DM 093 Newsletter

DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER

Date : 01/09/2016 Duedate: 01/22/2016

NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA

DM-93 TURN-446

This Weeks Top Honors

THE DUELMASTER IS

HODES
FAMILY NAMES (1695)
(93-9884) [4-1-0,39]

Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader

POSITION IS EMPTY HODES
FAMILY NAMES (1695)
(93-9884) [4-1-0,39]

Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite

GENGELBACH MINSTREL
FAMILY NAMES (1695) FIGHTING IRISH (1693)
(93-9883) [3-2-0,22] (93-9877) [3-1-0,26]

THE CURRENT TOP TEAM

BASH BROS RIPPER (1696)

TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) 27
2. THE BLOODLUST (1688) 13 SUBJUGATORS (617)
3. FAMILY NAMES (1695) 10 Unchartered Team
4. BATTLE CHASERS (304) 0
5. FIGHTING IRISH (1693) -11 FAMILY NAMES (1695)

The Top Teams

Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 2*FAMILY NAMES (1695) 18 7 0 72.0 1/ 2*BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) 10 5 1
2/ 4*BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) 14 11 2 56.0 2/ 1*FAMILY NAMES (1695) 10 5 0
3/ 6*FIGHTING IRISH (1693) 8 12 0 40.0 3/ 3*FIGHTING IRISH (1693) 7 8 0
4/ 7*THE BLOODLUST (1688) 12 21 2 36.4 4/ 4*THE BLOODLUST (1688) 3 12 0
5- 8*BATTLE CHASERS (304) 0 1 0 0.0 5- 8*BATTLE CHASERS (304) 0 1 0

'*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn
(###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank

TEAM SPOTLIGHT

WHAT THEY DIDN'T TEACH YOU IN SCHOOL
or D2 101
BUT YOU JUST MIGHT LEARN IT HERE

Any warrior that loses a fight can die. Dead. Gone. One can die by being killed
by the opponent, and every loser has a small chance (estimated odds 1 in 50) of dying
in the infirmary. Note: There is NO chance of dying if one wins!
Any warrior can use any weapon. Not a problem. However, there are undefined
penalties for using marginal, unsuited, inadequate wit, inadequate size, inadequate
strength, and inadequate deftness weapons. One can certainly win with an improperly
suited weapon, but, is it worth the chance? Usually not, I say.
Warriors are born with certain skills which are dependent on the base 70 point
stat sheet and the style selected. The 14 points of added stats also add skills to
those base skills. You really need to know which skills come from what stat.
RSI seldom makes input errors. I said seldom. The best thing a manager can do to
help avoid input errors is to fill out the strategy sheet accurately and legibly with
good penmanship. Yes, we have doctors in the warrior management ranks (Slugbait and
Grimm come to mind) and they probably regret their yucky penmanship.
These are considered the three best ways to acquire info, knowledge and "secrets"
about D2:
* Terrablood.com
* Noblish Island (DM93) newsletters
* Reality.com
There is more to strategy than filling out the warrior's initial armor and weapon
selection and offensive effort and activity level and kill desire and tactic
selection. Challenges and avoids are an important way to attempt to give your warrior
an advantage. Challenge warriors (warrior ID) that your warrior is likely to defeat
and learn a lot from, and avoid teams (team ID) with warriors whom are likely to
defeat you. Indeed, your warrior can be provided with an alternate strategy for
challenging or when being challenged or both. A warrior does not have to challenge,
bloodfeud, or avoid, but it is probably in his best interest to do so.
Ask dumb questions! Often managers, especially new managers, have a doubt or a
question, but they feel "asking for help/advice" is a sign of weakness or lack of
intelligence or knowledge about D2. Do not let this be you! Ask! We dumb veteran
managers ask each other dumb questions all the time. One man's dumb is another man's
smart. (You heard it here first!)What are the best ways to ask?
* On the Reality.com site
* On the D2 Chatzy blog site
* In personal ads in the arenas (especially Noblish Island)
* By diplo to another manager in D2 (certain managers will almost always
respond; some may not)
No matter what any veteran, friend or expert tells you about design or strategy
or concept, it is not necessarily the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
truth. It may be good or great or common advice, but it is not necessarily the only
good (or bad) advice. Some advice is best learned first-hand.
D2 is a normally a friendly atmosphere. While managers are very competitive, most
of the vets know each other, see each other at Faces, chat with each other on line,
and even help each other out with advice and ideas. The fount of knowledge available
now, about D2, was acquired by a collective "working together" and sharing info. Be
advised that an overly mean, overbearing, threatening, haughty, unfriendly character/
manager is likely to be colluded against and ostracized by D2 regulars. Smack talk is
desirable and a part if the game. Personal threats, harsh meanness, or overbearingness
is not at all welcomed. You are forewarned!
Noblish Island is a great learning atmosphere. What comes after Noblish? Choose
wisely an arena in which to participate. (Fast -- two week turnaround or slow -- four
weeks) (Large - 15+ teams participating, medium -- 8-14ish, small -- 7 or less)
(friendly -- usually Andorian arenas are up for role-playing and up for helping
newbies, and down on down-challenging or taking advantage of newbies) (cutthroat --
Darkholm arenas tend to be win-at-all-cost). You can participate in as many arenas as
you want. You can also participate in separate tournaments, held quarterly, which
allow warriors from all arenas to compete with each other for acclaim and prizes.
There are many other things they apparently didn't teach you, you say? Well send
a personal ad or diplo to Assur, or The Consortium rep in DM93 Noblish Isle and give
them a shot at answering in the newsletter.

-- High Hopes (Consortium affiliated) of Family Names

***---------*---------*---------*---------**---------*---------*---------*---------***

Hail Gladiatorial Managers of Alastari,

My name is Mark G. Manley, AKA Grimwood, author of the Duel 2 novel, "Dark
Arena." The RSI staff and I are pleased to announce the next novel in the Duel 2
reality, "Blood Games." A publisher has offered a contract to publish the novel and
Ill continue to provide detailed updates as they become available. However, I wanted
to share a quick blurb about the novel.

* * *

WAR!
The land of Alastari is thrown into chaos caused by the invasion of the Rirorni
horde. Swept up in the conflict and captured is My-re, a young girl living on the
edge of the Rirorni plains. Regarded as a spoil of war and growing up in a Rirorni
family band, her troubles just begin as warlords within the Rirorni Empire fight each
other for prestige, property, and personal honor. For mutual protection, My-re is
taught the family band's Wall of Steel combat style, where if executed correctly, no
blade, no weapon, no arrow can penetrate.
In a land where life is dangerous, brutal, and short, My-re is confronted by a
prominent Rirorni warrior and kills him in self-defense. She is sold to a Rirorni
slaver after being found guilty of murder, and exiled back to her native land of
Alastari. However, there is no happy reunion, no joyful return, as she is sentenced
to fight in the Blood Games arena for her crime.
My-re's one chance of freedom resides in winning the Blood Game tournament. But
the champion is not declared by besting your opponents, but by slaughtering them.

* * *

As with novel "Dark Arena," I worked with RSI to write and publish "Blood Games"
in the Duel 2 world of Alastari. But it will always be known as Duelmasters to me.
I wanted to share a little bit of background about myself, I started my first
team back on turn 12 in Niania (Arena #2) on February 13, 1990. I managed a team
called Wolverines. The next summer at Gen Con, I started my main team, Skull Squadron
in Rocanis (Arena #56). The following summer at Gen Con, I stared Legion of Death, in
Valamantis (Arena #62). Twenty-five years later, I've graduated numerous warriors,
which would not be an easy feat to count.
Good luck on the arena sands and more to come.

-- Mark G. Manley
AKA Grimwood

DUELMASTER'S COLUMN
Notes from the arena champ.

Hah! Y'all doubted me. Nevertheless, (Look at THAT big word!) I showed ya. Yup. Hodes
is Duelmaster and undefeated! Stick that in yer pipe and smoke it! I ain't gonna spill
my guts like my teamie, Spencer did. Nope. I'm just gonna keep winnin' which she
didn't. Hah, gotcha Spence! All I can say is where are them rippers when ya need one.
Har har har.

-- Hodes, Duelmaster

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--BASH BROS
RIPPER. Nothing works for a team like victory (How's that for a perceptive
observation?) as BATTLE CHASERS can attest... Good things come to those who fight
well, as BASH BROS RIPPER can attest, moving up by 1. BASH BROS RIPPER had cause to
celebrate, after WOEFUL BASES got 15 points by beating FELDSPAR. A certain someone
should cut down on the drinking and practice more, after losing 10 points to WOEFUL
BASES. (Discrete enough, FELDSPAR?) Our Duelmaster has lost, folks, lost to KUNG-FU
MASTER, BUT HODES is still the Duelmaster because she has the most recognition
points! So who was the warrior seen charging into immovable walls and challenging
dead trees? Someone's got a basic problem...
My mother wished me to avoid conflict, and seek the gentle trade of Spyreporter.
But warriors aren't supposed to avoid fights! Like a horde of jackals fleeing from
the lion, so did the "warriors" in NOBLISH ISLAND avoid THE BLOODLUST. The warriors
of THE BLOODLUST found their efforts at combat frustrated as FAMILY NAMES apparently
had more important things to do than fight. If challenges were horses, MINSTREL
could open up a fast food joint!
Ah, the duel! The roar of the oppenent, the smell of the crowd! Never one to
advocate diplomacy and restraint, I was pleased to see THE BLOODLUST retaliate
against BASH BROS RIPPER in bloodfeud! Ask not for whom the sword slashes; it
slashes for thee.
Leave me now, you base fools! My fingers tire and I fear my incessant prattling
may cause unfair judgement upon my impeccable character. NOBLISH ISLAND, I leave you
now. The Duelmaster has agreed to foot my bill at The Warty Toad. 'Til next time--
Novgorodny Vir

DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
HODES 9884 4 1 0 39 FAMILY NAMES (1695)

ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
MILLER 9887 5 0 0 34 FAMILY NAMES (1695)

CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
SPENCER 9886 3 2 0 27 FAMILY NAMES (1695)
MINSTREL 9877 3 1 0 26 FIGHTING IRISH (1693)
FANTHOM DEFT 9850 5 2 1 25 THE BLOODLUST (1688)

INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
WON'T ATTACK 9889 4 1 0 23 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696)
WOEFUL BASES 9888 3 2 0 23 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696)
GENGELBACH 9883 3 2 0 22 FAMILY NAMES (1695)
DANTALION 9876 2 2 0 21 FIGHTING IRISH (1693)
WORST DEF IN GAME 9891 2 3 1 17 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696)
VAMPIRIAL 9849 3 6 0 15 THE BLOODLUST (1688)
FELDSPAR 9873 2 2 0 13 FIGHTING IRISH (1693)
-AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
BAD ATTACK 9892 3 2 0 12 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696)
HAGEDORN 9885 3 2 0 12 FAMILY NAMES (1695)
HARD TO RUN 9890 2 3 1 11 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696)
-DRAXXUS 9644 1 4 0 7 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
ALEMBIC 9874 1 3 0 6 FIGHTING IRISH (1693)
-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)
BLUDTHYRST 9896 0 3 0 3 THE BLOODLUST (1688)
-RED MONIKA 1689 0 1 0 1 BATTLE CHASERS (304)
BLUDBRUTE 9897 0 1 0 1 THE BLOODLUST (1688)

'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.

THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
VALKYRIE 9875 0 4 0 FIGHTING IRISH 1693 STONE GOLEM 446 NONE
DEATH BASHER 9847 2 1 1 THE BLOODLUST 1688 BLOOD ROSE 2629 443
DIPONA 9893 1 3 0 THE BLOODLUST 1688 BANDIT PRINCE 446 NONE
DRAKONYA 9867 1 2 0 THE BLOODLUST 1688 WORST DEF IN GAM 9891 445 JUST REVENGED

PERSONAL ADS

Assur, thank you for your fine comment on my managership and the recent ascent of
Consortiumites to the throne here. I, too, congratulate you -- you got that team of
rippers up to 50%! What a manager! -- High Hopes (with a wink and a grin)

Assur, of course my TPs are of inferior product. When one makes the worthless recruit
into TPs constantly, one expects inferior scum. Don't you think? Besides, most people
think TPs are inherently inferior anyhow. Silly people! -- HH

Hodes! Hodes? Duelmaster? Why, I never ......................... -- HH (sort of
stupefied congratulation to Hodes)

Khalhums Dwarf, grrrrr. What a terrible DM matchup, and I lost my crown. I hate
dwarves! -- Spencer

Woeful Bases, I am NOT an inferior TP. Take that! -- Miller

All, please excuse Miller who will not be fighting next round. He is "maxed" for his
Apprentices run at the Tempe Face-To-Face. A full report will be forthcoming on his
adventure. -- High Hopes

Hard To Run, I don't have your problem. I am not hard to run, but I have a hard time
winning. You must be really, really bad. -- Hagedorn

Valkyrie, I may lave a long, ugly name, but I am fast and decisive. -- Gengelbach

Fratsfa Slave, I cannot believe I fought YOU and won the Duelmaster Title. Hubba,
hubba me! -- Hodes, Duelmaster

Welcome one and all. Come on out and fight. Assur and I, the friendly High Hopes, are
here to help you learn and succeed. Ask questions. Let us show you the way. -- HH

Health. Humility. Honor. (The Consortium motto) -- High Hopes
P.S. And Happy New Year to all.

To those who have asked (e.g. Wednesday, Arya, etc ...) Scorpio in DM11 or 33 is
trying to enter the DM47 Turf War, has sent in certs, and is looking for partners.
(1-5-16) -- High Hopes (ever the helpful)

Greetings all from the Fighting Irish. I just wanted to take a moment to introduce
myself and give a little background. I'm a returning player, but one with limited
experience. I ran a team in Jhelum back in 90/91 called The Bloodguard. My first
designs were woefully inept, but I communicated with a couple of the more experience
managers, acquired a copy of the Enchiridion, and began to get a grasp of some of the
basics. My designs became a bit more competitive and I was able to graduate three
warriors to ADM: first a PS followed by a PR and finally a Lunger. I ran a few
fights in ADM (all losses, I believe hehe) but then college life took over and a tight
budget forced me to stop. Many years later I was going through some old papers and
came upon my old copy of the Enchiridion. A quick search online showed me the game
was still active under the new name of Duel2, so I decided to give it another try and
here I am. :) -- Donner and the Fighting Irish

High Hopes -- Thank you and enjoyed their football season very much. Just wished it
could have ended on a better note. -- Donner and the Fighting Irish

Hodes -- Nope, not a Hosier, they've just been my favorite college FB team since I can
remember and I was a bit stumped when trying to come up with a team name. Yeah, I
kind of gravitated to the PS and PR styles back when I first started, before I learned
how difficult they can be, and I keep coming back to them. :) -- Donner and the
Fighting Irish

LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS

VALKYRIE was butchered by STONE GOLEM in a 3 minute Dark Arena fight.
DIPONA was butchered by BANDIT PRINCE in a 1 minute brutal Dark Arena duel.
FANTHOM DEFT viciously subdued WORST DEF IN GAME in a 5 minute Bloodfeud match.
GENGELBACH viciously subdued VAMPIRIAL in a popular 3 minute gory Challenge contest.
HODES was demolished by KUNG-FU MASTER in a 1 minute mismatched Title competition.
MILLER outlasted MINSTREL in a crowd pleasing 8 minute novice's struggle.
SPENCER was handily defeated by DANGEROUS CRIMINAL in a 1 minute uneven fight.
DANTALION won victory over BLUDTHYRST in a 3 minute beginner's duel.
ALEMBIC slimly lost to HARD TO RUN in a dull 9 minute gory beginner's fight.
FELDSPAR was defeated by WOEFUL BASES in a popular 3 minute gory beginner's match.
HAGEDORN outlasted BLUDBRUTE in a unpopular 17 minute amateur's match.
WON'T ATTACK bested EMBEZZLING SCRIBE in a 3 minute novice's battle.
BAD ATTACK unbelievably bested MORDANT DESERTER in a 4 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 5 WALL OF STEEL 11 - 6 - 2 65 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 4 PARRY-LUNGE 7 - 4 - 0 64 |
|TOTAL PARRY 3 TOTAL PARRY 13 - 8 - 0 62 |
|AIMED BLOW 3 AIMED BLOW 22 - 14 - 3 61 |
|BASHING ATTACK 2 BASHING ATTACK 19 - 13 - 1 59 |
|WALL OF STEEL 1 SLASHING ATTACK 6 - 5 - 1 55 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 14 - 15 - 2 48 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 1 PARRY-STRIKE 2 - 3 - 0 40 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 0 LUNGING ATTACK 8 - 14 - 0 36 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 0 STRIKING ATTACK 3 - 10 - 0 23 |

Turn 446 was great if you Not so great if you used The fighting styles of the
used the fighting styles: the fighting styles: top eleven warriors are:

BASHING ATTACK 2 - 0 AIMED BLOW 0 - 3 3 AIMED BLOW
WALL OF STEEL 1 - 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 0 3 PARRY-RIPOSTE
PARRY-RIPOSTE 4 - 1 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 1 2 BASHING ATTACK
TOTAL PARRY 2 - 1 LUNGING ATTACK 0 - 4 1 TOTAL PARRY
SLASHING ATTACK 0 - 0 1 LUNGING ATTACK
STRIKING ATTACK 0 - 1 1 WALL OF STEEL

TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE

FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
AIMED BLOW HODES 9884 4 1 0 39 FAMILY NAMES (1695)
TOTAL PARRY MILLER 9887 5 0 0 34 FAMILY NAMES (1695)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.

The overall popularity leader is GENGELBACH 9883. The most popular warrior this turn
was MINSTREL 9877. The ten other most popular fighters were GENGELBACH 9883,
FELDSPAR 9873, WORST DEF IN GAME 9891, FANTHOM DEFT 9850, VALKYRIE 9875, WOEFUL BASES
9888, VAMPIRIAL 9849, HODES 9884, DANTALION 9876, and BLUDTHYRST 9896.

The least popular fighter this week was BLUDBRUTE 9897. The other ten least popular
fighters were HAGEDORN 9885, HARD TO RUN 9890, ALEMBIC 9874, MILLER 9887, BAD ATTACK
9892, SPENCER 9886, DIPONA 9893, WON'T ATTACK 9889, BLUDTHYRST 9896, and DANTALION
9876.

CHALLENGES AND AVOIDS

To clarify: You issue Challenges to warriors, but Avoid teams.
To Challenge, write that warrior's name and ID# in the space provided.
To Avoid, write the team's name and Team ID in that space.
Make sure you include the ID!

A SACRED LORD'S SLASHER

Well, this article/spotlight is for Seal at 7th Order, so here goes.

ST: If he's huge (15+), 3 is okay, and use HA. I prefer 7 for epee. 9 gets scimitar
and 11 gets broadsword. Anything above 11 is a WASTE!!!
CN: Whatever they send you.
SZ: Any.
WT: 15, 17, or 21. 13 is workable, but I hate slow learners! 21 will probably take
a lot from other areas, so 17 is best.
WL: 17, 17, 17!!!! You need endurance, lots of endurance. Some of my friends use
15, but I prefer not to.
SP: 9+ They use SP as well as most, but don't add here until after WT/WL/DF.
DF: 15+, 15+, 15+. Once again, I have high standards. The reason? Have you ever
had a slasher come out w/ "relying on his speed to stay out of trouble"? That's
'cause his parry is in the negative. With a 15 DF your slasher will have a much
better parry and will probably be about 1-3 trains from a Master parry in advanced.
Later on, you'll see!

Now, how to run them:

10 9 7 -------------------------> 10
10 4 2 -------------------------> 10
7 9 7 -------------------------> 1
CH/HE -------------------------------------------- >
HE ----------------------------------------------- >
Off: D at first, open later, min 2 +, open
Def: D/S (preferably Dodge)

Min two+ is in case of a TP or WoS coming after you. This setup works, so good
luck!

Mike Bookout
Bookie, Sacred Lord of the Black Regime
Memphis Mafia (36,100)

P.S. Anybody want to join the Regime?

The Dark Arena: A Fighter's Perspective

(sung to the hymn: Battle Hymn of the Republic)

Mine eyes have seen the glory
Of the coming of the dawn
I am walking down the tunnel
After everyone is gone
I step into the torchlight
And I see the blade he's drawn
My mind, it sings this song:

CHORUS
Worry, worry, I've come for ya
Worry, worry, I've come for ya
Worry, worry, I've come for ya
My mind continues on

The crowd is chanting praises
But all I hear are growls
Mine enemy's upon me
So I strike him and he howls
Parry, parry, slash, and parry
I smell his breath so foul
And death, he sings this song:

(CHORUS)

Now we both are tired
And my strength is fading fast
Oh, let me give that fatal blow
Oh, let me be the last
I swing my sword with all my might
The crowd it stands, aghast
As he dies, I sing my song:

(CHORUS x2)

Scotlan (28, 31, 39, 50, ?)

Kill Desire: "Patience."

Many times I have lost warriors, and the manager claimed the KD was only five.
As if KD had anything to do with the death of my fighter. It was really the battle
axe to the head that killed him.
I was quite disturbed at the widespread belief that kill desire has something to
do with killing an opponent. But they have good reason to believe this: the
Duelmasters Handbook definition of kill desire has a tendency to cast a "confusion
spell" on the reader to make them think that way. The wording is very misleading.
The name "kill desire" is also misleading. A more correct word would be "patience."
Yes, kill desire is actually how much patience your fighter had before taking a
shot. KD doesn't add damage or tell your fighter where to aim at.
Damage is calculated by weapon and strength. (Of course, favorite weapon also
affects damage.)
You let your warrior know where you want him to aim at by filling out the attack
location boxes on the fight sheets.
Hit location and damage are the main two things that will kill warriors. Hit
locations to vital areas such as head, chest, and the abdomen repeated times increases
your chance to kill. The amount of damage inflicted to these vital areas also
increases your chance to kill an opponent.
As you see, none of this has anything to do with kill desire.
Now, I will tell you what kill desire, or patience, as I call it, actually is.
If you run your warrior with an 8-10 KD, you're telling him to swing like a
drunken wildman. You'll see statements in his fights that say "swings wildly" or
other things to that effect. He is not waiting for a good opening. He is swinging at
everything! This is bad for several reasons.
With his KD that high, he is very easily dodged and parried. Also, he can be
feinted into bad dueling decisions as well.
I think that KD between 5-7 for offensive styles and 3-6 for defensive styles is
perfect.
You get a lot more hits with a 5-7 KD, and feint a lot less. But you also get
more kills in this range. Reason being, you're waiting for a good shot that is hard
to dodge or parry. The example I used earlier about the manager with the 5 KD and
battleaxe is the point I am trying to make. If his warrior's KD was 10, my warrior
could have dodged or parried the attack and still be alive today. But since it was a
5 KD, he waited for a good shot that my warrior had trouble defending against, and
cleaved his head off! (Well, not literally.)
Defensive styles run about 3-6 KD. Defensive styles swing wildly a lot in the
beginning, but that is natural. They will get better. 3-4 KD, they still have a
tendency to let attacks go by. Of course, if you're scumming, go with a 1 KD.
In short, having an 8-10 KD means your warrior is doing all that swinging and
hitting less. Not to mention all the endurance he is burning up to no avail.
Any comments, you can diplo me.

ta-ta,
Sir Jessie Jest

DM 11: Lords of the Abyss
DM 61: Pit Fiends
DM 67: Storm Wizards
DM 5: Bad Girls

SOME INFO ON THE RIPPER

Being that the parry-riposte is my favorite style, I thought I'd share a few
things I've learned.
General design:

ST: 7-11 Strength isn't all important to the P.R. An 11 will gives you all well
suited weapons. I'll even go as high as 17, but with no dramatic
effect.

CN: Any A higher con will give a better endurance and make survival easier.

SZ: Any Although a smaller size gives you a defensive bonus.

WT: 15-21 As with all other styles the higher the better. 15 will give the epee.
A P.R. needs to learn skills to survive.

WL: 13-21 Will is as important as wit. It helps endurance and life expectancy.
A higher will allows you to pick apart most scum.

SP: 5-13 13 is a major breakpoint but it's not necessary to go that high. A
combo of 15 wit, 15 deftness and 11 speed will give you an expert in
riposte with any luck.

DF: 13-21 The higher the coordination the easier it is to hit your attack
location. A 15 will give you the epee.

The perfect P.R. would look something like this: 9-4-5-17-21-11-17 with starting
skill bases like:
Ini: 60%
Rip: 90%
Att: 75%
Par: 70%
Def: 75%
Dec: 40%
One of my first PRs looked like this: 15-10-9-15-15-6-14, Thror the Dark. He was
extremely unlucky as far as starting skills. He now looks a little different: 17-11-
9-17-16-7-15 with 90% Init, 145% Rip, 130% Att, 130% Par, 115% Def and 80% Dec. I
destroyed him with early stat raises.
I had a similar design that was luckier, at least until he got X-ed by a slasher
in a tourney. He died with a 12-3-1 record. But enough of that. You're probably
wanting to get on with the strategies.
So getting on with it, I've tried both offensive and defensive strategies.
Generally defensive has worked better for me. Something like: 3-6-6 going offensive
in minute 3 or 4 with a 10-8-6 or a 9-7-6 and then backing off to a 6-4-6 or a 4-5-6.
As far as tactics go I don't use 'em very often. If you use any offensive tactic
use the lunge or nothing. Defensively use dodge and parry sparingly, if at all, and
don't use the riposte tactic after you've achieved a master.
Okay, now on to weapons and armor. A parry-riposte is somewhat limited when it
comes to weapons. The longsword is their best choice against heavier armors. I once
tried the halberd (I'll wait until you finish laughing.) Anyway, Thror the Dark
savagely slew Spymaster with it. I only give the PR an off hand weapon with epee,
shortsword or the longsword.
I've done varying things with armor, but I've found that lighter armor works
better, personal favorites being APL, ARM, and ASM. I read an article about the
parry-riposte of coom that made me laugh. It said something about wearing more armor
than expected of a PR, listing nothing higher than ACM+F. Imagine what he would have
thought fighting Thror the Dark in APA+F.
This is just an opinion brought to you by Necrom, manager of Knightmares (33),
Pentad Paladins (55), Northlanders (70) and a couple of others.

Crimson Strikers

Greetings, fellow managers, I, Crimson Strategist, shall share my thoughts with
you on the striking attack style.
This style developed in cultures where weapon quality surpassed that of the
armors, this made landing the first blow vital. This blow is usually delivered in a
downward fashion quickly, surely, and with power in a minimal of wasted motion.
Here's how I rate the stats:
ST 11-15: Never go below 11, strikers are well suited to ALL the weapons in the
game and 11 allows the use of the majority of them. They also need to hurt their foe
when they hit, thus making this an important consideration for damage rating.
CN 3-9: This whole style revolves around finishing your foe quickly, if your foe
has time to develop a complex formal attack on your striker, then you're not fighting
him properly. A properly run striker should never be hit more than four or five
times, any more than this and the whole concept behind this style gets thrown right
out the window, therefore I rate con as the least important attribute for this style.
SZ 9-16: A size of 9 allows use of all the weapons and it is important in
determining your damage rating, plus, it also adds to your init and this style thrives
on init.
WT 13+: As with any style, the higher the better. 13 is rock bottom, it allows
the use of all weapons except the epee and you'll still learn at a decent pace.
WL 7-13: This style conserves endurance which allows this attribute to go
considerably less than most styles and still fight effectively for a respectable
length of time. I've had strikers with a 13 ST, 3 CN, and 5 WL get poor endurance
ratings and ones with 11 ST, 6 CN, and 9 WL get normal. However, if you want some
long term potential, you'd want to be around 13 or so.
SP 10+: This is very important for decise and init skills which are the heart of
this style. Landing the first blow and finishing the fight quickly is hinged on your
striker's speed.
DF 15+: This is crucial attribute for this style, they NEED to be precise with
their blows, plus, it also adds to their init. Get to 17 or 21 if possible.
Now let's take a look at the style itself. The striking attack is one of the
easiest styles to run, yet they have adversity that many styles lack. As I've said
before, a striker can use ALL the weapons in the game. They can fight effectively
wearing plate armor and no armor, they can use EVERY tactic in the game be it
offensive or defensive, a striker can fight like a lunger or basher, ripper or
slasher, etc... provided that you match up their strategy with the appropriate tactic
and weapon. They can beat ALL the styles in DM and beyond if you choose their
strategy correctly for that particular style vs. style matchup.
Here are some examples of style vs. style matchups for strikers and various
tactic selections vs. the different styles.
High decise strikers over slashers and lungers, strikers over total parry and
wall of steel, rippers over strikers, etc...
Using the decise tactic vs. lungers, slashers, and aimed blows. Using the lunge
tactic vs. rippers and aimed blows, using no tactic and having a moderate offensive
effort and moderate activity level vs. total parries and wall of steel, etc...
The possible variations for this style are virtually endless.
Now let's take a brief look at your striker overview and glean some helpful hints
on how to fight them. If you see statements like "relying on speed to stay out of
danger" or "avoiding rather than trading blows," this is telling you that your AL
should be moderate to high. If he does great damage, then don't use weapons like the
epee or shortsword, this would be an underutilization of his strengths. If he learns
attack skills easily, then this is telling you that he likes to take his time and pick
his shots so don't send him out with a 10 OE! If you see statements like "has learned
how to be a decisive and quick fighter," then by all means USE the decise tactic with
a high OE. Don't send him out with offhand weapons unless he's ambidextrous, if you
do, it will take away from his attack. As you can see, the various statements on your
overview are very helpful in telling you how your striker likes to fight.
Here's a very general strategy that has worked well for my strikers.

OE 10 8 7 7 7 6 6 Armor: ARM to ACM
AL 4 3 2 1 1 1 8 Weapons: BS,LO,SC,GS,BA
KD 6 6 6 6 6 6 5
ATT LOC Head, body, arms
PRO LOC Head or body
OFF TCT Decise or bash
DEF TCT Response or dodge

Before I close there is one last point I wish to emphasize, USE the
challenge/avoid system, it will help control who you fight and when. In closing, I
would like to thank the following managers for their diplos and articles which helped
me learn the game: Sir Jessie Jest, Talon, Tex, the managers on the roundtable, and
numerous others who took their time to put quill and ink on parchment and pass their
knowledge on to others, thanks!
Many of you know the Crimson Death stables or soon will know them since I plan to
have quite a few of them up and running, however, some of them will be on and off due
to monetary fluctuations so if you wish to diplo me with any comments, criticisms,
whatever, send them to my home arena, which, from here on out, will always be active.

Later,
Crimson Strategist
Crimson Death DM 61