DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER
Date : 01/23/2016 Duedate: 02/05/2016
NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA
DM-93 TURN-447
This Weeks Top Honors
THE DUELMASTER IS
HODES
FAMILY NAMES (1695)
(93-9884) [4-2-0,49]
Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader
FANTHOM DEFT HODES
THE BLOODLUST (1688) FAMILY NAMES (1695)
(93-9850) [5-3-1,23] (93-9884) [4-2-0,49]
Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite
GENGELBACH HODES
FAMILY NAMES (1695) FAMILY NAMES (1695)
(93-9883) [4-2-0,33] (93-9884) [4-2-0,49]
THE CURRENT TOP TEAM
BASH BROS RIPPER (1696)
TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. FAMILY NAMES (1695) 27
2. BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) 24 THE BLOODLUST (1688)
3. BRIT BULLDOGS (957) 8 Unchartered Team
4. THE BLOODLUST (1688) 4
5. BATTLE CHASERS (304) 0 FAMILY NAMES (1695)
The Top Teams
Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 1*FAMILY NAMES (1695) 20 9 0 69.0 1/ 1*BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) 11 4 1
2/ 2*BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) 19 11 2 63.3 2/ 2*FAMILY NAMES (1695) 9 5 0
3/ 3*FIGHTING IRISH (1693) 9 15 0 37.5 3/ 3*FIGHTING IRISH (1693) 6 8 0
4/ 4 THE BLOODLUST (1688) 13 23 2 36.1 4/ 4 THE BLOODLUST (1688) 3 10 0
5/ 0*BRIT BULLDOGS (957) 0 1 0 0.0 5/ 0*BRIT BULLDOGS (957) 0 1 0
6- 5*BATTLE CHASERS (304) 0 1 0 0.0 6- 5*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
NOBLISH ISLE GRADUATION FINAL EXAM
20 True/False Questions
90% = Passing Grade
Special Assist = All answers Are FALSE
1. D2 is all work and no play.
2. You may bloodfeud only twice.
3. Scum warriors are not allowed.
4. Assur and The Consortium rep are allied.
5. One must challenge warriors by name only on the strategy sheet.
6. There is one best strategy for each style.
7. The WF (war flail aka whiffle) is probably the best weapon available.
8. A warrior must be deemed godling to enter into tournaments.
9. All warriors are born with the same amount of stats and skills.
10. One cannot use a weapon unsuited to the warrior's style.
11. A manager may have only one team in D2.
12. Endurance plays no factor in D2.
13. A warrior's hit points are only determined by CON.
14. There are seven skill and seven stat types.
15. When a warrior dies, your team is reduced by one.
16. All Face-To-Face Tournaments are held at the office in Tempe, AZ.
17. The arena Duelmaster may challenge any other warrior in the arena.
18. A warrior must wear armor.
19. There are no luck factors in the game.
20. The designer of this test has patent rights.
NOTE: Certain of these questions are discussed thoroughly in Noblish Island
Newsletters. So tune in!
Brought to you by High Hopes, Family Names (A Consortium representative)
***---------*---------*---------*---------**---------*---------*---------*---------***
Assur's Guide to High Skill Hybrids
The last of the Hybrid types is perhaps the most unclear of the warrior types in terms
of getting them to win. High Skill Hybrids don't really have a clear path to victory,
but expect to win by virtue of the fact that they have more skills than their
opponents.
Assur is far from an expert in this type of warrior, but it has been shown many times
that pure skills CAN win. Sometimes, they are called skill whores, becuase they
sacrifice everything for more skills.
1) Design
As Hybrids, they want a bit of everything, but their focus is on high skills with some
balance of physicals (often meaning as long as you don't have little damage or little
endurance, you're good to go). But you especially want to make sure you hit major
skill breakpoints and always want a decent wit to ensure they keep learning skills as
fast as their peers around them.
Most commonly these Hybrids start with 8-11 Strength, but higher strength versions are
definitely possible, but since strength is not a main skill stat, 8-11 is most common.
You almost always want more constitution on this type of hybrid, but because you're
focusing on skills, you almost never add points here. Size and Speed are usually very
low, but there are plenty of high speed versions (usually made into Lungers).
High wit and deftness are the norm; 17 or 21 wit is highly recommended. High Will is
also nice. I recommend not trying this type of hybrid with less than 11 wit or less
than 11 deftness (both major skill breakpoints). Will of 9 (or even 7) is just fine
for endurance conserving styles.
The most 'extreme' examples of this type of hybrid look something like: 9-7-7-21-17-
6-17, 12-3-9-21-17-5-17, and 11-4-5-21-17-9-17. More realistic versions (i.e., the
chance of getting a set of stats that can make the extreme versions is very small,
you'll see these types of stats more often)
15-8-6-17-17-6-15, 12-3-13-17-17-5-17, 8-9-7-17-17-11-13, and 11-9-13-17-9-4-21
2) Style Choice
With 21 wit, pretty much any style can attempt to win with skills. Otherwise, the
following styles are recommended.
Lungers: The highest skill style, the highest base attack and defense, and the highest
favorite fighting rhythms all make for a very strong style. When you're looking for a
high skill style, Lungers should always be in the running. The downside is that they
require lots of endurance to run.
Wall of Steels: Wall of Steels start with the same initial skill total as a Lunger,
though the distribution is dramatically different. They also run well with lower
fighting rhythms, so do not need as much endurance as their lunger counterparts.
Still, it is a good idea to have high endurance for Wall of Steels.
Parry Lungers: This style falls just short of Lungers and Wall of Steels in the
traditional power rankings. But they are definitely on the higher side of of the
skill totals and built correctly can be powerful opponents.
For both Wall of Steels and Parry Lungers, their reluctance to learn riposte skills
suggests that hybrids of this style either start with some riposte, have a bit more
defensive oomph (parry, carry, and hit points), or are augmented in strategy with the
Riposte Tactic. Aimed Blows: (With High Deftness, usually 17 or 21). Aimed Blows
round out the styles that naturally perform well as high skill hybrids. Aimed Blows
are unique in that they can do very well with extremely low strength (even 3) or will
(7+) and still have lots of skills. The do not need the endurance that the other high
skill styles need. The downside of hybrid AB's is that they can be extremely
vulnerable to death given the way they are typically designed.
And with 21 wit (or even 17), any of the ten fighting styles can learn fast enough to
outpace opponents in the skill race. Realize that wit is a high commodity stat, and
many of your opponents may also have 17 or 21 wit, especially teams run by managers
that focus on the tournament game.
3) Weapon Selection
Weapon selection for high skill hybrids varies by manager and design. The first
choice will normally be one of the top weapons in the game (SC, BA, BS, LO), but there
are other situations where your warrior may be better with another weapon. Maybe your
warrior likes to run fast (QS, HA, SS). Maybe your warrior wants a better riposting
weapon (EP). Maybe you want to strive for Knockdowns (LS). Perhaps you want to look
for your favorite weapon and get bonus skills that way!
Almost every weapon has its uses. I will warn once again that weapons that only deal
crushing damage tend to be underpowered. They do quite well against Scale Mail, but
otherwise are clearly outclassed by other weapons in the game. This is built into the
game mechanics.
4) Armor
You are a hybrid. You'll want to wear armor. How much needs to be a balance of your
endurance, carry ability, and your specific warrior's strengths. More defensive and
you might wear a bit extra armor. A faster hybrid (like the Lunger) will often wear a
bit less armor. A super low strength hybrid will wear very little.
Most importantly, unless you're expecting a certain type of fight, DO NOT OVERENCUMBER
YOUR HYBRID! This is the easiest way to make a hybrid perform poorly as the overall
encumbrance penalties are harsh.
5) Strategy and Tactics
Option #1: Look for your favorite rhythm. Warriors naturally fight better when they
are running at or near their favorite rhythm. You don't know what your favorite
rhythm is initially, but each style has rhythms that are common to the style and each
style as limits on what is possible to get. It is amazing what some warriors do when
running on their faves.
Option #2: Run hot (or semi-hot). Having your warrior going out hot is not a bad
strategy. There may be better strategies for your hybrid, but at least you'll know
he's going out with the intention to attack. Bad idea for most hybrids against pure
defensive warriors.
Option #3: Run defensive minute 1. This is especially effective for Wall of Steels,
but can be used by any of the style mentioned above. It also conserve endurance better
than option #2.
Option #4: Run a riposting strategy. This is highly dependent on your warrior, but
you don't need a lot of riposte to get the counterstrike. Generally this is a
moderate type strategy (too low and most warriors won't try to attack, unless those
low numbers happen to be their faves and then all bets are off)
DUELMASTER'S COLUMN
Notes from the arena champ.
Because a DM Column is required, I shall write one. I did not win. Kung-Fu Master
beat me, but NPCs are disqualified from being DM. Har de har! Therefore, I am
Duelmaster by rights of my highest recognition points. I am pretty sure that if I
fight KFM again, I will lose again. And the odds are good, a rematch will happen. I
will hate that when it happens. I will say PSHAW!
-- Hodes, DMII
SPY REPORT
Good day, in NOBLISH ISLAND a quiet thief gets rich, but a quiet spymaster gets
poor. So bring me ale and harken to my tidbits of news. And let's see, FELDSPAR
fought EMBEZZLING SCRIBE and gained 14 points and contributed to FIGHTING IRISH's
1-3-0. DANTALION has lost to HAGEDORN, falling 12 points, while helping make
FIGHTING IRISH a 1-3-0 turn. Our Duelmaster has lost, folks, lost to KHALHUMS DWARF,
BUT HODES is still the Duelmaster because she has the most recognition points! Can
someone confirm a rumor for me? I hear the top team makes their losing fighters do
dishes at The Dripping Blade until they win. Maybe?
I tell you, a green quarterstaff lasts longer than a seasoned sapling. A basher
friend of mine assures me this is true. THE BLOODLUST has cause to stand tall, as
they were NOBLISH ISLAND's most avoided team. A smart manager knows this is a team
to beat. And guess who avoided THE BLOODLUST stable the most? Believe it or not, it
was FAMILY NAMES. Anyone surprised? Well, sports fans, take notice that MINSTREL
from FIGHTING IRISH was NOBLISH ISLAND's most challenged warrior this turn.
A coward dies a thousand deaths, a brave man only once. Wise men know this to
be true. Is it really true that NOBLISH ISLAND has more dishwashers per capita that
fighters? Just thought I'd ask...
Thought for the day, a new sword shines bright, but the notched sword sings the
sweetest. It's been nice chatting with you, until we meet again, keep your swords
sharp and your hammers heavy. Until you see my quill in NOBLISH ISLAND again,
farewell-- Alarond the Scribe
DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
HODES 9884 4 2 0 49 FAMILY NAMES (1695)
ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
MILLER 9887 5 0 0 36 FAMILY NAMES (1695)
CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
GENGELBACH 9883 4 2 0 33 FAMILY NAMES (1695)
WOEFUL BASES 9888 4 2 0 32 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696)
FELDSPAR 9873 3 2 0 27 FIGHTING IRISH (1693)
WON'T ATTACK 9889 5 1 0 25 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696)
SPENCER 9886 3 3 0 24 FAMILY NAMES (1695)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
FANTHOM DEFT 9850 5 3 1 23 THE BLOODLUST (1688)
MINSTREL 9877 3 2 0 20 FIGHTING IRISH (1693)
HAGEDORN 9885 4 2 0 19 FAMILY NAMES (1695)
WORST DEF IN GAME 9891 3 3 1 19 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696)
INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
HARD TO RUN 9890 3 3 1 19 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696)
BAD ATTACK 9892 4 2 0 15 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696)
-VAMPIRIAL 9849 3 6 0 15 THE BLOODLUST (1688)
-AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
DANTALION 9876 2 3 0 9 FIGHTING IRISH (1693)
-DRAXXUS 9644 1 4 0 7 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
ALEMBIC 9874 1 4 0 7 FIGHTING IRISH (1693)
BLUDBRUTE 9897 1 1 0 6 THE BLOODLUST (1688)
BLUDTHYRST 9896 0 4 0 4 THE BLOODLUST (1688)
-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)
-RED MONIKA 1689 0 1 0 1 BATTLE CHASERS (304)
'-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn.
THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
WOOF 5575 0 1 0 BRIT BULLDOGS 957 SPYMASTER 447 NONE
DEATH BASHER 9847 2 1 1 THE BLOODLUST 1688 BLOOD ROSE 2629 443 NONE
DRAKONYA 9867 1 2 0 THE BLOODLUST 1688 WORST DEF IN GAM 9891 445 REVENGED
PERSONAL ADS
Donner, sorry you are not a Hoosier, but you are forgiven. My mother (93 in a nursing
home with all mental facilities) still believes that Bobby Knight sits at the right
hand of The Father! -- High Hopes
BTW, read that Enchiridion carefully! (Probably 50%+ of the data used by the author
came from The Consortium.) You will find the weapon suitability chart which would have
warned you about your selections for Minstrel in his 4th fight. That old immense
document has some good stuff, but lots of suppositional errors. For the best info
nowadays - read the 93 (old and new) newsletters, go to Terrablood's site, go to the
RSI site, or ask Assur for his site. -- HH
Hodes is Duelmaster? Again? Will wonders never cease! -- HH
OK, OK, Boss. So I lost to Kung-Fu Master. I admit, he was far better than me. BUT, I
am still on top! -- Hodes
Vampirial, I thought you were going to get me there, but finally that garlic wore off.
-- Gengelbach
Bludbrite, needless to say, you were outscummed by a pretty mediocre scum, so .......
-- Hagedorn
Dangerous Criminal? Beat me?! Bah, Humbug! -- Spencer
Health. Humility. Honor. -- HH (with 3 H's)
Donner -- WELCOME! I can only hope you find as much fun managing your warriors as I
do! I would enourage you to be somewhat patient with yourself, especially if you like
to run all tne fighting styles. The styles are not all equal! One of the reasons I
spend so much time here talking about Offensives, Hybrids, and Defensives is so others
will think in terms of how a warrior is going to win and not in terms of stats and
styles. And it is normally better, today, to optimize your warrior for one way of
winning and then find warriors you can beat than to try and be a jack of all trades
and beat every warrior. -- Assur
LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS
WOOF was butchered by SPYMASTER in a 1 minute bloody Dark Arena fight.
BLUDTHYRST lost to WORST DEF IN GAME in a 2 minute Bloodfeud battle.
HAGEDORN slimly won victory over DANTALION in a slow 14 minute Challenge match.
GENGELBACH viciously subdued MINSTREL in a popular 2 minute gory Challenge contest.
BLUDBRUTE luckily beat ALEMBIC in a dull 13 minute amateur's Challenge competition.
HODES was bested by KHALHUMS DWARF in a crowd pleasing 3 minute Title match.
MILLER unbelievably bested FANTHOM DEFT in a dull 6 minute gruesome fight.
SPENCER was unbelievably bested by WOEFUL BASES in a action packed 2 minute gory duel.
WON'T ATTACK won victory over OSKSI NOBLE in a 3 minute duel.
BAD ATTACK defeated MORDANT DESERTER in a 3 minute fight.
HARD TO RUN overpowered CONVICTED THIEF in a 1 minute one-sided melee.
FELDSPAR overpowered EMBEZZLING SCRIBE in a crowd pleasing 1 minute one-sided match.
BATTLE REPORT
MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 5 TOTAL PARRY 16 - 8 - 0 67 |
|TOTAL PARRY 3 WALL OF STEEL 10 - 6 - 2 63 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 3 PARRY-LUNGE 6 - 4 - 0 60 |
|AIMED BLOW 3 BASHING ATTACK 18 - 13 - 1 58 |
|BASHING ATTACK 2 AIMED BLOW 21 - 17 - 3 55 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 18 - 15 - 2 55 |
|WALL OF STEEL 1 SLASHING ATTACK 4 - 5 - 0 44 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 0 LUNGING ATTACK 9 - 16 - 0 36 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 0 PARRY-STRIKE 2 - 4 - 0 33 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 0 STRIKING ATTACK 3 - 10 - 0 23 |
Turn 447 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 LUNGING ATTACK 1 - 2 2 AIMED BLOW
TOTAL PARRY 3 - 0 AIMED BLOW 0 - 3 2 TOTAL PARRY
PARRY-RIPOSTE 4 - 1 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 0 2 BASHING ATTACK
PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 1 2 LUNGING ATTACK
SLASHING ATTACK 0 - 0 2 PARRY-RIPOSTE
STRIKING ATTACK 0 - 0 1 WALL OF STEEL
WALL OF STEEL 0 - 1
TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE
FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
AIMED BLOW HODES 9884 4 2 0 49 FAMILY NAMES (1695)
TOTAL PARRY MILLER 9887 5 0 0 36 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 HODES 9884. The ten other most popular fighters were GENGELBACH 9883, SPENCER
9886, WOEFUL BASES 9888, WORST DEF IN GAME 9891, BLUDTHYRST 9896, HARD TO RUN 9890,
FELDSPAR 9873, MINSTREL 9877, BAD ATTACK 9892, and WOOF 5575.
The least popular fighter this week was BLUDBRUTE 9897. The other ten least popular
fighters were HAGEDORN 9885, ALEMBIC 9874, DANTALION 9876, MILLER 9887, WON'T ATTACK
9889, FANTHOM DEFT 9850, WOOF 5575, BAD ATTACK 9892, MINSTREL 9877, and FELDSPAR
9873.
REALITY SIMULATIONS E-MAIL ADDRESSES
For those of you who have e-mail access, you may find it more convenient to e-mail us!
At this time, we cannot accept e-mailed strategy sheets, but we can accept your
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or any other requests, feel free to send us e-mail to this address:
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Thank you. We wish you the best of luck in your games! -- RSI
SUMMER FACE-TO-FACE IN NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA!
At long last, we are finally having a summer FTF in New Orleans! It will be held on
July 15-17, 2016, at the beautiful Hilton New Orleans/St. Charles Avenue in downtown
New Orleans (504-378-2800). Room rates are $145.00 per night, 1-2 occupancy, which
includes free high speed internet. There's a fitness center, jacuzzi, indoor pool,
and business center, as well as several resturants inside the hotel. Valet parking is
$40/night. The rooms are blocked--code RSI. (If you have issues making reservations,
please let us know!)
Hotel site: http://tinyurl.com/July16FTF
Look for the tournament info sheet and minioverviews some time in June. We hope
you're all looking forward to it and that we will see you there!
-- RSI
A NOTE ON MAILMEN
In response to the articles on new fighting styles, those were good, but how can
you forget our most favorite warrior who has a style all his own? The Mailman! To
Duelmasters he is our most sacred person. I mean, how many of you managers out their
have sat down and calculated what day your Duelmasters will arrive and have sat
waiting for it to arrive, while unknown to you, your mailman is fighting away to get
your Duelmasters delivered. Let's review him...
ST - should be around 19. He needs to heft two medium bags, cloth mail armor and
a ton of rubber bands.
CN - 13, give or take a few. He does get bitten by dogs often.
SZ - Any.
WT - At least 10. He often likes to read the mail.
WL - Try about 20. He must endure all kinds of weather.
SP - 16 is good. He needs to run across streets in traffic.
DF - 10 is good. Sometimes he has to carry packages.
This setup should get you a good mailman but they are hard to come by. If you
can come up with any better, diplo me. I am:
Staple Gun
mgr. of Technet (3)
The New Deal (23)
I am currently working on the U.P.S. and Federal Express warriors.
"Strikers R Us"
Greetings, everyone. It is I, Talon, again. I am very glad to see everyone
participating in the arena and sharing their thoughts on styles and strategies. This
turn I will take on the striking attack style, which is certainly one of my favorites.
I believe the striker is one of the easiest styles to run, and one in which no
team should be without. A high-powered striker can diversify and empower your team.
A well run striker can beat any other style, period, at any level in regular
Duelmasters. In arenas where scum TPs are rampant, strikers are just the answer as
they can attack for up to 12 minutes or more. Strikers are versatile. They can do
exceptionally well with a dagger as a weapon or with a halberd. They can do well with
no armor or with plate armor.
Stats:
Biff Primal Solid Perfect
ST 5-21 9-17 13 15
CN 3+ 3+ 6 3
SZ 9-21 3-17 9 5
WT 3-17 17 + 17 21
WL 9-17 13 + 17 15
SP 5+ 5-13 9 8
DF 9+ 9-17 13 17
With the way I design strikers, there are essentially two strikers that evolve.
The BIFF and the PRIMAL. The Biff striker is typically one that is not looking long-
term, but one which I want to run and have fun with. With this striker, I try to have
one stat (wit, will, or deftness) which is extraordinary, one which is average, and
the other ends up being at some non-normal level. Some examples of the Biff are: 10-
10-11-4-17-17-15, 7-11-17-17-11-6-15, 9-5-14-17-11-13-15, 4-8-17-15-13-10-17, and 21-
3-15-21-5-8-11. With these warriors, the emphasis is on having fun and learning more
about the style.
The Primal is essentially a Primus-quality warrior. In this category, the
striker will be designed with stats that most other managers will gasp, "OH MY, WHY
DID YOU MAKE HIM A STRIKER?" It is also the warrior that will be Duelmaster for 8
straight turns and will go to ADM with a 16-4-2 record, with 4 Masters and an Ad Ex.
The key here is to create a warrior with AT LEAST a 17 wit and 15 deftness, along with
a 13+ will and who will do normal damage or better. The goal with the Primal is a 21
wit and 17 deftness, because this will ensure a great warrior.
Weapons and Armor: As for weapons, the best striking weapons that I have found
and used are the dagger, epee, scimitar, broadsword, quarterstaff, greatsword,
longsword, war hammer, and sometimes the short spear. I don't run my strikers with
shields or off-hand weapons, as it takes away from their attack. The heaviest armor I
will use is padded leather. Always wear a steel cap or a helm.
Strategy (general):
Min. 1 2 3 4 5 6+ Desp
OE 10 8 6 6 6 5 5
AL 10 5 4 2 2 1 8
KD 6 8 6 6 6 5 5
attack arms/legs/head -- take your pick
protect arms/legs/head -- take your pick
off tactic decise, slash, bash, depending on weapon
def tactic response is best; try dodge though.
With this strategy, a striker with a normal endurance should fight for eight
minutes as a scum TP and come out on top, outrageously victorious. Just match your
weapon with your tactic and only use the tactics in minute one or desperation.
If you have any further questions on this or any other style, feel free to diplo
me.
Talon, mgr. Eagle's Claw
HOW I MADE DUELMASTER IN THREE EASY STEPS
OR
a new look for Aimed Blows
Greetings and salutations, all. Here's a new twist on aimed blows I haven't seen
before....one that works, at least for me! Here's what I did with Rex Walters, my
first Duelmaster in the Free Blades transfer arena, DM 70.
ST: 17 (for good damage, attack and parry skills)
CN: 13 (gonna need every hit point he can get)
SZ: 4 (smaller the better!)
WT: 4 (overrated for aimed blows!)
WL: 21 (if ya try this method, 17 is a MINIMUM)
SP: 4 (ya want NO speed, none, nothing, zero!)
DF: 21 (better max this one out too, at least a 19)
You laugh at me? I started expert in both attack and parry! (OK, so I got lucky,
I didn't expect either one of em.) But both are in reach with a little luck. Hey, if
ya can get that strength to 21 you're almost guaranteed those experts... though a bit
more CON would be nice.
But how do I RUN this monstrosity, you may ask? Why, I'm glad you inquired!
LOTS of armor. The hit points combined with, say, platemail should win this character
a lot of fights. But, while I've picked up a few easy wins scumming, that's not
really what this character does best.
I use the only weapon Rex is well suited to: the bare hand. With an offhand
small shield or shortsword, so I can take advantage of that expert parry rating. So:
FI-SH, APM-H.
And I run him at a 4 offensive effort, with a matching 4 activity level. He can
last through the initial onslaught of nearly any offensive, then smash them.... like a
good waste. And with that monster endurance and good damage, no one scums this
warrior!
I attack and protect the head, usually, and keep the kill desire high... 5-7
generally. Now, how to become Duelmaster?
Well, step one is fight your first fight... and train your CON. Step two, now
that you're in the arena, is get a fight with an up-and-coming young warrior from the
Duelmaster's team... and kill them. (I randomly matched up with, and killed, a member
of the incoming Duelmaster's team...luck helps, ya know.) Offensives that wear
themselves out but haven't quite dropped are the easiest to kill.
Then, when the Duelmaster comes at you (bragging about how he "only" needs to
beat you twice to assure his ascension to the Isle) you stomp him. Badly. Once
you're on that lofty throne he won't even be able to bloodfeud you, since you can bet
he's not gonna be anywhere near the challenger champions after losing to a 2-fight
warrior (just ask Ciron of ENDS WITH IRON, now in AD).
There are drawbacks, of course. Once you get to that level, odds are you're
gonna get stomped like a stuck pig (I was most challenged 2 turns in a row after this
trick... Oo! I love mixed metaphors...) But... even a 4 wit warrior can learn skills
against gladiators with 50 fights!
Rex is now 7-3-1. All three losses have come against warriors now in AD. In
those ten matches, he's trained his strength and constitution once each, and learned
twenty skills, including his adex in both parry and attack. And boy, is it fun
humiliating some of those "gods" bound for AD!
What else can one do with this warrior? Well, Rex is, get this, well suited to
an off-hand epee! He wouldn't dare use one as a primary weapon, but its a great off-
hand toy...
Does he have what it takes to be a long-term winner? Who knows? He's probably
the DUMBEST aimed blow to ever make Duelmaster... He's in the Challenger Champions and
climbing....and he'll meet ya in AD!
Amazingly enough, this is not an isolated fluke. We entered a similar warrior
into Bloodgames (with the 4's as 3's, and a bit more CON). That warrior, Jalon, is
now in AD after going 9-1-5 and finishing on TOP of his Bloodgames arena.
Ah, just thought I'd mention I have had a second bare-handed Duelmaster, now...
Seeker Still Water in DM 74 is an open-hand lunger, Duelmaster at 8-1... but that's
another story...
--Khyron
mgr., Pitt Gladiators (2,29,56,103)
Jayhawks (70)
Silent Storm (65,74,75)
and numerous others....
THE WALL OF STEEL AS A BERSERKER
This article is for newer players; more experienced managers will, I'm sure, have
much more sophisticated ideas about warrior design and strategy. This will enable a
newbie to design a competent warrior who should be able to achieve a better than 50/50
record.
The wall of steel, or "waste," is often considered the second scummiest style in
Duelmasters. I love the style, but I don't run mine that way; I prefer to think of
the waste as a fierce dervish ripping into his opponent like an airplane propeller.
In accordance with this view, most walls of steel that I design couldn't scum if they
wanted to (well all right, sometimes it happens by accident if the opposing warrior is
going all-out and can't last very long). It's fun to run them fast; they get the jump
on people who don't expect it of them, and their fights are exciting. Mind you, they
don't win as much as if they ran more defensively, but the ones with good stats still
do okay (I'll make practically anything a waste and run it, but this article isn't
about the ones that a sane manager would DA).
So, here is a design for a competent wall of steel:
ST 13+ Needed for endurance, damage doing, and weapon selection.
CN 9+ You need a passably good con for endurance.
SZ 7+ Teeny weenie wastes don't hit hard enough or take enough damage. Real big
(15+) is bad because it hurts endurance.
WT 13+ Preferably 17. Like any other style, the smarter they are, the better.
WL 17+ Needed for endurance, damage-taking, and sheer grit. 21 is recommended.
SP 3+ Whatever.
DF 7+ Higher deftness is better, but you can get by without it.
As you can see, these are fairly easy requirements. Of course, the more wit,
will, and deftness, the better your waste will be (same as any other style). If you
don't end up with at least good endurance on the overview, the warrior probably isn't
going to do very well. With that high will, though, you can bump con a couple of
times and you might get good endurance, so there's still a chance.
Choose your weapons based on deftness, and your opponent's armor weight. I
normally use something like 0-8 SC, 9-12 BS, 13+ GA, backup SC or BS. No shield.
Some other good weapons for the waste are QS (only takes 11 ST, and can hit heavy
armor), MS, and BA. The war flail isn't a very good weapon, but you can play with it
against leather armor. For armor, I usually choose something middling like ARM & H,
but will go with APL & H if he has a lot of con.
For strategy--I heard a rumor (NOT confirmed) that a wall of steel gets a bonus
if his OE equals his KD. Since I don't like to use a kill desire above 6, I don't go
by that in the first couple of minutes. Keep the activity level moderate to low; the
waste doesn't need to jump around a lot and the way he keeps his weapon moving, he's
burning a lot of endurance without that added drain. Attack and defend the arms, like
a slasher; a waste is a sort of parry-slasher. A typical strategy for my wastes might
look like this:
Minute 1 2 3 4 5 6 Desp
Offensive 9 8 7 6 5 5 2
Activity 6 5 4 3 2 1 6
Kill des. 6 6 6 6 5 5 2
Att. loc. RA LA RA LA RA LA RA
Pro. loc. AM AM AM AM AM AM HE
Off tac. none -- -- -- -- -- --
Def tac. -- -- -- -- -- -- P
I play with the numbers a lot, depending on what the warrior seems to like. For
example, if he doesn't parry too well, I'll give him a more offensive desperation
strategy, like 8-4-8-slash. (If I really like a warrior I sometimes use a 7+ KD to
try and save his life.) If he never manages to get the jump on anybody, I'll try
running him more defensively, like with a first minute of 3-6-3. It's not as much fun
as going all out, but it's more fun than losing all the time.
You can challenge pretty much any style (lungers aren't recommended). When
fighting a warrior you know to be very defensive (a TP, or a scummy variety of PS, PR,
PL, or WS), slow down or you will be scummed. For the most part, though, an offensive
waste is very versatile and can beat any style. The better his important qualities
are (WT, WL, DF, endurance), the better the quality of warriors he can defeat. In
other words, if you have a so-so rollup that barely made the minimum requirements,
challenge so-so opponents. If you have a good rollup, go for the gold. Challenge
warriors with a few more fights than you, so you'll learn plenty of skills--but don't
challenge way way up in experience, because it's no fun to lose a good warrior.
For the most part, train skills--especially on your challenge strategy, when
you're going after someone with more fights! And for sure on the first fight, because
you'll likely be matched against someone who can teach you a lot. It's okay to train
con once in a while if you need more endurance and damage-taking; and if you have bad
luck on the rollup and get "does little damage" or something, you might have to train
strength once or twice (no more!). But it's best not to train any other stats until
way, way down the road.
Ask your DM sponsor or any experienced manager in your arena for more advice (if
they tell you I'm full of hot air, they're probably right). A little bit of good
advice from a more advanced player can make a big difference in your enjoyment of the
game!
If you have any questions or suggestions, you can diplo: the She-Puppy, mgr.
Mordant Prison DM-1, and others.
NEW NOVEL: "BLOOD GAMES"
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
I'll 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