DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER Date : 02/06/2016 Duedate: 02/19/2016 NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA DM-93 TURN-448 This Weeks Top Honors THE DUELMASTER IS HODES FAMILY NAMES (1695) (93-9884) [4-3-0,47] Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader POSITION IS EMPTY HODES FAMILY NAMES (1695) (93-9884) [4-3-0,47] Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite GENGELBACH SPENCER FAMILY NAMES (1695) FAMILY NAMES (1695) (93-9883) [5-2-1,35] (93-9886) [4-3-0,33] THE CURRENT TOP TEAM BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team 1. FIGHTING IRISH (1693) 35 2. FAMILY NAMES (1695) 12 DARK TOADS (527) 3. BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) 0 Unchartered Team 4. BRIT BULLDOGS (957) 0 5. VALHALLA (1676) -2 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) 23 11 1 67.6 1/ 1*BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) 11 4 0 2/ 2*BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) 21 14 2 60.0 2/ 2*FAMILY NAMES (1695) 8 6 1 3/ 3*FIGHTING IRISH (1693) 12 17 0 41.4 3/ 3*FIGHTING IRISH (1693) 5 9 0 4/ 0*VALHALLA (1676) 1 5 0 16.7 4- 5*BRIT BULLDOGS (957) 0 1 0 5- 5*BRIT BULLDOGS (957) 0 1 0 0.0 5/ 0*VALHALLA (1676) 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 The CIC (Consortium Information Collection) Noblishers Should Ask RSI for it Once upon a time there was a long-time manager who decided to collect a lot of valuable information, in irregular small print form, on only three pages of 8.5x11. That manager, or group of managers, use said data information when: 1. The internet is down and the Terrablood/RSI sites are unavailable 2. Traveling around the world and "working D2 strategies" in unusual places 3. Quick information is needed 4. They feel like it The information is not necessarily the prettiest, but it can be quite invaluable to D2ers especially D2ers with no internet accessibility. Copies of that information are now available for Noblish Island managers. Contact the RSI office to request it by mail. (If it wasn't sent in an intro packet to you.) Most of the information on the data sheets is self-explanatory. Some will require explanation. Most has been gathered from various sources over time in the old DM community. Much of it has been gathered empirically. (Meaning that the information is not programming code, or from the designers, but rather gathered by users and players of the game.) The information may not always be "perfect", but it is widely used in this or similar fashion. I will explain the information by placing it into two categories: straightforward and intricate. First let's cover what is in the first category. The following charts/info fit the straightforward category. Some include simple calculations. 1. WEAPON SUITABILITY -- shows which weapons are suited, marginal, or unsuited to a style. 2. WEAPON REQUIREMENTS -- indicates the ST, SZ, WT, DF limitations for a weapon. It also covers the weapon weight, the armor it is best used against, and whether it is a slash, bash, lunge weapon. 3. INTELLIGENCE -- defines the WT needed for each rating. 4. DAMAGE -- reveals the approximate damage rating one should expect for all ST/SZ combinations. Note: a luck roll factor can both hose and bless damage rating. 5. ENCUMBRANCE -- a table which shows what level of "carry" (encumbrance rating) one should expect at all SZ/CN combinations. 6. HEIGHT -- a simple conversion between the SZ number and height. 7. COORDINATION -- which is defined as SP + DF; the chart provides a summary of each coordination rating and the "points" range for each 8. ENDURANCE -- most still use this calculation, although a "luck roll factor" can alter the results slightly. The endurance rating which is WL x (ST+CN) is defined for each rating. 9. HIT POINTS -- sometimes called "damage taking" is broken down in this chart. The HP is defined as 3.75CN + 1.1SZ + 0.4 WL. The rating levels are defined by "points". And now for the more difficult to explain charts which interact with each other. The three intricate charts are: 1. BAGMAN2 SKILL CHART -- this chart explains how many and what skills are added to the warrior base for each stat point. (All stats, including SZ, add or subtract skills at certain levels except CN.) 2. STYLE SKILL MODIFIER -- indicates the modification, by style, of skills per type. This occurs "at birth" of the warrior. 3. HIGH WIT STATEMENTS -- a chart of phrases which indicate, at birth, the skill level, by skill type, of your warrior. Note: there is a Low Wit Statement chart for warriors with less than 8 WT, but it is very inaccurate (minimal empirical data) and seldom used. It is not included in this collection of charts. (A good low WT statement chart was later developed by Assur.) These three charts work together to help a warrior determine his anticipated starting skills. They also define at which skill levels, per stat, that skills are added during the warrior's development. Note: Depending on the warrior's style, it is possible to be blessed or hosed by up to 4 skills by the "luck of the roll". The other thing to remember is that an ambidextrous warrior gets one attack skill added to his base at birth. These intricate three charts, and the interaction between them, can seem quite complicated. After a certain amount of trial-and-error, and/or by absorbing enough advice, a manager finally "gets it". Use them well. DETAILS OF USING THE CIC What can you do with the Consortium Information Collection (CIC)? How does one use all that info? (Noblish Island managers can contact RSI for a copy.) You can use the information to: 1. Predict what your designed warrior is going to look like. (Indeed, you can use the info to "try out" several design ideas, before you choose your final design. 2. Review the overview of the warrior you received to see if he/she is bonused/hosed. 3. Help keep track of the warrior's skills, including those earned from certain stat raises. 4. Determine advantageous and usable weapons and armor for certain situations. One note: Use of this information can be meticulous, detailed and exasperating at first. It will take practice. So let's examine the CIC in detail. 1. ***DAMAGE CHART*** This chart shows you the range of expected damage doing your character will yield. For example, a SZ16, 10ST warrior yields "-R+", meaning great damage is typical, but lower and higher are not uncommon. Damage doing is dependent on SZ, ST, and luck of the roll. If a warrior is much below, or much above, the chart predictions, he is "hosed" or "blessed". This chart is more of generic reference than most of the other information. 2. *** HIT POINTS*** HP is calculated as (3.75xCN)+(1.1xSZ)+(0.4xWL) . This chart shows the HP needed for each rating. For example, an 11-10-8-15-17-12-11 warrior would have (3.75x10)+(1.1X8)+(0.4x17)=53.10 HP and his "hit point rating" would be "cannot lot", meaning cannot take a lot of damage. One raise of CN elevates him to 56.85 and "normal HP". 3. ***ENDURANCE*** By this chart's definition, endurance equals (WL)x(ST+CN) Using the warrior mentioned above, endurance is (17)x(11+10) = 357. Based on the chart, this warrior should have "normal endurance. It is possible to be hosed/blessed in endurance, which would be the case if this warrior did not have normal. Note: On a warrior profile sheet, the lack of any comment about endurance, means the warrior has normal. 4. ***COORDINATION*** Coordination is merely SP + CN. There is no hosing or blessing. The warrior listed above has 12+11 = 23 or normal coordination. 5. ***ENCUMBRANCE*** is often called "carry". Carry is a non-hosed/blessed attribute dependent on ST and CN and it indicates how much weight a warrior can carry without penalizing the endurance. Checking the chart for the above listed warrior shows 11ST/10CN yields "-" carry, or "cannot carry a lot of weight". Each level of carry adds 9 points of weight that can be carried. A = 9; -- = 18; C = 27, etc. Items to be carried are armor, helm, and weapon/shields. Check the WEAPON REQUIREMENT chart to see the weights of weapons and armor. As an example, a warrior wearing ASM/H, and carrying BS/ME and a backup SH, has the following weights of 8 + 3 + 4 + 4 + 2 = 19. That amount of carry is more than the 18 indicated for "- carry", hence, the warrior wears out much quicker than normal. (Drop the back up to DA and carry is 18 points!) 6. ***HEIGHT*** this is a simple conversion chart showing what heights equate to what SZ. While the warrior fight summary may list the warrior in ft.-in, the D2 program really runs using the SZ number. Size may limit weapons or shields that may be used without penalty, and as seen above, it impacts certain other characteristics. 7. ***INTELLIGENCE*** This chart indicates the intelligence statement you will receive at each numeric WT. In general, only the numeric value is of importance. 8. ***STYLE SUITABILITY*** This is a chart which summarizes which weapons/shields are suitable, marginal, or unsuitable for which styles. 9. ***WEAPON REQUIREMENTS*** This chart only refers to primary-hand weapons, and it is a terrific summary of weapon requirement and impact. This chart reveals all of the following and more: a. Weapon weights b. ST requirements for a weapon c. SZ limitations for a weapon d. WT requirements for all weapons e. DF requirements for a weapon f. Weapon impact vs. armor type g. Kill "ratings" for weapons (Take this rating with a "grain of salt" as it is not really supported by empirical results, and it appears to say heavy weapons kill better.) h. Whether the weapon is a slash, bash, or lunge type weapon. 10. ***BAGMAN 2 SKILL CHART AND STYLE MODIFIERS*** This chart is a doozy! It took years of data and development, and has become a highly important tool in D2. The SKILL CHART explains what skills are earned at each stat level. For example: at 5 WL the warrior gets 1 each Attack, Parry, Defense, and Decisiveness skill; at 6 WL, no more skills are earned; but bumping the 7WL again adds one each of those same four. Note also that SZ does impact skills. A SZ3 warrior gets two each defense and parry skills and loses two initiative, while a SZ21 earns 4 initiative but loses four each defense and parry. This chart is prepared in an accumulative fashion, showing the total skills at each stat. Coupled with that chart the STYLE MODIFIER chart shows the "at birth" style of modifications. (All negative or zero. Each style starts with a different base of skills. Let's take our previously mentioned 11-10-8-15-17- 12-11 warrior for example, and let's say he is a slasher. The skill chart shows 2 each attack and parry skills at 11 ST; no skills for CN and no skills for SZ; at 15WT 9 initiative, 3 riposte, 7 attack, 7 defense, and 2 decisiveness; 4 each attack, parry and defense plus 5 decise at 17WL; 3 init, 4 riposte, 2 defense, and 5 decise at 12SP; and at 11DF there are 3 Init, 4 Riposte, and 5 each attack, parry and defense skills. Add those all together to get a 15Init-11Rip-18Att-11Par - 18Def-12Dec total of skills for that design. Now you must apply the style modifier chart, and a slasher has as follows: -2 Init, -4Rip, -8Att, -10Par, -12Def, -2Dec. Putting them both together yields a slasher who should expect starting skills of 13 Init, 7 Rip, 10 Att, 1 Par, 6 Def, and 11 Dec. 11. ***HIGH WIT STATEMENTS*** These statements apply to those warriors with 8+ WT. (There are also Low Wit Statements, but that information summary is inaccurate due to lack of input data.) This list indicates what "statements" should appear on your "warrior profile" for each of Initiative, Riposte, Attack, Parry, and Defense per each level of wit. Using our warrior above, as stated, he is expected to start with 13 Initiative skills. He has 15 WT. Examining the chart, under Initiative and across from 15 WT (which also applies for 16WT, since the next listed level is 17), the left side (high order) is for 13+base init skills, and the right side (low order 10-12 base init). We determined that he should start with 13, so we should expect the statement "Nothing short of genius". If we do get this statement as expected, we DO have 13+ Initiative skills. (13 min) Hence, we could be bonused with skills above 13. We would know if we were bonused 3 Init skills, as we would start with an expert in Initiative. However, if, indeed, we received the other statement "With a very aggressive", we would know we started with 10-12 Initiative skills, and were hence hosed 1 to 3 initiative skills. Let's try one more example -- for Riposte. Our skill evaluations showed him to have 7 skills. Looking at the HIGH WIT chart at 15WT, he has fewer skills than the low order amount of 10-12, so he should expect no riposte statement. If he did get the low order statement, then he truly has at least 10 riposte skills, so he is bonused +3 or +4 (4 is max skill hose or bonus). Evaluating the high wit statements of all five skill areas (there is none for decisiveness) will lead to a true and actual understanding of the starting skill set of any warrior. NOTE: With internet accessibility, use The Terrablood site for ALL this info. * Brought to you by High Hopes of Family Names and CONSORTIUM affiliates everywhere. * DUELMASTER'S COLUMN Notes from the arena champ. Yep, it's me again. Hodes. I am Duelmaster, a Noblish Duelmaster. That makes three times for me. Ask those Assur rippers how many crown they have. Har har. But I admit it has not been easy. Drawing Khalhums Dwarf this time is a very, very tough match. Almost all low fight equivalent fighters (If you don't know what FE is, ask. You should know!) have difficulty with The Dwarf Wall Of Steel. I surely did. And the fight before was Kung Fu Master, another difficult NPC and a really fine aimed-blow. Why couldn't I match with Fratsfa Slave (a piker - and if you don't know what a piker is, ask; you should know) who is just plain easy. But I am HERE, on the throne. So get over it! Odds are I will be here next time too. Eat your hearts out, World! High Hopes says for me to reiterate who I am - so here is me: 8(+1)-8-18-15-9-10-17 Aimed Blow Great damage, Poor endurance Ambi (one extra attack skill!) Through 5 fights my skill level looked like this: Init = 8, Riposte = 6, Attack = 15, Parry = 2, Defense = 5, Decise = 9 I am 1-4-1 with the dagger-DA and 2-17-0 with the epee-EP (If you don't know what the x-x-x nomenclature means, then ask; you should know) my skill learn rate is 1.75 skill per attempt So, here I am. Come and get me if you can. Hopefully I can fight some Bash Bro Ripper easies instead of these difficult NPCs. Know what I mean? -- Hodes, Family Names, DMIII SPY REPORT Hail and well met warriors of NOBLISH ISLAND! Know me for who I am, Zontani Sharp Eyes, Spymaster extraordinaire of all Alastari. DEIDRE caught the eye of many in the gladiatorial commission as she skillfully bested GUDBRAND and was awarded 14 points in recognition. In one of the week's more notable duels, SPENCER put down WON'T ATTACK, causing him to lose 6 points of recognition in the process. Our Duelmaster has lost, folks, lost to VETERAN MERCENARY, BUT HODES is still the Duelmaster because she has the most recognition points! Would you believe that over half of the old women in NOBLISH ISLAND seem to feel that they could fight better than you gladiators? Many and various are the arts of battle. In NOBLISH ISLAND "art" is a word that has long since passed from the language! I saw one fighter that warriors avoided when this week's challenge seeking began. BASH BROS RIPPER is feared. This much I can say. Apparently the stalwarts of FAMILY NAMES are catching the bulk of jests down at the challenging board for their large share of the avoids. Mighty fighters cannot but expect competition from those below. WON'T ATTACK take warning! You have more than a few enemies in NOBLISH ISLAND. Is not Death a warrior's foremost adviser? Warriors, may this counselor stand ready at your right hand forever! This week's duel proved deadly to DANTALION as he fell to the more renowned warrior, GENGELBACH. How will FIGHTING IRISH find revenge? Fate is a fickle mistress. She showers the miserable with fortune but sets enemies against the victorious. Remember this! If it were not for my skills as a spy I would have been mugged three times already in NOBLISH ISLAND. Nice atmosphere you have here! Sadly warriors, now longer can I keep thy company nor savor the ale of thy fine city. Depart I must and soon! Till we meet again, remember: a turtle walks slow, hides head in a shell, and harms no one; a lion runs to slay its prey.-- Zontani Sharp Eyes DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME HODES 9884 4 3 0 47 FAMILY NAMES (1695) ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME MILLER 9887 6 0 0 43 FAMILY NAMES (1695) WOEFUL BASES 9888 5 2 0 37 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) GENGELBACH 9883 5 2 1 35 FAMILY NAMES (1695) FELDSPAR 9873 4 2 0 35 FIGHTING IRISH (1693) CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME SPENCER 9886 4 3 0 33 FAMILY NAMES (1695) CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME MINSTREL 9877 4 2 0 30 FIGHTING IRISH (1693) HARD TO RUN 9890 4 3 1 25 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME WON'T ATTACK 9889 5 2 0 19 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) BAD ATTACK 9892 4 3 0 15 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) HAGEDORN 9885 4 3 0 15 FAMILY NAMES (1695) WORST DEF IN GAME 9891 3 4 1 14 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) DEIDRE 9904 1 0 0 14 FIGHTING IRISH (1693) -AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) ALEMBIC 9874 1 5 0 8 FIGHTING IRISH (1693) -DRAXXUS 9644 1 4 0 7 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) GUDBRAND 9778 1 1 0 4 VALHALLA (1676) -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) '-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn. THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge? DANTALION 9876 2 4 0 FIGHTING IRISH 1693 GENGELBACH 9883 448 PERSONAL ADS All, glad to see everyone here. This is the place to love and learn Duelmasters. We got the meat! -- High Hopes of Family Names I cannot believe it! Hodes on top? Again? Twice in a row despite a loss? My goodness! -- HH Fanthom Deft, I can be a very difficult style to beat and I am designed really, really stoutly. -- Miller Dantilion, that was a long one. You will need to up your aerobic exercises if you want to hang with me. -- Hagedorn Minstrel, apparently I was lucky, lucky, lucky! -- Gengelbach Woeful Bases, I guess I just don't have it. You do. At least, when it comes to me. The Big A does it again! The ratfink! -- Spencer Khalhums Dwarf, phbttttttt! -- Hodes All, I hope Assur writes about the Bashapocalypse; it is a great story! -- HH Health. Humility. Honor. -- High Hopes P.S. That's HHH by HH. High Hopes -- Yes, that WH for Minstrel was a bit of a brain fart; I realized that as soon as I looked at the results for that match. Luckily this time it didn't cost her much more than a bruised ego. -- Donner Assur -- Thanks for the welcome, and yes the game is still as fun as I remember it. I was thrilled as ever to see that first crit thrown, hehe as I'm sure I will be just as crushed when I receive that inevitable first 'unexpected' replacement rollup. Thanks for that advice, and I have enjoyed very much both yours and High Hope's contributions in the newsletter. The articles have been very informative! -- Donner LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS SPENCER bested WON'T ATTACK in a 2 minute Challenge fight. HAGEDORN slimly lost to HARD TO RUN in a monotonous 13 minute gruesome Challenge duel. HODES was demolished by VETERAN MERCENARY in a 1 minute uneven Title fight. MILLER outwaited THE USEROUS MERCHANT in a slow 17 minute contest. GENGELBACH savagely slew DANTALION in a 2 minute bloody match. WOEFUL BASES devastated ALEMBIC in a 1 minute one-sided duel. FELDSPAR devastated WORST DEF IN GAME in a 1 minute mismatched match. MINSTREL handily defeated BAD ATTACK in a 1 minute uneven fight. GUDBRAND was vanquished by DEIDRE in a 1 minute uneven duel. 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 8 - 3 - 1 73 | |BASHING ATTACK 4 BASHING ATTACK 20 - 10 - 2 67 | |LUNGING ATTACK 2 TOTAL PARRY 16 - 9 - 0 64 | |AIMED BLOW 2 PARRY-LUNGE 5 - 4 - 0 56 | |TOTAL PARRY 2 AIMED BLOW 20 - 17 - 3 54 | |PARRY-STRIKE 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 19 - 19 - 2 50 | |PARRY-LUNGE 0 SLASHING ATTACK 3 - 4 - 0 43 | |SLASHING ATTACK 0 LUNGING ATTACK 9 - 16 - 0 36 | |STRIKING ATTACK 0 STRIKING ATTACK 3 - 8 - 0 27 | |WALL OF STEEL 0 PARRY-STRIKE 1 - 5 - 0 17 | Turn 448 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: LUNGING ATTACK 2 - 0 PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 - 4 3 PARRY-RIPOSTE BASHING ATTACK 3 - 1 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 0 2 AIMED BLOW AIMED BLOW 1 - 1 PARRY-STRIKE 0 - 1 2 TOTAL PARRY TOTAL PARRY 1 - 1 SLASHING ATTACK 0 - 0 2 BASHING ATTACK STRIKING ATTACK 0 - 0 2 LUNGING ATTACK WALL OF STEEL 0 - 0 TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME AIMED BLOW HODES 9884 4 3 0 47 FAMILY NAMES (1695) TOTAL PARRY MILLER 9887 6 0 0 43 FAMILY NAMES (1695) BASHING ATTACK WOEFUL BASES 9888 5 2 0 37 BASH BROS RIPPER (1696) LUNGING ATTACK FELDSPAR 9873 4 2 0 35 FIGHTING IRISH (1693) 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 SPENCER 9886. The ten other most popular fighters were GENGELBACH 9883, WOEFUL BASES 9888, FELDSPAR 9873, MINSTREL 9877, DEIDRE 9904, WON'T ATTACK 9889, HODES 9884, DANTALION 9876, HARD TO RUN 9890, and ALEMBIC 9874. The least popular fighter this week was MILLER 9887. The other ten least popular fighters were HAGEDORN 9885, GUDBRAND 9778, BAD ATTACK 9892, WORST DEF IN GAME 9891, ALEMBIC 9874, HARD TO RUN 9890, DANTALION 9876, HODES 9884, WON'T ATTACK 9889, and DEIDRE 9904. FACE-TO-FACE TOURNEY LVI The Defensive Lunger Perfect Minimums Actual Characters ST 13 11 11 13 CN 7 3 3 11 SZ 4 4 10 6 WT 21 17 17 17 WL 17 13 17 19 SP 5 5 9 5 DF 17 13 17 13 The lunger, in my opinion, makes a much better defensive fighter than offensive fighter. Fighting defensively will compensate for the speed at which lungers burn endurance. They will still attack whenever possible but their defensive ability will allow them to dodge most attacks. The most important part is their initiative. When they do dodge, they'll usually steal the initiative and attack. I haven't been fighting lungers defensively for long but my record is 14-5-0. Don't fight defensively against other lungers as they will usually win. The strategy I use is: Min 1 2 3 4 5 6 Desp Off 4 -------------------------> 9 Weapon: Any lunging Act 6 4 --------------------> 9 No armor if low con KD 4 -------------------------> 9 APL/H if average con O.T. ---------------------------> L D.T. --------------------------------> You can attack any location you wish but I suggest protecting the body. The third character listed started with experts in attack, defense and initiative. The last character had an expert in attack. The Wild Boar, manager of Things (5) and many inactive teams. WARRIOR ENDURANCE Greetings, joy and happiness to everyone! I hope you have had pleasant dueling. This article is about endurance and some things to think about when you're designing your warriors. Below is a chart showing the different endurance levels a warrior may have. This chart may be a little off of due to the fact it isn't possible to have all the variables as a manager, but it does give you idea of the amount of endurance a warrior should have. The formula for endurance is: E = (ST+CN)WL With the result of that number use the chart below. 000-180 = Very Poor 181-240 = Poor 235-390 = Normal 391-509 = Good 510-639 = Great 640-699 = Tremendous 770+ = Awesome Here are some examples of warriors with their Endurance ratings: 1) Slasher ST 5 CN 7 WL 15 (5+7)15 = 180 Poor 2) Striker ST 7 CN 13 WL 9 (7+13)9 = 180 Poor 3) Parry-Rip ST 7 CN 10 WL 11 (7+10)11 = 187 Poor 4) Basher ST 13 CN 9 WL 9 (13+9)9 = 198 Very Poor 5) Striker ST 13 CN 9 WL 9 (13+9)9 = 198 Poor 6) Aimed-Blow ST 9 CN 15 WL 9 (9+15)9 = 216 Normal 7) Striker ST 10 CN 5 WL 15 (10+5)15 = 225 Normal 8) Slasher ST 13 CN 10 WL 10 (13+10)10 = 230 Normal 9) Wall/Steel ST 13 CN 12 WL 17 (13+12)17 = 425 Great There are several factors such as warrior style, RSI random factor, and there is some evidence that SIZE has some effect on a warrior's endurance. In any case the RSI LUCK factor can be around 7 to 8% in your favor or 2-3% worse than average. These are just estimates, but are still factors nevertheless. Some styles that are HIGH BURN endurance, like lungers, slashers and walls of steel, are more likely to be UNLUCKY with the endurance rating. Every action your warrior does consumes endurance. Attacking seems to use more endurance than any other action. Once a warrior's endurance is used up, he will make an endurance check against his WILL. If he fails the roll, he will either stop to rest or collapse to the sand, depending on how badly he failed the roll. When a warrior stops to rest, he gets back some endurance. When he gets enough endurance back, he will start attacking again. This is just a theory that I have developed from observations. It maybe completely off, but it gives one something to ponder. That's it for now lords and ladies, I must go entertain elsewhere. If you would like to chat about DM or other things, you can EMAIL me at 103260.3347@compuserve.com or visit my DM website at http://ourworld.compuserve.com./homepages/jessisjest/homepage.htm You can also diplo me at DM 11 "The Lords Of the Abyss (319)" or any of the Joker's Wilds scattered about. Cheerio, Sir Jessie Jest Member of the Ivory League Presenting, by Popular Demand (from 1989)... THE NUMEROLOGY OF DUELMASTERS by The Ghost of Eldrid Character Generation Hello, I am the Ghost of Eldrid, and I have an important message that directly effects how well your team may do in the future. Some managers will not take this important article seriously (some people don't believe in ghosts, either), and their records will suffer for it. I have played Duelmasters for four years and searched through all of my old turns and painstakingly researched every important fact in this article, and I have discussed my conclusions with about ten different managers (named managers such as Phido, Doctor LeGrand, Silk, Russ, and Biff Frothingslosh) who all agree on the validity of my arguments. The results of my research are both startling and magnificent. THERE IS NUMEROLOGY IN DUELMASTERS!!! Whether it was programmed in or it exists on a higher plane, it matters not. IT EXISTS!!! And I plan to share some of its amazing secrets with you, starting with character creation. Remember in the realm of character generation the powers favor odd number stats. NEVER, EVER have an even number on stats, except, of course, for size, which, obviously should be even since everyone can tell what size your character is by his description in the fight. Do you want people thinking your warrior is odd? I should hope not!! But in case you decide to keep your odd warrior, DO NOT MAKE ANY OTHER STATS EVEN!! Write a letter to the commission stating that you forgo the rights to the last point and you want it to be sacrificed to the benefit of Alastari. Always start adding points to wit and will first. Either make them 13, 17, or 21. Why? Under 12 wit is worthless, as any good manager will tell you. A 13 understandably gives your opponent bad luck, a 17 has the ever-lucky "7" in it, and 21 is BLACKJACK, and you get twice the number of winnings you would normally get. Why not 15 or 19? Is it not obvious to everyone that 15 is unlucky? The only President of the United States not married was the 15th, James Buchanan (who?). Lincoln was shot on April 15th, and the clincher... my brother was born on the 15th of May. If these "coincidences" don't prove to you that 15 is unlucky, I don't know what will. 19 is an evil number. It tries to deceive you into thinking it is better than 17, but actually, it is an "11" with a small zero placed on the second pole, and we all know that a zero is nothing. So what do we get for our extra eight points? In effect, something smaller than nothing. Next, make every other stat odd. Add the other points to make the style you want. Deftness is the key to character generation. Deftness (min) 5 to make a basher (ST 13+) 7 for a lunger 9 for a striker 11 for a wall of steel (ST 11+, WL 17+) 13 for a parry lunge (ST 11+), slasher (SP 11+), parry-strike, and total parries (these styles depend on the opponent's bad luck. 17 for a parry-riposte (WT 17+) 21 for an aimed blow (this style needs the double winnings) The last thing to remember is that luck is a big factor in this game and I don't know if you noticed, but when warriors have even ID numbers they are luckier than odd ID characters. Look at the best warriors in Primus: Wallbanger, Donatello, Epitaph, Chaos Knight, Villiage Idiot, Silverflash, Khorga Khan, Jake the Snake, Sly, Max, Stormbringer, Teetotaler, Raphael, Selleque, Kiri, Constance, Hangover, Eve, and Sam Spade. All have even-numbered IDs. Now you say, "But Yoda and Necron-99 both have odd IDs, and they are the best aimed blows of the game!" Yes, but they are AIMED BLOWS and they are members of an odd style, so of course they do better with odd numbers. So remember if you want your warriors to be best in all Alastari someday, Dark Arena all your odd-numbered characters, unless of course they are aimed blows. Good luck, and may the numbers fall your way. -- The Ghost of Eldrid, retired PARRY-STRIKE, ANOTHER FUN STYLE There have been several articles about fighting styles, some say theirs is the best, or ultimate, one said theirs is the most fun style. Well, I feel that parry- strikers are just as much fun to play as any other style. First, let's start with the run down of what they say in the "RED BOOK". The book says that parry-strikers are defensive, using small quick movements in their actions (sounds like you could say that about some other styles as well.) The book says that some managers swear that a high wit is critical to the style (only those who have no brains would disagree with that.) Let's get to business. First and foremost this style is deceptively aggressive, making them a very good offensive type of fighter, or deadly type of defensive fighter. Offensively they tend to get the jump on their opponent. I had a parry- striker that was only jumped 3 out of 11 fights, before he died. To prepare and run a parry-striker can be quite confusing, so I will try to help make it as simple as possible. Here are my feelings on roll-ups for the parry-strike style: ST: 11-15, I'll explain later. CN: who cares. SZ: 10-14, don't go over 14. WT: 13-17, 17 is the best. WL: 13-17, to get good endurance. SP: not important. DF: 11-15, I'll explain later. Here are some good roll-ups for a parry-striker: 11,7,10,17,17,7,15; 15,7,11,17,16,7,11; 11,7,14,17,13,7,15; 15,7,14,17,13,7,11. Now, if you have a decent wit, the way you run this fighting style will depend on strength and deftness. For example: if your fighter has a high DF and a low ST it would be to his/her advantage to be defensive, since the speed would benefit the ability to move in reaction to their opponent. If the ST is high, and DF low, it would be better to fight offensively like a striker, trying to get the first, and only blow in. If they don't have a decent wit, you're on your own. I can't help you on that. Remember this style of fighting is the same as a striker except for added knowledge of parrying, as well as bein a little more aggressive. I would not suggest a low ST and DF, it will take away from your WT & WL, and you don't want to do that, but if you do, good luck. You don't need much CN if you have a good WL, which gives you your endurance. SZ; you don't want it to be above 14, it would hurt your fighting style more than your attributes. WT; it is the same as it is with strikers, the higher the WT the faster and deadlier they become. Raise WT to 17 if you don't have it at the start, then don't worry about it again until ADM. WL; this is where you get your endurance. 13 is fine to start out, but I would suggest 15, then bump it up to 17 in basic. SP; it is what you need to riposte, but PSers have this "one strike one kill" attitude. Meaning that there isn't much time to riposte with a killing attitude, so do whatever. DF; what is there to say, it helps, but is not crucial to be a great PSer. Now to running a PSer. If he is an offensive fighter 10-10-10 Dec. all the way through the fight, even in desperation. If Defensive, 1st 10-10-10 Resp., 2nd 10-7-10 Dec., 3rd 10-10-10, 4th 10-10-10 Dec., 5th 10-10-10 Dec., 6th 10-10-10, Desp. 10-10-10 Resp. Remember, first you want to assure your defense, and to do that, you should go defensive the first minute. By the second minute you will be secure enough to go on the offensive, but experiment. 6th minute on, leave blank, for by that time he/she will know what to do (if their WT is high that is.) The best thing you could do for your fighter is watch the fights, if you are getting more defensive skills than offensive, run the def., or change weapons. That is the best advice I can give you about PSers. About armor, I like to use ringmail or nothing, but experiment. I know that there is someone that will disagree with me, but I feel that I have given you some ideas about this fighting style that can be used, even though I am a new manager, playing for just over a year. No matter who writes a style article, it is just advice, not the bible. Just use the articles as a point of reference, not as sworn law. This is a very fun fighting style, try it out. I have written this in answer to Foreign Legion Arena 31, and The Spartans Arena 8. I challenge any Primus Manager to correct my writing of PSers. It is not my favorite style, but it is as fun as any other that I have used, including my favorite one (Which is a STRIKER!!) If there are any comments, please Diplo The Priest, the manager of The Heroes of XIAN DM-10, or The Crucifiers DM-46. THE ARMOR PIERCING PARRY-LUNGE When you think "attack" what style comes to mind? Bashing? Definitely lunging? Of course. Parry-Lunging? Excuse me? Yes, the parry-lunger! Few people realize the fact that parry-lungers are attack gods waiting to be born. All it takes is the right warrior and lots of guts. This warrior is not for the weak of heart. We'll begin with stats. Range Perfect ST 9-11 11 CN 5-9 5 SZ 6-11 8 WT 17or21 21 WL 17or21 17 SP 5-8 5 DF 15-17 17 Why? ST(11): This is your optimum PL strength. It puts your warrior in the normal to good damage range. Also, you have the best PL weapon at your disposal--the LO! CN(5): Yes, his life expectancy is low. What'd I tell you? Guts, right? He gets his endurance from WL. If you want to make trains, make them here. SZ(8): Our most flexible stat. A high SZ (i.e.11) allows you to skimp a bit on Str (9). WT(21): If it's not a 21 you're not going to get the attack this fellow counts on. His learns will be awesome and a 21 WT will make him a better warrior out of the chocks. WL(17): End/Att are dependent on this one being high. Keeps you on your feet when you should drop from exhaustion. SP(5): Not a big requirement. Init and Parry will come from elsewhere (WT/DF). This is not a lunger mimic. DF(17): Combine this DF with a 21 WT and you will have a massive attack. Pinpoint accuracy is the byword. Parry, init, def and riposte will all benefit immeasurably. At 15 you have access to the EP, a fine lunging weapon this style can put to devastating use. Strategy (General, but effective in most cases) 2 9 9 7 6 5 10 6 9 9 7 6 5 10 2 7 7 7 5 5 10 HE ----------------------------> HE BD -----------------------> - - - - - - - P - - - - - - Minute 1: This fellow won't get the jump on offensives, so we'll just go defensive and render their "mad minute" fruitless. This PL's counterattack will be amazing at even 2-6-2 P due to the high AL. Keep the parry tactic until Adv Expert parry is gained. Minutes 2 and 3: These two will end most of his fights. When he starts landing precision blows in his opponent's face it will usually be over quickly. Keep the kill desire relatively low as to avoid sloppy attacking. Minutes 4 through 6: If you haven't won by now you've got to depend on your WL to carry you until you finish the job. He'll probably top out at the five min. mark. But we want to keep the attacks coming so we do so at his endurance's expense. Desp: If your opponent is an offensive he's probably blasted through your min. 1 defense. Your best bet is to go spastic and hope to take him out in one shot or so. If he's some super-defensive (scum) this PL is probably exhausted and you're hoping the super-offense will put him over the edge. After all, it's better to burn out than fade away. Always aim for the head to maximize the impact of your blows. If it tickles your fancy, aim for your opponent's weapon arm and beat him senseless when he's unarmed. Protecting the head in min. 1 is strictly odds playing on my part. My offensives aim head so I assume everyone else's do too. After min. 1, we forget defense. Weapons and armor are simple. APL/H or ARM/H (if you're challenging a real heavy-hitter). I prefer swords for armament. My combos are usually LO/SM, LO/SH, SC/DA etc. Against heavy armor go with LO/SH. Always aim for the head. Philosophy: This guy clings to life by luck, early on, and will never be free of the spectre of death. In his first few fights stay away from lungers and bashers. Both have high attacks and usually do substantial damage. Prey on strikers, PS, PR and slashers. As he progresses, his attack, parry and defense will equip him with the tools to handle most everybody but always remain cautious of those bashers and lungers. A PL of this calibre should begin with around a 90 att, 70 par/init and 60-70 def. Decise and riposte will be slightly lower. Riposte 50 and decise anywhere from 35-50 depending on how lucky you get. Train skills exclusively from fight one and on. Use tourneys if you must raise anything at all (including con). Don't be discouraged if he's around .500 early on. By ten fights he'll be sporting three Adv Experts at least (att, par and init) and will begin to dismantle those scum/finesse styles that managed to beat him. Feel free to write or diplo me with comments/criticisms/or questions. Fight the Good Fight, or: Agath CPL Michael Dockus Lunatic Fringe (23) H Co BLT 2/8 Circle of Five (51) 24 MEU (Det F) Slaves of Power (52) FPO NY NY 09502-8531