactive," possibly thanks to
that extra point on SP. At least, that's what I choose to tell myself. This one
came out slightly uncoordinated but incredibly quick and active, can't carry much
weight but does great damage (the SZ).
Warrior #4 has perhaps the best potential, in my view. I made it a wall of
11 + 0 = 11 steel (you're not surprised, are you?). Left ST and CN alone;
9 + 0 = 9 they're high enough to go with. Raised WT to 15, which is a good,
13 + 0 = 13 meaty WT. Why not 16? Because that wouldn't give me anything I
10 + 5 = 15 can't get at 15, and save the extra point for use elsewhere. WL to
12 + 5 = 17 seventeen--gotta love it. If this warrior survives, that 17 WL
5 + 1 = 6 means long-term possibilities in the form of relatively easy stat
10 + 3 = 13 raises later on. One point on SP because I had it and that seemed
more useful than any other place I might put it. Three to DF, because the extra
accuracy is always useful, though I could have stopped at 11 (the minimum needed to
use a SC) and put the other two points elsewhere. If I had chosen to do that, they
would probably have gone to ST for more damage. Slightly uncoordinated but active
and very quick on his feet, can't carry much weight but does good damage. A familiar
pattern, eh?
Warrior #5 is a total parry. Somehow he just didn't look like anything else.
4 + 5 = 9 Points to ST to reach my minimum preferred of nine, so that he will
14 + 1 = 15 not be cursed with little damage. After all, he MIGHT strike a
16 + 0 = 16 blow some day. Also, I wanted him to be able to stand up under his
9 + 0 = 9 armor. An extra point to CN, because total parries can always use
12 + 5 = 17 more of that. Nothing on WT, as skills are not important for him,
9 + 0 = 9 and 9 isn't too bad... for a total parry. Five to bring WL to 17;
6 + 3 = 9 this is as important for a total parry as for any other style, and
maybe more so, since it affects endurance. Left SP alone; he won't be moving much.
Three to DF to bring that up to 9 so that he can use some weapons other than the
shields. I have a hard time thinking of shields as weapons, frankly. Normal
intelligence--no statement as to how intelligent he is, but then again, no statement
that he is "very stupid" either. A compromise I--and he--can live with. He's got
good endurance and can take a lot of damage, thanks to CN, SZ, and WL. Can't carry
much weight (the low ST) but does great damage (the high SZ). I've already raised
his ST by one and plan to up it another point to 11, as I have chosen to arm him with
a longspear (they use 'em like quarterstaves for parrying and may, on rare occasions,
even attack with them); also, if I am reading the chart correctly, there are no
skills to be burned by stat trains from 9 to 11.
You'll note that only one of them won its first fight. This is not unusual, nor
is it distressing to me. In fact, I like for them to lose their first fight, as it
teaches them a little humility! But seriously, the first fight gives you a chance to
get the feel of the warrior and decide what adjustments to make to each one's
standard strategy.
Number 1 was going 6-6-6 straight across, not fast enough to burn out early, not
slow enough to scum. She got the first blow, which is good, but I don't expect her
to do it again; her opponent should probably be cranking up his Offensive Effort to
grab the first blow for himself. She didn't start showing exhaustion statements, so
she can handle this speed, at least; it was damage (that low CN) that took her down.
The second was going 8-6-6 and did NOT get the first blow, which was appropriate
considering his opponent's style. He went down to damage, the wimp, before I could
tell if he could sustain this speed.
The third, my seven-foot ripper, went 6-6-6 and had no trouble dealing with the
Persistent Beggar. I really can't call that a test.
The fourth was jumped, knocked down, went desperate, and quit, all in the space
of a few seconds. He's going to get some teasing for that from his teammates! He
was going 8-6-6, but there wasn't time to see how he liked that.
The last one, the total parry, went down to damage, having made no attempt to
parry, dummy that he is. I may set him the parry tactic in minute one. He was going
6-6-6, for all the good it did him. If he'd bothered to parry and hung on a little
longer, he could have had that fight, because his opponent was staggering with
exhaustion in the first minute.
Jorja
Middle Way 7
+>]H[<+-----+>]H[+ Question of the Week #6 +]H[<+-----+>]H[<+
From turn 412:
AK's Q.O.W. -- There's no single trick to keeping warriors alive. Constitution and
armor probably helps the most because it's more difficult for them to run out of hit
points and die in the infirmary, plus they don't go desperate as easy which is
usually when the death intent comment comes. Warrior experience is a big help, but
it takes time to earn, of course. Tourneys could help with this, but you can die
there too. It may be at half chance, but you get so many.... It really comes down
to the death intent statement usually. Skill, and toughness (including armor) help
to keep you from getting to that point, and once there, only warrior experience makes
a difference in reducing the chance of failing the survival role after that death
intent statement. -- Adie
AK's Q.O.W. #2 -- It takes a lot more than three master ratings once you get to the
middle ranks of ADM. In the lower end, that could be enough. But success is much
more attributed to the sum of the warriors' capabilities. Are they tough? Do they
have staying power/endurance? Do they defend well, even with low skills? Do they
have good rythyms? Do they 'like' their rythyms? How bout their favorite weapon?
Is it good and do they love it or hate it? Sometimes a warrior, for a reason not
easily definable, just wins. Other super skilled ones can just lose regularly. Of
course, each warrior may win at one level of the game, like basic and as freshmen,
but maybe lose like crazy higher up. Godlings will commonly come into their own as
champions and freshmen. The very rare few can win ALL the way. Those warriors are a
true joy.... -- Adie
Another Q.O.W. -- Perhaps it is not the fact that your good roll-ups never get
blessed and the others do. But it may be the fact, that you only get few great ones,
and it is EASY to remember them not getting gifted. Kind of like that syndrome where
people find it easy to remember all the negative things in their life, but find it
difficult to point out the equal or more numerous good things. However, if this is
not the case, keep those better gifted average roll-ups. Especially those that can
win in basic. You may find them winning in ADM later too, especially once they start
training stats. Also, if you get enough great roll-ups, you will eventually get
gifted ones. Remember, some styles find it easier to be more gifted. -- Adie
AK47 -- Let's see... <shuffling through paperwork> It says here that the three
recently deceased warriors from my team had 'normal', 'a lot', and 'very frail' hit
points. The 'very frail' one died in the infirmary, which is a little different.
The hit points, if you will, just determine how much damage can be sustained before
the warrior goes desperate/frantic/careless/you-name-it. Once that happens, con
ceases to matter. I've seen all types of warriors buy the farm, from 7 will to 21,
from no armor to APA/F. You hit upon the most important point, winning as much as
possible, but beyond that it's all about luck. Running in a friendly arena can help
the statistics of dying, but it doesn't mean any individual is safe and unkillable.
Tournies aren't that safe, in my opinion. FEs are helpful, but I think they are just
a visible artifact of being a developed fighter. A warrior with a lot of FEs but a
lousy learn rate probably isn't much more survivable just due to those FEs. -- Axly
AK47 -- Three masters sounds like a good rule of thumb, but that would vary depending
on what the warrior's physicals were like. I might say two masters and two ad exes
for defensives, but I'm no expert on them. -- Axly
Hanibal, QoW -- I have no idea. Some styles get gifted more than others, and in
certain areas. If you want the best bonuses, run aimers! -- Axly
QOW / AK 47 -- I've found skills keep a warrior alive better than anything. My best
learners have all lived. Especially offensives who learn a lot of init and decise
quickly. Swing first and keep swinging. I'd take WL over CN for its skills. I fear
mentioning this that it may jinx me, but I've never lost a warrior past about 10
fights. Armor has helped me at times, but it robs warriors of much of their finesse.
If a good defensive warrior can live through about 5-10 fights and learn well
he/she/it should be well on the way to success. -- JRK
QOW / AK 47 -- I think it's an oversimplification to say three masters are needed in
AD. I also think it depends on the arena. Andorak is very competitive right now. I
have warriors with three advanced masters who can't seem to win much anymore. As to
what the requirement is... I think it depends on a number of factors, where you are
in the rankings, what your favorites are, what you get in the way of challenges,
matchups and where your attributes fall. Three masters and tremendous
damage/endurance would be much different from three masters and normal in both areas.
I'm not sure a good benchmark can be set. But it is certainly and interesting
question. -- JRK
QOW -- Overall, I would lean toward saying the reverse is true as far as giftedness.
Most of my average warriors have come out very close to average, usually a little
above. While many of my good warriors have been at least +3, often +5 or more. On
my all star team of long ago (Maxwell Honorblade, Monica Virtueshield, Michael
Honorblade, Corina Honorblade, and Angela Silverblade) all of my warriors were gifted
(four of them by +3 or more, 3 by +5 or more), average or not. I also tend to do
well in attack and poorly in init. Giftedness seems to be a fickle thing, I suspect
this is because the RUGS are involved. -- JRK
P.S. I apologize if it seems I am bragging, but my record and I have never gotten
over the graduation of all those warriors.
Axly -- Damned if I know. I found the style-linked starting points very curious.
Looks to me like there was an attempt to balance styles that resulted in drastic
imbalances! -- Leeta
Hanibal -- Once you've gotten the death-intent statement, only luck will keep you
alive. The thing you need to do is avoid getting the death-intent statement. No,
this is serious. You can up a warrior's hit points in the design stage, by adding to
CN and, I think WL (but maybe ST), and having a large SZ helps. Of course, if you
pile the points on there, he may be dumb and clumsy. You can pile on the armor,
which will help keep him alive but may lose him fights unless he can scum; some
warriors are totally immobilized by armor.
On a more positive note, if I have a warrior who is "very frail" that I really
don't want to die, I will use armor, and I will attempt to keep him alive by using
the "surrender in desperation" tactic. No, no, it isn't a joke! Honest! Say I've
got a frail warrior, probably with normal or lower endurance. I send that boy out
running hard, 10-10, even. Sometimes, especially if he's smart and deft, he wins
right off. But if he doesn't win right off, he rapidly becomes exhausted and quits.
I forget who it was who suggested this to me, years ago--Phido, maybe. It doesn't
always work (nothing ALWAYS works), but it may help. And I'd rather have good
warriors lose than die; if they stay alive long enough, they build up skills and
start winning. -- Leeta
P.S. Yes, CN keeps you alive better than WL. WL sometimes leads a low-CN warrior to
go on fighting a little too long.
P.P.S. Yes, warriors who can take a lot of damage do die, sometimes, because some
warriors can dish out a lot of damage.
P.P.P.S. The survival of low-CN high skill warriors is more a matter of strategy
than anything else. And, obviously, if you don't lose, you don't die.
P.P.P.P.S. Picking your arena does contribute to warrior survival, but it can be
tricky, since a warrior has, as a normal minimum, a year to go before graduation and
the character of an arena may change in the course of a year. Andorian is not always
a guarantee of relative safety; you need to look at the actual managers present and
evaluate THEM for propensity to run killing styles and strategies. In my opinion,
tourneys are of limited value in building up a warrior for the regular arena. Sure,
the chance of dying is only half that in regular dueling, but the chance of learning
skills or training stats is also only half. And that's what increased FE is about:
more skills, more stat trains.
P.P.P.P.P.S. There is NO number of fights that will preserve you from being killed,
and if you fight equally experienced opponents who happen to be "headhunters," it
won't improve your chances much, either! Pick your fights with care, challenge and
avoid every time. The only absolute guarantee against death is a potion of
immortality (a tourney prize) or graduation.
AK47 -- It depends on the advanced arena you're fighting in. And by "hold your own,"
do you mean have a 50% winning percentage, or rise rapidly through the ranks, or make
it to the top, or what? I have run warriors in Lirin Kiv (ADM 107) from the day it
opened, and in that arena, no, you don't have to have three masters. Oh, sure, it
HELPS, especially now that the arena has aged enough so that some of the foundation
warriors DO have those masters. But it happens to be a small advanced arena fed by
small basic arenas, and while the competition among the fossils in the upper levels
is stiff, the lower levels aren't that bad. Heck, even MY warriors win sometimes!
Or, try 101, Home Guard. Yes, the current status lets in warriors who are
potentially good, but I doubt anyone there has three masters, and if they do, they're
probably on their way out. -- Leeta
P.S. And no amount of innate ability on the part of a warrior can overcome for long
the effects of careless management. Management may not be ALL, but it's at least
half.
Hanibal -- Regarding blessed warriors and great rollups, the law of averages says
everybody has a chance to be blessed. But it takes a LOT of warriors for the law of
averages to operate visibly. I have had great (in stats) warriors who were blessed
and the same who were cursed, ditto for average ones. -- Leeta
* }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ *
---===FREE BLADES REGIONAL NEWS===---
Duelmasters
-----------
DM 9 ZUKAL (turn 680): BITTERMAN of BLUE MOON (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 12 RIZTAB (turn 682): CRITIAS of DREAMERS (Sleepy, mgr.)
DM 13 DULLENS (turn 594): SAUSAGE PARTY of DUDE RANCH (Hombre, mgr.)
DM 15 MALCORN (turn 676): BOBCAT of GREENWARDENS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 16 WILLAF (turn 678): SAD SLACKS of EMOTIONAL PANTS (Sherlock, mgr.)
DM 17 ALJAFIR (turn 669): CORNBREAD STUFFING of ALMOST THANKSGIVING (Sherlock, mgr)
DM 19 ZUWAYZA (turn 670): DESERT PLANTS of THE MAGNIFICENT MAGS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 28 MORYA (turn 337): PYRITE of STEEL AND SILK (Michael Eldritch, mgr.)
DM 29 LAPUR (turn 667): DR. STRANGELEAF of BLUNT FORCE (Floyd, mgr.)
DM 31 CHIMLEVTAL (turn 335): URN4A TREAT! of JUST DESSERTS (Destitute Noble?)
DM 32 ARVAT (turn 664): PETROV of ASSORTED (A-Sop, mgr.)
DM 33 NIATOLI ISLAND (turn 661): JERK O'LANTERN of HALLOWEINERS (The Dark One, mgr)
DM 35 MURSKA (turn 653): RABEL of ON THE ROCKS (Bartender, mgr.)
DM 43 VEASTIAN (turn 611): TORN CLOTH of IS THAT A CLUE? (Sherlock, mgr.)
DM 45 STORMCROWE (turn 312): YUMALESCA of DARQUE FORCES (Master Darque, mgr.)
DM 47 TEMPLE OF ABARSIS (turn 307): KATIE of ALL-STAR NANA'S (The Mun, mgr.)
DM 50 SNOWBOUND (turn 293): 4-H of LIFE IMPACTS (Smitty, mgr.)
DM 56 ROCANIS (turn 543): MANZA WIGGLES of INCONSISTENT FURY (Banthius, mgr.)
DM 60 ARADI (turn 528): EVENING STAR of SUPERIOR FORCES 60 (Manager, mgr.)
DM 61 JURINE (turn 510): DEEMER EPPT of MIDDLE WAY 16 (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 65 DAL SHANG (turn 504): SASHA of ZOMBIE SQUAD (Khisanth, mgr.)
DM 73 ERINIKA (turn 242): STINKY PETE of DREW'S BOYS II (The Mun, mgr.)
DM 74 DAYLA KIV (turn 465): NIMINI TYL ZO of SAND DANCERS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 75 JADE MOUNTAIN (turn 460): BALISONG of ZOMBIE SQUAD (Khisanth, mgr.)
DM 78 LIN TIRIAN (turn 451): DELNA BERIN of SAND DANCERS (Jorja, mgr.)
ADM 103 FREE BLADES (turn 568): NIGHTCAP of DARKLINGS (She-Puppy, mgr.)
Top Teams
---------
DM 9 ZUKAL (turn 680): BLUE MOON (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 12 RIZTAB (turn 682): ALL HALLOW'S EVE (Destitute Noble, mgr.)
DM 13 DULLENS (turn 594): HARRY POTTER AND THE (Sherlock, mgr.)
DM 15 MALCORN (turn 676): GREENWARDENS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 16 WILLAF (turn 678): GOLDEN GLADIATORS (Midas, mgr.)
DM 17 ALJAFIR (turn 669): MIDDLE WAY (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 19 ZUWAYZA (turn 670): THE MAGNIFICENT MAGS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 28 MORYA (turn 337): ISIS PTAH (Aesir Vanir, mgr.)
DM 29 LAPUR (turn 667): METAL MINCERS (Oremaster, mgr.)
DM 31 CHIMLEVTAL (turn 335): NUMBERS GAME (Destitute Noble, mgr.)
DM 32 ARVAT (turn 664): DEVIL ADVOCATES (The Dark One, mgr.)
DM 33 NIATOLI ISLAND (turn 661): THE SEWING CIRCLE (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 35 MURSKA (turn 653): ON THE ROCKS (Bartender, mgr.)
DM 43 VEASTIAN (turn 611): IS THAT A CLUE? (Sherlock, mgr.)
DM 45 STORMCROWE (turn 312): DARQUE FORCES (Master Darque, mgr.)
DM 47 TEMPLE OF ABARSIS (turn 307): ALASKAN PIPELINE (The Storm Lord, mgr.)
DM 50 SNOWBOUND (turn 293): THE MYRMIDONS (Sigurd Fafnisbane, mgr.)
DM 56 ROCANIS (turn 543): INCONSISTENT FURY (Banthius, mgr.)
DM 60 ARADI (turn 528): SUPERIOR FORCES 60 (Manager, mgr.)
DM 61 JURINE (turn 510): MIDDLE WAY 16 (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 65 DAL SHANG (turn 504): BASH BROS EVANGELIST (Assurnasirbanipal, mgr.)
DM 73 ERINIKA (turn 242): MIDDLE WAY 18 (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 74 DAYLA KIV (turn 465): NUMB-ERS (Sherlock, mgr.)
DM 75 JADE MOUNTAIN (turn 460): ZOMBIE SQUAD (Khisanth, mgr.)
DM 78 LIN TIRIAN (turn 451): J (Sherlock, mgr.)
ADM 103 FREE BLADES (turn 568): THE WILLBURYS 78 (Rascally Rabbit, mgr.)
Recent Graduates
-----------------
DM 15 MALCORN (turn 676): BOBCAT of GREENWARDENS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 16 WILLAF (turn 678): SAD SLACKS of EMOTIONAL PANTS (Sherlock, mgr.)
DM 17 ALJAFIR (turn 669): BELLONA CHIST of MIDDLE WAY (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 19 ZUWAYZA (turn 670): DESERT PLANTS of THE MAGNIFICENT MAGS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 28 MORYA (turn 336): WHITE BECT of THE PENTARCHY (Le Pentarque, mgr.)
DM 31 CHIMLEVTAL (turn 334): SLATE G35 of NUMBERS GAME (Destitute Noble?)
DM 33 NIATOLI ISLAND (turn 660): GRANDMA'S FAN of THE SEWING CIRCLE (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 43 VEASTIAN (turn 610): VILE HENCHMAN of IS THAT A CLUE? (Sherlock, mgr.)
DM 45 STORMCROWE (turn 312): YUMALESCA of DARQUE FORCES (Master Darque, mgr.)
DM 47 TEMPLE OF ABARSIS (turn 306): BASKET of LAND OF OZ (Oz, mgr.)
KISS OF DEATH of DEVIATION (Marma Duke, mgr.)
KANA BALLISTIC of DEVIATION (Marma Duke, mgr.)
DM 56 ROCANIS (turn 542): IEZA VON DRAKA of INCONSISTENT FURY (Banthius, mgr.)
DM 73 ERINIKA (turn 242): STINKY PETE of DREW'S BOYS II (The Mun, mgr.)
DM 78 LIN TIRIAN (turn 450): ROGAR THORFIN of DOMINATION (Chief Illiniwek, mgr.)
TESLA SHARPE of SAND DANCERS (Jorja, mgr.)
DUELMASTER'S COLUMN
Notes from the arena champ.
Who is this new Duelmaster? I am The Mighty Nor'easter known as Lugh the
Longarm (9173). I am of the holy blood from the great and blessed soil of Willaf, a
land my father's fathers in a time long ago called Vyell-af (city of battle). Know
that it was not my intent to achieve this Duelmaster honor by default of highest
recognition. Be that as it may, the will of Kjarran The Terrible, The Inexorable,
The God of All, be done. May He add to my strength and guide my weapons true.
A word to my last opponent, Mandy (93-9174), thank you for the challenge. That
kind of fight is the stuff legends are made of. For what it's worth, I'm glad you
were in suitable armor and the Arenamaster stopped us when he did. In the future,
you may want to consider putting stock into your style by lightening your load. From
what I hear, you Shagonan Desert elves are fierce--but you handicap the nomadic
(abstract meaning for "mobile") nature of you by suiting up the way you did. Do not
fear bleeding, faery warrioress; so long as thou liveth the way of a gladiator, we
each will pay our fair blood-tribute to the sands, one to another, according to the
ordinance of time.
-- Lugh the Longarm,
The Mighty Nor'easter
(93-9173, 4-1-1, 32)
Turn 334, Noblish Island Duelmaster
SPY REPORT
Hail and well met warriors of NOBLISH ISLAND! Know me for who I am, Zontani
Sharp Eyes, Spymaster extraordinaire of all Alastari. Former top team TEACHER'S PETS
was unseated this week as SUPERMARKET moved up from 2nd ranking to take the top spot
with a 5-0-0 record for the round. IZZY JORMIN caught the eye of many in the
gladiatorial commission as he skillfully bested LYNN-LEIA and was awarded 17 points
in recognition. In one of the week's more notable duels, IZZY JORMIN put down
LYNN-LEIA, causing her to lose 8 points of recognition in the process. Our last
turn's Duelmaster has lost, folks, lost to VENEMOUS CONCUBINE, and LUGH THE LONGARM
has made the way for a new Duelmaster! With LUGH THE LONGARM clearing the throne,
GLORY DISCIPLES of BRO'TOR takes a proud seat as NOBLISH ISLAND's new Duelmaster, by
virtue of recognition points. Would you believe that over half of the old women in
NOBLISH ISLAND seem to feel that they could fight better than you gladiators?
Many and various are the arts of battle. In NOBLISH ISLAND "art" is a word that
has long since passed from the language! NOBLISH ISLAND, city of gladiators! Mighty
among the names of thy guilds is GLORY DISCIPLES, a guild shunned and avoided by many
in the weekly duels. If you didn't look down dark alleys you'd have been hard
pressed to find any of TEACHER'S PETS last week. Busy avoiding GLORY DISCIPLES?
Loose talk at the arena has reached my ears and it but confirms the knowledge that
many fighters are after HP. Watch your back!
Vendettas. Bloodied blades and broken spears. Indeed the city has seen more
than its fair share of red in recent times. Some say a warrior is judged by the way
he bears arms. One thing is sure, better a dagger in hand then a sword on the belt!
A thought before I go. Each warrior practices one style, but must not the wise
manager learn the secrets of them all? More than a sharp eye must I keep, indeed a
stout pair of legs must I keep as well! The endless paths of Alastari await me!
Till we meet again, remember: a turtle walks slow, hides head in a shell, and harms
no one; a lion runs to slay its prey.-- Zontani Sharp Eyes
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
BRO'TOR 9148 4 3 0 44 GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
LUGH THE LONGARM 9153 4 2 1 33 GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
LITTLE JOHNNY 9171 3 1 1 33 TEACHER'S PETS (1579)
MARCUS 9149 4 3 0 31 GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
AISLE BLOCKER 9165 4 0 0 29 SUPERMARKET (1578)
DAISY 9172 3 1 0 28 TEACHER'S PETS (1579)
FORLOY GERDAN 9187 3 0 0 27 THE LOW ROAD 2 (1582)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
DELL 9155 4 1 0 23 THE PC LINE-UP (1576)
HP 9159 4 1 0 21 THE PC LINE-UP (1576)
TOMMY 9170 2 2 0 21 TEACHER'S PETS (1579)
ROTTEN PRODUCE 9175 3 1 0 19 SUPERMARKET (1578)
AZUZ 9158 3 2 0 19 THE PC LINE-UP (1576)
OUT OF STOCK 9166 2 2 0 19 SUPERMARKET (1578)
IZZY JORMIN 9190 1 2 0 19 THE LOW ROAD 2 (1582)
CHRISTOS 9152 3 4 1 18 GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
LONG CHECKOUT LINES 9169 3 1 0 16 SUPERMARKET (1578)
SLOW CHECKER 9167 2 2 0 14 SUPERMARKET (1578)
HOMER 9173 3 1 0 13 TEACHER'S PETS (1579)
KULBERT LEW 9191 1 2 0 12 THE LOW ROAD 2 (1582)
HTC 9176 2 2 0 8 THE PC LINE-UP (1576)
MANDY 9174 2 2 0 8 TEACHER'S PETS (1579)
LENOVO 9156 1 4 0 7 THE PC LINE-UP (1576)
GENNA HAYES 9188 1 2 0 5 THE LOW ROAD 2 (1582)
HOBSON IPP 9189 1 2 0 5 THE LOW ROAD 2 (1582)
LYNN-LEIA 9121 1 1 0 4 CONAN-LUKE (1570)
SOLATIA-LANDOVER 9122 0 2 0 2 CONAN-LUKE (1570)
PATH DAGGERS-PAND 9127 0 2 0 2 CONAN-LUKE (1570)
WOLVERINE-LEADER 9125 0 2 0 2 CONAN-LUKE (1570)
MORD-SITH 9126 0 2 0 2 CONAN-LUKE (1570)
'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
PROTEUS 9150 1 6 0 GLORY DISCIPLES 1575 STONE GOLEM 335 NONE
PERSONAL ADS
Whew! Glad it was that Persistant Beggar I killed. Sure am. Woulda felt real bad
if I killed somebody in Teacher's class. Real bad! Whew! -- Little Johnny
Izzy Jormin -- You took the low road and I got there afore ye! -- Tommy
Genna Hayes -- Nothin' personal, you know. Just lookin' for a friend to hang out
with and spar with now and then. -- Daisy
Lugh The Longarm -- Well, I challenged you, and apparently I did not know what I was
doing! Well fought and well won, Bud. -- Mandy (Thinking that's the LAST date with
HIM!)
Out Of Stock -- Hah, hah, hah, 'n outta breath, two! I kin fite sum, huh? -- Homer
Lugh The Longarm -- You earned the DM title with your easy romp over Mandy. All The
Teacher's Pets salute your skill and talent. Kudos! -- Teacher
Lugh of Glory Disciples -- I will take a shot at answering your QOW, even though I am
not so sure I understand it.
a. The Commission will not allow members of the same team to fight, no matter
what, even if they are the top two arena warriors. Such warriors often get matched
to NPCs (Non Playing Characters--created by the wizardettes) or can sometimes match
with a warrior well below them, if in semi-reasonable range.
b. One value of "teammates" is populating the spots around another teammate,
making it more difficult for other teams to challenge said warrior.
-- Teacher (Hoped that helped, but ...)
All -- We indicated last round that the "Teacher's Cheat Sheet was now available by
contacting Jorja who would nudge RSI to send Noblish managers a copy upon request.
Well, it was not quite available then. The info, along with the "instructions"
(posted above in the "spots" this week) has now been mailed to RSI for availability.
-- Teacher
Wow! That Assur surely writes a great article, doesn't he? Gotta love that guy! A
truly fine summary of offensives! -- Teacher
One of the great and enjoyable parts of D2 is that successful managers do different
things (some exact opposites) successfully! For example, Assur indicated he is not a
fan of using tactics. We Consortiumites, on the other hand, use tactics in almost
every single strategy we post. Interesting? -- Teacher
Teacher -- Another very silly manager did the work to correct the inaccuracies in the
previous Low Wit Statements. You can find the accurate chart at my Web Site
http://www.duel2.info (Select Charts, then Low Wit Messages). -- Assur
Addendum to Assur's Pure Offensive Guide. By no means was I implying that other
styles cannot be Pure Offensive. Far from it. I simply focused on the styles that
have strengths that make them 'naturals' for being pure offensives. -- Assur
What Teacher says about the vanishing manuals is true. It's mostly moved onto the
web these days. We've done what we could, within the limits of what the Commission
thinks we *should*, in the Noblish Island newsletters. Ten consecutive turns of the
newsletter will give you, not everything, no. But a lot, and we hope enough to begin
with. Of course, having Teacher and Assur here will help, too! -- Jorja
Lugh -- The Duelmaster keeps the title until he loses a fight or leaves the arena.
If he loses to a managed warrior, that winner takes the title.
If the Duelmaster loses to a standby, the title goes to the highest-ranked
managed warrior currently active, which may be the losing former Duelmaster, who then
becomes Duelmaster again. It may be some warrior with only one or two fights and a
very low ranking--just higher than everybody else who's active. UNLESS there is a
tie in ranking at the top, in which case the position is left vacant.
If the Duelmaster continues to win his fights BUT some other warrior surpasses
his ranking, it makes no difference. The Duelmastership must be won. If the higher-
ranked warrior is a teammate of the Duelmaster, the situation continues as it stands.
If the higher-ranked warrior is NOT a teammate of the Duelmaster, the odds are that
the two of them will be matched against each other. -- Jorja
Daisy -- There you see one of the major drawbacks of my style. At the lower levels,
we lose a lot. The other drawback is that we DIE a lot. Glad that didn't happen
this time. -- Genna Hayes
P.S. I'm not clear why you trained that stat. It isn't like you NEEDED it. Still,
I suppose it all helps in the end.
Azuz -- Ah, it's you. Remind me to avoid you if possible. Darned Shewish cooks are
always coming after us werecats with brooms.... -- Hobson Ipp
P.S. And you didn't even teach me anything!
Slow Checker -- I'd rather have you than one of those Automated Checkouts. Nobody to
talk to, and a lot of people get confused and slow down the lines there anyway.
Besides, I *wanted* to hear about your kid's softball game. -- Forloy Gerdan
Long Checkout Lines -- Yes, I've seen those. Worst of all when there's one or two
long, long lines and TEN registers not being used at all! They should provide
benches! -- Kulbert Lew
Assur -- I appreciate this opportunity to vent some pet supermarket peeves! Thanks.
-- Jorja
Tommy -- Now, THERE is a counter-intuitive weapon / style combination. And the worst
is that you made it work. I hate that. -- Izzy Jormin
Christos -- Many WOSs will use a single weapon two handed. I have no problems with
going with an off-hand weapon or shield, but my best success has been using a single
weapon. That said, you won that fight, taking advantage of my style's weakness. --
Assur
Lenovo -- See my comments to Christos. I'd recommend either the SC or the BS for
you, maybe the BA if you have 15 strength. Unfortunately, it looks like you might
have a tough time of things. You definitely don't want to face Aisle Blocker's type.
-- Assur
Homer -- I've sent a gift your way. -- Assur
Lugh -- Your warriors will not face each other in an arena. You will fight against a
commission stand in (or npc). In a tournament, it is possible to have two of your
own warriors face each other, but I think only in the later rounds. And I believe,
but I am not positive, that once an arena has had a Challenger Champion, the
duelmaster is always considered a Challenger Champion. That means that Bro'tor faced
a champion level NPC last turn and Lugh the Longarm will probably face the same this
turn, even though points-wise, he is a challenger initiate and should be able to
challenge and be challenged by the other challenger initiates. Special rules for the
Duelmaster. -- Assur
Assur's Helpful Tidbit -- Wit and Will are the most important stats (and Deftness for
Aimed Blows). You really want at least one of these to be moderately high or better.
Especially for newer managers, the total of these two stats should really not be
below 25. Some general comments on stats: Strength: Less than 9 is tough on weapon
selection and carry ability. Less than 7 not recommended without knowing what you're
doing. Wit gives skills at every odd value, with 11 being a fairly big skill
breakpoint. More great, but be careful not to sacrifice weapon selection and needed
physical attributes. For will, consider 7 to be the absolute minimum. One decise
skill at 9, no more skills until 15. When adding points to will, if you aren't
adding to reach 15 (and you have 9 will already), consider adding elsewhere first.
Even for warriors that don't decise, 9 will isn't a bad thing. For Speed, only add
points if you are planning to run as a pure offensive. If so, add to even values,
not odd. There are exceptions, but especially starting out, you'll thank me once you
start to realize the low value of points on speed. For Deftness, 7 and 11 are huge
weapon selection breakpoints. Odd values gives most skills, even gives riposte
skills). Initially, don't make an AB with less than 15 deftness (preferably 21).
For other styles, once you're to 11 deftness, it is often better to add points
elsewhere. And if you can get wit, will, and/or deftness to 21 on a rollup, strongly
consider doing it.
All -- Inquiry: I keep seeing mentions of base skills derived from initial stats in
terms of quantity per (e.g., decise 7, parry 5, attack 7, etc.) or as a percentage
(e.g., decise 60%, parry 40%, attack 90%, etc.). I know what and how many skills my
gladiators have acquired since they begain their careers, but how do I determine what
each were created with? Also, I keep seeing mentions of being plus/negative
(whatever #) in said skills. Could somebody out there please break down to me how to
assess these calculations and what do they translate into? (I have Noblish Island
arena newsletters for turns 325, 326, 328-334.) -- Lugh the Longarm, mgr. Glory
Disciples (1575)
Homer -- A win is a win; aye. I'll give ya that. But there be no glory in picking
fights ye know ya can win by ambush. Had I known it to be you, I'da set me strategy
different. For that, I'mma go take it out on a late torch-light nighter. When I
walk back through that tunnel, we'll see jes how right ye still thinks me look fer
ya. -- Proteus, the Arkers Legionnaire
Assur -- (In response to your Turn 334 Personal, about our Turn 333 fight). Yer
basher got the jump on me, hands down. Perhaps I came out a wee bit too heavy. But,
like I told Mandy (9174): We dwarves of the Daggerspine Mts. be resilient,
weathering the storms that come and go, living to brave the elements another day.
I'd tip my hat to ya, but it's still a little snug from all the knots ya put on me
knoggin. -- Christos, (9152, Glory Disciples gladiator)
Rotten Produce -- Don't let it ruffle your Rirorni that the dread drifter chinked
your winning streak. Besides, if I'da let you win, the feary warrioress, lady Mandy
(9174), may thinks me sweet on the ladies. And we both know that hell hath no fury
like a woman scorned. Thanks for being a doll to spar with me as I tried out a new
weapon setup (that I supposedly didn't quite have the deftness for?). -- Christos,
the dwarven dread drifter of Daggerspine Mts.
All -- Talk about'cha short-ranked Duelmaster.... Wow! That standy-by, Veteran
Mercenary, threw me some kind beatin'. Glad I was wearing all that armor to keep my
blood tin-can-tained (bad attempt at humor, but good attempt at experience; picked up
three skill the hard way :). Good news, though, my career's still in the plus (I'm
leading Challenger Initiate) and still excited about throwing myself in front of any
gladiator's career. GO HARD OR GO HOME!!! -- Bro'Tor, the half-crazy Andorian Half-
Elf (9148, Glory Disciples gladiator)
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
PROTEUS was butchered by STONE GOLEM in a 1 minute Dark Arena fight.
MARCUS viciously subdued HOMER in a exciting 6 minute gruesome Challenge duel.
CHRISTOS was subdued by AISLE BLOCKER in a action packed 1 minute Challenge fight.
TOMMY devastated HTC in a 1 minute one-sided Challenge contest.
LITTLE JOHNNY savagely defeated HP in a 4 minute bloody amateur's Challenge match.
MANDY was viciously subdued by FORLOY GERDAN in a 5 minute amateur's Challenge fight.
LUGH THE LONGARM was overcome by VENEMOUS CONCUBINE in a action packed 1 minute fight.
BRO'TOR won victory over THE USEROUS MERCHANT in a 2 minute Title duel.
PATH DAGGERS-PAND was vanquished by SLOW CHECKER in a 1 minute uneven fight.
MORD-SITH was vanquished by DELL in a 2 minute brutal one-sided fight.
WOLVERINE-LEADER was handily defeated by KULBERT LEW in a 1 minute one-sided bout.
SOLATIA-LANDOVER was demolished by AZUZ in a 2 minute mismatched match.
LENOVO was handily defeated by OUT OF STOCK in a 1 minute brutal one-sided contest.
LYNN-LEIA was devastated by IZZY JORMIN in a 1 minute mismatched bout.
LONG CHECKOUT LINES overcame GENNA HAYES in a 2 minute beginner's fight.
DAISY overpowered HOBSON IPP in a 1 minute uneven struggle.
ROTTEN PRODUCE handily defeated CONVICTED THIEF 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|
|BASHING ATTACK 5 STRIKING ATTACK 16 - 6 - 0 73 |
|AIMED BLOW 5 PARRY-STRIKE 7 - 5 - 0 58 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 4 SLASHING ATTACK 8 - 6 - 0 57 |
|WALL OF STEEL 4 TOTAL PARRY 14 - 12 - 0 54 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 2 AIMED BLOW 15 - 13 - 0 54 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 2 BASHING ATTACK 17 - 15 - 1 53 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 2 PARRY-LUNGE 4 - 4 - 1 50 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 2 WALL OF STEEL 13 - 14 - 1 48 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 2 PARRY-RIPOSTE 3 - 5 - 0 38 |
|TOTAL PARRY 2 LUNGING ATTACK 4 - 8 - 0 33 |
Turn 335 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:
SLASHING ATTACK 2 - 0 AIMED BLOW 2 - 3 3 STRIKING ATTACK
BASHING ATTACK 5 - 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 2 2 BASHING ATTACK
STRIKING ATTACK 3 - 1 TOTAL PARRY 0 - 2 2 AIMED BLOW
PARRY-STRIKE 1 - 1 WALL OF STEEL 0 - 4 1 PARRY-LUNGE
PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 - 1 1 PARRY-STRIKE
LUNGING ATTACK 1 - 1 1 TOTAL PARRY
1 SLASHING ATTACK
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
STRIKING ATTACK BRO'TOR 9148 4 3 0 44 GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.
The overall popularity leader is MARCUS 9149. The most popular warrior this turn was
MARCUS 9149. The ten other most popular fighters were FORLOY GERDAN 9187, LITTLE
JOHNNY 9171, SOLATIA-LANDOVER 9122, AISLE BLOCKER 9165, BRO'TOR 9148, OUT OF STOCK
9166, IZZY JORMIN 9190, DAISY 9172, TOMMY 9170, and SLOW CHECKER 9167.
The least popular fighter this week was MORD-SITH 9126. The other ten least popular
fighters were MANDY 9174, HOBSON IPP 9189, LYNN-LEIA 9121, LENOVO 9156,
WOLVERINE-LEADER 9125, PATH DAGGERS-PAND 9127, LUGH THE LONGARM 9153, HP 9159, HTC
9176, and HOMER 9173.
WINTER FACE-TO-FACE IN SUNNY ARIZONA!
Our next winter FTF will be held in Tempe, Arizona, January 13-15, 2012. It will be
held at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Tempe, Arizona (480-894-7444), the same hotel as
last year by popular request. Room rates are $134.00 per night, 1-2 occupancy, which
includes full cooked breakfast, complimentary manager's reception, free airport
shuttle, free parking and free high speed internet. There's a fitness center,
jacuzzi, and pool. The rooms are blocked--please make your reservation by December 15
before the block is released! (This is prime season for Phoenix, and people have been
unable to book rooms because they waited too long.) Look for the tournament info
sheet and minioverviews some time in December. We hope you're all looking forward to
it and that we will see you there!
GETTING THE JUMP
by Pagan
There are a number of factors which will determine which warrior swings first.
In speaking of this I can only tell you what I have a 'feel' for. In no way does
anyone know all the factors on how this works exactly unless someone gets to look at
the source code for the program. I will ignore Kill Desire simply because I have
never noticed a difference in my warriors getting the jump whether they ran a 1 KD or
a 10KD.
The Factors:
1. At warrior creation, the program initiates a random string class to be used
for your warrior. Each string has a series of numbers that are generated then and
always remain the same. It appears random, and some strings are good for some
warriors and bad for others. You'll notice this only over time. This string class
is permanent and not all of them are created equal. This is above and beyond any
total number of skills. You may call this 'knack'.
2. At fight time, the program calls a random string to be used for BOTH
warriors. This string affects the string of the warrior. This is why you will never
see two fights that are line-by-line exactly the same. But if the fights were
constantly run with exactly the same string, and no strategy changes are made, then
you will have the same fight line-by-line.
3. FightString-modified-WarriorString# are taken for each warrior, and
#Speed + 0.5#Wit + #DeciseSkills + OE + string# + tactic + style-adjustment -
weapon-weight equates to a number.
4. These bonuses could be negative in adjustments also, i.e., running with the
responsiveness tactic would be the negation of Decise skills and Speed skills--
rendering them out of the compilation (gaining them in parry and dodge instead).
Running with the decise tactic would increase Decise.
5. The biggest controllable factors are OE, tactic, & weapon-weight (in that
order).
6. If the number for Jump does not have a disparity of a specific number then a
continued clash will occur until that disparity is shown. Then the fight actually
begins. You can have a series of 10+ clash statements until the program finds who
starts and initiates the fight sequences.
Example: FighterA ends up with a Jump# of 60 and FighterB ends up with a Jump#
of 65. If the disparity between them had to be 10 points then what would happen is
that a clash statement would be printed and the steps repeated. The next number from
the Fight-String is called along with the next number in each of the Warrior-Strings;
the computation is done again until the disparity (for the computer anyway) becomes
true. Then the fight sequence is activated.
Pagan
CONSTITUTION
One the major assets to a warrior's survival is his constitution. Sometimes CON
is overlooked in order to maximize other attributes that give extra starting skills.
This is okay depending what style is selected for the warrior in question. I usually
make a warrior with 9 or less CON an offensive style and higher than that a defensive
style as a rule of thumb. But it really depends on the rest of the stats as for the
final verdict on which style he will actually become.
CON affects three things: Hit points, endurance, and how much weight you can
carry. Endurance and weight allowance are also affected by strength as well as CON.
The endurance formula is E = (ST+CN)WL and also has a chart of breakpoints that is
covered in another one of my articles. Weight allowance is also a large chart that is
beyond the scope of this article, but can be found in many places.
CON's main effect is HIT POINTS or the amount of damage a warrior can take before
he gives up or is killed. Defensive styles need more than offensive styles do to
survive Basic. Low con for offensive styles is OK for basic but really hinders a
warrior's performance in Advanced Duelmasters.
Hit points are determined by this formula: CON x 2 modified by the following
charts.
(Even numbers get modifier of the number before it)
SIZE modifier
3 5 7 9 11 12 13 15 17 19 21
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5
WILL modifier
3 5 7 9 11 12 13 15 17 19 21 22 23 24 25
0 0 0 0 0 0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9
RATINGS
Very Frail -- (1-14)
Cannot take a lot -- (15-20)
Average (no statement) -- (21-29)
Can take a lot -- (30-34)
Tremendous -- (35-47)
Seemingly unaffected -- (48+)
This formula as well as the charts are about 98% accurate. For more information
about this or other DM information you can contact me via DIPO in ADM 105, team name
is The Joker's Wild. I can also be reached at my e-mail address at
103260.3347@compuserve.com or at my DM web site at
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jessiejest/homepage.htm
Cheers, and good luck!
Sir Jessie Jest
The Real Offensive Total Parry
How many of you run total parry warriors? Raise your hands. Whoa, that's a lot!
Now how many of you have run long term potential offensive total parries? Uh huh,
that's what I thought, a lot less of you actually have. My name is Blackstorm and
I'll show you an example or two for the O.T.P. The main difference between "scum"
TP's and "offensive" TP's are these: Scum have massive amounts of CN, WL and ST.
They tend to stand around getting pounded until their opponents drop. In theory, the
scum wins a lot at first, but sucks later in his career (but not always!). The
offensive version is quick, strong, and can parry very well. Combine that with a
medium based attack rating and you've got it all. The main thing to remember when
making "offensives" is to stay away from extremely high attributes (21). The reason
being is that the distribution of points in several domains is more important than
having that beautiful 21 in WL and WT. Here's a list of some other manager's
offensive total parries and my best.
Lunatic's Off. P-Dodge Slowburn's My Offensive
(TP) (Off. TP) Total Parry
---------------------- ---------- ------------
ST-11 13 13
CN-11 11 12
SZ-8 8 9
WT-13 17 15
WL-13 15 13
SP-11 5 7
DF-15 15 15
There are several major differences between the three: 1) My guy does good
damage. 2) He's coordinated without training. 3) More hit points. 4) He can use
every single weapon suited to him. I'll explain a bit below.
ST 13: Coupled with a 9 size almost guarantees good damage and it helps endurance.
CN 12: This allows him to handle a couple of hits and it balances well with the 13
strength and will for endurance.
SZ 9: He's hard to hit, can use weapons which need 9 and his damage rating is also
better.
WT 15: Great learns and it'll keep him competitive both in attack and defense.
WL 13: Keeps him aggressive without lopsiding it for 17 or 21. We want to be
exciting and unscummy. He rarely needs to go 10 minutes and if he does he'll still go
the distance.
SP 7: This isn't an important stat for TPs but it helps coordination and it'll give
him a few decise and init skills to boot.
DF 15: For his parry. It also gives him a bit of precision while attacking. You
could reverse SP and DF by 2 points (SP-5, DF-17) without messing him up. Remember
SP+DF=21.
Strategy: They are a special breed and require a little experimenting like ABs. I
could recommend 2-3-2 or 2-4-2, responsiveness vs. steroid types like ST, SL, BA, and
PS. Then open up in minutes 3 or 4 at 10-8-10-L, 6-4-6-L, or even 10-10-10
decisiveness in desperation. However he will respond to the lunge, parry, response
and dodge the best. And as I said, experiment and try new strategies. Weapons and
armor; use ARM or ASM with it or FH. The LO, SC, and EP are good vs. light and
medium. The QS is also a good weapon for the heavier armor (TP's don't really use
heavier weapons well.) Tell me what you think.
Blackstorm -- Champions of Steel (8) and several others
HOW TO PHONE IN YOUR TURNS
We've told you how to fill out your strategy sheets, we've told you how to do
your personals and team spotlights, now it's time for a course in phoning in your
turns.
1. The very first thing to do is to tell us your name, account number, and the
arena number you are phoning in. Example: "Hello, this is John Doe, my account
number is 12345, I'm phoning in turns for arena 35, Murska."
Step #1 only has to be done once, steps two and on have to be done for each warrior
individually.
2. Tell us the name and ID number of you warrior. Example: "Warrior name, Happy
Slasher, ID number is 375."
3. Tell us what weapons your warrior is using. Example: "For armor weights 0
to 3, scimitar with an off-hand dagger, for armor weights 4 to 10, broadsword with an
off-hand medium shield, for armor weights 11 and above, great axe with no off-hand
weapon. Backup primary dagger, backup off-hand small shield." Note, if you are using
the same weapons for all armor types, just say, for example, "Hatchet with an off-hand
small shield for all armor types." Please, please, please don't use the abbreviations
for the weapons; say "war flail," not "WF." This goes for armor, training, attack and
protect locations, and tactics too.
4. Tell us what kind of armor and helm your warrior is wearing and what training
you are trying for. Example: "Armor: leather armor, steel cap; training:
strength." Again, please don't use abbreviations.
5. Next read your challenges and avoids and tell us if you have a challenge
strategy or an if-challenged strategy. Example: "Challenge Broke Stroker, ID number
11. I have a challenge strategy. Avoid Dark Foundation, number 29, and the
Mongoloids, number 15." Be sure to read off the team ID; without that your avoids
will not be processed.
6. Next, read off your normal strategy. Example: "Offensive effort: 7 5 4 5 7
7 2 desperation. Activity level: 3 5 6 5 3 7 10 desperation. Kill desire: first
through third minutes 3 then 5 5 7 1 desperation. Attack location: abdomen all the
way across. Protect location: body, body, head, arms, arms, body, legs desperation.
Offensive tactics: slash first and fifth minutes. Defensive tactics: dodge third
and desperation minutes." If you have the same number, location, or tactic for
several minutes in a row, just say the beginning minute and the ending minute (often
if you say "Activity level, 3 3 3 3 3 3 3," the machine cuts you off).
7. If you have a challenge or if challenged strategy, tell us what the
differences are. Example: "If challenged strategy: same except training skills and
kill desire is 10 all minutes." If you feel more comfortable reading the whole
strategy, you can, but you don't have to.
Then repeat the same steps for the rest of your warriors. Of course if you want
to, you can just have us run your warriors with the same strategies as they had last
turn. If you want to do that, then step three is, "Just run this warrior with the
same strategy as last turn." We, the transcribers, really like people who do that.
And remember, there is a living human being that will have to transcribe your phone-
in, so speak loudly, clearly, and not too fast (unless you're really trying to save on
the phone bill). Also, the answering machine occasionally cuts people off for no
reason, so, if at first you don't succeed....
-- The Transcriber
P.S. On behalf of the mailroom slaves, please, please, put your arena number on
your personals and diplos. Sometimes stuff gets misfiled or not printed or not
delivered because we don't know where it belongs. Thank you.
AVOIDS, BLOODFEUDS, & CHALLENGES
by Pagan
Ever wonder how the whole challenge/avoid thing works?
Who you fight depends on exactly how it works. We will never know exactly how it
works unless we can get a look at the coding for the program, but this is how I think
it works:
The Situation:
The system allows a warrior to make two separate challenges and two distinct
avoids.
Avoids are distinct in that they MUST indicate a specific team to be avoided, so
a "double avoid" indicates a single team twice, which by default means you are
avoiding one team. In this case, the second avoid is a duplicate and therefore a
waste of an avoid.
Challenges are to specific warriors. You have a first challenge, and then you
have a second challenge.
The Process:
First the computer removes all Dark Arena challengers from the list of available
warriors.
Second, the computer checks for WHO fights WHO by going though all TVs and
bloodfeuds, which are 100% sure to go through except in four instances:
1. the warrior challenged does not fight,
2. the warrior challenged is also making a bloodfeud or TV challenge and that
challenge has already been assigned,
3. the warrior has already been assigned to a Dark Arena fight,
4. that warrior has declared your team to be one of his warrior's avoids,
reducing your challenge to 50%.
Third, the computer assesses all the regular first-challenge warriors and assigns
fights. All other challenges are at 100% chance of success except in a few instances:
warrior challenged is going to the DA, warrior challenged is involved in a previously
assigned challenge, warrior challenged is not running this turn, or warrior challenged
has avoided your team at 50% chance to avoid.
Fourth, the computer assesses and assigns all secondary challenges of warriors
not so far assigned for bloodfeuds and TVs.
Fifth, the computer assesses and assigns all the regular second challenges.
Sixth, the computer assigns random matchups in each available class starting with
the highest class first.
Seventh, the computer finds the remaining warriors that have successfully avoided
all first and second challenges and/or who also did not get randomly assigned, AND for
whom no more available warriors remain in their class for random pairing. All of
these warriors get RSI-generated warriors to fight based on their class.
So, if I'm right and avoids reduce the chance for a challenge to 50%, then:
In the absence of an avoid
single challenge = 100% success
double challenge = 100% success, then an additional 100% success
Where an avoid is involved
single challenge vs avoid = 50% success
double challenge vs avoid = 75% (chance to avoid is 0.5 * 0.5 = 0.25; 1 -
0.25 = 75% chance to succeed
Bloodfeuds and TVs may increase the percentage chance of success above 100%, or
they may not. I feel that their increased ability to get through is based solely on
the way the computer assigns challenges. They are first, so they are most likely to
go through. The 100% chance for a challenge to succeed is 100% if it's a TV bloodfeud
and you are the first one to get assigned a fight that day because you are also the
Duelmaster. But after that the chances start to diminish rapidly.
The run-through for second challenges theoretically means your challenge should
be 100% but it's not the case if you are the LAST guy the computer goes to for finding
challenges.
If you don't double challenge, you significantly lower your chance to get your
challenge through. The second challenge is not equal to the first challenge.
Pagan
ANOTHER BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO DUELMASTERS, BUT WRITTEN BY A DIFFERENT MANAGER
or
HOW TO FLOAT WHEN YOU ARE UP SNOT CREEK WITHOUT A BOAT!! :)
I'll try to keep this short and sweet. I have been playing Duelmasters for about
3 years now and I've been helped by MANY managers. I base my knowledge on this help
and my experience as a manager.
All my designs will give you warriors who will hopefully be able to win early on,
late in life, or sometimes even both.
First, the five offensives:
Basher: Bashers are generally one of two types: big and stupid or smaller,
quicker, and skilled. First, big and stupid: 17-16-17-8-17-4-5. This guy wears plate
armor and a full helm and wields a maul with a backup warhammer. Run him like 8-1-8
bash and he will win early on but suck later in his life. The second guy is like 15-
6-9-21-15-7-11 and can use every bashing weapon but the halberd. This rollup will not
come up often and will be made into something else very often.
Aimed-Blows: I don't know much about aimed-blows so I won't tell you much about
them. They need high wit and deftness (17 and 17 if possible) and at the very least a
13 will to be competitive later in life. The rest of the stats will define how you
run your aimed-blow, slow if he has the con to take a few hits, fast if he has high
speed and low con. I advise any new players to be VERY careful running ABs, they are
notorious for dying.
Strikers: Strikers, much like bashers, generally do not make the best long-term
warriors. I run a striker who did well in regular DM but sort of sucks in Advanced
DM. He was set up 11-11-5-15-10-17-15. He is a classic example of a "Biff" striker,
good for a few wins, but not a god in later life. You generally can't go wrong with
strikers. Give them at least a 15 wit to learn skills, and some speed to help their
decise. Low speed = big size, low-size = high-speed.
Lungers: Quite possibly the best style in the game. I am sick of them but they
can be damn good if made correctly. Will is the single most important stat. Lungers
get tired real quick. I recommend a setup like this: 11-8-11-17-17-7-13. This is not
a god roll-up but it is very good. At 11 strength you can use ALL lunging weapons. I
think the longsword is the best lunging weapon, plain and simple.
Slashers: I have made one I think and I don't even run him. They are a good
style and like lungers get great ratings, but eat up endurance. Ask around in your
arena for help on slashers, I'm sure you can find help. :)
Okay, now for the five defensives:
Total Parry: Well, there is only one way to make a total parry. This is a very
good design: 11-15-6-15-21-5-13. He will have a good parry, a good defense, and a
good attack. He needs the wit to learn skills and the will to last long and not give
up. Many people might disagree with this design but as far as I'm concerned, it's
solid. You can also make a scum, but that is not a total parry. 15-18-11-5-21-3-11.
He will win early and maybe even later, but suck in the long-haul.
Parry-Riposte: I like to consider this my bread-and-butter style. I am going to
give very high standards for a parry-rip. Setup: 7-12-6-21-17-6-15 or if you are
brave: 7-3-10-17-21-10-17. Both warriors are very similar to warriors that I run, the
second is an exact copy of one of my guys. These roll-ups rarely come up but in my
opinion a good parry-rip needs to have VERY good stats. I am a bit biased to parry-
rips but that is just me.
Parry-Strikes: I am not the greatest on parry-strikes, but they are similar to a
P-R. Higher strength (11-13), con can be around the same (3-12), generally lose
points in other stats. Size needs to be low (<9), wit, will, speed and deftness need
to be reasonably high if you have the points (17-17-9-13) for the last 4 stats would
be beautiful. Diplo "Horrible" of Team Titan (157) in Talcama (18) for advice. He is
a good PS manager.
Parry-Lunge: Much like a P-R in both fighting and the way to be set up. Try 11-
5-6-17-21-9-15 for a good P-L. I love the 9 speed on a parry-lunge and the 11
strength gives good weapon selection and endurance. All weapons can be used except a
longspear and even that can be used without too much trouble. It needs a 9 size.
Like the lunger, he needs will. Good style, very strong.
Wall of Steel: The waste is another good style for a good winning percentage.
This setup is strong: 13-8-9-15-21-5-13. A good style that can be strong against most
opponents. Scimitar, medium shield work great.
Well, I am about done for now. A few last minute tips, train skills at all
times! Never train stats unless it's con, or it is a scum T-P, or a scum basher. The
longsword needs 11 ST, 3 SZ, 13 WT?, 11 DF. Scimitar needs 9-3-11?-11. WH needs 13-
3-9?-7. Longsword is best for lungers, scimitar is great for P-L, P-S, P-R, W-S, T-P,
SL, AB, ST, and the warhammer is a reliable basher or striker weapon. Well, I hope
this will help new managers, and good luck!!! (Oh yeah, always make wit/will/def on
9, 11, 13, 15, 17 or 21) but do not train up to those stats!
Please send all flames to "Jolly", Arena 18, Burn n' Pillage (218)
or
Adam Teshinsky - Jolly the green giant
843 Cary Quad - 18, 69, 104, (2 coming soon!)
West Lafayette, IN 47906
(317) 495-2360
P.S. I am notorious for getting very good guys, and it shows in my opinions. I
usually center around wit and will on all warriors though, for in my opinion they are
the most important!
ARE YOU AT YOUR WIT'S END??
Have you been unsuccessful in your attempts to make warriors that win
consistently? Are you unable to find fighting rhythms for your warriors that make
them look like "studs" rather than "duds"? If you answered "yes" to either of these
questions, then read on! This is another article in the endless stream of articles
which focuses on how to be more competitive at Duelmasters. One of my first warriors
when I started playing in 1985 looked like this: 13-15-10-9-11-16-10. He was a wall
of steel that went 0-5 before I DA'd him. Obviously, if this warrior went 0-5 back
then, he wouldn't stand a chance of winning today. Why? Simply because the amount of
information available about Duelmasters has skyrocketed. This article will discuss:
1. Understanding some of the basics.
2. Ways to get more DM info.
This article will attempt to help "close the gap" between you and the managers
you compete against. Typically, the only difference between teams at the top and
bottom of an arena is the amount of knowledge their manager has about the game. As
you learn more about DM, you'll be on a more level playing field with your
competition.
Understanding some of the basics
The desire to succeed at Duelmasters has prompted many managers to do an
incredible amount of research about the game. In doing so, the scientific method has
taken over. Hypotheses have been formed and tested, leading to theories, which were
tested some more. Years later, many of these theories have become "laws" in most
manager's minds. Knowing some of these "laws" is absolutely essential to success in
Duelmasters.
Wit & Will: These stats are generally thought to be the two most important in
warrior design. You can do without one or the other in certain instances, but if both
are below 15 (i.e. Wit-13 Will-13) your warrior will usually be at a disadvantage.
Warrior overview statements: The warrior overview tells you much more about a
warrior's potential than meets the eye. "Wit Statements" (those little sayings under
the intelligence statement-i.e. "is VERY INTELLIGENT") can tell you your warrior's
starting skill levels in every area except decisiveness. If the overview starts out,
"is BRIGHT" and has no indented lower case statements below it, it's time to visit the
DA.
Skills "lost" by stat training: Some trained stats make your warrior "lose"
skills. For instance: training your strength from 14 to 15 makes you "lose" an attack
and a parry skill unless you already have 20 skills in those skill areas. It adds a
skill onto your total in that area, but now that warrior can only train 19 skills
instead of 20 so in essence, skills are lost (until they can be learned back in
Gateway, but that's a loooonnnggg time away for new warriors).
This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg of knowledge that is waiting out
there for you. The next obvious question is, "How do I attain this knowledge?"
Ways to get more DM info:
Now that I've given you some examples of things you need to know, I'll give you
information on how to access this pool of knowledge. The key here is to expose
yourself to information. You can:
1. Attend a Face to Face Tourney
2. Join an Alliance
3. Join the "aRt" (On-line Roundtable)
1. Attend a Face to Face Tourney: Far and away the most fun of the three options,
attending a FTF can be quite exciting. You have lots of time between turns to discuss
the game, and many managers who are willing to discuss it with you. In fact, some
managers are too willing (e.g. Man in Yellow). It's a fun experience, but can also be
quite expensive.
2. Join an Alliance: There are many alliances out there for you to join. I'm
personally not in one (though I'm still considering it) but many great managers are so
you can learn a lot from being in one. Unfortunately for newer players, some
alliances are probably closed off from them since they are relatively new to the game.
3. Join the "aRt" (Roundtable): The roundtable is basically a mailing list (e-mail)
where managers talk about DM. More often than not when you ask a question, it gets
answered by many different people, giving you a wide variety of different views on the
subject. I believe you can join the list by e-mailing a "Subscribe Duel-L Your Name"
message to "listserv@ambience.com.au". If you start receiving a bunch of messages
that say "[DUEL]" in the title, you're in! There are also some homepages on the web
that deal with DM as well. Use any search engine (i.e. Yahoo, Webcrawler) and search
for "Duelmasters."
Obviously, there is much more information out there than I touched on in this
article. Without actively seeking out some of this information, your future in DM
could be rather grim. Another way for newer players to learn more is the Duelmasters
Sponsor program which you can contact RSI about. If none of this sounds interesting
to you, but you still want to learn more, ask one of the other managers in your home
arena. I've found that people generally like to talk about Duelmasters so it should
be easy to get a response to any question you might have.
Thanks for your time in reading this article. I hope it helps some of you
achieve more success at Duelmasters. If any of you have responses, questions, or just
wanna BS, I can be diploed at Notorious (Arena #32) or e-mailed at MBender842@AOL.COM.
Marty Bender
(a.k.a. Destitute Noble)
The Darque Slasher
I've read through all of the articles offered for the Slashing style, and with
the exception of a few, I am completely unhappy with them. I know the styles of
today are Lungers and Aimed Blows because they dominate the upper levels. I like to
make other styles and enjoy the Basic arena, so sometimes I just don't feel like
designing the norm. I want to offer a few design tips on one of my favorite styles
and one I have relatively good success with in Basic DM (ADM too...for now). Keep in
mind, this is not an exhaustive look at the Slasher, but merely a few design ideas
and strategy suggestions.
STR: 9-17. If anyone tells you otherwise, brand them as a heretic. Epee is a
nice weapon if you HAVE to use it. However, if the option is given to you, opt for
the SC. I personally like the BA, but with other faves as SC and BS, I cannot
complain if I do not reach the 15 Strength. I normally shoot for Good Damage, but
Normal is also workable. I have noticed a reoccuring trend of Damage Bonuses on my
Slashers. Other managers have made the same observations, and this may be an area
worth addressing in a later article.
Con: Who cares? I may be a bit optimistic, but I do not design my warriors on
the theory they will be hit by an opponent. CON is nice for endurance (slightly) and
damage taking, but unless you are planning a mutant Slasher, do not add any points
here. Take what you can get!
Size: You can't control it, so why fret over it? I like small Slashers with
lots of Strength. After thinking about it awhile though, I like all my warriors with
small Size and lots of Strength.
Wit: 11-21. I like fast learners (don't we all), but I've had to work with the
slow ones before also. It is really dependent on your playing style as to what I
suggest for Wit. As a general rule, HIGH is GOOD, but that holds true in every
instance doesn't it? I know some managers who will not run anything less than 15,
I'm not that jaded (you freaks know who you are)! If you want to win and win a lot,
I suggest the high Wit (17 is ideal). The more patient manager will work better with
the lower Wit, so do what is best for your playing style.
Will: 15-21. The higher your Strength and Constitution, the lower the Will can
be on the Slasher. You want a minimum high-end Normal Endurance. I like Good
Endurance for those pesky scum, but Normal is very workable.
Speed: Once again, it doesn't matter. I like above a 9, but I have them as low
as 3. You can never have too much Speed; however, I never add points to this stat.
It is a waste!
Deftness: 7-21. Most people will tell you 15+. I have a different theory and
become quite satisfied at 11. It is a major skill break point, and my Slashers
perform quite well with it. Higher is possible, but do not sacrifice other vital
stats for an extremely high Deftness. I know the critics will say you need it to hit
your target, and I agree. But, what good will it do your warrior to strike his
intended target if he cannot knock the opponent out due to low strength, or is unable
to function past minute one due to low Will? DO NOT sacrifice other vitals for a
high Deftness. Look at the overall picture!
JUST A FEW EXAMPLE WARRIORS in the DARQUE STABLES (successful):
1> 9-11-11-15-17-10-11 2> 15- 6- 6-15-21-10-11
3> 10-10- 8-15-17-13-11 4> 13-10- 7-17-17- 9-11
5> 9- 3-13-21-15-16- 7 6> 10-10-10-15-15- 3-21
7> 17- 9-11-15-15- 6-11 8> 15- 4- 8-17-17-12-11
I DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH ROOM TO LIST THE ALL THE MISTAKES I HAVE MADE.
You will notice a pattern in most of them. From the examples above, four were
blessed in their damage rating. I mentioned in the design theory above that I prefer
an 11 Deftness, and my warriors prove this point. Two Tournament Victors are in the
above list, and one will hopefully be one in an upcoming mailer. These are/were my
most successful due in large (I believe) to the guidelines I have given above. Good
Damage (or better in some cases), Good Endurance, and good weapon selection are vital
to a Slasher's success. If you design a terrible warrior, do not expect great
results.
Strategy: Although the general populace of DM believes that 10-10-6-Decise is
the answer to every offensive situation, I disagree (okay, not an emphatic
disagree...but sort of...just read on). It is a viable strat in many situations, but
most managers do not explore outside of those set ranges for something that works. I
have tried many strategies with the Slasher, and I continue to experiment, but the
following are just a few that have given me success in the past year.
My typical strategy is 10-10-6 with no tactic. I believe slashers riposte
better when unmodified, or in my experience they do. I normally drop down to 9-5-6
in minute two, followed by 8-2-6 for the rest of the fight. In desparation, I have
yet to find a spectacular set of numbers, so I normally experiment. If I run 10-10-
6-Decise, my Slasher has shown exceptional tendencies towards that tactic (possible
favorite learn or bonused in that area). Minutes two and on are the same for most of
my strats. If you fight those pesky scum, carry a big weapon and go 7-3-7 for the
entire fight. If you are having problems with Strikers, Bashers, and Parry Strikes,
I have found that Response works well with a Slasher. My theory is once response
negates decise, an Initiative roll is began. In most instances, a Slasher will win
an Initiative roll. It has worked wonders for me and vastly improved my Win/Loss.
10-10-x or an inverted 8-10-x is what I use in most situations.
Well, that is it for the Darque Slasher. This is really a work in progress, but
I figured I would share my views with the rest of the DM populace. Feel free to
disagree with me, I'm sure some will have reservations about what I have written.
However, the above guidelines work for me on a consistent basis. Yes, I'm aware the
numbers I gave you would make a decent anything, but I'm not designing anything else,
I'm designing a Slasher!!! Have fun with it and enjoy the game once in awhile!
Master Darque
Darque Forces DM 31, 103
Beginner's Guide to Duelmasters Rebuttal
Now, I've never talked to, or even heard of, Fritz of Battle Pets (which is okay,
because I'm sure a bunch of you have never heard of me, either), but I read Fritz's
article, and felt that I had to write a response. I am known as Drake, and I've been
playing this game for a little better than four years. Now, this does not make me the
ultimate authority on Duelmasters (there are a lot of managers out there that are a
hell of a lot better than me), but I do think that I know what I'm doing.
Now, for the most part, Fritz's article doesn't have anything wrong with it, but
there are a few points that I noticed that I do believe could hurt new players in the
long run (no offense intended towards Fritz or his intelligence as a manager). So, in
all good conscience, I could not let his article go by without a rebuttal.
First, he placed too many stats on even numbers in his example rollups. When
designing a warrior, it seems that the more odd numbers in the stats, the better the
luck factor will be. The values that you really want to shoot for are 7, 9, 11, 13,
15, 17, and 21. These values seem to offer more skills and are better for getting a
high luck factor. Now, I know it is impossible to have a rollup with all odd stats,
so the one even stat should either be con or size if you can manage it. These are the
two least important stats (in my opinion; a lot of managers feel that con and speed
are the bottom of the stat pile; however, we all agree that con is about useless
because it does not give your warrior ANY skills), and also the least hampered by even
numbers. As far as stat importance goes, most managers will tell you that wit,
deftness, and will (in that order) are the most important stats for any warriors of
any style.
Now, about the styles themselves.
BASHERS: An okay style that does well in basic, but tends to lose steam in ADM
unless designed with extremely good stats. The ranges I suggest are: ST 13-17 (21 is
nice but wastes points), CN 3-7 (no offensive style needs con), SZ 6+ (9 is perfect),
WT 13+, WL 13+, SP 5-9 (not really that important), DF 13+. I feel that Fritz's first
example had too much speed and not enough deftness, and his second rollup had far too
much con and not enough deftness. Deftness is what gives you more skills and helps
you place your shots where you want them; a deftness of less than 11 will severely
hamper your warrior's performance. As for weapons, the best for bashing seems to be
the MA, WH, MS, and HL. For the most part, you will want to run your bashers all-out
offensive, with no more armor than ARM or ASM and F.
LUNGER: This is a style that one of my biggest disagreements with Fritz comes
from. His sample setup had WAY too much speed and way too little deftness. Lungers
DO NOT need speed. For a lunger, a speed above 9 is a waste. Basically, I suggest
you try the following stat ranges: ST 9-13, CN 3-7, SZ 6-11, WT 15+, WL 17+, SP 5-9,
DF 13+. As for weapons and strategy, use the SH, LO, SS, and LS with all-out offense,
and 10-10-6 dodge in desperation.
SLASHER: Recently this style has started to gain a lot of respect among
experienced managers. Fritz gave his slasher too much con and speed and not nearly
enough will and also shorted it on deftness. I suggest: ST 9-13, CN 3-6, SZ 6-11, WT
15+, WL 15+, SP 7-11, DF 13+. Slashers tend to burn a lot of endurance (almost as
much as a lunger or wall of steel), and need a good will and strength combo for at
least good endurance. For weapons, try the HA, SH, SC, and BS. Try running them like
bashers (high offense, and low to mid activity), and never use the slash tactic; it
hurts your decise, parry, and defense too much.
STRIKER: Fritz's had too much size and speed and not enough deftness. Also, I
would suggest avoiding the high size, low speed and deftness type of striker because
they never seem to do well. I suggest: ST 9-13, CN 3-7, SZ 6+, WT 15+, WL 13+, SP 7-
13, DF 13+. Run them with a high offensive effort, and a medium to high activity
level, and try using a DA, HA, SC, BS, MS, or WH.
AIMED BLOW: The best advice I can give you on these is to forget it. This is a
very picky and hard to run style. I still haven't managed a successful one. A lot of
managers will tell you that a good aimed blow would make a better something else, and
they may be right.
TOTAL PARRY: Fritz's advice on TPs is pretty much right on. I generally try
for: ST 9-13, CN 8-10 (enough for normal hit points in 2 stat raises), SZ 3-11, WT
13+, WL 15+, SP 3-7, DF 13+.
PARRY-STRIKE: This is another style I haven't had a lot of success with.
Whether this is just bad luck or a fault of the style, I don't know. However, if you
want to try one, I suggest the following stats: ST 9-13, CN 5-10 (PS can get away
with a low con better than other defensives), SZ 3-11, WT 15+, WL 13+, SP 7-11, DF
13+. Try running them like strikers until they get some Expert ratings, then use
their skills as a guide. Good weapons are: SH, SC, LO, BS, and WH with an offhand
shield.
PARRY-LUNGE: A lot of experienced managers feel that this is the best style in
the game. Fritz's design was okay, but there was too much size, and too many even
stats. You might want to try: ST 7-11, CN 8-10, SZ 3-11, WT 15+, WL 17+, SP 3-7, DF
13+. Run them like lungers until they get some Experts. As for your weapons, try to
EP, SH, SC, LO, or SS with an offhand shield.
PARRY-RIPOSTE: Fritz's design was okay, but they really don't need that much
con. A low con can be compensated with a high initial parry and/or defense for any
warrior. The stats I try for are: ST 7-11, CN 8-10, SZ 3-11, WT 15+, WL 13+, SP 7-
11, DF 15+. Basically, a beginning PR should be run like a TP. Try using the EP, SH,
SC, LO, or SS with an offhand shield.
WALL OF STEEL: Also known as the waste. This is one of my personal favorite
styles. The way I usually design them is: ST 9-13, CN 8-10, SZ 3-11, WT 13+, WL 17+,
SP 3-7, DF 13+. A good rule is to try and make sure that WT and WL is equal to at
least 30 for good initial skill levels. Wastes should be run defensively for the
first couple of minutes, offensively towards the middle minutes, and slowing down
towards the end. The best waste weapons are the SC, BS, MS, and BA.
Now, Fritz's designs may be working for him, and there is nothing wrong with
using what works, but I think that if he gets most of those sample warriors to ADM he
will end up in trouble. This is way I wrote this article. A lot of younger managers
find out that warriors who were doing great for them in basic end up getting trashed
in ADM. It happened to me, and as far as I know, everyone else I know. I hope this
article will help make the transition from basic to ADM a little easier for a lot of
new managers out there.
One last thing. As I said before, I am not the greatest manager in the game (or
anywhere near it), but I do know what I'm doing. However, don't feel that this
article is in any way absolute. If one of your warriors doesn't fall within the
ranges given, it is not necessarily useless. So long as your warrior has at least 13s
in WT, WL, and DF, and they total at least 43, your warrior should be fine.
If you have any comments, questions, or just think I'm completely insane, feel
free to contact Drake at any of the following teams and arenas: Power Tools Inc (47,
101, and 103), Drake's Bar-B-Q (15, 103), Drake's Lodge (50), or Ballroom Blitz (3).
Good luck all, and may you never run into a slasher wielding a chainsaw.
Yet Another Striker Article
This is an article on strikers, so if you really hate the style (as I know many
of you do), I suggest ignoring it completely because this is being written by someone
who LIKES strikers and knows how to design them, fight them, and win with them. <grin>
A good striker can have any design. They can use any weapon, any strategy, and
they should be able to beat any other style. They are the simplistic basic fighter.
They know how to slash, dodge, lunge, bash, riposte, parry, and respond (we already
know they are decisive).
So why do they get all this bad press, us striker lovers ask? (I realize that
anyone who has gotten this far must like strikers; the rest of them have quit in
disgust.) It's pretty simple, actually--strikers invariably get lower skill bases
than most offensive styles and they also seem to mimic aimed blows in that even if
they HAVE the initiative, often they won't attack (even with an Advanced Master
attack). It's frustrating at times, and that I'll admit; but the fun fights I've
gotten from strikers all too often make it up for me (don't let those cynics fool
you--strikers can dish out FAR more interesting fights than lungers!).
Okay, enough exposition (author-type word). On with the meat of a design
article:
ST: I like them powerful. 11 and up. More weapon selection and greater damage.
CN: The usual. Doesn't matter. A really good striker shouldn't ever get hit (except
by one of my slashers).
SZ: Any, of course. I like nice, big strikers for damage (it IS fun to get
TREMENDOUS on the rollup), but I have some just as good from SZ 6-9. 9 is a pretty
good average to go on (but never discount a SZ 17, especially if he has a 21 WT).
WT: High. The higher the better. Of course a striker can have any WT (especially a
dixie), but if you're looking for one to keep, then no lower than 17 is a must in this
stat.
WL: This is where the trick comes in. A striker can succeed with as low as a 5 WL in
the regular arena. I don't recommend this unless you're as crazy as me. Don't go
lower than 7. At the moment, I'm advocating the low WL striker, so don't go higher
than 13 on the outside. He needs the WT and DF more. 9-11 is perfect.
SP: Who cares?
DF: The second most important stat for a striker of this sort. High, high, high! 17
or 21, nothing else will do. (Oh, all right, if you MUST, then 15 is all right. I
don't recommend it, and don't blame me if you do go with THAT number.)
Okay, you have your 13-9-10-21-9-5-17, what do you do with it? Well, give him a
scimitar, of course, and put a little (very little) armor on him. I recommend no more
than ALE/L (perhaps APL/L). Don't worry about seeing a bad endurance statement on his
overview! It doesn't matter. Run him like this:
10 6 6 5 5 5 10
10 2 2 1 1 1 5
6 --------------------------- >
RA --------------------------- >
HE --------------------------- > (or body, or whatever other part you worry about)
Why ones, you ask? One thing I really love about strikers is their endurance
bonus. They can last and last and last, even with a 5 will. My motto is, "strikers
are keen, strikers are great, strikers take down total parries in plate." You say
you're pestered by those nasty scum? Say they've been destroying your record? Well,
this is your answer.
Then decide what kind of tactics you'd like to try. A striker can use them all
with some amount of success--most folks go with decise and that's cool early on.
Naturally, you can counter other strikers using decise with responsiveness (and
confuse other strikers coming at you with responsiveness by using dodge or no tactic
at all!). Most of the time I use either decise, response, dodge, or nothing. The
other tactics can be amusing, depending on the weapon you've given your striker--slash
with scimitar or bash with war hammer or lunge with longsword. Parry and riposte can
be used to modest success in desperation, but I don't too often do it, since I usually
have my strikers use a scimitar until they get to ADM and thereafter use their
favorites (unless, as in the case of Ethan Edwards, you've gotten a small shield). If
their favorite is a two-handed weapon, then use the scimitar as a backup.
Speaking of weapons: the scimitar is probably your best bet. Scimitar is light,
fast, strong, and deadly. I've heard that it does devastating things when you're
aiming for the head, but I don't advocate killing strategies. Strikers already seem
to have a kill advantage, no need to increase it; aim for the arms with the 6 KD (or
5). It's a nice thing to do.
And that's basically it. But just to further my position, here are some samples
that will show you what I'm talking about:
13-5-17-17-10-9-13 This warrior maxed out in 69 fights. Yes! Total! He's currently
32-28-2, maxed with Ad Master init, Master rip, attack, and decise, Ad Ex
defense, and Ex parry. As for worrying about stat raises, he's been maxed out
for five turns and already has four WL increases.
9-9-11-17-11-10-17 He ripped up his regular arena and went to ADM with a 15-5-4
record (no tournaments). Currently: 39-26-4 with Masters in init, rip, attack,
def, and decise; Ad Ex parry.
17-6-11-17-9-11-13 Currently 33-24-3 with Masters init, rip, attack, decise, Ex
defense.
11-13-11-21-9-6-13 Currently 28-19-0 with Masters init, attack, decise and Ad Ex rip.
17-8-7-17-5-13-17 Went to ADM with a 19-9-4 record; currently 24-24-4 (ADM has not
been kind). Still, he got two WL increases in four tries (it's 7 now) and he's
doing better overall; Masters attack & decise, Ad Master rip, As Ex init, Ex
defense.
For a change of pace (and to please those who want more endurance in their strikers),
I have:
10-10-10-21-14-11-8 He got off to a slow start. He's in Primus now with five
Advanced Masters and dozens of stat raises. He's 55-55-4 (keeping a real even
record), and he's one of the ones that has that trouble with attacking with the
initiative. One of his Ad Masters is, of course, attack.
12-15-4-18-21-4-10 Why did I make this a striker? Because I didn't know any better
at the time! <grin> He's 54-43-2 with Ad Master attack (not as much trouble as
the other, yet it's still there; I think the low WL strikers handle this better),
Masters init, parry, def, and decise, Ad Ex rip.
12-12-7-20-14-9-10 Went to ADM with a losing record, 17-20-3. Currently 53-47-3 in
Primus with an Ad Master rip, Masters in init, attack, defense, and decise, Ad Ex
parry.
Well, I have lots of other strikers, too, but these are the ones I term the "good
ones." (If anyone's interested, I could also show you how to make the WORST striker
in existence--currently the reigning "pud" of Home Guard.) Strikers have been, for
me, the "fall back on" style; the style I'll make a rollup that can't be anything
else. I don't recommend that. But they can be fun and provide hours of amusement,
especially the ones that shouldn't win on a dare--and do. (And oh, the fun when,
after eleven minutes of beating on some plate-clad scum, they WIN instead of falling
down--and they've been panting since minute 2!)
Comments, criticisms, the usual hyperbole, to: Tex, mgr. Tex's Rangers (51, 104,
101, 105); Excellent Venture (13, 103, 101), etc.
The Godling Heresy
Or
An Argument for Giving Every Warrior a Chance
It came to me in a flash, but I'd like you to bear with me while I lay a little
groundwork in this article, because it's going to take just a little longer than a
flash to explain it.
As I understand the term, a godling is a warrior who is expected to be superior
at all levels of play, but especially once he graduates and reaches the Isle (and
thus is safe from death).
When you do a roll-up, you arrange the stats and choose the style, and from
these two factors, the computer calculates starting (base) skills. The number
crunchers have done a LOT of research on this, and they can fairly well tell you what
the normal (mode) base skills for any warrior are, given his starting stats and his
style. But sometimes, a random factor will kick in, and a warrior may be bonused
over the skills that would be expected and have more than expected, or, of course,
the reverse. This you can't know until you get the overview and compare the
statements on it to one of the charts produced by a number cruncher.
Note that this means that if you send the warrior directly to the Dark Arena at
the same time you send in the roll-up, you won't know about any possible bonuses
until it's too late.
A warrior increases skills over his base during fighting by a) training skills
and/or b) training stats. By training nothing but skills, you can learn twenty in
each of the six skill areas; then you're "maxed." But you can also gain skills at
some points in the stat-training sequence, and if you train stats and gain skills
that way before you max skill trains, they will be counted against your twenty for
the skill in question. So you still get twenty skills, what's the difference? Ah,
but if you max the skills and THEN train stats, you get MORE than twenty! This is
the argument behind all those admonitions not to train stats early in a warrior's
career. The skills earned by training a stat to, say, 17 are calculated on exactly
the same chart as the skills earned by having a starting stat of 17.
If two warriors, both of the same style, both entirely mode, start out as Abel:
7-8-8-17-17-12-17 and Baker: 17-17-8-10-11-12-9, by the time they have maxed skills
and trained all their stats up to 21, they will be exactly identical in skills!
Where's your godling then? Abel may have been more exciting to run, he may have
taken off faster and had some rather spectacular wins, but he is equally likely to be
dead. So what's the big deal with the trip-17? Instant gratification, maybe, or
maybe just muddy thinking.
But wait, there's more!
Each warrior has a favorite weapon, a favorite rhythm, and sometimes a favorite
tactic, and THAT makes a lot of difference...but you don't find out (for sure) until
the warrior graduates. Suppose you had two warriors with Abel's stats as given
above, both slashers, let's say, and one had scimitar, high/low favorites and the
other had hatchet moderate/low favorites. The one with the scimitar is most likely
to do better than his twin.
So that makes two things you can't possibly know when you send in your roll-up
sheet: bonuses and favorites. Both of these are critical to the state of being a
godling, and my heretical opinion is that any reasonably good warrior should be given
a chance to demonstrate the presence or absence of bonuses and allow at least an
intelligent deduction as to favorites before being declared "worthless." It seems to
me that the managers who engage in the wholesale use of the Dark Arena on unproven
roll-ups are missing a good bet. If they're only interested in high-end play and
don't care about their win/loss record in Basic, why don't they give the half-way
decent roll-ups a chance?
For a few examples of the things that might be hiding behind an untried set of
numbers, I'm going to give you the facts on some real warriors. These are decent but
not extreme, ones I've graduated and have the numbers on. All are slashers, so there
will be no style-based differences.
A: 16-10- 9-15-17- 7-10 G: 13-17- 9-17-10- 9- 9
B: 9- 8-13-17-17- 9-11 H: 9- 8-13-17-15-11-11
C: 9- 5-14-15-17-11-13 I: 10-12-12-15-13-13- 9
D: 9-12-13-17-17- 3-13 J: 9- 9-13-15-15-11-12
E: 17- 9- 7-11-17-13-10 K: 9-13-10-15- 9-15-13
F: 12-13-15-13- 9- 9-13
None are "godlings" in the sense of having outstanding numbers. Many of them would
never have seen the light of day under other management. If you could only run two
of these warriors, which would you pick?
Here's the rest of the facts--
A: 16-10-9-15-17-7-10, favorites are scimitar, very high/very low. +1 init, +1
def, +4 dec. Good potential. A lot of skills waiting for an increase in DF.
B: 9-8-13-17-17-9-11, favorites are broadsword, high/low. +2 rip. Good
potential.
C: 9-5-14-15-17-11-13, favorites are hatchet, high/low. +4 init, -4 rip, +1
dec. Junk, because of the favorite weapon.
D: 9-12-13-17-17-3-13, favorites are longsword, moderate/low. +1 init. Same
as C, junked by his favorites.
E: 17-9-7-11-17-13-10, favorites are scimitar, moderate/moderate. +2 def, +4
dec. Rhythm and weapon are excellent, but he'd have been better with a bonus in
attack. Still, there are a lot of skills just waiting for the stat raises in DF and
WT.
F: 12-13-15-13-9-9-13, favorites are great axe, moderate/moderate. +1 rip, +3
att, -2 def. Mediocre, the penalty in defense offsetting the bonus in attack.
Raising stats will be hard, too.
G: 13-17-9-17-10-9-9, favorites are great axe, very high/low. +1 ini, +4 rip,
+2 att, +2 par, +2 def, +1 dec. An interesting oddity (bonuses in ALL skills), but
basically mediocre, and the low WL will give trouble when it comes to raising stats.
H: 9-8-13-17-15-11-11, favorites are broadsword, high/very low. -1 rip, +1
par, +4 def. Not bad at all.
I: 10-12-12-15-13-13-9, favorites are battle axe, high/very low. +2 dec. Not
bad, but not great, either.
J: 9-9-13-15-15-11-12, favorites are scimitar, moderate/very low. -1 rip, +3
par, +3 dec. Possible.
K: 9-13-10-15-9-15-13, favorites are shortsword, very high/low, slash tactic.
+1 init, -4 rip, +2 att, +3 def, +3 dec. Unfortunate weapon, but otherwise quite
possible. Favorite or no, I'd give this one a scimitar to fight with.
I forget off-hand which ones I'm actually running of these, if any, but just
looking at the list, I'd pick E and probably H. But you see what I mean about not
being able to tell the warrior's potential from the initial roll-up sheet? These
warriors weren't sorted by anything except style; they're simply the first eleven
slashers on my list of graduates. None of them have "great" numbers. None of the
DIED. Not ONE of them is mode. There's variation in favorite weapons and rhythms.
My recollection is that all of them did reasonably well in Basic.
I'm not advocating running every rotten replacement that comes down the pike (I
do it, but that's a different story), but give those so-so roll-ups a chance to show
their stuff. They might surprise you.
Jorja
The Middle Way 3
THE HIGH STRENGTH AIMED BLOW
BY
DONALD TRUMP
While it's not entirely true that the aimed blow style is misunderstood, it IS
often maligned by experienced managers. Many tell beginning managers to avoid it, and
I believe that this is doing the style an injustice. Aimed blows can be the most
fulfilling style to run, and are easily addictive. What better way for a beginning
manager to get into the game than by running a successful aimed blow? It's a better
notch on their belt than running a successful lunger to AD, I think.
The following information is gleaned from my own experience, a long-standing feud
over the style (which I subsequently lost) with Vlad Taltos, long conversations with
Slowburn, Shadowmaster, Lady Hawk, Tex and Roadkill, and the longwinded diatribes of
many on the DM roundtable on Internet.
The setup for aimed blows is easily the most important part of their makeup.
While other styles, bashers, lungers and even parry-strikers, for example, can make up
for a poor setup by proper strategy, challenge and avoid decisions, the aimer cannot.
A properly designed and run aimed blow can defeat any style; a poorly designed aimed
blow can't beat anyone.
Below is the setup I use for aimers. It is somewhat different than what I've
seen from other managers, but no more or less successful than usual. I'm sure it will
cause some stir among the aimer-running general public.
ST: I like it high, 13+. High ST does four things for your Aimed Blow: it helps
out endurance, it gives better encumbrance, it tends to give you better damage
ratings, and it helps your Attack rating.
Encumbrance is an important, and often neglected, part of the AB's makeup. I
currently have 2 AB's with 17 ST, and the high ST allows me to run them in ADM/H.
Since encumbrance is high (normal to good), it allows me to run them in heavy armor
without penalty, and also helps their damage-taking. This is important early in their
career, as many young aimers tend to lose after short flurries by offensives. Later
in their careers the extra damage taking isn't done at the expense of skills. A 17 ST
can be raised to 25 in AD without undue strain, and actually *gains* skills.
The other areas can be helped out by other stats: CN, WT, and DF. WT and DF
certainly give more skills than ST does, but I believe that in the long run Aimers are
better served by a few extra points in ST than in WT or DF.
CN: Any, naturally. I like some CN, 7-9, just to help out encumbrance,
endurance, and damage-taking. Obligatory remark: Never add points.
SZ: The sticking point for many rollups. All aimers (mine, yours, probably even
Shadowmaster's) require WT 17 DF 17 minimum to succeed. With high ST as well, this
doesn't allow much leeway for SZ. Since you can't change it, I'd say any SZ will do,
but for this rollup, anything over 10 probably isn't going to work.
WT: No controversy here. 17 or 21. I've seen 15 WT rollups do well, and if
you've got 21 DF, maybe that's enough, but for a standard I'd say 17.
WL: I like to see a decent WL, if only because low WL rollups face a brick wall
on stat trains once they max out on skills. Many managers specify 9, 13, 17 or *gasp*
21, but I say add points to get ST 13, WT 17, DF 17 first, then add whatever's left to
WL, even if it makes it 10, 12, 14, or whatever. It's not as important as ST/WL/DF.
SP: Blech. 5 if you can get it (I'm superstitious about 3 SP) otherwise leave
it at whatever you get. High SP aimers won't kill you, but it does take up valuable
points better used elsewhere.
DF: Still no controversy. 17 or 21. Yes, I've seen the aberrant 15 DF aimers,
but that's really only for 21 WT characters, and managers who just *have* to have an
aimed blow (do any of those really exist?). 21 DF aimed blows get real *nice* bonuses
to attack, better than you might expect. So, if you can, go for it, but don't make a
13 WT aimed blow because of it.
Some examples of good aimed blows I would actually run:
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6
ST 17 17 21 13 17 17
CN 3 12 3 8 6 3
SZ 8 5 10 7 7 8
WT 17 17 15 17 17 17
WL 13 7 5 15 11 17
SP 9 5 9 7 9 5
DF 17 21 21 17 17 17
#1 is an actual character. Currently 6-2-1 (both losses to characters with 15+
more fights). Bases aren't great (so far, attack 60%) but looks great and should have
good long-term potential.
#2 is another actual character. Started out Expert attack (something about that
21 DF) and great damage (how did that happen?). Currently 1-1-0.
#3 is yet another actual character. Started out Advanced Expert attack and great
damage. Died at something like 4-3-1 to a lunger who DA'd the next turn. (I hate you,
Lords of Malbolge!)
#4 and #5 are both examples of good but not great characters who would make
excellent aimers.
#6 is what I would make if I got an immortal design-your-own. The "perfect"
character. Probably would die on first fight if I ever actually made that character.
[grin]
Strategy:
Armor: The main advantage my aimed blows have over others is their ability to
wear armor, so use it! ASM/H is pretty much standard operating procedure, but I dip
into ARM/S for TP's and go as high as APM/F vs. lungers (if I know they're going to
challenge me).
Weapon Selection: Nothing special here. My aimers can use any weapon, from fist
to longsword to epee. The main point most people bring up about my aimers is that all
that ST is wasted, since it doesn't add weapons to their repertoire. This is a valid
point, but I believe the extra armor, damage, etc. makes the points well spent.
Offensive Effort: Moderate (5-6) to Very High (9-10). You really have to
experiment to see what your aimer likes. I've included a beginning strategy for
aimers; adjust it to see what your aimer likes.
Activity Level: Low (3-4) to High (7-8) usually, Very High for minute 1 if
you're in an arena with a plethora of offensive-types. Once again, see what your
aimer likes.
Kill Desire: Depends on you. I don't believe in that "7 maximizes Decise"
voodoo that someone came up with (how do you measure that?) but I like mine in a
middlin' range: 4-7. Generally, I run at 6.
Challenges: Good challenges are any parry style, but particularly parry-strikes
and total parries; other aimed blows, obviously, and Wall of Steels.
Avoids: Avoid lungers like the plague. If you know they're coming (on a
bloodfeud, for instance) then wear APM/F and carry an off-hand shield. Your only real
chance is to withstand their offensive barrage and hit 'em when they're tired. Once
you're skilled, it's a slightly different story, but generally their attack rating is
going to be better than your parry and defense rating. Strikers and slashers are also
good styles to avoid. Aimers tend to do well against bashers, but I still wouldn't
challenge one.
Beginning Standard Strategy:
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Desp Weapon Selection
Off Eff 10 8 8 6 5 4 2
Act Lev 10 8 6 4 3 2 10 (0,7) SC
Kil Des 6 6 6 6 5 4 4 (8,14) SS
Att Loc RA ---------------------------> (15,+) LO
Pro Loc BD ----------------------> LE
Off Tac L
Def Tac D
I hope this inspires some debate about the style, and maybe even some of you to
try it. Don't be discouraged by early failures or even deaths. This will come
around.
Donald Trump, CEO Trump Gladiatorial Enterprises with wholly owned subsidiaries in:
Lapur (29) -- Perfect Timing
Murska (35) -- Too Much Posse
Vithicar (49) -- Colorful
Andor (57) -- Stragety, Dammit!
The Zen of Putting Your Opponents Six Feet Under
This article is the result of a fellow Duelmasters manager asking me how to
efficiently go about the business of killing. He stated that I was "the resident
expert" on the Duelmasters Round Table (an e-mail chat group) and was therefore the
person to come to for tips. Well, this got me thinking, and the reply that I sent to
him is a subset of this full-fledged article.
As for being an "expert," all I can say is that I hold the record for most kills
in Alastari with any one stable. As of the end of January, Merlin's Lot in Sibikhas
took the title with a record of 598-506-67. The previous holder of the title was the
infamous Death Squad of Zukal, but their overall record is 629-524-66, so my kill
percentage is somewhat better, having the same number of kills in 49 less fights.
So, for all of you who want to strike constant fear in the hearts of your weak
opponents, here's my tips:
1) This is my most important rule, and it is a corollary of Doc LeGrand's famous
"First Rule of Duelmasters", which was "You can't die if you don't lose." My rule is
"You can't kill if you don't win." This is just as obvious as Doc LeGrand's rule, but
many managers go forth and design what they believe to be "killers" with all sorts of
scary damage ratings and the ability to swing two mauls. But the likelihood of these
warriors winning is rather slim, because they're brain-dead, or ponderously slow, or
are just as likely to chop their own leg off at the knee as to hit their opponent.
Sure, they might get lucky in one or two of their first few fights, but is one kill
worth a 2-6-1 record and four skills learned followed by a DA? Only the most twisted
bloodthirsty manager would think so, and that's not me. So, first you have to start
with a warrior that will win at least half of his first 10 fights (or however long you
think this warrior will last, although this number of fights is important, and will be
discussed later in Point #9). That is critical. When all else is equal, the more you
win, the more you'll kill... guaranteed.
2) You have to be offensive. There's no getting around it. You have to run with
at least a 7 kill desire, and, while I can safely say that I got most of my kills
running with a 9 or 10 KD, I also feel that I could have avoided more than a few
losses by toning that down a little. There is a big trade-off here; raising KD means
more kills, but it can also mean less wins. With a 10 KD, when your warrior is on the
ropes, he'll be way too berserk to even care. I now normally run at 6 or 7 KD, and go
no higher than 9, but the rate that I've been getting kills has noticeably decreased.
3) Point #2 does NOT mean that your warrior must be one of the offensive styles!
Defensive warriors can be excellent killers as well, most notably, parry-lungers,
parry-strikers and wastes. Total parries and parry-ripostes just don't seem to have
the knack. Still, though, you can't just change the KD on your normal defensive
strategy and hope to kill. It's just not that easy. You'll have to completely modify
your warrior's strategy to get that killing edge. This means high offensive effort,
but not necessarily high activity. I've had two parry-strikers that were great
killers, but I ran them 7-7-7, which is out of the bounds of their potential favorite
numbers. Parry-lungers are better suited to killing because they can be run
(relatively successfully) just like lungers. There was a recent discussion on the
Duelmasters Roundtable concerning parry-strikers that said that many managers run
rookie PSs 10-10-6. Well, how much different is 10-10-9, apart from the SLIGHT
potential for more losses, as stated in Point #2? Not that much, if you're looking to
get that eagerly sought after "Belly-Up Silhouette" on the mantle of your stable's
guildhouse....
4) Your killer will have to do some damage. This does not NECESSARILY mean that
he will have to do at least good damage (although, for my killers, I prefer at least
great damage). What it DOES mean is that, if your warrior does only normal damage,
he's going to have to hit A LOT to get that kill intent statement! There's nothing
more pleasing than having your tremendous damage basher send one shot to an opponent's
head, get the death intent statement, and one more swing and the undertaker's already
reserving a slab. This just cannot be accomplished with a normal damage warrior, and
is particularly difficult for any warrior that doesn't do at least great damage.
5) Obviously, to maximize your killing potential, you have to aim at vitals. I
prefer the head, although many of my lungers have gotten their kills aiming for the
abdomen. Also, a high deftness will greatly help in this regard, because it does no
good to aim at the head and hit your opponent five times in five different locations.
Sure, you'll get the win, but you'll have a much more difficult time getting the kill,
unless you get lucky and that last swing before the death intent connects with one of
your opponent's vital body parts.
6) Killing means weeding out the worthless and weak. One of my favorite sayings
is "If a warrior dies, he wasn't meant to live." Of course, I use this to justify
going after warriors that I BELIEVE just don't deserve to live, like that 2-6 ripper,
or that 6-7 aimed blow who has gotten some lucky challenges through to defensives, but
is finally going to have his luck catch up with him. Or any warrior belonging to a
member of the Ivory League... You have to be merciless to enjoy killing, and to go
after the warriors that deserve to die. That's the Dark Circle way. Also, when you
have a chance to REALLY get a slam dunk on an opponent (and there is no better example
than having a champion bloodfeud an initiate), then, by all means, crank up that KD
all the way to 10. You KNOW you're going to win, and your chance of killing is
maximized. Go for it.
7) When in doubt, at least challenge warriors you know that you can HIT, not
necessarily BEAT, just HIT HARD! This tip is really only good for warriors that do at
least great damage. The more damage you do, the more likely that one hit will be all
you'll need (especially if you hit where you're aiming, as I stated in Point #5, as
hitting the head HARD could cause the stun that could win you the fight, or hitting
the legs HARD could cause that all-important knockdown). If there's a great lunger
out there, but he's slow and you've sent him desperate with one shot from your faster
striker before the lunger's dodge strategy kicked in and he pounded you, challenge him
again and you'll be more than likely to send him desperate again! Maybe you got a bad
roll last time. Maybe you'll get a really good roll this time....
8) Being on the receiving end of a bloodfeud can be a good way to get those slam-
dunks as well. If you kill a warrior who comes from a relatively new team, or from a
team that has no warriors above yours (or, at least, no warriors that can beat yours),
then you're home free. Crank up the KD and stack up the opposition like cordwood as
they try to revenge their pathetic loser.
9) As we all know, the younger a warrior is, the more likely he is to kill when
he wins or die when he loses. Therefore, the tips on challenging that I have just
stated should practically be ignored for any warrior in the Challenger Adepts or
higher. This does not mean that Champions don't die; far from it! Sibikhas recently
lost its Duelmaster, and arenas like Sunset and Talcama (where bloodlust reigns
supreme) have at least one 10+ fight warrior dying practically every turn. Even
warriors with 20 or more fights can be fairly regularly found on any arena's dead
list. But, it's in the rankings of the Initiates where you will find most of the
dead, and adjusting your strategy on the hopes of killing a Champion is almost always
futile. So, if you want to kill, you should "make hay while the sun shines", as it
were, and try to get in those notches on your hilt within your warrior's first ten
fights.
10) If you're just looking to pad your kill total, then you should challenge the
DA with any of your warriors that graduates to ADM. I would estimate that at least
half of the warriors that do this win the fight, and even if you lose it, all you lose
are the skills that you may have gotten if you had fought a regular opponent. You
also don't have to worry about a bloodfeud if you DO get the kill. I must admit,
though, that I am pretty proud of the fact that my kill total in Sibikhas has NOT been
inflated via this manner. Just think how many kills I would have had if I had sent
all two dozen of my Lord Protectors to the DA on their last fight! Maybe over eighty!
11) As you may well know, there are many managers out there (many of whom call
themselves Andorians) who believe that killing is bad and wrong and all sorts of other
judgmental stuff that has nothing to do with combat. As for me, I couldn't care less
whether you want to kill my warriors (or anybody else's) or not. Just don't tell me
what to do. This is also the Dark Circle way. Unfortunately, many of these Andorians
have banded together in certain arenas, where the idea of "killing without remorse" is
heavily frowned upon. It is in these arenas where, if you kill and enjoy it (and even
<shudder> SAY so...), your entire stable will be hunted down for the true warriors
that they are, rather than for the "we all share a common goal, so let's play nice"
slumber party pillow-fighters that all the other warriors in those arenas are.
Therefore, if you wish to be proficient and successful at killing, I suggest you avoid
these arenas like the plague that they are. Trust me. You will receive more
enjoyment from your kills when the manager of your victim vows revenge in kind, but
does not question your morals.
12) Finally, and above all, when that manager of your victim DOES threaten to
wipe out your entire stable, you have to be prepared to die yourself. Some studies
have shown (to varying degrees) that raising your KD also increases your own
likelihood of death. I'm not convinced of this, but I'm not denying it, either. And,
of course, when you kill, you invite a bloodfeud upon your killer, and the opposing
manager will have all of the bloodfeuding advantages that I have mentioned above.
Accept that death is part of the game, and relish the fresh rookies you receive and
the chances to be bloodfeuded, just as much as you relish the kill.
Well, that's about all I can think of. I hope to see all of the undertakers
throughout Alastari very busy! Best of Luck in your headhunting!
Merlin, Warden of the Dark Circle
WARRIOR DESIGN
In everything except size, odd numbers in your stats are better than even numbers
because of the way the program rounds them up; you get a little more for your
investment with an odd number. Every fourth number is a break-point that puts your
warrior into a different category. The break-points are 5, 9, 13, 17, 21, and 25
(possible only in Advanced Duelmasters). If possible, you want your important stats
to be at these numbers because they are significantly better than the numbers right
below them. For deftness, 11 is also an important break-point.
In general, emphasizing a few strengths in your rollup is better than trying to
eliminate all weaknesses. The most successful warriors have definite, sometimes
drastic, highs and lows. It's not that the lows aren't bad, but the highs more than
make up for them.
The most important places to put your 14 discretionary points are on wit and
will. Without a good wit and will, your character is not likely to be a good one in
the long run. Wit is vital for learning skills, and will is vital for raising your
attributes. They are also good for other things, of course.
Strength affects how much damage you can do, what weapons you can use to good
effect, and is of primary importance in how much weight you can carry. It will
strongly affect your endurance.
Constitution is a primary factor in determining your hit points, and also affects
your endurance a little bit. The program will never actually tell you your hit
points. It's nice to have at least normal endurance; otherwise, your character will
probably die young. Flashy, maybe, if all the points that aren't on con are on wit
and deftness; but right about the time you fall in love with them, somebody hits them
and that's all she wrote. However, if you waste too many points on con, your warrior
will suffer in other areas, and will be very dull and mediocre. If your character is
fast and smart, he should quickly learn how to defend himself and not get killed.
Usually.
Size gives you more hit points, enables you to do more damage when you hit, and
possibly gives you an advantage in reach. However, it also slows you way down, and
soaks up points that would do more good elsewhere. The strategy gods around here seem
to think a large size is not worthwhile, and most large rollups go straight to the
Dark Arena. 9-10 are nice sizes. Smaller warriors than that tend to be frail, but
they often more than make up for it in other areas.
Wit is important. Did I mention how important wit is? Wit is very important.
17 is a nice wit. 21 is even nicer. Sometimes, if you can choose between a 17 or a
21, you might settle for a 17 because you really, really need the points someplace
else or the warrior won't survive. However, wit is very important. In addition to
helping you learn skills, it makes you fast, even if you don't have a good speed or
deftness. It can enable you to do more damage (because you know exactly where to
hit). Different weapons have different wit requirements. For the epee, you need a
15. Overall, it's just really, really important.
Will is pretty important, too. Not quite as important as wit, but close. It is
the primary factor in your endurance, which is important for most styles. It
contributes to your hit points and to the damage that you do. I believe it affects
how many skills your warrior is born with, which is important. And, of course, it is
extremely important for raising stats. The more will you have, the higher your chance
of raising a stat. By the way, even with a high will, don't count on more than two
stat raises in basic Duelmasters. After two raises, the probabilities get very low.
Again, I don't know the formula. But I have been told, and tend to believe, that your
character will benefit much more by going for all skills from the word go, than by
trying to raise all his stats by two (much less, any higher than that). Sometimes you
need to raise some stats right at the start (like, if your character does below-
average damage when he hits, you'd better raise your strength fast). But for the most
part, it's better to design a character who can function as is, and learn all the
skills he can possibly learn, before you worry about stat raises at all. That's what
the strategy gods say, and it's probably true. I sometimes tinker with my warriors'
stats, anyway. Maybe that's why I don't have a better record.
Speed. You'll want at least 5. Some say slashers need more, like 9 or 13, but
that's not for sure. For the most part, anything speed can do, deftness can do
better. If the total of your speed and deftness add up to less than 17, you'll be
clumsy. 17-20 is slightly uncoordinated. 21 to 30 or 31 is normal; above that is
wonderful stuff, and you almost always get the jump on the other guy. It's rare,
though, because the points are better spent on wit and will.
Deftness is probably the third most important attribute. Did I mention that the
first and second are wit and will? When I design a character, I think about it a long
time, and as often as not, end up adding six points to wit, six to will, and two to
deftness. Or something close to that, depending on break points. All weapons have
deftness minimums (15 for the epee). None of them have speed minimums. A good
deftness can also affect how many skills you are born with. A character who starts
out with a wit, will, and deftness of 17 will probably be born with an expert rating
or two. This is highly desirable.
Choosing a style that fits your rollup is very important. One of my first five
warriors ever, Ghed in DM-1, would have been pretty good if only I'd made him a basher
or wall of steel instead of a slasher.
Aimed blows: Very few people can make them succeed. In general, they lose a
lot. If you want an easy win, challenge an aimed blow. For starters, don't inflict
this style on any of your own warriors. Supposedly they're effective against parry-
types, especially total parries.
Bashers: I haven't had very good luck with them myself. I've been told they
need a high wit in order to be decisive. The decisiveness tactic makes up for their
general lack of quickness, and lets them get an attack in once in a while. Since they
are slow and don't usually parry well, they need to be fairly durable as well. And
they need strength, both to increase the damage they do, and to let them carry the
heavy weapons and armor they need. Supposedly they're good against parry types.
Parry-types: They need to be able to take some damage (because, especially at
first, they won't parry everything). They need endurance. They need wit and
deftness. They don't need much speed or strength. They do best against lungers,
slashers, and strikers. You can run parry-lungers, parry-strikers, and wall-of-steels
(which can be thought of as parry-slashers or parry-bashers) either all-out like the
fast warriors, or at a medium to low rate, in which case they will try to parry and
wear out a fast opponent.
Strikers: They need wit to be decisive (supposedly there's nothing faster than a
decisive striker). They need some strength (say, 11-13). They need an adequate
dexterity (9-11). They don't get defensive skills very fast, so they need some
durability (con & will; will is better). Good against bashers & aimed blows, not too
bad against parry-types (they don't jump around a lot so they don't wear out as fast
as slashers & lungers), okay against other types. A nice all-around style, except for
not developing good defenses.
Slashers: Not my forte (ask Tex, who loves slashers). I hear they need
reasonable amounts of speed and strength (say, 13s), but I don't know if Tex would
agree. High wit for still more speed; high will for more damage; adequate deftness (I
believe 11 will get you a scimitar, which is a wonderful all-round weapon, especially
for a slasher). Like lungers, they tend to win in about a minute in a half or else
they lose, at least until they get very experienced. Great against slow types
(bashers & aimed blows).
Lungers: The sprinters of the arena. A strength of 9 will get you the short
spear, which is a great lunging weapon. High wit, will, and deftness. Con isn't too
important; with a high will you can raise it a couple of points, and anyway, lungers
do learn to parry and dodge. At least mine do. The experts say that in the very long
run (2-3 years, when they're in AD), they aren't quite as good as the parry-types. In
regular DM, though, they do better because the parriers are such late bloomers. If
they're frail, put them in leather armor so they can soak up a hit or two, but
anything heavier than that will slow them down too much. I run my lungers 10-10-6 in
the first minute, maybe 9-8-6 in the second. I write down numbers for the other
minutes, too, but it doesn't usually matter. If they don't win by the second minute,
they generally won't win. With luck, they'll collapse from exhaustion before the
other guy gets a chance to hurt them. They're great against bashers and aimed blows,
okay against parry-types who don't scum too much.
Wall of steels: I don't understand this style very well, but I love it.
Supposedly they're a cross between the fast guys and the parry-types. I usually run
them all-out, slasher-style, and it seems to work. Recently I found out you can slow
them down and they'll parry, too. Wastes (as they're often called) do well with a 21
will, decent strength (11 or 13), decent wit (13), and decent con (9). They don't
seem to need much speed or deftness. I don't know which styles in particular they're
good against; they seem to handle everything okay. Great against aimed blows, of
course.
Each fighting style has some weapons that are well-suited to it, some that are
marginal, and some that are totally unsuited. Be sure to design warriors who have the
stats to handle at least one weapon appropriate to their style. Note, however, that
their favorite weapon, while suited to their style, may be something they don't have
the stats for. For example, a parry-riposte with a 14 wit might favor the epee. I'm
not sure how the bonus for using your favorite stacks up against the penalty for using
a weapon beyond your abilities. It's best to design warriors who have a good
selection of weapons that they're both suited to, and able to handle well.
Best Wishes,
The Rogue She-Puppy of the Galaxy
FILLING OUT YOUR TURNSHEET
Here are a few pointers on filling out a Duelmasters turnsheet.
1. Choosing your weapons:
The reason there are three lines for this (vs. light, vs. medium, and vs. heavy),
is that some weapons are better against an opponent who is not wearing much armor, and
some are better against an opponent who walks into the arena armored like a tank.
Look on the inside back cover of your Red Book. There is a chart that gives the
weight of armor and helmets. Add together the weight of the armor and the helmet, and
that is the weight of armor that your opponent is wearing. For example, plate armor
and a full helm add up to 18, which is the highest possible armor weight. Leather
armor and a steel cap add up to four. Ringmail and a helm add up to nine. And so on.
If you want your warrior to use two daggers against opponents wearing armor of weight
eight or less, then on the first line you would write an 8 inside the parentheses,
like this:
vs. Light ( 0, 8 ) ____dagger____ and ___dagger_____
Then, if you want him to use, oh, a short sword and small shield against medium
armors, you might write:
vs. Medium ( 9, 14 ) __shortsword__ and _small shield_
And for anything heavier, you might choose a still heavier weapon:
vs. Heavy (15, + ) _broadsword___ and ______________
You might not want to use an off-hand weapon or shield with your heavy weapon, because
your warrior needs both hands on his broadsword for maximum force to chop through that
platemail!
You don't have to make three different armor divisions. You can use the same
weapon against everything, or you can make two divisions instead of three.
In case your warrior drops his weapon, or it gets broken, you might also want him
to carry a backup on his belt. A shortsword is a fine backup weapon, because it only
weighs 2 (won't slow your warrior down), and it almost never breaks. Weapons from the
two-handed weapons list can't be carried as backups, because they are too big and
awkward.
You should bear in mind that your warriors will be well-suited to some weapons
and poorly-suited to others, depending on their style and their attributes. Most
warriors are too small or too weak to use a maul, for example. A basher wouldn't want
to use an epee because it isn't suited to his style, even if he happens to have the
attributes for it. By reading your turn results, you will be able to tell which
weapons your warriors use best.
Be sure to use weapons from the lists on the inside back cover of the red rule
book. These are the only weapons our computer knows. These weapons are described in
the rules supplement.
2. Bear in mind that the heavier the armor you put on a warrior, the more it will
slow him down. If he is lumbering around in plate armor and a full helm, other
warriors will get the jump on him most of the time. This is okay for certain styles,
like bashers and total parries, but you wouldn't want to put most other styles in
armor that heavy. Warriors like lungers, slashers, and strikers, who depend on speed,
very often go out on the sands wearing no armor at all.
3. On the line for training, you need to write either one of your warrior's
attributes, or "skills." If you write an attribute, say, "CN" (constitution), that
means the warrior spent the last two weeks trying to raise his constitution. Maybe it
will go up by one point, or maybe it won't. The first two raises on any given
attribute are usually fairly easy. After that, you might have to try for many turns
before the warrior raises that attribute another point.
If you write "SK" (skills), then he spends that time practicing and trying to be
a better fighter. His arena fights are highly educational. If he has a good wit, he
will learn plenty of skills. If he fights someone with more experience than he has,
he will learn more. If the fight lasts three or four minutes, that is ideal for
learning. He can't usually learn much during a fight that only lasts 30 seconds!
Sometimes he'll have bad luck and not learn any skills, but normally a bright warrior
will learn at least one or two. The skills keep adding up, and eventually he gets
very, very good at what he does. In the long run, it is usually more efficient to
train skills instead of attributes. By the way--there are six types of skills, but
you really can't choose which ones you want your warrior to study. He just learns
whatever he happens to learn.
4. The "wish to fight" lines are for challenges. Your warrior can't challenge
anyone on his first turn. After that, he can challenge other warriors who are in his
class or the next higher class. For example, an Initiate can challenge another
Initiate, or a Challenger Initiate. You print the name of the warrior you want to
challenge on the first part of the line, and then put his ID number after the "#"
symbol. You can challenge two different warriors if you want. If someone has killed
one of your warriors, then the other members of your team can bloodfeud the killer.
To bloodfeud, you just circle your challenge--and, to make it extra clear, you can
write "BF" beside it.
5. The boxes for "challenge strategy" or "if challenged strategy" can give your
warrior a little more flexibility. You put his normal everyday strategy on the front.
You challenge somebody, let's say a warrior you happen to know is a total parry.
Check the "challenge strategy" box and then fill out the back side of the sheet, using
a slower strategy that is more suitable for fighting a total parry, and maybe heavier
weapons to get through his heavy armor. Then, if your challenge goes through, and
your warrior gets to fight the total parry, he'll use his special strategy.
Otherwise, he'll use his normal one.
Or, let's say one of your warriors has killed someone, and you think the dead
guy's team is going to bloodfeud your warrior. If you want to use a special strategy
against those guys, maybe one with a higher kill desire, then you check the "if
challenged strategy" box and write your special strategy on the back.
6. The "wish to avoid" section lets you avoid two teams. You can only avoid
teams, not individual warriors. Write the name of the team you want to avoid. On the
same line, also write that team's ID number. Look on the front page of your
current newsletter. Find that team in the rankings. The number in parentheses after
the team name is that team's ID number. That's what you need.
I normally have a warrior avoid the last two teams he has fought. This is mainly
so my warriors will mix around the arena and not accidentally keep fighting the same
teams over and over again. If one of my warriors has killed someone, he won't avoid
that team, because I don't run away from bloodfeuds. Incidentally, avoiding a team
does not give you 100% protection against them. It helps, but once in a while their
challenges will get through your avoids.
7. You need to write numbers in the minute-by-minute strategy section. For
example, on the "offensive effort" line, I might fill in the boxes like this: 10, 9,
6, 6, 6, 5, 10. This means that in the first minute, my warrior will try to make a
lot of attacks against the other warrior. If the fight lasts longer than one minute,
he'll start to slow down and try to conserve his endurance. If he gets desperate (in
serious trouble due to wounds or exhaustion), he'll start attacking all-out in an
effort to end the fight quickly. This is a strategy for an offensive warrior, by the
way; you wouldn't want to run most parry-types this way.
"Activity level" means how much your warrior moves around while he is fighting.
Combined with a high offensive effort, a high activity level is good for an all-out
fighter, like a lunger. Combined with a low offensive effort, a high activity effort
will make your warrior dodge and riposte a lot. A high activity effort will tire out
your warrior quickly.
"Kill desire" is how much your warrior wants to kill his opponent. A 10 kill
desire means he's trying to murder the guy. A 1 kill desire means he's trying very
hard not to kill him. My offensive types usually fight with a 6 kill desire, and my
parry-types fight with a 2 or 3.
"Attack location" is what part of his opponent's body your warrior is trying to
hit during that minute. "Protect location" is what part of his own body your warrior
is trying hardest to protect. Look at the bottom of the inside back cover of the red
book to find the abbreviations you need to use, like "LL" for "left leg" and "HE" for
head. It's a good idea to keep attacking the same spot. My warriors often attack the
legs, because that's a good way to win a fight without killing the other guy. For a
kill, you could attack the head. My warriors normally defend their heads, because I
don't want them to get killed.
8. Offensive and defensive tactics: You can get by without using these at all.
Do not use both an offensive and defensive tactic in the same minute; it will totally
confuse your warrior and almost certainly cause him to lose. For a description of the
tactics and what they do, look in the rules supplement (let us know if you don't have
one and we'll send you one).
A couple of tips: "decisiveness" will help your warrior get the jump on his
opponent. For offensive styles, it is a good tactic to use in the first minute and in
desperation. A total parry usually does best using the "parry" defensive tactic in
all minutes, and a parry-riposte usually does best with the "riposte" tactic in all
minutes. The "responsiveness" tactic ("S" on the "defensive tactic" line) doesn't
seem to be good for much. The offensive tactics of "slash," "lunge," and "bash" will
add force to the blows of slashers, lungers, and bashers. I often give my bashers the
"bash" tactic when they are fighting parry-types, and are trying to smash through
parries and through heavy armor.
-- the She-Puppy
Are You Ready To Take Tournament Play Seriously?
By: Pagan
The following advice is a great general way to excel in tournament play. It is
intended more for a Face-to-Face Tournament, however much of the same advice also goes
for a Mail-In Tournament....
FE = Fight equivalency. This is the term used by managers to denote how many
fights RSI has registered for a warrior. One arena fight equals One FE. Simple.
Tournament fights are the reason FE has become the thing to follow. Tournaments give
to one FE for every odd round. So one FE on round one, two FE on round three, three
FE on round five... and so on. If a warrior fights for eight rounds he will have
accumulated four FE. If that same warrior also has six arena fights, then he would
now have a total of ten FE. Learn this, and understand it.
1. Stop fighting warriors from your active teams at breakpoints and wait for the
Freeze date, then start running them, and enter them in the tourney. A good roll-up
will give you a chance for a TV, and average roll-up will give you skill learns. If
they die, then so be it. Try and get the maximum number of fights per area, and wait
for the cut-off date to be announced so you can go into a tournament with 2+ fights
over the breakpoints. (Example: Your warrior has four fights so he's an Apprentice,
and you then start to run him in the arena after the Freeze date is past. Your
warrior will still fight in the Apprentices but with extra fights, and hopefully extra
skills.)
Breakpoints:
Rookies = zero FE
Novices = zero FE as of Freeze date
Apprentices = 1 to 4 FE as of the Freeze date
Initiates = 5 to 10 FE as of the Freeze date
Adepts = 11 to 20 FE as of the Freeze date
Champions = 21+ FE as of the Freeze date
2. Check out all of your other warriors in inactive arenas that you think are
good roll-ups. If there are at least two on the same team then run that team for a
breakpoint in FE, wait for the Freeze date, then run them until the tourney. Don't
bother with roll-ups that do not have at least a 17 wit, or are not awesome for some
odd reason. (Example: A good endurance striker with tremendous damage and decent
attack skills in Initiates or lower...stuff like that....)
3. Team Roll-ups: Look for only good and excellent roll-ups. Look also for
Scum. You want to end up with a certain number of good warriors. Run only the good
warriors, and let the other ferment in RSI database hell because you need not waste
your time with them ever again. Don't DA them, ignore them, just buy more roll-ups.
Five bucks for five warriors is a much better deal than spending money DAing warriors
that are only for tournaments.
3a. Normal: Buy them in groups of 5. That's $25.
3b. Determined: Buy about 20 team roll-ups. That's $100.
4. This is a SYSTEM here so everyone pay attention:
4a. Send in Roll-ups early and load up a tournament arena or whatever, so you
can get the overviews back REALLY REALLY early.
4b. Scum go for Rookie tourney. Run only really good Scum set-ups. You all
know how to check those physicals for Luck. If not, then you need to learn.
4c. Aimed Blows for Rookie Tourney. Again, check those Luck areas. If they
aren't lucky, or a really nice set-up, run something else.
4d. Prepare to run all of the nice roll-ups you have that are lucky in the
Rookie tourney. Don't design them for a Rookie tourney, design them for the later
tourneys. After the tourney you can then calculate FE for warriors and they become
the warriors from #2 above. By doing this, you always keep a fresh group of good
warriors in the fights. Watch these guys in detail. Change weapons looking for a
favorite. They are not going to win the Rookie tourney (most likely). Just find that
weapon and you increase your opportunities in the next tourneys. Really nice to do at
the FTF since you can change strategies in every fight....
4e. RUN ALL OF YOUR WARRIORS OTHER THAN THE ROOKIES FIRST. Then pick out your
absolutely BEST rookies and get their strategies in. Early on you have to take the
time to WORK, so that later you can have the fun of getting late into the rounds on
Sunday.
4f. After the FTF you should have a good idea about where some of your warriors
are at in FE (some of the best ones end up 1-3-0 and then you fight twice in basic
arena and they run hard in the novices or whatever--just find that damn favorite
weapon!). Be prepared to not look deeply into a fight. Scan for criticals from
weapon attacks (you may have just found your favorite weapon!) and personal strategy
of your guy. Only care about your opponent if you end up matching up against him a
second time.
4g. KEEP PERSONAL RECORDS.
4g1. You should be able to list a warriors STATS, END, ENC, HP, & DMG on one
line and immediately following that line you should have ten boxes. You need to keep
track of every fight IMMEDIATELY, not later. Prepare that same warrior's fight
IMMEDIATELY, not later. Mark in the box if he wins or loses. Make it simple. You
should be able to scan one sheet of paper and know exactly how all of your warriors
are performing in wins and losses. THIS ALLOWS YOU TO FOCUS more attention on those
guys with one or less losses. Remove any confusion of what to do with fight sheets
(remember that you will have a lot of them). Just put all fight sheets in one big
pile, first on bottom, last one on top. (In case you need to get to them; like you
are meeting a warrior you fought before you know exactly where it is--it's in the
pile... not anywhere else.)
4g2. After all fights are done on Saturday, sit in the same room and prepare
your warriors for the Sunday morning. All turn sheets need to be in really early
Sunday, so prepare them while everything is in your head NOT AFTER DINNER.
4g3. At night in your room after you've visited with the managers, scan the
warriors you are most interested in and ESPECIALLY the ones with only one or less
losses. Bleed over those fights looking for that favorite weapon, better strategy vs.
certain styles... et cetera. Change the strategy sheet only if you REALLY think it's
better than the one you just made for that Sunday morning. If you aren't absolutely
sure, then don't change anything. Go with your first instinct and wait until after
the first fight on Sunday.
4g4. NEVER NEVER NEVER talk about how good your warriors are that are winning.
NEVER NEVER NEVER divulge strategy. NEVER NEVER NEVER offer to allow someone to look
at the warriors you have that are doing well. NEVER NEVER NEVER... this means even
your BEST FRIENDS. Some managers parlay in-between their groups but what do you do
when you match up against the guy who now knows A LOT about your best warrior? NO ONE
should have any idea of what you do to run a warrior. It is best if no one even knows
who the hell runs a certain warrior until there are only five left and that fifth one
is yours. Blindside everyone with your warrior. Never talk about him until you have
won the TC. AND ALWAYS MAKE A MENTAL NOTE of the bastard that just won that
tournament and the runner-up since you will probably be facing those same two warriors
down the line in another tourney.
4h. Remember to work on your warriors. The closer it gets to Sunday the more
free time you have, since you'll have a continually shrinking stream of guys to do
anything with. Elimination sucks but it is inevitable.
4i. FTF--Don't ever try to manage more than 30 warriors (and even that's
tough!). If you run more than that then I'd say 25-30 guys are managed by you in
every round, the others fend for themselves until they end up without a loss (gaining
your attention on your warrior win/loss sheet) or Sunday comes around. Best thing to
do about more than 30 warriors is to have them in the Rookie Tourney. Whatever makes
it to Sunday you start to change strategies for. Saturday is their time to shine by
themselves. This is possible since there are SO MANY WARRIORS in the Rookies tourney
that it's almost impossible to know what style you are fighting until round 5+. This
makes it easy for warriors to hide. Another thing you'd like to do is to spread your
warriors into various classifications. You're only hurting yourself if all 30
warriors are in the same class. A contingent of 15 Rookies, 10 Novices, 5
Apprentices, 5 Initiates, a few Adepts... you get the picture. If you run bad
warriors, you will be sitting around Sunday watching everyone else play. 30 good
warriors should keep you in the action.
4j. Style lists. At your table everyone put a style list out (hotel stapler can
be used). NAME NUMBER STYLE, that's it. If your group wants more, then make sure
that everyone is willing to do it. For example: 'Name', 'Number', 'Style',
'Handedness', 'Manager Who put the Name In', 'Round' (this way you can ask about a
warrior directly from the guy at your table who fought him). Don't waste your time
with anything else. Some managers share their styles. I am of the mind of not doing
it, but that also means that you won't get help from other managers' tables when you
start going around other to tables to ask if you can see their lists... so pick your
poison. Maybe just don't do it for your favorite warriors, and anything in the
rookies... whatever.... However, DO NOT LIE. If you decide to swap styles with
another manager you need to be truthful. Lying will get you outcast VERY QUICKLY.
Don't become the persona non grata.
4k. Sunday's late fights will eat you up sometimes. You know the guy's style...
he may be reading a fight you had with some other guy and he's trying to judge your
strategy... should I run decise... he may run decise... should I run response and
blast him out.... how about no tactic... he doesn't do any damage, I should armor
up... faster weapon... damn damn damn.... decisions, decisions. These are why the
managers whom win TCs like to play tournaments. Outguessing your opponent is quite a
bit of satisfaction, especially the old-time managers. It's a little bit infectious.
You won't even see Guardian come alive until it the last rounds, and there are many
like him. Go with your gut feeling and make the choice yourself. DO NOT TAKE THE
CHOICES FROM OTHERS. (There have been managers getting one guy to alter his
strategies, only after to tell the guy's opponent (who won, by the way) that he got
the guy to go decisive since he knew that HE (the opponent and winner) was running
responsive....) TRUST NO ONE... refer to #G4 if anything is unclear.
4l. After Sunday is over, (and you most probably won't have a TC) you can talk
DM with everyone else in the bar or at a restraunt, but this time stay around
Soultaker, Consortium and the DOOMcorps (if the Doom Group is still coherent from all
the booze) since they are the most fun (at least when I've gone). Talk about your
warriors then but not longer than five minutes on your WHOLE GROUP; everyone (just
like you) will be having DM hangovers... now is time for fun and Grudge-Matches. RSI
will sometimes allow managers to run one warrior as an extra fight versus any other
warrior (in the same tournament class) of a manager there at the FTF. Makes for some
fun.
4l1. Grudge-Matches. VERY IMPORTANT: Do not fight a in a grudge match that
will count as one FE if that FE is going to put him over the threshold of the next
tourney. Don't hurt yourself, just fight a different guy.
4m. Spend the time until the wee hours of the morning with any drunks that are
left. Have fun, and if you are staying Monday night too, then see who else is also
staying and join the group. As long as you are not a weirdo during the tourney, don't
smell bad (shower EVERY DAY--maybe even twice a day to avoid this, if necessary), and
aren't annoyingly talking about your warriors/teams then most DMers will be happy to
let you come along with them. If you want to get to know people early then come in on
Thursday. Suck up your pride and say hello to people. The front desk can help you
with who's in the RSI group. Some people are friendly, and others are busy with their
families and don't have time to chat, but for the most part you'll meet some cool guys
in the lounge/bar. Don't be offensive, not everyone will agree with your ideas. They
may be really wrong but just agree to disagree and buy the guy a beer or something.
Again, you may be the one who's wrong.... The whole idea is to hear LOTS of VIEWS on
the game, make friends, and try to win the fights.
Most important: Never take a loss personally. If you lose, then so what. So
did every other guy who didn't get a TC (and that's a lot of guys). Just remember
that by following good tournament preparedness, you will one day be the Tournament
Champion, and the guy you just beat will sincerely congratulate you on your hard
fought victory.
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