DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 02/07/2015 Duedate: 02/20/2015
NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA
DM-93 TURN-422
This Weeks Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
ASTRID
EINHERJAR (1665)
(93-9696) [5-1-1,49]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
POSITION IS EMPTY ASTRID
EINHERJAR (1665)
(93-9696) [5-1-1,49]
Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite
QUINCY JONES LAETHA
THIRD HIGHWAY (1642) EINHERJAR (1665)
(93-9724) [4-3-0,18] (93-9693) [4-2-0,29]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
EINHERJAR (1665)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. BASH BROS PAINTING (1673) 36
2. FAMOUS HOOSIERS (1672) 33 DARK TOADS (527)
3. EINHERJAR (1665) 27 Unchartered Team
4. GOAT'S HAI-5 (1669) 21
5. THE BRAIN BUSTERS (1671) 0 EINHERJAR (1665)
The Top Teams
Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 3*EINHERJAR (1665) 17 10 1 63.0 1/ 8*EINHERJAR (1665) 6 3 0
2/ 0*BASH BROS PAINTIN (1673) 3 2 0 60.0 2/ 4*THIRD HIGHWAY (1642) 5 10 0
3/ 0*FAMOUS HOOSIERS (1672) 3 2 0 60.0 3/ 0*GOAT'S HAI-5 (1669) 5 10 0
4- 4*GREMORY DEVILS (1667) 8 7 0 53.3 4/ 0*BASH BROS PAINTIN (1673) 3 2 0
5- 6*THE BRAIN BUSTERS (1671) 8 9 1 47.1 5- 7*GREMORY DEVILS (1667) 3 2 0
6/ 7*THIRD HIGHWAY (1642) 14 21 0 40.0 6- 5*THE BRAIN BUSTERS (1671) 3 2 0
7- 0*KULLISAARS (1670) 4 7 0 36.4 7/ 0*FAMOUS HOOSIERS (1672) 3 2 0
8/ 0*GOAT'S HAI-5 (1669) 9 16 0 36.0 8- 0*KULLISAARS (1670) 1 3 0
9- 0*THE HEATHENS (1664) 3 10 1 23.1 9- 0*THE HEATHENS (1664) 1 4 0
'*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn
(###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank
TEAM SPOTLIGHT
WARRIOR & NEW TEAM DESIGN
HOW A DM/D2 VETERAN DOES IT
There is a purpose for writing this spotlight. It was developed to provide
newer/inexperienced D2 managers with warrior and team design concepts and to assist
newbies in observing the details of a real-time team who will be competing against
them in their Noblish Island arena. I will discuss the following:
1. An experienced manager's general design principles
2. Some thoughts on team balance
3. The real five-warrior design (original team roll-up) starting to compete on
Noblish Island
4. Summary and comments relevant to those designs
First you might ask, "Who is writing this? And I answer that I am John Wooden,
manager of FAMOUS HOOSIERS, a member of The Consortium, and a long, long time (25+
year) competitor in Duelmasters/D2. I will be overseeing this new team and will be
offering you advice each round on Noblish Island. Feel free to ask me (or Jorja, or
Assur) questions in the personal ads. You will get answers; most probably you will
get several answers.
There is no one-and-only perfect design for any warrior. You will often find
that when asking for experienced design advice, varying opinions and concepts are
offered. However, there are some guidelines that each manager uses. The Consortium
general design principles are:
1. Design to strengths/excesses, generally making high roll numbers higher
2. WT is the first factor examined, followed by WL, which then determines the design
and style direction.
3. Offensive oriented warriors need higher WT to last. Design to 15, 17, 21 for
skill breaks
4. All warriors except AB must have normal damage and really need good. Make
certain that ST/SZ allow that, and have high enough WL to bump stats if not.
5. 9 WL is the acceptable low for offensives. Some warriors can do well with 7 or
8. Maybe.
6. Do not add to CN for pure offensives.
7. Defensive style warriors need solid WL and CN.
8. Physicals never hurt any warrior. Warriors can win early with lesser skill, but
good physicals.
9. If all else fails, make the design a TP. They can win under almost any
circumstance. However, they need a higher combination (total) of CN, WL, and ST.
(especially WL)
10. If the warrior is to be long-term (meaning a godling or really, really nice
roll), do not design a burner. (A burner is one where the manager intends to raise
stats and physicals as a major strategy to enhanced winning.)
11. However, there is not a thing wrong with making a burner.
12. Have variation in styles in arenas. This allows for better challenging and
matchups. (Adding also fun and learning through variety.)
13. PRIMARY PRINCIPAL: Design each warrior with the idea of winning 60%+ of its
fights. Period.
Pretty simple, it would seem. Well, we will see how I applied these principals to
the MY 60'S TV Team. But first some comments on team design.
A variety of styles is important. Why? (a) The more differing styles you
experiment with, the more you learn. (b) It is more fun to run differing types. (c)
Certain styles are susceptible to other styles and having a variety allows you to
take advantage (or avoid) some of those susceptibilities. (d) Testing multiple
styles allows you to quicker find the style/s that you enjoy most or are best with.
I believe a manager, especially a new manager, should have at least these two
warriors on his team - an especially fast/quick, decent damage offensive (striker,
basher, or maybe slasher) and a scummy warrior with lots of physicals and who wins by
wearing down foes while parrying or sucking up hit points. (Total parry or maybe
wall-of-steel or parry strike.) It is important to learn how to win with both types,
and the ST (striker) and TP (total parry) are excellent designs to do both - teach
and win. This combination is invaluable because each tends to challenge and avoid
different styles, and most importantly, they are both easy to work with. The other
warriors on the team can/should be different, but I least recommend these more
difficult styles for rookie managers. AB - aimed blow, PR - parry riposte, PS -
parry strike, PL - parry lunge, and WS - wall of steel.
Now on to a real life example. Below are listed the starting statistics (from
the roll-up sheet) and the design statistics (filled out and sent in by me, John
Wooden) of this FAMOUS HOOSIERS team just started on Noblish Island.
12-7-16-9-7-5-14 to 13-8-16-15-9-6-17 ST (striker) Design to strengths (concept
#1), which is moving DF up 3 to 17. Eliciting concepts 2 & 3 adds 6 to WT (9 to 15)
almost for sure leading to an offensive warrior. Concept #5 leads me to move WL up 2
to 9. The final three points are split as such: 1 to SP, ST, and CN. Perhaps I
could have raised ST up 3 to 15 (concept #1) but I felt the 13 ST was enough for this
offensive and the points would be more helpful elsewhere.
12-10-5-10-16-12-5 to 14-10-5-15-21-12-7 BA (basher). Getting the opportunity
to use concept one to raise either WT or WL to 21 is lucky and a blessing. So five
to WL gives a 21 will warrior. It definitely looks like another offensive so I
employ concept #3 to add 5 to WT raising it to breakpoint 15. I need to look at
concept #4 because a smaller warrior needs higher ST to get a "good rating. I am
worried about this and consider adding the 4 to ST, but, instead, I realize that I am
limited in weapon selection at 5 DF and add two, raising it to 7. The other two,
though go to raising ST to 14. I am pretty sure I will get only "normal" damage and
may have to bump stats by training ST during arena fights. (But maybe I will get a
luck birth roll!?)This could be any offensive, but I choose a basher since I already
have a striker on the team. (Concept #12)
12-17-13-3-16-3-6 to 18-18-13-3-20-3-9 TP (total parry). Concept #1 makes this
design very clear. The strengths are ST, CN, WL, and that is going to result in a
total parry. (Read concepts 7, 8, and 9.) I could raise any of those stats to 21,
but I realize that this warrior will learn very, very little training skills with a 3
WT, so it will be a "burner". (Concept 11) I will be training exclusively stats
early on. Hence, I take advantage of that knowledge and only make ST/CN/WL to
18/18/20 knowing I will be raising all during arena fights. I use the other 3 points
on DF to gain some parry skills and making the DF burnable to DF11 later. My
strategy will be to make this a 21-21-13-5-21-4-11 in the long run, but I will be
satisfied with 19-19-13-3-21-3-11 for the Noblish 10 allowed fights.
9-8-11-7-7-12-16 to 9-9-11-11-9-14-21 AB. (aimed blow) Using concept #1, with
DF being the best stat, I can raise DF by five to 21. Most managers automatically
think aimed blow when 21 DF arises. And in this case with a ST, BA, and TP already
on the team, so do I. Employing concept #5, I need to get WL to 9 and I do so. I
need some WT. (See concept #2) so I add 4 to take WT to the very nice breakpoint
11. I go back to concept adding 2 to SP. And I take the last point to CN because
aimers die easily and concept #8 is especially true for aimers.
12-10-11-6-10-13-8 to 14-16-11-6-16-13-8 TP (total parry) Because of the low WT
and high SP, this can only make a dumb (low WT) offensive and probably basher, and I
already have one, so I employ concept #9, adding all the points to ST, CN, and
especially WL making another total parry. Why? Reread concept #9 and primary concept
#13.
Good luck competing against FAMOUS HOOSIER warriors. I suspect this team will
meet the 60% objective and each warrior will do its part. They will be a competitive
team and they will both challenge and avoid.
Now let's take a look at the overall design tendencies for this team in this
situation. We had 70 points to add to the designs. Totaled, they look like this:
ST = 11 (Looks about right. About 15% of the points)
CN = 9 (More than I would normally like, but with the design of 2 TPs it is
reasonable.)
SZ = 0 (Cannot add to size.)
WT = 15 (One of two most valuable stats. Many points added here makes sense.)
WL = 19 (One of two most valuable stats. It is difficult to win without WT
AND WL.)
SP = 3 (SP and CN are usually the least added stats; minor adds to enhance
decisiveness of offensives)
DF = 13 (DF additions are often quite variable and this amount looks
reasonable)
The tendencies look solid to me, as WT and WL are prime stats, ST and DF are probably
next, and CN/SP are usually least added. (Well, except for SZ!)
So there you have it: a new team; insight to warrior and team design; useful
tidbits from an ancient veteran. May your stay in D2 be long and prosperous, and,
most of all, fun. (Mine has been.)
John Wooden
Consortium affiliated
* }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ * }%|[-----+O+-----]|%{ *
Assur's Guide to Riposting Hybrids
The following describes Assur's vision of a hybrid warrior that relies on riposte
to win. Hybrids are the hardest warriors to master, but great hybrids are tough
to beat. From here on out, when I say hybrids, I am specifically talking about
Hybrids designed to win with riposte.
Riposte messages in the fight are the message you often see right after a warrior
parries or dodges that reads something like:
Hybrid steps back, and then rushes forward in a counterstrike!
There are a number of such messages that all mean you are using your riposte skill.
Riposte Skills are given (when creating warriors) at:
WIT: 5,7,15,17,21(x2)
SPD: 5,7,9,13(x3),15,17,19,21
DFT: 4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20
1) Design
Hybrids need a balance of physicals and skills. More is always better, but your
hybrid cannot start with 21's in all stats, so...
Encumbrance is one of the most important attributes. You do not want to over-
encumber your hybrid for most all fights. Your armor will be chosen according to
your ability to carry weight. A guideline: APL - 9 Str/Con. ASM - 11 Str/Con. APA
14 Str/Con Realize that with those minimum str/con values, you need to be careful
with helms and weapons or you will be over-encumbered. Sometimes it is fine to carry
too much, but if you aren't sure who you are fighting, stay under your limit!
Hit Points are wonderful. Hybrids love hit points. The more the better because
there are nasty pure offensives that will try to take you down and they are good at
it.
Damage and Endurance are not as important, but you want some. Little damage is tough
to work with. Endurance depends on your style (Suggested Minimums: Poor for PR/AB,
Good for L)
The most important skills are your parry/defense and attack skills. You'll want some
riposte skills and initiative skills don't hurt. Decise is almost useless for
Hybrids.
I would recommend at least one of your encumbrance, hit points, or defensive skills
to be on the high side, preferably two of them.
With all that in mind, here is what your stats should look like:
Str: 9+ Con: medium+ Siz: any Wit: 11+ Will: 7-21 Spd: 3-9 Dft: 11+
*** 13 speed is a big breakpoint for riposte skills. 10-12 is a bad starting place
*** While an 11 wit PR can learn enough skills to compete as a hybrid, that same 11
wit total parry or lunger might have more difficulty as they learn too many of their
primary skills and not enough of their secondary skills.
2) Style Choice
Only two styles naturally learn riposte. However, because initiative is
underpowered, you can live with a non-riposte learning style.
Parry Ripostes are the king of this type of hybrid. The naturally learn
att/par/rip, though they often learn too much riposte and not enough of the other
two. They learn init and decise last.
Aimed Blows learn attack and riposte naturally, but do not learn their defensive
skills as fast. Still, they can make excellent hybrids, but when you put 21 points
on deftness, it is difficult to find a balance with the rest of your stats.
Lungers are the king of all the hybrids (as you'll see in my follow ups the next
couple of turns). They have high attack and defense bases. They have the highest
total skills of all styles (tied with WOSs). They learn defense and init skills
first, but attack and riposte are their secondary skills, so they will learn some
riposte. They burn endurance fast, so it is recommended to start with high will.
Total Parries can be run very similar to Parry Ripostes. They have better
natural defenses, but worse attack and riposte. As mentioned before, they learn
defense and parry first, but attack and riposte are their secondary learns, so they
can still make good hybrids, especially with high wit.
Wall of Steels, Parry Lungers, do not learn riposte much at all. It can be
their favorite learn, but usually it is not. That said, because of their
attack/init/defenses, these styles can be run as a riposting hybrid. Riposte is one
of the easiest skills to 'fake'. Again, these are high skill/high endurance burn
styles, so make sure they have more endurance than I suggest as minimum.
3) Weapon Selection
I am not a fan of shields on Riposting Hybrids. You are trying to attack and nothing
is worse than attacking with a shield (which tends to do no damage). It is
recommended to use the best weapons in the game that you qualify for. I tend to use
off-hand daggers for PRs and PLs and a single weapon with the other styles.
For main hand, I usually pick (style dependent) in order of preference:
BA, SC (poor against scale), BS, LO (poor against plate)
Feel free to experiment with other weapons. Most of the time, weapon selection will
not be the deciding factor in the fight. Different weapons have different strengths
and weaknesses. Until you start to learn those strengths, the safe choice are the
top overall weapons in the game.
4) Strategy and tactics
This is where things get difficult. You really need to experiment to find where your
hybrid wants to fight. Different warriors like different rhythms and typically your
favorite rhythms are a good place to start for most of these hybrids. For AB's, I
tend to ignore their favorite activity level and run 7-10 in early minutes. What
works on one hybrid may not work on another. When your hybrid starts to act like a
monster at a certain set of numbers, you may be hitting his favorites. For
reference, the 'most common' set of favorites for the styles mentioned in this
article:
PR: 5-6 AL/3-4 OE TP: 3-4 AL/1-2 OE
AB: 3-4 AL/3-4 OE PL: 5-6 AL/5-6 OE
L: 7-8 AL/7-8 OE WOS: 3-4 AL/5-6 OE
Once again, this is only a place to start. These numbers may work well or not at all
for your warrior. But, it is not a bad place to start. And if you're going to err,
I'd recommend erring on the higher side. But one of my favorite hybrids was a Total
Parry that went crazy running 2 OE. He always wanted to attack.
If you refuse to attack after a riposte messages, consider lowering armor or raising
your activity level and offensive effort AND drop any tactics you are using.
As I mentioned, riposte is easy to fake. The Riposte tactic is a wonderful tool for
warriors that need help in the riposte department. Very rarely will AB's or PR's
need to use this tactic (and I almost never use it for those two styles). The
hardest styles to riposte are typically Slashers and Lungers (and sometimes Wall of
Steels and Parry Lungers, depending how they are running). These two styles tend to
be running fast and have lots of initiative and though it is underpowered, if you
have enough, it is tough to riposte you.
Parry and Dodge are also useful when you need to augment your defenses.
5) Armor
I talked a lot about armor in the design section. Wear some, but watch your weight.
>)]H[(< + -----:----- + >)] Getting the Jump [(< + -----:----- + >)]H[(<
One of the most common questions that new players ask is what they can do to
defeat a certain warrior from another team who always attacks first and beats their
own warrior before he can get an attack in. Attacking first in a fight is called
"jumping" your opponent, and it decides the victor in a majority of fights between
two offensive warriors. By offensive, I mean Strikers, Bashers, Lungers, Slashers,
and Aimed Blows, although any style can be run offensively.
In this article, I will teach some of the more common things you can do to make
your warrior get the jump.
Part 1, the setup: To design a fast warrior, you must take into account Decisiveness
skills. Decise is gained from only three statistics: Wit, Will, and Speed. Of these
three, Speed is the only stat that has a large number of Decise skills in it. So if
you design a rollup with a high Speed stat and/or a high Wit and Will, it will be
fast.
Styles are also an important consideration. Strikers, Bashers, and Aimed Blows
start with more Decise skills than any other style. Slashers and Lungers have
slightly less, followed by Parry-Strike, Parry-Lunge, and Wall of Steel. Total
Parries and Parry-Ripostes have very low starting Decise scores.
Each style also learns Decise skills at different speeds. Strikers learn Decise
the fastest. Parry-Strikes also learn it quickly, and Bashers learn it reasonably
well. The other styles fall into the "don't count on learning it unless it's your
favorite learn" category.
Part 2, the strategy: What you put on your strategy sheet drastically affects your
chances of getting the jump.
Offensive effort: As high as possible (10). The more your warrior tries to
attack, the more likely he is to take the first opportunity offered him.
Activity level: As high as possible (10). The more your warrior moves around,
the more chances he will see to attack.
Note that running at these levels will tire your warrior out very quickly, and
your warrior may not fight at his best. Most styles prefer a much lower activity
level as their "favorite". But this article is about getting the jump, not fighting
efficiently. :)
Kill Desire: Kill desire is one of the most intangible factors in Duelmasters,
but one of the common theories is that each number of KD corresponds to a certain
skill, maximizing that skill. Seven is supposed to be the magic number for
Decisiveness. Try it and see if it works for you.
Tactics: Obviously, the Decisiveness (D) tactic increases your Decise. Other
tactics may increase your Decise, like the Bash tactic, but they don't increase it as
much as Decisiveness does.
Armor: None. Nada. Zilch. Armor weighs you down. Even if you have the
ability to carry a large load, you will still be faster running naked. Of course,
you will take much more damage if you get hit, so you'd better make sure you can put
your opponent down before he hits you back. With this strategy, you either win big
or you die.
Faster weapons: Lighter weapons are faster than heavier ones, but there are
certain weapons that are considered to be "faster" in general. Warhammer and Hatchet
are some of the best. Dagger and Bare Fist (FI) are probably the fastest, but
fighting bare-handed is dangerous.
So you've designed your warrior, probably a Striker or Basher with a good speed, wit,
and will. You're running him 10-10-7 Decise with no armor and a Warhammer. And that
same enemy warrior *still* outjumps you. If that's the case, he's probably running a
similar strategy and just has more Decise skills than you. So you have one more
trick up your sleeve: the Responsiveness tactic ('S' in the defensive tactics
section). If your opponent is using Decise and you use Response, you will probably
win. If your opponent is not using Decise, you will probably lose. It's like a
rock-scissors-paper relationship:
Decise beats no tactic; no tactic beats Response; Response beats Decise.
There are some other minor factors in getting the jump that are beyond the scope of
this article. Hopefully this will give you a better idea of how the warrior who
attacks first in a fight gets chosen.
Captain K., manager of Men of the Sea in DM 12 and assorted others
+>]H[<+-----+>]H[<+ Question of the Week #2 +>]H[<+-----+>]H[<+
For those of you who came in after I started posting this series of questions
And answers, they are being taken from the newsletter for Aruak City, DM 11. The
questions were being posed by Hanibal, a relatively new player and Noblish alumnus,
and the answers were offered by any members of that arena who cared to respond.
Question, turn 400:
All -- I think I have a basic grasp on most aspects of this game, but one Thing I
have no clue about is how to maximize skill learning. I had an 18 wit TP challenge
up to a warrior who had 21 more fights than me and I only learned 2 skills. The next
fight I was matched up against a less experienced warrior And I learned 5 skills.
This is not an isolated incident. Any tips on skill learning? -- Hanibal's Q.O.W.
Answers, turn 401:
ADIE'S ANSWER -- Theoretically I think, learning has so many variables affecting it,
that sometimes the number of learns appears random. Some suggested variables include
fight experience differences between combatants, total skill differences,
intelligence level of one or both combatants, what each's favorite learn may be, what
styles the two warriors are.... There are so many, it's difficult to say. Sometimes
you can see the effect of one variable more than another. Other times, one has
absolutely no clue. -- Adie
Hanibal -- In your example of warrior learns, did you lose the fight against the more
experienced opponent, but win the fight against the less experienced opponent? The
outcome of a fight may affect learning, with the winner being bonused and the loser
being penalized. I believe that the best way to make a warrior learn well is to give
them a 21 wit. That's why wit is my favorite stat to have a 21 in! (Not to mention
all the base skills it gives.) -- Generalissimo Puerco
Hannibal -- Skill learning is mainly a derivative of the warrior's wit--obviously the
higher the better. But luck (die roll) plays a big part, as do what the other
warrior can teach, how many skills yet to learn and a few lesser factors. --
Kennelworth
Hanibal, re the question of the week -- The main thing is to TRAIN skills. Okay,
everybody stop laughing. You people (Hanibal, too) already realize this, but there
may be a new manager reading this reply who doesn't. Seriously, I once had a manager
whose team had just chartered (i.e., he'd been playing for ten turns) diplo me and
ask why one of his warriors hadn't learned any skills. He sent me the warrior's
numbers, and a little simple math revealed that this warrior had eight stat increases
in those ten fights! He hadn't been TRAINING skills. Lesson there, never overlook
the obvious.
As to a more useful answer, I don't have one, but I do have some secondary
questions.
For instance, I was once told that a warrior learns better with an odd-numbered
WT. Since I have never personally run a warrior with an even-number WT that I can
recall, I don't know. It sounds unlikely, but then, who knows how a computer thinks?
Challenging up increases the ODDS of learning but is not guarantee. Does
anybody have any information as to whether a lower-ranked warrior who teaches well is
one with lots of skills? My own information would tend to contradict that, as I have
some excellent teachers in other arenas who have yet to receive their first rating.
I have heard that there is an increased chance of learning when the fight is a
long one. Anybody know whether this is true or just wishful thinking on the part of
those matched against scum?
Is the caliber of a warrior's teaching on a given fight reflected in his point
gain in the rankings? I have been given to understand that points gained in excess
of the basic minimum reflect how well above the average the warrior performed. In
theory, a good performance means better demonstration and thus better teaching, but
does it work out that way?
Do warriors of a given style tend to teach a specific skill or group of skills
better than other skills, as for instance, do total parries teach parry and defense?
I've heard it said that when facing an opponent who has only one skill left to
learn, a warrior teaches best that skill he learns best. Does this hold true in
other circumstances? -- Leeta
Question, turn 402:
All -- I understand that Deftness is the ability to better protect and attack your
chosen location. I could care less if I hit my attack location as long as I hit.
Does Deftness have any effect on connecting? I believe it is your attack skills vs.
your opponents def/parry skills that determines this. -- Hanibal's Q.O.W.
Answers, turn 403:
Hanibal -- Deftness contributes a lot of attack skills to a warrior's base skills.
This will increase your warriors' chances of hitting. Shot placement accuracy is
said to be based on coordination (DF+SP), but I think having a good attack rating can
lead to better shot placement as well. Kill desire may well influence shot placement
also. It has been suggested that a warrior's chosen location to protect is the
source of the "luck parry" comment that often results in broken weapons. While I
personally fancy this theory, I think it would be difficult to prove or disprove. It
sounds like a good project for some LP aimers to tackle. -- Generalissimo Puerco
Hanibal -- Re the QOW, probably. At least, I notice that those of my warriors with
very low DF (and I've got some doozies here and there) spend a lot of time flailing
wildly and missing. -- Leeta
SPY REPORT
Much has changed in NOBLISH ISLAND since last I was here. Never fear, Olaf
Modeen adapts to many situations, as do all successful fighters. Woof! BASH BROS
SCUM were a bunch of dogs after EINHERJAR got through with 'em! 1411th ain't so
sweet as 1st! Ya gotta be quick on yer feet! Keep your elbow off the table!
Thrust! Block out the pain! EINHERJAR is now ranked 1st with a 4-1-0 turn. What's
with TIME CONSUMING? He actually beat GOAT'S HAI-5's MORI-ZUMA GRL, and walked away
with 22 more points from the fight. Laughs were big at BASH BROS PAINTING while they
watched TIME CONSUMING clobber MORI-ZUMA GRL. She lost 12 points and got bruised
from objects thrown from the stands. I can barely restrain my enthusiam for
EINHERJAR's outstanding member, Duelmaster ASTRID. Wouldn't it be nice to have live
subjects to practice on? I hear some team is looking into the uses of convicted
prisoners.
If at first you don't succeed, avoid. That'll get you in the Spyreports.
NOBLISH ISLAND thinks THIRD HIGHWAY and their 14-21-0 is too much! If at first you
don't succeed, give up... Management must be dealin', as the boys at GOAT'S HAI-5
ain't reelin'! THIRD HIGHWAY's mad! TALLAHASSE MOON didn't quite know what to make
of a challenge she received from SVEN of EINHERJAR, who is 20 points below her. SVEN
perhaps got his just desserts, seeing as he was defeated by TALLAHASSE MOON and ended
up with 6 recognition points.
There have been some calls to lengthen the time limit. Do you want the fighters
to walk away, or not? How long have I been here? I got people to see, places to
go...
Well, I'm pretty much through. You guys need to get back practicing. Are you
as tired of reading this as I am of writing it? Actually, I guess I'm writing it
before you read it. Oh, well. Remember--a good fighter needs both good skills and
good luck. Until next time,-- Olaf Modeen
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
ASTRID 9696 5 1 1 49 EINHERJAR (1665)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
-RIAS GREMORY 9704 3 0 0 33 GREMORY DEVILS (1667)
ROLLO 9694 4 2 0 31 EINHERJAR (1665)
TALLAHASSE MOON 9727 4 3 0 30 THIRD HIGHWAY (1642)
LAETHA 9693 4 2 0 29 EINHERJAR (1665)
-YUUTO KIBA 9707 3 0 0 28 GREMORY DEVILS (1667)
-ACEOTIS 9729 4 0 1 27 THE BRAIN BUSTERS (1671)
-GASPER VLADI 9706 2 1 0 26 GREMORY DEVILS (1667)
-BRAZZ 9740 2 0 0 25 THE BRAIN BUSTERS (1671)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
TIME CONSUMING 9755 1 0 0 22 BASH BROS PAINTING (1673)
SARATOGA LEE 9726 4 3 0 20 THIRD HIGHWAY (1642)
-BERYLLIOSIS 9719 2 1 0 19 KULLISAARS (1670)
QUINCY JONES 9724 4 3 0 18 THIRD HIGHWAY (1642)
NEGA-SANGO 9761 1 0 0 16 GOAT'S HAI-5 (1669)
NEGA-YOMI 9760 1 0 0 15 GOAT'S HAI-5 (1669)
-DREWSKI 9731 2 2 0 13 THE BRAIN BUSTERS (1671)
-AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
AMELIA EARHART 9752 1 0 0 12 FAMOUS HOOSIERS (1672)
KYGOMAI-LOVEGRL 9717 3 2 0 11 GOAT'S HAI-5 (1669)
ROCHESTER KING 9725 2 5 0 11 THIRD HIGHWAY (1642)
DAN QUAYLE 9750 1 0 0 11 FAMOUS HOOSIERS (1672)
-MORGUE-FILLER 9691 1 2 0 8 THE HEATHENS (1664)
JOHN DILLINGER 9751 1 0 0 8 FAMOUS HOOSIERS (1672)
MORI-ZUMA GRL 9745 2 1 0 7 GOAT'S HAI-5 (1669)
-WIDOW-MAKER 9688 1 2 1 7 THE HEATHENS (1664)
-DRAXXUS 9644 1 4 0 7 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
-TAMAGRAMAFLU 9722 1 1 0 7 KULLISAARS (1670)
SVEN 9734 1 3 0 6 EINHERJAR (1665)
MISTAKES 9757 1 0 0 6 BASH BROS PAINTING (1673)
CLEAN UP 9756 1 0 0 6 BASH BROS PAINTING (1673)
GEIR 9744 1 0 0 5 EINHERJAR (1665)
-SIX FOOT DOWN 9689 1 2 0 5 THE HEATHENS (1664)
VERMONT OLSON 9738 0 5 0 5 THIRD HIGHWAY (1642)
-EL GUARDO 9720 1 1 0 4 KULLISAARS (1670)
-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 3 0 3 GREMORY DEVILS (1667)
-ISSEI HYOUDOU 9703 0 3 0 3 GREMORY DEVILS (1667)
-SUBLIME MAX 9718 0 2 0 2 KULLISAARS (1670)
-TOMASTICUS 9721 0 2 0 2 KULLISAARS (1670)
NEGA-AMI 9759 0 1 0 1 GOAT'S HAI-5 (1669)
MISSED A SPOT 9758 0 1 0 1 BASH BROS PAINTING (1673)
LARRY BIRD 9753 0 1 0 1 FAMOUS HOOSIERS (1672)
MESSY 9754 0 1 0 1 BASH BROS PAINTING (1673)
JAMES DEAN 9749 0 1 0 1 FAMOUS HOOSIERS (1672)
'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
HARI-YUKU GIRL 9716 0 1 0 GOAT'S HAI-5 1669 ACEOTIS 9729 418 NOT REVENGED
BRAXIUS 9737 0 1 0 THE BRAIN BUSTE 1671 WIDOW-MAKER 9688 419
PERSONAL ADS
Uh, where was I last turn? Gone. Kaput. A minor misplacement error at The Bookmaze
ended My 60s TV career at 9 turns. It was fun. Assur, I declare you scumbag, er,
ah, Scum King. Well done. -- Ed Sullivan, retired Consortium rep (My 60s TV)
Greetings, all. I am John Wooden, a famous Hoosier and coach of many national
championship basketball teams at UCLA. I have agreed to try my hand at managing
duelists. Have I made a mistake? Read all about my warriors in a spot in this
newsletter. -- John Wooden, Famous Hoosiers (Consortium Representative)
The Rid Viper -- Wow! I think you "struck out." Your request for The Enchiridion
Handbook will likely fail. The handbook is a near 200 page manual which exists in
only a few hands nowadays. Some of the info is outdated and possibly incorrect.
Yes, I had one, and it has since been discarded. Either way, it is unlikely that
someone will send you a copy of such a manual. This is one reason why the CIC was
"invented" for newbies to Noblish Island. Ask for that if you don't have it. As to
the "lavender activity chart"--I know not what it is, hence, I cannot help you.
Lavendar? Lastly Blackstone? You are getting transferred to Blackstone? Blackstone
is not really an arena per se, but a collection of tournament teams which seldom run
in the arena. 84 and 82-- are all tournament collectors rather than arenas as you
know them. If you want to fight in a real arena, do not go to Blackstone. Go to 11
or 29 or 31 or 33 or something else. Ever the helpful, John Wooden (Consortium Rep)
My next team, Bash Bros Painters:
10-8-11-12-12-4-13 -> 10-8-11-17-17-4-17 PL. Probably should have left deftness at
13, but who doesn't like the classic triple 17 design? Lots of style choices, but
I've been trying to succeed with PLs lately.
5-13-10-12-9-13-8 -> 11-13-10-17-9-13-11 B. A tough setup, with medium-low will and
medium-high speed & con. I go with my love and joy, a Basher, bumping strength to 11
to get QS well suited.
11-11-17-3-6-12-10 -> 17-13-17-7-7-12-11 STK. A really mess of a warrior. You
really want wit+will to be 25 or higher for most warriors. Since they aren't even
close, I go with a plate wearing offensive.
13-5-13-8-9-10-12 -> 15-5-13-11-15-12-13 B. Finally a warrior that is relatively
easy. Again I choose my favorite style as a pure offensive. There are other
designs, but I hit the breakpoints that make the most sense to me. A rare design in
which I added from 9 to 15 will.
10-6-10-9-12-14-9 -> 15-6-10-11-17-14-11 B. Another nice offensive setup. Most
people would choose wit over strength. I can't refute them, but I devalue wit if I
can't get to 17. -- Assur
New managers -- Not only READ the newsletters, SAVE them. Ten consecutive turns of
the Noblish Island newsletter constitute a handbook of sorts for new managers. --
Jorja
Three-two. Well, it's better than last time, even though two of today's wins were
over standbys. Standbys are said to be "easy wins," at least these two are, but they
ARE still wins. They count. -- Saratoga Lee
Red Viper -- Enjoy your journey to wherever you're going, and I'll enjoy you not
being here. -- Rochester King
Widow-Maker -- You might want to raise your fight numbers (offensive effort and
activity level). You should have struck a blow sooner than you did. -- Quincy Jones
P.S. A backup weapon is good, too.
Morgue-Filler -- Obviously, I was the more experienced loser. -- Vermont Olson
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
SVEN was devastated by TALLAHASSE MOON in a 1 minute mismatched Challenge fight.
ASTRID vanquished SARATOGA LEE in a exciting 1 minute uneven Title battle.
ROLLO defeated ROCHESTER KING in a 2 minute bloody duel.
LAETHA slimly won victory over QUINCY JONES in a popular 6 minute fight.
KYGOMAI-LOVEGRL was outlasted by JOHN DILLINGER in a 12 minute amateur's competition.
MORI-ZUMA GRL was overpowered by TIME CONSUMING in a 1 minute one-sided struggle.
VERMONT OLSON was devastated by AMELIA EARHART in a 1 minute one-sided competition.
GEIR overcame MISSED A SPOT in a 2 minute beginner's melee.
JAMES DEAN was viciously subdued by MISTAKES in a 2 minute gruesome novice's duel.
DAN QUAYLE vanquished MESSY in a exciting 1 minute one-sided fight.
LARRY BIRD was overcome by CLEAN UP in a exciting 1 minute novice's bout.
NEGA-AMI was luckily beaten by PERSISTANT BEGGAR in a 3 minute amateur's competition.
NEGA-YOMI demolished PERSISTANT BEGGAR in a 1 minute mismatched match.
NEGA-SANGO savagely defeated EMBEZZLING SCRIBE in a 2 minute gory amateur's conflict.
BATTLE REPORT
MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|BASHING ATTACK 6 TOTAL PARRY 48 - 29 - 1 62 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 6 AIMED BLOW 26 - 19 - 3 58 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 4 PARRY-LUNGE 4 - 3 - 0 57 |
|AIMED BLOW 3 SLASHING ATTACK 20 - 15 - 2 57 |
|TOTAL PARRY 3 LUNGING ATTACK 15 - 14 - 1 52 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 STRIKING ATTACK 27 - 31 - 2 47 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 1 BASHING ATTACK 20 - 24 - 1 45 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 1 PARRY-STRIKE 7 - 13 - 1 35 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 0 WALL OF STEEL 6 - 13 - 0 32 |
|WALL OF STEEL 0 PARRY-RIPOSTE 5 - 16 - 0 24 |
Turn 422 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 STRIKING ATTACK 2 - 4 4 AIMED BLOW
SLASHING ATTACK 1 - 0 TOTAL PARRY 1 - 2 3 BASHING ATTACK
AIMED BLOW 2 - 1 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 1 2 PARRY-STRIKE
BASHING ATTACK 4 - 2 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 0 1 SLASHING ATTACK
LUNGING ATTACK 2 - 2 WALL OF STEEL 0 - 0 1 PARRY-LUNGE
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
SLASHING ATTACK ASTRID 9696 5 1 1 49 EINHERJAR (1665)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.
The overall popularity leader is QUINCY JONES 9724. The most popular warrior this
turn was LAETHA 9693. The ten other most popular fighters were QUINCY JONES 9724,
KYGOMAI-LOVEGRL 9717, MISTAKES 9757, NEGA-AMI 9759, NEGA-SANGO 9761, ASTRID 9696,
ROLLO 9694, TIME CONSUMING 9755, DAN QUAYLE 9750, and CLEAN UP 9756.
The least popular fighter this week was JOHN DILLINGER 9751. The other ten least
popular fighters were JAMES DEAN 9749, VERMONT OLSON 9738, MORI-ZUMA GRL 9745,
ROCHESTER KING 9725, SVEN 9734, LARRY BIRD 9753, MESSY 9754, SARATOGA LEE 9726,
NEGA-YOMI 9760, and MISSED A SPOT 9758.
TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Here are a few tricks of the trade I've found out.
15, 17, and 21. Those are the magic numbers for stats; any fighter who starts
with a stat (except Con and Size) at any of those numbers will have more beginning
skills than normal.
Stats: The stats in order of importance with regard to skills, most to least,
are wit, will, deftness, speed, and strength, with con giving you no skills, just hit
points and endurance. The higher you can start any of these, especially the first
three, the more skilled your fighter will be. Logically, therefore, what you really
want is a fighter who has wit, will, and deftness at 21. This will be a GOD! And
probably go out and get killed immediately due to low con...
Raising stats: Care must be taken in doing this. All fighters start out with
the ability to learn 20 skills in the categories of Defense, Parry, Riposte, Attack,
Decisiveness, and Inititive. When you learn all 120 skills, you've maxed out. You
can get skills though normal learns, or by raising stats; however, if you raise stats
BEFORE you max out (except for Con), anything gained will count as one of the 20.
This is called "burning" skills. If, on the other hand, you wait until you've maxed
out, then raising stats will add those skills to the ones you've learned, enabling you
to exceed your limits. But raising stats will give an immediate boost to your
abilities. It's a question of short term vs. long term gain, you see.
And aiming at vital areas - head, chest, and abdomen - will increase your chances
of getting kills. And being bloodfeuded, and maybe getting your fighter killed in
return. Keep in mind that what you send forth will come back to you. Sometimes
redoubled.
Roku
Warrior Handedness, is he a Righty, Lefty or Ambi?
Greetings, Joy and Happiness to everyone!!!! I hope everyone that reads this
article is doing well and remembering not to drink and duel. This article discusses
things about the handedness of a warrior. Most managers only worry about things like
skill, weapons and trains. Handedness is not a major factor in playing the game but
it's nice to know some things about it.
Most warriors will be right handed, with a small percentage left handed. Even
more scarce is the ambidextrous warrior. I believe that the defensive styles have a
higher percentage chance to be a lefty or an AMBI than offensive styles do. It's just
an observation that I made in the 513 warriors surveyed. Another note on that, I
notice that out of 211 parry-ripostes that I was using for a PR article, about 43% of
them were AMBIs. The highest percent of AMBIs out of all the styles polled.
When a manager puts weapons into his warriors hands and also when he tells his
warrior where to strike, handedness plays a key role in the manager's decision making.
I had a team with 4 AMBIs on it, and I started to do some experiments with them to see
how the AMBI thing worked. I noticed that in general the AMBI favors using the left
hand more than the right hand. But, there are a small percentage of AMBI warriors
that are reversed, where the right hand is used more than the left.
There also seems to be some confusion amongst managers that get the USE of a hand
mixed up with which hand the weapons go in (IE which is primary and which is off-
hand). Right handed warriors USE the RIGHT hand the most and the primary weapon is
the RIGHT hand, off hand is the left hand. For left-handed warriors, it is the
opposite of right-handed warriors, of course. The confusion comes with the AMBI
handed warriors. AMBIs USE the left hand more BUT the RIGHT hand holds the primary
weapon, and the left hand holds the off hand weapon. Every so often you will get an
AMBI that this is reversed, where the RIGHT hand is USED more and the PRIMARY weapon
is held in the LEFT hand. But this kind of ambi is extremely rare.
Well, that's it for now. Have fun, and watch out for that right hook... 'cause
it might be a left hook!!!!!
For more DM info, or just to chat you can DIPLO me at ADM 103, THE JOKER'S WILD.
You can also email me at 103260.3347@compuserve.com or visit my DM web site at the
following address: http://ourworld.compuserve.com./homepages/jessiejest/homepage.htm
Ta-Ta,
Sir Jessie Jest
The Arcane Slasher
I love the Slashing Style! Slashers are finesse artists, but they're much more
aggressive than your aimed-blow. Well-designed slashers are formidable opponents;
they are as ready to defend as to attack, though they prefer the latter. Fate has
been to kind to this style, perhaps too kind. Even a badly-designed slasher may do
well in basic, prompting many well-intentioned managers to promote questionable set-
ups as "the slasher ideal." After reading another `Eureka!' article, I am compelled
to add my 2 cents. I've learned how to design great slashers, and I'd like to pass on
my ideas to the rest of Alastari. I can't tell you how to keep them alive (in four
years I've only gotten one to ADM) but I can outline guidelines for creating a spooky
character that will win for you--until they die or get to ADM. Just remember that
decent opportunities to make a slasher aren't very common!
WT, WL, & DF--15 pts each at least. Period. If you don't have it, you don't
have a great slasher. Believe me, you can't afford to skimp anything here!
ST--Anything from 7-11 is fine. The smaller the character the higher the number,
but anything with a +9 size can get by with a 7 ST. For light armor use an epee, for
anything heavier use a pair of hatchets, a scimitar, or a broadsword, depending on ST.
CN & SP--Ideally, both are single-digit; if your con is high you're probably
looking at a WASTE. Whatever else you do, don't add them.
SZ--Since this is something we can't change anyway, don't worry about it. The
bigger they are the less points to spread around to other areas, though.
My slashers come up with the best overviews when I follow these guidelines. Most
earn at least four wit statements; about 50% either start out with an Expert or two,
or they pick them up within a couple of skills. One of my very best died in a
tourney: 6-3-11-15-51-11-17. He started out doing good damage; picked up Experts in
att, init, def, and rip. in two skills or less. This is an extreme example, but it
seems to me that the well-designed slasher gets more than their fair share of luck on
their overview. I've run one a lot worse that did fairly well--a winning record,
until he was killed by a veteran lunger: 11-7-14-15-15-7-15, good bases in attack and
init, four wit statements, great damage.
Running them?
Start out with an offensive effort of 10, and never let the OE drop below 7. How
quick you taper down depends on the endurance rating. Slashers burn endurance very
quickly; if you don't have good endurance drop right away from 10 to 7 and leave it
there unless desperate, then go back to 10. Otherwise try 10, then 9, then 7.
Remember, these are aggressive beasts; keep 'em on the offensive!
Keep the activity level fairly low except in the very beginning, when you should
be running 10. Then drop to 5 or 6, then 3 or 4m then 1. Go back up to 7 or 10 in
desperation.
Match your kill desire to your offensive effort, always.
Summary: 10-10-10, 9-5-9*, 7-3-7, 7-1-7 across. Desperation: 10-10-10 or 10-7-
10.
Avoid armor unless you MUST, but no higher than ARM and H.
Don't use tactics--they seem to inhibit the slasher's ability to riposte and
respond well to their opponent. Exception: to take out scum pick the heaviest weapon
your character can lift and use the slash tactic--go for the legs or the arms: 7-1-7.
Slash all the way!
These `rules' have worked for me. The biggest problem I've had is that my
slashers rise too high too quickly. Within five or six fights they're fighting
warriors with 15 fights' experience. So be forewarned; give them sometime off every
few turns so that they won't get clobbered by some old-timer looking for an easy win!
Good Luck!
The Arcane Kid, of Astral Kin, Osksi DM-3
*Remember, with `good' endurance only!
"The Basher"
My friends would laugh if they knew I was writing this, but who cares what they
think? The basher is not a bad style in my opinion. It starts with the same base
decisiveness as the striker, but has 4-5 more skills in initiative, and 3-4 more
skills in att. That's what makes this style so good. I mean, you have the ability to
get the jump on your opponent, you have the ability to hit your opponent, and who
cares about their high riposte with your high att rating combined with your exp+ in
initiative, they won't know what train hit them, much less think about the counter
attack.
O.K. I only make two types 1st the WL Basher:
#1 #2
12 13
10 11
10 9
21 16
15 15
9 13
7 7
Example #1--Currently 8-3-1 in Firehold (68) has Master+1 att, Master +1 init., and
Adv.Exp. dec., and is already sitting pretty with 80 recognition points.
Example #2--Currently 8-3-0 in Jhans (36) has Exp.+3 att, Adv.Exp. init., and Exp+3
dec. with 87 recognition points.
O.K., the other kind I like to call it the "High damage, low will, needs to end
the fight before he passes out with exhaustion" Basher. This type of basher relies on
his high damage capabilities to make up for his low WL. I've not had the best of luck
with these types of bashers, but I do know they can win (Warbeast has proved that to
me). The key is to get at least great damage on the roll-up. O.K. some examples:
#1 #2 #3
11 13 17
11 9 12
16 17 10
17 17 17
7 10 11
11 11 10
11 7 7
Example #1--I DA'ed, he didn't win
Example #2--Killed in round 1 of the winter FTF, went 4-3 in the Oct. Tournament,
learned 6 skills 5 being Att.
Example #3-1-0 in Jhans(36)
I run both styles ALE +L, WH light armor, mace medium armor, and WH heavy armor.
Go 10-10-7 dec 1st minute, and after min 1, go 8-8-5. WL basher, and the other kind
drop down drastically. Always aim for the head (it gets you an att bonus and could
score you a kill every now and then) unless you know you're gonna be up against a TP
or waste, then aim for a leg. Well that's gonna be it. Somebody write me and tell me
what you think.
Uncle Charlie Mgr.
Genocide (68)
Helter Skelter (36, 100)
The Anti-Thesis Slasher
Greetings all. No, this is definitely not another "Perfect" article. In fact,
it actually is just the opposite--finding success with a warrior whose stats were just
average. I am not an expert at this game and do not have near the experience that
some managers have. What I do have is some now solid experience with Slashers thanks
to this guy. So what I will do with this article is show you how my first attempt at
building a Slasher went, what it taught me, and maybe I can show a new or old manager
something about the style that can help their game.
This Slasher was my first attempt at the style. His starting stats were average
at 13-11-12-10-16-11-11. Definitely no Primus-quality warrior. By most people's
standards, he wouldn't have even been thought of as an ADM warrior because of his low
wit and will combo. Today, I don't know if I would even keep this guy, but at the
time I didn't know any better and kept him. I'm glad I did because he turned out to
be a good warrior, not great, but good and a fun one to watch.
He had three statements to start: "...learned how to be decisive and quick",
"...conserve his endurance past what might normally be expected", and "does great
damage". The last statement I think helped him a lot in many of his fights.
Weapons and Armor
Weapons-wise, all I knew about the Slashing style at the time was that a scimitar
was good, so I gave him one. He did well with it, so I kept using it. I didn't use
any off-hand weapon because I knew that an offensive-styled warrior could make quicker
attacks with a weapon using two hands. I gave him one back-up scimitar, knowing that
scimitars break though not that often.
Early on, I may have given him light armor and a helm, but later I discovered
that if he didn't get the first hit, he almost had no hope of winning. After all, the
credo of an offensive warrior is to "hit first, hit hard" and hope it ends the fight
quickly. I also started to realize he would never be a "great" warrior. My
philosophy changed and I could only hope to get him to ADM. So, I decided to use no
armor or helm, which slows warriors down.
Strategy:
Ah, the most important part of this warrior's winning ways. Looking back at his
early strategy, I wonder how he did so well. I started him going 10-10-10, attack and
protect the head with no tactics. My desperation strategy was usually 10-10-5, which
did nothing to help him. I used the decisiveness tactic since his overview said he
was decisive.
Through observing his fights and looking at what he preferred, I ironed out a
general strategy which I think is good for a lot of Slashers:
min. 1 2 3 4 5 6+ desp
OE 10 8 6 4 4 4 5
AL 10 4 2 2 2 2 8
KD 6 8 6 4 4 4 5
AL RA HE ----------------------->
PL AM BD -------------------> HE
Against more parry-type warriors like WOS and TP's, I've used a 10-6-6 min. One
strategy that he seems to like.
Design and Trains:
I started him off training skills only. But I soon learned that his average
stats meant that he wasn't going to learn very well. I decided late to train skills,
then stats, every other turn. The training of his will to 17 really helped his
endurance out. He finally went to ADM at 15-11-12-12-17-12-11. If I had recognized
earlier that he would not be a great warrior, and accepted that, then I might have
been about to train everything twice like in the "old" days and he would have gone at
15-13-12-12-18-13-13.
Record:
He started out great at 4-0-0, then was 8-4-1. He hit a rut and was soon 9-7-1.
He was mediocre in his middle fights but was above .500% at 14-12-2. He was under
.500% once at 14-15-2. Near the end of his regular DM career, with some careful
challenges and strategy changes, he went 5-0-0 and ended up 21-16-2. He was
Duelmaster for three turns in Cliffhome.
Final Notes:
So, what's the purpose of all this? It's to show that anyone can take a mediocre
warrior and through careful strategy and design build them into a formidable warrior.
I recognized long ago that this Slasher would never be great and accepted it. That's
what turned him into the warrior he is today. I was willing to take the risks
necessary to make him win. His name is E.G.B.D.F. (Every Good Boy Does Fine) and in
this case his name is true. I couldn't have asked more from him in his
accomplishments. He can be found fighting occasionally in Darkholm. He's taught me
an incredible amount about this style and has contributed to my 65% overall win-loss
record with them.
I'm open to feedback, positive or negative, and hope in some way that I've helped
someone learn more about this style.
So, good luck to all and may your swords ring true!
Brought to you by Talon, mgr. of
Eagles Claw (38,104), Farfignewtons (32)
where I'm known as Volksie, and other teams
throughout Alastari.