DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER Date : 12/13/2014 Duedate: 12/26/2014 NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA DM-93 TURN-418 This Weeks Top Honors THE DUELMASTER IS FURY MY 60'S TV (1661) (93-9671) [4-3-0,50] Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader POSITION IS EMPTY FURY MY 60'S TV (1661) (93-9671) [4-3-0,50] Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite THE RED VIPER BRIENNE DARK LOTUS (1659) DARK LOTUS (1659) (93-9659) [2-5-0,23] (93-9657) [6-1-0,43] THE CURRENT TOP TEAM EINHERJAR (1665) TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team 1. GREMORY DEVILS (1667) 36 2. GOAT'S HAI-5 (1669) 26 BANE'S CHILDREN (235) 3. MY 60'S TV (1661) 19 Unchartered Team 4. KULLISAARS (1670) 17 5. DARK LOTUS (1659) 15 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*LUDUS VIRTUS (1668) 4 1 1 80.0 1/ 3*EINHERJAR (1665) 10 4 1 2/ 3*BASH BROS SCUM (1663) 25 10 1 71.4 2/ 1*BASH BROS SCUM (1663) 9 6 0 3/ 2*EINHERJAR (1665) 10 4 1 71.4 3/ 2*DARK LOTUS (1659) 8 7 2 4/ 4*MY 60'S TV (1661) 21 14 0 60.0 4/ 5*MY 60'S TV (1661) 8 7 0 5/ 0*GOAT'S HAI-5 (1669) 3 2 0 60.0 5/ 6*THIRD HIGHWAY (1642) 7 8 0 6/ 9*GREMORY DEVILS (1667) 5 5 0 50.0 6/ 9*GREMORY DEVILS (1667) 5 5 0 7/ 5*THIRD HIGHWAY (1642) 7 8 0 46.7 7- 7*LUDUS VIRTUS (1668) 4 1 1 8/ 7*DARK LOTUS (1659) 16 19 2 45.7 8/ 0*GOAT'S HAI-5 (1669) 3 2 0 9/ 8*THE BRAIN BUSTERS (1671) 3 4 1 42.9 9/ 8*THE BRAIN BUSTERS (1671) 3 4 1 10/ 0*KULLISAARS (1670) 2 3 0 40.0 10/ 0*KULLISAARS (1670) 2 3 0 11/ 0*TEAM NIETZCHEAN (1614) 2 4 1 33.3 11-10*TOXIC STORM (1658) 1 9 1 12-10*TOXIC STORM (1658) 11 29 3 27.5 12- 0*THE HEATHENS (1664) 0 4 0 13- 0*THE HEATHENS (1664) 0 4 0 0.0 13/ 0*TEAM NIETZCHEAN (1614) 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 IMPROVE THE W/L RECORD or TIPS FOR WINNING Your warriors are putting up a good fight, but just can't seem to win? Perhaps this list of seventeen Consortium actions can help 1. Always challenge and avoid. Use the challenge and if-challenged strategies on your strategy sheet to manipulate fights in your favor. 2. Challenge warriors you have beaten before and styles your warrior has the advantage with. (E.g. AB challenge TP, TP challenge LU, ST challenge SL, SL challenge LU, etc). Take advantage of bloodfeuds to enhance challenges. 3. Avoid teams who seem to regularly beat you and teams with nearby warriors with styles which have an advantage over your warrior. Avoid the team that just beat you last fight. 4. Make your warrior do what his style does best. (e.g. STs get the jump, LUs dodge, TPs parry, etc) 5. Use high CN to your advantage by soaking hits and then hitting a worn down opponent. 6. Pay attention to where an opponent is aiming his attacks and protect that location on subsequent fights. 7. "Pick on" warriors with less skill, less experience, or lots of losses. 8. Pay attention to fight history in your arena. Know which are tournament warriors, sandbaggers, etc with hidden FE. (Fight experience.) These warriors are likely highly skilled compared to your normal arena warrior. Stay clear of them. 9. Use tactics appropriately - Decise to help you get the jump, Dodge to help you avoid being hit, Slash or Bash to hit harder, Parry to focus on parry, Response to counter known decise users. 10. Dress appropriately - naked is faster/quicker, plated is most protected and sponges best but slower. Do not overdress and excessively encumber your warrior's ability to carry and endure. 11. Watch fights carefully to find a favored weapon - one which you crit often with or which you get lots of extra value hits. Use that weapon and those similar to it. 12. Know your opposing manager's styles and methods. Try to fight weaker managers and avoid those who just seem to win lots. 13. If your warrior is in a difficult spot in the rankings/arena listing, sit him out. Don't fight if you do not have a good chance to win. (e.g., your 5 FE warrior has jumped way up in the rankings and is surrounded by much more experienced warriors, or your scum TP is surrounded by aimed-blows, etc) 14. Phone a friend. Ask for help or advice. The right helpful person is likely to want to help you succeed. 15. Try to manipulate your fight so you match with an NPC. 16. Send your warrior to tournaments. Gets hidden FE on his record and up his skill/stat level unbeknownst to those paying little attention. 17. Pay attention to fighting in your arena. Know whom is using strategies set on maintenance and take advantage of it by challenging and adjusting your strategies to beat them. Ed Sullivan, Consortium affiliated + ]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. SPY REPORT Ready for some action-packed adventure, some thrills, chills and spills? Well fergit it, cause this is the Spyreport for NOBLISH ISLAND. Like, BASH BROS SCUM had to be so embarrassed when they got kicked off #1 spot by EINHERJAR! Way to go EINHERJAR! The guys at GREMORY DEVILS like really pulled together to get a 3-2-0 this turn, moving up by 3. One team deserves special mention 'cause they moved up 1 after going 4-1-0. Keep it up, MY 60'S TV! MVP award for VIOLENT J? DARK LOTUS' proud of him after beating HERGER and getting 16 points. Talk about yer major upsets! QUINCY JONES' match with ASTRID cost him a loss of 10 points! Was that a tear I saw in FURY's eye, as he took over Duelmastership? And wasn't BORING fit to be tied! Is the Duelmaster really being a real snob to his teammates? Don't ask me! AAARRGH!!! I HATE SPYREPORTING!!! Sorry. I just had to say it. TOXIC STORM was the most avoided team. Is a 11-29-3 record really that scary? Is there some deep dark secret why DARK LOTUS' been avoiding TOXIC STORM so much? Or is it just that they're too scared? Can BASH BROS SCUM's TERRIBLE ATTACKERS be more popular than me? He was challenged the most, but is that really the same? See if I ever talk to THE RED VIPER again! TALLAHASSE MOON was so low when He challenged he. Hhmph! If THE RED VIPER can't beat a warrior 21 points below himself, that he CHALLENGED, he oughtta be selling food in the stands! Challenges, revenges, Bloodfeuds. All NOBLISH ISLAND ever talks about is fighting! Me, I'm more laid back. I was SO depressed when I heard HERGER got killed. He was just a kid, and didn't get a fair chance in NOBLISH ISLAND, or anything! Fight, fight, fight. Is that all you guys can do? I really didn't, you know, study when I was a kid. Who would've guessed I'd be a famous Spyreporter? 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 FURY 9671 4 3 0 50 MY 60'S TV (1661) ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME BRIENNE 9657 6 1 0 43 DARK LOTUS (1659) CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME -RAVEN LEIGH 9648 3 5 1 33 TOXIC STORM (1658) ASTRID 9696 3 0 1 32 EINHERJAR (1665) VIOLENT J 9658 5 2 2 31 DARK LOTUS (1659) ROLLO 9694 2 1 0 29 EINHERJAR (1665) TERRIBLE ATTACKERS 9682 6 1 1 28 BASH BROS SCUM (1663) TALLAHASSE MOON 9727 2 1 0 27 THIRD HIGHWAY (1642) BORING 9681 6 1 0 26 BASH BROS SCUM (1663) INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME THE RED VIPER 9659 2 5 0 23 DARK LOTUS (1659) RIAS GREMORY 9704 2 0 0 23 GREMORY DEVILS (1667) MODE PARRY 9683 5 2 0 22 BASH BROS SCUM (1663) DO NOTHING 9679 4 3 0 21 BASH BROS SCUM (1663) YUUTO KIBA 9707 2 0 0 21 GREMORY DEVILS (1667) -CHUCKUS NORICUS 9711 1 0 0 20 LUDUS VIRTUS (1668) MICKEY MOUSE CLUB 9669 5 2 0 17 MY 60'S TV (1661) SHAGGY 2 DOPE 9684 1 5 0 16 DARK LOTUS (1659) ROOKIES AND DONE 9680 4 3 0 15 BASH BROS SCUM (1663) ACEOTIS 9729 2 0 1 15 THE BRAIN BUSTERS (1671) ROCHESTER KING 9725 2 1 0 15 THIRD HIGHWAY (1642) -ODIN THORSEN 9377 1 0 1 15 TEAM NIETZCHEAN (1614) YUMI-KAI GIRL 9714 1 0 0 15 GOAT'S HAI-5 (1669) PERRY MASON 9670 3 4 0 13 MY 60'S TV (1661) -MIKE DRE' 9651 2 6 1 13 TOXIC STORM (1658) -HADDYR WOTAN 9647 2 6 1 13 TOXIC STORM (1658) -AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) -URSUS DRAVEN 9650 2 6 0 12 TOXIC STORM (1658) LAETHA 9693 2 1 0 11 EINHERJAR (1665) QUINCY JONES 9724 2 1 0 11 THIRD HIGHWAY (1642) DREWSKI 9731 1 1 0 11 THE BRAIN BUSTERS (1671) SVEN 9734 1 0 0 11 EINHERJAR (1665) BATMAN 9736 1 1 0 11 MY 60'S TV (1661) -TEMPUS 9708 1 0 0 10 LUDUS VIRTUS (1668) -REMUS 9710 1 0 0 10 LUDUS VIRTUS (1668) OUTER LIMITS 9735 2 0 0 9 MY 60'S TV (1661) STONG BELWAS 9685 1 4 0 9 DARK LOTUS (1659) TAMAGRAMAFLU 9722 1 0 0 9 KULLISAARS (1670) -DRAXXUS 9644 1 4 0 7 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME -ROMULUS 9712 1 0 1 6 LUDUS VIRTUS (1668) GASPER VLADI 9706 1 1 0 6 GREMORY DEVILS (1667) SARATOGA LEE 9726 1 2 0 5 THIRD HIGHWAY (1642) KYGOMAI-LOVEGRL 9717 1 0 0 5 GOAT'S HAI-5 (1669) EL GUARDO 9720 1 0 0 5 KULLISAARS (1670) FREYA SIGURSDOTTER 9373 1 1 0 4 TEAM NIETZCHEAN (1614) PINK-YOMI GIRL 9715 1 0 0 4 GOAT'S HAI-5 (1669) -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) AKENO HIMEJUMA 9705 0 2 0 3 GREMORY DEVILS (1667) ISSEI HYOUDOU 9703 0 2 0 2 GREMORY DEVILS (1667) -LADY SANDSTORM 9723 0 2 0 2 TOXIC STORM (1658) SANGO-GOTH GIRL 9713 0 1 0 1 GOAT'S HAI-5 (1669) -MORGUE-FILLER 9691 0 1 0 1 THE HEATHENS (1664) -HEL FRIGGASDOTTER 9376 0 1 0 1 TEAM NIETZCHEAN (1614) -SIF FRIGGASDOTTER 9374 0 1 0 1 TEAM NIETZCHEAN (1614) SUBLIME MAX 9718 0 1 0 1 KULLISAARS (1670) -DRUTUS REX 9709 0 1 0 1 LUDUS VIRTUS (1668) -SIX FOOT DOWN 9689 0 1 0 1 THE HEATHENS (1664) -WIDOW-MAKER 9688 0 1 0 1 THE HEATHENS (1664) BERYLLIOSIS 9719 0 1 0 1 KULLISAARS (1670) VERMONT OLSON 9738 0 1 0 1 THIRD HIGHWAY (1642) TOMASTICUS 9721 0 1 0 1 KULLISAARS (1670) '-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn. THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge? HERGER 9692 2 1 0 EINHERJAR 1665 VIOLENT J 9658 418 THJALFI 9695 0 1 0 EINHERJAR 1665 VIOLENT J 9658 416 REVENGED HARI-YUKU GIRL 9716 0 1 0 GOAT'S HAI-5 1669 ACEOTIS 9729 418 AMERICAN BANDSTA 9668 2 3 0 MY 60'S TV 1661 ASTRID 9696 416 SKY KING 9672 4 1 0 MY 60'S TV 1661 RAVEN LEIGH 9648 416 B TWO 9733 0 1 0 THE BRAIN BUSTE 1671 ROMULUS 9712 417 PERSONAL ADS Ed Sullivan -- Despite being a wonderful TV presence, 56.7% is grounds for dismissal. Put out or get out. -- The Consortium Elders Tempus -- You put the heat on me. A salute to your talent and the win. -- Batman Batman came back blessed in damage, endurance, and attack, but he has to swing to do any good. So, how about some BIFF, BAM, POW, Batman? -- Ed Sullivan Issei Hyoudou -- Be careful what weapons you select and don't go beyond your limits. -- Outer Limits P.S. But keep on letting me win. Boring -- I can sing and dance but I cannot be as boring as you. Phbbtt! -- Mickey Mouse Cub Neigh! Shucks! I lost to the Venemous Concubine? She certainly wasn't the mare I thought she was! -- Fury Rookies And Done -- Maybe you should drop the "Rookies And"? It felt mighty, mighty good to win that case. -- Perry Mason Congratulations to The Red Viper for the TV. Wow! Well done! -- Ed Sullivan To use the TV to get priority challenging in DM simply write and circle BF in front of your challenge on the strategy sheet. It lasts for six months. You will be glad you did. -- Ed Sullivan All hail Ageha, a fine, fine Duelmaster. Good luck wherever you go. -- Ed Sullivan P.S. DM11 it is? Say "hello" to our friend Kennelworth and The Bulldogs there. Dark Lotus -- I am always glad to answer your questions. But maybe YOU should answer mine as YOU got the TV for DM93. Kudos! Adding to the GC Lackey's answer last turn, BLOODGAMES are held each Face-To-Face. There are typically two versions of the game. One, a mailer, that anyone can "mail in" and participate purely by mail and with one strategy. The other Bloodgames are only for participants (or proxies) at the actual FTF. It does allow strategy changes and bloodfeuds each round. A manager could participate in BOTH. -- Ed Sullivan Dark Lotus -- Tournaments are held quarterly and are announced, albeit a little last minute, in the newsletters. Jan FTF (in Tempe, almost always the w/e prior to MLK Holiday), Apr MAILER (usually early April or on tax payment w/e), July FTF (east of the Mississippi and changed annually, around the 2nd or 3rd w/e in July), and Oct MAILER (usually a Halloween w/e or even early Nov w/e). Hope this helps. -- Ed Sullivan Assur -- Have I told you lately that I hate you and that you, you dirty, rotten cretin, are going to get me fired? Grrrrr. -- Ed Sullivan American Infidel -- No, the dead Sky King did not think Raven L. was an easy woman. Certainly she must have thought he was an easy and worthless TV show! -- Ed Sullivan Am. Infidel -- All I know about Scorpio's alliance is what little I have read in the newsletters. My friends in Aruak City (DM11) are trying to figure it out, too. If you hear more, let me know, please. -- Ed Sullivan Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all. May wonderful years of life be ahead of you. -- Ed Sullivan, The 60s TV Gang, and Consortiumites everywhere All -- Please explain the "Accuracy%" for each skill area for each fighting style under the Bagman2 skill chart in the CIC packet. In other words, what does the 97 in att across for striker imply--expecially since a striker loses 12 attack skills as a "style modifier"?!? Also, what do the numbers under the number sign (#) show? All -- I am attempting to keep track of how well my warriors do at different OEs and ALs, but but when I am sent desperate in the middle of one minute (say minute 2), then get a "sent desperate" statement again in say minute 4 I cannot figure out which OEs and OAs taht warrior was using in minute 3!!! In other words, how can one tell when one's warrior is no longer IN desperation?!? Thanks for your clarification. -- The Professor When a minute ends and there is a new minute header, your desperation shuts off until you are sent there again. Perry Mason -- I'm not worried about Della. I'll call you. I believe I have your number. Right? -- Brienne Mike Dre -- The Unsullied meant nothing to us. We came back for you simply because we can. -- The Ringmater of the Dark Carnival Lady Sandstorm -- Now you are my kind of lady. -- Astrid Violent J -- My little brother was an impulsive sort. I always knew it would lead him to a bloody end. But I consider the matter settled now. -- Rollo Utah Neal -- A minor mistake of weapon. But I thank you for the advice. -- Laetha Ursus Draven -- Thank you for the lovely bout. It was worthy of song. -- Herger Abyss -- ??? In the last fifteen years, I have averaged maybe one hundred thirty fights per week. That's, hmm, maybe one hundred thousand fights, more or less. I'm lucky to remember a fight for fifteen MINUTES, and usually no longer than it takes me to write a personal about it or decide not to write a personal. It's also impossible for me to rank fights against each other. I just don't read the fights that way. Maybe it's a gender difference. -- Jorja We salute the tourney participants, with a special nod for The Red Viper, tourney victor. -- Jorja and those on the Third Highway Two-three and a death. Damn. Okay, a little closer look-- Red Viper -- Though you don't need improvements, Jorja says I should mention that if you attack a leg, you can often win with a knock-down and greatly reduce the risk of killing. -- Tallahasse Moon Strong Belwas -- Hmm. I wouldn't call a four-minute fight "slim" either way, but eh. This looks like a simple case of "you did good, but I did better." There are days like that. -- Quincy Jones Oars -- Cheese louise, guy! I wouldn't shave for YOU even if I hadn't died. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, it's easy to kill with a halbard because it's so damned heavy. -- Ghost of Utah Neal Haddyr Wotan -- That wasn't luck, it was my masculine superiority. Well, and possibly the disorientation of you being so far from home. I don't think I've heard of a Plainsman in the arena system since dm 76 shut down. Are you an outcast? -- Rochester King, just curious Freddy -- You hairy little (mutter grumble). -- Saratoga Lee LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS BRIENNE bested TERRIBLE ATTACKERS in a crowd pleasing 5 minute Challenge fight. THE RED VIPER was narrowly defeated by TALLAHASSE MOON in a 2 minute Challenge melee. VIOLENT J viciously butchered HERGER in a crowd pleasing 5 minute Challenge brawl. SHAGGY 2 DOPE was defeated by ROLLO in a 2 minute Challenge match. BATMAN devastated ISSEI HYOUDOU in a 1 minute uneven Challenge brawl. OUTER LIMITS defeated SARATOGA LEE in a 4 minute novice's Challenge struggle. ASTRID handily defeated QUINCY JONES in a 1 minute uneven Challenge fight. STONG BELWAS lost to ROCHESTER KING in a popular 6 minute beginner's Challenge duel. FURY won victory over BORING in a popular 1 minute Title duel. DO NOTHING defeated DREWSKI in a action packed 5 minute match. ROOKIES AND DONE outlasted CONVICTED THIEF in a tiresome 7 minute fight. PERRY MASON was demolished by YUUTO KIBA in a 1 minute mismatched competition. MICKEY MOUSE CLUB outwaited AKENO HIMEJUMA in a exciting 8 minute battle. MODE PARRY devastated OSKSI NOBLE in a 5 minute mismatched bout. FREYA SIGURSDOTTER was handily defeated by YUMI-KAI GIRL in a 3 minute uneven fight. LAETHA was defeated by RIAS GREMORY in a 2 minute beginner's struggle. GASPER VLADI overcame SUBLIME MAX in a 3 minute bloody amateur's bout. ACEOTIS butchered HARI-YUKU GIRL in a 1 minute one-sided fight. TOMASTICUS was subdued by PINK-YOMI GIRL in a tiresome 3 minute novice's bout. TAMAGRAMAFLU defeated PERSISTANT BEGGAR in a unpopular 4 minute amateur's conflict. EL GUARDO savagely defeated VERMONT OLSON in a 4 minute brutal beginner's fight. BERYLLIOSIS was beaten by KYGOMAI-LOVEGRL in a 3 minute gruesome beginner's fray. SVEN devastated SANGO-GOTH GIRL in a 2 minute one-sided 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 44 - 23 - 1 66 | |STRIKING ATTACK 7 AIMED BLOW 28 - 15 - 3 65 | |AIMED BLOW 6 PARRY-LUNGE 3 - 2 - 0 60 | |SLASHING ATTACK 5 LUNGING ATTACK 15 - 11 - 0 58 | |PARRY-RIPOSTE 4 STRIKING ATTACK 28 - 23 - 1 55 | |BASHING ATTACK 4 SLASHING ATTACK 19 - 18 - 2 51 | |PARRY-STRIKE 3 BASHING ATTACK 26 - 30 - 3 46 | |LUNGING ATTACK 3 PARRY-RIPOSTE 10 - 14 - 0 42 | |PARRY-LUNGE 1 WALL OF STEEL 20 - 35 - 1 36 | |WALL OF STEEL 1 PARRY-STRIKE 8 - 18 - 2 31 | Turn 418 was great if you Not so great if you used The fighting styles of the used the fighting styles: the fighting styles: top eleven warriors are: PARRY-LUNGE 1 - 0 SLASHING ATTACK 2 - 3 3 STRIKING ATTACK AIMED BLOW 5 - 1 LUNGING ATTACK 1 - 2 3 AIMED BLOW PARRY-STRIKE 2 - 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 - 3 2 TOTAL PARRY TOTAL PARRY 6 - 3 BASHING ATTACK 1 - 3 1 SLASHING ATTACK STRIKING ATTACK 4 - 3 WALL OF STEEL 0 - 1 1 BASHING ATTACK 1 LUNGING ATTACK TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME STRIKING ATTACK FURY 9671 4 3 0 50 MY 60'S TV (1661) Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above. The overall popularity leader is THE RED VIPER 9659. The most popular warrior this turn was BRIENNE 9657. The ten other most popular fighters were VIOLENT J 9658, SARATOGA LEE 9726, STONG BELWAS 9685, DREWSKI 9731, AKENO HIMEJUMA 9705, THE RED VIPER 9659, FURY 9671, SVEN 9734, TALLAHASSE MOON 9727, and ASTRID 9696. The least popular fighter this week was ROOKIES AND DONE 9680. The other ten least popular fighters were MICKEY MOUSE CLUB 9669, PINK-YOMI GIRL 9715, TOMASTICUS 9721, MODE PARRY 9683, VERMONT OLSON 9738, TAMAGRAMAFLU 9722, FREYA SIGURSDOTTER 9373, ROCHESTER KING 9725, HERGER 9692, and BERYLLIOSIS 9719. 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