DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER Date : 10/14/2016 Duedate: 10/27/2016 NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA DM-93 TURN-463 This Weeks Top Honors THE DUELMASTER IS ONE NUMBER (1705) (93-9944) [5-1-0,66] Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader POSITION IS EMPTY ONE NUMBER (1705) (93-9944) [5-1-0,66] Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite ONE MONGOOSE NUMBER (1705) THE MANTICORES (1704) (93-9944) [5-1-0,66] (93-9940) [1-1-0,12] THE CURRENT TOP TEAM NUMBER (1705) TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team 1. COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) 43 2. NUMBER (1705) 19 AVENGERS (287) 3. BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708) 15 Unchartered Team 4. THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) 0 5. ROSS' RAIDERS (1689) 0 COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) The Top Teams Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K 1/ 2*COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) 8 2 1 80.0 1/ 1*NUMBER (1705) 9 6 1 2/ 1*BASH BROS MATCHUP (1708) 7 3 0 70.0 2/ 5*COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) 8 2 1 3/ 3*NUMBER (1705) 20 10 2 66.7 3/ 4*BASH BROS MATCHUP (1708) 7 3 0 4- 4*ROSS' RAIDERS (1689) 9 6 1 60.0 4- 3*THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) 6 4 0 5/ 5*CRUEL LORDS (1707) 6 9 1 40.0 5/ 2*CRUEL LORDS (1707) 6 9 1 6/ 7*THE MANTICORES (1704) 5 8 4 38.5 6/ 6*THE MANTICORES (1704) 2 2 2 7- 8*THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) 9 18 0 33.3 7- 7*ROSS' RAIDERS (1689) 1 0 0 8- 9*OLD MAN GAMERS (1706) 0 10 0 0.0 8- 8*OLD MAN GAMERS (1706) 0 10 0 '*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn (###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank SPY REPORT Hail NOBLISH ISLAND! Warriors of the arena, prepare to be praised and blamed for your deeds. COLLEGE MASCOTS stable has parlayed this turn's 4-1-1 into a 3 space move up the rankings. This brings them up to 2nd place. Good work, guys! And let's see, HORNED FROG fought FIVE and gained 16 points and contributed to COLLEGE MASCOTS' 4-1-1. FIVE has lost to HORNED FROG, falling 13 points, while helping make NUMBER a 4-1-0 turn. The attempts to dethrone the Duelmaster have failed, and ONE remains NOBLISH ISLAND's top warrior for another turn. Can someone confirm a rumor for me? I hear the top team makes their losing fighters do dishes at The Welcome Wench until they win. Maybe? Oriental wise man once say, 'Hiding behind shields prevents proper sun tanning.' Inscrutable, but true. I also notice that the ROSS' RAIDERS stable was the most avoided team this turn. Come on NOBLISH ISLAND, what are you afraid of? And avoiding ROSS' RAIDERS more than any other team we find COLLEGE MASCOTS. NOBLISH ISLAND, are we going to accept, or respect this sort of thing? Well, sports fans, take notice that FOUR from NUMBER was NOBLISH ISLAND's most challenged warrior this turn. Building dreams on hope, LORD PAIN challenged up 28 points this turn to take on TWO from NUMBER stable. Well, LORD PAIN was defeated by TWO, but LORD PAIN gained 1 in recognition for his efforts. Thank goodness for small favors. We only live a short time in this world, so why not take a sharp blade, and shave it close? Is it really true that NOBLISH ISLAND has more dishwashers per capita that fighters? Just thought I'd ask... I like this place, NOBLISH ISLAND, the taverns have old wine, and young serving girls. Who could ask for more? Well, I'm burning daylight here in NOBLISH ISLAND and I've a long road ahead of me. Happy Trails. Until you see my quill in NOBLISH ISLAND again, farewell-- Alarond the Scribe DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME ONE 9944 5 1 0 66 NUMBER (1705) ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME TWO 9945 5 1 0 36 NUMBER (1705) CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME FOUR 9947 4 2 2 32 NUMBER (1705) HORNED FROG 9971 2 0 0 29 COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME TMM PRIZE FREAK 9964 2 0 0 22 BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708) -LONGSTER 9856 2 1 0 21 ROSS' RAIDERS (1689) -MORFAUS 9956 2 0 0 21 THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) -LIGHTNING 9941 2 2 2 20 THE MANTICORES (1704) CRIP'S STRIKER ARMY 9962 2 0 0 20 BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708) SHOCKER 9970 2 0 0 20 COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) -M. ALLEN 9855 3 1 0 17 ROSS' RAIDERS (1689) RAMBLIN' WRECK 9969 2 0 1 17 COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) -SYTHINI 9949 2 1 0 17 THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) FIVE 9948 4 2 0 15 NUMBER (1705) RAINBOW WARRIOR 9968 1 1 0 15 COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) -TAKKARI 9934 1 5 0 13 THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) CONSORTIUM SCUM 9966 1 1 0 13 BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708) -AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) THREE 9946 2 4 0 12 NUMBER (1705) MONGOOSE 9940 1 1 0 12 THE MANTICORES (1704) -SOCK 9933 2 4 0 10 THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) -KRATH 9932 1 5 0 10 THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) -LOTT R 9852 2 1 1 9 ROSS' RAIDERS (1689) -STABLER 9854 2 1 0 8 ROSS' RAIDERS (1689) DEMON DEACON 9967 1 1 0 8 COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) LORD RICE-LANDS 9960 2 1 0 7 CRUEL LORDS (1707) -DRAXXUS 9644 1 4 0 7 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) -GOBLIN BREATH 9939 1 1 1 6 THE MANTICORES (1704) LORD BRYON 9961 1 2 1 6 CRUEL LORDS (1707) -SAPHIRE 9943 1 2 1 6 THE MANTICORES (1704) LORD HAMMER 9959 1 2 0 5 CRUEL LORDS (1707) LORD PAIN 9957 1 2 0 5 CRUEL LORDS (1707) FEELGOOD KILLER 9965 1 1 0 4 BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708) 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) -DANGBAR 9952 0 2 0 2 OLD MAN GAMERS (1706) -OX 9942 0 2 0 2 THE MANTICORES (1704) -CHRIS 9953 0 2 0 2 OLD MAN GAMERS (1706) -HECTOR 9951 0 2 0 2 OLD MAN GAMERS (1706) CRUEL HAMMER 9978 0 1 0 1 CRUEL LORDS (1707) -WULF 9972 0 1 0 1 OLD MAN GAMERS (1706) -ALZADER 9894 0 1 0 1 ROSS' RAIDERS (1689) '-' denotes a warrior who did not fight this turn. THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge? MANAGER SNOTLING 9963 1 1 0 BASH BROS MATCH 1708 RAMBLIN' WRECK 9969 463 LORD WHIP 9958 1 1 0 CRUEL LORDS 1707 FOUR 9947 462 SEAN 9950 0 2 0 OLD MAN GAMERS 1706 LIGHTNING 9941 462 TONY 9954 0 1 0 OLD MAN GAMERS 1706 LIGHTNING 9941 461 VENDISS 9935 1 2 0 THE GALLOWGLASS 1703 SAPHIRE 9943 459 NOT REVENGED PERSONAL ADS Hector -- Recommend using SC, BS, or QS (I much prefer the first two) with what I know about your stats. For sure you can use the 2nd well suited. Bashing weapons in general are not as good as slashing (or lunging) weapons. Slashing weapons tend to be the best overall, though. -- Manager Snotling Sapphire -- Welcome to one of the worst matchups in the game. Your style is one of the harder ones and you do not want to see my style most of the time. SC and LO are usually the go to weapons for your style, but feel free to experiment with the others. -- Crip's Striker Army Cruel Lords -- I would recommend just DAing Lord Bryon. With the big of a size, choosing a hybrid style is going to make it very hard to succeed. When I get the big guys, I'm usually looking at Basher, Striker, or Slasher first. If those don't work, I will look at Lunger, Wall of Steel, Total Parry, or maybe Aimed Blow. But I fear you will only learn that Lord Bryon's design doesn't work well (and the first kill against a Mordant Deserter should mostly be ignored as a data point of 'working') -- Assur Wulf -- Try HA against light armor (it's pretty fast) and I like each of BS, SC, and BA against heavier armors. -- Assur Ramblin' Wreck -- You should follow my example and come out in APA/F LG/LG. You'll provide entertainment for days in that get up! -- Consortium Scum P.S. I was supposed to give your manager losses Rah, rah to ONE, The Duelmaster of Noblish Isle. -- Cheerleader, College Mascots (and Consortium affiliated) What!!?? Those Bash Bros Matchup cretins edged us out for point gain. Assur and his muscles are soooooo MEAN! -- Cheerleader (dropping her megaphone) Old Man Gamers, glad to have you here. A little trivia for you. There are three active managers in D2 who are 70+! Surprise, eh? They may be the original Old Man gamers. -- Cheerleader (leading a cheer for the old men) And welcome to all the other teams in DM93. It is a true pleasure to chat, teach, answer, and compete with Y'all. YES! -- Cheerleader P.S. We ARE here to help and answer questions. You have two long-time players here to help YOU. (Assur and Cheerleader.) The list: Number, Coyotes, Ross' Raiders, The Gallowglass, Caveat Emptor, The Manticores, Cruel Lords, Old Man Gamers. Two bits Fours bits Six bits A dollar All for New Managers Stand up and holler! -- Cheerleader Chris, you old man, I may have been lucky, but I can hit quite hard. -- Demon Deacon (Wake Forest) Synthini, you were the better warrior and the better style and I salute you. -- Rainbow Warrior (Hawaii) Consortium Scum, oh what a pleasure it was to lay a loss on you and Assur! Oh, yeah! -- Ramblin' Wreck (Georgia Tech) Convicted Thief and Embezzling Scribe, thanks for being there to help us work up a sweat. We love you RSI NPC's. We do. -- Horned Frog ((TCU) and Shocker (Wichita State) Health. Humility. Honor. -- Cheerleader (The Consortium motto) LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS LORD BRYON was devastated by FOUR in a 1 minute mismatched Bloodfeud fight. RAINBOW WARRIOR handily defeated FEELGOOD KILLER in a 4 minute Challenge match. HORNED FROG viciously subdued FIVE in a 6 minute bloody Challenge brawl. DEMON DEACON was defeated by TMM PRIZE FREAK in a 1 minute novice's Challenge fight. LORD HAMMER was bested by THREE in a 2 minute Challenge duel. LORD PAIN was overpowered by TWO in a 1 minute one-sided Challenge struggle. ONE handily defeated M. CHARDINEE in a 2 minute uneven Title fight. MONGOOSE was unbelievably bested by SHOCKER in a 7 minute beginner's duel. LORD RICE-LANDS was unbelievably bested by CONSORTIUM SCUM in a 5 minute duel. CRIP'S STRIKER ARMY overpowered CRUEL HAMMER in a 1 minute uneven match. MANAGER SNOTLING was savagely slain by RAMBLIN' WRECK in a 2 minute novice's fight. BATTLE REPORT MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS |FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT| |BASHING ATTACK 5 AIMED BLOW 21 - 11 - 0 66 | |AIMED BLOW 3 BASHING ATTACK 38 - 22 - 1 63 | |TOTAL PARRY 3 LUNGING ATTACK 11 - 7 - 0 61 | |STRIKING ATTACK 2 TOTAL PARRY 6 - 4 - 0 60 | |PARRY-STRIKE 2 STRIKING ATTACK 19 - 18 - 3 51 | |LUNGING ATTACK 2 SLASHING ATTACK 13 - 16 - 3 45 | |PARRY-RIPOSTE 2 WALL OF STEEL 9 - 13 - 0 41 | |PARRY-LUNGE 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 2 - 3 - 1 40 | |SLASHING ATTACK 1 PARRY-STRIKE 4 - 8 - 0 33 | |WALL OF STEEL 0 PARRY-LUNGE 4 - 9 - 1 31 | Turn 463 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: STRIKING ATTACK 2 - 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 1 3 STRIKING ATTACK AIMED BLOW 2 - 1 PARRY-RIPOSTE 0 - 2 3 AIMED BLOW TOTAL PARRY 2 - 1 SLASHING ATTACK 0 - 1 2 BASHING ATTACK BASHING ATTACK 3 - 2 WALL OF STEEL 0 - 0 1 LUNGING ATTACK PARRY-STRIKE 1 - 1 1 SLASHING ATTACK LUNGING ATTACK 1 - 1 1 TOTAL PARRY TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME LUNGING ATTACK ONE 9944 5 1 0 66 NUMBER (1705) BASHING ATTACK TWO 9945 5 1 0 36 NUMBER (1705) Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above. The overall popularity leader is ONE 9944. The most popular warrior this turn was MONGOOSE 9940. The ten other most popular fighters were FOUR 9947, THREE 9946, FEELGOOD KILLER 9965, HORNED FROG 9971, TMM PRIZE FREAK 9964, LORD HAMMER 9959, LORD RICE-LANDS 9960, RAMBLIN' WRECK 9969, TWO 9945, and ONE 9944. The least popular fighter this week was FIVE 9948. The other ten least popular fighters were CONSORTIUM SCUM 9966, MANAGER SNOTLING 9963, CRUEL HAMMER 9978, SHOCKER 9970, DEMON DEACON 9967, RAINBOW WARRIOR 9968, LORD BRYON 9961, LORD PAIN 9957, CRIP'S STRIKER ARMY 9962, and ONE 9944. FACE-TO-FACE TOURNEY LVII APPRENTICES TOURNEY W L K TEAM NAME DOGMEAT 9924 (2-2-0) 2 3 0 COYOTES RAZURE 9923 (2-2-0) 2 3 0 COYOTES CRESHENDO 9922 (2-2-1) 1 3 0 COYOTES COURSER 9937 (1-2-0) 0 3 0 COYOTES IMMURE 9936 (2-1-0) 0 3 0 COYOTES NEW GRADUATES--FROM ALL ARENAS (INCLUDING CLOSED ARENAS) For those of you who keep track of such things, several additional warriors graduated from regular DM arenas (including closed arenas) since the last tournament. SONNY TERRY (30-3912) of DELTA BLUES (374) BLOOD RED SKIES (32-5430) of CALL THE PRIEST (344) DINO ORTALANI (69-9537) of OZ (944) TUESDAY WELD (73-6047) of CALENDAR GIRLS (453) ELEPHANTTRANQUILIZER (82-855) of HARD LIQUOR 3 (140) FLOYD 101 (82-53144) of ROOKIE PINK 61 (8965) DOWRY WRAITH (82-50172) of 072507J (8439) CRIKEY! (82-45396) of SURPRISE! (7631) COCKROACH (82-47295) of THIRSTY THUGS 705 (7946) URETHRA FRANKLIN (82-16581) of R-E-S-P-E-E (2518) SACRED DOOM (82-10660) of HAUNTED CASTLE 3 (1569) HELPER HAND (84-4344) of DOODS III (848) QUICKSILVER (84-7055) of MORE Q STUFF (1335) CRUTCH (84-15431) of OLD ONE (2726) THONG RENAISSANCE (84-14786) of THE ORLANDO MOB 17 (2602) THE CREATOR (84-32899) of LOITER SQUAD (5769) THE WHITE WHALE (84-47164) of GOTTA SERVE 2 (5903) PIMPLED NINNY (84-28547) of 012112H (5057) SFC 10 (84-23902) of MEDAL OF HONOR 101 (4237) FLATLINER (84-45870) of BAD NEWS BEERS (7928) Congrats to the grads. -- Green Eyes Article for Newbies This here is an article aimed mostly at you new managers to the game out there. This chart is a consensus of managers on the internet about how they felt each style fairs against all other styles at the beginning levels of the game. Of course, once you get ten or so fights under your belt the whole scenario changes and you can throw this right out the window. But in the meantime, use this chart to help you get a feel for the game, how the different styles interact with each other and to hopefully dispel those 5-25 starts that can make you drop the game. Hope this helps you some. KEY FOR ODDS OF WINNING: 1 - ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE 6 - BETTER THAN EVEN 2 - HARDLY LIKELY 7 - GOOD CHANCE 3 - NOT MUCH 8 - HIGHLY PROBABLE 4 - SLIGHT CHANCE 9 - MOST DEFINATELY 5 - 50/50 10 - ALMOST GUARANTEED Reminder: Left Row vs Top Column BA ST LU SL AB TP PS PL PR WS BA 5 2 6 6 8 9 7 6 5 6 ST 8 5 8 9 9 6 7 5 6 4 LU 4 4 5 6 10 5 7 7 9 6 SL 4 1 5 5 8 6 8 7 8 9 AB 2 2 2 4 5 10 6 6 6 7 TP 3 4 6 4 1 5 7 8 6 5 PS 3 3 3 4 5 4 5 4 5 4 PL 5 4 3 3 6 2 7 5 7 6 PR 7 5 2 2 4 5 6 3 5 4 WS 5 8 6 2 4 6 7 5 6 5 There you have it folks. I would personally like to thank all the managers on the internet who made a contribution to this effort. You know who you are. Also a big nod of appreciation goes out to the mighty PUG (Ben Hitz) who organizes and runs the roundtable and without whose effort little projects like this would prove quite difficult. David Gottwald - Magic Man The Crew - Monuntial (34) Rocky's Heroes - North Fork (47) Tragedy Strikes - Andor (57) (inactive) Natural Born - Illis (59) Slow & Easy - Aradi (60) Omega Squadron - Dragonhead (72) MAKING YOUR CHALLENGES GO THROUGH First, you need to be sure you are making your challenges correctly. 1. Are you writing down the warrior I.D. number of the warrior you want to challenge? 2. Is your handwriting clear? 3. Is the warrior you are challenging within range of your warrior? Warriors can challenge within their own class and the next higher class, plus the "Challenger" classes can also challenge the next lower class. So, an Adept can challenge Adepts and Challenger Adepts. A Challenger Adept can challenge Adepts, Challenger Adepts, and Champions. (Try not to challenge down, though. Besides being unsportsmanlike and making everyone mad, it isn't advantageous to your warriors. They need to fight more experienced warriors so they will learn.) 4. Are your warriors eligible to make challenges? If they didn't fight within the last two turns, then they can't challenge. 5. Are the warriors they want to fight eligible to receive challenges? If they didn't fight within the last two turns, then they can't be challenged. Next, adjust your choices for the maximum likelihood of getting your challenges. There are several things that will help: 1. Have each of your warriors challenge two different opponents from two different teams. That way, if the first opponent's team doesn't fight that turn, you still might get your second challenge. 2. Use your avoids. Have each warrior avoid the teams of whoever you think might be likely to challenge him. If you can get out of being challenged, that increases your chance of getting your own challenge through. 3. Don't challenge warriors who didn't fight last turn. The odds are higher that they won't be fighting this turn. 4. Don't challenge warriors who might be involved in a bloodfeud (either as the killers, or the avengers). A bloodfeud challenge has priority over all other challenges. 5. Don't challenge Tournament Victors. A TV challenge has priority over all other challenges except bloodfeuds. You'll need to do a little research in back issues of the newsletter to find out who the TVs are. 6. Don't challenge warriors who you know are going to challenge someone else, or are going to get challenged by someone else. Your challenge has a better chance of getting through if it is the only challenge to that particular warrior. 7. Don't challenge the "easy pickings." That is, warriors above you who have way too few fights or very bad records for where they are ranked. They will tend to get challenged a lot. 8. Don't challenge warriors who are likely to be avoiding your team. This includes any warrior your team fought within the last two turns. Well, it sounds like I've eliminated just about everybody, doesn't it? Of course you can challenge opponents who fit into one or more of those categories; just try to find ones who don't. Your idea candidate for a challenge is: A warrior ranked somewhat above your warrior in the same class, or in the next higher class, with a few more fights than your warrior, and a winning record, who isn't a TV and isn't currently at war with anyone. I hope this will be of some help to you. The Rogue She-Puppy MAXIMIZING THE DUELMASTERS EXPERIENCE: WHAT THE RULES DIDN'T SAY When you get your turn results in the mail it is very important that you squeeze as much enjoyment as possible out of that envelope! I recommend (and also use!) the following procedures. First, open the envelope lengthwise with a letter opener. Remove the blue-sheet BUT DON'T LOOK AT IT! It may tell you that you are broke and owe RSI a lot of money. Flip it over instead! The blue-sheet will be used as a "hider" when you read the fight results line by line, so you don't see the end of the fight by mistake and ruin the excitement. Remove the rest of the sheets in one smooth maneuver and place the flipped-over blue-sheet on top of the pile, without looking at anything. You don't want to accidentally uncover an unexpected replacement rollup. This is a traumatic experience that should be avoided at all costs, as it indicates that one of your battles didn't go exactly as planned. Now you must prepare your room, or whever you are, for the battles. If you are suicidal, or a lousy manager, or a suicidally lousy manager, remove all sharp objects from the area. If you happen to manage an entire team of scummy warriors it is okay to leave a loaded musket nearby. The next step is to put on music. It definitely adds to the experience to have your favorite tunes playing in the background, preferably AS LOUD AS YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH! I christen each new warrior with a song that is his and his alone, and play that song whenever it is his turn upon the sands. It is a personal choice but I recommend Judas Priest, Manowar or Metallica. Avoid Abba and Barry Manilow (like I had to say it). It is also important to match the song length with the expected length of the fight. Don't choose "The Immigrant Song" for your 21-con Ultra-Scum. Likewise, don't choose "Stairway to Heaven" for your quick lunger. Finally, sometimes it is nice to choose an exceptionally violent alternate selection for those Bloodfeuds. Now you are almost ready! The final preparatory step (optional) is to prepare a pot of coffee. Beer also works well, especially on Fridays, but I understand that some managers are not Well-Suited to that particular beverage. I've heard the Duke Malibu in Solven drinks goat blood, but mind you this is only a rumor. For the final touch, try putting on any handy armor you have. Or a loin-cloth. I put on most of my hockey gear. The fights are on! The music is loud! The coffee is good! Read the fights slowly, line by line using your blue-sheet as a guide. Don't go too fast, now. Yell, "Yeah!" if your warrior scores an especially gruesome hit. Cringe if your warrior feels the joys of a great axe connecting with his face (that means you, Marilith). Raise your fist in the air when that total parry realizes that his last shield has broken! And cry when your favorite gladiator is gravely injured and then takes ten consecutive war hammer shots to the head... When the end of the fight comes you will be emotionally drained, so yell out, "Huzzah!!!" or "Damnnn!!!" or whatever, to take the edge off. When the fighting is ended take a breather before preparing for the next cycle's fights. Reflect on what has transpired and make a few notes. You'll be a better person (and manager) for it! Isn't Duelmasters great? Brought to you by ICE (the deranged): DM-49 (Vithicar) Rotting Livers (205) DM-10 (Kolact) Beermacht DM-22 (Solven) Steel Warriors DM-24 (Zorpunt) No Escape Winning With the Average Warrior Hi! The Master of Anime here... Yeah, yeah, I know, you're all doing a collective, "Who the Hell is this character?" Well, my claim to fame, if you can call it that, is that I run Eve, one of the more popular, if not completely unspectacular, warriors to fight in Alastari. I am a micro-manager (you've heard of mega-managers? Well, think in reverse) who has been mainly running only one team during my 8+ years of Duelmasters. This little write-up is aimed towards the less experienced managers, the ones that can be brainwashed from some of the "How to build the perfect warrior..." spotlights that tend to appear from time to time. Many of the "How to build..." spotlights tend to deal with roll-ups that are quite ideal, but in reality, rarely come out of RSI's number crunching machine, commonly referred to as "the Roll-Up Gods". There have been a few good articles on how to design skillful warriors from 'average' roll-ups. Those articles, in my opinion, are the most helpful to new managers for the simple fact that you will almost always get an 'average' roll-up. Occasionally, that 'average' roll-up might turn out to be something special, and that is what I would like to key in on. I know a lot of managers who will continually DA their warriors until they get something that is as close to perfect as possible. You know, the warrior with three or four 17s or the warrior with a couple of 21s or that size 3 or 4 warrior, etc... If you are a relatively new manager and you are also doing this, I think you are missing out on one of the more intriguing aspects of this game and that is warrior development. Being a micro-manager, I do not have an army of warriors like the mega-managers do, but I'd like to think that I can hold my own against them (hey, if you're gonna dream, dream big). Anyway, back to the point. One of my 'average' warriors seems to have achieved a form of notoriety in Advanced Duelmasters to the extent that even the ever quiet Mirage (manager of Donatello) has had something to say (it was at the last Tempe FTF and my warrior, at the end of the 6th or 7th round, was listed as the top Primus warrior on the tourney list.) Mirage pointed at my warrior on the list and said, "That, is embarrassing..." I took it as a compliment. In case you're wondering, my warrior is Akira (the reason I'm writing this article is that I've been approached many times of late by managers who wanted to see Akira's numbers, thinking he had some sort of godlike roll-up. I set them straight). I'm not going to print Akira's numbers in this article for the main reason that I don't have them with me at this time (it'll probably tick-off a lot of managers whose warriors Akira has beaten anyway), but I do know this... he has about 30 attribute increases and only one attribute is in the 20's, that one being WL (he even got gypped by not getting some skills that you normally think he'd get by raising WL up the 20's). He won't be getting another attribute above 20 for a long, long time. (I think his next highest attribute is 17... note that this is after the 30 or so increases...) You should have a pretty good idea how generic this roll-up is... a roll-up that would probably be DA'd by most managers looking for a good roll-up... a roll-up that I even said, "I'll run him for kicks, but will probably retire him once he gets to AD."... a roll-up that entered AD with a less-than-stellar 14-10 record... a roll-up currently on a 20 fight win streak... a roll-up with three consecutive Primus TVs. So, before you give up on that average warrior, think again about giving him a chance to flourish... he might suprise you as Akira has surprised me. Good luck in the arena! M.A., a proud member of GAPPDA P.S. If you want to know Akira's original roll-up, diplo Anime Legends (Arena 102, 104). P.P.S. Swift -- We GAPPDA members are NOT slugs!!! At least, I don't think we are... TWELVE TIPS A rookie manager asked me a question recently which prompted my "teaching juices" to flow. I quote: "Just give me a dozen hints, and I'll leave you alone!" Obviously, his challenge prompted me to organize my thought creating my Twelve Tips. "Now wait a minute!" I hear you asking. "Why should I read on?" Simply put: -- If you're an experience manager, you'll want to "clue me in" on other valuable tips I missed. -- If you're a "newbie," these tips will enhance your W-L record and compound your fun. "But, are they GOOD tips?" you ask. Believe me, fellow opponents, after 5000+ fights, dozens of "tutored pupils," many A.D. warriors, and a rather lofty W-L record, they're GOOD tips. So here we go, in no particular order. (I) ASK FOR HELP--Ask RSI about the Sponsor Program. Diplo "good" managers in your arena. Proclaim your willingness to learn in a personal ad. You'll get some conversation. (II) OFFENSIVES FIRST--This is not an easy game, and the basher, lunger, striker can be readily designed and more easily "mastered." (Whatever that means.) Avoid the most difficult finessives, such as aimers (AB), rippers (PR), and probably wastes (WS). Get some confidence first! Most of us old-timers yet struggle with a good aimed-blow. (III) SKILLS, SKILLS, SKILLS--One of the most prevalent rookie errors is training too many stats. Skills win fights, and in the long run, you will regret certain stat raises. (IV) COLLECT DATA--The more you know about your own warrior (And even with the same stats, warriors differ) and the more you know about your opponents, the more likely you can cause something "good" to happen. In the military/political world, we call this "intelligence." (Clue: ask about a D.M. handbook filled with info.) (V) PERSONAL ADS--Don't be a jerk! But write some every time. Let me assure you that an unliked rookie cannot succeed in an arena against the local "Powers-in-control." You want to create friendly opponents. (When you know what you're doing--then you can try the jerk routine!) (VI) TURN SHEET--Accuracy counts. Fill it out perfectly (and legibly) pal! Know what each section is for. (Reread the instructions.) Many have been the surprised and frustrated manager who caused his or her own problem! (Even us "megas" blow it now and then!) (VII) NO CON--Don't ever (well maybe 1% of the time) add points to constitution on an offensive rollup. Other attributes may add skills; con won't. (Just wait until you hear someone shout never add to con--ever. I didn't say that.) (VIII) ONE WEAPON--For offensives. When you get to finesse styles, you'll understand why you may want one in your off-hand also. But, almost always carry a backup. (Hands can be hurt both striking and defending.) (IX) CHALLENGE/AVOID--Always! A manager's prime purpose is to optimize his warrior's chances. Challenge those you'll have a good shot at beating and avoid teams who can cause you the most difficulties. (Challenge warriors--avoid teams.) (X) ENTER TOURNAMENTS--What a way to acquire skills and experience without impacting your arena W-L record. Actually, you will create a positive impact in that those "tournament earnings" are "hidden" from other arena warriors. Plus, tournaments are a real "rush!" (XI) FIND A FRIEND--In every arena find at least one "friendly" foe. Share opponent info. With two, or more, of you sharing, look how much more "intelligence" you'll have. (XII) STAY COOL--Don't let any problem (loss, death, personal ad, error, etc.) anger you. (This is fun, right?) The cool head wins more matches than the emotional one. So good luck, rookie! We were all in your shoes once. (And for some of us that was a long, long time ago.) THE CONSORTIUM DM 8 Smithsonian (Curator) DM 11 Bulldogs (Kennelworth) DM 20 Animal Farm (Mino) DM 46 Fandils (Fandil the Wise) (and many, many more) CHALLENGES AND AVOIDS To clarify: You issue Challenges to warriors, but Avoid teams. To Challenge, write that warrior's name and ID# in the space provided. To Avoid, write the team's name and Team ID in that space. Make sure you include the ID! A REMINDER On behalf of the mailroom slaves, please, please, put your arena number on everything, including your personals and diplos! All diplos must show the recipient's name, team name, and arena number. Sometimes stuff gets misfiled, delayed, not printed, or not delivered because we don't know where it belongs. Thank you. -- A lowly mailroom slave * * * * * MEMO * * * * * From: The Office of Accurate Census Reporting, Gladiatorial Commission To: All Managers In the interest of preserving our natural resources and preventing managerial writer's cramp, the census form has been eliminated, effective immediately. Managers may register their warriors' races and/or favorite sayings by simply writing them on a separate piece of paper and submitting them to the Commission. Each warrior may have up to 15 favorite sayings. Each saying must be categorized Jeer, Gloat, Boredom, Ouch, Victory and may be up to 70 characters long. For any questions, please contact the Gladiatorial Commission. FAXING IN TURNS If you fax in your Duelmasters turns, realize that most fax machines have a border on the right and left side of the paper where no image is transmitted or printed. When you put your strategy sheet in the fax machine, make sure you allow extra room on the right side, especially if you are challenging that turn. When the ID# of the warrior you are challenging is cut off, we are unable to enter the challenges. There are four possible solutions to this problem: 1) Load the strategies farther to the left, so the Duelmasters dude is cut off, rather than your challenges, 2) Write the ID# of the warrior you're challenging in the space for the name, 3) Load the strategies long-wise (but then you have to be careful about overlapping the sheets, which can also cut off the ID#s), or 4) Face the fact that you won't get all of your challenges through. We'd prefer solutions 1-3, but it's your choice. Also, please be careful that your fax machine isn't transmitting too darkly or lightly. If you write your turn in pencil, some fax machines will transmit the pencil so lightly we can't read it when it gets here. If your fax machine can make copies, it's a good idea to try making a copy first to make sure it's readable, adjust the darkness if you need to, and then fax it to us. Be especially wary of the Advanced Duelmasters Strategy Sheets, because if your fax machine sends the grey shading too darkly, we won't be able to read those lines at all. Good luck! -- Green Eyes TRICKS OF THE TRADE Here are a few tricks of the trade I've found out. 15, 17, and 21. Those are the magic numbers for stats; any fighter who starts with a stat (except Con and Size) at any of those numbers will have more beginning skills than normal. Stats: The stats in order of importance with regard to skills, most to least, are wit, will, deftness, speed, and strength, with con giving you no skills, just hit points and endurance. The higher you can start any of these, especially the first three, the more skilled your fighter will be. Logically, therefore, what you really want is a fighter who has wit, will, and deftness at 21. This will be a GOD! And probably go out and get killed immediately due to low con... Raising stats: Care must be taken in doing this. All fighters start out with the ability to learn 20 skills in the categories of Defense, Parry, Riposte, Attack, Decisiveness, and Inititive. When you learn all 120 skills, you've maxed out. You can get skills though normal learns, or by raising stats; however, if you raise stats BEFORE you max out (except for Con), anything gained will count as one of the 20. This is called "burning" skills. If, on the other hand, you wait until you've maxed out, then raising stats will add those skills to the ones you've learned, enabling you to exceed your limits. But raising stats will give an immediate boost to your abilities. It's a question of short term vs. long term gain, you see. And aiming at vital areas - head, chest, and abdomen - will increase your chances of getting kills. And being bloodfeuded, and maybe getting your fighter killed in return. Keep in mind that what you send forth will come back to you. Sometimes redoubled. Roku STRENGTH AND WEAPON DAMAGE by Pagan Weapon damage is equated to Strength + damage class. Damage Class is categorized by Size. So damage seems to be done like this: 1. Armor weight + 12 + any bonus it has vs weapon type is a negative to the damage done. 2. Damage done is strength + damage class variable + weapon variable. 3. Slashing, Bashing, & Lunging increase the damage done. 4. When the damage done equals 1 or less then there is a weapon bounce statement. The minimum damage a blow can do, if it does not bounce, is 1 point of damage. The program knows there's a hit before it knows damage, so it can't reverse a hit, you merely take one point of damage because the weapon bounced off the armor. 5. The lower your strength, the more bounces you will see. The lower your damage class, the more bounces you will see. The lighter weight a weapon is vs the armor it's hitting, the more bounces you will see. 6. In reverse to #5, all of those secondary-damage statements (often referred to as extra-damage statements), such as "it was a devastating blow"... "what a massive blow" -- these merely show that you hit your opponent with enough damage to exceed the computer secondary-damage statement threshold. Your warrior caused enough damage to exceed a programmed set number (whatever that number may be) and the fight is only showing that you exceeded that number. The programmed number for the secondary-damage threshold is a hard number: it is constant within the program and is used for all fights and all warriors. It is not random, simply because it cannot be random and keep any consistency with the Damage-Classes. It has nothing to do with how much damage you did in relation to your opponent's hit-points, either. If you exceed that hard number in damage, you get a printed statement showing that to be the case. There is no such thing as Extra Damage. Pagan TEAM AND CHARACTER MAINTENANCE SERVICE As a service to all managers, we offer team and character maintenance. This option allows you to make sure your team or selected warriors will never miss a turn! Team Maintenance: This will cause all warriors on that team to fight every turn; if it's an AD arena, any new warriors who arrive on that team will fight the turn they arrive. In A.D. or in transfer arenas where you have multiple teams, each team will need to separately be on Team Maintenance. (The only exception is new warriors; they will not fight until they have had their initial strategy input.) Character Maintenance: This will cause only that warrior to fight every turn. If the character graduates or changes arenas, he/she/it will stay on Character Maintenance. In either case, you may submit strategy sheets for your warriors each turn, if you wish. The Team/Character Maintenance will make sure your warriors fight each turn, and they will always use their most recently entered strategy. Remember that challenges, avoids, and challenge/if challenged strategies will not carry through from turn to turn. These sections are only used on the turn they are entered. In order to continually challenge or avoid you will need to submit a strategy sheet each time. One other thing to remember about maintenance: Maintenance is not something that you write on your turnsheet (like in demo tourneys). In order to add or remove maintenance for a team or warrior, you must send a note to Customer Service. If you just write things like this on your strategy sheet, they may or may not get done. Likewise, don't write it on your personal ads. Please, please, please put it on a separate piece of paper with "Customer Service" written on the top. If you don't, well, you can imagine. Thanks for your time. Good luck in Duelmasters! -- Green Eyes