DM 093 Newsletter

DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER

Date : 11/25/2016 Duedate: 12/08/2016

NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA

DM-93 TURN-466

This Weeks Top Honors

THE DUELMASTER IS

ONE
NUMBER (1705)
(93-9944) [8-1-0,94]

Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader

POSITION IS EMPTY ONE
NUMBER (1705)
(93-9944) [8-1-0,94]

Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite

ONE FEELGOOD KILLER
NUMBER (1705) BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708)
(93-9944) [8-1-0,94] (93-9965) [2-3-0,12]

THE CURRENT TOP TEAM

NUMBER (1705)

TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS
Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team
1. BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708) 20
2. NUMBER (1705) 19 ONLY HUMANS (147)
3. CRUEL LORDS (1707) 9 Unchartered Team
4. COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) 6
5. THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) 0 NUMBER (1705)

The Top Teams

Career Win-Loss Record W L K % Win-Loss Record Last 3 Turns W L K
1/ 2*NUMBER (1705) 31 13 3 70.5 1/ 1*NUMBER (1705) 11 3 1
2/ 1*COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) 16 9 2 64.0 2/ 2*COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) 8 7 1
3- 3*NUMBER KILLER (1711) 3 2 1 60.0 3/ 3*BASH BROS MATCHUP (1708) 7 8 0
4/ 4*BASH BROS MATCHUP (1708) 14 11 0 56.0 4- 4*THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) 6 4 0
5- 6*THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) 15 22 0 40.5 5- 5*NUMBER KILLER (1711) 3 2 1
6- 7*GREYSKULL (1710) 2 3 0 40.0 6/ 0*CRUEL LORDS (1707) 3 11 0
7/ 0*CRUEL LORDS (1707) 9 20 1 31.0 7- 7*GREYSKULL (1710) 2 3 0

'*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn
(###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank

TEAM SPOTLIGHT

IT DOES NOT REQUIRE GODLING-STYLE WARRIORS TO WIN
A SYNOPSIS OF FOUR RECENT SUCCESSFUL CURRENT ACTIVELY RUNNING D2 TEAMS

The Consortium runs many full arena teams. Perhaps the discussion of those four
random long-running teams will provide knowledge or clues for the New D2 manager. The
twenty warriors have been intermingled so that the four arena teams remain unknown.
The warriors are divided by style.

BASHER
14-11-14-15-9-10-11 (5-3-0)
15-3-13-21-17-8-7 (5-1-0 and 2-3-0 in tournament)
11-5-13-15-17-12-11 (14-4-0)
Bashers are: 24-8, .750, no kills, also 2-3 in tourney

SLASHER
11-8-14-17-17-6-11 (3-2-0)
9-9-13-14-16-9-14 (4-4-1)
17-9-5-15-17-10-11 (1-1-0)
12-4-13-17-17-10-11 (1-2-0)
Slashers are: 9-9, .500, one kill

STRIKER
8-5-18-14-16-13-10 (9-0-2, 10-6-0 in tournaments)
10-3-18-14-18-11-10 (2-2-0)
14-8-13-17-9-12-11 (3-2-0)
11-9-17-17-9-14-7 (11-5-1)
15-10-14-15-9-10-11 (13-1-0)
11-9-15-15-9-14-11 (2-2-1)
Strikers are: 40-12, .769, four kills, also 10-6 in tourney

WASTE
16-15-6-16-16-5-10 (9-6-0)
11-15-11-15-17-4-11 (17-8-0)
Wastes are: 25-14, .641, no kills

TOTAL PARRY
14-19-8-7-15-9-12 (31-10-1)
17-20-11-4-16-11-5 (16-17-0)
16-15-13-4-20-4-12 (11-3-0)
11-16-13-9-18-7-10 (1-0-0)
14-19-16-4-19-3-9 (12-11-0)
Total Parries are: 71-42, .628 one kill

The twenty warriors are: 169-85-6, .665. Let's look at this scenario a little
closer to comment and question.

Q1- Are these such great rollups/warriors? No. They are pretty typical and average,
with it looking like the more ugly rollups were made into TPs. In arenas, The
Consortium does not DA in search of "better" rollups.
A1- It looks like it does not, at all, take wonderfully designed warriors to win well.
(60%+) Indeed, mediocre warriors often do better than godlings in arenas --
especially early on. Look at striker #4 above and you will see a very mediocre design
that is doing superbly.
Q2- Why only five styles? Where are the AB, LU, PL, PR, PS?
A2- Remember from Newby 101 that The Consortium recommends running the easier designs,
such as offensives and total parries? The above summary points out that such advice
might even be good for running normal arenas. There are some LU and AB and PL in
other Consortium arenas, and all ten designs are definitely on Consortium tournament
teams. However, to make those five missing designs run well and win often, it often
takes godling or near-godling designs. Godling rollups can be very, very hard to
find.
Q3- Do strikers kill more than others?
A3- Well, not really. If you observe closely above, the killing strikers are large
sizes. This might indicate that size or damage-doing have more to do with it than
style. Another reason that the striker kill ratio is highest in this group is the
hefty w/l record of the strikers. If one does not lose, one cannot die. And sort of
conversely, the more one wins, the more chances they have to kill.
C1- TP's, if scums (as all five of these are) can take a long time to graduate to ADM.
(See TPs #1 and #2.) Why? They are typically "stupidish" and have a very low skill
learn rate. Also, time/fights are also used to train stats rather than skills. The
physicals are far more important than the skills for a scum. Typical graduation
qualifications require 14 wins and 20 fights, which is often very easy for scum, but
skill ratings are also required, and they are hard to achieve if one is learning few
skills.
C2- Taking off on O2 above, some warriors are designed to burn. (Train stats and
acquire skills through some of the stat trains.) All the TPs above were as such.
And, take a look at slasher #2, strikers #1 and 2, and wall-of-steel #1 above. They,
too were designed to burn. In non-scum, how does one determine a warrior is designed
to burn? The Consortium definition b many stats are set just below prime skill-
learning stats (like 10 DF to 11, and 14 WT to 15, and 16 WL to 17, or 14ST to 15) AND
the warrior has sufficient WL to allow probable stat raises (e.g. 14+WL; 14 WL = 70%
chance to earn the 1st stat of a type).
C3- While only five styles were used on these four teams, the mix of offensives and
defensives is solid, allowing for better optimization of challenges and avoids. This
probably adds to the nice overall w/l record.

Hopefully this team synopsis has helped your understanding of many concepts of
the game. You can find more detail on the concepts inferred in this article by
reading the spotlights in the Noblish Island (DM93). Feel free to ask me questions
about this spotlight or the Consortium concepts. I will answer.

-- Cheerleader, Consortium affiliated

SPY REPORT

Hail and well met warriors of NOBLISH ISLAND! Know me for who I am, Zontani
Sharp Eyes, Spymaster extraordinaire of all Alastari. CRIP'S STRIKER ARMY caught the
eye of many in the gladiatorial commission as he skillfully bested DEMON DEACON and
was awarded 11 points in recognition. In one of the week's more notable duels,
CRIP'S STRIKER ARMY put down DEMON DEACON, causing him to lose 8 points of
recognition in the process. Not for nothing has ONE in the past laid claim to the
Duelmaster's throne, and this week he's proven his combat skill yet again. No
confirmation, but my sources claim that the top team has gained their position using
magical aids. Charmed weapons perhaps?
Many and various are the arts of battle. In NOBLISH ISLAND "art" is a word that
has long since passed from the language! NOBLISH ISLAND, city of gladiators! Mighty
among the names of thy guilds is BASH BROS MATCHUPS, a guild shunned and avoided by
many in the weekly duels. Methinks more than a few here could name the guild it was
that spent the better part of last week avoiding BASH BROS MATCHUPS. Indeed it was
COLLEGE MASCOTS. Mighty fighters cannot but expect competition from those below.
THREE take warning! You have more than a few enemies in NOBLISH ISLAND.
Vendettas. Bloodied blades and broken spears. Indeed the city has seen more
than its fair share of red in recent times. My condolences to COLLEGE MASCOTS for
their loss of a very promising warrior, HORNED FROG. HORNED FROG went to doom before
the arms of TWO, a warrior of NUMBER. Dark alleys may hide both secrets and
assassins. In the arena there is only the brightness of steel. Keep vigil always!
The girls are as pretty in NOBLISH ISLAND as ever I remembered them....and the
fighters as ugly! Don't let your reputation slip! More than a sharp eye must I
keep, indeed a stout pair of legs must I keep as well! The endless paths of Alastari
await me! Till we meet again, remember: a turtle walks slow, hides head in a shell,
and harms no one; a lion runs to slay its prey.-- Zontani Sharp Eyes

DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
ONE 9944 8 1 0 94 NUMBER (1705)

ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
TWO 9945 8 1 1 52 NUMBER (1705)

ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
CRIP'S STRIKER ARMY 9962 4 1 0 43 BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708)
FOUR 9947 6 2 2 41 NUMBER (1705)

CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
TMM PRIZE FREAK 9964 4 1 0 27 BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708)
RAINBOW WARRIOR 9968 4 1 0 27 COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709)
-SYTHINI 9949 3 2 0 27 THE GALLOWGLASS (1703)
LORD PAIN 9957 3 3 0 25 CRUEL LORDS (1707)

INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME
DEMON DEACON 9967 3 2 0 22 COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709)
FIVE 9948 6 3 0 21 NUMBER (1705)
-RASPUTIN 9975 1 0 0 20 GREYSKULL (1710)
RAMBLIN' WRECK 9969 4 1 2 19 COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709)
PIZZA TOPPINGS 9979 2 1 0 18 BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708)
-SOCK 9933 4 4 0 17 THE GALLOWGLASS (1703)
-MORFAUS 9956 3 1 0 16 THE GALLOWGLASS (1703)
-KRATH 9932 2 6 0 16 THE GALLOWGLASS (1703)
THREE 9946 3 6 0 15 NUMBER (1705)
-TAKKARI 9934 2 6 0 13 THE GALLOWGLASS (1703)
-AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
FEELGOOD KILLER 9965 2 3 0 12 BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708)
-NUMBER 4 KILLER 9983 1 0 1 12 NUMBER KILLER (1711)
LORD BRYON 9961 1 5 1 11 CRUEL LORDS (1707)
-DARK SIDE 9980 1 0 0 11 NUMBER KILLER (1711)
LORD RICE-LANDS 9960 2 4 0 10 CRUEL LORDS (1707)
SHOCKER 9970 2 3 0 9 COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709)
-QUELL 9977 1 0 0 8 GREYSKULL (1710)
LORD HAMMER 9959 1 4 0 7 CRUEL LORDS (1707)
-DRAXXUS 9644 1 4 0 7 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657)
CRUEL HAMMER 9978 1 3 0 7 CRUEL LORDS (1707)
-DARK MOON 9981 1 0 0 6 NUMBER KILLER (1711)
-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)
-HELL-KNIGHT 9984 0 1 0 2 NUMBER KILLER (1711)
-KAR'RYN 9974 0 1 0 1 GREYSKULL (1710)
-BLACK MOON 9982 0 1 0 1 NUMBER KILLER (1711)
-SLOTH 9973 0 1 0 1 GREYSKULL (1710)
-VLADOSHIAN 9976 0 1 0 1 GREYSKULL (1710)

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

THE DEAD W L K TEAM NAME SLAIN BY TURN Revenge?
CONSORTIUM SCUM 9966 1 3 0 BASH BROS MATCH 1708 NUMBER 4 KILLER 9983 465
DEN'S DCER 9985 0 1 0 BASH BROS MATCH 1708 RAMBLIN' WRECK 9969 466
MANAGER SNOTLING 9963 1 1 0 BASH BROS MATCH 1708 RAMBLIN' WRECK 9969 463 REVENGED
HORNED FROG 9971 3 2 0 COLLEGE MASCOTS 1709 TWO 9945 466
LORD WHIP 9958 1 1 0 CRUEL LORDS 1707 FOUR 9947 462 NOT REVENGED

PERSONAL ADS

From last cycle... my bad! -- NAIEI

Assur -- Thank you for the info you gave me on Cruel Hammer, and Lord Rice-Lands. As
you can see I'm a new coach/manager to me warriors. Any help or info you may have to
help me along, can you send me a DIPLO @ Lord Fresh, mgr of Cruel Lords (1707) DM 93.
Also what is C.I.C. packages I don't have one can you send me one. -- Lord Fresh

[ CIC will be mailed with this turn. ]

Number -- I'm coming for you, it is blood for blood. -- Lord Fresh

Feelgood Killer -- Good duel/conflict we had. -- Cruel Hammer

Now back to your regularly scheduled ads... -- NAIEI

One, that sounds like a number one, and you are a number one, so a big salute from the
College Mascots. -- Cheerleader, Consortium affiliated

Ox, I challenged, but you showed me! Well done. -- Shocker

Black Moon, the more colorful warrior won today. Your day (or night) will come. --
Rainbow Warrior

TMM Prize Freak, I HATE, HATE, HATE prize freaks! I shoulda killed you! -- Demon
Deacon

Crip's Striker Army, well, good for you, you dirty rotten dingleberry. (Your manager,
too.) -- Ramblin Wreck

Ambitious Guard, go home! -- Horned Frog

Assur, well, now, a 1-1. You are making a comeback! (wink) -- Cheerleader
P.S. Just ignore those people booing you! Sheesh!

Hey, Black Moon and Number Killers. Hopefully you referred to the weapon selection
info Assur recently published. Or that CIC packet you received from RSI. You will
note that the big, heavy greatsword which needs high strength and reasonable deftness,
may not at all be a fit for a parry-lunger (plunger). Also, plungers are a very
difficult style to start learning with. The CIC and past newsletters have very
important info for you. If I can help more, let me know. -- Cheerleader, Consortium
affiliated

LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS

LORD RICE-LANDS was devastated by FOUR in a 1 minute mismatched Bloodfeud fight.
LORD PAIN vanquished THREE in a 2 minute brutal uneven Challenge battle.
CRUEL HAMMER was defeated by FIVE in a unpopular 6 minute Challenge duel.
RAINBOW WARRIOR outwaited PIZZA TOPPINGS in a 9 minute novice's Challenge fight.
ONE devastated CONVICTED ASSASSIN in a 1 minute gory uneven Title brawl.
TWO viciously butchered HORNED FROG in a 2 minute bloody match.
DEMON DEACON was handily defeated by CRIP'S STRIKER ARMY in a 1 minute uneven fight.
LORD BRYON was vanquished by TMM PRIZE FREAK in a 1 minute uneven duel.
FEELGOOD KILLER viciously subdued LORD HAMMER in a 2 minute gruesome beginner's fight.
RAMBLIN' WRECK assassinated DEN'S DCER in a 1 minute one-sided fight.
SHOCKER was viciously subdued by CONVICTED THIEF in a exciting 5 minute novice's bout.

BATTLE REPORT

MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS
|FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT|
|BASHING ATTACK 5 LUNGING ATTACK 14 - 6 - 0 70 |
|STRIKING ATTACK 3 AIMED BLOW 25 - 14 - 1 64 |
|AIMED BLOW 3 TOTAL PARRY 11 - 7 - 0 61 |
|LUNGING ATTACK 2 BASHING ATTACK 34 - 25 - 3 58 |
|TOTAL PARRY 2 STRIKING ATTACK 22 - 17 - 3 56 |
|PARRY-STRIKE 2 SLASHING ATTACK 15 - 12 - 3 56 |
|PARRY-LUNGE 1 PARRY-STRIKE 6 - 10 - 0 38 |
|PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 WALL OF STEEL 5 - 11 - 0 31 |
|SLASHING ATTACK 1 PARRY-LUNGE 5 - 13 - 1 28 |
|WALL OF STEEL 0 PARRY-RIPOSTE 2 - 7 - 1 22 |

Turn 466 was great if you Not so great if you used The fighting styles of the
used the fighting styles: the fighting styles: top eleven warriors are:

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

TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE

FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME
LUNGING ATTACK ONE 9944 8 1 0 94 NUMBER (1705)
BASHING ATTACK TWO 9945 8 1 1 52 NUMBER (1705)
STRIKING ATTACK CRIP'S STRIKER ARMY 9962 4 1 0 43 BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708)
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
FEELGOOD KILLER 9965. The ten other most popular fighters were TWO 9945, ONE 9944,
CRIP'S STRIKER ARMY 9962, FOUR 9947, LORD PAIN 9957, HORNED FROG 9971, TMM PRIZE
FREAK 9964, RAMBLIN' WRECK 9969, LORD RICE-LANDS 9960, and THREE 9946.

The least popular fighter this week was RAINBOW WARRIOR 9968. The other ten least
popular fighters were PIZZA TOPPINGS 9979, FIVE 9948, CRUEL HAMMER 9978, SHOCKER
9970, DEN'S DCER 9985, LORD HAMMER 9959, LORD BRYON 9961, DEMON DEACON 9967, THREE
9946, and LORD RICE-LANDS 9960.

MAIL-IN TOURNEY LXII

APPRENTICES TOURNEY W L K TEAM NAME
ALZADER 9894 (0-1-0) 2 3 0 ROSS' RAIDERS
LIGHTNING 9941 (2-2-2) 0 2 0 THE MANTICORES
LORD BRYON 9961 (1-3-1) 0 2 0 CRUEL LORDS

A SACRED LORD'S SLASHER

Well, this article/spotlight is for Seal at 7th Order, so here goes.

ST: If he's huge (15+), 3 is okay, and use HA. I prefer 7 for epee. 9 gets scimitar
and 11 gets broadsword. Anything above 11 is a WASTE!!!
CN: Whatever they send you.
SZ: Any.
WT: 15, 17, or 21. 13 is workable, but I hate slow learners! 21 will probably take
a lot from other areas, so 17 is best.
WL: 17, 17, 17!!!! You need endurance, lots of endurance. Some of my friends use
15, but I prefer not to.
SP: 9+ They use SP as well as most, but don't add here until after WT/WL/DF.
DF: 15+, 15+, 15+. Once again, I have high standards. The reason? Have you ever
had a slasher come out w/ "relying on his speed to stay out of trouble"? That's
'cause his parry is in the negative. With a 15 DF your slasher will have a much
better parry and will probably be about 1-3 trains from a Master parry in advanced.
Later on, you'll see!

Now, how to run them:

10 9 7 -------------------------> 10
10 4 2 -------------------------> 10
7 9 7 -------------------------> 1
CH/HE -------------------------------------------- >
HE ----------------------------------------------- >
Off: D at first, open later, min 2 +, open
Def: D/S (preferably Dodge)

Min two+ is in case of a TP or WoS coming after you. This setup works, so good
luck!

Mike Bookout
Bookie, Sacred Lord of the Black Regime
Memphis Mafia (36,100)

P.S. Anybody want to join the Regime?

The Dark Arena: A Fighter's Perspective

(sung to the hymn: Battle Hymn of the Republic)

Mine eyes have seen the glory
Of the coming of the dawn
I am walking down the tunnel
After everyone is gone
I step into the torchlight
And I see the blade he's drawn
My mind, it sings this song:

CHORUS
Worry, worry, I've come for ya
Worry, worry, I've come for ya
Worry, worry, I've come for ya
My mind continues on

The crowd is chanting praises
But all I hear are growls
Mine enemy's upon me
So I strike him and he howls
Parry, parry, slash, and parry
I smell his breath so foul
And death, he sings this song:

(CHORUS)

Now we both are tired
And my strength is fading fast
Oh, let me give that fatal blow
Oh, let me be the last
I swing my sword with all my might
The crowd it stands, aghast
As he dies, I sing my song:

(CHORUS x2)

Scotlan (28, 31, 39, 50, ?)

Kill Desire: "Patience."

Many times I have lost warriors, and the manager claimed the KD was only five.
As if KD had anything to do with the death of my fighter. It was really the battle
axe to the head that killed him.
I was quite disturbed at the widespread belief that kill desire has something to
do with killing an opponent. But they have good reason to believe this: the
Duelmasters Handbook definition of kill desire has a tendency to cast a "confusion
spell" on the reader to make them think that way. The wording is very misleading.
The name "kill desire" is also misleading. A more correct word would be "patience."
Yes, kill desire is actually how much patience your fighter had before taking a
shot. KD doesn't add damage or tell your fighter where to aim at.
Damage is calculated by weapon and strength. (Of course, favorite weapon also
affects damage.)
You let your warrior know where you want him to aim at by filling out the attack
location boxes on the fight sheets.
Hit location and damage are the main two things that will kill warriors. Hit
locations to vital areas such as head, chest, and the abdomen repeated times increases
your chance to kill. The amount of damage inflicted to these vital areas also
increases your chance to kill an opponent.
As you see, none of this has anything to do with kill desire.
Now, I will tell you what kill desire, or patience, as I call it, actually is.
If you run your warrior with an 8-10 KD, you're telling him to swing like a
drunken wildman. You'll see statements in his fights that say "swings wildly" or
other things to that effect. He is not waiting for a good opening. He is swinging at
everything! This is bad for several reasons.
With his KD that high, he is very easily dodged and parried. Also, he can be
feinted into bad dueling decisions as well.
I think that KD between 5-7 for offensive styles and 3-6 for defensive styles is
perfect.
You get a lot more hits with a 5-7 KD, and feint a lot less. But you also get
more kills in this range. Reason being, you're waiting for a good shot that is hard
to dodge or parry. The example I used earlier about the manager with the 5 KD and
battleaxe is the point I am trying to make. If his warrior's KD was 10, my warrior
could have dodged or parried the attack and still be alive today. But since it was a
5 KD, he waited for a good shot that my warrior had trouble defending against, and
cleaved his head off! (Well, not literally.)
Defensive styles run about 3-6 KD. Defensive styles swing wildly a lot in the
beginning, but that is natural. They will get better. 3-4 KD, they still have a
tendency to let attacks go by. Of course, if you're scumming, go with a 1 KD.
In short, having an 8-10 KD means your warrior is doing all that swinging and
hitting less. Not to mention all the endurance he is burning up to no avail.
Any comments, you can diplo me.

ta-ta,
Sir Jessie Jest

DM 11: Lords of the Abyss
DM 61: Pit Fiends
DM 67: Storm Wizards
DM 5: Bad Girls

SOME INFO ON THE RIPPER

Being that the parry-riposte is my favorite style, I thought I'd share a few
things I've learned.
General design:

ST: 7-11 Strength isn't all important to the P.R. An 11 will gives you all well
suited weapons. I'll even go as high as 17, but with no dramatic
effect.

CN: Any A higher con will give a better endurance and make survival easier.

SZ: Any Although a smaller size gives you a defensive bonus.

WT: 15-21 As with all other styles the higher the better. 15 will give the epee.
A P.R. needs to learn skills to survive.

WL: 13-21 Will is as important as wit. It helps endurance and life expectancy.
A higher will allows you to pick apart most scum.

SP: 5-13 13 is a major breakpoint but it's not necessary to go that high. A
combo of 15 wit, 15 deftness and 11 speed will give you an expert in
riposte with any luck.

DF: 13-21 The higher the coordination the easier it is to hit your attack
location. A 15 will give you the epee.

The perfect P.R. would look something like this: 9-4-5-17-21-11-17 with starting
skill bases like:
Ini: 60%
Rip: 90%
Att: 75%
Par: 70%
Def: 75%
Dec: 40%
One of my first PRs looked like this: 15-10-9-15-15-6-14, Thror the Dark. He was
extremely unlucky as far as starting skills. He now looks a little different: 17-11-
9-17-16-7-15 with 90% Init, 145% Rip, 130% Att, 130% Par, 115% Def and 80% Dec. I
destroyed him with early stat raises.
I had a similar design that was luckier, at least until he got X-ed by a slasher
in a tourney. He died with a 12-3-1 record. But enough of that. You're probably
wanting to get on with the strategies.
So getting on with it, I've tried both offensive and defensive strategies.
Generally defensive has worked better for me. Something like: 3-6-6 going offensive
in minute 3 or 4 with a 10-8-6 or a 9-7-6 and then backing off to a 6-4-6 or a 4-5-6.
As far as tactics go I don't use 'em very often. If you use any offensive tactic
use the lunge or nothing. Defensively use dodge and parry sparingly, if at all, and
don't use the riposte tactic after you've achieved a master.
Okay, now on to weapons and armor. A parry-riposte is somewhat limited when it
comes to weapons. The longsword is their best choice against heavier armors. I once
tried the halberd (I'll wait until you finish laughing.) Anyway, Thror the Dark
savagely slew Spymaster with it. I only give the PR an off hand weapon with epee,
shortsword or the longsword.
I've done varying things with armor, but I've found that lighter armor works
better, personal favorites being APL, ARM, and ASM. I read an article about the
parry-riposte of coom that made me laugh. It said something about wearing more armor
than expected of a PR, listing nothing higher than ACM+F. Imagine what he would have
thought fighting Thror the Dark in APA+F.
This is just an opinion brought to you by Necrom, manager of Knightmares (33),
Pentad Paladins (55), Northlanders (70) and a couple of others.

Crimson Strikers

Greetings, fellow managers, I, Crimson Strategist, shall share my thoughts with
you on the striking attack style.
This style developed in cultures where weapon quality surpassed that of the
armors, this made landing the first blow vital. This blow is usually delivered in a
downward fashion quickly, surely, and with power in a minimal of wasted motion.
Here's how I rate the stats:
ST 11-15: Never go below 11, strikers are well suited to ALL the weapons in the
game and 11 allows the use of the majority of them. They also need to hurt their foe
when they hit, thus making this an important consideration for damage rating.
CN 3-9: This whole style revolves around finishing your foe quickly, if your foe
has time to develop a complex formal attack on your striker, then you're not fighting
him properly. A properly run striker should never be hit more than four or five
times, any more than this and the whole concept behind this style gets thrown right
out the window, therefore I rate con as the least important attribute for this style.
SZ 9-16: A size of 9 allows use of all the weapons and it is important in
determining your damage rating, plus, it also adds to your init and this style thrives
on init.
WT 13+: As with any style, the higher the better. 13 is rock bottom, it allows
the use of all weapons except the epee and you'll still learn at a decent pace.
WL 7-13: This style conserves endurance which allows this attribute to go
considerably less than most styles and still fight effectively for a respectable
length of time. I've had strikers with a 13 ST, 3 CN, and 5 WL get poor endurance
ratings and ones with 11 ST, 6 CN, and 9 WL get normal. However, if you want some
long term potential, you'd want to be around 13 or so.
SP 10+: This is very important for decise and init skills which are the heart of
this style. Landing the first blow and finishing the fight quickly is hinged on your
striker's speed.
DF 15+: This is crucial attribute for this style, they NEED to be precise with
their blows, plus, it also adds to their init. Get to 17 or 21 if possible.
Now let's take a look at the style itself. The striking attack is one of the
easiest styles to run, yet they have adversity that many styles lack. As I've said
before, a striker can use ALL the weapons in the game. They can fight effectively
wearing plate armor and no armor, they can use EVERY tactic in the game be it
offensive or defensive, a striker can fight like a lunger or basher, ripper or
slasher, etc... provided that you match up their strategy with the appropriate tactic
and weapon. They can beat ALL the styles in DM and beyond if you choose their
strategy correctly for that particular style vs. style matchup.
Here are some examples of style vs. style matchups for strikers and various
tactic selections vs. the different styles.
High decise strikers over slashers and lungers, strikers over total parry and
wall of steel, rippers over strikers, etc...
Using the decise tactic vs. lungers, slashers, and aimed blows. Using the lunge
tactic vs. rippers and aimed blows, using no tactic and having a moderate offensive
effort and moderate activity level vs. total parries and wall of steel, etc...
The possible variations for this style are virtually endless.
Now let's take a brief look at your striker overview and glean some helpful hints
on how to fight them. If you see statements like "relying on speed to stay out of
danger" or "avoiding rather than trading blows," this is telling you that your AL
should be moderate to high. If he does great damage, then don't use weapons like the
epee or shortsword, this would be an underutilization of his strengths. If he learns
attack skills easily, then this is telling you that he likes to take his time and pick
his shots so don't send him out with a 10 OE! If you see statements like "has learned
how to be a decisive and quick fighter," then by all means USE the decise tactic with
a high OE. Don't send him out with offhand weapons unless he's ambidextrous, if you
do, it will take away from his attack. As you can see, the various statements on your
overview are very helpful in telling you how your striker likes to fight.
Here's a very general strategy that has worked well for my strikers.

OE 10 8 7 7 7 6 6 Armor: ARM to ACM
AL 4 3 2 1 1 1 8 Weapons: BS,LO,SC,GS,BA
KD 6 6 6 6 6 6 5
ATT LOC Head, body, arms
PRO LOC Head or body
OFF TCT Decise or bash
DEF TCT Response or dodge

Before I close there is one last point I wish to emphasize, USE the
challenge/avoid system, it will help control who you fight and when. In closing, I
would like to thank the following managers for their diplos and articles which helped
me learn the game: Sir Jessie Jest, Talon, Tex, the managers on the roundtable, and
numerous others who took their time to put quill and ink on parchment and pass their
knowledge on to others, thanks!
Many of you know the Crimson Death stables or soon will know them since I plan to
have quite a few of them up and running, however, some of them will be on and off due
to monetary fluctuations so if you wish to diplo me with any comments, criticisms,
whatever, send them to my home arena, which, from here on out, will always be active.

Later,
Crimson Strategist
Crimson Death DM 61