DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 11/19/2011 Duedate: 12/02/2011
NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA
DM-93 TURN-338
This Weeks Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
LITTLE JOHNNY
TEACHER'S PETS (1579)
(93-9171) [6-1-1,83]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
POSITION IS EMPTY LITTLE JOHNNY
TEACHER'S PETS (1579)
(93-9171) [6-1-1,83]
Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite
MARCUS MARCUS
GLORY DISCIPLES (1575) GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
(93-9149) [5-4-0,34] (93-9149) [5-4-0,34]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
TEACHER'S PETS (1579)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. GLORY DISCIPLES (1575) 59
2. THE PC LINE-UP (1576) 44 ONLY HUMANS (147)
3. THE LOW ROAD 2 (1582) 24 Unchartered Team
4. STARBRIGHTS (1583) 0
5. TEACHER'S PETS (1579) -2 TEACHER'S PETS (1579)
The Top Teams
Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 2*TEACHER'S PETS (1579) 24 11 1 68.6 1/ 2*TEACHER'S PETS (1579) 11 4 0
2/ 1*SUPERMARKET (1578) 23 12 0 65.7 2/ 1*SUPERMARKET (1578) 9 6 0
3/ 4*THE LOW ROAD 2 (1582) 15 15 0 50.0 3/ 3*THE LOW ROAD 2 (1582) 8 7 0
4- 3*STARBRIGHTS (1583) 2 2 0 50.0 4/ 4*GLORY DISCIPLES (1575) 6 4 0
5/ 5*GLORY DISCIPLES (1575) 22 23 2 48.9 5/ 5*THE PC LINE-UP (1576) 4 11 0
6/ 6*THE PC LINE-UP (1576) 18 22 0 45.0 6- 6*STARBRIGHTS (1583) 2 2 0
'*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn
(###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank
TEAM SPOTLIGHT
CHALLENGING AND AVOIDING, A STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE.
In the last newsletter, only three of the fifteen fights were "challenges." And
two of those were by Teacher's Pets. Challenges, and their partner "avoids" are
underused strategic weapons. Don't be left home without them!
An avoid is an attempt to prevent a warrior from challenging you. Why allow a
warrior the advantage of selecting you for a match? Why allow a warrior to decide on
a special strategy just for you? One great thing about avoids is that you may avoid
THE WHOLE TEAM of any warrior you want to avoid. You are allowed to avoid two whole
teams. There is no use double-avoiding as it does not improve your chances to avoid
that individual team.
A challenge is an attempt to fight a specific warrior. Why not attempt to fight
a specific warrior of choice? Why leave the opponent selection to the MUGS (match-up
gods) or, worse yet, an opponent who chooses you? You are allowed to challenge two
warriors. You may, indeed, challenge the same warrior twice. (Double challenge) It
DOES improve your chances of a match to double challenge a same warrior.
Of utmost importance is to understand that you must challenge and avoid NUMBERS,
not names. Challenge WARRIOR NUMBERS. Avoid TEAM NUMBERS. Challenge individual
warriors; avoid whole teams.
No challenge or avoid is 100 percent effective. Challenges can be further
enhanced by winning a TV or TC (Tournament Victor; Tournament Champion) in a Mailer
or Face-to-Face Tournament. The TV/TC effectiveness lasts six months. So the
warrior who won the TV gets 12 or 13 turns of enhanced challenging. The most
effective challenge, The Blood Feud is nearly 100 percent effective. A four turn
BLOOD FEUD is awarded to your team (Any member can use it each turn.) when an
opposing warrior kills one of yours. Blood feuds transcend classes. (E.g. a
Challenger can BLOOD FEUD an Adept or an Initiate can BLOOD FEUD a Challenger
Champion, etc.) To use a TV or Blood Feud, simply write BF or TV on the challenge
line with the to-be-challenged warrior number and circle it all for emphasis.
How does one choose whom to challenge and what to avoid? That's a good question
and like many decisions, they are more of an art than a technology. This is the
methodology used by The Consortium managers. It works well for them.
1. Always avoid two teams
2. Actively seek to challenge twice. (If only one good choice is available, double
challenge.)
3. Challenge for these situations
a. A probable win
b. A warrior you have beaten before
c. To tie up a warrior you do not want to fight one of your fellow warriors--
especially the Duelmaster
d. To take advantage of a Blood Feud (4 rounds)
e. For a good style match up.
4. Avoid for these situations-- always
a. Emphasis on a team who is bloodfeuding you
b. Emphasis on a team who just beat you
c. Emphasis on a team with warriors in range who are far more experienced or
skilled than you
d. Emphasis on a team you just cannot seem to beat.
e. Emphasis on teams with warriors whose styles are difficult for your style
Often there will be more warriors to challenge or more teams to avoid than the
strategy sheets allow. Choose wisely.
Most of the circumstances are straightforward, and it is easy to select the
challenges and avoids. However, in many cases, especially those with little
knowledge of nearby opponents, it will come down to what style or type of warrior is
best to challenge/avoid.
There are available charts "out there" which prioritize which styles have
advantages over other styles. Beware of them. The data is based on warriors over
the years and those managers who submitted data for those charts. The warning--
today's lunger is not yesterday's lunger, and my aimed blow is not your aimed blow,
and today's basher is not yesteryear's basher, and a tourney warrior is not
necessarily an arena warrior, etc, etc, etc. The Consortium offers their generic
style considerations for challenges and avoids:
1. Fast offensives challenge AB, slower BA, SL, ST
2. Aimers challenge scummy/tanky warriors
3. Scums challenge LU and softer hitting/smaller offensives
4. Scum hunters (strategy change) are good damage/endu LU, hard hitting BA,
critting or hard hitting ST, hard hitting SL with good endu, good PS
5. Consortium-style wastes challenge LU and softer hitting/smaller offensives
6. Lungers challenge AB, PR, PS
7. Rippers, if skilled, challenge ST, faster BAs
The Consortium always avoids and almost always challenges.
One final note. The challenging will bring into play and discussion: What is
an appropriate challenge?" The "rules"/"D2 system" allow you to challenge anyone in
your class and the class just above you. Your class is defined, interestingly, as
Inits, Adepts, Champs, and Duelmaster. A "Challenger" Init is an Init-- challenge-
wise. A "Challenger" Champ is a Champ-- challenge-wise. Hence the higher level
challenger category can challenge the lower level "non-challenger" class. (Simply
put, a Challenger Init can challenge an Init, a challenger Init, and an Adept. An
Adept can challenge Adepts or Challenger Adepts.) This system can allow/cause
challenges from very high experience and recognition point warriors to very low
recognition point and experience warriors. Some regular arenas foster the belief
that challenges may/should ONLY be parallel or up in recognition points. These are
usually Andorian arenas. The rules/system may allow otherwise, but the environment
and the beliefs of sportsmanship of Andorian types differ. This can cause some
"discussion altercations."
Challenges and avoids are there to be used to your advantage. Do so.
* }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ *
Rhythm and Blues
A Few Thoughts on Rhythm
Every warrior has a favorite rhythm--a favored number for Offensive Effort and
Activity Level. (Note, to the best of my knowledge and belief, there is NO favored
Kill Desire.) This rhythm is set when the warrior is created, and it is revealed to
the manager when the warrior graduates.
I have never been entirely clear as to what, exactly, using the favored rhythm
does for the warrior, but there is a general agreement that it does something,
usually something good. Paces him, perhaps, to get the most fight for the least
endurance burn? Paces him so that he can make the most of his style's specific
strengths and minimize the weaknesses? Something like that, no doubt.
This implies that favored rhythms are linked to style, and that certain ranges
may be specific to style, and I understand that the major number crunchers have
demonstrated this to be so. It further suggests to me that if one knows the range of
favored rhythms for a given style, one may be able to give a warrior of that style a
more effective strategy than one derived simply by guessing and looking at the
warrior's stats and overview.
Wherefore I have pulled out the favorite rhythms by style of the graduated
warriors available for my inspection. You will note that the size of the samples
varies a lot from style to style. This roughly indicates the ease with which I have
been able to keep the different styles alive until graduation, modified by my
personal preferences as to style.
The first letter in a pair indicates favored Offensive Effort, the second favored
Activity Level.
VH=very high H=high M=moderate L=low VL=very low
Distributing the ten numbers available in an even and logical manner, we get:
VH= 10, 9 H= 8,7 M= 6,5 L= 4,3 VL= 2,1
We don't know exactly which number of the pair a given "favorite" is, but this is
close enough.
I'm including the raw data here, despite the fact that it looks very boring,
heck, it is very boring, so that any of you who wish to may study it and make your
own deductions.
Aimed Blows, twenty-two graduated warriors polled as to favorite rhythms:
L/VL L/L VL/L VL/M L/VL M/VL M/L L/VL VL/VL L/M
L/L L/M L/L VL/L VL/M L/VL L/L VL/L L/M M/L
VL/VL L/L
Notice a pattern here? Nothing higher than Moderate, and every pair has at
least one Low or Very Low. In other words, Aimed Blows prefer to be run "scummy."
Or if you're feeling charitable, they like to take their time and make their blows
count, which is natural enough when you consider that accuracy is their strong suit.
Bashers, twenty-five graduated warriors polled.
VH/VL VH/VL VH/VL H/VL H/L H/L H/M H/L M/VL H/VL
VH/VL H/L H/M M/L H/L H/L H/M VH/L VH/VL VH/VL
H/L VH/M H/L H/VL M/L
Again, there's an obvious pattern, but it's a different one. Offensive Effort
no lower than Moderate, Activity Level no higher than Moderate, and often a very
sharp division between the two in any given pair. High Offensive Effort, low
Activity Level. No instances of M/M listed here! Bashers are very direct in their
fighting: attack, attack, attack. No finesse, little dodging.
Lungers, forty graduated warriors polled.
VH/H H/H H/M M/H M/H M/VH L/H VH/M VH/VH H/VH
H/VH M/VH VH/M H/H H/VH M/VH H/VH H/H VH/M M/VH
VH/VH L/VH L/H H/VH M/H M/M M/H M/M H/VH H/H
VH/VH VH/H M/VH L/H M/H H/H H/H VH/M M/M VH/H
Everything but VL is represented in this group. Two out of the forty warriors
have rhythms of M/M. It may be significant that these are both fairly old warriors;
other anomalies have shown up from time to time in very old warriors. Other than
that, every pair contains either H or VH at least once, although there seems to be no
definite preference as to which position it should be in. A slight bias toward
faster OE than AL, but the sample isn't large enough to be sure of that. It's common
to see BOTH numbers H or VH for this style. Lungers like to run fast, and a good
lunger fight has a lot of action--dodging to the side, leaping over or ducking under
a blow, as well as attacking. Of course, that means they tend to burn out fast, too,
so you have to plan for that.
Parry-Lungers, twenty graduated warriors polled.
M/VH M/H L/M H/VH VL/H M/M H/M H/H H/M H/L
M/L H/H L/L H/L M/M H/L L/L H/M VL/L L/VH
Granting that this is a small sample, I see no pattern here. P-lungers vary a
lot from one warrior to the next, and you have to experiment to find the rhythm that
works best for any individual warrior. Some are more lunger, some more parry. In
fact, you could say that the "Offensive Total Parries" and "Defensive Lungers" that
some managers write articles about could be summed up as: Parry-Lunger.
Parry-Ripostes, a mere fourteen graduated warriors polled.
VL/M M/M M/M H/M L/M VL/M L/M L/H M/H L/H
VL/M L/H L/M L/M
Hardly a definitive sample (these are hard to graduate), but there seems to be a
pattern of Offensive Effort no higher than Moderate (okay, one, unless it's a typo),
Activity Level no lower than Moderate. I must admit that I have been known to run
them with an OE of High or Very High when I got tired of having them jumped by
offensive-styled warriors. Some rippers can handle that without flailing or getting
tired, and some can't.
Parry-Strikers, twenty-one polled.
M/VL M/VL VL/M M/M VL/H L/L L/VL VL/L L/L M/L
M/H L/M M/VL L/VL VL/L VL/VL VL/M VL/L L/L VL/L
M/L
I see every range of numbers here but VH, and no obvious pattern. Figures.
Everyone says this style is notional when it comes to how they want to run. A large
sample might show some clear tendency, but from this small group, all I can say is,
they don't seem to like to run very fast.
Slashers, sixty warriors polled. What can I say? I like slashers, and when I was
starting out, I ran a lot of them, many of whom lived to graduate. In some cases,
this was unfortunate, but at the time, it seemed like a good idea....
VH/VL H/L H/VL M/L H/VL H/L M/VL H/L H/VL M/M
M/M VH/VL VH/L H/VL H/VL VH/L H/VL H/L M/VL VH/L
VH/M M/VL H/M M/VL M/VL H/L H/L M/L H/VL VH/VL
VH/VL M/M H/VL M/VL H/VL H/VL VH/L H/L H/L H/VL
M/L M/L H/VL M/M M/L M/L VH/VL VH/L M/VL H/VL
H/VL VH/VL H/VL H/VL VH/L H/VL M/L H/VL VH/VL
Now that we're back among the pure offensive styles, a pattern emerges again.
No Offensive Effort lower than Moderate, no Activity Level higher than Moderate.
Within those limits, anything goes--from Moderate/Moderate to Very High/Very Low.
Slashers like to run hard, they don't like to stand around and scum their opponents,
but they'll accept a modestly cautious approach if it's called for. Pay attention to
the details in your warrior's fight. If he starts getting tired early on, you
probably need to lower his Offensive Effort some. If he never gets the first blow
and loses continually because of that, raise Offensive Effort.
Strikers, sixty-three polled. (shrug) When in doubt, make it a striker....
VL/M L/L L/L H/VL M/H M/L L/M L/L L/VL M/L
M/VL M/L H/VL H/L M/L M/VL M/L M/H L/VL M/M
L/M L/VL M/VL L/VL L/VL M/L L/VL VL/L H/L M/H
M/H H/VL VL/L H/VL M/VL VL/L H/VL M/VL M/VL VL/VL
M/VL L/H H/L M/VL H/VL M/M L/VL M/L M/L M/L
H/M M/L L/M VL/M M/VL M/L M/M L/L M/VL M/L
H/VL H/H M/L
Neither Offensive Effort nor Activity Level of Very High appears, but that
leaves a lot of possible combinations (okay, only sixteen, but that seems like a lot
when you're writing an article late at night), and most of them seem to show up on
this list. Strikers, like P-Strikers, need tinkering.
Total Parries, twenty-nine warriors polled.
VL/M VL/L M/VL VL/VL L/L VL/VL VL/M VL/VL L/M VL/L
VL/M L/M L/H M/M M/VL VL/VL VL/L VL/VL L/L VL/VL
VL/L L/L VL/L L/L VL/L L/VL VL/L VL/L VL/L
No Offensive Effort higher than Moderate, no Activity Level except one higher
than Moderate. This is what you'd expect, right? Total Parries conserve their
energy. While you can run them faster, they aren't going to like it. And if they
don't like it, they aren't going to perform really well.
Walls of Steel, thirty-five polled.
M/VL L/L L/VL M/L M/M L/VL H/VL L/VL M/VL VH/M
M/L L/M H/VL H/M L/L L/L M/L M/L M/VL M/L
M/L H/L VH/VL H/L M/L L/M H/M M/M M/M H/L
M/VL VH/M H/L M/VL H/M
No Offensive Effort of Very Low, no Activity Level higher than Moderate. Some
people call this style the "parry-slash," others say it's a prime candidate for
running like a berserker. Otherwise, a lot of variation. Some are scummy (L/VL) and
some are slice-and-dice machines (VH/M). Too bad you can't tell right off which
you've got, eh? This style needs attention and experimenation for best results.
Now that you've plowed through all the tedious stuff (at least, it was tedious
for me to organize the data, hope it was less so for you to look at it), I'll offer a
word of advice to new players. Make all or most of your first warriors of the styles
that have clear patterns. Bashers and slashers are the easiest to do well with right
off the bat. Lungers and strikers are a little trickier, but not much. The others
are a lot trickier. Winning right off with your first attempts at those styles--
especially once you're out of Noblish Island and into the cold, cruel mainland, is
unlikely. However, the study and struggle needed to master one of the trickier
styles is amply rewarded by the rush of guiding one to a winning record, a
duelmastership, and graduation.
Jorja
The Middle Way
+<]H[>+-----+<]H[+ Question of the Week #9 +]H[>+-----+<]H[>+
The question, turn 420:
All -- I was noticing the skill modifiers for low to high size; do these negatives
keep a warrior from being successful at the high end of the game? -- Hanibal --
Q.O.W.
Answers, turn 421:
Q.O.W. (size) -- Smaller size has always had an advantage in the upper levels of the
game, especially at the top of Primus and Gateway. The bonus to defense and parry
offsets the initiative loss and the damage taking and dealing that a large size
provides. Of course, large size comes with its own defense penalty. A high defense
is critical in the upper levels where it is imperative not to get hit. If you are
unhittable, it comes down to an endurance contest. However, huge warriors,
especially those gifted in defense can make devastating opponents on their road to
the top. They are tough and dish out more than all the little pip squeaks ever
could. It's much easier to get a great warrior out of a smaller size than out of a
larger size of course, due to stat distribution to the other critical areas like WT,
WL and DF, so finding a great huge warrior is difficult. My best is Khazakh who is
in 105 right now. He's gifted in defense and endurance, and he's devastating in the
arena. But some day, near the very top, his size will probably be a hindrance unless
his attack is absolutely crazy and he can hit the little guys. -- Adie
Q.O.W. (answer) -- It depends greatly on what you define as the top of the game.
Certainly any sized warrior can be effective at the top of a basic arena or any AD
arena. By the time you're talking Primus or Gateway it's mainly a matter of whether
or not your team can muster enough warriors to win magical prizes to enhance you,
those without them must be truly gifted indeed. -- Maxwell Honorblade
Q.O.W. -- Do the small size skill negatives prevent success in the top end game? --
Certainly not! While the negatives are there, remember that small size allows more
"points" elsewhere, easily making up the skills. The smaller warriors are *often*
the leaders at the top end. There are also TC-winning ways to modify warriors, and
this past FTF prize is "very expensive" for this very purpose. -- Kennelworth
QoW -- I don't participate at the Primus/Gateway level of play, but the word is that
ability to deal a powerful blow remains important and thus allows the large warriors
(read: lungers) to remain competitive with their smaller peers. What I do know is
that my sz 3 Lunger that's +4 in defense will have, when completely maxxed out in
both skills and stats, the highest number of naturally attainable defense skills in
the game. Unfortunately, she'll only do tremendous if she's lucky. -- Generalissimo
Puerco
QOW -- My limited experience in the high end of the game (I have one whole Gateway
warrior...WHOO!) the most important skills are, in order: attack, defense, and
initiative. So while it isn't good to lose defense, init is a valuable asset as well
(helps keep the momentum). Another aspect in the end game is the damage rating,
which size does help and can make a LOT of difference. But since it is better to
have a 21 wit than a 21 size, I would say that in general over 11 size is unwanted.
-- Anti
The questions this time were in regard to the Style-vs-Style chart and how to run a
parry-riposte.
Parry-Riposte: How to run them? Hmm... well, I've only run three so far, but I
think I've seen a lot of what they can and can't do. From my experience, if their
parry is decent, they can take a couple good hits, and carry decent, give them heavy
armor and run parry tactic (very helpful with their low parry bases), but at maybe 4-
5-5, or faster at 5-3-5. The parry tactic augments their defense, but they'll still
try to riposte since they have so much of it. For those who are more frail, can't
carry much, and have decent defense, I go in lighter armor and run maybe 3-6-4 (I've
never run dodge tactic here, but I'd try). My first ripper to AD had a 7 ST, did
normal damage, and she ran in ALE/L running with moderate activity. She graduated 16-
6. Of course, she's also +5 in att, +2 in par. But she still defends much better
than she parries in that light armor. -- Adie
P.S. As for early in the career, scumming is handy, but put OE up just a bit so
they'll swing if given the opportunity. Armor for sure to keep them alive unless
you're bold.
Leeta -- I've seen that chart too, but I have no idea if it was based off of a large
number of fights. I think those numbers for strikers reflects their great ability to
throw those crits early in the career, and to be quick to the first hit. For parry-
strikers, I think it merely reflects the variability in how they can be run and
designed. The chart of course is based on gross stereo-typing of the styles. I
wouldn't use it too much even as a beginner. -- Adie
Leeta -- I think that "chance to win by style" chart is silly. Doesn't it say that
lungers will almost always beat aimers? My aimers tend to do pretty well against
lungers, how about yours? -- Generalissimo Puerco
Leeta and ALL others -- While I have not seen this chart, I can't help but say that
it is probably not very accurate. Too many things factor into a match-up of two
warriors to expect style to <cut off by Hal, unfortunately>
On thinking it over in the light of the past month's fights, I have a feeling
that the chart is probably rather old, and that recent advances in management
technique have drastically undermined its usefulness in most instances. Discounting
luck (which one should never do, of course), and all other things being more or less
equal, the best manager is more likely to win, rather than the one whose warrior has
the favored style. (Now, there's an inflamatory statement!) Probably that
overstates the case, but I think managerial skill is now a significant factor,
anyway, even if it isn't decisive. -- Jorja
* }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ *
---===FREE BLADES REGIONAL NEWS===---
Duelmasters
-----------
DM 9 ZUKAL (turn 683): TIGHT BLOUSE of HOT STUFF (Papa Bear, mgr.)
DM 12 RIZTAB (turn 685): CRITIAS of DREAMERS (Sleepy, mgr.)
DM 13 DULLENS (turn 600): STARFLOWER of CARDOW HUNTERS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 15 MALCORN (turn 679): BOWEN of SERPENTS' HOLD (Khisanth, mgr.)
DM 16 WILLAF (turn 681): BILLY JACK of PUNNY AMINALS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 17 ALJAFIR (turn 672): REAPER of ZOMBIE SQUAD 2 (Khisanth, mgr)
DM 19 ZUWAYZA (turn 673): HEMLOCK of SERPENTS HOLD II (Khisanth, mgr.)
DM 28 MORYA (turn 339): TAXES of EXPENSE ACCOUNT (Finance Manager, mgr.)
DM 29 LAPUR (turn 670): BERYLLIUM BUFFER of METAL MINCERS (Oremaster, mgr.)
DM 31 CHIMLEVTAL (turn 336): TERROR TWIN of ALL NIGHT LONG (?, mgr.)
DM 32 ARVAT (turn 667): EMPTY BOTTLE of FOUND IN THE SAND (Assurnasirbanipal, mgr.)
DM 33 NIATOLI ISLAND (turn 664): SALORIMA TIRANSITH of THE SEWING CIRCLE (Jorja)
DM 35 MURSKA (turn 656): RABEL of ON THE ROCKS (Bartender, mgr.)
DM 43 VEASTIAN (turn 614): SAMUEL CLIPPER of WARRIORS OF STEEL (?, mgr.)
DM 45 STORMCROWE (turn 314): ROSELYN of DARQUE FORCES (Master Darque, mgr.)
DM 47 TEMPLE OF ABARSIS (turn 308): RACECAR of PALINDROMES (Assurnasirbanipal, mgr)
DM 50 SNOWBOUND (turn 295): 4-H of LIFE IMPACTS (Smitty, mgr.)
DM 56 ROCANIS (turn 546): MANZA WIGGLES of INCONSISTENT FURY (Banthius, mgr.)
DM 60 ARADI (turn 531): POTATO BUG of BUGS, SLUGS & THUGS (A-sop, mgr.)
DM 61 JURINE (turn 513): BARTON DAWES of MIDDLE WAY 16 (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 65 DAL SHANG (turn 507): SASHA of ZOMBIE SQUAD (Khisanth, mgr.)
DM 73 ERINIKA (turn 244): BBIAB of H8 2 TXT (Sherlock, mgr.)
DM 74 DAYLA KIV (turn 468): POLE CAT of ARENA FELINES (Garfield, mgr.)
DM 75 JADE MOUNTAIN (turn 463): BALISONG of ZOMBIE SQUAD (Khisanth, mgr.)
DM 78 LIN TIRIAN (turn 454): DELNA BERIN of SAND DANCERS (Jorja, mgr.)
ADM 103 FREE BLADES (turn 571): MARTIN BLANK of BLOOD TITANS (The Greek Guy, mgr.)
Top Teams
---------
DM 9 ZUKAL (turn 683): BLUE MOON (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 12 RIZTAB (turn 685): DREAMERS (Sleepy, mgr.)
DM 13 DULLENS (turn 600): CARDOW HUNTERS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 15 MALCORN (turn 679): GREENWARDENS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 16 WILLAF (turn 681): GOLDEN GLADIATORS (Midas, mgr.)
DM 17 ALJAFIR (turn 672): IN MIDDLE EARTH (?, mgr.)
DM 19 ZUWAYZA (turn 673): MONOPOLY (Sherlock, mgr.)
DM 28 MORYA (turn 339): EXPENSE ACCOUNT (Finance Manager, mgr.)
DM 29 LAPUR (turn 270): CARDOW HUNTERS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 31 CHIMLEVTAL (turn 336): MIDDLE WAY 7 (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 32 ARVAT (turn 667): DEVIL ADVOCATES (The Dark One, mgr.)
DM 33 NIATOLI ISLAND (turn 664): THE SEWING CIRCLE (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 35 MURSKA (turn 656): REALLY? (?, mgr.)
DM 43 VEASTIAN (turn 614): WARRIORS OF STEEL (?, mgr.)
DM 45 STORMCROWE (turn 314): DARQUE FORCES (Master Darque, mgr.)
DM 47 TEMPLE OF ABARSIS (turn 308): VEGAN CANNIBALS (The Anarchist, mgr.)
DM 50 SNOWBOUND (turn 295): LIFE IMPACTS (Smitty, mgr.)
DM 56 ROCANIS (turn 546): INCONSISTENT FURY (Banthius, mgr.)
DM 60 ARADI (turn 231): RED DOG GANG (Spot, mgr.)
DM 61 JURINE (turn 513): MIDDLE WAY 16 (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 65 DAL SHANG (turn 507): BASH BROS EVANGELIST (Assurnasirbanipal, mgr.)
DM 73 ERINIKA (turn 244): H8 2 TXT (Sherlock, mgr.)
DM 74 DAYLA KIV (turn 468): SAND DANCERS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 75 JADE MOUNTAIN (turn 463): ZOMBIE SQUAD (Khisanth, mgr.)
DM 78 LIN TIRIAN (turn 454): J (Sherlock, mgr.)
ADM 103 FREE BLADES (turn 571): THE WILLBURYS 78 (Rascally Rabbit, mgr.)
Recent Graduates
-----------------
DM 9 ZUKAL (turn 682): SHORT SKIRT of HOT STUFF (Papa Bear, mgr.)
DM 13 DULLENS (turn 599): BOOZER of DA BULLS (Khisanth, mgr.)
SAUSAGE PARTY of DUDE RANCH (Hombre, mgr.)
DM 16 WILLAF (turn 681): BILLY JACK of PUNNY AMINALS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 19 ZUWAYZA (turn 673): THE GREAT GAZOO of CUNNING RUNTS (Deep Thought, mgr.)
DM 29 LAPUR (turn 669): INCONEL INDENTER of METAL MINCERS (Oremaster, mgr.)
DM 32 ARVAT (turn 666): D. DAVE ELL of DEVIL ADVOCATES (The Dark One, mgr.)
PETROV of ASSORTED (A-Sop, mgr.)
DM 47 TEMPLE OF ABARSIS (turn 308): CHABAT of PAWN OF PROPHECY (Gentleben, mgr.)
DM 50 SNOWBOUND (turn 294): NASTY NES of PUBLIC ENEMY (Pec Killer, mgr.)
DM 56 ROCANIS (turn 546): MANZA WIGGLES of INCONSISTENT FURY (Banthius, mgr.)
DM 60 ARADI (turn 530): CHIQUITA CHIWAWA of RED DOG GANG (Spot, mgr.)
DM 73 ERINIKA (turn 242): STINKY PETE of DREW'S BOYS II (The Mun, mgr.)
DM 74 DAYLA KIV (turn 468): NIMINI TYL ZO of SAND DANCERS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 75 JADE MOUNTAIN (turn 463): BALISONG of ZOMBIE SQUAD (Khisanth, mgr.)
(turn 462): BUBBA of ZOMBIE SQUAD (Khisanth, mgr.)
NIGHTBRINGER of ZOMBIE SQUAD (Khisanth, mgr.)
DM 78 LIN TIRIAN (turn 454): DELNA BERIN of SAND DANCERS (Jorja, mgr.)
DUELMASTER'S COLUMN
Notes from the arena champ.
Oh, yeah. I owe a DM Column 'cuz I won again. I beat the Venomous Concubine,
which I thought was a poisonous snake, but it turned out to be a purdy lady. She
couldn't fight much. But she sure was purdy.
I thought it would be "special" to be Duelmaster, but nobody has given me
nothin' and I have to write these stupid story things. It's a drag.
Hey, happy Thanksgiving and all.
Little Johnny
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 SUPERMARKET
was unseated this week as TEACHER'S PETS moved up from 2nd ranking to take the top
spot with a 3-2-0 record for the round. Did only my eyes note the 4-1-0 record which
GLORY DISCIPLES managed to post this round? I don't doubt that such a record will
draw challengers! BRO'TOR caught the eye of many in the gladiatorial commission as
he skillfully bested AISLE BLOCKER and was awarded 21 points in recognition. In one
of the week's more notable duels, BRO'TOR put down AISLE BLOCKER, causing her to lose
18 points of recognition in the process. Although VENEMOUS CONCUBINE made a valiant
effort, it did not suffice to topple the reign of victorious LITTLE JOHNNY. Would
you believe that over half of the old women in NOBLISH ISLAND seem to feel that they
could fight better than you gladiators?
I have been in deep conclave with my spies who watched all that has recently
transpired. Indeed there is much I would report. 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. Methinks more than a few here could name
the guild it was that spent the better part of last week avoiding GLORY DISCIPLES.
Indeed it was TEACHER'S PETS. Loose talk at the arena has reached my ears and it but
confirms the knowledge that many fighters are after AISLE BLOCKER. Watch your back!
A match that raised a few eyebrows at the games this week, it seems that CHRISTOS
posted a challenge against the more highly recognized TOMMY. The results, you ask?
Well, the firebrand CHRISTOS won victory over TOMMY. Remember warriors, this is the
discipline of steel.
Vendettas. Bloodied blades and broken spears. Indeed the city has seen more
than its fair share of red in recent times. Fate is a fickle mistress. She showers
the miserable with fortune but sets enemies against the victorious. Remember this!
The girls are as pretty in NOBLISH ISLAND as ever I remembered them....and the
fighters as ugly! Don't let your reputation slip! Ahh, but I can hear the spires of
a far off city calling to me. I must away! 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
LITTLE JOHNNY 9171 6 1 1 83 TEACHER'S PETS (1579)
ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
BRO'TOR 9148 5 4 0 50 GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
CHRISTOS 9152 5 4 1 46 GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
LUGH THE LONGARM 9153 6 2 1 45 GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
DAISY 9172 5 2 0 35 TEACHER'S PETS (1579)
MARCUS 9149 5 4 0 34 GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
TOMMY 9170 4 3 0 34 TEACHER'S PETS (1579)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
DELL 9155 5 3 0 33 THE PC LINE-UP (1576)
FORLOY GERDAN 9187 5 1 0 30 THE LOW ROAD 2 (1582)
AISLE BLOCKER 9165 6 1 0 27 SUPERMARKET (1578)
HP 9159 6 2 0 26 THE PC LINE-UP (1576)
OUT OF STOCK 9166 4 3 0 26 SUPERMARKET (1578)
HTC 9176 3 4 0 25 THE PC LINE-UP (1576)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
SLOW CHECKER 9167 4 3 0 24 SUPERMARKET (1578)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
GENNA HAYES 9188 4 2 0 23 THE LOW ROAD 2 (1582)
IZZY JORMIN 9190 2 4 0 21 THE LOW ROAD 2 (1582)
MANDY 9174 4 3 0 20 TEACHER'S PETS (1579)
ROTTEN PRODUCE 9175 5 2 0 19 SUPERMARKET (1578)
HOMER 9173 5 2 0 17 TEACHER'S PETS (1579)
LONG CHECKOUT LINES 9169 4 3 0 15 SUPERMARKET (1578)
AZUZ 9158 3 5 0 14 THE PC LINE-UP (1576)
-AURORA BOREALIS 9192 1 0 0 12 STARBRIGHTS (1583)
HOBSON IPP 9189 2 4 0 10 THE LOW ROAD 2 (1582)
KULBERT LEW 9191 2 4 0 10 THE LOW ROAD 2 (1582)
LENOVO 9156 1 7 0 10 THE PC LINE-UP (1576)
-NEBULA 9196 1 0 0 5 STARBRIGHTS (1583)
-URSA 9195 0 1 0 3 STARBRIGHTS (1583)
DEI-MAN VAILL 9207 0 2 0 2 GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
-ORION 9193 0 1 0 1 STARBRIGHTS (1583)
'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
PERSONAL ADS
Lugh -- It be true. CIC .... Teacher's Cheat Sheet ... y'all seen 'em one, ya done
seen 'em all. (One and the same.) Luck at ya. -- Teacher (Speaking in Southern
redneck, his true home style)
Challenges and avoids! A strategic must. See the spotlights above. -- Teacher
Bro'Tor -- I find it hard to believe I beat you. But I will take it. If I win
enough, maybe mom will buy me a cool helmet? -- Tommy
Kulbert -- I took a chance that you were not one of those mean styles that beats up
on my style. I had to challenge because Teacher told me that Assur is after me with
one of those mean things and if I don't challenge, he will get me. A horror story.
I'm scared. -- Homer (typed by his sister so it was legible, understandable, and
printable)
Venomous Concubine? What's a concubine, Mom. -- Little Johnny
HTC -- A rose is a rose is a rose, but I am a... Daisy
Slow Checker -- And you probably don't accept large piles of coins, do you? I think
you are mean and just plain suck! So there! -- Mandy (Pouting and crying because
Slow Checkout beat her. Her parents are consulting lawyers for a lawsuit.)
Where did I get THIS collection of kids? -- A wondering Teacher
Lugh Longarm -- If you haven't received the CIC yet, I will try (again) to get it
sent. The problem is that it's in the office, and I'm not. -- Jorja
Homer -- Why it took only two minutes? Because I got one look at you and decided,
right there, that if I couldn't take you down fast, I wasn't going to hang around and
hope against hope that I could wear you out. My momma didn't raise no COMPLETE
fools. -- Kulbert Lew
Rotten Produce -- I was going to be FINE until the fans started THROWING the darned
stuff. They could at least have thrown GOOD produce, and we'd've had a stew. --
Hobson Ipp
Ursa -- Weapons and stats chart next turn (turns numbered ending in nine). Study it.
-- Forloy Gerdan
P.S. Maybe a scimitar?
Orion -- Unlucky match for you, what with the experience difference. Although why
the steward called ME an amateur, I can't imagine. I'll have to talk to him about
that. Forcefully. -- Genna Hayes
Aurora Borealis -- Look, I know you won, but the armor was out of reason for your
style. You'd probably have won FASTER without it. Not that I'd have liked it any
better, but still. -- Izzy Jormin
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
BRO'TOR devastated AISLE BLOCKER in a 1 minute mismatched Challenge fight.
CHRISTOS unbelievably bested TOMMY in a 2 minute gruesome Challenge battle.
DAISY subdued SLOW CHECKER in a 1 minute Challenge fight.
DEI-MAN VAILL was vanquished by OUT OF STOCK in a 1 minute mismatched Challenge brawl.
LITTLE JOHNNY overpowered VENEMOUS CONCUBINE in a 1 minute one-sided Title fight.
LUGH THE LONGARM bested CAPTURED ORC in a action packed 1 minute gory brawl.
HOMER was devastated by DELL in a 5 minute bloody mismatched match.
MARCUS narrowly defeated ROTTEN PRODUCE in a action packed 3 minute gruesome melee.
LENOVO was vanquished by FORLOY GERDAN in a 2 minute gruesome one-sided duel.
AZUZ lost to GENNA HAYES in a 3 minute fight.
HP overpowered KULBERT LEW in a 3 minute uneven match.
LONG CHECKOUT LINES was beaten by IZZY JORMIN in a 2 minute fight.
HOBSON IPP was subdued by MANDY in a crowd pleasing 4 minute bloody match.
HTC devastated EMBEZZLING SCRIBE in a 1 minute one-sided battle.
BATTLE REPORT
MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|AIMED BLOW 5 STRIKING ATTACK 19 - 11 - 0 63 |
|BASHING ATTACK 5 TOTAL PARRY 14 - 9 - 0 61 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 4 BASHING ATTACK 26 - 17 - 1 60 |
|WALL OF STEEL 3 SLASHING ATTACK 10 - 7 - 0 59 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 2 PARRY-STRIKE 7 - 5 - 0 58 |
|TOTAL PARRY 2 AIMED BLOW 21 - 17 - 0 55 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 1 PARRY-LUNGE 6 - 5 - 1 55 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 1 WALL OF STEEL 13 - 18 - 0 42 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 4 - 6 - 0 40 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 1 LUNGING ATTACK 3 - 11 - 0 21 |
Turn 338 was great if you Not so great if you used The fighting styles of the
used the fighting styles: the fighting styles: top eleven warriors are:
PARRY-LUNGE 1 - 0 BASHING ATTACK 2 - 3 3 STRIKING ATTACK
PARRY-STRIKE 1 - 0 PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 1 2 BASHING ATTACK
STRIKING ATTACK 3 - 1 LUNGING ATTACK 0 - 1 1 WALL OF STEEL
WALL OF STEEL 2 - 1 1 PARRY-LUNGE
AIMED BLOW 3 - 2 1 PARRY-STRIKE
SLASHING ATTACK 1 - 1 1 SLASHING ATTACK
TOTAL PARRY 1 - 1 1 AIMED BLOW
1 TOTAL PARRY
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
BASHING ATTACK LITTLE JOHNNY 9171 6 1 1 83 TEACHER'S PETS (1579)
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
STRIKING ATTACK BRO'TOR 9148 5 4 0 50 GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
WALL OF STEEL CHRISTOS 9152 5 4 1 46 GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
PARRY-LUNGE LUGH THE LONGARM 9153 6 2 1 45 GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
PARRY-STRIKE MARCUS 9149 5 4 0 34 GLORY DISCIPLES (1575)
SLASHING ATTACK TOMMY 9170 4 3 0 34 TEACHER'S PETS (1579)
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 HOBSON IPP 9189, IZZY JORMIN
9190, LUGH THE LONGARM 9153, DELL 9155, FORLOY GERDAN 9187, CHRISTOS 9152, TOMMY
9170, ROTTEN PRODUCE 9175, GENNA HAYES 9188, and KULBERT LEW 9191.
The least popular fighter this week was HOMER 9173. The other ten least popular
fighters were LONG CHECKOUT LINES 9169, HP 9159, LENOVO 9156, DEI-MAN VAILL 9207,
AISLE BLOCKER 9165, AZUZ 9158, SLOW CHECKER 9167, HTC 9176, MANDY 9174, and LITTLE
JOHNNY 9171.
The Defensive Lunger
Perfect Minimums Actual Characters
ST 13 11 11 13
CN 7 3 3 11
SZ 4 4 10 6
WT 21 17 17 17
WL 17 13 17 19
SP 5 5 9 5
DF 17 13 17 13
The lunger, in my opinion, makes a much better defensive fighter than offensive
fighter. Fighting defensively will compensate for the speed at which lungers burn
endurance. They will still attack whenever possible but their defensive ability will
allow them to dodge most attacks. The most important part is their initiative. When
they do dodge, they'll usually steal the initiative and attack. I haven't been
fighting lungers defensively for long but my record is 14-5-0. Don't fight
defensively against other lungers as they will usually win.
The strategy I use is:
Min 1 2 3 4 5 6 Desp
Off 4 -------------------------> 9 Weapon: Any lunging
Act 6 4 --------------------> 9 No armor if low con
KD 4 -------------------------> 9 APL/H if average con
O.T. ---------------------------> L
D.T. -------------------------------->
You can attack any location you wish but I suggest protecting the body. The
third character listed started with experts in attack, defense and initiative. The
last character had an expert in attack.
The Wild Boar, manager of Things (5) and many inactive teams.
WARRIOR ENDURANCE
Greetings, joy and happiness to everyone! I hope you have had pleasant dueling.
This article is about endurance and some things to think about when you're designing
your warriors. Below is a chart showing the different endurance levels a warrior may
have. This chart may be a little off of due to the fact it isn't possible to have all
the variables as a manager, but it does give you idea of the amount of endurance a
warrior should have.
The formula for endurance is: E = (ST+CN)WL
With the result of that number use the chart below.
000-180 = Very Poor
181-240 = Poor
235-390 = Normal
391-509 = Good
510-639 = Great
640-699 = Tremendous
770+ = Awesome
Here are some examples of warriors with their Endurance ratings:
1) Slasher ST 5 CN 7 WL 15 (5+7)15 = 180 Poor
2) Striker ST 7 CN 13 WL 9 (7+13)9 = 180 Poor
3) Parry-Rip ST 7 CN 10 WL 11 (7+10)11 = 187 Poor
4) Basher ST 13 CN 9 WL 9 (13+9)9 = 198 Very Poor
5) Striker ST 13 CN 9 WL 9 (13+9)9 = 198 Poor
6) Aimed-Blow ST 9 CN 15 WL 9 (9+15)9 = 216 Normal
7) Striker ST 10 CN 5 WL 15 (10+5)15 = 225 Normal
8) Slasher ST 13 CN 10 WL 10 (13+10)10 = 230 Normal
9) Wall/Steel ST 13 CN 12 WL 17 (13+12)17 = 425 Great
There are several factors such as warrior style, RSI random factor, and there is
some evidence that SIZE has some effect on a warrior's endurance. In any case the RSI
LUCK factor can be around 7 to 8% in your favor or 2-3% worse than average. These are
just estimates, but are still factors nevertheless.
Some styles that are HIGH BURN endurance, like lungers, slashers and walls of
steel, are more likely to be UNLUCKY with the endurance rating.
Every action your warrior does consumes endurance. Attacking seems to use more
endurance than any other action. Once a warrior's endurance is used up, he will make
an endurance check against his WILL. If he fails the roll, he will either stop to rest
or collapse to the sand, depending on how badly he failed the roll. When a warrior
stops to rest, he gets back some endurance. When he gets enough endurance back, he
will start attacking again. This is just a theory that I have developed from
observations. It maybe completely off, but it gives one something to ponder.
That's it for now lords and ladies, I must go entertain elsewhere. If you would
like to chat about DM or other things, you can EMAIL me at 103260.3347@compuserve.com
or visit my DM website at
http://ourworld.compuserve.com./homepages/jessisjest/homepage.htm
You can also diplo me at DM 11 "The Lords Of the Abyss (319)" or any of the
Joker's Wilds scattered about.
Cheerio,
Sir Jessie Jest
Member of the Ivory League
Presenting, by Popular Demand (from 1989)...
THE NUMEROLOGY OF DUELMASTERS
by The Ghost of Eldrid
Character Generation
Hello, I am the Ghost of Eldrid, and I have an important message that directly
effects how well your team may do in the future. Some managers will not take this
important article seriously (some people don't believe in ghosts, either), and their
records will suffer for it. I have played Duelmasters for four years and searched
through all of my old turns and painstakingly researched every important fact in this
article, and I have discussed my conclusions with about ten different managers (named
managers such as Phido, Doctor LeGrand, Silk, Russ, and Biff Frothingslosh) who all
agree on the validity of my arguments. The results of my research are both startling
and magnificent. THERE IS NUMEROLOGY IN DUELMASTERS!!! Whether it was programmed in
or it exists on a higher plane, it matters not. IT EXISTS!!! And I plan to share
some of its amazing secrets with you, starting with character creation.
Remember in the realm of character generation the powers favor odd number stats.
NEVER, EVER have an even number on stats, except, of course, for size, which,
obviously should be even since everyone can tell what size your character is by his
description in the fight. Do you want people thinking your warrior is odd? I should
hope not!! But in case you decide to keep your odd warrior, DO NOT MAKE ANY OTHER
STATS EVEN!! Write a letter to the commission stating that you forgo the rights to
the last point and you want it to be sacrificed to the benefit of Alastari.
Always start adding points to wit and will first. Either make them 13, 17, or
21. Why? Under 12 wit is worthless, as any good manager will tell you. A 13
understandably gives your opponent bad luck, a 17 has the ever-lucky "7" in it, and 21
is BLACKJACK, and you get twice the number of winnings you would normally get. Why
not 15 or 19? Is it not obvious to everyone that 15 is unlucky? The only President
of the United States not married was the 15th, James Buchanan (who?). Lincoln was
shot on April 15th, and the clincher... my brother was born on the 15th of May. If
these "coincidences" don't prove to you that 15 is unlucky, I don't know what will.
19 is an evil number. It tries to deceive you into thinking it is better than 17, but
actually, it is an "11" with a small zero placed on the second pole, and we all know
that a zero is nothing. So what do we get for our extra eight points? In effect,
something smaller than nothing.
Next, make every other stat odd. Add the other points to make the style you
want. Deftness is the key to character generation.
Deftness (min)
5 to make a basher (ST 13+)
7 for a lunger
9 for a striker
11 for a wall of steel (ST 11+, WL 17+)
13 for a parry lunge (ST 11+), slasher (SP 11+), parry-strike, and total
parries (these styles depend on the opponent's bad luck.
17 for a parry-riposte (WT 17+)
21 for an aimed blow (this style needs the double winnings)
The last thing to remember is that luck is a big factor in this game and I don't
know if you noticed, but when warriors have even ID numbers they are luckier than odd
ID characters. Look at the best warriors in Primus: Wallbanger, Donatello, Epitaph,
Chaos Knight, Villiage Idiot, Silverflash, Khorga Khan, Jake the Snake, Sly, Max,
Stormbringer, Teetotaler, Raphael, Selleque, Kiri, Constance, Hangover, Eve, and Sam
Spade. All have even-numbered IDs. Now you say, "But Yoda and Necron-99 both have
odd IDs, and they are the best aimed blows of the game!" Yes, but they are AIMED
BLOWS and they are members of an odd style, so of course they do better with odd
numbers. So remember if you want your warriors to be best in all Alastari someday,
Dark Arena all your odd-numbered characters, unless of course they are aimed blows.
Good luck, and may the numbers fall your way.
-- The Ghost of Eldrid,
retired
PARRY-STRIKE, ANOTHER FUN STYLE
There have been several articles about fighting styles, some say theirs is the
best, or ultimate, one said theirs is the most fun style. Well, I feel that parry-
strikers are just as much fun to play as any other style.
First, let's start with the run down of what they say in the "RED BOOK". The
book says that parry-strikers are defensive, using small quick movements in their
actions (sounds like you could say that about some other styles as well.) The book
says that some managers swear that a high wit is critical to the style (only those who
have no brains would disagree with that.)
Let's get to business. First and foremost this style is deceptively aggressive,
making them a very good offensive type of fighter, or deadly type of defensive
fighter. Offensively they tend to get the jump on their opponent. I had a parry-
striker that was only jumped 3 out of 11 fights, before he died. To prepare and run a
parry-striker can be quite confusing, so I will try to help make it as simple as
possible. Here are my feelings on roll-ups for the parry-strike style:
ST: 11-15, I'll explain later.
CN: who cares.
SZ: 10-14, don't go over 14.
WT: 13-17, 17 is the best.
WL: 13-17, to get good endurance.
SP: not important.
DF: 11-15, I'll explain later.
Here are some good roll-ups for a parry-striker: 11,7,10,17,17,7,15;
15,7,11,17,16,7,11; 11,7,14,17,13,7,15; 15,7,14,17,13,7,11. Now, if you have a decent
wit, the way you run this fighting style will depend on strength and deftness. For
example: if your fighter has a high DF and a low ST it would be to his/her advantage
to be defensive, since the speed would benefit the ability to move in reaction to
their opponent. If the ST is high, and DF low, it would be better to fight
offensively like a striker, trying to get the first, and only blow in. If they don't
have a decent wit, you're on your own. I can't help you on that. Remember this style
of fighting is the same as a striker except for added knowledge of parrying, as well
as bein a little more aggressive. I would not suggest a low ST and DF, it will take
away from your WT & WL, and you don't want to do that, but if you do, good luck. You
don't need much CN if you have a good WL, which gives you your endurance. SZ; you
don't want it to be above 14, it would hurt your fighting style more than your
attributes. WT; it is the same as it is with strikers, the higher the WT the faster
and deadlier they become. Raise WT to 17 if you don't have it at the start, then
don't worry about it again until ADM. WL; this is where you get your endurance. 13
is fine to start out, but I would suggest 15, then bump it up to 17 in basic. SP; it
is what you need to riposte, but PSers have this "one strike one kill" attitude.
Meaning that there isn't much time to riposte with a killing attitude, so do whatever.
DF; what is there to say, it helps, but is not crucial to be a great PSer. Now to
running a PSer. If he is an offensive fighter 10-10-10 Dec. all the way through the
fight, even in desperation. If Defensive, 1st 10-10-10 Resp., 2nd 10-7-10 Dec., 3rd
10-10-10, 4th 10-10-10 Dec., 5th 10-10-10 Dec., 6th 10-10-10, Desp. 10-10-10 Resp.
Remember, first you want to assure your defense, and to do that, you should go
defensive the first minute. By the second minute you will be secure enough to go on
the offensive, but experiment. 6th minute on, leave blank, for by that time he/she
will know what to do (if their WT is high that is.) The best thing you could do for
your fighter is watch the fights, if you are getting more defensive skills than
offensive, run the def., or change weapons. That is the best advice I can give you
about PSers. About armor, I like to use ringmail or nothing, but experiment. I know
that there is someone that will disagree with me, but I feel that I have given you
some ideas about this fighting style that can be used, even though I am a new manager,
playing for just over a year. No matter who writes a style article, it is just
advice, not the bible. Just use the articles as a point of reference, not as sworn
law.
This is a very fun fighting style, try it out. I have written this in answer to
Foreign Legion Arena 31, and The Spartans Arena 8. I challenge any Primus Manager to
correct my writing of PSers. It is not my favorite style, but it is as fun as any
other that I have used, including my favorite one (Which is a STRIKER!!) If there are
any comments, please Diplo The Priest, the manager of The Heroes of XIAN DM-10, or The
Crucifiers DM-46.
THE ARMOR PIERCING PARRY-LUNGE
When you think "attack" what style comes to mind? Bashing? Definitely lunging?
Of course. Parry-Lunging? Excuse me? Yes, the parry-lunger! Few people realize the
fact that parry-lungers are attack gods waiting to be born. All it takes is the right
warrior and lots of guts. This warrior is not for the weak of heart. We'll begin
with stats.
Range Perfect
ST 9-11 11
CN 5-9 5
SZ 6-11 8
WT 17or21 21
WL 17or21 17
SP 5-8 5
DF 15-17 17
Why?
ST(11): This is your optimum PL strength. It puts your warrior in the normal to
good damage range. Also, you have the best PL weapon at your disposal--the LO!
CN(5): Yes, his life expectancy is low. What'd I tell you? Guts, right? He
gets his endurance from WL. If you want to make trains, make them here.
SZ(8): Our most flexible stat. A high SZ (i.e.11) allows you to skimp a bit on
Str (9).
WT(21): If it's not a 21 you're not going to get the attack this fellow counts
on. His learns will be awesome and a 21 WT will make him a better warrior out of the
chocks.
WL(17): End/Att are dependent on this one being high. Keeps you on your feet
when you should drop from exhaustion.
SP(5): Not a big requirement. Init and Parry will come from elsewhere (WT/DF).
This is not a lunger mimic.
DF(17): Combine this DF with a 21 WT and you will have a massive attack.
Pinpoint accuracy is the byword. Parry, init, def and riposte will all benefit
immeasurably. At 15 you have access to the EP, a fine lunging weapon this style can
put to devastating use.
Strategy (General, but effective in most cases)
2 9 9 7 6 5 10
6 9 9 7 6 5 10
2 7 7 7 5 5 10
HE ---------------------------->
HE BD ----------------------->
- - - - - - -
P - - - - - -
Minute 1: This fellow won't get the jump on offensives, so we'll just go
defensive and render their "mad minute" fruitless. This PL's counterattack will be
amazing at even 2-6-2 P due to the high AL. Keep the parry tactic until Adv Expert
parry is gained.
Minutes 2 and 3: These two will end most of his fights. When he starts landing
precision blows in his opponent's face it will usually be over quickly. Keep the kill
desire relatively low as to avoid sloppy attacking.
Minutes 4 through 6: If you haven't won by now you've got to depend on your WL
to carry you until you finish the job. He'll probably top out at the five min. mark.
But we want to keep the attacks coming so we do so at his endurance's expense.
Desp: If your opponent is an offensive he's probably blasted through your min. 1
defense. Your best bet is to go spastic and hope to take him out in one shot or so.
If he's some super-defensive (scum) this PL is probably exhausted and you're hoping
the super-offense will put him over the edge. After all, it's better to burn out than
fade away.
Always aim for the head to maximize the impact of your blows. If it tickles your
fancy, aim for your opponent's weapon arm and beat him senseless when he's unarmed.
Protecting the head in min. 1 is strictly odds playing on my part. My offensives aim
head so I assume everyone else's do too. After min. 1, we forget defense.
Weapons and armor are simple. APL/H or ARM/H (if you're challenging a real
heavy-hitter). I prefer swords for armament. My combos are usually LO/SM, LO/SH,
SC/DA etc. Against heavy armor go with LO/SH. Always aim for the head.
Philosophy: This guy clings to life by luck, early on, and will never be free of
the spectre of death. In his first few fights stay away from lungers and bashers.
Both have high attacks and usually do substantial damage. Prey on strikers, PS, PR
and slashers. As he progresses, his attack, parry and defense will equip him with the
tools to handle most everybody but always remain cautious of those bashers and
lungers.
A PL of this calibre should begin with around a 90 att, 70 par/init and 60-70
def. Decise and riposte will be slightly lower. Riposte 50 and decise anywhere from
35-50 depending on how lucky you get. Train skills exclusively from fight one and on.
Use tourneys if you must raise anything at all (including con).
Don't be discouraged if he's around .500 early on. By ten fights he'll be
sporting three Adv Experts at least (att, par and init) and will begin to dismantle
those scum/finesse styles that managed to beat him. Feel free to write or diplo me
with comments/criticisms/or questions.
Fight the Good Fight,
or: Agath
CPL Michael Dockus Lunatic Fringe (23)
H Co BLT 2/8 Circle of Five (51)
24 MEU (Det F) Slaves of Power (52)
FPO NY NY 09502-8531