DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 11/14/2015 Duedate: 11/27/2015
NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA
DM-93 TURN-442
This Weeks Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
VAMPIRIAL
THE BLOODLUST (1688)
(93-9849) [3-2-0,26]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
POSITION IS EMPTY VAMPIRIAL
THE BLOODLUST (1688)
(93-9849) [3-2-0,26]
Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite
VAMPIRIAL HODES
THE BLOODLUST (1688) FAMILY NAMES (1695)
(93-9849) [3-2-0,26] (93-9884) [1-0-0,8]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
CHAOS LORDS (1691)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. JAZIN'S WOLVES (1694) 34
2. FAMILY NAMES (1695) 29 IRON DRAGON (495)
3. THE BLOODLUST (1688) 19 Unchartered Team
4. BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) 14
5. FIGHTING IRISH (1693) 10 (-1)
The Top Teams
Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 0*FAMILY NAMES (1695) 4 1 0 80.0 1/ 2*CHAOS LORDS (1691) 7 3 0
2/ 0*JAZIN'S WOLVES (1694) 4 1 0 80.0 2/ 3*THE BLOODLUST (1688) 5 3 1
3/ 1*CHAOS LORDS (1691) 7 3 0 70.0 3/ 0*JAZIN'S WOLVES (1694) 4 1 0
4/ 5*THE BLOODLUST (1688) 8 6 2 57.1 4/ 0*FAMILY NAMES (1695) 4 1 0
5/ 3*ROSS' RAIDERS (1689) 4 3 1 57.1 5/ 5*ROSS' RAIDERS (1689) 4 3 1
6/ 0*FIGHTING IRISH (1693) 1 4 0 20.0 6/ 0*BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) 1 4 0
7/ 0*BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) 1 4 0 20.0 7/ 0*FIGHTING IRISH (1693) 1 4 0
8- 0*THE FIGHTING CHAI (1692) 0 4 0 0.0 8- 0*THE FIGHTING CHAI (1692) 0 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 ONE DM/D2 VET DOES IT
The purpose of this spotlight is 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 (over 100,000 warriors
designed)
2. Some thoughts on team balance
3. The real five-warrior design (original team roll-up) just 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 High Hopes,
manager of FAMILY NAMES, a member of The Consortium, and a long, long time (30+ year)
paying 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 questions in the
personal ads. You will get answers; often, very interesting 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. 21 WT, 21DF, and 21 WL are coveted. The 21DF makes an aimed-blow almost
inevitable. Most managers automatically think Aimed-Blow when they can get 21
deftness. Not always, but usually.
5. 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.
6. 9 WL is the acceptable low for offensives. Some warriors can do well with 7 or
8. Maybe.
7. Do not add to CN for pure offensives.
8. Defensive style warriors need solid WL and CN.
9. Physicals never hurt any warrior. Warriors can win early with lesser skill,
but good physicals.
10. 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)
11. 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 an intended strategy to enhanced winning. Burners
require high WL as stat raises are dependent on WL.)
12. However, there is not a thing wrong with making a burner.
13. Have variation in styles in arenas. This allows for better challenging,
avoiding, and matchups. (Adding also fun and learning through variety.)
14. 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 principles to
the HIGH HOPES 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 more quickly 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, High Hopes) of
this FAMILY NAMES team just started on Noblish Island.
10-8-13-10-10-10-9 to 11-8-13-15-16-10-11 LU (lunger) Design to strengths
(concept #1), which means I add to WT and WL as the "primary" (concept #2.) stats
making WT 15 and WL 15. Also employing concept 3, knowing this js looking like an
offensive. 4 points left. Adding to ST and DF, I can get 11's optimizing warrior
weapon selection. The last point, I add to WL (again) taking it to 16, meaning I have
really maximized WL. This also leads me to select a lunger as the offensive I have
designed.
13-13-7-5-14-8-10 to 17-17-7-5-20-8-10 TP. (total parry). Looking at the rollup,
I see ST, CN, and WL are the highest stats, so if I employ concept #1, I am probably
making a TO (see concept 10) and it is going to be a nice one. I add all the points to
ST, CN, WL, 4, 4, 6 respectively. Noting concept #11, this warrior will be a burner
and I will try to "up" him to 19-19-7-5-21-8-11 within the first 10 fights.
10-5-9-8-15-18-5 to 15-5-9-11-21-18-5 BA (basher). Adding to the highest stat
would mean SP and speed is really as high as it ought to go. So I will add to the next
highest stats. (Concept #1) 5 to ST and 6 to WL. Love that 21 will. (Concepts #2 and
4.) The 3 left I add to WT to give the warrior both a workable WT and lots of skills
at that 11WT level. The 5 DF limits this warrior to the MA and WF, but I am willing to
use the WH and ML at 2 DF light if necessary. The 21WL makes bumping stats very easy
for this warrior if I desire. Note that I have applied concept 7 to my two offensives
(LU and BA) so far and will continue to do so for the one more offensive (AB) I design
later.
3-7-18-9-9-10-14 to 7-8-18-15-9-10-17 AB (aimer) Concept #1 says add 4 to high
stat DF making it 17. If I can get a decent WT, I will make an aimer which needs very
high DF. (21 is preferred, but I will take a17.) With rolled WT relatively high I will
add 6 to make it 15. (Concepts 2 and 3, plus a reasonable application of #1.) That
leaves four points which I will add to ST. Why, to make this big guy's damage-doing
better and to get the use of the epee (15WT, 15DF, 7 ST). If I am going to run a
monster aimer (smaller is better to take advantage of their dodge skills), I want him
to hit hard and I really, really like epee's for aimers.
9-9-12-8-13-10-9 to 11-15-12-8-19-10-9 TP. (total parry) Concept #1 made me
optimize that WL to 19 by adding 6. Upon then looking at it, I realized this was a
mediocre warrior at all designs. Hence, concept #10 took over. I added the other 8 to
ST and CN, 2 and 6 respectively. While I would have preferred another different style
on the team, I am comfortable making my worst warrior a second TP. Good luck competing
against FAMILY NAMES warriors. I suspect this team will readily 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 = 16 (Looks about right. About 11% of the points)
CN = 11 (More than I would normally like, but with the two TP designs
looks solid.)
SZ = 0 (Cannot add to size.)
WT = 14 (One of two most valuable stats. Fewer points added than normal;
again due to two TPs.)
WL = 24 (One of two most valuable stats. It is difficult to win without
WT AND WL.)
SP = 0 (SP and CN are usually least added stats; 0 is a surprise; but
plenty of speed in the 3 offensives)
DF = 5 (DF additions are often quite variable and this amount looks
reasonable for this group)
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. (As mine has been.)
-- High Hopes, (You can call me HH.)
Consortium affiliated
***---------*---------*---------*---------**---------*---------*---------*---------***
Assur's Guide to Pure Offensives
Offensives are the easiest type of warrior to design, run, and master. The idea of a
pure offensive is that you are going to come out fast and overwhelm your opponent with
your offensive abilities.
1) Design.
When you are making a pure offensive, the things that matter most are: Damage,
Endurance, Attack skills, Decise skills, Initiative skills, and wit. While other
attributes and skills are nice, especially if you want to try fighting differently,
the pure offensive doesn't care much about them. Damage is dictated by Strength and
Size. Endurance is dicated by Strength, Constitution, and Will (especially Will).
You get attack skills at:
Str: 5, 7, 15, 17, 21, 21 Wit: 5, 7, 9, 11, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 21
Wil: 5, 7, 15, 17, 21, 21 Dft: 5, 7, 9, 11, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 21
You get decise skills at:
Wit: 5, 7, 17, 21 Wil: 5, 7, 9, 15, 17, 21 Spd: All even values
You get init skills at:
Siz: 5, 7, 15, 17, 21, 21 Wit: 5, 7, 9, 11, 11, 11, 11, 13, 15, 17, 21, 21
Spd: 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 21 Dft: 5, 7, 7, 15, 15, 17, 21, 21
Wit helps you learn more skills and as you'll notice contributes to each of the skills
that you care about (attack, decise, and init).
The only other thing to seriously consider is your weapon selection.
Damage is probably the most important attribute, followed by decise and then attack.
Wit is also very important as you need to learn your offensive skills enough to keep
up your ability to overwhelm your opponents. One of the most common Bloodgames
designs for pure offensives is 17-3-3-21-21-8-11 (when a manager can dictate his
warriors' exact designs)
2) Style Choice
Strikers are the 'best' pure offensive style. They conserve endurance, learn the best
skills naturally (decise and attack), and can use all the good weapons. Their only
real negative is that they have fewer attack skills than the other pure offensive
styles.
Bashers are the next best choice. They learn the right skills (but learn attack more
than decise) and have more attack than strikers. However, their weapon choices are
not as good as strikers (which makes damage rating very important for bashers) and do
not conserve endurance like strikers.
Slashers are the last of the styles that are naturally a pure offensive. They do not
learn decise fast naturally, though, so while they are great with their attack and
initiative, they are generally slower than their counterparts. They have access to
most of the best weapons in the game, but do not have a great speed weapon.
Parry Strikers can also be run naturally as a pure offensive. They learn lots of
decise skills, but learn parry skills to go with it. They can use almost any weapon
and can make fine pure offensives. None of the other styles learn decise naturally,
so while it can be a favorite learn for any other style, you can't count learning
them, so speed can be an issue. Other styles' strengths are not in the pure offensive
category, but there is nothing wrong with running other styles as pure offensives.
Recommend HIGH WIT for these!
Many managers run Lungers as pure offensives and because of their natural high
favorite rhythms and high skill base it works just fine. But it is Assur's opinion
that Lungers' natural strengths do not make them the best choice for a pure offensive.
Aimed Blows with their incredible attack and endurance conservation are also often run
as pure offensives.
3) Weapon Selection (with requirements)
The following are my recommendations. Feel free to try other weapons.
Speed Weapons (best chance to attack first):
Short Spear (9 Str, 5 Wit, 7 Dft)
Quarterstaff (11 Str, 9 Siz, 11 Wit, 11 Dft)
War Hammer (13 Str, 5 Wit, 7 Dft)
Hatchet (7 Str, 5 Wit, 7 Dft)
Damage Weapons: (When damage is what you really care about)
Battle Axe (15 Str, 7 Wit, 9 Dft -- If using an off-hand weapon, also 9 Siz)
Scimitar (9 Str, 11 Wit, 11 Dft)
Broadsword (11 Str, 9 Wit, 7 Dft)
Halberd (17 Str, 9 Siz, 9 Wit, 11 Dft)
Greatsword (15 Str, 9 Siz, 9 Wit, 11 Dft)
Other Good All Purpose Weapons:
Longsword (11 Str, 13 Wit, 11 Dft)
Maul (15 Str, 9 Siz, 5 Wit, 7 Dft)
Great Axe (13 Str, 9 Wit, 11 Dft)
Dagger (3 Str, 7 Wit, 7 Dft)
4) Strategy and Tactics The most common strategy used by pure offensives is run hot.
Hot means high offensive effort (OE) and activity level (AL). 10 OE and 10 AL is very
common. Realize the hotter you run, the faster you will use your endurance. Most of
the time Assur lowers Activity level before Offensive Effort when trying to lower from
the tried and true 10-10-x strategy. If you're fighting a pure defensive, they want
you to use all your endurance, so running this hot might not be a good idea. Running
1 AL is not a bad idea (they are not going to try to attack you). Also realize that
every warrior has a favorite rhythm (favorite OE and AL) which will make them fight
'better.' Some warriors don't like running super hot (or aren't) as well suited to
run super hot. Until you get to Advanced Duel2, you won't know for sure what your
favorite rhythm is. But you can experiment and sometimes get a feel that your warrior
runs very well as certain numbers. For each warrior you run, you must decide if
favorites will help you win more than using the 'tried and true' strategy. I am not a
fan of using tactics. They hurt you as much as they help you. That said, the Decise
tactic is great for making you faster. It is easily countered by a warrior using the
Response tactic. I've won ridiculous fights (new warriors beating 20 fight warriors)
by using the response tactic. The response tactic is a great way to counter another
offensive using the decise tactic. I do not use Bash, Slash, or Lunge very often.
5) Armor No armor is recommended. But death is a high risk. Even using the lightest
armor (ALE/L) protects against death in a major way compared to no armor. If you know
you're fighting someone faster than you, wearing armor may very well be a good idea
(While who attacks first is dictated largely by luck, I'd rather not depend on luck if
I have another choice)
DUELMASTER'S COLUMN
Notes from the arena champ.
Time for us to ride into the sunset. It has been fun. Assur says he usually doesn't
care much about winning or losing. Having fun is what it is all about. But he says
this time he learned why people love winning so much. All it took was an 80% win clip
to show him!!!
-- Not Enough
SPY REPORT
Like the magnificent Sun, rising upon the Dawn and exiling the Night for a Day,
I, Novgorodny Vir, return once again! Nothing is certain in NOBLISH ISLAND, with
changing loyalties, changing Duelmasters. Write this down: new top team--CHAOS
LORDS. Like a new team fighting for the first time and entering the official
rankings, JAZIN'S WOLVES got 4-1-0 to come in 3rd. I doubt many are quaking in their
boots, but FAMILY NAMES comes out of nowhere to get 4-1-0. What does the future
hold? Watch this space... Practice pays for DEATH BASHER, who pummelled M. ALLEN,
to pocket 11 points. A certain someone should cut down on the drinking and practice
more, after losing 9 points to DEATH BASHER. (Discrete enough, M. ALLEN?) Now I
can't insult VAMPIRIAL, as she has gloriously dueled to the top. Oh great new
Duelmaster!!! (Stop me if I lay it on too thick) So who's the team that's been
walking into taverns last week and ordering milk? Sounds like a PR stunt to me.
A Zenmaster once told me, 'Does not the spinning wheel turn? And do not the
little birds cry out?' Any ideas? Everyone is famous for fifteen minutes, and
VAMPIRIAL is it right now. Most challenged warrior. Isn't THE BLOODLUST proud!
Is there life after death? Pragmatics (and warriors) know there is death after
life! Oh hard! that to strike a flame, the match itself must needs be wasting!
Do not think spyreporting in NOBLISH ISLAND is the highlight of my life. Keep
those sands bloody and the buzzards fat! Can anything compare to the pleasure of
writing Spyreports for NOBLISH ISLAND? On that giddy note I take my leave--
Novgorodny Vir
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
VAMPIRIAL 9849 3 2 0 26 THE BLOODLUST (1688)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
DEATH BASHER 9847 2 0 1 22 THE BLOODLUST (1688)
-STABLER 9854 2 0 0 21 ROSS' RAIDERS (1689)
TIMID TIM 9862 2 0 0 18 CHAOS LORDS (1691)
BLOODIED MIKE 9863 2 0 0 15 CHAOS LORDS (1691)
-AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
VAZZ 9881 1 0 0 11 JAZIN'S WOLVES (1694)
M. ALLEN 9855 1 1 0 11 ROSS' RAIDERS (1689)
NO BULL 9882 1 0 0 11 JAZIN'S WOLVES (1694)
-DRAKONYA 9867 1 0 0 10 THE BLOODLUST (1688)
WON'T ATTACK 9889 1 0 0 10 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696)
-FANTHOM DEFT 9850 2 1 1 9 THE BLOODLUST (1688)
HAGEDORN 9885 1 0 0 9 FAMILY NAMES (1695)
-LOTT R 9852 1 0 1 8 ROSS' RAIDERS (1689)
HODES 9884 1 0 0 8 FAMILY NAMES (1695)
-DRAXXUS 9644 1 4 0 7 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
SPENCER 9886 1 0 0 6 FAMILY NAMES (1695)
RAIN DANCER 9878 1 0 0 6 JAZIN'S WOLVES (1694)
MINSTREL 9877 1 0 0 6 FIGHTING IRISH (1693)
TYLENOL 9880 1 0 0 5 JAZIN'S WOLVES (1694)
MILLER 9887 1 0 0 5 FAMILY NAMES (1695)
CUNNING TERRI 9866 1 1 0 4 CHAOS LORDS (1691)
ASHLEY'S GHOST 9865 1 1 0 4 CHAOS LORDS (1691)
-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)
GENGELBACH 9883 0 1 0 1 FAMILY NAMES (1695)
FELDSPAR 9873 0 1 0 1 FIGHTING IRISH (1693)
WOEFUL BASES 9888 0 1 0 1 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696)
-CHAIRMANDER 9868 0 1 0 1 THE FIGHTING CHAIRS (1692)
VALKYRIE 9875 0 1 0 1 FIGHTING IRISH (1693)
-HALLE CHAIRY 9870 0 1 0 1 THE FIGHTING CHAIRS (1692)
-ROCKINGCHAIR 9871 0 1 0 1 THE FIGHTING CHAIRS (1692)
BAD ATTACK 9892 0 1 0 1 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696)
DANTALION 9876 0 1 0 1 FIGHTING IRISH (1693)
VALORAN 9879 0 1 0 1 JAZIN'S WOLVES (1694)
ALEMBIC 9874 0 1 0 1 FIGHTING IRISH (1693)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
-SADCHAIR BILLY 9869 0 1 0 1 THE FIGHTING CHAIRS (1692)
-LONGSTER 9856 0 1 0 1 ROSS' RAIDERS (1689)
HARD TO RUN 9890 0 1 0 1 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696)
WORST DEF IN GAME 9891 0 1 0 1 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696)
'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
TOM BRITEBLADE 9864 1 1 0 CHAOS LORDS 1691 STONE GOLEM 442 NONE
ATTILIUS 9810 0 3 0 KRAKEN'S DEN 1681 FANTHOM DEFT 9850 438 NOT REVENGED
ROCKET 9853 0 1 0 ROSS' RAIDERS 1689 DEATH BASHER 9847 440
PERSONAL ADS
--- Personal ads from last round -- missing and not published due to manager's
inability to put arena number on the ads and Hal's inability to interpret that
manager's stupidity...
Assur, there is no wrath, merely appreciation for getting me this short-term cushy
job. -- Johnny Appleseed
P.S. I really would like to win 4 the last round to get back to that elusive 60%.
Assur avoids? The sky is falling; the sky is falling ......... -- The Consortium
Elders
Moldy and Someone Else Ate, you guys are NOT helping things. -- Pretty Kitty and Fat
Cow
Mysterious, on the other hand, YOU get the picture. -- Plow Horse
Fanthom Deft, I will crow about that win all day long. -- Rooster
Vampirial, that necklace of garlic I was wearing did the trick. What a tweeting
victory! -- Mockingbird
Health. Humility. Honor. -- Johnny Appleseed
Good bye to all from us Farm Animals. What will The Consortium think of next? -- Farm
Animals (outgoing)
All, you are hereby asked and allowed to offer some personal ads in the newsletters.
ASK SOME NEWBY QUESTIONS. -- Anonymous
--- This round's personals written with a clear head. (Well kind of clear) ...
Assur, you just plain crushed The Consortium Team! Salute! Beaten week after week, and
0-4 in the finale, the only thing left is to bow down to your superiority. And, to get
the heck outta here! -- Johnny Appleseed (noted tossing a bunch of papers in the
trash)
All, please welcome The Consortium's newest representative on Noblish Isle -- FAMILY
NAMES, managed by High Hopes. (HH to you.) May the mighty warriors of Family names --
Hodes, Spencer, Miller, Hagedorn,and Gengelbach -- hold off the mighty Assur and
represent us well. -- The Consortium Elders
P.S. Read the Team Spotlight above for more information on Family Names and the five
warriors.
Chaos Lords & The Fighting Chai -- Welcome! Assur and the Consortium representative
are here to help you and show you the ropes. If you have questions, we have both seen
thousands of fights. Our goal is to prepare you for when you leave Noblish Island so
that you can compete with us and other managers who've been playing this game for so
long! So utilize your time here and ask questions. -- Assur
Consortium -- SEE! You should have kept the Farmer. He was keeping the team around
.600! I will spare you the humiliation and not calculate our head to head record for
that last cycle! -- Assur
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
TOM BRITEBLADE was butchered by STONE GOLEM in a 1 minute bloody Dark Arena fight.
ASHLEY'S GHOST was vanquished by VAMPIRIAL in a 1 minute Challenge Title battle.
DEATH BASHER subdued M. ALLEN in a 2 minute beginner's Challenge fight.
TIMID TIM devastated VALORAN in a 1 minute one-sided contest.
BLOODIED MIKE defeated GENGELBACH in a 2 minute bloody amateur's match.
CUNNING TERRI lost to NO BULL in a tiresome 6 minute amateur's fight.
FELDSPAR was bested by RAIN DANCER in a 2 minute novice's competition.
ALEMBIC was viciously subdued by SPENCER in a 2 minute gruesome beginner's melee.
VALKYRIE was vanquished by VAZZ in a action packed 1 minute gory uneven fight.
DANTALION was overpowered by WON'T ATTACK in a 2 minute uneven match.
MINSTREL beat WORST DEF IN GAME in a 4 minute novice's fight.
TYLENOL subdued HARD TO RUN in a 1 minute amateur's competition.
HODES viciously subdued BAD ATTACK in a crowd pleasing 4 minute gory novice's battle.
HAGEDORN handily defeated WOEFUL BASES in a 4 minute one-sided conflict.
MILLER outwaited CONVICTED THIEF in a crowd boring 8 minute amateur's bout.
BATTLE REPORT
MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 6 PARRY-LUNGE 9 - 4 - 0 69 |
|AIMED BLOW 5 TOTAL PARRY 10 - 5 - 0 67 |
|TOTAL PARRY 4 PARRY-STRIKE 2 - 1 - 0 67 |
|BASHING ATTACK 4 WALL OF STEEL 14 - 7 - 2 67 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 3 AIMED BLOW 21 - 11 - 2 66 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 2 BASHING ATTACK 25 - 15 - 2 63 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 1 STRIKING ATTACK 9 - 8 - 0 53 |
|WALL OF STEEL 1 SLASHING ATTACK 14 - 13 - 2 52 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 1 LUNGING ATTACK 6 - 10 - 0 38 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 2 - 15 - 0 12 |
Turn 442 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:
SLASHING ATTACK 1 - 0 PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 - 5 2 AIMED BLOW
WALL OF STEEL 1 - 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 1 2 STRIKING ATTACK
TOTAL PARRY 3 - 1 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 1 2 TOTAL PARRY
STRIKING ATTACK 2 - 1 1 BASHING ATTACK
AIMED BLOW 3 - 2 1 PARRY-LUNGE
LUNGING ATTACK 1 - 1 1 SLASHING ATTACK
BASHING ATTACK 2 - 2 1 WALL OF STEEL
1 PARRY-RIPOSTE
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.
The overall popularity leader is VAMPIRIAL 9849. The most popular warrior this turn
was HODES 9884. The ten other most popular fighters were GENGELBACH 9883, FELDSPAR
9873, SPENCER 9886, VAZZ 9881, RAIN DANCER 9878, MINSTREL 9877, WOEFUL BASES 9888,
VAMPIRIAL 9849, DEATH BASHER 9847, and BLOODIED MIKE 9863.
The least popular fighter this week was MILLER 9887. The other ten least popular
fighters were NO BULL 9882, HAGEDORN 9885, BAD ATTACK 9892, HARD TO RUN 9890, WORST
DEF IN GAME 9891, WON'T ATTACK 9889, DANTALION 9876, ALEMBIC 9874, CUNNING TERRI
9866, and VALORAN 9879.
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.