DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 10/04/2014 Duedate: 10/17/2014
NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA
DM-93 TURN-413
This Weeks Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
AGEHA
THE SHADOW GUILD (1654)
(93-9613) [6-1-0,56]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
POSITION IS EMPTY AGEHA
THE SHADOW GUILD (1654)
(93-9613) [6-1-0,56]
Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite
KOKO BELLA FURY
THIRD HIGHWAY (1642) MY 60'S TV (1661)
(93-9618) [7-1-0,33] (93-9671) [0-2-0,2]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
THIRD HIGHWAY (1642)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. PHOENIX GUARD (1655) 32
2. MY 60'S TV (1661) 22 DYSERAY (312)
3. THIRD HIGHWAY (1642) 21 Unchartered Team
4. BASH BROS SCUM (1663) 16
5. TOXIC STORM (1658) 14 BASH BROS SCUM (1663)
The Top Teams
Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 1*BASH BROS SCUM (1663) 8 2 0 80.0 1/ 1*THIRD HIGHWAY (1642) 9 6 0
2- 2*DARK LOTUS (1659) 6 4 0 60.0 2/ 6*BASH BROS SCUM (1663) 8 2 0
3/ 3*MY 60'S TV (1661) 6 4 0 60.0 3/ 2*PHOENIX GUARD (1655) 7 3 0
4- 4*THE REAPERS (1660) 3 2 0 60.0 4- 5*DARK LOTUS (1659) 6 4 0
5/ 5*THIRD HIGHWAY (1642) 53 37 3 58.9 5/ 8*MY 60'S TV (1661) 6 4 0
6/ 8*PHOENIX GUARD (1655) 15 14 0 51.7 6/ 3*THE SHADOW GUILD (1654) 6 8 0
7/ 6*THE SHADOW GUILD (1654) 14 16 0 46.7 7/ 4*TOXIC STORM (1658) 6 9 2
8/ 7*TOXIC STORM (1658) 8 12 2 40.0 8- 7*THE REAPERS (1660) 3 2 0
9/ 9*CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) 4 18 0 18.2 9/ 9*CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) 2 12 0
10-10*5 ANGRY MEN (806) 0 1 0 0.0 10-10*5 ANGRY MEN (806) 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
Assur's Bash Bros Scum Lords
The Consortium advice says you want a variation of styles on your team. Well I
say if it is fun for you, run whatever you want. I have done a full team of bashers,
parry strikers, wall of steels, and now I'm going to run a team of total parries.
So what makes a great Total Parry? Total Parries can run a purely defensive
(where they want 11 deftness and lots of strength, will, and constitution). Total
Parries can also make great hybrids, in which case they want plenty of skills and
almost always low speed and/or size.
Here is how I made my team:
9-10-13-11-16-3-8. Wow! I can get 17 wit, 21 will, and 11 deftness without
having any real weaknesses. I'd love to get him to 11 strength as well, but I simply
don't have any points left. So... 9-10-13-17-21-3-11 TP. He is definitely a Hybrid
warrior. He still focuses on his defensive skills, but he knows he doesn't have the
ability to wear armor and simply take damage all day long.
21-9-11-6-6-9-8. This guy has really low wit and will. Many guys like this get
instantly sent to the Dark Arena. As a TP, I'll get 11 deftness and 7 will for the
skill breakpoints. With such low will, he is probably also going to be more of a
hybrid than a pure defensive, so I'll bump the wit to 11 and the balance of points
goes to constitution. Final design: 21-14-11-11-7-9-11 TP. He's relying on that
high parry, armor and hit points to win, but will use weapons and if given the
opportunity, he will try to attack back.
11-9-8-9-8-12-13. A fairly generic warrior that could be made into virtually
any style. I choose to move towards the pure defensive design and put all the points
into Str, Con, and Will. Final design: 14-13-8-10-14-12-13 TP. I will bump those
stats to 15-14-8-11-15-12-13 and then learn skills.
5-12-16-9-8-10-10. Another generic guy, but low strength. Again, I'm going to
design a guy to train some of his stats early in his career. 10-14-16-10-14-10-10
TP. Train to 11-15-16-11-15-10-11 and hope it is enough.
11-12-15-9-10-4-9. This guy looks more traditional for a pure scum warrior.
Maxxing Will puts him at 16, so let's have him train stats, too. 14-15-15-10-16-4-10
TP looks beautiful.
They aren't your mega-scum that run around the arena. My most recent Scum TP to
gain a tournament victor award was 15-15-7-4-21-11-11 TP. But all of them have ways
to win and have been given the opportunity to get better with at least a moderate wit
or medium-high will (or in the case of guy #1, high in BOTH stats).
Good luck. You'll need it (unless you're running one of those pesky aimed blow
guys that tear apart total parries).
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Assur and His Bashers
If you get to know Assurnasirbanipal at all, you will learn that his favorite
style is the bashing style. Before going any further, you need to know that it is
not one of the 'best' styles in the game and that not all styles are created equal.
'Most' warriors that make good bashers could likely be made into a better something
else. There are a few notable exceptions which I will talk about briefly.
Jorja's Profile of a Basher is a solid article. The only things I'd say to
'add' to it are:
1) For weapons, I highly recommend WH and QS first and foremost. And I virtually
never use MS or WF. But the first two are the bread and butter weapons for Bashers
2) Design comments: Jorja undervalues wit. For bashers, don't undervalue wit.
11 or more. For Will, I recommend 9, 15, 17, or 21. That is where you get skills.
I'll typically add to Strength, Speed or Deftness once my Will is at one of those
values. If your setup starts with 9-11 will, I'd consider carefully whether adding
4-6 points is really worth it. There are other ways to make bashers, but her article
is a great place to start.
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Profile of a Style
Bashers
I make no claims to being exhaustive in this study of Bashers. There are
managers who know more about the style, managers who have better Bashers, managers
whose Bashers win more consistently. But this is a place to start.
I have the details of twenty-eight immortal Bashers under my hand here, Bashers
who, good, bad, or indifferent, survived long enough to graduate and discover their
favorites. In those favorites lie clues to how the Gladiatorial Commission expects
Bashers to operate. This does not mean that Bashers HAVE to operate that way, and it
can be fun to force a style to do the unexpected and take everyone by surprise, but
this could be said to be "what comes naturally."
Favorite weapons. You will find that only weapons that may be received as
favorites are ever described as "well-suited" to the style. For instance, an epee
never occurs as a favorite weapon for a Basher, and any Basher who uses one will find
he "is unsuited to his weapon" or "uses this weapon in an unorthodox style" at the
top of his fight report. There is little, if anything (well, okay, surprise), to be
gained from using a weapon unsuited to the style in question.
The eleven weapons suited to use by Bashers, and the minimum stats required for
their best use (information courtesy of Pagan's Enchiridion), are:
Greataxe ST 13 SZ 5 WT 9 DF 11
Greatsword ST 15 SZ 9 WT 9 DF 11
Halberd ST 17 SZ 9 WT 9 DF 9
Large Shield ST 11 SZ 7 WT 5 DF 5
Mace ST 13 SZ any WT 3 DF 5
Maul ST 15 SZ 9 WT 5 DF 7
Medium Shield ST 9 SZ any WT 5 DF 5
Morningstar ST 13 SZ any WT 7 DF 13
Quarterstaff ST 11 SZ 9 WT 11 DF 11
Warflail ST 11 SZ any WT 7 DF 5
Warhammer ST 13 SZ any WT 5 DF 7
Assurnasirbanapal offers the following alternate requirements for some of these
weapons:
Halberd ST 17 SZ 9 WT 9 DF 11
Large Shield ST 11 SZ 7 WT 3 DF 5
(not sure about size, but I believe wit is 3)
Morningstar ST 13 SZ any WT 7 DF 11
Warflail ST 11 SZ any WT 5 DF 5
(I can see that some warriors in my future are going to have to test these weapons.)
Study this chart, and never make a Basher who doesn't have the stats to use at
least one of the weapons well! I've made the mistake more than once (and more than
once done it deliberately, but then, I'm perverse) of creating a warrior who is
unable to use well any weapon to which his style is suited. This is enormously
frustrating. Take my advice and DON'T DO IT.
You may notice that the Fist is not listed as a weapon suited to the Bashing
attack. This is an example--one of the most glaring ones--of the fact that sometimes
intuition and real-world experience are "not well suited" to Duelmasters.
Two weapons not listed on this chart are the Broadsword and the Battleaxe. If
you arm a Basher with one of these weapons, the fight report will inform you that
your warrior is not well suited to the weapon or uses it in a marginally effective
manner. A manager I consulted informs me that he has had good results anyway with
the Broadsword and is still experimenting with the Battleaxe. So you CAN ignore the
weapon suitability chart above, though I would not recommend doing it until you have
enough experience to know what risks you're taking. And don't do it with a warrior
who adds the disadvantage of having inappropriate stats for the weapon to the
disadvantage of unsuited style.
As you can see from this list, the most important stat for a Basher, from the
standpoint of weapon use, is Strength. A Basher who is dumb and on the clumsy side
will find weapons he can use appropriately, provided he has the strength to lift
them. This has led to the creation of a lot of dumb, clumsy Bashers. My own
personal feeling--and I've run a lot of these depressing warriors--is that a dumb,
clumsy Basher is doomed in the long run. And often very boring, as well. Boring is
even worse than doomed.
My immortal Bashers, their relevant stats, and their favorite weapons:
Madoc ST 11 SZ 11 WT 13 DF 9 Mace
Wanda the Blonda ST 17 SZ 8 WT 9 DF 15 Warflail
Kenda Teegue ST 19 SZ 7 WT 11 DF 11 Greatsword
Al Kore ST 13 SZ 14 WT 11 DF 13 Quarterstaff
Broken Nose ST 17 SZ 18 WT 11 DF 9 Quarterstaff
Hogar ST 13 SZ 13 WT 21 DF 7 Maul
Ski Mask ST 13 SZ 15 WT 15 DF 9 Maul
Crabby Appleton ST 19 SZ 11 WT 13 DF 6 Warflail
Lissette ST 14 SZ 9 WT 11 DF 15 Greataxe
Velendeis ST 9 SZ 14 WT 13 DF 7 Maul
Hoftalj ST 21 SZ 14 WT 11 DF 7 Mace
Cadal ST 14 SZ 15 WT 15 DF 11 Mace
Caramella ST 13 SZ 13 WT 14 DF 11 Quarterstaff
Lulu ST 17 SZ 11 WT 15 DF 9 Morningstar
Franklin ST 15 SZ 6 WT 5 DF 17 Morningstar
Bam Bam ST 13 SZ 14 WT 11 DF 9 Medium Shield
Dune ST 19 SZ 17 WT 4 DF 3 Halberd
Old Maid ST 17 SZ 7 WT 15 DF 11 Halberd
Pelis the True ST 13 SZ 9 WT 11 DF 15 Large Shield
Joe ST 15 SZ 10 WT 15 DF 13 Medium Shield
Claudius ST 19 SZ 13 WT 10 DF 7 Quarterstaff
Ekkar ST 17 SZ 15 WT 13 DF 7 Mace
Jomon ST 11 SZ 17 WT 11 DF 15 Greatsword
Dijanna ST 17 SZ 12 WT 17 DF 7 Mace
Khora the Small ST 15 SZ 9 WT 17 DF 11 Warhammer
Sweet Jorja ST 13 SZ 13 WT 15 DF 7 Quarterstaff
Tarok ST 7 SZ 18 WT 11 DF 9 Warflail
Kelan ten Salth ST 14 SZ 15 WT 17 DF 11 Greatsword
You will notice that some of these warriors did not have the initial stats to
use their favorite weapon efficiently. That's a little trick the Commission plays on
us to keep us from getting too cocky. Only one of them (Tarok) was initially unable
to use ANY of the bashing weapons well, and I trained up his strength early in his
career. My personal favorites among the bashing weapons are the warhammer, the mace,
and if the warrior has the wit for it, the quarterstaff, as these seem to me to
produce the most interesting fights. If I'm going to train a warrior as a Basher, I
try to make him able to use one or another of those weapons; it saves me a lot of
stress.
Which brings up the question of Basher design. In almost all cases, the advice
routinely given is to put the points on WT, WL, and DF in preference to other stats.
But to use any of the weapons listed above, the warrior DOES NOT NEED a WT of more
than 11, and depending on which version of the stats for Morningstar you accept, he
doesn't need more than 11 or 13 in DF. Do not put points on these stats beyond the
necessary.
ST: A Basher needs strength, and lots of it--who wants a Basher who "does
little damage"? Besides, he needs a minimum strength of 9 for the least of his
weapons, and that's a medium shield. Who wants to send a Basher out with a medium
shield? Pile 'em on here.
CN: No. A Basher wins by attacking, not defending. He should be keeping his
opponent too busy to fight back, and he should not have to worry about his hit
points. Generally speaking, go with whatever you've been given on the roll-up. The
time to experiment with the creation of a Scum Basher is later, after you have more
experience.
SZ: You can't do anything about this, but a large size is not such a handicap
for a Basher as for some of the more finicky styles. And it will increase the damage
he can do--a Basher is all about doing damage.
WT: No more than is needed for the weapon you've chosen. If you have extra
points after satisfying other requirements, sure, go ahead and put them on wit, but
you can get a decent learning rate with a wit of 11 so why waste the points here?
Besides, if he survives long enough, you can train up more wit later.
WL: I would always put points on will (unless it was 17+ already), but for me,
that's reflex, not conscious planning. In theory, a Basher wins fights fast by
attacking all out, and so he doesn't need will for the stick-to-it effect. But
then... if he's a good Basher, wins a lot, graduates, and you want to keep on running
him, a high will does make it easier to train up stats once you get around to it.
SP: I don't really have a feel for the effects of high or low speed on ANY
style. I would cautiously suggest that if you can get the speed into the moderate
range (8-12?) without sacrificing anything important, then do it. But if you can't,
then don't.
DF: Enough to use the weapon of choice, or perhaps two or three weapons for
variety. No more.
And a note on armor: A Basher should NOT be loaded down with heavy armor. He
isn't supposed to get hit, so what does he need that armor FOR?
Favorite rhythms. Sometimes it's expedient to ignore a warrior's favorite
rhythm, once you know it, but it does give you a guideline for running the style.
Rhythm is given as Very High or VH (10-9), High or H (8-7), Moderate or M (6-5), Low
or L (4-3), and Very Low or VL (2-1), for Offensive Effort first, and then for
Activity Level. For the warriors listed above, the favorite rhythms are:
H/VL H/L H/L H/M VH/M VH/L M/L M/VL H/VL H/VL VH/VL M/VL
H/VL H/L H/L VH/VL VH/VL VH/VL H/L M/L VH/M VH/VL VH/VL H/L
H/VL H/L VH/M H/M.
You'll notice that there is no Offensive Effort lower than Moderate, and no
Activity Level higher than Moderate, and that Offensive Effort is usually at least
two steps higher than Activity Level. Not always--some of those listed above are
only one step apart, and another manager tells me that he has some Bashers with
favorite rhythms of Moderate/Moderate. But from the sample I have, it seems that
Bashers favor a higher Offensive Effort than Activity Level, often considerably
higher. While you may not always want to run a Basher this way, it appears that
nature and the Gladiatorial Commission intended them to run very offensively. With a
newly entered Basher, this kind of speed is a place to start. Once you get a feel
for the warrior in question and for his likely opponents, you can tinker with the
numbers for the ideal strategy. But be warned that running so offensively, the
average Basher won't be able to keep going for long! Especially, he won't be able to
go for long with a heavy weapon (one requiring more ST to handle) and heavy armor.
When I think of the Bashers I have seen come out in Plate and struggle to last a
single minute at high speed, I could weep. High speed burns endurance. Bashers go
out to win fast, or they become easy prey for a slower-paced, more deliberate
warrior.
Of course, sometimes you'll run up against a Basher who ignores the stereotype,
the so-called "Scum Basher." He differs from most of his kind by having a high
endurance which allows his manager to run him slowly and take people by surprise.
But this warrior is a freak. I distrust freakish warrior designs as a matter of
principle.
There is no evidence to support the hypothesis that warriors have a favorite
Kill Desire.
There is no convincing evidence to support the hypothesis that warriors or
styles have a favorite attack location. Managers have argued that the nature of the
bashing attack lends itself to overhead blows to the head and upper body. However, I
suspect that this is one of those intuitive things which turn out not to work, just
as one would intuitively expect a Basher to do well with his fists, and he does not.
Some managers have pointed out that a Basher aiming at the head tends to end his
fight quickly. ANY style striking the head tends to end the fight quickly.
(Consistently aiming at the head will increase the chance of killing, which will, in
the long run, decrease the chance of your Basher's survival. Managers bloodfeud
dedicated killers with hostile intent.) I consider this a case of "Not Proven."
Favorite Tactics. Of the twenty-eight Bashers listed above, only eight had
favorite tactics. Two favored the offensive tactic of Decisiveness, and the rest
favored the offensive tactic of Bash. It seems reasonable to assume that the
offensive tactics of Lunge and Slash are inappropriate for a Basher. (Of course, you
can't always count on reason here, but....) There were no defensive tactics favored
(granted, this is not a large sampling of warriors), which suggests that they should
be used sparingly, if at all--a Basher is a purely offensive style.
Proceeding from the general to the specific, here's a basher who had a very
unpromising beginning--
Profile of a Gladiator
Turo the Brick
Lord Protector and Pain in the Rear
Turo, a seven-foot Troll, just graduated from Lin Tirian, my own home arena, at
16-44-2, 94. He's a basher. And I suspect that most other managers would have sent
him straight to the Dark Arena.
At graduation, he is 11(2)-9-20-6(2)-17(2)-10-17.
According to his overview, even after those stat raises, he
Is not very bright
The more subtle points of the riposte simply escape him, which I could have
told anyone right off
Stands around making himself a target, which we noticed
Cannot carry a lot of weight in weapons and armor (that low ST)
Is slow on his feet (Does size have an effect here?)
Can do tremendous damage with a blow (mostly SZ, I suspect)
Turo is "naturally adept" with a maul (well, okay, he's probably pulled up a few
trees and swung 'em around to bat at pesky people), favors a rhythm of very high/low,
and has an innate ability to use the bash tactic. None of this comes as a great
surprise--it fits his character. He's aggressive by nature (definitely) and most
readily learns initiative skills. (Doesn't that require BRAINS?) Ah, well. I've
been running him lately as follows:
Mace, backup war hammer, offhand medium shield, plate mail and a full helm.
9 8 7 6 7 8 10
3 2 1 1 1 1 1
8 8 7 8 7 8 10 which I wouldn't swear is the strategy I sent in
for him originally, but it is what he's using. Attacking right arm, protecting head,
no tactics. Maybe this was based on something another manager suggested to me.
He graduated with no ratings at all. Yes, really.
Obviously, he's not anybody's ideal warrior, but he's been surprisingly fun to
read. And it seems at least possible that if I'd paid more attention to his
strategies, issued challenges and avoids, he might have taken a better record out of
the arena. He is headed for retirement, obviously. I think he has some idea of
going back to his home in the foothills of the Khriatrin Mountains and terrorizing
his kin.
And another example of a basher, a much more successful one:
Khora the Small
Lady Protector
Contender for the Throne in Lirin Kiv (ADM 107)
Basher
I don't have her graduation overview here, as that was a long time ago. But she
started as 15-12-9-17-11-9-11. Now, after years of fighting, maxed on skills and
training stats, she is 25-12-9-17-17-13-16. Her record at the present is 94-129-3,
and despite doing devastating damage, being incredibly quick and elusive, and having
an Advanced Master rating in attack and Masters in all the other skills, she is still
not woman enough to take the throne in this smallest of the Advanced Duelmasters
regions. Her favorite weapon is the war hammer, her favorite rhythm high offensive
effort and very low activity level, which are good favorites. So why isn't she
Duelmistress, or as it is called in Lirin Kiv, Champion of the Horn? Because there's
an even better basher up there already. Her most serious problem is that low CN, I
think. Maybe she should train that up....
Here's their most recent fight, a short one, so I'll give it to you in full--
Phetmolge is 8' tall, right-handed, fights with no armor or helm, carries a war
hammer and a large shield, to which he is well suited.
Khora is 5'7" tall, ambidextrous, in leather armor and a helm, carrying a war
hammer and an off-hand war hammer, to which she, too, is well-suited. Khora is
running 8 4 7 RA BD no tactics; about Phetmolge we can only guess.
Both warriors move with snake-like speed around each other.
The weapons lock together in a test of strength.
Phetmolge is moving constantly without pause!
He sweeps his large shield in a sudden unexpected assault!
A spectator exclaims, "Brilliant!" Phetmolge smiles briefly.
Khora parries the blow with her war hammer.
She disengages her foe's weapon arm and tries to steal the initiative!
She makes a lightning-quick backhand smash with her war hammer!
Phetmolge is struck in the belly.
Khora says admiringly (this is irony), "How much damage can you take, anyway?"
(Lots. Lots and lots. More than she can, anyway.)
She launches a brilliant attack with her war hammer.
Phetmolge stops the blow with his large shield.
He sidesteps, trying to throw his opponent off balance.
He launches a brilliant attack with his war hammer!
Khora is hit on the right hip!
It is a tremendous blow!
Khora winces, obviously feeling great pain.
She mutters a desperate prayer and is stopped by the herald.
She is determined to become top basher in Lirin Kiv and will keep fighting
until she is Inducted into Primus.
Jorja
The Middle Way
+>]H[<+-----+>]H[<+ Question of the Week #3 +>]H[<+-----+>]H[<+
Question, turn 403:
All -- I've read that once you have an AE in a skill area you don't need to use a
tactic in that area. What if you have a favorite tactic? Would it benefit your
warrior to use it even if he is maxed in that area? -- Hanibal's Q.O.W.
Answers, turn 404:
Q.O.W. -- Tactics. It's generally believed that using a tactic, at any level of
skill, increases something (init, attack, damage, etc. though no one's sure) at the
expense of one or more other abilities. Usually it seems you lose more for using the
tactic than you gain, so they should be used sparingly. However, favorite tactics
are a bit different. I've noticed, generally, that the penalties usually imposed by
using the tactic are greatly reduced or eliminated, making it more useful. I run a
piker in AD who has response as a favorite and run her with it. She seems to do
great with it against everybody. My decise running striker still defends well
(though she's got favorite learn defense), and she still jumps everyone with a poor
decise rating. My advice is to give it a try if it's a tactic you think your warrior
needs, or can use based on their current point of development. -- Adie
Hanibal -- It really is almost like flicking a switch the way you can (usually)
prevent death intent statements if you want to. Dartor is the arena expert on
killing and he too agrees. Most new managers gain pleasure from seeing their
warriors kill, and it's not something to be ashamed of. But there is a better way of
going about things. I think as you gain more experience and experiment with lower
KD, you'll find that running with a 4 where you used to run with a 6 will have little
effect on a warrior's performance other than decreasing the chance of death intent.
This is especially true in the first minute, or before your warrior would get tired.
-- Generalissimo Puerco
Hanibal -- Each tactic has some benefits and some drawbacks. I can't tell you
exactly what those are because I don't know myself. If a tactic only provided the
equivalent of extra skills, then it might be true that a warrior wouldn't need them
after a certain level of skill is achieved. But let's say that your warrior has an
AE+3 and his opponent has a MA. Then there might still be good cause to use a
tactic.
I believe tactics grant benefits that can't always be translated into more
skills. I think the best example of this is what happens when response is used
against decise. Tactics have their value at all levels of the game, but the most
valuable tactics might change. I don't think many would run with decise at the top
of AD, though lunge and dodge remain popular. But for a new warrior, decise can be
very important. Tactics are not well documented in the literature, and for that
reason you may do well to learn first-hand and develop some instincts regarding the
use of appropriate tactics. -- Generalissimo Puerco
Hanibal -- Regarding the latest question: if you have an advanced expert in an area
that equates to a given tactic, is there any point in running the tactic. Yes, if
the tactic is a useful one. I don't THINK that there is a one-to-one equivalence
between types of skills and types of tactics. For one thing, there are eight tactics
and only six types of skills! -- Leeta
Question, turn 404:
All -- Do you think you are faster with your favorite weapon? If your fav is a
Halberd would you be quicker with a War Hammer? I've read you get +4 in each area if
you are using your favorite. -- Hanibal's Q.O.W.
Answers, turn 405:
Hanibal -- I strongly doubt that a favorite weapon gives four extra skills in each
category. I don't see how anyone could know that unless it was said by a credible
source within the GC. I'm terrible at finding favorite weapons. I can tell you that
the one large favorite weapon I've had experience with is the greatsword, and it is
still lousy even as a favorite. I really enjoy longsword as a favorite. --
Generalissimo Puerco
Q.O.W. -- With regard to favorites, the only really obvious effect is that you are
automatically well suited to it, and the warrior using it almost always throws more
critical attacks with that weapon than if it wasn't their favorite. That pretty much
gives me the impression it only helps attack. -- Adie
Q.O.W. -- I would be amazed if you would receive +4 in each area for a favorite
weapon. And we do not believe the fave adds to the speed with the weapon. The fave
greatly aids attack and parry, hit %, and ability to hold onto the weapon. And, of
course, criticals increase. -- Kennelworth
Hanibal -- I don't know about specific bonuses for using a favored weapon. However,
I do believe that if your favored weapon is something that you aren't otherwise
suited for (for example, a broadsword for someone lacking the necessary attributes),
you can often get good results by going for a lower version of that weapon. From the
halberd of your example, for instance, "down" to a great axe, or even farther down to
battle axe and then to hatchet. Experiment with them and see what might work. I
have no specific numbers to support this, but it is the impression I've gathered over
the cycles. -- Leeta
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---===FREE BLADES REGIONAL NEWS===---
Duelmasters
-----------
DM 9 ZUKAL (turn 758): THE TALL MAN of BLUE MOON (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 12 RIZTAB (turn 760): AGONY of TORTURED (Iron Maiden, mgr.)
DM 13 DULLENS (turn 750): SMALL FOX of CARDOW HUNTERS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 15 MALCORN (turn 754): GROOVY SIR GRIMM of THE GRAIL KNIGHTS (The Dark One, mgr)
DM 16 WILLAF (turn 756): MISDIAGNOSIS of BASH BROS. DOCTOR (Assurnasirbanipal, mgr)
DM 17 ALJAFIR (turn 747): LEAD BELLY of BODY OF MUSIC (Howlin' Wolf, mgr.)
DM 19 ZUWAYZA (turn 748): MAD DOG RUSSO of MAN OR BEAST? (The Dark One, mgr.)
DM 28 MORYA (turn 376): WATER RAT of LORDS OF DISCIPLINE (Longshot, mgr.)
DM 29 LAPUR (turn 745): YEZURA of THE TAKEN (Stillgard, mgr.)
DM 31 CHIMLEVTAL (turn 374): SEAWEED of BASH BROS OCEAN (Assurnasirbanipal, mgr.)
DM 32 ARVAT (turn 742): NOT FOR HIRE of OTTOMAN EMPIRE (Otto X, mgr.)
DM 33 NIATOLI ISLAND (turn 739): POSITION IS EMPTY
DM 35 MURSKA (turn 731): COLLEEN of CHILDREN OF LLYR (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 43 VEASTIAN (turn 689): PLASTIC MAN of MELODY MAYHEM (Stillgard, mgr.)
DM 45 STORMCROWE (turn 351): PULLED ORC of SHEWISH BUFFET (One Armed Bandit, mgr)
DM 47 NORTH FORK (turn 346): RU BRINGER of LES TURFISTES (Le Pentarque, mgr.)
DM 50 SNOWBOUND (turn 332): KINGU of MESOPOTAMIA (Var, mgr.)
DM 56 ROCANIS (turn 621): SWYTAI of GRIZZLED VETERANS (Dameon Darkheart, mgr.)
DM 60 ARADI (turn 606): CRAYONS of UNNAMEABLES (Howlin' Wolf, mgr.)
DM 61 JURINE (turn 588): CHICKEN POODLE SOUP of CANINE CUISINE
(Alfredo Frothingslosh, mgr.)
DM 65 DAL SHANG (turn 582): GUNSLINGER of POSSE (Hollowshade, mgr.)
DM 73 ERINIKA (turn 281): ENDU ENDU of DUDS (Dudley Do-Right, mgr.)
DM 74 DAYLA KIV (turn 546): TAX MAIL-IN of I HATE TOURNEYS (Crumudgeon, mgr.)
DM 75 JADE MOUNTAIN (turn 537): UNTAMED BERSERKER of CRITICALS (Howlin' Wolf, mgr)
DM 78 LIN TIRIAN (turn 529): SERGEANT 3 of MEDAL OF HONOR Z2 (The Anarchist, mgr.)
ADM 103 FREE BLADES (turn 646): BILBO BAGGINNI of MIDDLE ITALY (The Dark One, mgr.)
Top Teams
---------
DM 9 ZUKAL (turn 758): QUEEN (Howlin' Wolf, mgr.)
DM 12 RIZTAB (turn 760): FANTASTIC FIVE II (?, mgr.)
DM 13 DULLENS (turn 750): ALLITERATE ARMY (Howlin' Wolf, mgr.)
DM 15 MALCORN (turn 754): BLOODSWORN (Hollowshade, mgr.)
DM 16 WILLAF (turn 756): GOLDEN GLADIATORS (Midas, mgr.)
DM 17 ALJAFIR (turn 747): QUEENSRYCHE (Stillgard, mgr.)
DM 19 ZUWAYZA (turn 748): THE MAGNIFICENT MAGS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 28 MORYA (turn 376): LORDS OF DISCIPLINE (Longshot, mgr.)
DM 29 LAPUR (turn 745): POSITION IS EMPTY
DM 31 CHIMLEVTAL (turn 374): BASH BROS OCEAN (Assurnasirbanipal, mgr.)
DM 32 ARVAT (turn 742): SECRET SQUIRRELS (Gentleben, mgr.)
DM 33 NIATOLI ISLAND (turn 739): OBSIDIAN HALL (Dameon Darkheart, mgr.)
DM 35 MURSKA (turn 731): FOOT OF PRIDE (Howlin' Wolf, mgr.)
DM 43 VEASTIAN (turn 689): MELODY MAYHEM (Stillgard, mgr.)
DM 45 STORMCROWE (turn 351): DARQUE FORCES (Master Darque, mgr.)
DM 47 NORTH FORK (turn 345): SHEWISH BUFFET (One Armed Bandit, mgr.)
DM 50 SNOWBOUND (turn 332): MESOPOTAMIA (Var, mgr.)
DM 56 ROCANIS (turn 621): MIDDLE WAY 20 (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 60 ARADI (turn 606): UNNAMEABLES (Howlin' Wolf, mgr.)
DM 61 JURINE (turn 588): CANINE CUISINE (Alfredo Frothingslosh, mgr.)
DM 65 DAL SHANG (turn 582): POSSE (Hollowshade, mgr.)
DM 73 ERINIKA (turn 281): WORLDWIDE GORE (Crip, mgr.)
DM 74 DAYLA KIV (turn 543): I HATE TOURNEYS (Crumudgeon, mgr.)
DM 75 JADE MOUNTAIN (turn 538): SAND DANCERS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 78 LIN TIRIAN (turn 529): SAND DANCERS (Jorja, mgr.)
ADM 103 FREE BLADES (turn 646): DIRT DEVILS et al (The Dark One, mgr.)
Recent Graduates
-----------------
DM 9 ZUKAL (turn 758): THE TALL MAN of BLUE MOON (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 12 RIZTAB (turn 759): PHILLIA FOX of SWEET MAGIC (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 13 DULLENS (turn 749): SIERRA of MMM BEER!! (Khisanth, mgr.)
DM 16 WILLAF (turn 756): BLACK INDEKKER of PUNNY AMINALS (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 17 ALJAFIR (turn 747): LEAD BELLY of BODY OF MUSIC (Howlin' Wolf, mgr.)
DM 28 MORYA (turn 375): TRAVEL of EXPENSE ACCOUNT (Finance Manager, mgr.)
DM 29 LAPUR (turn 745): YEZURA of THE TAKEN (Stillgard, mgr.)
DM 31 CHIMLEVTAL (turn 373): PITCHFORK of USEFUL WEAPONS (Smithy, mgr.)
AMUR of AVENGERS (Huckle Cat, mgr.)
DM 32 ARVAT (turn 741): KID DYNAMITE of STRATEGY, DAMMIT! (Riff-Raff, mgr.)
DM 33 NIATOLI ISLAND (turn 738): HUSTLER of CLASSIC CHARACTERS (Coach, mgr.)
DM 47 NORTH FORK (turn 346): RU BRINGER of LES TURFISTES (Le Pentarque, mgr.)
STING of SERPENTS HOLD 200 (Khisanth, mgr.)
CAPTURED PORK of SHEWISH BUFFET (One Armed Bandit)
ACE HARDWARE of ROYAL FLUSH (Crip, mgr.)
(turn 345): ASTROTRAIN of DARQUE FORCES (Master Darque, mgr.)
DM 50 SNOWBOUND (turn 332): KINGU of MESOPOTAMIA (Var, mgr.)
HAIRY MONSTER of OPEN SESAME (Crip, mgr.)
DM 56 ROCANIS (turn 619): KRAIT of SERPENTS' HOLD (Khisanth, mgr.)
DM 61 JURINE (turn 588): WILLI ZANE of MIDDLE WAY 16 (Jorja, mgr.)
DM 73 ERINIKA (turn 281): F.U.B.A.R. of ALPHABET SOUP (Crip, mgr.)
(turn 280): URSULA ZAROFF of MIDDLE WAY 18 (Jorja, mgr.)
SPY REPORT
Ready for some action-packed adventure, some thrills, chills and spills? Well
fergit it, cause this is the Spyreport for NOBLISH ISLAND. BASH BROS SCUM like
really fought hard to move up to 2nd from 6th. Way to go! Cut this out and put it
in your scrapbooks, PHOENIX GUARD! 'Cause they got 4-1-0 and moved up to 3rd! MVP
award for CONOR PYREHEART? PHOENIX GUARD's proud of him after beating SPARTAN and
getting 20 points. Talk about yer major upsets! SPARTAN's match with CONOR
PYREHEART cost him a loss of 14 points! Our Duelmaster has lost, folks, lost to
VENEMOUS CONCUBINE, BUT AGEHA is still the Duelmaster because he has the most
recognition points! I hear the top team insists all their warriors get nine hours
sleep. They want photogenic fighters for PR photos.
Look, you guys stick to fighting, all right? The warriors of MY 60'S TV must be
getting lonely. They were the most avoided team. Do you guys know something that I
don't? Is there some deep dark secret why BASH BROS SCUM's been avoiding MY 60'S TV
so much? Or is it just that they're too scared? Like, is KOKO BELLA popular, or
what? She was challenged the most in all of NOBLISH ISLAND! She's got a 7-1-0, is
that good? For sure, I was holding my breath when I found out URSUS DRAVEN
challenged KOKO BELLA. After all, haven't TOXIC STORM and THIRD HIGHWAY had a long
standing duel in NOBLISH ISLAND? It wasn't a spectacular fight, or anything, but
KOKO BELLA wants me to write about it since she overcame URSUS DRAVEN. Satisfied?
Man, all these warriors dying and killing each other! Don't you guys ever give
it a break? Hey you guys, don't you think your families would like to hear from you?
Write! (Or have someone write for you.)
Remember, blood on a purple robe may stain. Soak it in cold water, and hand
wash. I know how much you like reading this stuff, but I really should stop.
Remember you guys, ease up sometimes! Chill out! Later, Debby Tonte
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
AGEHA 9613 6 1 0 56 THE SHADOW GUILD (1654)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
KOKO BELLA 9618 7 1 0 33 THIRD HIGHWAY (1642)
JOHN ASAZI 9617 5 3 1 31 THIRD HIGHWAY (1642)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
CONOR PYREHEART 9624 3 3 0 29 PHOENIX GUARD (1655)
RAGE 9628 4 2 0 27 PHOENIX GUARD (1655)
JINN SHAKAR 9653 4 0 0 27 PHOENIX GUARD (1655)
MIGGY OWENS 9621 5 3 1 25 THIRD HIGHWAY (1642)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
LUCKY CHUCKY 9619 4 4 0 20 THIRD HIGHWAY (1642)
HADDYR WOTAN 9647 2 2 1 19 TOXIC STORM (1658)
MODE PARRY 9683 2 0 0 19 BASH BROS SCUM (1663)
RAVEN LEIGH 9648 2 2 0 18 TOXIC STORM (1658)
SPARTAN 9614 5 1 0 16 THE SHADOW GUILD (1654)
KURZAK 9660 3 0 0 16 PHOENIX GUARD (1655)
-BRIENNE 9657 2 0 0 16 DARK LOTUS (1659)
SKY KING 9672 2 0 0 16 MY 60'S TV (1661)
BORING 9681 2 0 0 16 BASH BROS SCUM (1663)
AMERICAN BANDSTAND 9668 1 1 0 15 MY 60'S TV (1661)
-THE RED VIPER 9659 1 1 0 13 DARK LOTUS (1659)
ROOKIES AND DONE 9680 1 1 0 13 BASH BROS SCUM (1663)
AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
-VIOLENT J 9658 2 0 0 11 DARK LOTUS (1659)
-JOSSLYN 9663 1 0 0 11 THE REAPERS (1660)
MICKEY MOUSE CLUB 9669 2 0 0 10 MY 60'S TV (1661)
TERRIBLE ATTACKERS 9682 2 0 0 10 BASH BROS SCUM (1663)
URSUS DRAVEN 9650 1 3 0 10 TOXIC STORM (1658)
MONNA KOPI 9620 1 7 0 10 THIRD HIGHWAY (1642)
FREDDY 9673 1 1 0 10 THE SHADOW GUILD (1654)
-STUMP 9665 1 0 0 10 THE REAPERS (1660)
LA PATRONA 9649 2 2 0 8 TOXIC STORM (1658)
MIKE DRE' 9651 1 3 1 7 TOXIC STORM (1658)
DRAXXUS 9644 1 4 0 7 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
-O'RYAN 9667 1 0 0 6 THE REAPERS (1660)
OARS 9661 1 2 0 5 THE SHADOW GUILD (1654)
PERRY MASON 9670 1 1 0 5 MY 60'S TV (1661)
DO NOTHING 9679 1 1 0 4 BASH BROS SCUM (1663)
SEARRUS 9645 0 4 0 4 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
PERSEPHONE 9642 0 4 0 4 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
AGRISEL 9646 0 4 0 4 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
FURY 9671 0 2 0 2 MY 60'S TV (1661)
ORAK STONEHAVEN 9654 0 2 0 2 THE SHADOW GUILD (1654)
-SHAGGY 2 DOPE 9684 0 1 0 1 DARK LOTUS (1659)
-DUKE 9666 0 1 0 1 THE REAPERS (1660)
-MURDOCH 4696 0 1 0 1 5 ANGRY MEN (806)
-BARON 9664 0 1 0 1 THE REAPERS (1660)
'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
THE UNSULLIED 9655 0 1 0 DARK LOTUS 1659 MIKE DRE' 9651 411
VLAD TALTOS 9656 1 1 0 DARK LOTUS 1659 HADDYR WOTAN 9647 412
ROBERTS 9662 0 2 0 PHOENIX GUARD 1655 MOUNTAIN TROLL 413 NONE
KIRARA 9639 1 1 0 THE SHADOW GUIL 1654 JOHN ASAZI 9617 410 REVENGED
PERSONAL ADS
A salute to Ageha of Shadow Guild, Duelmaster of Noblish Isle. I cannot wait for the
DM Column! -- Ed Sullivan, My 60'S TV
I guess I could whine about Bash Bros big point gain, but rather, I shall say, "Well
done, Assur." -- Ed Sullivan
Scorpio -- How's that alliance doing? Consortium teams have never been in alliances
except for the various Team Games held in different arenas. Good luck. -- Ed
Sullivan
Lots of questions last round. Way to go, guys! I will offer my opinions. -- Ed
Sullivan
Abyss -- There is only one FORMAL favorite weapon given to a warrior at birth.
(Announced when the warrior graduates to ADM.) However some warriors seem to fight
as though they have several faves. Find a weapon which crits more often than most
and your warrior is all set. -- E. S.
Abyss -- An off-hand fave? Nope. Just that one fave mentioned above. -- E. S.
American Infidels -- Differences between AB and PR. (Aimers and rippers) They are
both fine styles and somewhat difficult to learn. We advise neither type for
rookies. However, last turn's newsletter (You should have it as you were here,
right?) had a wonderful spotlight written by Assur all about those styles. Check it
out. -- E. S.
Dark Lotus -- Slaughter Games? There are various types of competition that is
offered in various arenas in D2. Currently Consortium teams are involved in two--
King Of Primus in 102 and The Turf Wars (9th Edition) in 47. Coming up in November
starts the Slaughter Games, hosted by Street Legal, on behalf of his alliance mate
who was murdered tragically some years ago. Enter a team in DM28 and try it. It is
a game of no challenges and avoids and offers some very nice game prizes. It was
spotlighted in the last newsletter in Noblish. -- E. S.
Dark Lotus -- Charts? Ask RSI for the C.I.C. which can be copied to new players in
DM 93. There is a lot of info in it, but you have to ask directly. There is
probably a spotlight on it this turn. -- E. S.
Draxxus -- I flew high all over you! -- Sky King
Ursus Draven -- Shucks. I let you get the best of me! Have to quit horsin' around.
-- Fury
Stump -- What?! You don't like music and dancing? Why did you step all over my
feet? -- American Bandstand
Freddy -- M I C ... K E Y ... M O U S E! (to the proper tune) -- Mickey Mouse Club
Rookies And Done -- I prevented you from making another mistake. Another victory for
me in court! -- Perry Mason
All -- Glad to see so many newbies in Noblish. WELCOME! Ask us questions. You will
learn and enjoy. -- Ed Sullivan
Producer -- I see the coward, The Natural, has left the arena. Easy women? Babe?
We'll catch up with each other again. Know that! -- Raven Leigh
Ursus Draven -- You are not out of all your troubles yet. If you lose this time, the
Dark Arena awaits you. I hope you fully understand this. I need only your silence
as a response. -- American Infidel
Dark Lotus -- Wow. I almost don't know what to say. Two turns, two deaths. I
actually hate that happened that way. But it's all part of being a gladiator, you
know, death. No hard feelings. -- American Infidel
Koko Bella -- I see you are a learned Dwarf. Most people don't see the bear in me.
However, this is one bear you can trust. *wicked smile* I finally won a match. Give
me a few more and I'll test my skills against you again. -- Ursus Draven
Ursus Draven -- You lose again and you won't test anything against anyone. -- La
Patrona
Ursus Draven -- Leave Koko Bella alone. She's much too much woman for you. I've got
my eye on her, though. -- Haddyr Wotan
Haddyr Wotan -- I'm glad you do. Please get me some ice, my head hurts. -- Mike Dre
Mike Dre -- Shut up, loser. See what all that boasting gets you. -- Haddyr Wotan
All -- Vengeance is MINE! -- Mike Dre
Toxic Storm -- Be quiet while I think. I almost have you figured out. -- American
Infidel
All -- I think you veterans get off on making us new managers' lives hell. I do
thank you for the advice that you give. It jus seems to me like after 2,000,000
years of creating warriors, it would give an unfair advantage to you. But it's all
good. All I have is time to learn and kill, learn and kill. Peace. -- American
Infidel
Bash Bros Scum -- 4 and 1 on 1st turn. Impressive. Nice work! How long have you
been doing this? -- American Infidel
Lucky Chucky -- One-two, Freddy's coming for you... He,he,he. -- Freddy
Lord Abyss, Lord Abyss!! Freddy's singing his song and has that demented look in his
eyes and smile! -- Oars
Oh no! -- Dark Stonehaven
I almost feel sorry for the poor bastard... almost. -- Spartan
I'm just glad we're on the same team. -- Ageha
Oh man! You guys come and get me after the carnage. I'm going to get a stiff drink.
They warned me about Freddy when I took him. Oh, well. -- Abyss
Question: The CIC papers mention a lot as far as drawing up a character, but I
notice it only has WIT statements. There's no other form of paperwork that has other
statements, on other areas of the stat sheet documented? I've noticed "statements
under the activity level and speed. How can someone "reach" for those other
statements? Also, I don't understand the example in the CIC about godlings. How
can one try to "build" skills more on the level of a godling? I understand the
computer has something to do with it also, but on my end, what am I to do? ATT skill
= Par+Def skill? I dunno. -- Abyss
The Reapers -- Welcome to Noblish Island. I would like to offer you a test, may you
win many a fight and enemies lay at your feet. -- Abyss
Abyss -- No, each warrior has one favorite weapon. It is great if you can find it,
but not all weapons are equal. Scimitar is considered the best weapon in the game
and even if it isn't your favorite, many warriors will do very well with it. And I
assume (but have never researched it) that using your favorite weapon in your off
hand also gives bonuses. -- Assur
Parry Ripostes versus Aimed Blows?
Well PRs (or Rippers) have a great learning curve for basic Duelmasters, but
they have very low starting skills. They are really picky regarding how they fight.
Changing how you fight them even slightly can dramatically change the way they look
on the sands. They are the traditional bane of strikers, one of the strongest styles
in the early game. Good ones are good. Most of them are not good. Eventually their
low skills catch up with them (lowest defense of any style and 2nd lowest attack of
any style).
ABs when created with 21 deftness have the second highest attack in the game.
Unfortunately, the way they learn typically makes them tough to run in basic. But
additionally, when they use no weapons at all, they get a bonus in defense which
eventually makes them the highest defense in the game (by a long shot). They are THE
premiere style once you hit the upper levels of the game (Advanced Duel). Their high
attack makes them very good at the earliest level of the game, also, and they have a
tendency to tear apart Total Parries. Because you generally use so many points on
deftness, though, you have to sacrifice points somewhere else.
Hope that helps. -- Assur
Lots and lots of advice is given on what style to choose, when to choose it, and even
why. But how to I wade through all this information? Experience will help, but
realize that much of the things you read is simply the opinions and experiences of
other managers. Do offensive warriors have to have high wit? Should I never make a
low will Lunger or Wall of Steel? What about Aimed Blows (with gasp) 3 deftness?
I am very agnostic towards styles. Make what you want when you want. Sure, you
might sacrifice success by doing odd (or even counter-productive) designs and style
choices. But you also might learn something new and exciting. Or <gasp>, you might
just have fun running something unique.
Sure, Strikers, Total Parries, Lungers, and Aimed Blows will give you the best
records over time. But that doesn't mean there isn't a place for other styles. And
there are actually setups that are better made into some of the 'lesser' styles.
HOWEVER... Making a weaker set of statistics into a weaker style is not generally
going to give you the best success. PLs and PSs are pretty hard to win with. Making
guys that aren't that good into these styles does not usually give a better chance at
winning fights. And of the styles I list as the 'stronger' styles, there are designs
that work and don't work for those styles. And there are always, always exceptions.
(Well almost always). -- Assur
Abyss -- No, a warrior cannot have more than one favorite weapon. He may DO WELL
with more than one, he may do better with one other than his favorite, but only one
favorite per warrior. -- Jorja
P.S. No favorite off-hand weapon.
Ursos Draven -- I seem to recall that stamina (endurance) is calculated from CN and
WL, plus a luck factor--or minus a luck factor, as the case might be. There's an
article about it somewhere in the ten-turn repeat cycle, watch for it to come around.
-- Koko Bella
P.S. And good luck. And it would probably help if you kept your fight numbers (OE
and AL) medium to low. High numbers burn endurance.
American Infidel -- Which is better, between the AB and the PR, depends on so many
things! First, what do you mean by "better"? Winning a lot of fights? At this
level of the game, neither is going to be a sure win. They're tricky styles, and in
their early fights (the first dozen or so?) they tend to die. A LOT. At the very
highest level of the game (Primus), which it will take a warrior something like three
years to reach, at least, the current belief is that ABs are better. Since I have no
interest in that level, I can't give you reasons. My personal preference is for the
PR style at the Basic level, because they are somewhat less likely to die out of
hand, and their fights can be fun to read. But I'd take a WS over a PR, for the same
reasons. -- Jorja
Dark Lotus -- The charts can be gotten by asking Customer Service for the CIC packet.
All I know about the Slaughter Games is what was in the ad for it. -- Jorja
And in a complete turn-around from last time, we went four-one today. Never a dull
or predictable moment. -- John Asazi for those out on the Third Highway
Oars -- I know they said you are "well-suited" to that weapon, but I would suggest
you change it anyway. It's slow, and it burns endurance to carry and swing. -- John
Asazi
P.S. Armor helps.
Mike Dre' -- It's rare to see someone carrying one of those weapons, and I don't
think I've even heard of someone using two at the same time. And it's totally weird
that I got the jump; your style should have jumped mine. You might need to raise
your fight numbers. -- Koko Bella
Raven Leigh -- Hmm. Drop the off-hand? Or just bad luck and my greater experience.
Or, of course, both. -- Miggy Owens
Persephone -- There it is again, two of those ridiculous things at the same time!
Was there a sale on them down at the dock when the latest teams landed? Jorja would
have handed you a scimitar and a back-up and let it go at that. -- Lucky Chucky
P.S. But she's partial to scimitars.
Spartan -- Classic style match. -- Monna Kopi
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
ROBERTS was butchered by MOUNTAIN TROLL in a 1 minute bloody Dark Arena fight.
PERRY MASON lost to BORING in a 4 minute beginner's Challenge battle.
FREDDY narrowly defeated DRAXXUS in a 4 minute bloody beginner's Challenge fight.
URSUS DRAVEN slimly lost to KOKO BELLA in a 3 minute gory Challenge fight.
ORAK STONEHAVEN was demolished by LUCKY CHUCKY in a 4 minute Challenge competition.
LA PATRONA was outwaited by MODE PARRY in a 8 minute amateur's Challenge match.
HADDYR WOTAN was overcome by JOHN ASAZI in a 1 minute Challenge fight.
MIKE DRE' was handily defeated by MIGGY OWENS in a 1 minute uneven Challenge melee.
AGEHA was viciously subdued by VENEMOUS CONCUBINE in a 1 minute Title fight.
SPARTAN was defeated by CONOR PYREHEART in a 3 minute fight.
JINN SHAKAR beat OSKSI NOBLE in a 1 minute melee.
RAGE overpowered AGRISEL in a 3 minute brutal one-sided fight.
MONNA KOPI was devastated by RAVEN LEIGH in a 1 minute mismatched conflict.
SEARRUS was savagely defeated by SKY KING in a popular 1 minute amateur's match.
AUTUMNBE overcame FURY in a popular 2 minute beginner's fight.
PERSEPHONE was viciously subdued by KURZAK in a 4 minute brutal beginner's duel.
OARS was unbelievably bested by MICKEY MOUSE CLUB in a 3 minute amateur's brawl.
AMERICAN BANDSTAND savagely defeated DO NOTHING in a 2 minute brutal novice's bout.
ROOKIES AND DONE overpowered MORDANT DESERTER in a 3 minute mismatched conflict.
TERRIBLE ATTACKERS bested CONVICTED THIEF in a 2 minute novice's bout.
BATTLE REPORT
MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|TOTAL PARRY 9 TOTAL PARRY 24 - 16 - 0 60 |
|WALL OF STEEL 8 LUNGING ATTACK 12 - 9 - 0 57 |
|BASHING ATTACK 4 BASHING ATTACK 39 - 30 - 2 57 |
|AIMED BLOW 3 SLASHING ATTACK 19 - 16 - 3 54 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 3 WALL OF STEEL 42 - 39 - 1 52 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 3 STRIKING ATTACK 21 - 24 - 1 47 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 2 PARRY-RIPOSTE 13 - 17 - 0 43 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 2 AIMED BLOW 18 - 24 - 0 43 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 PARRY-STRIKE 6 - 17 - 1 26 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 0 - 0 0 |
Turn 413 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-RIPOSTE 1 - 0 WALL OF STEEL 3 - 5 2 TOTAL PARRY
TOTAL PARRY 7 - 2 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 0 2 STRIKING ATTACK
AIMED BLOW 2 - 1 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 2 1 BASHING ATTACK
SLASHING ATTACK 2 - 1 BASHING ATTACK 0 - 4 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE
STRIKING ATTACK 2 - 1 1 WALL OF STEEL
LUNGING ATTACK 1 - 1 1 AIMED BLOW
1 LUNGING ATTACK
1 SLASHING ATTACK
1 PARRY-STRIKE
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
BASHING ATTACK AGEHA 9613 6 1 0 56 THE SHADOW GUILD (1654)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.
The overall popularity leader is KOKO BELLA 9618. The most popular warrior this turn
was FURY 9671. The ten other most popular fighters were OARS 9661, PERRY MASON 9670,
FREDDY 9673, SPARTAN 9614, KOKO BELLA 9618, CONOR PYREHEART 9624, RAGE 9628, SKY KING
9672, AMERICAN BANDSTAND 9668, and URSUS DRAVEN 9650.
The least popular fighter this week was MODE PARRY 9683. The other ten least popular
fighters were ORAK STONEHAVEN 9654, LUCKY CHUCKY 9619, TERRIBLE ATTACKERS 9682,
ROOKIES AND DONE 9680, DO NOTHING 9679, MICKEY MOUSE CLUB 9669, KURZAK 9660, SEARRUS
9645, MONNA KOPI 9620, and AGRISEL 9646.
Article for Newbies
This here is an article aimed mostly at you new managers to the game out there.
This chart is a consensus of managers on the internet about how they felt each style
fairs against all other styles at the beginning levels of the game. Of course, once
you get ten or so fights under your belt the whole scenario changes and you can throw
this right out the window. But in the meantime, use this chart to help you get a
feel for the game, how the different styles interact with each other and to hopefully
dispel those 5-25 starts that can make you drop the game. Hope this helps you some.
KEY FOR ODDS OF WINNING:
1 - ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE 6 - BETTER THAN EVEN
2 - HARDLY LIKELY 7 - GOOD CHANCE
3 - NOT MUCH 8 - HIGHLY PROBABLE
4 - SLIGHT CHANCE 9 - MOST DEFINATELY
5 - 50/50 10 - ALMOST GUARANTEED
Reminder: Left Row vs Top Column
BA ST LU SL AB TP PS PL PR WS
BA 5 2 6 6 8 9 7 6 5 6
ST 8 5 8 9 9 6 7 5 6 4
LU 4 4 5 6 10 5 7 7 9 6
SL 4 1 5 5 8 6 8 7 8 9
AB 2 2 2 4 5 10 6 6 6 7
TP 3 4 6 4 1 5 7 8 6 5
PS 3 3 3 4 5 4 5 4 5 4
PL 5 4 3 3 6 2 7 5 7 6
PR 7 5 2 2 4 5 6 3 5 4
WS 5 8 6 2 4 6 7 5 6 5
There you have it folks. I would personally like to thank all the managers on the
internet who made a contribution to this effort. You know who you are. Also a big
nod of appreciation goes out to the mighty PUG (Ben Hitz) who organizes and runs the
roundtable and without whose effort little projects like this would prove quite
difficult.
David Gottwald - Magic Man
The Crew - Monuntial (34)
Rocky's Heroes - North Fork (47)
Tragedy Strikes - Andor (57) (inactive)
Natural Born - Illis (59)
Slow & Easy - Aradi (60)
Omega Squadron - Dragonhead (72)
MAKING YOUR CHALLENGES GO THROUGH
First, you need to be sure you are making your challenges correctly.
1. Are you writing down the warrior I.D. number of the warrior you want to
challenge?
2. Is your handwriting clear?
3. Is the warrior you are challenging within range of your warrior? Warriors
can challenge within their own class and the next higher class, plus the "Challenger"
classes can also challenge the next lower class. So, an Adept can challenge Adepts
and Challenger Adepts. A Challenger Adept can challenge Adepts, Challenger Adepts,
and Champions. (Try not to challenge down, though. Besides being unsportsmanlike and
making everyone mad, it isn't advantageous to your warriors. They need to fight more
experienced warriors so they will learn.)
4. Are your warriors eligible to make challenges? If they didn't fight within
the last two turns, then they can't challenge.
5. Are the warriors they want to fight eligible to receive challenges? If they
didn't fight within the last two turns, then they can't be challenged.
Next, adjust your choices for the maximum likelihood of getting your challenges.
There are several things that will help:
1. Have each of your warriors challenge two different opponents from two
different teams. That way, if the first opponent's team doesn't fight that turn, you
still might get your second challenge.
2. Use your avoids. Have each warrior avoid the teams of whoever you think
might be likely to challenge him. If you can get out of being challenged, that
increases your chance of getting your own challenge through.
3. Don't challenge warriors who didn't fight last turn. The odds are higher
that they won't be fighting this turn.
4. Don't challenge warriors who might be involved in a bloodfeud (either as the
killers, or the avengers). A bloodfeud challenge has priority over all other
challenges.
5. Don't challenge Tournament Victors. A TV challenge has priority over all
other challenges except bloodfeuds. You'll need to do a little research in back
issues of the newsletter to find out who the TVs are.
6. Don't challenge warriors who you know are going to challenge someone else, or
are going to get challenged by someone else. Your challenge has a better chance of
getting through if it is the only challenge to that particular warrior.
7. Don't challenge the "easy pickings." That is, warriors above you who have
way too few fights or very bad records for where they are ranked. They will tend to
get challenged a lot.
8. Don't challenge warriors who are likely to be avoiding your team. This
includes any warrior your team fought within the last two turns.
Well, it sounds like I've eliminated just about everybody, doesn't it? Of course
you can challenge opponents who fit into one or more of those categories; just try to
find ones who don't. Your idea candidate for a challenge is: A warrior ranked
somewhat above your warrior in the same class, or in the next higher class, with a few
more fights than your warrior, and a winning record, who isn't a TV and isn't
currently at war with anyone.
I hope this will be of some help to you.
The Rogue She-Puppy
MAXIMIZING THE DUELMASTERS EXPERIENCE: WHAT THE RULES DIDN'T SAY
When you get your turn results in the mail it is very important that you squeeze
as much enjoyment as possible out of that envelope! I recommend (and also use!) the
following procedures.
First, open the envelope lengthwise with a letter opener. Remove the blue-sheet
BUT DON'T LOOK AT IT! It may tell you that you are broke and owe RSI a lot of money.
Flip it over instead! The blue-sheet will be used as a "hider" when you read the
fight results line by line, so you don't see the end of the fight by mistake and ruin
the excitement.
Remove the rest of the sheets in one smooth maneuver and place the flipped-over
blue-sheet on top of the pile, without looking at anything. You don't want to
accidentally uncover an unexpected replacement rollup. This is a traumatic experience
that should be avoided at all costs, as it indicates that one of your battles didn't
go exactly as planned.
Now you must prepare your room, or whever you are, for the battles. If you are
suicidal, or a lousy manager, or a suicidally lousy manager, remove all sharp objects
from the area. If you happen to manage an entire team of scummy warriors it is okay
to leave a loaded musket nearby.
The next step is to put on music. It definitely adds to the experience to have
your favorite tunes playing in the background, preferably AS LOUD AS YOU CAN GET AWAY
WITH! I christen each new warrior with a song that is his and his alone, and play
that song whenever it is his turn upon the sands. It is a personal choice but I
recommend Judas Priest, Manowar or Metallica. Avoid Abba and Barry Manilow (like I
had to say it). It is also important to match the song length with the expected
length of the fight. Don't choose "The Immigrant Song" for your 21-con Ultra-Scum.
Likewise, don't choose "Stairway to Heaven" for your quick lunger. Finally, sometimes
it is nice to choose an exceptionally violent alternate selection for those
Bloodfeuds.
Now you are almost ready! The final preparatory step (optional) is to prepare a
pot of coffee. Beer also works well, especially on Fridays, but I understand that
some managers are not Well-Suited to that particular beverage. I've heard the Duke
Malibu in Solven drinks goat blood, but mind you this is only a rumor. For the final
touch, try putting on any handy armor you have. Or a loin-cloth. I put on most of my
hockey gear.
The fights are on! The music is loud! The coffee is good! Read the fights
slowly, line by line using your blue-sheet as a guide. Don't go too fast, now. Yell,
"Yeah!" if your warrior scores an especially gruesome hit. Cringe if your warrior
feels the joys of a great axe connecting with his face (that means you, Marilith).
Raise your fist in the air when that total parry realizes that his last shield has
broken! And cry when your favorite gladiator is gravely injured and then takes ten
consecutive war hammer shots to the head...
When the end of the fight comes you will be emotionally drained, so yell out,
"Huzzah!!!" or "Damnnn!!!" or whatever, to take the edge off. When the fighting is
ended take a breather before preparing for the next cycle's fights. Reflect on what
has transpired and make a few notes. You'll be a better person (and manager) for it!
Isn't Duelmasters great?
Brought to you by ICE (the deranged): DM-49 (Vithicar) Rotting Livers (205)
DM-10 (Kolact) Beermacht
DM-22 (Solven) Steel Warriors
DM-24 (Zorpunt) No Escape
Winning With the Average Warrior
Hi! The Master of Anime here... Yeah, yeah, I know, you're all doing a
collective, "Who the Hell is this character?" Well, my claim to fame, if you can call
it that, is that I run Eve, one of the more popular, if not completely unspectacular,
warriors to fight in Alastari. I am a micro-manager (you've heard of mega-managers?
Well, think in reverse) who has been mainly running only one team during my 8+ years
of Duelmasters. This little write-up is aimed towards the less experienced managers,
the ones that can be brainwashed from some of the "How to build the perfect
warrior..." spotlights that tend to appear from time to time.
Many of the "How to build..." spotlights tend to deal with roll-ups that are
quite ideal, but in reality, rarely come out of RSI's number crunching machine,
commonly referred to as "the Roll-Up Gods". There have been a few good articles on
how to design skillful warriors from 'average' roll-ups. Those articles, in my
opinion, are the most helpful to new managers for the simple fact that you will almost
always get an 'average' roll-up. Occasionally, that 'average' roll-up might turn out
to be something special, and that is what I would like to key in on.
I know a lot of managers who will continually DA their warriors until they get
something that is as close to perfect as possible. You know, the warrior with three
or four 17s or the warrior with a couple of 21s or that size 3 or 4 warrior, etc...
If you are a relatively new manager and you are also doing this, I think you are
missing out on one of the more intriguing aspects of this game and that is warrior
development.
Being a micro-manager, I do not have an army of warriors like the mega-managers
do, but I'd like to think that I can hold my own against them (hey, if you're gonna
dream, dream big). Anyway, back to the point. One of my 'average' warriors seems to
have achieved a form of notoriety in Advanced Duelmasters to the extent that even the
ever quiet Mirage (manager of Donatello) has had something to say (it was at the last
Tempe FTF and my warrior, at the end of the 6th or 7th round, was listed as the top
Primus warrior on the tourney list.) Mirage pointed at my warrior on the list and
said, "That, is embarrassing..." I took it as a compliment. In case you're
wondering, my warrior is Akira (the reason I'm writing this article is that I've been
approached many times of late by managers who wanted to see Akira's numbers, thinking
he had some sort of godlike roll-up. I set them straight).
I'm not going to print Akira's numbers in this article for the main reason that I
don't have them with me at this time (it'll probably tick-off a lot of managers whose
warriors Akira has beaten anyway), but I do know this... he has about 30 attribute
increases and only one attribute is in the 20's, that one being WL (he even got gypped
by not getting some skills that you normally think he'd get by raising WL up the
20's). He won't be getting another attribute above 20 for a long, long time. (I
think his next highest attribute is 17... note that this is after the 30 or so
increases...) You should have a pretty good idea how generic this roll-up is... a
roll-up that would probably be DA'd by most managers looking for a good roll-up... a
roll-up that I even said, "I'll run him for kicks, but will probably retire him once
he gets to AD."... a roll-up that entered AD with a less-than-stellar 14-10 record...
a roll-up currently on a 20 fight win streak... a roll-up with three consecutive
Primus TVs.
So, before you give up on that average warrior, think again about giving him a
chance to flourish... he might suprise you as Akira has surprised me. Good luck in
the arena!
M.A., a proud member of GAPPDA
P.S. If you want to know Akira's original roll-up, diplo Anime Legends (Arena 102,
104).
P.P.S. Swift -- We GAPPDA members are NOT slugs!!! At least, I don't think we are...
TWELVE TIPS
A rookie manager asked me a question recently which prompted my "teaching juices"
to flow. I quote: "Just give me a dozen hints, and I'll leave you alone!" Obviously,
his challenge prompted me to organize my thought creating my Twelve Tips.
"Now wait a minute!" I hear you asking. "Why should I read on?" Simply put:
-- If you're an experience manager, you'll want to "clue me in" on other valuable tips
I missed.
-- If you're a "newbie," these tips will enhance your W-L record and compound your
fun.
"But, are they GOOD tips?" you ask. Believe me, fellow opponents, after 5000+
fights, dozens of "tutored pupils," many A.D. warriors, and a rather lofty W-L record,
they're GOOD tips. So here we go, in no particular order.
(I) ASK FOR HELP--Ask RSI about the Sponsor Program. Diplo "good" managers in your
arena. Proclaim your willingness to learn in a personal ad. You'll get some
conversation.
(II) OFFENSIVES FIRST--This is not an easy game, and the basher, lunger, striker can
be readily designed and more easily "mastered." (Whatever that means.) Avoid the most
difficult finessives, such as aimers (AB), rippers (PR), and probably wastes (WS).
Get some confidence first! Most of us old-timers yet struggle with a good aimed-blow.
(III) SKILLS, SKILLS, SKILLS--One of the most prevalent rookie errors is training too
many stats. Skills win fights, and in the long run, you will regret certain stat
raises.
(IV) COLLECT DATA--The more you know about your own warrior (And even with the same
stats, warriors differ) and the more you know about your opponents, the more likely
you can cause something "good" to happen. In the military/political world, we call
this "intelligence." (Clue: ask about a D.M. handbook filled with info.)
(V) PERSONAL ADS--Don't be a jerk! But write some every time. Let me assure you that
an unliked rookie cannot succeed in an arena against the local "Powers-in-control."
You want to create friendly opponents. (When you know what you're doing--then you can
try the jerk routine!)
(VI) TURN SHEET--Accuracy counts. Fill it out perfectly (and legibly) pal! Know what
each section is for. (Reread the instructions.) Many have been the surprised and
frustrated manager who caused his or her own problem! (Even us "megas" blow it now and
then!)
(VII) NO CON--Don't ever (well maybe 1% of the time) add points to constitution on an
offensive rollup. Other attributes may add skills; con won't. (Just wait until you
hear someone shout never add to con--ever. I didn't say that.)
(VIII) ONE WEAPON--For offensives. When you get to finesse styles, you'll understand
why you may want one in your off-hand also. But, almost always carry a backup. (Hands
can be hurt both striking and defending.)
(IX) CHALLENGE/AVOID--Always! A manager's prime purpose is to optimize his warrior's
chances. Challenge those you'll have a good shot at beating and avoid teams who can
cause you the most difficulties. (Challenge warriors--avoid teams.)
(X) ENTER TOURNAMENTS--What a way to acquire skills and experience without impacting
your arena W-L record. Actually, you will create a positive impact in that those
"tournament earnings" are "hidden" from other arena warriors. Plus, tournaments are a
real "rush!"
(XI) FIND A FRIEND--In every arena find at least one "friendly" foe. Share opponent
info. With two, or more, of you sharing, look how much more "intelligence" you'll
have.
(XII) STAY COOL--Don't let any problem (loss, death, personal ad, error, etc.) anger
you. (This is fun, right?) The cool head wins more matches than the emotional one.
So good luck, rookie! We were all in your shoes once. (And for some of us that
was a long, long time ago.)
THE CONSORTIUM
DM 8 Smithsonian (Curator)
DM 11 Bulldogs (Kennelworth)
DM 20 Animal Farm (Mino)
DM 46 Fandils (Fandil the Wise)
(and many, many more)