DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER Date : 06/10/2016 Duedate: 06/23/2016 NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA DM-93 TURN-454 This Weeks Top Honors THE DUELMASTER IS REPETITIVE BB TALK RADIO (1700) (93-9916) [3-0-1,27] Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader POSITION IS EMPTY REPETITIVE BB TALK RADIO (1700) (93-9916) [3-0-1,27] Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite DUMB TOPICS CANNELTON BB TALK RADIO (1700) RIVER RATS (1699) (93-9918) [3-0-0,21] (93-9913) [1-2-0,10] THE CURRENT TOP TEAM BB TALK RADIO (1700) TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team 1. RIVER RATS (1699) 27 2. BB TALK RADIO (1700) 23 RAGE (388) 3. OZ (1702) 23 Unchartered Team 4. BATTLE CHASERS (304) 1 5. COYOTES (1701) -11 BB TALK RADIO (1700) The Top Teams Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K 1/ 1*BB TALK RADIO (1700) 11 4 1 73.3 1/ 1*BB TALK RADIO (1700) 11 4 1 2/ 3*RIVER RATS (1699) 9 6 0 60.0 2/ 3*RIVER RATS (1699) 9 6 0 3/ 2*COYOTES (1701) 3 7 1 30.0 3/ 4*COYOTES (1701) 3 7 1 4/ 5*OZ (1702) 2 7 0 22.2 4/ 5*OZ (1702) 2 7 0 5/ 0*BATTLE CHASERS (304) 0 3 0 0.0 5/ 0*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 CHALLENGE AND AVOID A STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE Challenges, and their partner "avoids" are underused strategic weapons. Don't be left home without them! An avoid is an attempt to prevent a warrior from challenging you. Why allow a warrior the advantage of selecting you for a match? Why allow a warrior to decide on a special strategy just for you? One great thing about avoids is that you may avoid THE WHOLE TEAM of any warrior you want to avoid. You are allowed to avoid two whole teams. There is no use double-avoiding as it does not improve your chances to avoid that individual team. A challenge is an attempt to fight a specific warrior. Why not attempt to fight a specific warrior of choice? Why leave the opponent selection to the MUGS (match-up gods) or, worse yet, an opponent who chooses/challenges you? You are allowed to challenge two warriors. You may, indeed, challenge the same warrior twice. (Double challenge) It DOES improve your chances of a match to double challenge a same warrior. Of utmost importance is to understand that you must challenge and avoid NUMBERS, not names. Challenge WARRIOR NUMBERS. Avoid TEAM NUMBERS. Challenge individual warriors; avoid whole teams. No challenge or avoid is 100 percent effective. Challenges can be further enhanced by winning a TV or TC (Tournament Victor; Tournament Champion) in a Mailer or Face-to-Face Tournament. The TV/TC effectiveness lasts six months. So, in a normal arena, the warrior who won the TV gets 12 or 13 turns of enhanced challenging. The most effective challenge, The Blood Feud, is nearly 100 percent effective. A four turn BLOOD FEUD is awarded to your TEAM (Any member can use it each turn.) when an opposing warrior kills one of yours. Blood feuds transcend classes. (E.g. a Challenger can BLOOD FEUD an Adept or an Initiate can BLOOD FEUD a Challenger Champion, etc.) To use a TV or Blood Feud, simply write BF or TV on the challenge line with the to-be- challenged warrior number and circle it all for emphasis. How does one choose whom to challenge and what to avoid? That's a good question and like many decisions, they are more of an art than a technology. This is the methodology used by The Consortium managers. It works well for them. 1. Always avoid two different teams 2. Actively seek to challenge twice. (If only one good choice is available, double challenge.) 3. Challenge for these situations a. A probable win b. A warrior you have beaten before c. To tie up a warrior you do not want to fight one of your fellow warriors b especially the Duelmaster d. To take advantage of a Blood Feud (4 rounds) e. For a good style match up. 4. Avoid for these situations b always a. Emphasis on a team who is bloodfeuding you b. Emphasis on a team who just beat you c. Emphasis on a team with warriors in range who are far more experienced or skilled than you d. Emphasis on a team you just cannot seem to beat. e. Emphasis on teams with warriors whose styles are difficult for your style Often there will be more warriors to challenge or more teams to avoid than the strategy sheets allow. Choose wisely. Most of the circumstances are straightforward, and it is easy to select the challenges and avoids. However, in many cases, especially those with little knowledge of nearby opponents, it will come down to what style or type of warrior is best to challenge/avoid. There are available charts "out there" which prioritize which styles have advantages over other styles. Beware of them. The data is based on warriors over the years and those managers who submitted data for those charts. The warning b today's lunger is not yesterday's lunger, and my aimed blow is not your aimed blow, and today's basher is not yesteryear's basher, and a tourney warrior is not necessarily an arena warrior, etc, etc, etc. The Consortium offers their generic style considerations for challenges and avoids: 1. Fast offensives challenge AB, slower BA, SL, ST 2. Aimers challenge scummy/tanky warriors 3. Scums challenge LU and softer hitting/smaller offensives 4. Scum hunters (need special strategy ) are good damage/endu LU, hard hitting BA, critting or hard hitting ST, hard hitting SL with good endu, good PS 5. Consortium-style wastes challenge LU and softer hitting/smaller offensives 6. Lungers challenge AB, PR, PS 7. Rippers, if skilled, challenge ST, faster BA's. The Consortium always avoids and almost always challenges. One final note. The challenging will bring into play and discussion: What is an appropriate challenge?" The "rules"/"D2 system" allow you to challenge anyone in your class and the class just above you. Your class is defined, interestingly, as Inits, Adepts, Champs, and Duelmaster. A "Challenger" Init is an Init b challenge wise. A "Challenger" Champ is a Champ bchallenge wise. Hence the higher level challenger category can challenge the lower level "non-challenger" class. (Simply put, a Challenger Init can challenge an Init, a challenger Init, and an Adept. An Adept can challenge Adepts or Challenger Adepts.) This system can allow/cause challenges from very high experience and recognition point warriors to very low recognition point and experience warriors. Some regular arenas foster the belief that challenges may/should ONLY be parallel or up in recognition points. These are usually Andorian arenas. The rules/system may allow otherwise, but the environment and the beliefs of sportsmanship of Andorian types differ. This can cause some "discussion altercations". Challenges and avoids are there to be used to your advantage. Do so. -- Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry (Consortium affiliated) SPY REPORT I was going on vacation, see? Surf, sun... But what do those bums say? "Hit the road, Debby Tonte. NOBLISH ISLAND needs a spyreport." Oh, well. MVP award for TINMAN? OZ's proud of him after beating DOGMEAT and getting 10 points. Talk about yer major upsets! DOGMEAT's match with TINMAN cost it a loss of 6 points! Was that a tear I saw in REPETITIVE's eye, as he took over Duelmastership? And wasn't TROY fit to be tied! Who was the wiseguy that said NOBLISH ISLAND's Duelmaster was paying for drinks at The Swinging Aardvark? Don't look at me! I gotta admit I haven't been in "deep con caves" with any spies. Really, I just wing this stuff. The warriors of BB TALK RADIO must be getting lonely. They were the most avoided team. Do you guys know something that I don't? I don't know what RIVER RATS' been doing. They certainly haven't been accepting many fights from BB TALK RADIO, that's fer sher. Can BB TALK RADIO's REPETITIVE be more popular than me? He was challenged the most, but is that really the same? Man, all these warriors dying and killing each other! Don't you guys ever give it a break? MONKEY bloodfeuded (is that a word?) CRESHENDO for revenge over some guy's bad fortune. Was it really worth it? Hey you guys, don't you think your families would like to hear from you? Write! (Or have someone write for you.) I really didn't, you know, study when I was a kid. Who would've guessed I'd be a famous Spyreporter? I'm getting tired of writing this stuff, so I'm calling it quits. Its been really albendranius! Later, guys-- Debby Tonte DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME REPETITIVE 9916 3 0 1 27 BB TALK RADIO (1700) INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME DUMB TOPICS 9918 3 0 0 21 BB TALK RADIO (1700) BORING HOST 9919 3 0 0 19 BB TALK RADIO (1700) IDIOTS 9917 2 1 0 18 BB TALK RADIO (1700) TOBINSPORT 9914 2 1 0 18 RIVER RATS (1699) ROME 9912 2 1 0 14 RIVER RATS (1699) TELL CITY 9915 2 1 0 13 RIVER RATS (1699) -AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) TINMAN 9927 1 1 0 12 OZ (1702) MONKEY 9926 1 1 0 12 OZ (1702) CANNELTON 9913 1 2 0 10 RIVER RATS (1699) TROY 9911 2 1 0 7 RIVER RATS (1699) -DRAXXUS 9644 1 4 0 7 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) CRESHENDO 9922 1 1 1 5 COYOTES (1701) RAZURE 9923 1 1 0 5 COYOTES (1701) DOGMEAT 9924 1 1 0 4 COYOTES (1701) INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME -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) COMMERCIALS 9920 0 3 0 3 BB TALK RADIO (1700) RED MONIKA 1689 0 3 0 3 BATTLE CHASERS (304) SCARECROW 9929 0 2 0 2 OZ (1702) WIZZARD 9928 0 2 0 2 OZ (1702) IMMURE 9936 0 1 0 1 COYOTES (1701) COURSER 9937 0 1 0 1 COYOTES (1701) '-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn. THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge? LOLLY POPPER 9921 0 1 0 COYOTES 1701 REPETITIVE 9916 453 DOROTHY 9930 0 1 0 OZ 1702 CRESHENDO 9922 453 JUST REVENGED PERSONAL ADS Fighting Irish, good luck to you wherever you go. -- The Consortium Folk Oz, how nice to meet you and have you here on Noblish. May your stay be long and prosperous. -- Commodore Perry P.S. Our good friend The Great And Wonderful Oz manages a team in DM47 - Land Of Oz. He is a real old-timer to The Consortium group. 1-2, Assur? You are making my life miserable. Kudos. -- The Commodore Scarecrow and Wizard, we may have more to say after the actual fights are received. Until then, we are glad you are here. -- Troy and Tobinsport Ah, Heck, Commodore, Talk Radio is easy! -- Rome Coyotes, Caveats, Battle Chasers, Ozers ..... ask us some questions. We are here to answer. -- Commodore Perry (speaking for both himself and Assur) Oz, I added this personal after reading our two fights. It was unusual to see you select weapons where both were lacking in strength. Perhaps that was intentional; warriors can, indeed, fight with weapons they do not have the strength to handle. While there are penalties (unknown in exactness) often that is not much of a factor. But, there is no doubt that warriors fight better with weapons they are fully suited to. If you wish to know specific requirements, just ask. Better yet, ask RSI for a copy of the C.I.C. which is designed for newbies and has all the data on weapon requirements. (And much more.) -- The Commodore Wow. The Coyotes got quite the friendly welcome to Noblish Island. Rookie Team with Five rookie warriors. Both female warriors slain in battle in less than two minutes- Lessons learned at the hands of Donn and Repetitive. Guess we have a steep learning curve in the arena. -- Coyote Coyotes -- Yikes, please accept my apologies about Kitiara, it was most unexpected and unintentional. If its any consolation the same thing happened to my PR a few turns back. I hope at least you got a decent replacement rollup -- Donn Commodore Perry -- And that is what it looks like when I actually DO make challenges and avoids! -- Assur Lolly Popper -- My apologies. I gave no such instructions. My instructions were (and almost always are) to attack the limbs, not the head. But sometimes warriors don't listen. Not surprising with that one. Repetitive people often don't listen! -- Assur LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS MONKEY bested CRESHENDO in a 1 minute amateur's Bloodfeud fight. TROY was vanquished by REPETITIVE in a 1 minute uneven Challenge Title battle. CANNELTON narrowly defeated COMMERCIALS in a 6 minute beginner's Challenge fight. RED MONIKA was overpowered by DUMB TOPICS in a 1 minute one-sided fight. ROME devastated IMMURE in a 1 minute uneven brawl. TOBINSPORT overpowered COURSER in a 1 minute one-sided struggle. TELL CITY devastated WIZZARD in a 1 minute one-sided competition. IDIOTS overcame SCARECROW in a 2 minute beginner's melee. BORING HOST won victory over RAZURE in a 1 minute novice's duel. DOGMEAT was viciously subdued by TINMAN in a 7 minute gory novice's duel. BATTLE REPORT MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS |FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT| |BASHING ATTACK 6 TOTAL PARRY 13 - 4 - 0 76 | |AIMED BLOW 3 BASHING ATTACK 25 - 9 - 1 74 | |STRIKING ATTACK 3 WALL OF STEEL 7 - 3 - 1 70 | |LUNGING ATTACK 2 STRIKING ATTACK 7 - 4 - 2 64 | |SLASHING ATTACK 2 SLASHING ATTACK 3 - 2 - 0 60 | |WALL OF STEEL 2 PARRY-RIPOSTE 16 - 18 - 1 47 | |PARRY-STRIKE 1 LUNGING ATTACK 11 - 15 - 0 42 | |PARRY-LUNGE 1 AIMED BLOW 8 - 20 - 0 29 | |PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 PARRY-STRIKE 2 - 8 - 0 20 | |TOTAL PARRY 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 4 - 0 0 | Turn 454 was great if you Not so great if you used The fighting styles of the used the fighting styles: the fighting styles: top eleven warriors are: PARRY-STRIKE 1 - 0 AIMED BLOW 1 - 2 4 BASHING ATTACK BASHING ATTACK 4 - 2 STRIKING ATTACK 1 - 2 2 WALL OF STEEL LUNGING ATTACK 1 - 1 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 1 1 STRIKING ATTACK SLASHING ATTACK 1 - 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 0 1 LUNGING ATTACK WALL OF STEEL 1 - 1 TOTAL PARRY 0 - 0 1 SLASHING ATTACK 1 PARRY-STRIKE 1 AIMED BLOW TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above. The overall popularity leader is DUMB TOPICS 9918. The most popular warrior this turn was CANNELTON 9913. The ten other most popular fighters were DUMB TOPICS 9918, IDIOTS 9917, DOGMEAT 9924, REPETITIVE 9916, COMMERCIALS 9920, ROME 9912, TOBINSPORT 9914, TELL CITY 9915, BORING HOST 9919, and TINMAN 9927. The least popular fighter this week was WIZZARD 9928. The other ten least popular fighters were COURSER 9937, IMMURE 9936, RED MONIKA 1689, TROY 9911, CRESHENDO 9922, RAZURE 9923, SCARECROW 9929, MONKEY 9926, TINMAN 9927, and BORING HOST 9919. Top Ten Reasons Why Duelmasters is better than Sex 10. When you spend money on Duelmasters, you know you're going to get return on your investment. 9. One arena won't get jealous when you start playing in another. 8. With the right tourney prize, you can design your own warrior. 7. If you make it to AD, they tell you your warrior's favorites. 6. You can always DA and get another roll-up. 5. The more experience you get, the less likely you are to die. 4. SZ, CN and Charisma are less important in Duelmasters. 3. Most mangers are satisfied with two minute fights. 2. Warriors do as they're told, even if it means using ALE and a WF. And the number one reason.......... 1. You don't have to hold your turn for an hour after you're finished reading it. Composed by the Jester and Predator Top 10 Things to Do to Have a Better FTF! 10. Have at least one meal that doesn't involve either McDonalds or Domino's Pizza. Bonus points if that meal includes the use of utensils. (Double bonus points if you already knew how to use utensils) 9. Recycle all those cover sheets and unwanted roll-ups into ammunition for the next great paper ball fight! (And don't assume that because you don't have any ammo, you're not in the game. When these things break out, ANYONE is a potential target! Don't assume that I'm going to throw AROUND you to get to my target, if you're sitting there in the middle of things trying to read your fights as the paper balls fly in all direction, you're not only likely to get hit by a misfired projectile, but I will be aiming for you!) 8. Showering at least once a day is not an option. REPEAT: Showering at least once a day, is NOT AN OPTION!!! 7. Much like a watched pot never boils, asking if your overviews or reprints are there yet every three minutes will only make the person sitting behind the desk irritable (or even more so than usual). They'll be there when they get there. 6. Yes, the printer will break down, the hard drive will crash, and RSI will undergo some sort of catastrophe. This is normal. Be prepared for long delays. Some people like to play Magic while waiting, some of us prefer heavy drinking. 5. For you first timers, it is customary to do a triumphant little war dance each and every time you win a fight, complete with whoop-whoops. That's what the raised platform is for, so the rest of us can see you. If you don't do the dance, RSI will take away your TVs and you will forever get 3 WT roll-ups. Would I lie to you? 4. Converse with your fellow managers. Take the time to chat, and introduce yourself to at least one complete stranger. "Have you seen this warrior?" is not a good way to introduce yourself. "Hi, my name is _______ and I run _______; nice to meet you!" is a much better way to introduce yourself. 3. When the run off fights are being read, I want to hear a lot of noise! Cheer every time a brilliant parry is made, shudder at the impact of a horrific blow, laugh derisively when a warrior falls down. Cheer those who read a good fight, and heckle those who can't. Get crazy. MAKE SOME NOISE GOLDURNIT!!! 2. Conversely, if you insist on reading your fights out loud and you don't have an audience, go back to your room until the urge passes. 1. Buy your good ol' buddy Forge a beer! As always, your own tips and comments are appreciated. *LOL!* Hope to see you all there! -- Forge THE ULTIMATE AIMED BLOW Oh no, not another aimed blow, you think, they always lose and have a tendency to die if they meet the right person. But I can promise you that this fighter will give you a lot of wins. Not a 20-0-? record, but a respectable one. Let's have a look at the stats: THE BEST: IF YOU CAN FIND IT: TOO BIG: TOO FAST: THE MUTANT: ST: 9 ST: 9 ST: 9 ST: 9 ST: 7 CN: 15 +/- CN: 14 CN: 14 CN: 15 CN: 15 SZ: 3 - 5 SZ: 3 SZ: 6 - 9 SZ: 3 - 5 SZ: 3 WT: 19 +/- WT: 21 WT: 17 + WT: 19 WT: 13 - 15 WL: 18 +/- WL: 19 WL: 17 + WL: 18 WL: 13 - 15 SP: 3 - 5 SP: 3 SP: 3 - 6 SP: 4 - 9 SP: 15 + DF: 15 +/- DF: 15 DF: 15 DF: 13 DF: 15 + ST: So you can use some weapons. CN: So you can stand some damage, and get at least good endurance. SZ: The smaller the better. WT: You need to be smart, and it helps a lot on stats and skills training. WL: Helps you stand even more damage. It also helps a lot on stats and skills training. SP: The slower the better, but needs to be trained to avoid clumsiness. It doesn't matter if this stat is low, you will hit when you want to hit. DF: Gives you the response to other's actions, and gives you the initiative when you need it. The main weakness of this little fellow seems to be his speed, but this disadvantage is made good by his small size. He will dodge nearly anything, and what hits him doesn't matter because of his constitution. The strategy is all up to each manager, but I prefer to run mine like this: Weapons: Epee vs. Light Armor Short Spear vs. Medium Armor Shortsword vs. Heavy Armor Shield: Medium Shield vs. Light and Heavy Armor Armor: Depends on who I am challenging Helm: Full helm Strategy 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th+ Desp. Offensive Effort 5 5 5 6 5 4 2 Activity Level 5 6 6 6 5 5 4 Kill Desire 4 4 5 6 6 4 2 Attack Location: Head or Chest Defend Location: Body or Head Offensive and Defensive tactics are something I seldom use. Challenging is very important when running an aimed blow. Try to challenge big, unarmored fighters. Train strength, speed, and deftness. Well, that's all, for now. Try it and send me a diplo note if you have any comments on my aimed blow. Brought to you by Manimal, Manager of Cowards Guild, DM-31. May victory by yours (or mine.) 'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE TOURNEY... 'Twas the night before Tourney, And all through the place Many managers were drinking, Getting smashed at the Face; The staff were all busy, The computers were humming, Rollups were bought, for the deadline was coming; Soon managers were nestled, all smug at their tables, With visions of TC's coming from their stables; And NAIMT doing massages, while A-Sop caused trouble, An hour before deadline, the workload just doubled, When by the computers, there arose such a clatter, All eyes turned to them, to see what was the matter. Sue glaring at the screen, Lee's fingers just flew, Oh, the computer was down, so what else was new? The lights in the room were too bright, someone said, Nah, it's just the reflection from off Hoffa's head, Then, what to our wondering eyes should appear, But Soultaker and Sentinel, once again here this year, Yes, we heard "No more Faces!", We hear this each time, But we know it's a farce, like this parody's rhyme. More rollups are bought, more warriors are made, Names are thought up, and carefully weighed; "How 'bout FREE WILLY? Or RODMAN? Or PUSSY? Or KNOCKERS? Or SHEIK T'WEEZEL? Or BALLSY? Or TAKE OFF THEM DOCKERS!? Not a chance say the censors! Nice try, bub, but no! Now it's HAPPY, and BARNEY, and WE LOVE YOU SO! The managers groan, but undaunted keep trying, The censors all laugh, and just are not buying, The RUGS altars are burning, offerings are gifted, With hopes that the rollup curses soon will be lifted. And then, in a twinkling, we hear down the hall, A Lunat!k roar and Fusion chased with a maul. You see, he'd heard about Fusion's campaign for the Prez, Now it's "Off with his Head!", so Lunat!k says. At the Dark Circle table, 6'7" down in height, With their arrogant statures, their great show of might. Yet amidst all the notebooks, are nerf toys and giraffe, Such silliness there, NAIMT can't help but laugh. At Aradi's table -- how they giggle, at the cartoons and stories Of the FONZ done by Nuln, in his infinite glories! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a ring, And Barb drew his beard as straggly as string; The new guys at Duelmasters, some call them a rookie, Making names for themselves like Jessie and Bookie; The regulars are here, The Boss, PUG, and TUM Carapace, Sensei, and lots more to come Doc Steele and his legends, even now in the making, If there weren't many witnesses, I'd think he was faking. The paperball fight, and the chaos ensues, Clean it up, says Lee, or your heads you will lose! The independents and alliances, speaking more than a word, NAIMT's resounding giggles can also be heard; But the hour before deadline is soon at a close, And giving a nod, on a chair Sandy rose; Okay guys, she says, no more inputs to be made, And away goes some managers for a Bourbon Street raid. But ere I end this bad poem, I just want to say, "GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD DAY!" ****Hey, what do you expect for a quickie?... <grin> Aimed Blows My Way Okay, so it's a pretentious title. No more so than anyone else's, what with all these "the perfect" this and "the perfect" that; what I'm going to show you here is several different ways to make aimed blows and win with them. There is no one specific way to make an aimed blow. You'll hear a lot of managers claim that they "HAVE" to have a 21 DF in order to be any good at all. Well, that's a trifle exaggerated. It's NICE to have a 21 DF. This will increase your attack rating, and give you a certain boost. But it isn't necessary for a good, solid, long-term aimed blow. I'm going to give several examples of aimed blows, both how-tos and how-not-tos. All the aimed blows represented here actually fight on one of my stables, so I did this all by hit-and-miss. Unlike some managers, I don't believe that the first, third, and fifth rules of aimed blows is "they die." It's only the third rule. <grin> Now then. Design: ST: Any, really. You can go low, since aims can handle daggers and open hand just fine. CN: Again, any. A little more can help them take a hit, but if they're lucky, they'll do all right even if they can't. SZ: Any. This is a versatile style. Big ones do great. Little ones do great. WT: I'm going to surprise you, here. Anything. Yep, anything. Best is 11-21, of course. WL: Again. Any. Honest! An aim can do without will and can also use it to its best advantage. But from here on is where you've got to pay attention. SP: LOW. Keep it below 9 if possible. Below 7 is better. DF: HIGH. 21 is always best, but 17 works okay, too. So now you have a rollup with a low speed and a high deftness and it doesn't look like much else. You've got a good aimed blow. Yes! Examples of "do" design aims: 1) 7-5-12-21-11-7-21 2) 11-16-6-21-9-4-17 3) 10-15-6-17-9-6-21 4) 13-9-5-17-17-6-17 5) 11-5-10-11-21-5-21 6) 8-10-9-17-15-4-21 7) 5-10-7-17-17-11-17 8) 12-12-7-21-9-6-17 9) 7-11-8-11-21-5-21 10) 9-14-8-15-17-4-17 Ten is a good, round number. 1-4 are Immortal. All have winning records. Most of them beat lungers in one minute. The low-con ones have the most trouble, because they can't take a hit--if they get hit, they go down. Fortunately, that's only killed a few of mine (the dead ones I won't list just now, since it's so depressing). Examples of "don't" design aims, unless you're as insane as me or much more experienced in your aimed blow running: 1) 17-5-5-11-17-9-21 (beat the DA three times before he was killed--he gets a special place at #1) 2) 13-8-12-11-11-18-11 3) 11-12-6-21-13-8-13 4) 11-12-12-17-11-4-17 5) 12-7-18-13-13-5-16 (my first) 6) 11-14-7-9-17-9-17 7) 9-11-9-17-11-10-17 There's certainly more "don'ts" than dos, but those are ones I actually have played somewhere; 2-5 are immortal, with usually 50% records except for the 11 DF (who is in permanent retirement). He came along early in my aimed blow career, when I was making EVERY rollup into an aimed blow to see for myself what worked and what didn't. That didn't. Some of the mortal ones I'm still running, and they do well enough, but as I said, until you get a little experience there are some things you may not want to try unless, like me, you want to see what happens for yourself. <grin> Now for strategy. This is probably the most important thing you'll give your aim. Weapons: Scimitar, unless they don't have the strength for it, in which case, dual daggers. Longsword is next, then fists, then quarterstaff. You need an 11 ST for longsword, so that's probably not always realistic. If your aim likes to fight with his fists, you can let him, but I'd advise waiting until he's got some experience, and you know your opponent isn't much on armor and parrying, because you can do yourself some serious damage on the parries. Quarterstaff is a two-handed weapon, so bear that in mind if you use it. Armor: Keep it light, no more than ARM/H, and then only if you're worried about your opponent. An aimed blow is a fast, offensive warrior--don't load him down. Strategy: 10 8 8 6 6 6 10 10 2 2 1 1 1 10 1 --------------------------------------------------------- > LL --------------------------------------------------------- > HE --------------------------------------------------------- > D That's a good, all-purpose, general strategy. Some aims will want to play around with it, and you let them--see what they like. But, and this is VERY important: keep that KD low! An aimed blow relies on his control and his accuracy, and higher KDs will cause them to lose a lot of that. If you're bloodthirsty, change the attack location to the head. I recommend the legs for knockdowns. Either way, your aim will attack THAT LOCATION, over and over again, until he has defeated his opponent, and very decisively, from total parries (the classic aimed blow opponent) to lungers (the classic aimed blow enemy). Remember: the aimed blow is an OFFENSIVE style. He has some finesse, but he is a brutal and efficient warrior. Keep him in control; he'll win. You can also play with desperation, but for me just dropping the first minute tactic often works just fine. As for the use of decise, as always, it's up to the manager, but decise will help keep your aim from "standing around looking for an opening" in the first minute. Get him moving. As always, experiment, find what works for you, and have fun. Raf Lord Protector Ivory League Manager of Tex's Rangers (51, 100, 101), Assassins (40, 105), Impressionists (27, 105), The Damned (30, 105, 101, 102), etc. The Mechanics of Death By Sir Jessie Jest Greetings, joy and happiness to everyone! This article discusses the mechanics involved when a warrior dies in combat. It will give the reader a better knowledge of how a warrior actually gets killed in combat. Here is how a warrior dies... The Facts) ...in fact, get out a dead warrior's last fight so you can follow me. To start the process of death, a warrior must first fail to make a death roll. Let's say the death roll is 20 or less out of 100 to fail that roll for this example. There are 2 ways a warrior can be forced to make that Death Roll. 1. The vitals roll. 2. The second is when you run out of hit points, which is called the "infirmary roll." The vitals roll -- every time a warrior gets hit in a vital area you make a vitals roll. Lets say that you fail on a 1-15% out of 100. If you get hit in the head, chest, or abdomen, you will roll the vitals percent. If you roll 15 or less you must make the death roll to determine if the warrior was killed. Now look at the fight with your dead warrior on it...look for the death intent statement, it will say something like, "Trying to make this into a death match, or seeks death of his opponent, etc. etc." (there are a lot of them) that is telling you that your warrior was forced to make a death roll. Now comes the scary part: if you fail the death roll your warrior dies. But the program does not kill you immediately because you still have hit points left. So what happens next is that you will get normal attacks and damages that hit your character automatically in the vitals until yours hit points run out. Then it will say your warrior is dead. Remember that it will be normal hits to the vitals, not crits or extra damage remarks. If your warrior dodges, crit attacks , parries, has extra damage remarks or anything else EXCEPT a normal hit to the vitals, the sentence following right after the death intent statement comes up, then he made his death roll successfully and the fight continues. You can have many death intent statements come up in one fight, depending on the number of times you hit a vital. You won't get one every time, only when you fail the vitals roll. And your warrior will have to roll the death roll every time you fail the vitals roll to see if he is killed or not. EXAMPLE: INFERNO leaps to his left! INFERNO's scimitar lunges with awesome cutting power! NULN takes an upper body hit! NULN is badly hurt! NULN is becoming FRANTIC!!!! INFERNO's scimitar lunges with awesome cutting power! NULN is struck on the left rib cage! What a devastating attack!! NULN is dangerously stunned! INFERNO is trying to make this a death match----(Death Intent) INFERNO slashes an attack with his scimitar---(Normal Attack) NULN is struck on the side of the HEAD!---(Vital Hit) INFERNO slashes with his scimitar NULN is wounded in the upper chest. INFERNO slashes with his scimitar NULN is hit in the forehead! NULN curses the gods in frustration! NULN falls LIFELESS to the ground! INFERNO has won the duel! INFERNO laughs and says, "What a loser!" As you see, if you fail the vitals roll, and then fail the death roll, you will get normal attacks to the vital areas until all of your warrior's hit points are gone. All of your dead warriors that have died from DEATH INTENT statements will have those three things... death intent statement, then normal attack, then hits to the vitals until all hit points are gone. Then you will get some sort of, "falls over dead statement." In the past, if you failed the death intent statement roll, the program would just skip all the stuff that was in between the death intent statement and the falls over dead statement. It would say something like this: INFERNO seeks the death of his opponent NULN falls to the ground lifeless INFERNO has won the duel. But they changed it to make death more dramatic. The second way your warrior is forced to make a death roll is if your warrior runs out of hit points during or after the fight has ended. This roll is called the infirmary roll and can happen in or out of combat, and does not matter where your warrior gets hit. If your warrior has taken many hits, that reduces his hit point total below the preset percentage... lets say it 5% of your total hit points... then he will make an infirmary roll. If you fail the infirmary roll, you then make the death roll to determine if your warrior has died. In combat, you will read that you died from serious wounds or something to that effect. After a fight is over, the program checks to see if your warrior has fallen below that preset percentage of hit points, if you have, you will make an infirmary roll. If you fail the infirmary roll, an infirmary statement will appear at the bottom of your fight letting you know if your warrior failed the death roll that comes after that. Sometimes you can die in combat without a death intent statement that comes up during the battle . This is a good example of an infirmary roll failure in combat from low hit points, triggering the death roll which actually is the roll that kills your warrior. In some battles you can get hit several times in the vitals, have several death intent statements come up, make every roll successfully and still die from lack of hit points (i.e.: fail the infirmary roll). A simple way to think of this is the 2 ways are : 1. vitals roll, which deals with getting hit in the head, chest, or abs and dying when a death intent statement comes up. Or # 2. infirmary roll, which deals with dying from lack of hit points, and does not use the death intent statement. I'd say about 90% of all deaths are by death intent statement because of a failed vitals roll. Only a small percentage die from the infirmary roll in or out of combat. Well, that's it. These are facts, not theories. You can check this out with all your dead warriors, and you will learn there are NO exceptions. Those percentages I used up there are just made up, I have no way of knowing what they really are. Now I have formed theory regarding KD or kill desire. I do not believe KD has anything to do with a warrior dying, but is rather a tool to determine your warrior's aggressiveness in combat. In other words the timing of his blows, his shot selection, and other such things. For example: The higher the KD the wilder he is with his shots, and easier to feint, dodge, parry and riposte. Some styles like Abs (Aimed Blows) fight better with a 1 KD because they are very selective with their shots. Most of the other offensive styles function well between 5-7 KD. Any more than that is just a waste of endurance and has a negative effect on your warrior's performance in battle, in my opinion. Well that's it for now. If you would like to chat sometime drop me a diplo at Jessie's Kids in DM 60 (yes, I've come out of retirement) ;) May the axe fall in your favor! Cheerio! Sir Jessie Jest, Lord of Puns, and Master of Laughter. Troll-Bred Bashers The Bashing attack is not, as many of you may have noticed, one of the dominant styles in Duelmasters. There are two reasons for this; one of which I will cover here, the other I will cover in an accompanying article. I will preface this article on Bashing attack design and strategy by saying that I have been playing Duelmasters for two years, and I have spent most of this time experimenting with and perfecting the Bashing Attack. In my opinion, a Basher needs to possess a monumentally high attack percentage, with decisiveness and initiative not far behind. What follows is designed to achieve the desired results. Let's get right down to business. First, the stats: PERFECT ST: 13-17 15 CN: 3-5 3 SZ: 6-9 6 WT: 17-21 21 WL: 17-21 21 SP: 5-9 5 DF: 11-15 13 Here's why: Strength is arguably the most important attribute for a basher. A basher with a high strength can virtually be assured of a reasonably high attack. however, excess strength takes away points from other vital areas and, as you will see, this Basher will not want for attack. A 13 strength gives the Basher most of the good Bashing weapons. Constitution is absolutely unimportant to any offensive styles warrior. Bashers, and for that matter, offensives in general, should be designed to dish out damage, not absorb it. If you are designing a Basher to absorb damage, then you are designing him wrong. Size is an attribute that this game system does not handle well. As we all know, too large a size means that you do not have enough points to allocate to the other attributes. You would think logically that a Basher would need a large size. I am not talking about logic. I am talking about winning within the parameters of this game system. I give a minimum size of 6 since this is the smallest size that can achieve "great damage with a blow." Wit, in my opinion, is the most important attribute for every style. This is strictly my opinion and you do not have to agree with me. Where Bashers are concerned however, a Basher without very high wit is garbage. High wit will greatly effect a Basher's initial attack, decisiveness, and initiative. My research has led me to the conclusion that a Basher's initiative is primarily a function of wit. high wit also ensures that the Basher will train consistently. Also, a Basher with a high wit can expect an initial initiative rating somewhere in the 50-60% range. Note that speed is also a modifier for initiative. Will is another attribute that the Basher cannot do without. Will affects a Basher's attack and decisiveness, and is responsible for, in conjunction with strength, giving the Basher normal endurance, despite the pitifully low constitution. Speed has almost no affect on a basher. I have seen many high speed Bashers, and I can tell with 100% certainty that Bashers do not derive strong benefit from speed. Slasher, strikers, and to a lesser extent, Lungers, all derive noticeable benefit from speed. I am not saying that a 5 speed Basher will be equally as fast (initially) as a 19 speed Basher, but I am saying that a Basher can derive greater benefit by placing points in other areas. This Basher will drive his decisiveness from the high wit/will combinations: 21-21-5; 19-19-7; 17-17-9. These combinations, or something similar, will generate an initial decisiveness rating of about 50%. Deftness is very important to a Basher. The strength/wit/will/deftness combination is where this Basher will generate the awesome attack percentage and his attacking precision. A Basher with the aforementioned minimums in strength/wit/will/deftness can expect to achieve an initial attack rating between 60- 80%. A 13 deftness will also allow the use of my favorite weapon, the morning star. In the hands of a Basher, this is a devastating weapon. Now that you know how to design a Basher, here's how they should be run. This strategy should be used vs. offensive styled warriors: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Desp 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 3 3 3 3 3 10 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 HE HE HE HE HE HE HE