DUEL 2 NEWSLETTER Date : 12/23/2016 Duedate: 01/05/2017 NOBLISH ISLAND ARENA DM-93 TURN-468 This Weeks Top Honors THE DUELMASTER IS DEMON DEACON COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) (93-9967) [5-2-1,56] Chartered Recognition Leader Unchartered Recognition Leader POSITION IS EMPTY DEMON DEACON COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) (93-9967) [5-2-1,56] Popularity Leader This Weeks Favorite FEELGOOD KILLER FEELGOOD KILLER BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708) BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708) (93-9965) [3-4-0,15] (93-9965) [3-4-0,15] THE CURRENT TOP TEAM COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) TEAMS ON THE MOVE TOP CAREER HONORS Team Name Point Gain Chartered Team 1. COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) 45 2. GREYSKULL (1710) 12 BANE'S CHILDREN (235) 3. REZ DOGS (1713) 1 Unchartered Team 4. NUMBER KILLER (1711) 0 5. CRUEL LORDS (1707) 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) 24 11 4 68.6 1/ 2*COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) 10 5 3 2/ 3*BASH BROS MATCHUP (1708) 19 15 0 55.9 2/ 3*BASH BROS MATCHUP (1708) 8 6 0 3- 4*NUMBER KILLER (1711) 5 5 1 50.0 3/ 6*GREYSKULL (1710) 4 6 0 4- 5*THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) 17 25 0 40.5 4- 4*THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) 2 3 0 5/ 6*GREYSKULL (1710) 6 9 0 40.0 5- 5*NUMBER KILLER (1711) 2 3 0 6- 0*CRUEL LORDS (1707) 9 20 1 31.0 6- 0*CRUEL LORDS (1707) 1 4 0 7/ 0*REZ DOGS (1713) 0 1 0 0.0 7/ 0*REZ DOGS (1713) 0 1 0 '*' Unchartered team '-' Team did not fight this turn (###) Avoid teams by their Team Id ##/## This turn's/Last turn's rank TEAM SPOTLIGHT NOBLISH ISLE GRADUATION FINAL EXAM 25 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. Female warriors are better than male or neutral warriors. 4. Scum warriors are not allowed. 5. Assur and The Consortium rep are allied. 6. One must challenge warriors by name only on the strategy sheet. 7. D2 is only for kids. 8. The WF (war flail aka whiffle) is probably the best weapon available. 9. A warrior must be deemed godling to enter into tournaments. 10. All warriors are born with the same amount of stats and skills. 11. One cannot use a weapon unsuited to the warrior's style. 12. A manager may have only one team in D2. 13. Parry riposte (rippers), parry lungers (plungers) and parry strikers (pikers) are the easiest styles to run. 14. Endurance plays no factor in D2. 15. A warrior's hit points are only determined by CON. 16. There are seven skill and seven stat types. 17. When a warrior dies, your team is reduced by one. 18. One secret strategy works best for each style of warrior. 19. All Face-To-Face Tournaments are held at the office headquarters in Tempe, AZ. 20. The arena Duelmaster may challenge any other warrior in the arena. 21. A warrior must wear armor. 22. In general old-time managers in the game hate each other and never communicate. 23. There are no luck factors in the game. 24. The RSI Customer Service people are mean and uncaring people. 25. 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 Cheerleader of College Mascots (A Consortium representative) ***---------*---------*---------*---------**---------*---------*---------*---------*** Assur's Guide to Riposting Hybrids The following describes Assur's vision of a hybrid warrior that relies on riposte to win. Hybrids are the hardest warriors to master, but great hybrids are tough to beat. From here on out, when I say hybrids, I am specifically talking about Hybrids designed to win with riposte. Riposte messages in the fight are the message you often see right after a warrior parries or dodges that reads something like: Hybrid steps back, and then rushes forward in a counterstrike! There are a number of such messages that all mean you are using your riposte skill. Riposte Skills are given (when creating warriors) at: WIT: 5,7,15,17,21(x2) SPD: 5,7,9,13(x3),15,17,19,21 DFT: 4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18,20 1) Design Hybrids need a balance of physicals and skills. More is always better, but your hybrid cannot start with 21's in all stats, so... Encumbrance is one of the most important attributes. You do not want to over- encumber your hybrid for most all fights. Your armor will be chosen according to your ability to carry weight. A guideline: APL -- 9 Str/Con. ASM -- 11 Str/Con. APA 14 Str/Con Realize that with those minimum str/con values, you need to be careful with helms and weapons or you will be over-encumbered. Sometimes it is fine to carry too much, but if you aren't sure who you are fighting, stay under your limit! Hit Points are wonderful. Hybrids love hit points. The more the better because there are nasty pure offensives that will try to take you down and they are good at it. Damage and Endurance are not as important, but you want some. Little damage is tough to work with. Endurance depends on your style (Suggested Minimums: Poor for PR/AB, Good for L) The most important skills are your parry/defense and attack skills. You'll want some riposte skills and initiative skills don't hurt. Decise is almost useless for Hybrids. I would recommend at least one of your encumbrance, hit points, or defensive skills to be on the high side, preferably two of them. With all that in mind, here is what your stats should look like: Str: 9+ Con: medium+ Siz: any Wit: 11+ Will: 7-21 Spd: 3-9 Dft: 11+ *** 13 speed is a big breakpoint for riposte skills. 10-12 is a bad starting place *** While an 11 wit PR can learn enough skills to compete as a hybrid, that same 11 wit total parry or lunger might have more difficulty as they learn too many of their primary skills and not enough of their secondary skills. 2) Style Choice Only two styles naturally learn riposte. However, because initiative is underpowered, you can live with a non-riposte learning style. Parry Ripostes are the king of this type of hybrid. The naturally learn att/par/rip, though they often learn too much riposte and not enough of the other two. They learn init and decise last. Aimed Blows learn attack and riposte naturally, but do not learn their defensive skills as fast. Still, they can make excellent hybrids, but when you put 21 points on deftness, it is difficult to find a balance with the rest of your stats. Lungers are the king of all the hybrids (as you'll see in my follow ups the next couple of turns). They have high attack and defense bases. They have the highest total skills of all styles (tied with WOS's). They learn defense and init skills first, but attack and riposte are their secondary skills, so they will learn some riposte. They burn endurance fast, so it is recommended to start with high will. Total Parries can be run very similar to Parry Ripostes. They have better natural defenses, but worse attack and riposte. As mentioned before, they learn defense and parry first, but attack and riposte are their secondary learns, so they can still make good hybrids, especially with high wit. Wall of Steels, Parry Lungers, do not learn riposte much at all. It can be their favorite learn, but usually it is not. That said, because of their attack/init/defenses, these styles can be run as a riposting hybrid. Riposte is one of the easiest skills to 'fake.' Again, these are high skill/high endurance burn styles, so make sure they have more endurance than I suggest as minimum. 3) Weapon Selection I am not a fan of shields on Riposting Hybrids. You are trying to attack and nothing is worse than attacking with a shield (which tends to do no damage). It is recommended to use the best weapons in the game that you qualify for. I tend to use off-hand daggers for PR's and PL's and a single weapon with the other styles. For main hand, I usually pick (style dependent) in order of preference: BA, SC (poor against scale), BS, LO (poor against plate) Feel free to experiment with other weapons. Most of the time, weapon selection will not be the deciding factor in the fight. Different weapons have different strengths and weaknesses. Until you start to learn those strengths, the safe choice are the top overall weapons in the game. 4) Strategy and tactics This is where things get difficult. You really need to experiment to find where your hybrid wants to fight. Different warriors like different rhythms and typically your favorite rhythms are a good place to start for most of these hybrids. For AB's, I tend to ignore their favorite activity level and run 7-10 in early minutes. What works on one hybrid may not work on another. When your hybrid starts to act like a monster at a certain set of numbers, you may be hitting his favorites. For reference, the 'most common' set of favorites for the styles mentioned in this article: PR: 5-6 AL/3-4 OE TP: 3-4 AL/1-2 OE AB: 3-4 AL/3-4 OE PL: 5-6 AL/5-6 OE L: 7-8 AL/7-8 OE WOS: 3-4 AL/5-6 OE Once again, this is only a place to start. These numbers may work well or not at all for your warrior. But, it is not a bad place to start. And if you're going to err, I'd recommend erring on the higher side. But one of my favorite hybrids was a Total Parry that went crazy running 2 OE. He always wanted to attack. If you refuse to attack after a riposte messages, consider lowering armor or raising your activity level and offensive effort AND drop any tactics you are using. As I mentioned, riposte is easy to fake. The Riposte tactic is a wonderful tool for warriors that need help in the riposte department. Very rarely will AB's or PR's need to use this tactic (and I almost never use it for those two styles). The hardest styles to riposte are typically Slashers and Lungers (and sometimes Wall of Steels and Parry Lungers, depending how they are running). These two styles tend to be running fast and have lots of initiative and though it is underpowered, if you have enough, it is tough to riposte you. Parry and Dodge are also useful when you need to augment your defenses. 5) Armor I talked a lot about armor in the design section. Wear some, but watch your weight. SPY REPORT Well, what are you looking at, NOBLISH ISLAND? Ain't you never seen Snide Clemens before? Ah, shaddup and listen to my news. Later days, NUMBER, since COLLEGE MASCOTS took top team from you this turn, you guys are old news. GREYSKULL turned their 2-3-0 turn into a 3rd place rank in the listings this turn. Any better than this, and you get put on hit lists. Now let's all watch COLLEGE MASCOTS' heads swell from their 4-1-0 this turn. Haa ha ha ha! Big shots, big talk, big deal. Of course, we're all terribly impressed to see KAR'RYN win a fight and gain 16 points, terribly. Tsk, tsk, KAR'RYN beat PIZZA TOPPINGS and PIZZA TOPPINGS lost 9 points. You're breakin' my heart. And it's out with the old, in with the new, as DEMON DEACON takes the Title and last week's bar tab from the old Duelmaster. Heh, heh. Kickbacks and bribes, kickbacks and bribes, how else do you think some of these guys win their fights? Skill? Ha! My mother always told me, 'If you don't have anything nice to say, start talking.' I loved that woman. What's the big D? THE GALLOWGLASS was the most avoided team? Bunch of lily livered... grumble... mumble... curse... And it looks like COLLEGE MASCOTS avoided them the most this turn. What a pack of would be losers, if you ask me. Hmph. Ooh, I'm frightfully impressed, DEMON DEACON was this turn's most challenged warrior. Watch that ego swell, sports fans. Some people like volunteer work in the hospitals. I volunteer for NOBLISH ISLAND's morgue. More variety. Titanium shields and bamboo daggers, guess what brave team is developing these kinds of weapons? I was about to buy a new quill pen the other day, but some fighter took it for an epee. Forgive me for writing with a dagger. Just wait 'till next time I show up here, I won't be so nice! So nyaaah! I see the crowds are getting restless, I must leave now-- Snide Clemens DUELMASTER W L K POINTS TEAM NAME DEMON DEACON 9967 5 2 1 56 COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) ADEPTS W L K POINTS TEAM NAME RAMBLIN' WRECK 9969 6 1 2 41 COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) CRIP'S STRIKER ARMY 9962 5 2 0 38 BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708) CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME RAINBOW WARRIOR 9968 6 1 0 31 COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) CHALLENGER INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME -SOCK 9933 5 4 0 27 THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) BILLIKEN 9991 2 0 1 26 COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) -LORD PAIN 9957 3 3 0 25 CRUEL LORDS (1707) INITIATES W L K POINTS TEAM NAME -SYTHINI 9949 3 3 0 22 THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) -KRATH 9932 3 6 0 18 THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) -DARK MOON 9981 2 0 0 18 NUMBER KILLER (1711) -DARK SIDE 9980 2 0 0 18 NUMBER KILLER (1711) KAR'RYN 9974 1 2 0 18 GREYSKULL (1710) RASPUTIN 9975 2 1 0 17 GREYSKULL (1710) FEELGOOD KILLER 9965 3 4 0 15 BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708) TDO TOURNEY STRIKER 9997 2 0 0 15 BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708) -TAKKARI 9934 2 7 0 13 THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) -AUTUMNBE 9643 3 2 0 12 CAVEAT EMPTOR (1657) PIZZA TOPPINGS 9979 3 2 0 11 BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708) -MORFAUS 9956 3 2 0 11 THE GALLOWGLASS (1703) SHOCKER 9970 2 5 0 11 COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) -LORD BRYON 9961 1 5 1 11 CRUEL LORDS (1707) -LORD RICE-LANDS 9960 2 4 0 10 CRUEL LORDS (1707) VIOLET 10004 1 0 0 10 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) VLADOSHIAN 9976 1 2 0 6 GREYSKULL (1710) -NUMBER 4 KILLER 9983 1 1 1 5 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) SLOTH 9973 0 3 0 3 GREYSKULL (1710) -BLACK MOON 9982 0 2 0 2 NUMBER KILLER (1711) -HELL-KNIGHT 9984 0 2 0 2 NUMBER KILLER (1711) DOGG 9996 0 1 0 1 REZ DOGS (1713) '-' 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 TMM PRIZE FREAK 9964 4 2 0 BASH BROS MATCH 1708 DEMON DEACON 9967 467 QUELL 9977 1 1 0 GREYSKULL 1710 BILLIKEN 9991 467 PERSONAL ADS Numbers are graduated ad gone. (sigh) Does that mean we will have to put up with a Bash Bros Matchup for Duelmaster? Nooooooooooooooooooo! Boo. Boo. -- Cheerleader, College Mascots Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thanks for competing with us in D2 on Noblish Isle. Yay for Christmas. Yay for Noblish managers. -- Cheerleader Black Moon, nice challenge -- for me. I know you tried hard. -- Rainbow Warrior Dark Side, well done! It took you long enough to beat an old loser like me. But a win is a win is a win. -- Shocker Two bits, four bits, six bits a dollar. All for Dark Side stand up and holler! -- Cheerleader TMM Prize Freak, and Assur, I am so, so sorry. (wink) I would like to see both Assurites and Consortiumites do that in Tempe at the FTF! -- Demon Deacon By the way, Assur, are you running a Crapmaster event in Tempe? -- Cheerleader, cheerer of Crapmasters everywhere Five, I must known something, huh? -- Ramblin' Wreck Quell and Greyskulls, I am truly sorry for the death of Quell. It was not intentional. May he fight well in That Great Arena In The Sky. -- Billiken Who wants to know something? Ask some questions y'all! Really. -- Cheerleader All, Assur's spotlight about defensives was/is a thing of beauty. Well done, Big Guy. -- Cheerleader (admiringly) Health. Humility. Honor. -- Cheerleader Note: Christmas will find The Consortium in nice, warmish Charleston, SC, this year. Enjoy. -- Cheerleader Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and a Wonderful New Year to you all! -- RSI LAST WEEK'S FIGHTS CRIP'S STRIKER ARMY was devastated by DEMON DEACON in a 1 minute Bloodfeud fight. VLADOSHIAN was vanquished by BILLIKEN in a 1 minute brutal uneven Bloodfeud battle. RAINBOW WARRIOR outlasted OSKSI NOBLE in a unpopular 7 minute duel. RAMBLIN' WRECK devastated RASPUTIN in a 1 minute one-sided fight. FEELGOOD KILLER savagely defeated SLOTH in a 3 minute bloody competition. SHOCKER was viciously subdued by TDO TOURNEY STRIKER in a 2 minute bloody fight. KAR'RYN savagely defeated PIZZA TOPPINGS in a 5 minute gory amateur's brawl. DOGG was handily defeated by VIOLET in a 1 minute uneven melee. BATTLE REPORT MOST POPULAR RECORD DURING THE LAST 10 TURNS |FIGHTING STYLE FIGHTS FIGHTING STYLE W - L - K PERCENT| |BASHING ATTACK 5 LUNGING ATTACK 18 - 6 - 1 75 | |LUNGING ATTACK 3 TOTAL PARRY 12 - 8 - 0 60 | |SLASHING ATTACK 2 SLASHING ATTACK 14 - 10 - 3 58 | |STRIKING ATTACK 2 STRIKING ATTACK 21 - 16 - 2 57 | |PARRY-STRIKE 1 PARRY-STRIKE 9 - 8 - 0 53 | |PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 BASHING ATTACK 30 - 27 - 3 53 | |TOTAL PARRY 1 AIMED BLOW 21 - 19 - 1 53 | |AIMED BLOW 0 PARRY-LUNGE 6 - 12 - 1 33 | |PARRY-LUNGE 0 WALL OF STEEL 3 - 7 - 0 30 | |WALL OF STEEL 0 PARRY-RIPOSTE 2 - 8 - 1 20 | Turn 468 was great if you Not so great if you used The fighting styles of the used the fighting styles: the fighting styles: top eleven warriors are: PARRY-STRIKE 1 - 0 BASHING ATTACK 1 - 4 2 SLASHING ATTACK PARRY-RIPOSTE 1 - 0 AIMED BLOW 0 - 0 2 STRIKING ATTACK LUNGING ATTACK 3 - 0 PARRY-LUNGE 0 - 0 2 LUNGING ATTACK TOTAL PARRY 1 - 0 STRIKING ATTACK 0 - 2 1 BASHING ATTACK SLASHING ATTACK 1 - 1 WALL OF STEEL 0 - 0 1 TOTAL PARRY 1 PARRY-STRIKE 1 AIMED BLOW 1 PARRY-LUNGE TOP WARRIOR OF EACH STYLE FIGHTING STYLE WARRIOR W L K PNTS TEAM NAME SLASHING ATTACK DEMON DEACON 9967 5 2 1 56 COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) BASHING ATTACK RAMBLIN' WRECK 9969 6 1 2 41 COLLEGE MASCOTS (1709) STRIKING ATTACK CRIP'S STRIKER ARMY 9962 5 2 0 38 BASH BROS MATCHUPS (1708) Note: Warriors have a winning record and are an Adept or Above. The overall popularity leader is FEELGOOD KILLER 9965. The most popular warrior this turn was FEELGOOD KILLER 9965. The ten other most popular fighters were TDO TOURNEY STRIKER 9997, BILLIKEN 9991, KAR'RYN 9974, RAMBLIN' WRECK 9969, PIZZA TOPPINGS 9979, VIOLET 10004, DEMON DEACON 9967, SHOCKER 9970, CRIP'S STRIKER ARMY 9962, and VLADOSHIAN 9976. The least popular fighter this week was RAINBOW WARRIOR 9968. The other ten least popular fighters were SLOTH 9973, DOGG 9996, RASPUTIN 9975, VLADOSHIAN 9976, CRIP'S STRIKER ARMY 9962, SHOCKER 9970, DEMON DEACON 9967, VIOLET 10004, PIZZA TOPPINGS 9979, and RAMBLIN' WRECK 9969. 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. Top 10 Things to Do to Have a Better FTF! 10. Have at least one meal that doesn't involve either McDonalds or Domino's Pizza. Bonus points if that meal includes the use of utensils. (Double bonus points if you already knew how to use utensils) 9. Recycle all those cover sheets and unwanted roll-ups into ammunition for the next great paper ball fight! (And don't assume that because you don't have any ammo, you're not in the game. When these things break out, ANYONE is a potential target! Don't assume that I'm going to throw AROUND you to get to my target, if you're sitting there in the middle of things trying to read your fights as the paper balls fly in all direction, you're not only likely to get hit by a misfired projectile, but I will be aiming for you!) 8. Showering at least once a day is not an option. REPEAT: Showering at least once a day, is NOT AN OPTION!!! 7. Much like a watched pot never boils, asking if your overviews or reprints are there yet every three minutes will only make the person sitting behind the desk irritable (or even more so than usual). They'll be there when they get there. 6. Yes, the printer will break down, the hard drive will crash, and RSI will undergo some sort of catastrophe. This is normal. Be prepared for long delays. Some people like to play Magic while waiting, some of us prefer heavy drinking. 5. For you first timers, it is customary to do a triumphant little war dance each and every time you win a fight, complete with whoop-whoops. That's what the raised platform is for, so the rest of us can see you. If you don't do the dance, RSI will take away your TVs and you will forever get 3 WT roll-ups. Would I lie to you? 4. Converse with your fellow managers. Take the time to chat, and introduce yourself to at least one complete stranger. "Have you seen this warrior?" is not a good way to introduce yourself. "Hi, my name is _______ and I run _______; nice to meet you!" is a much better way to introduce yourself. 3. When the run off fights are being read, I want to hear a lot of noise! Cheer every time a brilliant parry is made, shudder at the impact of a horrific blow, laugh derisively when a warrior falls down. Cheer those who read a good fight, and heckle those who can't. Get crazy. MAKE SOME NOISE GOLDURNIT!!! 2. Conversely, if you insist on reading your fights out loud and you don't have an audience, go back to your room until the urge passes. 1. Buy your good ol' buddy Forge a beer! As always, your own tips and comments are appreciated. *LOL!* Hope to see you all there! -- Forge 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. 'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE TOURNEY... 'Twas the night before Tourney, And all through the place Many managers were drinking, Getting smashed at the Face; The staff were all busy, The computers were humming, Rollups were bought, for the deadline was coming; Soon managers were nestled, all smug at their tables, With visions of TC's coming from their stables; And NAIMT doing massages, while A-Sop caused trouble, An hour before deadline, the workload just doubled, When by the computers, there arose such a clatter, All eyes turned to them, to see what was the matter. Sue glaring at the screen, Lee's fingers just flew, Oh, the computer was down, so what else was new? The lights in the room were too bright, someone said, Nah, it's just the reflection from off Hoffa's head, Then, what to our wondering eyes should appear, But Soultaker and Sentinel, once again here this year, Yes, we heard "No more Faces!", We hear this each time, But we know it's a farce, like this parody's rhyme. More rollups are bought, more warriors are made, Names are thought up, and carefully weighed; "How 'bout FREE WILLY? Or RODMAN? Or PUSSY? Or KNOCKERS? Or SHEIK T'WEEZEL? Or BALLSY? Or TAKE OFF THEM DOCKERS!? Not a chance say the censors! Nice try, bub, but no! Now it's HAPPY, and BARNEY, and WE LOVE YOU SO! The managers groan, but undaunted keep trying, The censors all laugh, and just are not buying, The RUGS altars are burning, offerings are gifted, With hopes that the rollup curses soon will be lifted. And then, in a twinkling, we hear down the hall, A Lunat!k roar and Fusion chased with a maul. You see, he'd heard about Fusion's campaign for the Prez, Now it's "Off with his Head!", so Lunat!k says. At the Dark Circle table, 6'7" down in height, With their arrogant statures, their great show of might. Yet amidst all the notebooks, are nerf toys and giraffe, Such silliness there, NAIMT can't help but laugh. At Aradi's table -- how they giggle, at the cartoons and stories Of the FONZ done by Nuln, in his infinite glories! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a ring, And Barb drew his beard as straggly as string; The new guys at Duelmasters, some call them a rookie, Making names for themselves like Jessie and Bookie; The regulars are here, The Boss, PUG, and TUM Carapace, Sensei, and lots more to come Doc Steele and his legends, even now in the making, If there weren't many witnesses, I'd think he was faking. The paperball fight, and the chaos ensues, Clean it up, says Lee, or your heads you will lose! The independents and alliances, speaking more than a word, NAIMT's resounding giggles can also be heard; But the hour before deadline is soon at a close, And giving a nod, on a chair Sandy rose; Okay guys, she says, no more inputs to be made, And away goes some managers for a Bourbon Street raid. But ere I end this bad poem, I just want to say, "GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL, AND TO ALL A GOOD DAY!" ****Hey, what do you expect for a quickie?... <grin> 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