DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER

Date   : 08/05/2016    Duedate: 08/18/2016

NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA

DM-93    TURN-458

This Weeks Top Honors

THE DUELMASTER IS

TOBINSPORT
RIVER RATS (1699)
(93-9914) [6-1-0,65]

Chartered Recognition Leader   Unchartered Recognition Leader

POSITION IS EMPTY              TOBINSPORT
                               RIVER RATS (1699)
                               (93-9914) [6-1-0,65]

Popularity Leader              This Weeks Favorite

COMMERCIALS                    REPETITIVE
BB TALK RADIO (1700)           BB TALK RADIO (1700)
(93-9920) [2-5-0,14]           (93-9916) [5-2-1,61]

THE CURRENT TOP TEAM

RIVER RATS (1699)

          TEAMS ON THE MOVE            TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name                  Point Gain  Chartered Team
1. NUMBER (1705)               52
2. RIVER RATS (1699)           36      IRON DRAGON (495)
3. COYOTES (1701)              35      Unchartered Team
4. THE MANTICORES (1704)        7
5. THE GALLOWGLASS (1703)       3      RIVER RATS (1699)

The Top Teams

Career Win-Loss Record           W   L  K    %  Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns    W  L K
 1/ 1*RIVER RATS (1699)         26   9  0 74.3   1/ 1*RIVER RATS (1699)        13  2 0
 2/ 2*BB TALK RADIO (1700)      21  14  1 60.0   2/ 2*BB TALK RADIO (1700)      8  7 0
 3/ 0*NUMBER (1705)              3   2  1 60.0   3/ 3*COYOTES (1701)            6  8 0
 4/ 3*ROSS' RAIDERS (1689)       8   6  1 57.1   4/ 0*NUMBER (1705)             3  2 1
 5/ 4*COYOTES (1701)            14  15  1 48.3   5/ 4*THE GALLOWGLASS (1703)    3  6 0
 6/ 5*THE GALLOWGLASS (1703)     3   6  0 33.3   6/ 5*THE MANTICORES (1704)     2  4 1
 7/ 6*THE MANTICORES (1704)      2   4  1 33.3   7/ 7*ROSS' RAIDERS (1689)      1  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 
                                             Commodore Perry of River Rats 
                                             (A Consortium representative)

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

                           The Importance of Damage

One thing that some articles allude to, but few spell out, is how important your 
damage rating is on your warrior.  When your warrior is created, he will randomly be 
assigned a damage rating based on his strength and size.  This damage rating can make 
or break a warrior.  Realize that this article focuses entirely on your warrior's 
basic career (before he graduates to the Advanced arenas).  First, I will talk about 
the possible damage ratings your warrior can have.

Little Damage -- For the most part, this is crippling to a warrior in basic.  A few 
types of warriors can run successfully with little damage, but for the most part, this 
rating will kill a basic career.  Doesn't mean it can't be fun, though.

Normal Damage -- The very least that most managers should consider to be successful.  
Still, it is not as much as I'd like most of the time, but I can work with Normal.  
But you'll still see often that normal damage warriors have difficulty finishing off 
their opponents.

Good Damage -- Here is where we start to see the sweet spot!  Good damage is just fine 
for most warriors.  More is better, but Good works!

Great Damage -- Great Damage can be the difference between fantastic performance and 
average performance.  Highly recommended.

Tremendous Damage -- Tremendous Damage is nice, but once you have great damage, the 
increases in doing damage don't matter as much.  More is better, but Tremendous is the 
last rating of damage that you'll see dramatic difference in performance with.

Awesome Damage -- Awesome Damage is fun and is the last damage rating where you won't 
cripple the rest of your abilities in basic.  It is possible to get Awesome Damage 
with 21 strength and 11 size, which still leaves a reasonable amount of points for 
other more important stats.

Devastating Damage -- In basic, I do not recommend spending the points required to get 
Devastating or Super Human.  It is a complete waste of points.  Unless you're doing it 
to have the novelty and have fun with it.

Super Human Damage -- This is the highest possible rating a new warrior can get. It 
requires 21 strength and 20 or 21 size (basically half your points). 

But what rating does my particular warrior need?  Now I will try to give 
recommondations for how to identify the needs of your warrior in particular.

First, Pure Defensive warriors don't care all that much about how much damage they do.  
If you aren't planning to win by damage, there is no need to do damage.  So Little is 
fine in this situation.

If you have access to high damage weapons (SC (most common), BS, BA, GS), damage also 
isn't as important.  I still recommend normal or better, but these weapons do superior 
damage and can help overcome a smaller damage rating.

Next, AB's, owing largely to their high attack and low endurance burn, are the most 
well suited offensive/hybrid warrior to be able to overcome the curse of little 
damage.

Finally, if you have enough endurance, you can simply keep swinging and swinging until 
you finally take down a warrior.  Most of the time, though, your opponent will try and 
swing back, which usually makes this strategy uneffective.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, certain types of warriors are MUCH better with 
higher damage ratings.

Parry Ripostes are the first style I will mention.  Rippers have a notorious habit of 
letting their opponents swing.  Because of this, they need to make their own swings 
count.  I do not intend to ever run another Parry Riposte with less than Good damage.  
It is simply too hard to get them to finish fights otherwise.

All offensive warriors, but especially Bashers, also would much prefer Good damage or 
better.  I single out bashers because their weapons tend to not do as much damage as 
other types of warriors have available.

Finally, Lungers need a good combination of endurance and damage.  They want to run 
with very hot rhythms, so they aren't going to win a lot of longer fights.  Normal 
damage lungers are fine if you have good or better endurance, but if you have normal 
endurance, you almost certainly want good or better damage.

My main intention for writing this article is to help newer managers understand that 
damage rating (which is one of the most variable attributes on a new warrior) often 
goes hand in hand with success.  I cannot stress enough how much little damage will 
hurt the vast majority of warriors out there (and how much good or better damage will 
tend to help a warrior).  The only caveat is that with damage, more is not necessarily 
better if it means you're sacrificing in other areas!

And I would be remiss if I didn't tell you that there are exceptions to nearly every 
rule.  There will always be warriors that break the guidelines I've set out here.  It 
doesn't mean my guidelines are wrong or bad.  It simply means that some warriors 
outperform what you would expect (and others don't live up to your expectations).

                                 DUELMASTER'S COLUMN
                             Notes from the arena champ.

This week we must pause for a word from our advertisers!

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    sharper scimitar.  These scimitars rival even what the Lord Protectors use!

    Our longswords are longer!  Even bashers can win with our blunt weapons.  
    They may be blunt, but they pack a wallop!

    Buy ACME weapons now!  Call the toll free number at the bottom of this ad 
    right now and ask about our special deals!

    Before you send another warrior on to the sands, make sure he has an ACME 
    weapon!

    Thank you for listening!  Now back to our regular program.

                  * Advertisement * Advertisement * Advertisement *

ACME weapons are great.  I can personally attest that their weapons are of superior 
quality.  Just last week I was comparing their shortspear with a generic.  ACME's 
shortspear is lighter and faster and equally effective, at least in practice.  I don't 
know what they do, but I'll be using ACME weapons for my entire career!

                                          -- - Repetitive

                                      SPY REPORT

     It's me, The Unknown Spymaster, back to give you this week's Spy Report.  Sit 
back in your seats and we'll have more fun than a barrel of Zontanis.  Most new teams 
do poorly at first.  NUMBER, however, has gotten off to a reasonable start at 3-2-1.  
Nice job!  Hey everybody, watch out for FOUR, who flew up 21 points in the rankings 
after mashing EMBEZZLING SCRIBE like a melon.  Keep your eye on this gal.  And 
falling like a basher in the top ten was DUMB TOPICS, who dropped 7 points after a 
disappointing (to say the least) bout with TOBINSPORT.  Our last turn's Duelmaster 
has lost, folks, lost to M. CHARDINEE, and REPETITIVE has made the way for a new 
Duelmaster!  With REPETITIVE clearing the throne, RIVER RATS of TOBINSPORT takes a 
proud seat as NOBLISH ISLAND's new Duelmaster, by virtue of recognition points.  Can 
you believe they are paying me 10 gold to deliver this stuff?   
     But enough of that bunch, let's get on to the wimps who like to avoid battle!  
Did you hear that BB TALK RADIO was most avoided team this week?  Well, knowing the 
personal hygiene of BB TALK RADIO's warriors, I'm not surprised!  Okay, so I may not 
be funny, but catch RIVER RATS' act in the arena.  Those acrobats seem to be fairly 
deft at running from BB TALK RADIO.   
     Death is kind of like a new puppy:  he's always around wanting to play.  (Ha 
Zontani, how's that for a wise saying?).  Ask not the elves for counsel, for they 
will say both yes and no.  Silly buggers, eh?   
     Well, there's the manager of the NOBLISH ISLAND giving me the 'cut' sign (or is 
that 'They're going to strangle you in the alley?).  Well, there goes another Spy 
Report.  Good luck in next week's fights.  See ya next time I'm on this circuit!-- 
The Unknown Spymaster  

DUELMASTER                     W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 TOBINSPORT 9914               6   1  0    65       RIVER RATS (1699)

CHALLENGER ADEPTS              W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 REPETITIVE 9916               5   2  1    61       BB TALK RADIO (1700)

ADEPTS                         W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 TROY 9911                     6   1  0    38       RIVER RATS (1699)
 DUMB TOPICS 9918              6   1  0    38       BB TALK RADIO (1700)
 TELL CITY 9915                5   2  0    35       RIVER RATS (1699)

ADEPTS                         W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 ROME 9912                     5   2  0    34       RIVER RATS (1699)

CHALLENGER INITIATES           W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 DOGMEAT 9924                  4   2  0    27       COYOTES (1701)
 CANNELTON 9913                4   3  0    25       RIVER RATS (1699)
 COURSER 9937                  2   3  0    25       COYOTES (1701)

INITIATES                      W   L  K POINTS      TEAM NAME                  
 IDIOTS 9917                   4   3  0    23       BB TALK RADIO (1700)
 FOUR 9947                     1   0  1    21       NUMBER (1705)
 IMMURE 9936                   3   2  0    18       COYOTES (1701)
 CRESHENDO 9922                3   3  1    17       COYOTES (1701)
-M. ALLEN 9855                 3   1  0    17       ROSS' RAIDERS (1689)
 BORING HOST 9919              4   3  0    16       BB TALK RADIO (1700)
 ONE 9944                      1   0  0    16       NUMBER (1705)
 RAZURE 9923                   2   3  0    15       COYOTES (1701)
 SOCK 9933                     2   0  0    15       THE GALLOWGLASS (1703)
 COMMERCIALS 9920              2   5  0    14       BB TALK RADIO (1700)
-LONGSTER 9856                 1   1  0    13       ROSS' RAIDERS (1689)
 FIVE 9948                     1   0  0    13       NUMBER (1705)
-AUTUMNBE 9643                 3   2  0    12       CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
 MONGOOSE 9940                 1   0  0    12       THE MANTICORES (1704)
 LOTT R 9852                   2   1  1     9       ROSS' RAIDERS (1689)
-STABLER 9854                  2   1  0     8       ROSS' RAIDERS (1689)
-DRAXXUS 9644                  1   4  0     7       CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
 GOBLIN BREATH 9939            1   1  1     6       THE MANTICORES (1704)
 VENDISS 9935                  1   1  0     4       THE GALLOWGLASS (1703)
-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)
-LIGHTNING 9941                0   2  0     2       THE MANTICORES (1704)
-OX 9942                       0   1  0     2       THE MANTICORES (1704)
 KRATH 9932                    0   2  0     2       THE GALLOWGLASS (1703)
 TAKKARI 9934                  0   2  0     2       THE GALLOWGLASS (1703)
 TWO 9945                      0   1  0     1       NUMBER (1705)
-ALZADER 9894                  0   1  0     1       ROSS' RAIDERS (1689)
 THREE 9946                    0   1  0     1       NUMBER (1705)

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

THE DEAD                W  L K TEAM NAME            SLAIN BY              TURN Revenge?
EMBEZZLING SCRIB        0  0 0                      FOUR 9947             458  NONE
NALFFAR 9931            0  1 0 THE GALLOWGLASS 1703 GOBLIN BREATH 9939    457   

                                     PERSONAL ADS

Hey, hey, hey.  A lot of fine managers are here on Noblish Isle now.  Welcome.  We are 
glad you are here.  Any questions?  Anything you don't really understand?  Ask either 
(or both) Assur or myself and we will try to answer.  That is really why we are here. 
-- Commodore Perry

Congrats to Assur for the Duelmaster -- although that next-in-line warrior looks best. 
-- Commodore Oliver Perry

Health. Humility. Honor. (The Consortium Motto) -- The Commodore, Consortium 
affiliated

Assur -- Ox truly appreciates the combat advice.  He will contemplate it while his 
bones regrow in the infirmary.  Thanks -- Ox

                                  LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS

REPETITIVE was devastated by M. CHARDINEE in a 3 minute mismatched fight.
TOBINSPORT demolished DUMB TOPICS in a 1 minute one-sided Title melee.
ROME defeated IDIOTS in a crowd pleasing 1 minute duel.
TELL CITY devastated RAZURE in a 1 minute one-sided fight.
TROY savagely defeated BORING HOST in a crowd pleasing 2 minute gruesome competition.
CRESHENDO was narrowly defeated by CANNELTON in a 2 minute brutal struggle.
DOGMEAT devastated VENDISS in a 1 minute one-sided competition.
IMMURE overcame GOBLIN BREATH in a 4 minute gruesome melee.
COMMERCIALS viciously subdued TAKKARI in a popular 4 minute gruesome duel.
COURSER vanquished CULT MEMBER in a 1 minute one-sided fight.
LOTT R beat THREE in a 3 minute gory novice's melee.
KRATH was demolished by MONGOOSE in a 3 minute bloody mismatched match.
SOCK bested TWO in a 1 minute novice's battle.
ONE slimly won victory over EMBEZZLING SCRIBE in a 2 minute amateur's bout.
FOUR easily killed EMBEZZLING SCRIBE in a 1 minute uneven fight.
FIVE overpowered CONVICTED THIEF in a 2 minute uneven struggle.

                                    BATTLE REPORT

             MOST POPULAR                        RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS     
|FIGHTING STYLE               FIGHTS        FIGHTING STYLE     W -   L -  K   PERCENT|
|BASHING ATTACK                   6         TOTAL PARRY        6 -   2 -  0      75  |
|STRIKING ATTACK                  5         BASHING ATTACK    32 -  15 -  0      68  |
|SLASHING ATTACK                  4         WALL OF STEEL     11 -   6 -  1      65  |
|AIMED BLOW                       3         STRIKING ATTACK   16 -   9 -  3      64  |
|WALL OF STEEL                    3         SLASHING ATTACK   10 -   9 -  1      53  |
|LUNGING ATTACK                   2         LUNGING ATTACK     9 -  10 -  0      47  |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE                    1         AIMED BLOW        11 -  15 -  0      42  |
|TOTAL PARRY                      1         PARRY-RIPOSTE      5 -  10 -  0      33  |
|PARRY-LUNGE                      1         PARRY-STRIKE       1 -   8 -  0      11  |
|PARRY-STRIKE                     1         PARRY-LUNGE        0 -   5 -  0       0  |

Turn 458 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:

AIMED BLOW         3 -  0     STRIKING ATTACK    2 -  3         5  BASHING ATTACK 
PARRY-RIPOSTE      1 -  0     WALL OF STEEL      1 -  2         3  STRIKING ATTACK
TOTAL PARRY        1 -  0     PARRY-LUNGE        0 -  1         1  SLASHING ATTACK
BASHING ATTACK     4 -  2     PARRY-STRIKE       0 -  1         1  AIMED BLOW     
LUNGING ATTACK     1 -  1                                       1  LUNGING ATTACK 
SLASHING ATTACK    2 -  2     

                               TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE

FIGHTING STYLE   WARRIOR                     W   L  K PNTS TEAM NAME                  
BASHING ATTACK   TOBINSPORT 9914             6   1  0   65 RIVER RATS (1699)
STRIKING ATTACK  REPETITIVE 9916             5   2  1   61 BB TALK RADIO (1700)
SLASHING ATTACK  TELL CITY 9915              5   2  0   35 RIVER RATS (1699)
Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above.

The overall popularity leader is COMMERCIALS 9920.  The most popular warrior this 
turn was REPETITIVE 9916.  The ten other most popular fighters were TROY 9911, 
COMMERCIALS 9920, ROME 9912, MONGOOSE 9940, CANNELTON 9913, ONE 9944, IDIOTS 9917, 
TELL CITY 9915, CRESHENDO 9922, and DOGMEAT 9924.

The least popular fighter this week was TAKKARI 9934.  The other ten least popular 
fighters were THREE 9946, FIVE 9948, KRATH 9932, IMMURE 9936, VENDISS 9935, RAZURE 
9923, DUMB TOPICS 9918, TWO 9945, SOCK 9933, and LOTT R 9852.

                                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