DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER Date : 10/19/2013 Duedate: 11/01/2013 NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA DM-93 TURN-388 This Weeks Top Honors THE DUELMASTER IS HORRIBLE LEARNING BASH BROS PIKER (1634) (93-9489) [7-0-0,82] Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader POSITION IS EMPTY HORRIBLE LEARNING BASH BROS PIKER (1634) (93-9489) [7-0-0,82] Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite MAT TUKHOLT FIRST DOWN MISFITS OF DOOM (1624) COUNT ON ME (1633) (93-9438) [4-4-0,33] (93-9486) [4-3-0,33] THE CURRENT TOP TEAM COUNT ON ME (1633) TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team 1. BASH BROS PIKER (1634) 32 2. MISFITS OF DOOM (1624) 30 ONLY HUMANS (147) 3. HIGH WAY 2 (1637) 24 Unchartered Team 4. GHOSTWALKERS (1630) 12 5. DEVIL'S CARTEL (1631) 0 COUNT ON ME (1633) The Top Teams Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K 1/ 2*COUNT ON ME (1633) 23 12 0 65.7 1/ 1*COUNT ON ME (1633) 10 5 0 2/ 4*HIGH WAY 2 (1637) 11 9 1 55.0 2/ 3*BASH BROS PIKER (1634) 8 7 0 3/ 3*BASH BROS PIKER (1634) 19 16 0 54.3 3/ 2*HIGH WAY 2 (1637) 7 8 0 4/ 5*GHOSTWALKERS (1630) 3 6 0 33.3 4/ 0*MISFITS OF DOOM (1624) 3 1 0 5/ 0*MISFITS OF DOOM (1624) 7 30 0 18.9 5/ 4*GHOSTWALKERS (1630) 3 6 0 6- 6*DEVIL'S CARTEL (1631) 0 1 0 0.0 6- 6*DEVIL'S CARTEL (1631) 0 1 0 '*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn (###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank TEAM SPOTLIGHT * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * STUFF YOU NEED TO KNOW or WHAT THEY DIDN'T TEACH YOU IN D2 101 a. These are considered the three best ways to acquire information, knowledge and "secrets" about D2: * Terrablood.com * Reality.com * Noblish Island newsletters b. Any warrior that loses a fight can die. One can die by being killed by the opponent, and every loser has a small chance (estimated odds 1 in 50) of dying in the infirmary. Note: There is no chance of dying if one wins! (There are annual "Tournaments Of The Dead" where one can attempt to fight a dead warrior back to life.) c. Any warrior can use any weapon. However, there are undefined penalties for using marginal, unsuited, inadequate wit, inadequate size, inadequate strength, and inadequate deftness weapons. d. Warriors are born with certain skills which are dependent on the base 70 point stat sheet and the style selected. Skills from the 14 points of added stats add to those base skills. e. RSI seldom makes input errors. I said seldom. The best thing a manager can do to help avoid input errors is to fill out the strategy sheet accurately and legibly with good penmanship. f. No matter what any veteran, friend or expert tells you about design or strategy, it is not necessarily the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It may be good or great or common advice, but it is not necessarily the only good (or bad) advice. g. There is more to strategy than filling out the warrior's initial armor and weapon selection and offensive effort and activity level and kill desire and tactic selection. Challenges and avoids are an important way to attempt to give your warrior an advantage. Challenge warriors (warrior ID) that your warrior is likely to defeat and learn a lot from, and avoid teams (team ID) with warriors who are likely to defeat you. Indeed, your warrior can be provided with an alternate strategy for challenging or when being challenged or both. A warrior does not have to challenge, bloodfeud, or avoid, but it is in his best interest to do so. h. Ask dumb questions! Often managers, especially new managers, have a doubt or a question, but they feel "asking for help/advice" is a sign of weakness or lack of intelligence or knowledge about D2. Do not let this be you! Ask! We veteran managers ask each other "dumb" questions all the time. What are the best ways to ask? * On the Reality.com site * On the D2 Chatsy blog site * In personal ads in the arenas (especially Noblish Island) * By diplo to another manager in D2 (Certain managers will almost always respond; some may not i. D2 is a normally a friendly atmosphere. While managers are very competitive, most of the vets know each other, see each other at Face-To-Face Tournaments, chat with each other on line, and even help each other out with advice and ideas. The fount of knowledge available now, about D2, was acquired by a collective "working together" and sharing info. Be advised that an overly mean, overbearing, threatening, haughty, unfriendly character/manager is likely to be colluded against and ostracized by D2 regulars. Smack talk is desirable and a part if the game. Personal threats, harsh meanness, or overbearingness is not. j. Noblish Island is a great learning atmosphere. What comes after Noblish? Choose wisely an arena to next participate in. (Fast--two week turnaround or slow--four weeks.) (Large-- 15+ teams participating, medium-- 8-14ish, small-- 7 or less.) (Friendly--usually Andorian arenas are up for role-playing and up for helping newbies, and down on down challenging or taking advantage of newbies; cutthroat-- Darkholm arenas tend to be win-at-all-cost.) You can participate in as many arenas as you want. You can also participate in separate tournaments, held quarterly, which allow warriors from all arenas to compete with each other for acclaim and prizes. (These tournaments are Mailers--where anyone can participate by mail--and Face-To- Face--where one competes face-to-face, round-by-round at a selected site.) k. While the first team rollup sheet is free, you can have as many as you want for $5 each. It is not abnormal to select which team of warriors you will design and run. Indeed, you can design and "roll up all" and choose which, or how many, to play. You are not limited to the pleasure of only one team. Count Number aka Abba Cuss (Consortium affiliated) here. Contact me for help. Ask me dumb questions. I tutor and coach--all too often for free. * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * Assur's Guide to High Skill Hybrids The last is perhaps the most unclear of the warrior types in terms of getting them to win. High Skill Hybrids don't really have a clear path to victory, but expect to win by virtue of the fact that they have more skills than their opponents. 1) Design As Hybrids, they want a bit of everything, but their focus is on high skills with a balance of physicals. The especially want to make sure they hit major breakpoints and always want a decent wit to ensure they keep learning skills as fast as their peers around them. 17 or 21 wit is highly recommended. High Will and or Deftness is also nice. I recommend not trying this type of hybrid with less than 11 wit or less than 11 deftness (both major skill breakpoints). Will of 7 or 9 is just fine for endurance conserving styles. 2) Style Choice With 21 wit, pretty much any style can attempt to win with skills. Otherwise, the following styles are recommended. Lungers: The highest skill style, the highest base attack and defense, and the highest favorite fighting rhythms all make for a very strong style. When you're looking for a high skill style, Lungers should always be in the running. The downside is that they require lots of endurance to run. Wall of Steels: Wall of Steels start with the same initial skill total as a Lunger, though the distribution is dramatically different. They also run well with lower fighting rhythms, so do not need as much endurance as their lunger counterparts. Still, it is a good idea to have high endurance for Wall of Steels. Parry Lungers: This style falls just short of Lungers and Wall of Steels in the traditional power rankings. But they are definitely on the higher side of of the skill totals and built correctly can be powerful opponents. For both Wall of Steels and Parry Lungers, their reluctance to learn riposte skills suggests that hybrids of this style either start with some riposte, have a bit more defensive oomph (parry, carry, and hit points), or are augmented in strategy with the Riposte Tactic. Aimed Blows: (With High Deftness, usually 17 or 21). Aimed Blows round out the styles that naturally perform well as high skill hybrids. Aimed Blows are unique in that they can do very well with extremely low strength (even 3) or will (7+) and still have lots of skills. They do not need the endurance that the other high skill styles need. The downside of hybrid ABs is that they can be extremely vulnerable to death given the way they are typically designed. And with 21 wit (or even 17), any of the ten fighting styles can learn fast enough to outpace opponents in the skill race. Realize that wit is a high commodity stat, and many of your opponents may also have 17 or 21 wit, especially teams run by managers that focus on the tournament game. 3) Weapon Selection Weapon selection for high skill hybrids varies by manager and design. The first choice will normally be one of the top weapons in the game (SC, BA, BS, LO), but there are other situations where your warrior may be better with another weapon. Maybe your warrior likes to run fast (QS, HA, SS). Maybe your warrior wants a better riposting weapon (EP). Maybe you want to strive for Knockdowns (LS). Perhaps you want to look for your favorite weapon and get bonus skills that way! Almost every weapon has its uses. I will warn once again that weapons that only deal crushing damage tend to be underpowered. They do quite well against Scale Mail, but otherwise are clearly outclassed by other weapons in the game. This is built into the game mechanics. 4) Armor You are a hybrid. You'll want to wear armor. How much needs to be a balance of your endurance, carry ability, and your specific warrior's strengths. More defensive and you might wear a bit extra armor. A faster hybrid (like the Lunger) will often wear a bit less armor. Most importantly, unless you're expecting a certain type of fight, DO NOT OVERENCUMBER YOUR HYBRID! This is the easiest way to make a hybrid perform poorly as the overall encumbrance penalties are harsh. 5) Strategy and Tactics Option #1: Look for your favorite rhythm. Warrior naturally fight better when they are running at or near their favorite rhythm. You don't know what your favorite rhythm is initially, but each style has rhythms that are common to the style and each style as limits on what is possible to get. It is amazing what some warriors do when running on their faves. Option #2: Run hot (or semi-hot). Having your warrior going out hot is not a bad strategy. There may be better strategies for your hybrid, but at least you'll know he's going out with the intention to attack. Bad idea for most hybrids against pure defensive warriors. Option #3: Run defensive minute 1. This is especially effective for Wall of Steels, but can be used by any of the style mentioned above. It also conserve endurance better than option #2. Option #4: Run a riposting strategy. This is highly dependent on your warrior, but you don't need a lot of riposte to get the counterstrike. Generally this is a moderate type strategy (too low and most warriors won't try to attack, unless those low numbers happen to be their faves and then all bets are off) + ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ The Lighthouse ]H[ + ---:--- + ]H[ + "Tinkering strategies?" Jorja glanced around the common room of the Lighthouse quickly. None of her gladiators were near by, but she leaned forward and lowered her voice anyway. "The team here doesn't believe I ever do that, and I don't want them to hear me saying differently, Diaretic. They'd get expectations, and I don't have any plan to make life that easy for 'em. But here's the way I go at it when I'm feeling generous with my warriors. Mind you, this is just the way *I* do it, and there are plenty of other approaches. "Say I've got a warrior who's a pure offensive style, which means a basher, a lunger, or a slasher. I don't count strikers, as they're versatile and sometimes unpredictable. Say I've started him out fast, maybe 8-6-x. Unless he's fighting another pure offensive, he should be first off the mark. So I look for the problem. If it's a problem with his numbers and style and he should have been some other kind of fighter, well, too bad, we're both stuck with it. I can boost his offensive effort to ten--sometimes it already IS ten, of course, but if it isn't, then that goes up to the top. I can drop his activity level, say to four. I know some people start their offensive warriors going 10-10-x, but to my mind, this is just asking for early burnout in a fight. I've seen that kind of thing--a warrior comes out of the starting gate like his socks are on fire, and by the MIDDLE, not the end, of the first minute, he's panting and staggering, and losing. Sure, some warriors can take that kind of energy burn, but most can't. "So I tinker with his numbers, and it doesn't help, he still gets jumped when he shouldn't. The next thing to try is dropping the weight he's carrying. Maybe I've got him in some kind of mail, okay, I drop that to leather. This reduces his protection against blows from his opponent, of course, but everything's a trade-off. If he gets out there first and deals a shrewd blow or two, it won't matter; he'll win before he gets hurt. If he's already in leather, or if I want to lighten him up further, I'll drop his backup weapon and give him a lighter one. Say he's got a scimitar with a backup same, maybe I'll drop the backup to a shortsword or even a dagger. I'll always leave him SOME backup weapon--" "He'd have his fists, if you didn't give him a backup weapon, wouldn't he?" Diaretic asked. Jorja shrugged. "Well... yes, but none of the pure offensives do well with their fists. Strikers, maybe, but not bashers, lungers, or slashers. They can and will use 'em if they have nothing else, but they won't do well. And frankly, I wouldn't even send out an aimed blow, the CLASSIC unarmed style, with nothing but his fists for backups. I've seen too many of them 'struck in the arm with the parry'. It's too risky for a warrior who's already got problems. Unless, of course..." she looked suddenly thoughtful, "I'm hoping he'll get killed...." Diaretic raised his eyebrows. "Do you do that much?" "Send them out hoping they'll die?" Jorja shrugged. "Well, yes and no. I run everything, maybe send one warrior in a hundred to the Dark Arena--after he's fought for a year or two. There are often warriors that I would LIKE to see die, even though I hate the hassle of recruiting new ones. But I've never sent a warrior out unarmed, unarmored, and with the basic 1-1-1 default strategy. At least, not deliberately. There's a team I have in Murska that was running on maintenance once. I wasn't paying attention, and no less than THREE new warriors started up there without strategies--and survived! They had horrible records by the time one of the other managers managed to get my attention, 0-19 I think it was, but they survived. Tough men, and they eventually made it to graduation, once I gave them 'sharp pointy things' to use on their opponents. But I don't do that deliberately." She paused and signaled for one of the waiters to bring Diaretic a fresh drink. "Where was I? Warriors getting jumped when they shouldn't be, right. As a last resort, because I don't really care for tactics, I might give such a warrior decisiveness in the first minute, also. "But if none of this works, if he still gets jumped regularly, then I have to think about taking a different approach. Maybe he'd be better off running slowly, despite his style. So I put more armor on him, some kind of mail, usually, and I slow down his first minute, maybe invert it: 4-6-x or 4-8-x or something. And then in the second minute pop him up to eight or ten offensive effort, on the idea that he'll catch the faster offensives when they're tired. Sometimes it works. Especially with beginning warriors, winning can often be a game of endurance. He who is still standing, wins." Diaretic nodded and sipped his drink. Half-formed ideas of how he might use these ideas on his own warriors revolved in his mind. "What about the opposite case, a defensive warrior who can't last long enough to win as he should?" "The total parry who collapses from exhaustion in the second minute?" Jorja laughed. "I've had a few of those over the years. I call 'em 'the warriors of exasperation'. It isn't easy running everything, you know--I end up with some warriors that not even a mother could love, and with them, I tend to do really dumb things, just for the heck of it. The aimed blow with a deftness of three or four, for instance, or the total parry with no con. "But for the, hmm, 'legitimate' cases of warriors running too fast, well, there are signs as obvious as an offensive getting jumped. 'Fighting to conserve energy', 'straining to hold his weary arms at guard', stuff like that in the fight report is a sure sign. You can take two approaches to that, lower the weight they're carrying so as not to burn their energy that way--lighter armor, lighter weapons. Or slow 'em down. Say I've got a ripper going 6-8-x and stumbling with exhaustion in the second minute. I might slow this warrior down to 4-6 and see if that helps. Heck, I've even done that with offensives. Back when I started slashers out going 10-10-x, I'd get them stumbling with exhaustion and losing because of it in the second or even the FIRST minute, and I'd slow 'em down. Activity level comes down first for an offensive warrior--I think of that as the 'dodging and parrying' number. Offensive effort comes down first for the defensives." "Hmm." The younger manager frowned, making a series of linked rings on the table top with the wet bottom of his glass. "What about warriors who flail wildly?" "I've been told that this is due to lack of attack skills, and unless you're going to train stats and burn those skills, nothing but time will cure it. But I've found that sometimes--not always--lowering kill desire helps. Drop it to five, say, if it's higher. Dropping the offensive effort a notch might help, too. I think of 'flailing wildly' as 'trying too hard'. You can never be sure, of course, because managing gladiators is an art, not a science." She paused and half stood, looking toward a center of commotion. "Do you want Wednesday to get falling down drunk on the night before the fights?" +<]H[>+-----+<]H[+ Question of the Week #8 +]H[>+-----+<]H[>+ Question, turn 417: All -- Here's last cycle's question that didn't make it in (along with page two of my personals). What are the top five weapons to be successful in Advanced? -- Hanibal Q.O.W. Answers, turn 418: Q.O.W. Response -- The top weapons in AD, or even basic DM, are generally agreed upon to be the SC, LO, BS, and BA. The scimitar is an all round great weapon. Seems easier to crit with, and even against heavy armor, still dishes out a lot of damage. Because it's a slashing weapon, it seems to pull a lot of critical damage on normal hits. The longsword is the second best, though that could be contended, for its one great ability, the knockdown! The broadsword is heavy, but it dishes out heavy abuse, it doesn't break often, and it is pretty good at smashing through parries. The battle axe is just plain cool, and it is very painful! After those four, it's difficult to say which weapon is better. I like daggers, though shortswords are strong, and the halberd is really fun if your warrior can throw crits with it. -- Adie I must have missed the question this is answering, or it was part of an ongoing and sometimes heated discussion on winning and killing and aiming locations in Aruak City. Q.O.W. Response -- Other than the obvious ability of aiming at the chest/abdomen/head to gain death intent statement, I think that it's more difficult to win when aiming at the body because there are more hit-points there. This is especially the case against tough, armored warriors. Attacking the body with lunging weapons can get knockdowns, but I think that it's even easier if you aim at the legs. If you consider protect locations though, maybe the body is better to aim at because maybe fewer people protect it. The limbs, and head especially, have less hit points, so if struck, such a warrior usually gives up sooner. Aiming at the head can get quick victories and death intent statements, but results in more deaths, obviously. But I think a lot of people routinely protect the head. Aiming at the arms allows the defeat of a warrior when they lose their weapon, or use of their arm, and can't draw a back up. -- Adie P.S. I only advocate aiming at the arms and legs in Aruak City. Elsewhere is a different story. Question for turn 418, to be answered next turn: New Q.O.W. -- What have people seen in regards to arms that hang useless? Can warriors regain the use of them eventually if the fight goes on? Can they punch or parry with it, even though they can't draw a back-up? -- Adie Adie's QoW -- Striking arms can cause an opponent to drop their weapon and (temporarily) lose the use of the limb. Striking the legs can increase the chance of a knockdown. Striking at head, chest, or abdomen can allow for a kill on the sands. Chest and abdomen seem to be the locations best protected by armor. Head can have a different level of armor protection than the rest of the warrior's body, which can make things tactically interesting. From what I've seen, managers usually have their warriors protect their vital hit locations by default, so to me it makes more sense to aim at non-vitals. -- Generalissimo Puerco Is Generalissimo Puerco psychic? Tune in next turn and find out! Hanibal's QoW -- All of the one-handed swords make up the top tier of weapons, with the axes and spears on the second tier (consider halberd in this group), and all the bludgeoning weapons (and the greatsword) at the bottom. Quarterstaves, war hammers, and mauls are liked by some, and as far as I'm concerned, they can have them. Unfortunately the quarterstaff recently became tied (with longsword) among my LPs for most popular favorite weapon. Also, interestingly, I only have one LP that favors the scimitar, and it's a total parry! -- Generalissimo Puerco Hanibal -- Top five weapons? Hm, scimitar, scimitar, scimitar.... Oh, you mean DIFFERENT weapons? A lot depends on the style of the warrior in question and his or her favorite. But scimitar is up there near the top of the list for many styles. -- Leeta The question from turn 418: New Q.O.W. -- What have people seen in regards to arms that hang useless? Can warriors regain the use of them eventually if the fight goes on? Can they punch or parry with it, even though they can't draw a back-up? -- Adie Answers from turn 419 and 420: Q.O.W. Answer: I have had all sorts of s#&t (not sure what word this was supposed to be) happen regarding arms falling uselessly at their side: some warriors give up, some continue on, I've even had a warrior lose his use of an arm twice in one fight (and he still won!!!). One thing is certain...the weapon in the useless hand always drops in the sand. -- Dr. Strange Refers to last turn's question-- QOW -- Weapons? We agree that SC seems tops with LO and BS highly desirable. The Consortium clan has a great affinity for these also: BA, DA, QS, SH, WH and GA. Not the normal "feelings," but... -- Kennelworth QOW -- A useless arm is a statement and since it normally comes at the end, it "seems" to mean something, but it is similar to a dropped weapon. -- Kennelworth Answer Q.O.W. (arms) -- When arms are struck in combat, I too have seen a variety of things occur. I've seen them get hit, forcing a weapon to be dropped, but then a back up pulled immediately. I've seen them get hit, drop a weapon, and be too hotly engaged to pull a new one. Also, they can hang useless after being struck. The weirdest thing I've ever seen is a warrior lose the use of their arm, drop their weapon, strike with their fists, and then have one of those fists get parried, AND IT WOULD BE THE ONE THAT WAS USELESS THAT WAS INJURED BY THE PARRY! Strange eh? So if both arms went useless, you could still fight with fists? Hmm... -- Adie New question, turn 419: All -- I recently tried an experiment where I gave a warrior a Primary weapon (Broadsword) and the same off-hand back-up. She pulled the back-up when things slowed down in min. 2. Does this mean she prefers two weapons or do they always do that? If you give a warrior two back-ups will they pull the one they prefer or whatever you list first? -- Hanibal -- Q.O.W. Answers, turn 420: Answer Q.O.W. (backups) -- When things slow down in a fight and neither warrior is eager to hold the initiative, they will usually pull any off-hand or back up weapon they have, whether they need it or not. It has no relation to whether that warrior prefers to fight with two weapons or not. Drawing back-ups also can occur when the fight is intense. If your weapon breaks while on the offense, often such a warrior will draw their back up and attempt a riposte to hold the init. Also, if you're on the defensive and you attempt to riposte, but you have a back-up weapon or off-hand weapon to draw, your warrior may try to pull it. Success is not always guaranteed in either case though since your warrior may be 'to hotly engaged'. Even if a defending warrior succeeds, drawing a weapon after a riposte forces that warrior to give up the init they could have taken. But if they pull a back-up and THEN riposte, then can take the init. If you give a warrior two back-ups, they pull the one listed first, and if it breaks or is dropped, they'll pull the second. It is not random. -- Adie QoW -- If the warrior has a free off-hand, and a backup off-hand weapon, it usually isn't long before they decide to make use of it. I'm guessing that OE and coordination (anonymous source) are factors that affect the likelihood of drawing a backup in the off-hand. Wanna Be, manager of A Savage Few here in Aruak, once hosted a fast draw contest where contestants had to start the fight unarmed but could have backup weapons. The all-out offensives would sometimes spend a full minute or more with their fists before deciding to draw steel. The defensives would usually draw something the first chance their opponent would give them. -- Generalissimo Puerco New 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. We're now caught up with Aruak City (dm 11) on the Questions of the Week; they are about to run turn 421 as I write this. So if Hanibal misses a turn in asking, or the managers there miss a turn in answering, we'll have to miss a turn in looking over their shoulders. Amazing how things follow one another like dominoes falling, isn't it? There is NO REASON AT ALL why you here can't pose Questions of the Week of your own. Send them as a personal to DM 11, identify yourself as a new manager seeking enlightenment, and you should get a helpful response. -- Jorja Note that Hannibal's Questions of the Week stopped some time ago and Aruak City is now in the 600s. * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * ---===FREE BLADES REGIONAL NEWS===--- Duelmasters ----------- DM 9 ZUKAL (turn 733): ODDLY ELEGANT of DEVIATION (Marma Duke, mgr.) DM 12 RIZTAB (turn 735): GHOST of THE UNDEAD (Death Jester, mgr.) DM 13 DULLENS (turn 700): TOOTH FOOT of 7TH SANCTUM (Hombre, mgr.) DM 15 MALCORN (turn 729): QUASIL of TERMINUS (Carick, mgr.) DM 16 WILLAF (turn 731): 56TH AND WABASHA of BLOOD ON THE TRACKS (Howlin' Wolf) DM 17 ALJAFIR (turn 722): GABOGOOL of STORMY'S TROOPERS I (Storm Lord, mgr.) DM 19 ZUWAYZA (turn 723): NEWT ROCKNE of MAN OR BEAST? (The Dark One, mgr.) DM 28 MORYA (turn 364): KOROSHIYA ICHI of LORD OF DISCIPLINE (Longshot, mgr.) DM 29 LAPUR (turn 720): HOPE'S END of THE GUILD (Guido, mgr.) DM 31 CHIMLEVTAL (turn 362): GENERAL PURPOSE of MILITARY MAYHEM (Crip, mgr.) DM 32 ARVAT (turn 717): FRANK WHITE of B.I.G. (Howlin' Wolf, mgr.) DM 33 NIATOLI ISLAND (turn 714): KURELLEU ZIEN of THE SEWING CIRCLE (Jorja, mgr) DM 35 MURSKA (turn 706): DIERDRIE of CHILDREN OF LLYR (Jorja, mgr.) DM 43 VEASTIAN (turn 664): HALFTIME of EPIC RAP (Howlin' Wolf, mgr.) DM 45 STORMCROWE (turn 339): AURORA MARIE of NORTHERN LIGHTS (Jorja, mgr.) DM 47 NORTH FORK (turn 333): CARLA of CHEERS (Otis, mgr.) DM 50 SNOWBOUND (turn 320): THE BEATLES of OPEN SESAME (Crip, mgr.) DM 56 ROCANIS (turn 596): DROXINE of TREXTRAS (Otto X, mgr.) DM 60 ARADI (turn 581): SISTER MOON of DREAMTIME (Hombre, mgr.) DM 61 JURINE (turn 563): STORMCROWE PIE of SHEWISH BUFFET (One Armed Bandit, mgr.) DM 65 DAL SHANG (turn 557): LORAND TEN SORN of SAND DANCERS (Jorja, mgr.) DM 73 ERINIKA (turn 269): EDMONDS of GASHOUSE GANG (Crip, mgr.) DM 74 DAYLA KIV (turn 518): GEORGE WHALEN of MEDAL OF HONOR (The Anarchist, mgr.) DM 75 JADE MOUNTAIN (turn 513): NAREEN of FALSE OVERTURES (Guido, mgr.) DM 78 LIN TIRIAN (turn 504): RIB IAYE of SHEWISH BUFFET (One Armed Bandit, mgr.) ADM 103 FREE BLADES (turn 621): BILBO BAGGINNI of MIDDLE ITALY (The Dark One, mgr.) Top Teams --------- DM 9 ZUKAL (turn 733): QUEEN (Howlin' Wolf, mgr.) DM 12 RIZTAB (turn 735): DREAMERS (Sleepy, mgr.) DM 13 DULLENS (turn 700): CARDOW HUNTERS (Jorja, mgr.) DM 15 MALCORN (turn 729): BLIND MELON (Howlin' Wolf, mgr.) DM 16 WILLAF (turn 731): BLOOD ON THE TRACKS (Howlin' Wolf, mgr.) DM 17 ALJAFIR (turn 722): A UNIT (Padre, mgr.) DM 19 ZUWAYZA (turn 723): VISIONS V2 (Tolbin, mgr.) DM 28 MORYA (turn 364): POSITION IS EMPTY DM 29 LAPUR (turn 720): SHADOWMIST (Tolbin, mgr.) DM 31 CHIMLEVTAL (turn 362): THE CANUCKS (?, mgr.) DM 32 ARVAT (turn 717): B.I.G. (Howlin' Wolf, mgr.) DM 33 NIATOLI ISLAND (turn 714): OBSIDIAN HALL (Dameon Darkheart, mgr.) DM 35 MURSKA (turn 706): SOUND (Trim, mgr.) DM 43 VEASTIAN (turn 664): THE FAMILY (Jorja, mgr.) DM 45 STORMCROWE (turn 339): SHEWISH BUFFET (One Armed Bandit, mgr.) DM 47 NORTH FORK (turn 333): NUKE TEST (Malaquar, mgr.) DM 50 SNOWBOUND (turn 320): OPEN SESAME (Crip, mgr.) DM 56 ROCANIS (turn 596): MEDAL OF HONOR A11 (The Anarchist, mgr.) DM 60 ARADI (turn 581): MEDAL OF HONOR B11 (The Anarchist, mgr.) DM 61 JURINE (turn 563): MIDDLE WAY 16 (Jorja, mgr.) DM 65 DAL SHANG (turn 557): MEDAL OF HONOR C11 (The Anarchist, mgr.) DM 73 ERINIKA (turn 269): GASHOUSE GANG (Crip, mgr.) DM 74 DAYLA KIV (turn 518): TOLBINS LADIES (Tolbin, mgr.) DM 75 JADE MOUNTAIN (turn 513): FALSE OVERTURES (Guido, mgr.) DM 78 LIN TIRIAN (turn 504): MEDAL OF HONOR Z2 (The Anarchist, mgr.) ADM 103 FREE BLADES (turn 621): DIRT DEVILS et al (The Dark One, mgr.) Recent Graduates ----------------- DM 12 RIZTAB (turn 734): MUD MUD FROG of KAOS FROGS (Grimm, mgr.) PROCLUS of DREAMERS (Sleepy, mgr.) DM 13 DULLENS (turn 700): TOOTH FOOT of 7TH SANCTUM (Hombre, mgr.) DM 15 MALCORN (turn 729): QUASIL of TERMINUS (Carick, mgr.) DM 17 ALJAFIR (turn 721): DEBRA ELSITH of MIDDLE WAY (Jorja, mgr.) DM 31 CHIMLEVTAL (turn 362): GENERAL PURPOSE of MILITARY MAYHEM (Crip, mgr.) DM 43 VEASTIAN (turn 663): MARCO THE KNIFE of THE FAMILY (Jorja, mgr.) DM 45 STORMCROWE (turn 339): AURORA MARIE of NORTHERN LIGHTS (Jorja, mgr.) DM 47 NORTH FORK (turn 333): CARLA of CHEERS (Otis, mgr.) DM 61 JURINE (turn 563): STORMCROWE PIE of SHEWISH BUFFET (One Armed Bandit, mgr.) DM 74 DAYLA KIV (turn 518): GEORGE WHALEN of MEDAL OF HONOR (The Anarchist, mgr.) (turn 517): GEORGE PETERSON of MEDAL OF HONOR (The Anarchist, mgr.) DUELMASTER'S COLUMN Notes from the arena champ. Yes, I have learned poorly. But apparently I'm good enough to beat a Dwarf. This time, it doesn't look like us Pikers can stay on the throne UNLESS I win. That Indy 500 car is hot on our trails and wants to win it all! I need to learn skills in some other areas, though. Almost 2/3 of my learns are in a single area. Such is the way with learning. You do not have much control over what you learn in a given fight. Sometimes you pick up one thing, sometimes another. Yes, we all have tendencies for what we are able to pick up, and the style we trained up in has conditioned us to learn other things. The problem is that what our managers would like us to pick up (in order to keep us winning) isn't always what we see in our fights. Such is the case with me. My manager would love to teach me a thing or two, that is for sure! I'll just try and keep on winning. I certainly have the ability to beat the NPCs, but that doesn't mean I will! -- Horrible Learning SPY REPORT Greetings warriors! It is I, Zontani Sharp Eyes, here to bring report of the clash and bustle of the weekly NOBLISH ISLAND games. FAVE WEAPON caught the eye of many in the gladiatorial commission as he skillfully bested INDY 500 and was awarded 22 points in recognition. In one of the week's more notable duels, FAVE WEAPON put down INDY 500, causing him to lose 20 points of recognition in the process. Although KHALHUMS DWARF made a valiant effort, it did not suffice to topple the reign of victorious HORRIBLE LEARNING. No confirmation, but my sources claim that the top team has gained their position using magical aids. Charmed weapons perhaps? 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 BASH BROS PIKER, 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 BASH BROS PIKER. Indeed it was COUNT ON ME. Mighty fighters cannot but expect competition from those below. FAVE RHYTHM take warning! You have more than a few enemies in NOBLISH ISLAND. What warrior does not hone his years, impatiently waiting for the moment of his foe's mortality? Fate is a fickle mistress. She showers the miserable with fortune but sets enemies against the victorious. Remember this! If it were not for my skills as a spy I would have been mugged three times already in NOBLISH ISLAND. Nice atmosphere you have here! 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 HORRIBLE LEARNING 9489 7 0 0 82 BASH BROS PIKER (1634) ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME FAVE WEAPON 9493 4 3 0 46 BASH BROS PIKER (1634) CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME MAT TUKHOLT 9438 4 4 0 33 MISFITS OF DOOM (1624) FIRST DOWN 9486 4 3 0 33 COUNT ON ME (1633) MEOSHA PALMER 9508 4 0 1 28 HIGH WAY 2 (1637) FAVE RHYTHM 9491 3 4 0 28 BASH BROS PIKER (1634) INDY 500 9485 5 2 0 24 COUNT ON ME (1633) INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME THIRTY-LOVE 9488 5 2 0 23 COUNT ON ME (1633) JACK OF ALL TRADES 9492 3 4 0 21 BASH BROS PIKER (1634) STRIKER 9469 2 0 0 20 GHOSTWALKERS (1630) CAMI DEAORDAN 9500 2 0 0 20 MISFITS OF DOOM (1624) 100 YARD DASH 9484 5 2 0 17 COUNT ON ME (1633) 3 POINT SHOT 9487 4 3 0 15 COUNT ON ME (1633) QUINCY ROSS 9509 2 2 0 14 HIGH WAY 2 (1637) KEOSAQUA LANE 9506 2 2 0 14 HIGH WAY 2 (1637) SHMEGAL 9499 1 1 0 12 MISFITS OF DOOM (1624) LOW SKILL BASE 9490 2 5 0 11 BASH BROS PIKER (1634) SMYTHE TODD 9510 2 2 0 8 HIGH WAY 2 (1637) THUMPER 9471 1 1 0 7 GHOSTWALKERS (1630) MILTON ONLY 9507 1 3 0 6 HIGH WAY 2 (1637) BRUTE 9473 0 2 0 2 GHOSTWALKERS (1630) SWIFTY 9470 0 2 0 2 GHOSTWALKERS (1630) STARFIRE 9472 0 1 0 1 GHOSTWALKERS (1630) -FURY 9478 0 1 0 1 DEVIL'S CARTEL (1631) '-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn. THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge? ZIDRIT DU'ORDEN 9441 0 8 0 MISFITS OF DOOM 1624 BLACK ORC 388 NONE PERSONAL ADS Duelmaster Horrible Learning -- Kudos to you and your manager! King of Noblish Island, and a piker at that. All hail Assur, Piker Master. -- Smithy All right! New managers and teams! We are so pleased to have you all here. Welcome. Some of us are here to help and mentor. Ask me (Smithy), Assur, or Jorja (or all of us) questions. We will answer. Ghostwalkers, Devil's Cartel, Speed Demons, Enjoy. -- Smithy Assur -- Looks like we had a "kiss your sister" 2-2 round, but you won the big one. Well done. -- Smithy Fave Weapon -- It was my day to roar over the finish line. -- Indy 500 Jack Of All Trades -- Let it be known that I hate pikers. Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em! I just couldn't make a shot. -- 3 Point Shot Low Skill Base -- We strikers have some endurance too, you know? I got you on the three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust strategy. Yes! -- First Down Fave Rhythm -- What?????! You beat me? You and your little lob shots and that weird spin. Piker! -- Thirty Love Quincy Ross -- That was more like a marathon, but you could count on me. Oh yeah. -- 100 Tard Dash The Mail In Tournament is right around the corner.(Nov 1) The Face-To-Face Tournament is soon (January) to be in Tempe AZ. Come and meet the managers behind Assur and Smithy (Consortium). And the Turf Wars begin in Feb in DM47. They are all worth the time and effort and just plain FUN. -- Smithy 100 Yard Dash -- I was amazed at how LONG that took you. Maybe it should have been "Hundred Yard Crawl"? -- Quincy Ross A wimpy standby is good. -- Meosha Palmer Brute -- You brute! Um, Jorja suggests that you might try a little less armor. It's an unusual load you put on that style. Yes, I know, the armor did fend off or lessen some blows, but if it hadn't been so heavy, you might have STRUCK more blows. Why Jorja thinks I would consider this a good thing I don't know, but there it is. Encumbrance makes a difference, and the computer is merciless. -- Milton Only Thumper -- *I* don't think you need advice, after all, you WON. But Jorja is, um, really firm about some things. And one of the things she's firm about is off-hand encumbrance for your style. She's against it. -- Keosaqua Lane Swifty -- Oh, cheese LOUISE. There's that off-hand encumbrance again, and you need to fix that lack with regard to your weapon. Either train up the relevant stat, if you have the WL for it, or pick a different, less demanding weapon. Jorja would be likely to go with a different weapon, but she has these biases. (sigh) Not as flexible as she used to be, and I do NOT mean something she could fix by working out in gym. In fact, the idea of her working out in a gym... I shudder. She's nasty enough as it is. But then, bashers ARE. -- Smythe Todd P.S. Try a scimitar. Sure, Jorja's got a "thing" for 'em, but they ARE good weapons. Ghostwalkers / Devil's Cartel -- Welcome to Duel2. Half of us are here to help you get started. I run the Pikers and they are indeed all Parry Strikes. I do not challenge or avoid to allow new managers to tinker with strategy. I will make challenges if I think I can teach a player something of use. -- Assur Pikers fight better than their skill ratings would suggest they should! Abba Cuss -- 2-2, but it felt like 1-3. -- Assur LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS ZIDRIT DU'ORDEN was butchered by BLACK ORC in a 1 minute Dark Arena fight. FIRST DOWN bested JACK OF ALL TRADES in a exciting 1 minute Challenge duel. 3 POINT SHOT was viciously subdued by FAVE RHYTHM in a slow 13 minute Challenge match. HORRIBLE LEARNING viciously subdued KHALHUMS DWARF in a 2 minute gory Title contest. INDY 500 was overpowered by FAVE WEAPON in a 1 minute mismatched match. MAT TUKHOLT devastated 100 YARD DASH in a crowd pleasing 1 minute one-sided duel. THIRTY-LOVE overpowered MILTON ONLY in a 1 minute mismatched brawl. LOW SKILL BASE was overpowered by MEOSHA PALMER in a 4 minute gruesome uneven melee. BRUTE was vanquished by SHMEGAL in a 1 minute gruesome one-sided duel. THUMPER was viciously subdued by CAMI DEAORDAN in a 7 minute brutal novice's fight. SWIFTY was handily defeated by KEOSAQUA LANE in a 1 minute one-sided bout. STRIKER demolished SMYTHE TODD in a 1 minute mismatched match. QUINCY ROSS handily defeated STARFIRE in a 1 minute brutal one-sided contest. BATTLE REPORT MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS |FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT| |PARRY-STRIKE 6 LUNGING ATTACK 7 - 2 - 1 78 | |STRIKING ATTACK 5 TOTAL PARRY 14 - 6 - 1 70 | |TOTAL PARRY 3 STRIKING ATTACK 17 - 13 - 0 57 | |WALL OF STEEL 3 PARRY-STRIKE 21 - 19 - 0 53 | |BASHING ATTACK 2 WALL OF STEEL 10 - 10 - 0 50 | |AIMED BLOW 2 SLASHING ATTACK 4 - 4 - 0 50 | |PARRY-RIPOSTE 2 AIMED BLOW 8 - 9 - 0 47 | |SLASHING ATTACK 1 BASHING ATTACK 13 - 15 - 1 46 | |PARRY-LUNGE 0 PARRY-RIPOSTE 2 - 3 - 0 40 | |LUNGING ATTACK 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 0 - 0 0 | Turn 388 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: BASHING ATTACK 2 - 0 STRIKING ATTACK 2 - 3 5 PARRY-STRIKE PARRY-STRIKE 4 - 2 TOTAL PARRY 1 - 2 2 STRIKING ATTACK AIMED BLOW 1 - 1 WALL OF STEEL 1 - 2 1 AIMED BLOW PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 - 1 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 0 1 TOTAL PARRY LUNGING ATTACK 0 - 0 1 BASHING ATTACK SLASHING ATTACK 0 - 1 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME PARRY-STRIKE HORRIBLE LEARNING 9489 7 0 0 82 BASH BROS PIKER (1634) Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above. The overall popularity leader is MAT TUKHOLT 9438. The most popular warrior this turn was FIRST DOWN 9486. The ten other most popular fighters were HORRIBLE LEARNING 9489, MAT TUKHOLT 9438, MEOSHA PALMER 9508, FAVE RHYTHM 9491, THIRTY-LOVE 9488, SHMEGAL 9499, FAVE WEAPON 9493, KEOSAQUA LANE 9506, STRIKER 9469, and QUINCY ROSS 9509. The least popular fighter this week was 3 POINT SHOT 9487. The other ten least popular fighters were LOW SKILL BASE 9490, STARFIRE 9472, SWIFTY 9470, BRUTE 9473, MILTON ONLY 9507, 100 YARD DASH 9484, ZIDRIT DU'ORDEN 9441, SMYTHE TODD 9510, CAMI DEAORDAN 9500, and THUMPER 9471. FACE-TO-FACE TOURNEY LIII 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